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“Hold on, Mom. I can take the dishes,” I said, pushing away from the table and wheeling toward her.
“Oh, sweetheart, you have company. It’s not very polite to leave him—with your father,” she finished in a loud stage whisper.
“I’m sure us men will be just fine,” Dad said with a smirk.
“See? Daddy’s got it under control. Here, let me take those,” I said, pulling a stack of dishes out of her hand and placing them on my lap.
She smiled and pushed the doors open so I could go through them. I wheeled my way over to the dishwasher and pulled it open.
“You don’t have to do all that, you know,” she said.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind. Besides, my arms work just fine,” I joked, flexing one.
She laughed and shook her head as she went over to the impatiently waiting children. One by one, I loaded the dishes sitting on my lap into the dishwasher, then the ones that were on the counter.
Mom, Stella, and Liam left the room with dessert, while I continued putting dishes in. When I was sure I had them all, I closed the door and pressed the button.
I made my way to the doors and pushed them open, rolling through as quickly as I could. I winced when the doors flung back toward me and hit the back of my wheels.
Just another subtle reminder that you’re not normal, I thought with a heavy sigh.
I rolled over to my spot next to Nolan. My parents and siblings were heavy into conversation over the birthday party I didn’t want. I sighed again and he nudged me.
I looked at him and he raised an eyebrow. I just shook my head slightly and shrugged.
“So what did you kids do today?” my dad asked, turning his attention back to us.
“Starr got on the swings,” Nolan immediately answered.
I put my face in my hand and groaned inwardly. Although my father was the more relaxed of my parents, he wasn’t going to be too happy to hear that I was out of my chair without him there.
“She did—what?” he asked in shock.
“She got on the swings,” Nolan repeated uneasily.
“How?”
“I helped her.”
“Why would you do that? Do you know how dangerous that could be for her?” my father exploded.
“Um, with all due respect Mr. East, Starr seems like a big enough girl to make her own decisions. Also, I wasn’t going to do anything that would harm her,” Nolan replied.
“Yeah, Daddy!” Stella chimed in.
My father shot her a warning look and she immediately quieted down.
“Nolan, there are things you need to understand. The first thing is, we don’t know you,” my father said, pointing his fork at him. “The second thing is that I think Jessie and I would know what’s best for Starr. And lastly, if you can’t respect that my daughter cannot be out of her chair without either one of us present, then I suggest you leave and never come back. We want Starr to have friends and your parents said you were an upstanding young man, but I will not allow you to put my eldest in danger.”
“Dad!” I exclaimed in shock.
“No, Starr, don’t interrupt me please,” he said, holding up a hand. “Can you respect that, Nolan?” he asked him.
He was quiet for a moment before he looked my father in the eyes and spoke.
“Mr. East, do you know what one of her hopes is? To be able to walk to the bathroom. That seems trivial enough doesn’t it? But we aren’t confined to a wheelchair and not given the chance to try new things. I never knew that walking to the bathroom was something that’s so easily taken for granted, did you?” he asked.
My father dropped his fork and excused himself from the table.
