Meet Again

Summer 2019

"Doggy, bark" Grace signed to shadow.

Logan waved his arm to get her attention since she didn't have her processors on. "Dog doesn't know sign" he signed

Grace walked over to Nicky who was sitting on the couch and tapped his leg. "Make doggy bark" she signed. They'd only had the dog for a little over a week at that point, but Grace knew that when it came to the dog, Nicky was the boss. Shadow listened to him. Nicky also knew all of the tricks that Shadow knew in addition to his service dog tasks.

Nicky got up and stood in front of Shadow. "Shadow, speak" he said and the dog barked, making Grace laugh. Even though she couldn't hear it, for some reason she really liked when he barked.

"Is everyone ready?" Rory asked as she walked down the stairs, holding Sammy.

"Everyone's ready" Logan said.

"Alright, so let's go" Rory said. They all got in the car and half an hour later, they were sitting in the Stars Hollow town square with Lorelai. Rory and Lorelai were sitting on the grass with Sammy, and Logan was playing soccer with Nicky and Grace.

"So how's the dog?" Lorelai asked

"He's good. Nicky loves him. Grace loves him. It's going well" Rory said. "The only problem is that Sammy freaks out if the dog goes near him"

"Sammy's scared of the dog?"

"Doggy bad" Sammy said

"Got it" Lorelai said.

"Yeah, we're working on that, but in the meantime we just keep the dog away from him"

"What about school?" Lorelai asked

"The dog is gonna go to school with him" Rory said. "We're gonna go meet his teacher next week to go over everything, and then at his orientation we'll be there and we'll explain to the other kids, and their parents about the dog"

"I bet he's excited to bring a dog to school"

"I actually think he's really nervous about going to school" Rory said. "He missed most of the end of the year and I think he's worried about having seizures at school. I also think he's worried about good watch, because the kids aren't allowed to bring any devices to school. Smart watches included. He thinks they're gonna take his watch"

"Won't they if it's not allowed?"

"It's being used as a medical device. If Shadow alerts him, he - or a teacher- need to be able to check his heart rate. They won't take it from him. It also sends information to mine and Logan's phones. If he has a seizure, his heart rate will spike, and Logan and I will know"

"God, I can't imagine being 7 and having to deal with all this"

"He's not 7 yet" Rory said. It was the beginning of June and Nicky wouldn't turn 7 until August.

"Not the point"

"I know" Rory sighed. "He seems ok though. He's getting used to it"

——

The next week Rory and Logan took Nicky and Grace to meet their teachers for the next school year. They didn't know who the teachers would be yet, but they'd spoken to the principal to set up meetings so they could explain both of the kids' different medical conditions.

The first stop was Grace's classroom, so they all went straight from the car to the preschool building. "Mommy, who's watching Sammy?" Nicky asked.

"Sammy's with your aunt Honor. We'll go over there after we meet your teachers" Rory said.