Colin's posts

"All right." Dean responded.

"Good luck with your new place." he told her.

With that, they said their farewells, and he was gone.

And she was alone.

For better or worse, she was alone now.

"That is fair." Dean replied.

"So long as you can continue to support yourself." he told her.

He then leaned in close and gave her a hug.

"You've come so far since you found your way to my church." he commented.

"I'm proud of you, Desiree."

"You're very welcome." Dean responded.

"And feel free to visit me at the church or at my home." he told her. The work had finished shortly before they'd found her a place, and she had visited him there.

"I mean it too. Any time." he stressed.

"Even if you feel stressed and don't want to be alone."

"Good, good." Dean responded.

As time passed, things started to get even better for Desiree. The show she had put on for the children was VERY well-received, and was the best any had ever seen. Everyone there seemed to thoroughly enjoy it as well.

She and Dean were also working on speech therapy, and her stutter was getting far less pronounced.

Leo and Dean had also helped Desiree get some money again, and get all her ID's, as well as a new bank account.

And it was time for her to strike out on her own again. Once again, with Dean's help, a place was found for her. It wasn't the nicest, but it was affordable, and seemed to be quite secure. On the day of the move, Dean had helped with some donations so that she wasn't without furniture, and they had just finished moving it all in.

"Looks like you're all set." he told her.

Dean nodded again.

"Duly noted." he chuckled.

"But I'll get the flyers updated." he told her.

"The show duration will be up to your discretion." he then informed her.

"Just no longer than 2 hours." he stated.

"Schedules and such."

"Well, I'll plan for it to be outside." Dean told her.

"If the weather makes that impossible, I'll have a room set up just in case." he said further, scratching at his chin slightly, and peering around the area, before nodding slightly.

"Yes, I think I know just the place." he mumbled.

"Regardless, thank you again for this." he told her.

"I would have hated to let the children down."

Dean thought for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I can't think of any place or anything off hand." he told her. "I'll let you know more details later today, if I think of any." he said further.

"Oh!" he then exclaimed.

"Obviously the weather is going to be a big factor, but you. Inside or outside?" he asked.

"Do you have a preference, if the weather isn't a deciding factor?"

"Fair enough." Dean responded.

"Well, you DO have free time after dinner." he said. "Not much cleaning to do, and nothing really happens here at night. Usually." he continued.

"We can use THAT time for speech therapy lessons." he reasoned.

"Plus, any free time we might find ourselves having out of nowhere, for whatever reason." he then added.

"We'll start as soon as we can." he told her.

"Do you need to use some of your time to prep for your show, by the way?" he then asked.

He nodded.

"More than sure." he told her.

"So you have trouble hearing without your headphones." he went on. "Everyone has their issues." he reasoned.

"As long as you're willing to put in the effort and time, I'm willing to do the same." he assured her further.

"Just let me know when you'd like to start."

Dean just smiled.

"I do." he said.

"As a matter of fact, you're looking at them." he told her.

"I've been around for... a while." he admitted. "But you can SEE why. You can tell why I would have longevity." he went on.

"In the past, I was a speech therapist. Still retain that training and knowledge." he continued.

"I'd be more than happy to help you."

Dean thought about it for a moment, and then nodded.

"All right." he said.

"How will you be communicating with the audience?" he then asked.

"Signing all the time will surely be awkward." he continued.

"Or do you incorporate pantomime in your act or something?" he asked further.

"I merely ask because... well, you seem to be rather frustrated with your particular little speech impediment." he then added.

Dean nodded in response.

"Very well." he said.

"Is there anything I can do to help you prepare for the show?" he asked.

"Stage set up, supplies, anything else?" he asked further.

"End of the month is pretty short notice, but I should be able to help with whatever you may need if I start now." he then reasoned.

"Ah, yes, that needs to be updated." Dean remembered.

"It's at the end of the month." he told her.

"So in about 2 and a half weeks." he said further.

"If I didn't get someone in the next week or so, I would have omitted it from the flyer entirely." he went on.

"But I'll need to update the flyers now." he reasoned.

"How would you like to be credited?" he asked.

Dean was silent as Desiree said and did what she did, before chuckling.

"Perfect!" he stated.

"Especially seeing as the children are not wise in the ways of the world." he told her.

"They'll truly be amazed, astounded, mystified, and entertained." he went on.

"Then it's settled!" he then announced.

"Thank you so much, Desiree!"