Morgan’s heart stopped, as her hands began to tremble. She was hearing her father’s voice for the first time. It was something she had never dreamed she would ever get to experience. He had died long ago, when she was just a young girl, and here she was as a grown woman hearing him whisper affirmations in her ear. A laugh escaped her, as she smiled and heavy drops of emotion fell out her eyes. She covered her mouth, in shock, as she closed her eyes.

“I will protect my girls till my dying day. I’ve never loved anyone like I love them, and I don’t entrust them with just anyone. Just the fact that I gave you the responsibility of taking them with you to protect for the night means you are family. There are niggas I’ve known for 20 years that I wouldn’t put in the same vicinity as my girls. They are my everything. Justine is the sun and Raven is the moon. That Morgan… baby girl is my youngest and she’s the whole damn universe. I’ll move heaven and earth for them. Thank you for what you did today.”

“Why is she crying, Daddy? Can she hear?” Eazy asked, impatiently.

Ethic nodded. “She can hear.” He had saved the voicemail from almost 10 years ago. He knew that after Benny Atkins’ death, that one day his daughters would need to hear how much he loved them. It had come in handy, just when Morgan needed those words the most.

Morgan was in a state of disbelief, as she removed the headphones and rushed into Ethic’s arms. She was so overwhelmed, so happy, so lucky and she couldn’t stop the joy from spilling from her. She had been motivated to do this because she wanted to feel normal. She wanted a boy to like her, but this was so much bigger than that. She had gotten to know a piece of her father just by hearing his voice, and it had touched her soul.

“You’ll come in for check-ups every month for the next six months or so, but this is a life time change. Do you want to try to speak?” Dr. Hamady asked.

Morgan shook her head. It was her greatest fear. Opening her mouth and revealing what her looks never did…her handicap. She had done it as a kid and had experienced a humiliation that had stuck with her all these years. She had taken years of therapy, speech and phonetics to teach her to mimic the lip and tongue movements of hearing people. She had memorized them all, but she never spoke in front of other people again. She was afraid of her own voice.