"Jason. Remind me again why I'm doing this?" I asked my older brother as I got out of his car.
"Jordan, quit bitching. I really like Patty and she needs someone to look after her brother."
"So, I'm supposed to somehow entertain him while you go get laid?"
"Exactly. Besides, she says he's a fag, so you maybe you can get laid, too," he chuckled.
"Remind me again why I'm not supposed to hate you."
Jason grinned. "Because I'm the only brother you got."
Jason grabbed my neck in a headlock and ruffled my hair.
It was hard to stay mad at Jason. We were always close growing up. We grew up with a single mom who worked a lot, so I really relied on him for everything. Even now, we were still close and shared an apartment.
Jason is 28 years old. He was always very athletic. He has a nice muscular build and played hockey and baseball in high school. He's slightly taller than me at 6'1". We both have dark blond hair and blue eyes and it's very obvious when you look at us that we're brothers.
I'm 25 years old. I'm not at all athletic, but I have a nicely toned body from my regular workouts on the treadmill we have at home. I was a total nerd in high school, but I became a lot less socially awkward in my college years. That was mostly due to Dan. He was my boyfriend for three years, up until we graduated and he moved across the country.
We stepped up onto the porch and Jason rang the doorbell. Then Jason turned to me and said, "Oh, I forgot to mention that he's deaf."
My mouth fell open. Great. How am I supposed to communicate with him?
Patty opened the door and grinned. She was cute and athletic looking with long strawberry blond hair and sparkling green eyes. Exactly Jason's type.
"Hi, Jason," she said with a coy smile before turning to me. "You must be Jordan. Your brother's told me all about you."
"Hey, babe," Jason greeted her and then leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.
"Hi. It's nice to meet you," I offered.
"Come on in," Patty said.
Jason and I followed her inside and she gave us a quick tour of the small ranch house. We followed her down the hall into one of the two bedrooms, obviously her brother's bedroom. He was sitting at his laptop computer with his back to us. It looked like he was working on a web site. His monitor had a little mirror on top of it and when he saw us, he swiveled around in his chair.
"Kevin. This is Jason and Jordan," she told him, pointing to each of us in turn. She looked directly at him and signed our names while speaking.
Kevin held his hand up in a wave. He looked at me and gave me a bashful smile before looking back down.
Kevin's red hair looks like he just got out of bed. His beard looks like it could really use some shaping up, but at least it wasn't long and bushy. He's got a few extra pounds on him, but I wouldn't put him into the 'fat' category. His cheeks were a little red like he had been blushing. He has the same sparkling green eyes as his sister. I smiled to myself. This wasn't going to be so bad. He's very cute.
"Kevin can read lips, so just speak normally, directly to him, and he'll understand you," Patty said while moving her hands for Kevin.
Jason and I both nodded.
"Okay, I just need to finish getting ready and then we can go to dinner," Patty said while signing.
I thought it was really cool how she automatically moved her hands while she spoke.
"Jason?" she asked quietly, without signing this time. "Can you help me get a purse down from my closet?"
"Sure, babe," he grinned.
Jason followed Patty out of the room like a puppy dog, leaving me standing there in front of Kevin. I shoved my hands in my pockets and gave him an awkward smile.
"Um... So... What are you working on?" I asked him, nodding towards his laptop.
He got up and moved a chair next to his and motioned for me to sit. He had Dreamweaver open on his MacBook Pro and was working on a web design. I was really impressed with the design of the page.
"Wow," I said. "You're really good. Is that what you work on professionally?"
He nodded.
"I work as a developer, but I'm no good at design."
He smiled and nodded slowly. I'm sure he had guys like me where he worked. Tell me what to do and I can do it, but ask me to draw an icon and you'll get a stick figure in a box. And don't even think about asking me to come up with color schemes.
There was more awkward silence. I didn't know what to say. Or, uh, whatever.
"So... How old are you?" I asked.
He held up his fingers in a 2 and a 7.
"I'm 25," I said, holding up my fingers like he did.
He rolled his eyes at me, but he smiled, so I didn't feel completely stupid.
"Um... We learned the sign language alphabet in sixth grade. I don't remember a lot of it, but...."
I spelled out J-O-R-D-A-N with my fingers.
Kevin made a noise like a laugh and I turned red in embarrassment and dropped my hands into my lap.
He then made a hand motion like he wanted me to do it again.
I took a breath and spelled: J-O-R-D-A-
When I got to the "N", he reached out and moved my thumb into the correct place.
He grinned really big and I grinned back.
"Thanks," I said. "Can you show me the whole alphabet?" I asked.