A Chain of Daisies

Steps

Seymour sat across from his wife on the living room carpet. The radio hummed in the background, and two-year-old Lily babbled along to Bob Dylan, Brenda Lee, and Van Morrison. Between Audrey's legs sat Nate: around one and a half years old with thin, light brown hair and dark green eyes. A wide grin — not unlike his mother's — spread across his face and he clapped his still chubby baby hands together.

For a moment, Audrey and Seymour had been worried about his progress. Unlike his sister — who had been strolling across the living room by ten months — Nate wasn't much of a mover. He preferred to stay curled up on someone's lap, or laid out on a blanket to play with Lily. Much to the couple's relief, he had started pulling himself up on things and could take a few tentative steps if he had something to hold on to. Seymour and Audrey began taking some time to work with him on his apparent interest in walking during the evening. Lily was very encouraging towards her little brother and eagerly showed him how it was done.

Nate watched his dancing sister with fascination as she twirled around and around. Eventually, she got dizzy and tumbled to the ground. The group laughed as Lily rolled over to Seymour, the static from the carpet making her hair stand on end. Seymour scooped Lily up, tickling her. She laughed madly, rolling around in his lap.

"You're a silly, silly girl, Lily," Seymour said, giving her a big kiss on the cheek.

"You're sillier Daddy," Lily said, breathless from laughing.

"Sure, sure," Seymour wrapped Lily up in a hug. On the other side of the room, Nate had stood up. He held onto Audrey with one hand and waved at his dad with the other. Lily jumped up and skipped across the living room.

"You gotta do it like dis, Nate," Lily exaggeratedly demonstrated walking.

"That was very good, Lily," Audrey chuckled. She let go of Nate and gently settled him by resting a hand on his waist. Nate looked down at his mother's smiling face and reached out for it.

"Do you wanna say hi to Daddy?" Audrey pointed at Seymour, who waved encouragingly at Nate. Nate waved back, and then went back to booping Audrey on the nose.

"Nate!" Seymour called, "Can you come say hello?"

"I'll say hello to you, Daddy," Lily said matter of factly.

"I know you will," Seymour replied, "I wanna see if Nate will,"

Audrey pointed at Seymour again, encouraging Nate to move in his direction.

"Daddy?" Nate waved his hand at Seymour again. Audrey nodded animatedly and Seymour beamed with pride. Nate had started talking about six months ago. Every time Nate would say "Daddy" — or anything really — a giant grin would break out across Seymour's face. He was the one most often found trying to get Nate to say one thing or another.

"Daddy!" Nate said again.

"Yep!" Audrey said, "Can you go ova' to him?"

Nate looked at Seymour and then up at Audrey expectantly.

"No," Audrey laughed, "You gotta' do it by yourself!"

Audrey let go of Nate's waist, letting him stand on his own. He wobbled a little bit and put a foot out to steady himself. Seymour smiled and held his arms out to Nate. Nate looked around, trying to find something to hang onto. Seeing nothing within his reach, he tentatively placed one foot in front of the other. Both Seymour and Audrey held their breath. Even Lily looked up from her toys as Nate took yet another step forward. He took another step, and another, each one more confident than the last. Audrey and Seymour could hardly contain their excitement; they had waited so long for this.

After a few more minutes, Nate had crossed the room. There had been a few missteps and rest stops, but he made it! He tumbled into Seymour's waiting arms, a big smile across his face. He was immediately showered with kisses and congratulations. Though he seemed a little bit confused with the commotion, he went along with it.

Eventually, cookies were brought down from the kitchen cupboard in celebration. The family spent the rest of the evening playing, singing along with the radio, and simply enjoying each other's company. Sooner or later, the two littles ones began to tucker out. Lily crawled into Seymour's lap, her eyes beginning to droop. Nate curled up in his mother's arms with his thumb in his mouth. Audrey closed her eyes and rested her chin atop Nate's little head. Seymour rocked Lily to the rhythm of the radio. Though both of the little ones could feel the love of their parents, they would never quite understand the magnitude of it. It filled the house like a giant warm cloud. In every corner, every nook, and every cranny, they could feel it. It was always there, and it would be there until the very end.