Tiny, baren feet slowly pat after one another against the polished wood floor. Carefully, they then overlap against the soft carpet with great effort.
"Ba, ba, geee!"
Quickly, she fell into my arms, enveloping her into a large embrace with an unstoppable grin.
"You did it, Jen! I'm so proud of you!"
It was only about two weeks since the news of Athanasia's birth, and two weeks until Jen's birthday. Yet, this little baby with soft swirls of caramel had finally taken her first full steps. Granted, it was more like half steps and a stumble, but steps nonetheless!
Internally, I had crossed one milestone off of the mini list I had made in my head. She had already started eating solids a while ago, had actually been standing by herself a week-ish ago for a full seven seconds before falling, now completing her first half-steps...
As she sat in my lap while trying to gnaw on my fingers, the realization had struck me. Jennette hasn't... spoken her first word yet, has she? She's attempted to speak half-words that resemble her usual babbles and squeals if anything—like 'butterfly' or 'Keeb' for Young Master Ijekiel—but nothing that greatly resembles a concrete word.
Perhaps it's my fault. When I worked in daycare, parents would often tell me how their child's first words were 'Mama' or 'Papa'. Sometimes couples would claim it's the opposite compared to their significant other, or occasionally a parent would say their child's first word was something abstract like 'Poopoo' and 'Water'. There was a time when a mother, embarrassingly, admitted that her daughter's first word was 'Shit'. She had divorced her husband by then though, and the toddler was happy with Mama One and Mama Two.
"Bwa?"
While staring off into thought, I lightly poked the almost-one-year-old's nose. Babies will try to imitate their guardian. It's how they learn most of their habits—how they speak, being one of the most telling. If possible, I'd like her first words to be something like 'Mama' or 'Papa'. However, I don't think I've been very consistent with my speech. Without either of her parents present, teaching her the significance of those words is rather difficult, too. The only words I can think of, at the top of my head, that I mention often around her is probably something like 'food' or 'bathroom'. If not those, her name is the most common. But, I don't think she's ever babbled anything close to those words.
Especially her own name.
"Jen," I call, setting her in front of me.
"Gee?"
"Can you say 'Jennette'?" I ask. The baby only stares up at me, puzzled. "Or, uh. Hm. Maybe 'Jen'?"
"Beh?"
... Close, yet not so close. Very similar to her usual babbles.
"Maybe 'Food'?"
"Buu!"
"'Foo-ood'."
"Ba hu?"
Ahaha. She said it completely differently than the one before, so I guess that's a no-go, too. I scoop my hands under her armpits and pick her up. After shifting my arms to position her weight against my chest, I let out a small laugh.
"Well, it's fine. Jen can take all the time she needs."
I can feel her snuggle up to my chest with a small yawn. I suppose she's tired. With a soft turn, I take a few steps toward the crib and carefully place her down. She seems to have grabbed ahold of the ribbon on my collar, however; grappling tightly. Gently, I place my fingers inbetween hers to pry her grip open, and she eventually changes her target to them instead. Jennette's little face is contorted with stress between her eyebrows and a frown.
YOU ARE READING
A Lovely Princess and her Faithful Servant
Fanfiction'Who Made Me A Princess' was a popular manhwa and novel about a girl named Athanasia who had reincarnated into the world of the novel, 'A Lovely Princess'. In A Lovely Princess, Athanasia was unable to gain the affections of her tyrant father, the e...
