Abed's Childhood

Falling Behind

Malina walked down the sidewalk with Abed strapped into the stroller. Everything they needed was within walking distance from their house, so running errands was always very convenient. A nice man held the door for her as she entered the local grocery store. The man waved to Abed, but of course, Abed wasn't looking. Malina felt embarrassed, "Sorry about that, thanks for getting the door" she said kindly and continued getting her groceries. Once she had checked out, she was heading towards the exit. That is until she caught a glimpse of a sign hanging on a bulletin board with other advertisements. "Mom and Baby Playgroup" the sign read, as she looked at the times and dates of the meetings. "Every Monday 3-4" it said. Malina wrote down the address and took a phone number strip. 

The next Monday, Malina prepared for the playgroup. Although, she had this sinking feeling in her gut that she would become jealous of the other parents. Malina had felt that besides speaking, Abed was behind on many common skills such as walking and communicating body language. 

Many different mom's stepped out of their cars, holding baby carriers. Malina walked up, unsure she wanted to do this, but she picked Abed up and folded the stroller. Once she got inside, the room had mats and a bunch of different toys, as well as equipment for babies to climb on. "Hello! You must be new, I'm Sasha, the supervisor, what's your name?" A friendly woman came up to Malina. "Uh, my name's Malina," she said nervously. "Good to have you here Malina, and what might this little guys name be" Sasha said smiling and tickling Abed's toes. "Abed" Malina replied. "How adorable", Sasha smiled, "You can have a seat on the floor with the other mom's over there" She said to Malina while pointing to a small circle of people. Malina nodded and headed over there. "Ladies, we have a new mother joining our group today" Sasha said and looked at Malina. "Oh, uh, my name's Malina and this is Abed" She said while bringing Abed to sit on her lap. The rest of the mom's introduced themselves. 

After a while of seeing the other mom's playing with their children, Malina couldn't help but notice that most of the babies were walking already. She went around and asked them how old their babies were, her concern growing when she heard that most were Abed's age, some even younger. One of the mothers began talking to Malina more, "How far is Abed in walking?" she asked Malina. "He's already a year and a half old and the most he's done is stand for a few seconds" Malina replied. "Hmm, I'm not sure, Tyler here has been standing after his first birthday, he just recently started walking. I say, maybe Abed is just a little late, give him some more time, he should grow into it" She said. The rest of the moms began to pack up their things and head home. The woman Malina was talking with began to do the same. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?" Malina asked. "Violet", the woman replied, and Malina packed up her things. 

<3

So, not much happening yet in this chapter, but Malina is starting to figure out that Abed isn't really a normal baby. In the next chapter there will be some more drama. Again, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote if you like the story!