All American Dad

First Steps

 It was two months after Lillian's first birthday. Steve still couldn't believe how old his baby girl was.

"Da, dad, dad, da," Lilly babbled as she sat on the floor, playing with the stuffed hawk Uncle Clint had given her for her birthday. Steve chuckled at her babbling. Ever since Lily had heard Nat call Steve dad, Lily had loved to say dad. She seemed to realize it would get Steve's attention, and there was nothing she loved more than Steve's attention.

Lily had now been crawling for a good few months, and began to figure out where she could get in trouble.

Steve had been dusting in the kitchen, when he heard a noise and whipped around. Lillian had discovered his shield and was gently patting it with her hands.

"No, Lillian!" he exclaimed as he ran over to grab his daughter.

"Dad!" she yelled as he picked her up. She reached out with her arms to try and grab the shield.

"No, Lily. That's my shield. Not a toy!" Steve chuckled.

"Shield." Lily repeated. (Although it sounded more like sealed.) Steve's eyes got wide at just how smart his little girl had become. He set Lily down and she continued to reach for the shield. He picked it up and placed the toy giraffe Aunt Nat had given her in its place. She grabbed the toy and happily chewed it. Steve smiled and went back to his dusting, still keeping an eye on his daughter.

"Whoa, sweetie!" Clint reached out to catch Lily from falling. She let out a small grunt as he picked her up.

"Daaaaa!" Lily yelled, looking around the room. Steve emerged from his bedroom, smiling at his little girl.

"What is it, baby girl?" he asked Lily with a smile. Lily smiled in return.

"Someone thinks she can walk." Clint told Steve.

Steve chuckled. "Yeah, she's been pulling herself up and walking around while holding onto the furniture."

"Any success?"

"Nope." Steve smiled. "She usually just ends up falling on her behind." Clint laughed.

"Well, that's a start I guess." Clint said. Steve nodded and walked over to hold his daughter. He reached out his arms and Lillian quickly reached for him. She smiled once she was wrapped in her daddy's arms, and laid her head down on his shoulder. Steve smiled and kissed her little head.

"Uncle Clint is being mean to you again, isn't he?" Steve asked the little girl, who gurgled a small reply.

"Hey! Uncle Clint was just making sure she didn't get hurt." Clint smiled at Lily. "Although I don't think she'll need me for that with you around." Steve smiled at Lily. She looked up and smiled back.

"Well, back up is always helpful." Steve said, still smiling at Lily, who was now laying on Steve's shoulder again. "So are naps." Clint and Steve chuckled as Steve went to put Lily to bed.

"Come on, Lillian. Just try some of the banana!" Steve insisted.

"Mm nm!" Lily tried to show her disaproval of the blob her dad was holding in front of her. She shoved her hands out at the spoon, frowning.

"See, Lily. It tastes good!" Steve said as he took a bite. Lily just looked at Steve, but decided to be agreeable. She opened her mouth and let her dad feed her the banana. "Good girl!" Steve clapped his hands. Lily smiled and copied her dad's actions, banana drooling down her chin. Steve laughed and continued to feed her pieces of the fruit. By the time Lillian had ate it all, she had banana everywhere. Steve grabbed a wipe and carefully began to clean her face and hands. Then he picked her up to change her out of her banana covered dress.