First Word

"Tina, love, I don't think you need to worry so much over this – he's perfectly normal."

But his wife just continued to pace the bedroom, gnawing on her lower lip and twirling her wand between her fingers nervously. "He's two and a half now, Newt – surely he should be talking by now? I mean, Phee and Lin were talking by the time they turned two, you know? They never stopped talking, but Leo..."

"Leo's just a bit quieter," Newt tried to assure her. "He's always been quieter than the other two, perhaps because he's the youngest; I'm sure he'll be talking soon enough, just the same as his brother and sister. We just have to be patient."

"That's what Queenie said," She admitted half-heartedly, and she stopped pacing in favour of sitting on the bed beside him, clearly still anxious. "She said that Abel didn't talk even when Ruth did...but even he was able to say something by two and a half. Maybe we should take Leo to a Healer, just to be safe."

"Tina, I doubt he'll need a Healer," He disagreed. "He's just a late bloomer, as it were. In fact, he probably takes after me in that respect."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Yes; according to my mother, I didn't say my first word until I was four."

"Newt – you're forty and you still barely talk!" Tina sighed, shaking her head; it was clear that he had not made her feel better in the slightest.

"Well...yes, that's true," Newt allowed, carefully placing a hand on her arm. "To be quite honest, I'm sure I said something before I was four – there was most likely no one around to hear it. But as for Leo, I honestly do think he'll be fine; he'll talk when he's ready, and all we can do in the meantime is be patient. It's not worth losing sleep over, love, I promise."

Tina's shoulders sunk as she deflated somewhat, though he knew by the look on her face that there were still lingering doubts. "Yeah, I guess so. It's just... He's so small for his age, so quiet, and I worry about him, Newt."

He understood where her panic was stemming from; he had been ten weeks premature, for one, and he knew that she was constantly fretting over whether or not it would have long-term negative effects. To add, their oldest two children had had no problem when it came to being vocal – in fact, all they ever seemed to do was chatter and squabble, much to their dismay.

Newt was sure, though, that their youngest would start talking sooner or later; perhaps Leo was just the type of child to wait until there was something worth saying, or even just wanting to wait until the right moment. It was already obvious that he was shy, hiding his face when strangers were around and almost-never leaving his mother's side when she was home; he could walk normally, he ate his meals and didn't seem to exhibit any other problems – no, he would be fine.

He has to be, Newt thought to himself as he got ready for bed, If only because Tina won't stop worrying over him otherwise.

"You know, Mummy, Dougal is my friend."

"Oh?"

"He's soft. I love him."

Newt chuckled as he prepared the pellets to feed the Mooncalves with; Tina just smiled to herself, watching as Dougal started to brush through their daughter's messy hair with his fingers. "I'm sure Dougal loves you too." Leo squirmed in her arms, eager to play with the Demiguise as well. "Alright, alright...but only for a little bit, and then you need a nap."

Leo looked positively thrilled as he made his way over to his sister and Dougal; Linnet reached out her arms for him, cooing affectionately. "Leo's my baby, Mummy," She informed Tina as she took hold of her brother's hands. "I'm going to look after him and play with him and rock him to sleep every night."