Team8s and Counting

74. Getting Bladey to Talk

As Thread continued to receive care in the hospital, it got to the point where it became the new normal for the throuple to take turns heading up to the hospital to visit their daughter. For the rest of the team, they were slowly getting back to the rhythm of their everyday lives. It wasn't exactly the same, of course, but their routines have slowly started to come into place.

Bladey continued to remain oblivious to Threads' whole situation. At just barely over a year old, Bladey was wanting to explore her world more and more. However, Saw and Gaty we're still trying to get the little girl to start becoming a little more vocal. While Bladey could say some very basic words such as "Mama" and "no", the two wanted to expand her vocabulary.

The little girl was lucky enough to have two wonderful mothers who also happened to be preschool teachers. Saw and Gaty, although more specifically Saw, have dealt with several kids who have a hard time talking for various reasons. Throughout their years of teaching, they have discovered several tricks to get their little ones to start talking more in class, impressing the parents of many of the kids.

One afternoon, after the two of them got home from work and had the house mostly to themselves, other than Needle staying home to watch Dimey, they decided to put their preschool teacher skills to the test.

The two of them gathered several toys on the floor for Bladey to play with, trying to see if they could get any words out of her. Once they got Bladey on the floor, Saw and Gaty got down to her level, seeing what their little girl wanted to play with.

Gaty took a deep breath, "Alright, here goes nothing."

Saw glanced down at Bladey, "hopefully we can get something out of her."

After staring at the wide array of toys, Bladey eventually grabbed a blue ball, and waved it up in the air for her parents to see. Saw and Gaty smiled at each other; this was their chance!

"Yes Bladey!" Saw squealed, "that's a Ball! A ball, Bladey!"

When Bladey didn't give them a response, Gaty only encouraged her some more, "you heard mama! That's a ball, Bladey!"

Bladey looked up at Gaty and Saw, "mama!"

Saw shook her head, "you're confusing her, Gaty," she whispered.

Gaty nodded, realizing her mistake. "You're right, sorry Bladey," she said, her tone gentle as she redirected her focus to their daughter.

Saw took a deep breath, trying to keep the atmosphere light and encouraging. "Bladey, can you say 'ball'?" she prompted, her voice soft yet firm.

Bladey blinked up at her parents, her expression thoughtful as she processed their words. After a moment of hesitation, she attempted to mimic the sounds, her tiny voice barely above a whisper. "Bah," she said, her eyes shining with determination.

Gaty and Saw gasped, before smiles began to creep on their faces.

"That's right Bladey," Saw said, "that's a ballllllll, Bladey, a balllllll," as Saw tried to emphasize her "l"'s.

"Bah!" Bladey responded again.

Gaty chuckled, "we'll work on it, sweetie."

However, after getting out some more toys and letting Bladey explore, she still wasn't getting over the "bah" sound, and not pronouncing any other words.

"Uh," Gaty said, "can you say anything else!"

"It hasn't even been an hour, Gates," Saw said, "give her a bit more time. I remember it took one of my students weeks to say anything other than 'mommy' when I first starting trying to expand her vocabulary."

Gaty took a deep breath, "you're better than me at this, Saw," Gaty said, "I could never deal with over a dozen kids under the age of four daily like you can."

Eventually, the team started making their way home, one by one, and at around 7 oclock, it was time for dinner.

Gaty and Saw grabbed Bladey and placed her in her high chair, while Needle did the same for Dimey. Dinner was simple; just some chicken, green beans, and some roasted potatoes, but Pin, like always, did an amazing job on the meal.

"Thanks for this Pin," Gaty said, "after everything, you still manage to make such wonderful dinners for the family!"

Pin cracked a little smile, "it's nothing fancy, but I'm glad your enjoying it nonetheless!"

The team began to dive in to their meal, as Saw and Needle we're also helping feed their owh kids.

"How is Thread?" Coiny asked.

Pin smiled, as she was the one who went and visited her that day, "she's been doing wonderful! Dr. Type has been working on her balance, and she's been improving by the day."

"That's wonderful to hear guys," Barf Bag said, "balance is quite a hard skill to get back after such an injury, I'm glad to hear that it's only getting better!"

Donut turned to Saw and Gaty, "has Bladey been keeping you busy?"

Gaty nodded, "we've been trying to get her to talk! We made a little progress with the word Ball, but we still have a long ways to go!"

"Good luck with that you guys," Needle said with a smile, "Thread was able to pick up words quickly once she got the hang of it, hopefully Bladey will too!"

"Thread?" a tiny voice spoke. Everyone immediately turned their heads in shock to find little Bladey with a smile on her face.

Saw had a stunned look on her face, "what did you just say Bladey?"

"Thread!" she said again.

"Awwwww," the rest of the team said in unison.

"Looks like our training did work, huh Gaty," Saw said.

"Sometimes the best way to get them to speak is to use words we use a lot," Gaty replied, "and boy has Thread's name been getting tossed around in our conversations."

"Thread!" Bladey repeated.

"That's right," Needle said, "your big cousin Thread is still away in the hospital right now, but I hope she will be back from the hospital soon, and you two can start to play again!"

Bladey let out a little giggle, seemingly excited to be reunited with her cousin again.

With Bladey's first words under their belts, Saw and Gaty couldn't have been prouder of their little girl. They knew that encouraging Bladey to communicate was crucial for her development, serving as a reminder of the importance of every milestone.

................................................

Hehehe, see what I did with the title! Yeah, it sounded way funnier in my head, lol. This chapter was VERY long overdue, it's been a while since I gave Bladey the spotlight and our little Sawty child definitely deserved it. Also, you don't even know how many times I called Bladey "Thread" when I was writing this, I guess I have to remember that she's not the baby anymore!

Also, need to get this out here, but the wait for TPOT 11 is killing me rn. TPOT episodes are fuel for this book, so hopefully we get it soon (I don't want them to rush the meetup episode!). Anyway, that's enough from me, see you in the next chapter!

- Sunny