To Build A Home

Chapter 22- A Lesson In Mobility

Keith had made a terrible mistake. At least in his eyes it was a mistake. He had shown his first signs of being able to crawl. His mother and father wanted to test his skills, and encourage him to learn how to do it on his own.
Steven sat cross legged on the floor, back resting on the arm of the couch. He placed Keith in front of him, close enough that he could pick up the child, but far enough away that Keith wouldn't be able to get back to him without putting in a tiny bit of effort.
"Alright..." Krolia took a seat across from Steven, staying close to Keith, but just out of his arms reach. "Come here. Come to Mama." She outstretched her arms, to her son. "Come one. You can do it." She told him encouragingly.
"Mmmaaaammaaa...!" Keith was happy to see her sitting in front of him, but he couldn't get to her. There was at least a whole two feet between them. And for Keith, a twenty nine week old infant, that was too much distance.
"Go on Keith..." Steven tapped the boy's back gently with his palms, accidentally pushing the boy forward and inch or two.
"Come on. Show Mama what you can do." She patted her knees, hoping to encourage him to move.
Keith looked to her longingly. He just wanted to be in her arms. That's all he ever wanted. Not on some floor where she was too far away. So far that he couldn't even touch her.
"Look..!" The mother held up his blue, lion plush, her tone was ecstatic and she sounded very excited. "You can cuddle Little Blue too...! You just have to crawl to Mama."
Keith started pouting. This wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want a challenge. He just wanted attention.
Krolia could tell he wasn't happy with this situation, but if she gave in, then it would teach him that this was proper behavior. On the other hand, she didn't want to make him cry. "Okay... Here's what we're going to do." Krolia scooted forward, cutting the distance between them in half. "Now. I know you can make this distance."
Keith tilted his head upwards, giving his mother one last chance to pick him up.
"You can do this, Keith." His father encouraged. "It's just one little reach. I promise you'll be fine."
After a bit of consideration, Keith reached out one arm, readying himself to crawl towards his mother.
"That's it...! You're so close...!" Again, she patted her knees in an attempt to get her son to move the few inches towards her.
Whether by choice and out of spite, or by pure accident, the child's arm, the one that had been holding him up, slipped out from underneath his body. With a smack, he met the ground, face down on the hardwood floor. He began crying as soon as he went down. Loud, screeching types of cries. Traumatized and in pain, Keith stayed still, crying on the floor.
"Oh... no...." Krolia pulled the child into her lap, kissing his face and his arms, rubbing his back and his cheeks, gently rocking him back and forth in an attempt to silence his cries. "Shhh... You're okay. You're not seriously injured. Just a little bump on your head is all..."
"I'll get a something to stop the swellin'." Steven said, getting to his feet and walking to the kitchen. Based on the way he sounded, he felt guilty. This was his idea. He was the one who made Krolia promise she wouldn't give into the child's fussing. But he didn't think the boy would've fallen flat on his face.
"Mama and Daddy are sorry. We should've listened to you. We shouldn't have pushed you so hard." She handed him his lion and waited for him to grab ahold of it before she let go, putting her hand back on his shoulder.
"He's not goin' to like this," Steven warned, placing a damp cloth on the boy's forehead. "It's cold, but it'll reduce the swellin' on his head."
He was right, the minute the cloth touched his head, Keith squirmed in his mother's arms.
"I'm sorry Keith. Mama is so sorry."
Keith continued crying and squirming until he felt something odd touch his cheek. A strange, water-like droplet. But it wasn't from the wet cloth.
"Whoa... Krolia...." Steven placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're not crying... Are you...?"
She shook her head side to side, but she wasn't being truthful.
"He's goin' to be fine. I promise. He just slipped."
"I know..." taking a deep breath, she kissed her son's hand gently. "But I hate it when he get hurt. Especially like that... I could've prevented it."
Steven kisses her forehead and took the child into his own arms. "It was a complete accident. If anyone is at fault, it's me."
Krolia would've responded if it weren't for Keith making a few random and loud noises.
   He had stopped crying, he just wanted real attention. Real cuddles. Not just to be held, but a real, loving cuddle.
"Okay, Keith. Daddy hears ya'..." Steven gave her an apologetic glance before looking down at the boy and smiling. "Told ya' you were fine. Just a little bruise on your forehead."
   Krolia let out a deep sigh, practically falling onto her back as she did so. "I hate being a mother...! I'm constantly overreacting to the simplest of situations....!"
   "Your not overreactin', Darlin'... You're being a mom. If you didn't react to things the way you did, I'd be worried."
   "You're just saying that to make me feel less guilty..."
   Steven looked to her, shaking his head. "I really hope you're not as stubborn as your Mama." He told the boy in his arms. "Once Mama thinks of something, nothing can change her mind."
   "Mmmaaammaaa..." Keith repeated the word with a smile, his gaze slowly falling on his mother. He reached out to her, waiting for her attention.
"What?" Krolia sat up, changing the pitch of her voice to a much higher one.
   "I think he wants his mama..." Steven pointed out the obvious as he placed the boy in his mother's lap.
   Cooing and smiling, Keith nuzzled his mother, leaning on her, in a sense, asking for cuddles.
   "Even after you've slammed face down on the floor, a cuddle will always cheer you up. Won't it?"
   "Mmaaammaa...!" His tone was the paragon of happiness. No matter what happened, if Keith was in his mother's arms, everything was fine.
   Steven noticed the child seeking for something with his eyes. The boy didn't have a word for it, and thus relied on parental help and observation. It wasn't long before the father figured out what the child was looking for. "It's right here, Keith." Holding up the lion just in front of the child, he waited for recognition before he would hand it to him.
   In seconds, Keith was smiling at the toy. His toy.
   "Little Blue, is that what you want?" His mother asked him, taking the lion from the boy's father.
   Reaching out for it, Keith continued to smile, eventually babbling about his desire for his lion. "Iih boo...!"
   His parents both held back laughter, not knowing what that noise was.
   "Iih boo...!" Keith repeated, reaching out for the lion.
   "Little Blue...." Steven looked to Krolia, a proud smile on his lips. "He's sayin' Little Blue. Or at least tryin' to."
   "Iih boo...!" Again the infant repeated the jumble of sounds, waiting for his toy to be in his arms.
   "Yeah!" Krolia quickly handed the boy his lion, praising him with cuddles as she smiled fondly at him. "That's Little Blue. How did you manage to get that one?"
   "Still no Dada..."
   "Oh hush. Little Blue is hard to say. He's done a wonderful job."
   Keith put the ear of his lion in his mouth, somehow please by it's fuzzy texture.
   "He's learnin' a lot faster than I thought he would've, but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it..."
   "Keith is just special." Looking down to the child in her arms, she changed her pitch and tone to her motherly one, kind and loving, and full of energy. "Are you? Are you special?"
   "Aaaahhhh!"
   "Yes you are! You're very special!"