To Build A Home

Chaper 26- Back Home

   Four months had passed since Krolia had left. It was October again.
   Keith was one year old today.
   While he was still quiet little for his age, he was close to walking. He could stand on his own for a few moments before he plopped back down on his butt and tried again.
   Steven had been going to work only a couple of days each week, and had started bringing Keith with him a month and a half ago.
   Though Keith was, in general, tolerant of his father's coworkers, he never liked being with them if his father wasn't in the same area.
   That was one of the easier tasks of bringing Keith into the real world.
   First, Keith had to get all of his shots, vaccinations, and a birth certificate. That was not a simple task.
   Once Keith was registered in the system, Steven took him to a doctor, where he got his vaccines and a mandatory blood test to prove that his father was in fact his father.
   Not long after that, Steven broke the news to his coworkers, explaining his absences and apologizing for not saying something sooner.
   But perhaps the hardest task of all, is celebrating the first birthday of his child without Krolia.
   Steven missed her more than anything.
   He loved her.
   Both he and Keith desperately wanted her back on Earth, but only Steven knew that would not happen. Not for a while.
   Yesterday, Steven had bought a tiny cake for him to share with his son on this very special day.
   It was just the two of them, and seeing as Steven was the only one who would actually really eat it, the small size of the dessert was not a problem.
Keith could eat solid foods, but he was quite picky. Plus, he had only been eating food for two months now, and was still teething. It certainly wasn't a painless process, and he often found himself chewing, or more so gnawing at a toy.
His father had bought him a special toy just for teething, and Keith enjoyed it very much.
Recently, Steven decided to move the crib into the nursery. It was where it was supposed to be, but something about how Krolia had spent countless hours comforting Keith in there, gave it a special feel to it, one enough for Steven to want to go against Krolia's wishes of having their son sleep in their room.
Steven had been wandering the downstairs of the house, doing nothing in particular, when a small noise came from the upstairs rooms.
Keith had woken up, and he was in need of attention.
Upon opening the door to the nursery, Steven saw his son looking directly at him. Keith was waiting for his father to comfort him.
The boy smiled the second he saw his father. "Aaaahhhaaahh!" His small fingers were wrapped around the guard rails as he pulled himself to his feet and began reaching for his father with one of his hands the second he entered the child's view.
   "You're up early." He told the boy with a kind smile. "Today is a very special day. Do you know why...?" Steven asked the question with such enthusiasm, he was answered by random noises and babbles. None of it was a real answer, but it was enough. "Today, Keith, is your first birthday. Three hundred and sixty four point two four days ago, your mother brought your into this world." He paused, lifting the child from the crib and into his arms. "Now, isn't that special. Today, you are a year old. Happy birthday, Keith."
Keith giggled with pure delight, adding a totally random mix of consonant-vowel combinations to add to his father's words.
"Yeah. You know how special today is..." Taking his son to the changing table, Steven began removing the used diaper and yesterday's clothing from the boy. "Today is all about you."
"Aaaahhh....!" Keith giggled again, placing his fingers in his mouth and lightly chewing on them.
"Yes it is...! Today is Keith's special day, and to make this day even better, Daddy was extra nice and brought you home your very own—"
"Mammaa...."
Steven was taken aback by his child's sudden response. "Mama? No... Sadly I couldn't get Mama to come home..." He wasn't surprised the boy was asking for his mother, but what did surprise him was the uncanny timing the boy had. Keith didn't know what his father was saying, so there wasn't a way that he could've meant it in any way other than him just simply wanting his mother. However, when the child had said the word 'Mama', it did make Steven feel terribly sorry. It pained him that Krolia was not here, and more so that the child was without their favorite person.
   Tilting his head back to look at his surroundings, Keith continued to chew on his fingers. "Aahh..." He looked to his father and then began looking around again. "Mama..."
   "I'm sorry, Keith... Mama will be home soon... Don't worry..." He worked in silence, trying to keep a smile as he finished changing his son.
   Tiny amounts of saliva had begun to accumulate on the child's fingertips, enough for his father to act on this rather unsanitary habit. Keith smiled adorably as his father cleaned off his fingers. He would have put his hand back in his mouth, except his father handed him his toy, the plastic-like one for teething. Happy to bite down on almost anything, Keith graciously took the object from his father, placed it inside his little mouth and began gnawing on the edges.
"You and I are going to have fun today. It's your birthday, and I promise to make you the happiest boy alive."
In response to Steven's kindness, Keith babbled happily to his father, trying to mimic a conversation.
It was rather adorable how Keith did everything he saw his father do. He was copying, but because he wanted to learn it all.
Steven brought the boy downstairs and placed him in his high chair, bringing the cake over and setting it in front of the boy. "You've never had sugar before, so this should be fun."
Keith smiled joyfully, babbling about nothing. He had, in the past few days, started talking to his father in random babbles and noises. He wanted to have real conversations, but he only knew four words; Mama, blue, up, and his interesting way if saying little.
Of course, little and blue were used as one thing, 'Little Blue', but his father liked to give him the extra knowledge.
His pronunciation of the word blue had improved. The 'l' consonant was still hard, and so was 't'. However, the original 'iih boo' had become "wihw bwoo'.
Keith was learning quite quickly, but he still couldn't address his father.
By far, Keith's favorite word was 'up'. Although the 'p' sound was barely recognizable, it was there, one just had to listen.
While Keith talked to himself, Steven cut a small piece of cake for himself and split it with his son.
Forks and spoons were not ever given to Keith, as he never once used one correctly. The boy instead used his hands.
Steven did feed his son, but Keith much preferred doing it himself.
Inspecting the cake, by hands on learning, Keith brought a small amount to his lips. The second the sweet food touched is tongue, Keith quickly ate all that he was given.
He loved it.
   It was tasty and different from anything he had eaten before. Keith absolutely adored it.
   "Just like your mother..." Steven reminisced on how Krolia had quite the liking for sweet flavored foods. That love for sugar seemed to have been passed down to Keith.
   The boy flexed his fingers before reaching out with a tiny hand, grabbing at the cake.
   "No, no..." sliding the dessert out of his son's reach, Steven shook his head slowly, keeping the kind smile on his face. "You have to take it slow. Too much sugar and you'll get hyper. Too much frosting and you could be sick."
   Keith didn't like the food being pushed away from him, and he made sure his father knew his opinion on the matter. The child whimpered and whined, reaching for the new food he had just tried.
Steven ruffled the soft hair on his son's head with a gentle hand. "You can have some later, but for now, you need real food."
This was the exact opposite of what Keith wanted. He didn't want the 'real food'. He wanted this cake stuff. It was much nicer. When his father placed the 'real' food in front of him, he pouted instantly. Keith put on his 'grumpy face' and stared at his father.
"Come on... I know you're hungry." Steven waited for Keith to eat the food he was given, but the child never did.
Keith fixed his eyes on the cake. That's what he wanted. Not nasty vegetables. Those are gross. He has not ever like them. Cake on the other hand, is sweet, and he loves it.
"Well, you'll be hungry eventually." Steven picked up the child and took him to the couch. "Seeing as you won't eat, I might as well let you open a gift. Isn't that fun?"
Keith, being presented with a small item coved with colorful paper, became quite happy. This was new. This was something he had never seen before. "Aaahh....!" He grasped the item in his hands, inspecting it, and trying to figure out what it was.
"That, Keith, is called a present. It's yours." The addition of the phrase, 'it's yours', was a way for him to give the child permission to fiddle with the object. He had taught Keith not to touch was was not his, nor anything that wasn't given to him.
   Keith caught on quite well given his age. Despite only being a year old, he understood the importance of keeping his hands to himself. He was a good listener and followed his father's 'orders', doing as he was told to the best of his abilities.
   Steven watched his son patiently as the child fiddled with the paper. "Do ya' want a little help...?" He asked, offering to provide some aid to the struggling child.
Keith reacted to his father's words by immediately pulling the object away from him and holding it close.
With a sigh, the father watched the child fail in opening the gift multiple times. Steven was rather surprised to see Keith suddenly stop fidgeting.
Keith looked up to his father, holding the item out to him. "Aaahhh...."
"You want me to open it?"
The boy nodded, babbling to his father, wanting his help.
Steven slowly brought his hands to the gift, ready to take it when Keith said something rather odd.
"Aaahh... Dada...!"
He looked to his son in confusion. Did he hear him correctly? Or had he just imagined it?
Again, Keith pushed the gift towards his father. "Dada...!"
   "You... You want my help?"
   Smiling just a tiny bit, Keith mumbled a few random sounds. "Dada...!" He repeated, looking at his father pleadingly.
   "Alright..." cautiously, he took the gift from the boy. "Dada will help ya' out." As Steven carefully and slowly pulled back the wrapping paper from one end of the toy, he pondered over how Keith had come the decide to call his father 'Dada'. Keith was quite able to make a 'y' sound. For a year, he had called himself 'Daddy'. Not 'Dada'. This being said, he instantly fell in love with the name he had been given.
The child outstretched his arms, grabbing at the gift. "Aaah...! Dada...!" He flexed his little fingers, slowly beginning to whine. "Daaadaaaa....!!"
"I hear ya'..." Steven placed the somewhat opened gift in the child's lap, motioning for the boy to open it further.
Keith slid his fingers inside the tiny hole in the paper, instantly lighting up with joy and excitement when his fingers touched something soft. "Eeeaaahhh...!!" Copying what his father had done, Keith pulled at the paper until he could remove the gift from its packaging.
"Do you like it...?" He asked the boy, waiting for a response of some sort.
Squealing in excitement, Keith hugged the gift tightly to his chest.
Though small, the gift was enough for the boy. Keith had been given a small plush toy, one not much bigger than his hands. The toy itself was hard and round, yet hollow, and meant for teething. With a black and white spotted dog 'holding' the top of the circular plastic.
Without skipping a beat, Keith placed the toy in his mouth and began chewing on it, both hand clasped tightly around the ends.
"You certainly do like tastin' things, don't ya'...?"
The infant cooed, his sounds muffled by the object in his mouth. Keith slowly took the toy from his mouth, smiled and climbed into his father's lap. He leaned back, looking up at his father and smiled with great joy. "Dada...."
"Yeah...? Dada is listenin'."
Keith looked around the room, suddenly starting to cry. "Mama..."
It didn't matter how many days Krolia had been away, how happy the child was at the time, or how much attention the father was giving the boy, if Keith wanted his mother, he wanted his mother.
Krolia had been absent from his life for four months now, but every second of every day, Keith looked and longed for her.
Steven soothed his son as much as he could, calmly telling him that he wasn't alone, and that his mother would return home soon.
After a good while filled with cuddles and attention, Keith settled down and resumed his chewing of the toy.
The reality was that Keith wanted his mother, and he would never truly be happy unless she was there. However, this would not be possible.
Krolia had an important job to do. No matter how much pain and regret it brought her. Nor how lonely and abandoned Keith felt.
She had to be away.
But hopefully one day soon, she would return home.