Summary: Virgil's 10 month old child Storm is the light of his life. But, as an anxious parent, Virgil does worry about milestones his baby reaches.
Also Virgil gives the vibe to raise a gender-neutral kid and of course he needs to have a child called Storm because it's Virgil.
Words: 1021
"Now... Let's see what the internet says about the 10 month mark..." Virgil had just returned from work so had changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed, beside him was his child Storm. Virgil was a single parent and so always worried about his little one and how they were doing in the big wide world - every month that was the anniversary of when they were born the father would scroll through blog posts and forums to keep track of what to look out for and expect. So far Storm was developing 'normally' but he wanted to make sure if they'd have any struggles in life that Virgil will give them the help as soon as possible.
Storm was more interested in their purple teething toy than anything else. It had just been a busy day at daycare and then an hour nap when Virgil first picked them up. Now they were playful and curious like they always were. "Right - you can crawl right Stormie?" Virgil asked Storm who looked up from their toy for a moment with a smile and a coo. They definitely could crawl as evidenced by the time the babysitter found them covered in snake droppings from their python exhibit. "You should be able to take steps while I hold you and stand up from a sitting position." Virgil said to himself again - picking his kid up and placing them on the floor ready for this experiment. "You want to stand for your Daddy?"
The infant tilted their head at their father and waved the toy. Virgil shuffled a bit further away. "Do you want to come to Daddy?" He asked, still without a response. He mentally noted down that he hadn't seen Storm stand from a sitting position before and moved on.
Storm finally seemed invested in the activity when Virgil helped them stand as they dropped the toy and smiled at their father. "Good little snuggle bug..." Virgil whispered, remembering how much he cringed when using cheesy nicknames when his baby was a newborn, but now they seemed to be part of his everyday vocabulary. The father held his child's adorable little hands and slowly brought the hands closer - and with that Storm took a few steps. "Wow! Well done nugget! Look at you!" Storm screamed in excitement at the congratulations and got lots of cuddles while sat on the floor with their father.
But after a few minutes the task still needed to be complete. "Pincer grasp..." He whispered to himself, thinking about something small but not dangerous for Storm to practice holding. There was one thing that sure motivated his angel to show their skills - food.
Virgil carried Storm downstairs and placed them in their spider high chair, getting a handful of cereal from the cupboard. "Want a snack sweetie?" The father cooed and kissed his baby's cheek, placing the bits of cereal at opposite ends of the small table. Storm seemed determined to eat all the bits and screamed when a piece fell off the high chair - and they were using the pincer grasp. Virgil felt so proud of his child as he watched them. Nothing else mattered but them.
When Storm ate everything they giggled and reached out for Virgil to hold them again - it was their favourite place to sit and Virgil's favourite place to put his little one. For a while Virgil just walked in circles with his baby and kissed them all over, remembering every moment that lead the introverted Virgil to where he was today with a perfect little offspring. Storm may not have a mother or another father yet but they seemed happy anyway with Virgil.
"I can't wait until you can speak..." Virgil laughed to himself, tears almost in his eyes as his baby looked up at him. He wondered what Storm's first word would be, maybe something normal like 'Dad' or 'food'. But they were already at the mimicking phase as they should be (evidenced by Storm hissing at one of Virgil's friends as an interaction - it was weird). It felt like one day Virgil was placed alone with a newborn and a load of worries and now his little family member had their own personality and traits. The father wanted to see his child as an amazing adult, whoever they ended up being, but at the same time he just wanted to keep his little baby in his arms forever. Time was a weird concept for Virgil to understand.
Storm began to get fussy with just being held, they mumbled and screeched and grabbed towards the pile of toys in the living room. This was the issue of a teething baby of course - they always needed something to chew on. But all of Storms 'Uncles' were happy to help supply for the little cutie as well as babysit and entertain when Virgil had work. But right now none of Virgil's friends were in the house - it was just Virgil with his favourite person.
"Don't worry about the blog posts Stormie..." Virgil began, smiling at his child on the floor who seemed invested into the teddy bear they were trying to eat. "I will always be proud of you whatever you do. Because I love you unconditionally. That's a big word so you don't have to worry about what that means..."
Storm babbled in response to their father's caring words, giggling and kicking their legs. It was silence after that as Virgil watched Storm play... And then the baby looked at him again. "What?"
The infant smiled wide and dropped their toy, instead wanting to grab onto the sofa. Virgil fully expected his little one to start chewing on the sofa but they had different ideas as their legs stilled. Eventually their feet grasped onto the ground and they slowly began to stand. And when they stood they smiled at their father triumphantly. "Wow! You're such a big cookie aren't you!"
Cuddles never stopped that day. Storm just stayed in Virgil's arms until bedtime feeling very accomplished they hit the 10 month mark.