~~O~~
"Say Ada. A-----da." Thranduil pronounced as he bounced his daughter on his knee.
Baby Mirien looked at him blankly before a smile split across her face. She giggled as she watched his father.
"Come on, Mirien. Ada. Say it. Say Ada." The Elvenking continued to encourage.
Mirialia sighed from the other side of the couch where she was reading a letter from Eowyn. She shook her head at her persistent husband. He had been trying to get their six month old to speak for the past few days, but to no avail.
"A--------da." Thranduil attempted again. Mirien just looked at him dumbly, not giving into her father's request.
"Give it up, my love. Our daughter will speak when she is ready, do not force her." Mirialia assured him as her eyes went back to the letter.
"But I want her to talk." Thranduil whined.
"Hmm. I thought you said both of you are quiet thinkers? That you only talk when you need to..." his wife said.
"You're right. But at this moment, I want to hear her first word." Thranduil replied.
Mirialia laughed softly. "You just want her first word to be 'Ada'. Otherwise you wouldn't care so much."
Thranduil did not even bother to deny it, pointedly ignoring his wife and he once again pronounced the word to his daughter. By now, Mirien had grown bored of her father's speaking lesson and wriggled on his lap, trying to get down.
With a sigh, Thranduil placed his daughter on the floor and watched as she immediately crawled over to her toys.
"My love, I'm sure Mirien is not going to be mute for the rest of her life." Mirialia said, much to her amusement.
~~O~~
The king hadn't given up trying to teach his daughter to speak and continued throughout the next few days. Mirialia didn't know how Mirien had the patience to sit there and listen to her father annunciate to her over and over again.
She had come down to the dining hall for breakfast that morning to find Mirien in her high chair and Thranduil pointing to objects around the room, stating their names. Their baby looked bored out of her little mind.
"Thranduil, if you tell her too many things at once she will get confused. Give her time, she will speak soon enough."
Her husband sighed deeply and crossed his arms as he watched Mirien bash her spoon against the side of her high chair.
"Why won't she speak though? When Legolas was her age, you couldn't get him to stop talking. She needs to learn the basics, so she can develop properly."
"Well I'm happy with the quiet right now, my love. Do you know how noisy Mirien will be when she starts to speak? Besides, her starting to talk only shows that she is growing up too fast and I'm trying to be blissfully unaware of that." Mirialia smiled as she ran a hand over the soft blonde hair at the top of Mirien's head.
"You're right." Thranduil muttered.
~~O~~
Mercifully, the king had left Mirien alone for the following week; accepting the fact that she would talk when the time was right. Mirien, on the other hand, seemed glad that her father no longer continued her speaking lesson and just let her play, sleep and eat to her heart's content.
The family went to the courtyard, and Mirialia decided to pick some fresh flowers for their bedroom and for Mirien's nursery. Placing Mirien in her own chair, which Calen exclusively made for her, the queen started to choose between the flowers in front of her.
Dutifully following his wife, Thranduil was distracted when a voice called out to him.
"Father."
Thranduil turned around to see Legolas walking towards them.
"Legolas," the king greeted him with a smile. "Any news from the first party we sent to Ithilien?"
"None so far." the prince turned to Mirien. "How's my little sister?" He let her small fingers wrapped around his hand as she giggled.
"Our little Mirien is doing fantastic," Mirialia smiled. "I've heard that Gimli will accompany you to Ithilien, is that right Legolas?"
"Yes." the prince confirmed. "It was really nice of him. Gimli is the kindest dwarf I have ever met."
Mirialia laughed sweetly. "Oh yes, definitely he is."
"Dwarf!" came a voice from behind them, quickly killing the conversation.
The three adults paused and slowly turned to look at Mirien, who was smiling happily in her chair. There was silence for a moment, before Mirien once again put her new found voice to the test.
"Dwarf!" the little baby said even louder.
More silence came in.
"This is not funny!" Thranduil almost shouted out in disbelief. "Of all the words to say, that is the one she picks out!"
Mirialia stood and stared at her innocent little girl, not quite believing she had actually spoken the word.
Thranduil turned to Legolas with a glare, who was quick to defend himself.
"I'm sorry, Father! How was I to know she would say it?" he asked as he held his hands up in defence.
"This is unbelievable! For weeks I have been trying to get her to speak and nothing. One minute with you and she has learned one word that is not even Elvish!" Thranduil huffed.
"Well, at least she is starting out right." Legolas chuckled.
Mirialia couldn't hold back anymore and began laughing. She moved over to the chair and picked up a proud looking Mirien, as she carried her.
"Well my dearest baby, this will be a great story to tell you when you are older! Wait until we write in the baby book what your first word was!"
"Dwarf!" Mirien cried again happily, clapping her hands together.
Thranduil pinched the bridge of her nose as he shook his head.
"She will be saying that for weeks now." he sighed.
Legolas couldn't help himself and moved over to give Mirien a soft kiss on her cheek.
"If you want Father, I can go through some more words with her. Prepare her for what lies ahead." he joked.
"Don't you dare, I don't want her memorizing dwarf names and nuzzling at Gimli's beard." the Elvenking threatened.
The queen and Legolas just laughed as Mirien was placed back into the chair, still testing out her first word.
Thranduil smiled and brushed his fingers gently on his daughter's cheek.
"Welcome to the world of speech, you wonderful little elfling..."
~~O~~