"Come on, Rosie. Say 'mama'. You can do it. Just once." Regina sat on the floor next to her ever-babbling daughter, doing as she had been for weeks. It was a matter of pride, getting her to say 'mama' before she said 'papa'.
Robin, from his vantage point in the kitchen, was not about to be outdone. "That's cheating!" he called, then finished preparing her bottle. He came back into the room and joined his girls on the floor.
"Now my little Rose, say 'papa'." He pointed to his chest. "Who am I? Papa. Paaa-paaa. Come on love, you know you want to." Big blue eyes with flecks of brown around the pupil looked at the two of them, then focused on the bottle. She reached out her chubby hands for it, and Robin acquiesced.
She was nearly eight months old, and while she babbled constantly, she had yet to clearly say a definable word. She sang along to everything, and giggled her little head off when you tickled her feet, but their names eluded her. Robin was beginning to wonder if she hadn't inherited her mother's stubbornness, and was purposely not saying it specifically because they wanted it so badly. The clock in the hall chimed three, and Rose put down her bottle.
"Nee-nee!" She looked around and clapped her hands together. "Nee-nee."
Regina and Robin looked at one another, confused. "She's never done that before," Regina said. "Maybe she's trying to say Regina?"
Robin shrugged. "Nobody calls you that around her, though. Henry calls you mom, and I call you every affectionate nickname under the sun." Regina grinned and gave him a quick kiss.
"Nee-nee! Nee nee nee nee nee nee…" Rose looked toward the front door and rolled onto her tummy, trying to crawl though she'd yet to master the task. More often than not she ended up going backwards.
The front door opened and Henry entered, dropping his backpack by the front door and taking off his shoes before running up the stairs.
"I'm home!" He went straight for his baby sister and picked her up to plant a kiss on her cheek. She laughed and patted his face, then planted a raspberry on his cheek.
"Nee-nee!
And that was how Henry won the 'whose name will Rose say first' contest.