A/N: An extremely huge thank you to my wonderful, amazing, fabulous, insert: praise-worthy word here beta, Grace (graciebutterfliedgsr). She continues to deal with/put up with me, and I am ever so thankful.
A/N2: Other than the facts that my muse was (and still is) being annoying and RL is crazy/stressful, the MAIN reason I haven't posted in a while is that I signed up for the Geek Fiction Summer Blockbuster Ficathon a while back. So all/most of my free time has been dedicated to this story. The prompt I received was, "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!" from the 1969 movie, Midnight Cowboy (it ranks #27 on AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes). Needless to say, I wasn't born then…and had absolutely no idea what the movie was about when I rented it at Blockbusters. The back mentions one of the characters being a hustler, and my innocent mind (don't laugh!) thought pick-pocketing scam type things… yeah, well, no. It was male prostitution hustling. Never fear, I did not go that route in this story, and actually if you have read a few things by me then you shouldn't be too surprised at the direction I went. I'm not entirely sure I like the fic (and have been so stressed out about it), but I hope that you find some enjoyment in it. Also special thanks to jenstog, sara-cupcaked, gilgrissomlover, flo1804, and butterflied4life for the kind & encouraging words regarding this fic.
A/N3: Two interesting facts I learned about the movie while researching (information thanks to IMDB): (1) The film was rated "X" upon its original release in 1969, but the unrestricted use of that rating by pornographic filmmakers caused the rating to quickly become associated with hardcore sex films. Because of the stigma that developed around the "X" rating in the ratings system's early years, many theaters refused to run "X" films and many newspapers would not run ads for them. The film was given a new "R" rating in 1971, without having anything changed or removed. (2) It is the only X-rated film ever to win a Best Picture Oscar.
Disclaimer: Own CSI? Negative. Just playing with the characters! As for Midnight Cowboy, I claim no ownership of it as well.
One Week Earlier…
"Abby. Hey, baby girl!" Mommy was sitting on the floor, a few feet away, and smiling. "Do you want to walk? Come on. Come on, sweet angel… want to walk to Mommy?" she questioned, stretching out her arms and motioning me forward.
I turned my head slightly to look at her and considered what she had asked. Currently, I was standing and leaning against the coffee table for support while I happily banged away on it, enjoying the sounds that I was producing. Did I want to stop playing and attempt to walk? It wasn't as if I was entirely certain what walking was, though I believed it had something to do with moving my legs and my feet.
Hmmm… why would I want to walk when I was having so much fun crawling? Plus, I liked being carried everywhere. I loved being held by Mommy because she knew how to hold me best, and she always smelled really nice. When Daddy held me, well, there was nothing quite like being held in my daddy's arms. I always felt safe and protected.
Mommy was still patiently waiting for me to take a step towards her, but I didn't feel like today was the day. Besides, I enjoyed using the furniture as my personal walker and being bounced up and down in Mommy's arms.
She moved forward as I plopped down on the carpet, relinquishing my hold on the table. "It's okay, sweetie. You don't have to walk today." She tickled my belly, causing me to giggle. "Let's see, do you want to dance with Mommy?" she asked, moving to the stereo system to turn on the power.
Yeah, yeah! Dancing with Mommy was so much fun! She had great taste in music.
The music started, and I grinned when I heard the opening bars of the song. Mommy held me in her arms, bouncing me on her hips and swinging me in the air, up and down. I was laughing as Mommy sang that girls just wanted to have fun. I loved hearing her sing, especially at night when she sang me to sleep. She had such a pretty voice, and I knew that Daddy thought so, too.
Speaking of Daddy, I noticed him come in while Mommy was spinning me around. He put his finger to his mouth as if to tell me to not let Mommy know he was home already. I smiled; I was having fun.
When the song finally ended, Mommy stopped for a moment to catch her breath and that was when she saw Daddy. After turning the sound down, she walked over to greet him.
Daddy took me in his arms and gave me a kiss while he asked, "How are my girls?"
"We're good. We missed you," she murmured before giving him a kiss hello.
They did that a lot. Kiss, I mean.
"I'm happy to be back home. I especially enjoyed watching you dance," he added with a grin.
"Yeah, um… Abby and I were just having some fun girl time."
I think Mommy was a bit embarrassed at being caught, though I wasn't sure why she would be since I thought that she was a great dancer.
Daddy kissed Mommy again. "Watching you dance is quite… stimulating. Your long legs…"
"Shhh. Not in front of Abby!" she quickly interrupted him. Then she made some mention of a continuation of dancing later, and I was excited at the prospect of dancing with Mommy again until she spoke the words, "Mommy and Daddy alone time." I didn't quite understand what the words meant –I mean, what exactly did they do in their alone time? Play Candy Land? All I really knew was that Daddy was always extremely happy when Mommy said that particular phrase.
I also knew that I was almost a year old! That was a big deal, too. Mommy was excited about my first birthday –well, for the most part she was. I heard her crying last night. Daddy had asked her what was wrong, and she said she was upset that her baby was growing up. I wanted to tell her that I would always be her little baby, but I haven't quite figured out the whole talking thing yet.
Now, Mommy was mentioning something about food and was asking Daddy if he would feed me while she cooked. I loved it when Daddy fed me because he would make funny noises like a train or an airplane, complete with the respective actions.
xxx
Three Days Earlier…
I was walking. Okay, well, technically I wasn't really walking since Mommy was holding me up. Still, it was entertaining.
Daddy was sitting on the floor, smiling at me. Mommy guided me to him, and he scooped me up in his arms, giving me a loud, smacking kiss and tickling me with his beard.
Mommy sat back on the floor and held out her arms for me. Daddy now held me up, supporting me while I exercised my legs up and down, laughing all the while.
"Want to walk to Mommy? Walk to Mommy, Abby?" Mommy questioned in a hopeful voice.
I looked back at Daddy and then turned my head toward Mommy.
Ah! Walking! It seemed like that word was being said all the time now. However, I wasn't sure if I wanted to. I mean, what if I fell? That would not be good, though I knew that Mommy and Daddy would do their best to not let me get hurt.
"Honey," Daddy interjected. "She's not even one yet. The average age for first steps is from twelve to fourteen months. She'll walk when she's ready. Isn't that right, Abby?" He turned me around in his arms and hugged me to his chest.
"Yeah, I know. However, it doesn't hurt to encourage her though, does it?" Mommy sighed out loud. "Anyway, Greg called me today."
"Oh, really? What did he want?" Daddy inquired.
"He was calling to invite Abby to go see the new animated movie called Kung Fu Panda. You know how Greg is… he's just like a kid himself. He said he wanted to see the movie and needed someone younger to go with…though to be quite honest I think he would see it by himself. Still, I thought that maybe he could take Abby tomorrow while I did a bit of last-minute shopping for her birthday."
"That sounds fine to me," Daddy said. "I'm sure Abby will enjoy spending time with her Uncle Greg."
xxx
Abby's Big Day. Mid-Morning…
When Daddy came in, I was already standing up in my crib, waiting patiently for the house to awaken. I let out a quick squeal of delight when I saw him coming into my room.
"Good morning, baby girl," he whispered as he picked me up. "Guess what today is? It's your birthday. That's right; you're officially a one-year-old today."
Daddy made his way to the corner of my room where the rocking chair was located and sat down, holding me in his arms. I stood facing him with my hands on his shoulders and played with his beard and his hair while he talked. "Although you're getting older, I want you to know that I will always think of you as my little girl. My sweet little angel bug. And I'll always want to protect you and keep you safe… even when you're all grown-up."
I babbled away happily, enjoying the deep, rich sound of my daddy's voice.
He took my hand that was playing with his beard and kissed it. "Mommy will be up soon; she's still sleeping. You know, she loves you more than anything, just like I love you. After your Mom had me falling in love with her, I didn't think that it could be possible to love someone else as much as her. Then you came along and everything changed again…"
Daddy was still talking softly to me when Mommy walked in a few minutes later.
"There's my birthday girl. Happy birthday, baby!" She kissed Daddy hello before picking me up and cuddling me in her arms. "I love you, Abby." Gazing down at Daddy, she smiled and asked, "Were you having a nice chat with your daughter?"
"Yes. I was telling her how she would always be our little girl no matter how old she gets," he said, standing up behind Mommy and wrapping an arm around her, holding both of us close to him.
"True. Today, though, is a day for celebration." Mommy continued, "I think I'll go ahead and give Abby a bath and get her ready for the day before I get dressed myself and start all the party preparation."
Less than an hour later, I was dressed in pink shorts and a white t-shirt that proclaimed I was, "Cute as a Button." Mommy had placed a pink butterfly clip in my hair, and I was wearing white sandals that had pink and purple butterflies stitched onto them. It was one of my favorite outfits!
Mommy then spent the next couple hours getting the house "just perfect" before the guests arrived while Daddy and I hung out together.
xxx
Early-Afternoon…
The doorbell rang and Daddy and I went to answer it. Uncle Greg was at the door, holding a huge (but badly wrapped) present for me.
"Hey, Grissom," he said before setting down the present inside the entryway and holding out his arms for me. "Hey, hey birthday princess! How's my girl? Want to practice some kung fu moves?" Greg asked, making me laugh. Uncle Greg was crazy, and I loved it. He and I would have crawling races when he baby-sat me, and I always won!
While still holding me, he talked to Daddy and said a quick, "Hello," to Mommy, who was still decorating the house. In the living room, there were balloons, streamers and a "Happy Birthday" banner, all in my favorite colors of pink and purple.
Before I knew it, Uncle Brass and Uncle Nick along with Uncle Warrick and Aunt Catherine all arrived for my party. Everyone came bearing gifts for me. Mommy and Daddy had explained what having a birthday meant: presents, cake (I was very excited about that), and lots of fun for me.
Aunt Catherine was playing with me when Mommy announced that it was time for the birthday cake. Mommy made the cake and decorated it herself. It was beautiful! The cake was chocolate (I love all things chocolate just like my mommy) and had white frosting. There were candy-coated flowers and butterflies on the cake, and Mommy had written in pink icing, "Happy Birthday, Abby."
Daddy took me in his arms, and Uncle Greg operated the video camera (Mommy had said she wanted to document the entire day).
Mommy placed a candle in the shape of the number one on my birthday cake and explained, "I'm going to light the candle, and we're going to start singing. Your job is to try to blow out the candle. Ready?"
I nodded. Everyone began singing to me, and I clapped my hands in excitement. Who doesn't enjoy being the center of attention?
When the song ended, Daddy whispered in my ear, "Blow out the candle," leaning slightly forward to help me.
I blew as hard as I could, but it took a couple of tries before the flame finally died out. Everyone cheered for me, and I was happy.
At the head of the table, Daddy sat down with me in his arms. Mommy cut the cake, and Aunt Catherine helped in passing out the slices.
Aunt Catherine gave me the first piece, and when I saw it, my eyes widened. Sugar overload! It looked so yummy that I couldn't resist the temptation that it presented. I reached out with my hand and grabbed a fistful of cake and frosting and shoved it in my face. Crumbs fell, and it smeared all over my face. I didn't care though; it tasted delicious!
Everyone started laughing when they saw what I had done. I just giggled while Uncle Nick took a picture of me.
Mommy wiped off the excess crumbs I still had on my face and wiped my hand clean, too. "Why don't you let Daddy feed you the rest of your cake, sweetie?"
After cake was finished and dishes were put in the sink, we all moved into the living room. It was finally time to open my presents! Yeah!
I got lots and lots of cool things. Aunt Catherine bought me some sparkly jewelry and other girlie things. She told me she was happy to have another little girl to spoil since Lindsey was practically all grown-up. Lindsey baby-sat me sometimes, and she always took good care of me.
Uncle Greg bought me a huge stuffed panda (it was almost twice as big as me)! He said he got it for me because I liked the pandas in the movie he took me to see the other day. Uncles Nick, Warrick, and Brass all bought me a really, really awesome playhouse. I squealed when I saw it because it looked just like a princess castle!
"Guys!" Mommy exclaimed, shaking her head a little bit. "You're all spoiling her!"
"I don't think so, Sara. It's her first birthday, after all… it kind of requires a big present," Uncle Nick declared.
"Besides, we all adore Abby and love being able to buy her things," Uncle Brass added.
"Okay, okay. But still… thank you so much. I'm sure Abby will love playing in her own little castle," Mommy said.
Lastly, I opened the presents from Mommy and Daddy. It took me a while to go through all of them (I heard Uncle Warrick commenting to Uncle Nick about who was the real culprit in spoiling me…I didn't quite understand what he meant though). I got lots of pretty clothes, dolls, and books. I loved having Mommy and Daddy read to me at night, so I was excited for new books. Also, I received a lot of things from a baby called Einstein. I never met him, but he sure had great taste in toys!
After I opened my last present, Mommy and Aunt Catherine picked up all the paper that was scattered on the floor while Daddy and the rest of the boys decided to put together my playhouse.
When Mommy and Aunt Catherine came back, Daddy had already taken out all the box's contents and was trying to figure out how to build my princess castle.
"Maybe you should read the instructions?" Mommy suggested helpfully.
"Read instructions?" Uncle Nick scoffed. "Real men do not –under any circumstances –read instructions, Sara. You should know that…"
"Oh, oh. Sorry, didn't mean to offend your masculinity, Nick," Mommy teased while Aunt Catherine laughed. I laughed, too. The boys were so funny!
I was on the floor, playing with my new toys and watching everyone. Mommy was on the couch with Aunt Catherine, and they were talking. All the boys, including Daddy, were putting together my present. Everyone was focused on something, and I decided that this was it. This was the moment; I knew I wanted to try to walk, especially now when no one was looking or expecting it.
It would be a fun surprise.
However, it was also very scary… my first steps!
I crawled to the inn table next to me and pulled myself up to a standing position. No one had noticed that I had moved.
Now, though, was the tough part –letting go. I could do it, I told myself. I was a one-year-old! I was a big girl now, Mommy had told me so.
Deep breath, and let go!
Okay, okay! I stood still until I found my balance. Mentally, I congratulated myself. I carefully stepped forward. Once, then twice. Oooh, a little wobbly, but I managed to keep myself vertical. Go me!
I continued my unsteady walk toward Mommy with my arms flailing in the air. Giddy, I realized that I was really doing it! However, no one was watching me –that part wasn't quite right! I wanted to shout, "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!"
With my exuberant giggles, everyone finally noticed me, and the room erupted into chaos and shrieks, startling me so much that I stopped my forward progression toward Mommy.
Everyone had jumped up and began talking at once. Mommy yelled to Daddy to get the video camera, but he had already done so and handed it to Uncle Brass. Daddy moved to where Mommy was now sitting on the floor, and together they beckoned me to start walking again.
"Come here, angel," Daddy crooned, arms held out, while Mommy had her arms opened for me as well.
Continuing on my journey with cheers and applause, I made my way into my Mommy and Daddy's welcoming arms.
I had done it!
xxx
Evening…
After everyone had left, Mommy gave me a bath and dressed me in my pajamas while Daddy cleaned up the living room and placed all my gifts in my room.
Mommy carried me into my bedroom and found one of my new books. Sitting down in the rocking chair, she settled me onto her lap and opened the book and began reading to me. While she was finishing the story, Daddy came in and stood at the doorway. Together, they put me into my crib and tucked me in for the night.
"Good night, angel bug," Daddy whispered, leaning down to give me a kiss. I smiled up at them and thought about how much I loved my mommy and daddy. They were the best.
I was tired, and my eyes began to droop close. "Good night, sweetheart. Love you," Mommy said before she and Daddy quietly backed out of my room, turning the bright light off.
When they were gone, my eyes slowly opened again and I stared up at the stars that were glowing on my ceiling, thinking about the day's events. Everything had been so much fun. Birthdays were great, and I couldn't wait for my next one!
The coolest part of the entire day was taking my first steps. I had figured out that "firsts" were an important thing, but I didn't realize how big of a deal walking was. If everyone got that excited over me taking a few steps, I wondered how Mommy and Daddy would react when I spoke for the first time?
I giggled out loud, and falling asleep, I contemplated what my very first word should be…
A/N4: Does anyone else find the humor/irony in the fact that I took a line from an "X-rated" movie and turned into this family-friendly fic? Anyway... thanks so much for reading, and comments are loved/adored/craved by me!