Have more cute bby Integra :D
"Wa! Wa! Wa!"
Integra- eight months old now- tugs at Walter's pant leg impetuously, pouting at him for not paying her any attention.
Walter sets down his dusting rag and crouches down to her level, smiling in a tired amusement.
"What is it, little miss?" He chuckles.
Integra grabs his nose, a serious expression on her round face.
"Walah."
"Hm? Are you trying to tell me something?"
The baby's tiny brow knits together in what surely must be the utmost concentration.
"Walah. Waldah. Wal-tah."
Walter blinks in surprise.
"Oh, little miss- are you trying to say my name?"
He is taken aback by this, unsure how this is supposed to make him feel.
Beyond the fact that Integra is learning to speak so precociously- her first attempt to speak is to call for him. Not daddy or papa. Integra is not asking for her father. She's asking for him.
For Walter.
Something that might be pride wells up in his chest. He gently takes Integra's small arm and pulls it away, and gives her a pat on the head.
"Yes, little miss. I'm Walter."
"Wal-tah! Wal-tah!" Integra shrieks gleefully, flailing her arms in an infantile attempt at clapping. She then darts off on all fours down the hallway at top speed.
"Now where are you going?" Walter laughs, getting up to follow after her.
Integra turns a corner, then suddenly stops. She falls backward onto her diapered bottom, enormous blue eyes transfixed on the locked door in front of her.
Walter's body turns to ice.
That was the door that led to the basement. To the dungeon where he was trapped…
"Wal-tah?"
Integra bangs on the door with a tiny hand, babbling a string of incoherent nonsense.
"We mustn't go down there, little miss," Walter scolds in a clipped tone, abruptly picking Integra up and carrying her away. "A monster lives down there."
Integra squirms and fusses indignantly, still fixated on the door.
"You don't need to meet him, little miss. That monster isn't worth your time, I assure you."
Walter takes Integra into the study and sets her down with a stuffed rabbit to occupy her while he cleans. The baby picks up on his soured mood, however, and completely ignores her bunny.
"Wal-tah?"
Are you mad at me? She seems to be asking.
"I'm not upset with you." Walter reassures her, rather halfheartedly. "Not with you."