After doing a bit research, telling Yuki's age throughout the story should be fairly simple.
Japan's seasons:
Spring: March – May
Summer: June – August
Fall/Autumn: September – November
Winter: December – February
This chapter is set in Summer, so Yuki is now about six months. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 10: Teething and Crawling
Summer is just barely beginning, but things are getting loud at the temple.
"Waaaahhhh!"
Urd and Skuld are gone for the day, which means Belldandy and Keiichi are the only ones in the house with the baby.
"Yuki? What's the matter?" Belldandy questioned as she picked up Yuki, the baby wailing in a high pitch.
The goddess tried rubbing her back, but Yuki wouldn't quit.
'What on earth could be wrong? She's normally such a happy child.' Belldandy thought worriedly as she made her way to Keiichi's room.
Yuki continued wailing as they came into the room, waking Keiichi from his nap.
"Huh? What's the noise about?" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
"Something's wrong with Yuki, Keiichi. She's crying and I don't know why." Belldandy explained as she looked at the baby in her arms.
"Hmmm…hand her over to me Belldandy."
The goddess placed Yuki into Keiichi's arms, watching as he closely observed the babe.
"I see the problem, look at this."
Belldandy squinted as Keiichi pointed at Yuki's mouth, spotting a bit of white on her bottom gums.
"She's just starting to cut teeth Belldandy, her new teeth are just hurting." Keiichi laughed as he placed his finger in Yuki's mouth.
"Thank goodness." Belldandy sighed, rubbing Yuki's head.
"All she needs is a teething ring, a cold one preferably."
"I'll get it right away."
Yuki soon had a pink teething ring in her mouth, her relief showing plainly on her face.
"She'll be like this for a while…but it'll pass." Keiichi smiled as he patted the baby's head.
Belldandy nodded as she watched Yuki lean into her uncle's touch, gnawing happily on her teething ring.
"Yuki should start eating baby food now that her teeth are coming in, shouldn't she Keiichi?"
"Most pediatricians say that a baby is able to have solids at four to six months, so yeah."
The goddess picked up Yuki and cradled her close, pressing a light kiss to her head.
"Perhaps we should have her try some this afternoon for her lunch."
"Sounds good."
Yuki just suckled on her ring, completely unaware of the change she'd be facing in a few hours. After her breakfast, Belldandy and Keiichi were getting ready to go to the market.
"Don't worry Yuki, we'll be back soon. Meanwhile, Banpei will look after you." Keiichi told her as he placed her next to the robot.
"Mr. Banpei, here's a list of what Yuki needs done. Take good care of her." Belldandy smiled as she gave the robot a piece of paper.
Banpei waved good-bye as the couple sped off, Yuki looking at the robot curiously. Yuki cooed as Banpei picked her up cautiously, this being the first time he'd had actual physical contact with the baby since she'd moved in.
'Subject is calm, needs to go inside to prevent heat stroke.' Banpei computed as he walked back inside, Yuki in tow.
He placed Yuki on one of the pillows around the table, the baby looking at him curiously. Banpei glanced at the list he had, computing the information.
'Subject requires: a cool temperature, stimulation, and nap.'
Banpei returned his gaze to the baby, noticing her slight distress. He quickly analyzed Yuki's temp, realizing she was a bit warmer than she should be.
'Solution: Ice.'
The robot then toddled over to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack. He set it on the pillow next to Yuki before covering it with a blanket, placing the baby on top. Banpei checked her again; she was still a tad warm.
'Solution: Air conditioning.'
He turned on the fan and checked once more; Yuki was now comfortable. It was a little time before she started fussing, bored out of her little mind. Banpei quickly pressed a button on his arm. His chest flipped open and a few colorful lights appeared in between the two. The lights danced in front of Yuki's eyes, crossing each other and creating new colors. Yuki cooed in awe, reaching out to touch the lights.
'Analysis: Subject is thoroughly entertained.'
The baby then held up her arms, asking to be picked up. Banpei did so without a fuss, cradling her close. Yuki then pressed her hands against the cool metal of Banpei's face, curious of the smooth and shiny texture. Finding she liked it, Yuki pressed a kiss to the robot's cheek. The robot seemed to freeze at the contact, looking at the smiling baby. Taking his marker, he quickly drew a smile on his face before taking Yuki to her crib. As soon as she was settled in, he started playing lullaby music from his speakers. It only took a few moments for Yuki to close her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep. Banpei stroked her head tenderly before leaving, closing the door behind him.
A couple hours later…
"Do you think she'll enjoy the baby food Keiichi?"
"Of course Belldandy! Besides, Yuki can't be bottle-fed forever."
As the two made their way up the temple steps, Banpei was already there to greet them.
"Hello Mr. Banpei, was Yuki a good girl while we were away?" Belldandy asked as she opened the front door.
Banpei nodded before pressing a finger to his mouth.
"Is Yuki sleeping right now?" Keiichi inquired as he put up his helmet.
The robot nodded again before returning to his guard duties. Keiichi walked into Urd's room, ready to wake up the babe. But as soon as he saw her, he couldn't bring himself to.
'She's so cute when she's sleeping…I can't wake her up.'
He shook his head for a second before reaching into the crib and picking up Yuki.
"All right Yuki…Uncle Keiichi says it's time to wake up." He smiled, patting the baby's back.
Yuki scrunched up her face as she tapped Keiichi's chin with her fist, refusing to open her eyes.
"Come on now…I bet your little tummy is running on empty."
The baby opened her eyes sleepily, yawning cutely as she looked up at her uncle.
"Good girl…and today we're going to try something new."
Yuki cooed curiously as Keiichi brought her to the table. The baby stared at the open jar of orange mush on the table in front of her, a tiny spoon sticking out.
"Okay Yuki, open up." Belldandy smiled as she took the spoon and brought it to Yuki's mouth.
The baby turned her head away; she wasn't going to let Belldandy stick that in her mouth!
"Please Yuki, it's good for you."
Yuki grunted as she kept turning her head away from the spoon.
"Oh dear…seems she won't eat it." Belldandy sighed sadly.
"Let's see…whenever a baby refuses food, you're supposed to make a game of it." Keiichi stated as he took the spoon.
"A game?"
"Yep, watch this."
Keiichi started making airplane noises, making the spoon zoom in the air. Yuki watched curiously as her uncle continued his act.
"Look Yuki! An airplane, but it's running low on fuel! It needs a nice hanger to settle in, but where can we find one?"
Yuki did nothing, just staring at him questioningly.
"Well…that worked for Megumi when she was a baby." Keiichi sighed as he put the spoon back in the jar.
"What are you guys doing?" Skuld asked as she popped up beside Belldandy.
"We're trying to give Yuki some baby food, but she won't take it." Explained her sister as she tried again.
Yuki blew a raspberry at the spoon before turning away again.
"That is a problem…" Skuld muttered as Yuki stubbornly glared at the jar.
"Yuki's not eating huh?" Urd smiled as she came into the room.
The baby immediately babbled as she held up her arms, eyes sparkling brightly.
"Hello Yuki, did you miss me?" Urd cooed as she rubbed noses with the baby.
Yuki cooed quietly as she snuggled into Urd. The elder goddess then grabbed the spoon and held the orange mush to Yuki's mouth.
"Come on Yuki, you need to eat." Urd smiled.
Yuki turned her head away, refusing the mush.
"Just one bite, for me please?"
The baby looked up at Urd; since it was her mother asking, maybe she could take one bite. Yuki opened her mouth and allowed Urd to feed her the baby mush. The babe swallowed and licked her lips for a moment…only to eagerly open her mouth for more.
"See? Not so bad, huh Yuki?" Urd chuckled as she continued feeding Yuki.
As soon as the baby ate the whole jar, Yuki was passed to Keiichi to burp. Unfortunately, some of the mush refused to stay down.
"Ew…" Keiichi moaned as he felt his shoulder grow damp.
"Well…better out than in I guess." Urd smirked as she took Yuki.
Just as she placed the baby down to play, Yuki rolled on her stomach and started crawling for the first time. Yuki made her way over to Skuld, cooing quietly as she pulled herself into her lap. The baby started pulling on the youngest goddess's hair playfully, babbling a bit in amusement.
"She's growing up so fast." Urd sighed as she watched her adoptive daughter mess around with her youngest sister.
"Yes…but she has a loving family to watch her grow up into a wonderful person." Belldandy added as she observed Skuld playing tug-of-war gently with the baby.
'This motherhood business can be quite confusing; some days I wish she'd stay this way forever, others I hope she grows to be a responsible adult.' Urd thought as Yuki removed herself from Skuld before crawling back to Urd.
As the elder norn picked up the baby, she smiled as one last thought entered her mind.
'No matter what happens, Yuki is always going to be my daughter.'
Dragonlover71491: What you guys think? Next chapter is going to be hilarious, guaranteed :) See you later!