Don

I felt bad for Rach, Poor Kid! Bob was kinda pushing her a little too hard.

"Hey Rach...it's Don." I said before picking her up, but she squirmed and continued to cry.

" how about some ice cream?" I offered, as Natalie, Dad, and Bob gave me glares. Rach's crying turned into sniffling.

"After you finish with Bob" Dad added quickly. He whispered to Bob, said Beep, and got the toy from him. Natalie followed suit. They both played with it a bit, causing my little sister annoyance.

"EEEE"

"Say Ba" Dad told her.

"EEEE!" she resumed wailing.

"Come on!Give her a break!" I snapped at Bob.

"We're not asking her to say confabulations, Don" Dad said. "Beep is within her range."

"Charlie didn't talk until he was like three" I reminded him over Rach's crying. I remember my parents worrying about that. Dad would try to prod words out of him.

"He's an exeption to the rule" Bob said gently and added. "Why don't you put Rachael down. I think we've pushed her enough"

"Damn right" I gently put Rach on the floor , gave her another toy and joined her. She soon calmed down.

"Hey Rach..." he sat next to her. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just wanna make things easier . Why don't we play?"

"Easier??" I had my doubts. He soon explained that he didn't want to push her to the point of dreading his visits.

"She's very possesive of her toys" Dad remarked.

"What qualifies you to teach her to talk anyway?" I demanded. I hated to see my sister unhappy.

"I don't claim to be" Bob explained. "This last excercise was mostly to teach her the need to vocalize what she wants, even if it's in monosyallables. As for talking, that's why I recommend a speech therapist." Rach's eyes were still kind of red, but she played calmly.

"Why don't we just focus on teaching her to vocalize for now?" Dad suggested. "You could suggest excersises for my wife and me to do."

"Well..." he had his doubts.

"We won't give her that toy unless she says beep" Natalie piped up.

Bob agreed,"Let's see how she progresses in the next two weeks"

Then, he played with her a little more. When he finally left, I asked Rach "Ready for your ice cream?"

Her smile was all the answer I needed. I put my sister on her high chair. As I took out the strawberry ice cream package, Dad came into the kitchen.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't interfere with the lessons, Don" he told me.

"He was pushing her too far." I explained. I wasn't going to let anyone treat my sister like that.

he began, as I got the ice cream scoop. " What you saw was a tantrum. Eventhough she can't talk, she is perfectly capable of asking for things. Nat and I have been a little lax on this, but that's gonna change. "

"she is?"

"When you least expect it, she's gonna say beep, but at the wrong time." He told me with such certainty. I served a generous portion of strawberry ice cream in a bowl, and took it to my sister.

Natalie put on the bib, looked at the portion and said to Rach "Looks like your brother gave you a very big portion, didn't he?" Knowing it was an indirect complaint, I ignored her and began to feed my sister.

It was great to see Rach happy!

After finishing, she jumped and squirmed in the high chair, demanding to be taken out. I complied.

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The next day, I tried to chat up a fellow agent, new to another team, but she seemed reluctant to respond.

"I've heard rumors" she began. I groaned inwardly, realizing that my commitment issues had become known. "That you've got a daughter, but pretend that she's your half sister."

"What??" I couldn't believe it. "She is my half sister. My father remarried. That happens ya know...Paul McCartney has a young daughter!" How could anyone believe this?

"People have seen you with her when she comes to the office and how you act." she poured herself some more coffee.

"That's because I help out my Dad" I insisted.

"I've gotta meet with my boss" she curtly left. Shaking my head, I got myself some coffee and did some thinking. I did see myself as a second father to Rach. Dad, when Rach was a newborn, asked me to be there for her, if something were to happen to him.

---------------------------------

That night, I went to see Dad and Rach. Natalie was working late. When I came in, they were on the floor; Dad tried to use that toy to get her to say 'beep'.

"AAAAAAEEEEEEEE!" she waved her arms in frustration.

"We both know that you can say it" Dad said firmly, and shook the toy, which made its sound. "No one is gonna give you anything on a silver platter. Say it."

"EEEEEEEEEE!" she started her pre tantrum whimper, and continued to wave her arms.

"Bee-eep" Dad repeated,and dangled the toy in front of her. Soon, her full tantrum came out.

"waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhee!"

"Tantrums don't work with me." he shrugged. "I guess that's the disadvantage of being the youngest."

"Dad come on!" I protested. "I thought you learned your lesson with Charlie when it came to the talking thing!"

"That's apples and oranges, Don" Dad countered over the baby's crying. "I'm teaching her the concept of asking for things, properly"

Standing up, Rach cried some more, . Aw Man!

"She's just a baby!" I picked my sister up and distracted her with the puppy. Dad glowered at me.

"Don...you're not helping!" he scolded, took the puppy away, and again got the beeping toy to make noise. Her agitation grew.. "EEp?

"Aaaaaaah!" she wailed. Her eyes were red.

"Not quite" Dad told her drily.

"Hold it!" I said. "Tormenting her isn't gonna help!" Dad was taking the tough love thing a little too far.

"Don...don't you realize that she started crying harder, the moment she heard your voice??" he sighed.

"What? no!"

"I just want her to say Beep or something close to it" he continued, yet again dangling the toy, after another minute or two, he stopped, . Carefully, he hid it.

"She's getting tired, and it's almost her bedtime" Dad explained.

"Oh yeah...' I offered ".I'll put her down?" .

"Go ahead." he nodded.

I gave my sister her puppy and took her to the crib.

TBC