A week later Duncan checked in on Richie before he went to take a shower
after his morning jog. When he opened the door he heard the telltale
jingle of Richie kicking his feet. Duncan crept closer and Richie jumped
to his feet. with the bottom half of his pajamas wet.
"Did you have an accident?" Duncan asked picking the boy up. Richie nodded and put his head on his shoulder. "Something tells me you'll be more than willing to take a nap today," Duncan told him walking to the door. "Tessa, can you come in here?" he called into their room.
"Again?" she asked.
"Do you want to change the kid or the bed?" Duncan asked.
"I'll take Richie."
Duncan handed him over and went to take the sheets off the crib mattress. It was almost a daily task. "Maybe he just can't get out when he needs to go," Duncan said. "He might stand here for twenty minutes and then just can't hold it any longer."
"Oh!" Tessa moaned as she peeled a not only wet, but dirty, pair of pajamas off the boy. "He couldn't hold anything last night." Richie had poop that had leaked out of his superman underwear all over his legs. "I'm going to give him a bath," she announced taking Richie by the hand. "This is disgusting."
Duncan put the sheets in the wash and put the pajamas into the laundry room sink to soak.
"Can you finish this?" Tessa asked when Duncan joined her in the bathroom. "I need to get that sculpture done today."
"You go ahead. I can take care of Richie today. Go get your work done."
Duncan finished washing Richie up and got him dressed. He sat the boy in front of the TV to watch cartoons while he got breakfast ready. He put some water on to boil and began slicing a banana. Once the water was going he poured in some oatmeal and left it to simmer. He poured himself some coffee and Richie some orange juice and got two bowls ready to server breakfast in. The phone rang so Duncan moved the oatmeal off the burner and turned off the stove before going into the living room to answer it. It was an antique dealer who had tracked down a piece he was looking for. As Duncan jotted down the information, he didn't see Richie get up from his seat on the floor and wonder into the kitchen.
Everything smelled so good to the four-year-old. He saw a sliced banana on the table and went to steal a few slices before heading to where the hot stuff came from. He could see the pot that had the oatmeal sitting on an oven mitt and decided he didn't want to wait for Duncan to serve him; he was hungry now. He stood up on his tiptoes and stretched his little arms as far as they could go. He couldn't reach. So he opened the cabinet, which took some pulling because of the child-safety lock, and stepped onto the bottom shelf. He put his hand on what he thought was the counter to pull himself up and screamed at the heat that suddenly shot up his arm. He fell back onto the floor landing on his butt screaming and crying for all he was worth.
At the sound of the child's first scream, Duncan dropped the phone and raced into the kitchen. Richie was sitting on the floor in front of the stove sobbing and waving his right hand in the air. It didn't take four hundred years of living to know what had happened. He snatched Richie up off the floor and started running cold water over his hand that was an off shade of pink.
"What happened!?" Tessa demanded having heard the scream in the workshop.
"He burned himself. Can you get the aloe?" Duncan said as calmly and gently as he could over Richie's screams. "Everything's okay," he assured the injured boy. "I know that hurts, but you're okay. It won't hurt for much longer." He doubted the boy could hear him but continued to speak softly to him as he smeared aloe over the burn and put a bandage on it. For the final touch he gave the hand a gentle kiss before picking Richie up off the counter. "All better," he said gently rocking the still sniffling child in his arms. Richie put his head on Duncan's shoulder and began sucking on two fingers.
"I can't believe this happened," Tessa said softly as she stroked Richie's cheek. "He's falling asleep," she observed.
"Maybe he couldn't sleep because of his clothes. I guess a short nap wouldn't hurt."
"I suppose not. He'll be really tired tonight. Maybe you should try to keep him up for a while still and just put him down a little early."
"That's probably a better idea," Duncan consented. "Maybe I can get him to play a game."
"He should eat first."
"Nothing hot," Duncan decided.
"Duncan, why is the phone off the hook?" Tessa asked as she passed through the living room.
"Oh, is John still on the line?" Duncan asked taking Richie with him into the living room.
"Nobody is there," she said with the phone to her ear.
"I'll call him back tomorrow and tell him we're really not torturing children over here," he decided. "But for now I think someone needs some breakfast."
He sat down at the table with Richie in his lap and offered some banana. Richie took in his left hand and ate it. For breakfast he had a banana and orange juice. It took some trying but Duncan coaxed Richie into a game of Chutes and Ladders after playing the beginnings of a game as both himself and Pooh Bear. He entertained Richie until lunch, where he only ate half of his peanut butter sandwich, then gave in and put him down for a nap. Richie was asleep before his fingers found their way into his mouth.
In the quiet, Duncan cleaned up the game and lunch; all the time re-playing that morning in his mind. There was nothing he could have done short of growing eyes in the back of his head to prevent what had happened. Richie would be okay. The stove had been off and wasn't as hot as it had been. The real disaster would have been if Richie had gotten a hold of the oatmeal.
"How's he doing?" Tessa asked coming in from her workshop.
"He's asleep."
"It's not your fault."
"I know." Duncan sighed. "I just hate that the first noise he made was a scream. I wish he had said something."
"Maybe we should take him to that specialist. The younger he is when this gets sorted out, the more time he has to be normal."
"I'll call before he wakes up. Are you done?"
"Nearly."
"Then get back to work and we'll go out for dinner to celebrate."
"What about Richie?" Tessa asked standing up.
"Him too. He's well behaved. As long as they allow bears in the restaurant he'll be fine." Tessa smiled and gave him a kiss before checking on Richie then going back to work.
That night they went to a nice French restaurant. Richie was well behaved and showed off his injury to the hostess, waiter, and anyone who waived at him when they noticed him staring.
"You're a little attention moocher, aren't you?" Tessa teased as she changed Richie for bed. "As long as you're the center of attention, you're happy."
Richie smiled and tried to run when she turned her back to get his pajamas. She grabbed him around the waist and he squealed. Duncan was immediately in the doorway.
"What happened?"
Tessa smiled and tickled the child making him laugh. "He's making noise," she said with a wide grin. "Did you call the doctor?"
"We have an appointment in a week."
"Good." Tessa finished changing Richie and Duncan read him a bedtime story before putting him in his crib.
. . . . . .
Storms were common in Seacouver. Duncan didn't even notice the storm until a particularly loud clap of thunder woke him. He looked at Tessa who was still fast asleep and decided to check on Richie before going back to sleep himself. From the hall he could hear the jingle of Richie's blue bunny pajamas.
"Do you have to go to the bathroom?" Duncan asked opening the door. Richie jumped to his feet and held out his arms to be picked up. Duncan went to switch on the lamp on his dresser and by the time he got to Richie the boy had started a 'hurry up and come get me' dance in his crib. "What's the matter with you?" Duncan asked when Richie wrapped his arms tightly around his neck.
Duncan leaned down and picked up the discarded Pooh Bear knowing that once Richie noticed its absence he would throw a fit. Another clap of thunder sounded and Richie yelped and tightened his grip.
"Oh, you're scared of the storm." Duncan started rocking Richie. "It's okay, it's just a noise." He walked out into the living room and paced back and forth trying to calm the child. "How about some juice?" Duncan put Richie down and turned to get a cup. Richie started wailing and doing his 'come get me' dance again. "Okay, okay, no juice."
"What's wrong?" Tessa asked from the hallway wrapping her robe around herself.
"I think he's scared of the storm," Duncan explained picking Richie up again. "He can't stand to be put down. What should we do?"
Tessa thought for a moment. "Maybe he could sleep with us," she suggested. "Did you ever sleep in your parent's room during a storm?"
"I grew up in a one room hut. I slept in my parent's room my whole life," Duncan smiled at her.
"When I was young my parents would let me sleep in their bed after a nightmare or during a storm. Maybe that way we can all get some sleep." She took Richie from Duncan's arms and headed for their room. Duncan trailed behind with the stuffed Pooh in his hand.
They nestled Richie between themselves and, with his arms wrapped tightly around Pooh Bear, he fell asleep quickly.
For the second time that night Duncan woke up, but this time wasn't because of the storm. It took him a second to realize what was wrong, Richie wasn't in bed.
"Tessa!" he shook her awake. "Where's Richie?"
She sat up and looked at the empty spot in the bed that had previously been occupied by a four-year-old boy. "Where can he have gotten to?" she asked climbing out of the bed.
Duncan followed her into the living room. Richie wasn't in any of his favorite hiding places. He was easy to spot behind the plant in the corner and under the glass coffee table. His other favorite spot was under the desk in the office, but the baby gates that blocked both doors out of the apartment were securely in place.
"Shh," Duncan said suddenly, stopping Tessa's frantic rambling. Soon she could hear what he did, a jingling in their bedroom. They both raced into the room and found Richie staring dejectedly at the empty bed.
"Richie!" Tessa snatched him into her arms and covered his face with kisses. He squirmed and tried to push her face away but she insisted. "Where were you?" she asked him once she finally stopped.
"Tessa." Duncan came up behind her and pointed at the open bathroom door.
She looked at him and smiled. "You think so?"
"There's only one way to find out." Duncan went into the bathroom and turned on the light. In the toilet bowl was all the evidence they needed. "Put him down," Duncan told Tessa. She did. "Richie, did you flush?" Richie grinned and ran past him to flush. "Did you wash your hands?" Richie went over to the sink and looked at him over his shoulder. Duncan reached down and lifted him high enough to reach the fixtures. When he was done Duncan put him down and squatted so they were at eye level and then gave him a big hug. "Good job!" he told him proudly.
Richie grinned and clapped then ran over to Tessa to get her praise as well. She gave him a hug. "You did a very good job!" she told him proudly. This had been the first time Richie went to the bathroom by himself.
"I knew the crib was what was giving him a hard time. We need to get him a bed," Duncan said switching off the bathroom light.
"That's right," Tessa told Richie. "You're ready for a big boy bed."
Apparently the only words in that sentence Richie could understand were 'you' and 'bed' because he pulled himself up onto Duncan and Tessa's. He crawled under the covers and snuggled into the pillows. When Duncan and Tessa didn't immediately join him, he sat up and patted their pillows lovingly, inviting them to get in. Smiling they joined him and the three slept the rest of the night; Richie's bottom waggling the whole time.
. . . . . .
Two days later Tessa called Duncan in from the store. When he asked what was wrong she grinned proudly at him and put her finger to her lips. She led him down the hall and stopped in Richie's doorway. Soft noises were coming from the room.
"He's been babbling for five minutes straight," Tessa whispered.
"He's talking!" Duncan whispered as excitedly as one can whisper.
"He's trying to." Tessa was beaming. "And they thought he was mute," she scoffed. "He just wasn't ready yet. But we should still take him to the doctor, in case there is something wrong."
"Of course," Duncan quickly agreed. "So has he said any words?"
"None that I recognize. Where are you going?" she asked as Duncan moved to enter the room.
"I'm going to talk to him and see if he can answer," he explained. "Hi, Richie," he greeted in a normal tone.
"Ha!" came the high pitched reply. Tessa stifled a giggle.
"What are you doing?" Duncan asked crouching next to the small drawing desk Richie was sitting at. "Are you coloring?"
"Cala!" Richie showed off his latest creation; it slightly resembled a person with blonde hair.
"Who's this?" Duncan asked pointing at the picture. Richie pointed to the doorway. "Is it Tessa?"
"Te-sha!"
"Duncan, he's talking!" Tessa fought the tears in her eyes. "He's really talking!"
"Ha!" Richie waved at her.
"Hi, sweetie," she answered walking into the room. "This is very sudden. What took you so long?" Richie ignored her question and showed her his picture. "Oh, this is very good. Is it me?"
"Te-sha!" Whenever Richie spoke, he spoke loudly. Neither Tessa nor Duncan minded.
"Can you draw Duncan?" she asked handing him a new sheet of paper.
"Dum-ba?" Richie asked.
"Yes, Duncan. Can you draw him?"
Richie set to his task and a few scribbles later he presented his picture of Duncan.
"Oh, this is even better," Tessa praised handing the picture to Duncan. "You do very good work. We should put these up." Having settled nicely into their rolls as parents, Duncan and Tessa had decided to put the pictures on the refrigerator. After ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the pictures some more they sat Richie down to discover the extent of his sudden vocabulary.
"What's your name?" Duncan asked him.
"Can you say Richie?" Tessa prompted when he didn't answer.
"Ishi!" he promptly repeated.
"And who's this?" She pointed to his ever present stuffed animal.
"Pooba!"
"Can you say mommy?" she asked hopefully putting a hand on her chest.
Richie cocked his head to one side. "Te-sha," he corrected her.
"Mommy," she tried again.
"Te-sha."
"Say mom-my," she said. "Mom-my!" She clapped his hands together with each syllable.
"Lol-ly!" Richie clapped on his own.
"Very good!" She put a hand on her chest again. "Mommy."
"Te-sha."
Duncan laughed. "I think he's got his mind made up."
"You try," she challenged.
"Richie, can you say Daddy?"
"Duh-duh."
Duncan grinned at Tessa then put his hand on his chest mimicking her. "Daddy."
"Dum-ba!" Richie said.
"Daddy."
"Dum-ba!"
"No, I'm Daddy."
"Dum-ba!" Richie insisted very pleased with the attention he was getting.
"It's official, we've confused him," Duncan announced. "We should have been referring to each other as Mommy and Daddy not Tessa and Duncan."
"So we start now," Tessa decided. "If he's just now started talking we can make him forget our names." She took Richie in her lap. "You stay with Daddy while Mommy makes lunch," she told him.
Richie took Duncan by the hand stood up. "Kimisha Dum-ba!" he instructed yanking as hard as he could.
"Say daddy," Duncan told him.
"Duh-duh," Richie said tugging again. "Kimisha Dum-ba!"
Tessa laughed. "He said it; you have to go with him now."
Sighing Duncan stood up. "It was worth a try."
Richie took Duncan into his room to play Hungry Hungry Hippo. Tessa made sandwiches for lunch. Richie kept up an incoherent, but steady, stream of conversation throughout the meal. When it was over he lay down on the couch to watch the Chipmunks, his favorite show, while Duncan and Tessa cleaned up the kitchen and discussed how handle their now talking child.
"No more hand signals," Duncan decided. "We just say it. He catches on quickly; it shouldn't be a problem."
"I knew we needed those baby monitors," Tessa mumbled happily. "How could those people jump to conclusions so quickly? They didn't give him a chance."
"They have a lot of kids to look after," he reminded her. "We believed them."
"They were supposed to know. look at that." She pointed to the living room. Richie was standing up bouncing to the Beatles song that the Chipmunks were singing. "He's dancing," she giggled.
"Or at least he's trying to," Duncan agreed smiling himself.
. . . . . .
Tessa double checked her math. For the life of her she couldn't get the checkbook to balance. Sighing, she started over adding and subtracting line after line. She glanced up briefly and saw Richie was still dancing to the music coming from the TV. He was currently doing his best to imitate the dancers in the old musical he was watching in his underwear. Ms. Perkins' prediction of him taking off his clothes had finally come to pass as the weather got warmer. Grinning she went back to the check book.
A bump, crash, and scream jolted her out of her mathematical trance. She leapt up from her seat at the kitchen table and ran into the living room. She looked around and finally found Richie lying behind the couch screaming. She picked him up and took in a sharp breath. He had blood streaming out of his mouth and nose.
"You're okay," she assured him quickly carrying him into the bathroom and putting him in the tub. She grabbed a couple towels and began to wipe the blood off his face, but it just kept coming. "Oh, my poor baby. What happened to you?" she asked softly. Richie just continued to wail, his shrill voice echoing in the tiled room. "It looks like you knocked a couple teeth out," she told him gently putting a small chunk of towel in his mouth. It helped catch the blood that was coming from his gums and lip and, more importantly, stifled his cries. Five minutes later he had stopped bleeding and had calmed down to only sniffles.
"There you are," she said gently rocking him in her arms. "That had to have hurt." He had blood dried in his nostrils and would scream every time Tessa tried to clean it, so she left it for the time being. That combined with his red puffy eyes and pouting lips made for a rather pathetic looking child. "Can I see inside?" she asked gently tapping his chin. "Can you open up and say ah!" No response. "Will you smile for mommy? Show me your pretty teeth?" She wanted to check for any serious damage and get a count for how many teeth needed to be retrieved from the drying blood on the floor.
"What happened?" Duncan's slightly panicked voice demanded twenty minutes later.
"Richie had an accident," Tessa explained softly looking down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "He fell. Nearest I can tell, he tripped on the rug while he was dancing and hit his face on that windowsill." She inclined her head to one of the nearly floor length windows behind the couch. "He knocked out a couple teeth in the process."
"How many exactly?"
"Four."
"Four?!"
"The front four. Two top, two bottom."
A few minutes after Duncan got the floor cleaned up and the teeth were found, Richie woke up.
"Hey, tough guy," Duncan whispered in greeting. "Mommy told me you fell down. Does it still hurt?" Richie's bottom lip began to tremble and his nose crinkled. With a loud sniff he held his arms out for Duncan to take him. "Aw, come here, tough guy. You're okay."
Tessa stood up and gratefully stretched her arms. She had been holding Richie for over half an hour.
An hour and one pudding cup later Richie was perfectly okay and had discovered that he could stick his tongue through the gap in the front of his mouth. Duncan and Tessa chatted excitedly about the tooth fairy's visit and explained to him what he had to do in order for her to find his teeth. So that night after his bath Richie carefully put all four teeth under the pillow on his new race car bed before crawling in.
"Did you go potty?" Duncan asked as he and Tessa tucked Richie in.
"Ya," Richie answered.
"Do you want Daddy to read you a story?"
"Ya."
"Say good-night to Mommy."
"Guni Te-sha."
"Good night, Richie." She gave him a soft kiss and straightened his sheet one last time before leaving the room. Bed time stories were Duncan's specialty.
"Why don't we just give him a dollar bill?" Duncan asked two hours later as he and Tessa got ready for bed.
"Because four is more than one," she explained handing him the four shiny quarters she had cleaned after Richie went to bed.
"It's the same amount."
"He doesn't know that. He just knows four is more than one."
The next morning Richie woke up before Duncan even got up to go on his morning run. He checked under his pillow first thing and found the four shiny quarters. With a wide, toothless grin he ran into Duncan and Tessa's room.
"Lol-ly! Duh-duh!" he yelled excitedly climbing onto the bed. "Ake-uh!" he instructed as be began jumping up and down.
"Where's the fire, tough guy?" Duncan yawned sitting up. Richie took a flying leap and landed in his lap. He proudly showed Duncan his new found wealth. "So the tooth fairy came," he acknowledged.
"So she did," Tessa added. Noticing she was awake for the first time Richie thrust his palm out so she could get a better view. "But, Richie," her tone took on a stern quality. "It is too early to be awake." She tossed back her covers and got out of bed. She walked around and plucked him off Duncan's lap. "You should still be in bed. Say good night to Daddy."
"Guni Duh-duh," he said glumly as Tessa took him back to his room.
"Did he call us mommy and daddy?" Duncan asked when Tessa came back.
"I think he said lolly and duhduh," she corrected.
"That's as close as he can get right now," Duncan reminded her. "I think he finally cracked."
Tessa smiled as she cuddled into him. "Maybe the doctor can find out what's wrong with him today." Their appointment was for 1:15 that afternoon. Duncan waited a few seconds and just as he expected she started crying. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I've just waited for so long to hear someone call me mommy." She sniffed. "I guess this all feels more final now."
"I guess it does," he agreed as their door opened just wide enough for a four year old to get in. "What are you doing?" Duncan asked as he watched a head of blonde curls approach the bed.
"Pooba," Richie told him crawling onto the bed to retrieve the stuffed animal. Once the bear was safely in his possession he sat on the edge of the bed and waited to be invited under the covers.
Taking the silent cue Duncan pulled back the covers in-between himself and Tessa. "Come on in." Once again showing off his lack of teeth Richie crawled in and settled down on his stomach, one arm around Pooh Bear, two fingers in his mouth and butt waggling.
"What do you say?" Tessa asked him.
"Tai-ooh," Richie answered softly.
"Very good." She settled into her pillow with one arm around Richie. Duncan rolled onto his side and kissed them both before putting his arm around both of them. They all fell asleep comfortably in each other's arms.
"Did you have an accident?" Duncan asked picking the boy up. Richie nodded and put his head on his shoulder. "Something tells me you'll be more than willing to take a nap today," Duncan told him walking to the door. "Tessa, can you come in here?" he called into their room.
"Again?" she asked.
"Do you want to change the kid or the bed?" Duncan asked.
"I'll take Richie."
Duncan handed him over and went to take the sheets off the crib mattress. It was almost a daily task. "Maybe he just can't get out when he needs to go," Duncan said. "He might stand here for twenty minutes and then just can't hold it any longer."
"Oh!" Tessa moaned as she peeled a not only wet, but dirty, pair of pajamas off the boy. "He couldn't hold anything last night." Richie had poop that had leaked out of his superman underwear all over his legs. "I'm going to give him a bath," she announced taking Richie by the hand. "This is disgusting."
Duncan put the sheets in the wash and put the pajamas into the laundry room sink to soak.
"Can you finish this?" Tessa asked when Duncan joined her in the bathroom. "I need to get that sculpture done today."
"You go ahead. I can take care of Richie today. Go get your work done."
Duncan finished washing Richie up and got him dressed. He sat the boy in front of the TV to watch cartoons while he got breakfast ready. He put some water on to boil and began slicing a banana. Once the water was going he poured in some oatmeal and left it to simmer. He poured himself some coffee and Richie some orange juice and got two bowls ready to server breakfast in. The phone rang so Duncan moved the oatmeal off the burner and turned off the stove before going into the living room to answer it. It was an antique dealer who had tracked down a piece he was looking for. As Duncan jotted down the information, he didn't see Richie get up from his seat on the floor and wonder into the kitchen.
Everything smelled so good to the four-year-old. He saw a sliced banana on the table and went to steal a few slices before heading to where the hot stuff came from. He could see the pot that had the oatmeal sitting on an oven mitt and decided he didn't want to wait for Duncan to serve him; he was hungry now. He stood up on his tiptoes and stretched his little arms as far as they could go. He couldn't reach. So he opened the cabinet, which took some pulling because of the child-safety lock, and stepped onto the bottom shelf. He put his hand on what he thought was the counter to pull himself up and screamed at the heat that suddenly shot up his arm. He fell back onto the floor landing on his butt screaming and crying for all he was worth.
At the sound of the child's first scream, Duncan dropped the phone and raced into the kitchen. Richie was sitting on the floor in front of the stove sobbing and waving his right hand in the air. It didn't take four hundred years of living to know what had happened. He snatched Richie up off the floor and started running cold water over his hand that was an off shade of pink.
"What happened!?" Tessa demanded having heard the scream in the workshop.
"He burned himself. Can you get the aloe?" Duncan said as calmly and gently as he could over Richie's screams. "Everything's okay," he assured the injured boy. "I know that hurts, but you're okay. It won't hurt for much longer." He doubted the boy could hear him but continued to speak softly to him as he smeared aloe over the burn and put a bandage on it. For the final touch he gave the hand a gentle kiss before picking Richie up off the counter. "All better," he said gently rocking the still sniffling child in his arms. Richie put his head on Duncan's shoulder and began sucking on two fingers.
"I can't believe this happened," Tessa said softly as she stroked Richie's cheek. "He's falling asleep," she observed.
"Maybe he couldn't sleep because of his clothes. I guess a short nap wouldn't hurt."
"I suppose not. He'll be really tired tonight. Maybe you should try to keep him up for a while still and just put him down a little early."
"That's probably a better idea," Duncan consented. "Maybe I can get him to play a game."
"He should eat first."
"Nothing hot," Duncan decided.
"Duncan, why is the phone off the hook?" Tessa asked as she passed through the living room.
"Oh, is John still on the line?" Duncan asked taking Richie with him into the living room.
"Nobody is there," she said with the phone to her ear.
"I'll call him back tomorrow and tell him we're really not torturing children over here," he decided. "But for now I think someone needs some breakfast."
He sat down at the table with Richie in his lap and offered some banana. Richie took in his left hand and ate it. For breakfast he had a banana and orange juice. It took some trying but Duncan coaxed Richie into a game of Chutes and Ladders after playing the beginnings of a game as both himself and Pooh Bear. He entertained Richie until lunch, where he only ate half of his peanut butter sandwich, then gave in and put him down for a nap. Richie was asleep before his fingers found their way into his mouth.
In the quiet, Duncan cleaned up the game and lunch; all the time re-playing that morning in his mind. There was nothing he could have done short of growing eyes in the back of his head to prevent what had happened. Richie would be okay. The stove had been off and wasn't as hot as it had been. The real disaster would have been if Richie had gotten a hold of the oatmeal.
"How's he doing?" Tessa asked coming in from her workshop.
"He's asleep."
"It's not your fault."
"I know." Duncan sighed. "I just hate that the first noise he made was a scream. I wish he had said something."
"Maybe we should take him to that specialist. The younger he is when this gets sorted out, the more time he has to be normal."
"I'll call before he wakes up. Are you done?"
"Nearly."
"Then get back to work and we'll go out for dinner to celebrate."
"What about Richie?" Tessa asked standing up.
"Him too. He's well behaved. As long as they allow bears in the restaurant he'll be fine." Tessa smiled and gave him a kiss before checking on Richie then going back to work.
That night they went to a nice French restaurant. Richie was well behaved and showed off his injury to the hostess, waiter, and anyone who waived at him when they noticed him staring.
"You're a little attention moocher, aren't you?" Tessa teased as she changed Richie for bed. "As long as you're the center of attention, you're happy."
Richie smiled and tried to run when she turned her back to get his pajamas. She grabbed him around the waist and he squealed. Duncan was immediately in the doorway.
"What happened?"
Tessa smiled and tickled the child making him laugh. "He's making noise," she said with a wide grin. "Did you call the doctor?"
"We have an appointment in a week."
"Good." Tessa finished changing Richie and Duncan read him a bedtime story before putting him in his crib.
. . . . . .
Storms were common in Seacouver. Duncan didn't even notice the storm until a particularly loud clap of thunder woke him. He looked at Tessa who was still fast asleep and decided to check on Richie before going back to sleep himself. From the hall he could hear the jingle of Richie's blue bunny pajamas.
"Do you have to go to the bathroom?" Duncan asked opening the door. Richie jumped to his feet and held out his arms to be picked up. Duncan went to switch on the lamp on his dresser and by the time he got to Richie the boy had started a 'hurry up and come get me' dance in his crib. "What's the matter with you?" Duncan asked when Richie wrapped his arms tightly around his neck.
Duncan leaned down and picked up the discarded Pooh Bear knowing that once Richie noticed its absence he would throw a fit. Another clap of thunder sounded and Richie yelped and tightened his grip.
"Oh, you're scared of the storm." Duncan started rocking Richie. "It's okay, it's just a noise." He walked out into the living room and paced back and forth trying to calm the child. "How about some juice?" Duncan put Richie down and turned to get a cup. Richie started wailing and doing his 'come get me' dance again. "Okay, okay, no juice."
"What's wrong?" Tessa asked from the hallway wrapping her robe around herself.
"I think he's scared of the storm," Duncan explained picking Richie up again. "He can't stand to be put down. What should we do?"
Tessa thought for a moment. "Maybe he could sleep with us," she suggested. "Did you ever sleep in your parent's room during a storm?"
"I grew up in a one room hut. I slept in my parent's room my whole life," Duncan smiled at her.
"When I was young my parents would let me sleep in their bed after a nightmare or during a storm. Maybe that way we can all get some sleep." She took Richie from Duncan's arms and headed for their room. Duncan trailed behind with the stuffed Pooh in his hand.
They nestled Richie between themselves and, with his arms wrapped tightly around Pooh Bear, he fell asleep quickly.
For the second time that night Duncan woke up, but this time wasn't because of the storm. It took him a second to realize what was wrong, Richie wasn't in bed.
"Tessa!" he shook her awake. "Where's Richie?"
She sat up and looked at the empty spot in the bed that had previously been occupied by a four-year-old boy. "Where can he have gotten to?" she asked climbing out of the bed.
Duncan followed her into the living room. Richie wasn't in any of his favorite hiding places. He was easy to spot behind the plant in the corner and under the glass coffee table. His other favorite spot was under the desk in the office, but the baby gates that blocked both doors out of the apartment were securely in place.
"Shh," Duncan said suddenly, stopping Tessa's frantic rambling. Soon she could hear what he did, a jingling in their bedroom. They both raced into the room and found Richie staring dejectedly at the empty bed.
"Richie!" Tessa snatched him into her arms and covered his face with kisses. He squirmed and tried to push her face away but she insisted. "Where were you?" she asked him once she finally stopped.
"Tessa." Duncan came up behind her and pointed at the open bathroom door.
She looked at him and smiled. "You think so?"
"There's only one way to find out." Duncan went into the bathroom and turned on the light. In the toilet bowl was all the evidence they needed. "Put him down," Duncan told Tessa. She did. "Richie, did you flush?" Richie grinned and ran past him to flush. "Did you wash your hands?" Richie went over to the sink and looked at him over his shoulder. Duncan reached down and lifted him high enough to reach the fixtures. When he was done Duncan put him down and squatted so they were at eye level and then gave him a big hug. "Good job!" he told him proudly.
Richie grinned and clapped then ran over to Tessa to get her praise as well. She gave him a hug. "You did a very good job!" she told him proudly. This had been the first time Richie went to the bathroom by himself.
"I knew the crib was what was giving him a hard time. We need to get him a bed," Duncan said switching off the bathroom light.
"That's right," Tessa told Richie. "You're ready for a big boy bed."
Apparently the only words in that sentence Richie could understand were 'you' and 'bed' because he pulled himself up onto Duncan and Tessa's. He crawled under the covers and snuggled into the pillows. When Duncan and Tessa didn't immediately join him, he sat up and patted their pillows lovingly, inviting them to get in. Smiling they joined him and the three slept the rest of the night; Richie's bottom waggling the whole time.
. . . . . .
Two days later Tessa called Duncan in from the store. When he asked what was wrong she grinned proudly at him and put her finger to her lips. She led him down the hall and stopped in Richie's doorway. Soft noises were coming from the room.
"He's been babbling for five minutes straight," Tessa whispered.
"He's talking!" Duncan whispered as excitedly as one can whisper.
"He's trying to." Tessa was beaming. "And they thought he was mute," she scoffed. "He just wasn't ready yet. But we should still take him to the doctor, in case there is something wrong."
"Of course," Duncan quickly agreed. "So has he said any words?"
"None that I recognize. Where are you going?" she asked as Duncan moved to enter the room.
"I'm going to talk to him and see if he can answer," he explained. "Hi, Richie," he greeted in a normal tone.
"Ha!" came the high pitched reply. Tessa stifled a giggle.
"What are you doing?" Duncan asked crouching next to the small drawing desk Richie was sitting at. "Are you coloring?"
"Cala!" Richie showed off his latest creation; it slightly resembled a person with blonde hair.
"Who's this?" Duncan asked pointing at the picture. Richie pointed to the doorway. "Is it Tessa?"
"Te-sha!"
"Duncan, he's talking!" Tessa fought the tears in her eyes. "He's really talking!"
"Ha!" Richie waved at her.
"Hi, sweetie," she answered walking into the room. "This is very sudden. What took you so long?" Richie ignored her question and showed her his picture. "Oh, this is very good. Is it me?"
"Te-sha!" Whenever Richie spoke, he spoke loudly. Neither Tessa nor Duncan minded.
"Can you draw Duncan?" she asked handing him a new sheet of paper.
"Dum-ba?" Richie asked.
"Yes, Duncan. Can you draw him?"
Richie set to his task and a few scribbles later he presented his picture of Duncan.
"Oh, this is even better," Tessa praised handing the picture to Duncan. "You do very good work. We should put these up." Having settled nicely into their rolls as parents, Duncan and Tessa had decided to put the pictures on the refrigerator. After ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the pictures some more they sat Richie down to discover the extent of his sudden vocabulary.
"What's your name?" Duncan asked him.
"Can you say Richie?" Tessa prompted when he didn't answer.
"Ishi!" he promptly repeated.
"And who's this?" She pointed to his ever present stuffed animal.
"Pooba!"
"Can you say mommy?" she asked hopefully putting a hand on her chest.
Richie cocked his head to one side. "Te-sha," he corrected her.
"Mommy," she tried again.
"Te-sha."
"Say mom-my," she said. "Mom-my!" She clapped his hands together with each syllable.
"Lol-ly!" Richie clapped on his own.
"Very good!" She put a hand on her chest again. "Mommy."
"Te-sha."
Duncan laughed. "I think he's got his mind made up."
"You try," she challenged.
"Richie, can you say Daddy?"
"Duh-duh."
Duncan grinned at Tessa then put his hand on his chest mimicking her. "Daddy."
"Dum-ba!" Richie said.
"Daddy."
"Dum-ba!"
"No, I'm Daddy."
"Dum-ba!" Richie insisted very pleased with the attention he was getting.
"It's official, we've confused him," Duncan announced. "We should have been referring to each other as Mommy and Daddy not Tessa and Duncan."
"So we start now," Tessa decided. "If he's just now started talking we can make him forget our names." She took Richie in her lap. "You stay with Daddy while Mommy makes lunch," she told him.
Richie took Duncan by the hand stood up. "Kimisha Dum-ba!" he instructed yanking as hard as he could.
"Say daddy," Duncan told him.
"Duh-duh," Richie said tugging again. "Kimisha Dum-ba!"
Tessa laughed. "He said it; you have to go with him now."
Sighing Duncan stood up. "It was worth a try."
Richie took Duncan into his room to play Hungry Hungry Hippo. Tessa made sandwiches for lunch. Richie kept up an incoherent, but steady, stream of conversation throughout the meal. When it was over he lay down on the couch to watch the Chipmunks, his favorite show, while Duncan and Tessa cleaned up the kitchen and discussed how handle their now talking child.
"No more hand signals," Duncan decided. "We just say it. He catches on quickly; it shouldn't be a problem."
"I knew we needed those baby monitors," Tessa mumbled happily. "How could those people jump to conclusions so quickly? They didn't give him a chance."
"They have a lot of kids to look after," he reminded her. "We believed them."
"They were supposed to know. look at that." She pointed to the living room. Richie was standing up bouncing to the Beatles song that the Chipmunks were singing. "He's dancing," she giggled.
"Or at least he's trying to," Duncan agreed smiling himself.
. . . . . .
Tessa double checked her math. For the life of her she couldn't get the checkbook to balance. Sighing, she started over adding and subtracting line after line. She glanced up briefly and saw Richie was still dancing to the music coming from the TV. He was currently doing his best to imitate the dancers in the old musical he was watching in his underwear. Ms. Perkins' prediction of him taking off his clothes had finally come to pass as the weather got warmer. Grinning she went back to the check book.
A bump, crash, and scream jolted her out of her mathematical trance. She leapt up from her seat at the kitchen table and ran into the living room. She looked around and finally found Richie lying behind the couch screaming. She picked him up and took in a sharp breath. He had blood streaming out of his mouth and nose.
"You're okay," she assured him quickly carrying him into the bathroom and putting him in the tub. She grabbed a couple towels and began to wipe the blood off his face, but it just kept coming. "Oh, my poor baby. What happened to you?" she asked softly. Richie just continued to wail, his shrill voice echoing in the tiled room. "It looks like you knocked a couple teeth out," she told him gently putting a small chunk of towel in his mouth. It helped catch the blood that was coming from his gums and lip and, more importantly, stifled his cries. Five minutes later he had stopped bleeding and had calmed down to only sniffles.
"There you are," she said gently rocking him in her arms. "That had to have hurt." He had blood dried in his nostrils and would scream every time Tessa tried to clean it, so she left it for the time being. That combined with his red puffy eyes and pouting lips made for a rather pathetic looking child. "Can I see inside?" she asked gently tapping his chin. "Can you open up and say ah!" No response. "Will you smile for mommy? Show me your pretty teeth?" She wanted to check for any serious damage and get a count for how many teeth needed to be retrieved from the drying blood on the floor.
"What happened?" Duncan's slightly panicked voice demanded twenty minutes later.
"Richie had an accident," Tessa explained softly looking down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "He fell. Nearest I can tell, he tripped on the rug while he was dancing and hit his face on that windowsill." She inclined her head to one of the nearly floor length windows behind the couch. "He knocked out a couple teeth in the process."
"How many exactly?"
"Four."
"Four?!"
"The front four. Two top, two bottom."
A few minutes after Duncan got the floor cleaned up and the teeth were found, Richie woke up.
"Hey, tough guy," Duncan whispered in greeting. "Mommy told me you fell down. Does it still hurt?" Richie's bottom lip began to tremble and his nose crinkled. With a loud sniff he held his arms out for Duncan to take him. "Aw, come here, tough guy. You're okay."
Tessa stood up and gratefully stretched her arms. She had been holding Richie for over half an hour.
An hour and one pudding cup later Richie was perfectly okay and had discovered that he could stick his tongue through the gap in the front of his mouth. Duncan and Tessa chatted excitedly about the tooth fairy's visit and explained to him what he had to do in order for her to find his teeth. So that night after his bath Richie carefully put all four teeth under the pillow on his new race car bed before crawling in.
"Did you go potty?" Duncan asked as he and Tessa tucked Richie in.
"Ya," Richie answered.
"Do you want Daddy to read you a story?"
"Ya."
"Say good-night to Mommy."
"Guni Te-sha."
"Good night, Richie." She gave him a soft kiss and straightened his sheet one last time before leaving the room. Bed time stories were Duncan's specialty.
"Why don't we just give him a dollar bill?" Duncan asked two hours later as he and Tessa got ready for bed.
"Because four is more than one," she explained handing him the four shiny quarters she had cleaned after Richie went to bed.
"It's the same amount."
"He doesn't know that. He just knows four is more than one."
The next morning Richie woke up before Duncan even got up to go on his morning run. He checked under his pillow first thing and found the four shiny quarters. With a wide, toothless grin he ran into Duncan and Tessa's room.
"Lol-ly! Duh-duh!" he yelled excitedly climbing onto the bed. "Ake-uh!" he instructed as be began jumping up and down.
"Where's the fire, tough guy?" Duncan yawned sitting up. Richie took a flying leap and landed in his lap. He proudly showed Duncan his new found wealth. "So the tooth fairy came," he acknowledged.
"So she did," Tessa added. Noticing she was awake for the first time Richie thrust his palm out so she could get a better view. "But, Richie," her tone took on a stern quality. "It is too early to be awake." She tossed back her covers and got out of bed. She walked around and plucked him off Duncan's lap. "You should still be in bed. Say good night to Daddy."
"Guni Duh-duh," he said glumly as Tessa took him back to his room.
"Did he call us mommy and daddy?" Duncan asked when Tessa came back.
"I think he said lolly and duhduh," she corrected.
"That's as close as he can get right now," Duncan reminded her. "I think he finally cracked."
Tessa smiled as she cuddled into him. "Maybe the doctor can find out what's wrong with him today." Their appointment was for 1:15 that afternoon. Duncan waited a few seconds and just as he expected she started crying. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I've just waited for so long to hear someone call me mommy." She sniffed. "I guess this all feels more final now."
"I guess it does," he agreed as their door opened just wide enough for a four year old to get in. "What are you doing?" Duncan asked as he watched a head of blonde curls approach the bed.
"Pooba," Richie told him crawling onto the bed to retrieve the stuffed animal. Once the bear was safely in his possession he sat on the edge of the bed and waited to be invited under the covers.
Taking the silent cue Duncan pulled back the covers in-between himself and Tessa. "Come on in." Once again showing off his lack of teeth Richie crawled in and settled down on his stomach, one arm around Pooh Bear, two fingers in his mouth and butt waggling.
"What do you say?" Tessa asked him.
"Tai-ooh," Richie answered softly.
"Very good." She settled into her pillow with one arm around Richie. Duncan rolled onto his side and kissed them both before putting his arm around both of them. They all fell asleep comfortably in each other's arms.