Words?
It had been a rough day. Both Eric and Calleigh were tired. They were both ready to crash after working double shifts on a very difficult murder case that had more media attention than if the president himself were visiting Miami. They still needed to pick Adriana up from Eric's mothers house before they headed home.
"She's been fussy today." Eric's mother told them, as they left. "She's got a little bit of a runny nose. Wonder if she's teething."
"Yeah, we noticed that too. She's been chewing on her blanket like there's no tomorrow." Calleigh told her as she placed Adriana in her car seat.
"Mmmmm...mmaa."
"Hey there sweetheart, did you have a good day? Sounds like you have lots to tell us." Calleigh said, snapping her buckle shut and closing the car door.
The whole car ride home Adriana "talked" to Eric and Calleigh or chewed on her fingers. At home, as Eric fed her, Adriana acted as if she didn't like the feel of the spoon in her mouth. Something was definitely going on. Her nose was a little runny and she even went to bed early, much to her parent's pleasure, as they were very tired.
At 9:45, Calleigh headed to bed, Eric not far along after. Calleigh was off to dreamland before her head even hit the pillow.
She was on a beach laying in the sun, watching Eric swim in the sparkling blue water, diving under and over waves as they crashed near the shore. "Wow, I can finally relax." she thought.
"Mmm...mmama?"
Her eyes moved from Eric to see a little girl, about 5 years old, walking up to her on the beach.
Again, "Mama?" A little clearer this time.
With the third "mama" Calleigh realized that the little voice she heard was real. She shot up in bed. She waited a second, wondering if she'd hear it again.
"Maama mama mama." with a little bit of a cry added to it echoed once more through the hallway into their bedroom.
Pulling back the covers, Calleigh walked into Adriana's bedroom and found her standing in her crib, tears in her eyes, repeating "mama" until Calleigh picked her up and rocked her in her arms.
"Hey, hey mama's here. That's right, I'm your mama, hey sweetheart, it's okay, mama's here. Shhhh" she said as she walked to Adriana's rocking chair. Adriana nestled her head into Calleigh's chest and whimpered. "You are definitely teething aren't you? I can't believe you called me mama." Now it was Calleigh who had tears in her eyes. Her little girl, in pain, had said her first word, and it was "mama". She wanted to wake up Eric and tell him, but knew he needed sleep. Instead she brought Adriana downstairs and got out a teething ring she had put in the refrigerator a week ago.
"Here you go, Adriana, poor thing. Those teeth are getting to you aren't they?" Calleigh said as she walked back up the stairs. She sat down in Adriana's rocking chair and rocked her back to sleep. Placing her gently back into her crib, Calleigh tiptoed out of the room and headed back to her and Eric's room and curled up next to Eric. His warm body next to hers gently lulled her back to sleep.
The next time her eyes opened, sunlight splashed through the bay window of the bedroom. Calleigh stretched and realized Eric was already up. She got up, peeked into Adriana's bedroom, saw that Eric had already gotten Adriana up and headed downstairs. The strong smell of coffee energized her. She turned the corner to see Eric cutting and mashing a banana for Adriana and making himself some toast.
"Mama!" an excited Adriana called out when she saw Calleigh.
"Hey! There's my girl!" Calleigh responded. "Mornin' sweetie" she said, kissing Adriana then hugging Eric before sitting down at the table. "So yeah, last night was interesting Eric, I was dreaming and heard someone calling mama, then I realized it was real. When I went into Adriana's room, she was standing up calling for me. I really wanted to wake you up, but I know how much you needed to sleep. Remember how she kept trying to talk to us in the car yesterday? Guess she found what word she was looking for."
"Princesa, can you say dada?" Eric asked his little girl. "Say dada."
Adriana offered Eric some banana instead. "No, not banana, can you say dada?" Eric asked again. "Come on, show me some love too, oh well, that's okay take your time," he said kissing her banana covered cheek.
After breakfast, Eric needed to help his mother at her house for a few hours before lunch. He grabbed his keys and he and Calleigh agreed they'd meet for lunch at home at 12:15.
"Okay, sounds good." Calleigh answered. "I need to go to the store anyway, so Adriana and I will do that and then wait for you to get home."
"Love you both." Eric said kissing his wife and his little girl before shutting the door.
Calleigh blew Eric a kiss from the kitchen window as she wetted a washcloth to clean Adriana's face.
"Da" Adriana replied.
Calleigh just laughed.