When she was old enough to no longer be breastfeeding and not need as much constant care, Dick and Star slowly got back into heroing. They took turns, always leaving someone at home working on the technical side of things, while watching Mar'i around the house. On one of these days Dick found himself reading over some detailed archives while a three year old Mar'i toddled about, occasionally calling to him about one thing or another.
"Daddy, look! Horsie jump over the moon!"
"Daddy! Want cookie!"
"Daddy! Supaman on tv!"
She was adorable. It sometimes made it hard to work,when all he wanted to do was watch her play. Star apparently had the same problem on her days. They just had to work through it. She would be just as adorable after he had finished touching up the League's files, and the work would be done, and everybody would be better off. So he tried to tune her out just enough to focus on his work. (Of course he was still listening to make sure she was behaving and not in danger)
She didn't seem bothered by his occasional lack of response. Mar'i was very good at entertaining herself. She had her mother's boundless energy and sunny disposition. As soon as she had learned to walk she had taken to running about gallantly, giggling with her arms thrown wide to feel the wind until she eventually crashed into the couch. Or the wall. Or the coffee table. They had had to Mar'i-proof the whole house with cushions for a few weeks there, until she finally learned to settle down a bit. At the moment, she sat happily bouncing in place on the couch as the tv went on about one of Superman's latest feats. She had met Superman before. He had played with her last time they had gone to visit Grandpa Bruce. She had been immediately taken with him, and now loved watching him on television. When she got really happy she tended to bounce a lot. Enough that Dick could hear it squeaking from the other room.
"Mar'i, don't bounce too much. You'll hurt the couch. Or yourself." Being three, she wasn't big on listening. She tried to bounce a bit quieter though, and took it as a success when he didn't say anything again. A few minutes later she tried bouncing a little harder to see if he noticed. Then she decided to make a game out of it. She bounced a little harder, a little at a time, sometimes doing a really big bounce then sticking to small ones. She was grinning harder and and harder as the bouncing became jumping and she managed to get a little higher each time without being caught. Sometimes she barely seemed to even touch the cushions. Then she really didn't.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Lookie what I can do!" It took Dick a second to save what he was working on. Then he rushed into the room to see what the fuss was, only to not find his daughter anywhere in sight.
"Mar'i? Baby?" Then he heard a giggle from above his head and looked up. She was standing on top of the doorway. "Mar'i! What are you doing up there?!" He panicked and reached up to grab her, then had a mini heart attack when she jumped out into the air. He leapt to catch her, but she never came down. She stayed there suspended in place above his head, grinning at him.
"Daddy, lookie me fly!" She waved her arms at her sides and glided forward. She seemed to swim through the air, moving in a somewhat crooked formation from place to place. When she ended up hanging upside down, he decided that was enough and quickly scooped her into his arms before she could fall.
"When did this happen, Baby? Just now?"
"Yup! I jumped and I didn't go down! Isn't that cool?! I can fly like Mommy!"
He smiled at that. He was going to have to call Star. She would be delighted. They would need to work on her flight training to see how stable the ability was and how far she could go. They'd need to set up safety measures. Maybe some nets... Well that certainly brought him back to his own childhood. He remembered running around, trying out new acrobatics all over the circus, while his parents yelled at him to stay over the safety nets. They had eventually taken to setting them up all over the place when he refused to listen. Then a new thought hit him and he smiled even more, hugging Mari tight, before launching into a tickle fight as she shrieked joyously. Now they had a real "Flying Grayson" in the family.
