"C'mon Ashley. Walk to daddy." Kaidan Alenko lifted his year old daughter onto her feet. A few days ago Ashley had started pulling herself up on the furniture. Shepard had been there to see it and when he came home that day she was so excited she could hardly tell him.
He took a few steps away from her and watched as she balanced herself on shakey legs. She shuffled a whole step before falling back down. She didn't cry she just looked up at him and raised her arms up. He scooped her off the floor, and started to try again with her when Shepard came home from from buying groceries. Kaidan put Ashley back down on the floor to help his wife with the groceries.
While her parents were distracted Ashley crawled her way over to the couch and pulled herself up. She watched from her position as her parents put all the food away. She wanted to be with them, and the next thing she knew she was wobbling toward them.
Kaidan froze and nudged his wife to turn and look. The two of them just stared at her as she continued to shuffle toward them. When she finally fell down Shepard rushed to scoop her up repeating to her daughter how proud she was.
"We have to work extra hard now. She's mobile." Shepard only laughed at him and continued to praise her baby.
