She'd been looking forward to this all week. A day off. Today was one day where she wasn't needed up at Morgenroete, so rather than just sit in her office and file unnecessary paperwork, Erica had given her the day as a holiday. But not everyone was that lucky..

"Do I have to?"

Murrue sighed, shifting their toddler daughter to the other arm. "Yes, you have to. You can't just decide to stay home.." Mwu slumped, setting his bag on the floor and taking his little family into his arms. Stellar giggled, reaching out to pat her father's scarred face. He smiled at that, ruffling the tiny girl's soft auburn locks. "See?" he challenged his wife, "The munchkin wants me to stay home.."

Murrue just raised an eyebrow. "Of course she does. But she's too little to understand that you can't."

"Aww..please?" he whined childishly, moving across to plant feather-light kisses on her cheek. "Can't you phone and say I'm sick or something?"

"You want me to lie for you?" she replied, tone so dry it made Mwu shiver. With a sigh, he reached down to pick up his bag. "No.." he admitted. Reaching across, he kissed Murrue gently. "I'll be home at dinnertime.." After kissing Stellar on the cheek, he left the house, his disappointment clear to see. The woman sighed, setting her little girl down on the wooden floor. Stellar laughed again, and began to crawl away towards her toys.

Why do I feel guilty? thought Murrue, making her way to the kitchen to make breakfast. Mwu has to work...I know that. But still..it would have been nice for us all to spend the day together..

After their meal (where the thirteen-month old Stellar had managed to get most of her breakfast down her little dress) the mother and daughter sat outside in the warm morning sunshine. The little girl crawled about quickly, covering ground so fast on her hands and knees that Murrue had to almost run to catch up "Hey...!" she called, laughing, "Slow down!"

The toddler giggled, making her way to where the birds pecked at the breakfast scraps and seed that had been put out for them earlier. She was determined to catch a bird one day, and could never quite understand why they were never there when she looked up. She sat up and looked around, little face totally bewildered. Murrue smiled, kneeling down beside her daughter. "Are the birdies too fast? They all flew away, huh?"

Stellar pouted a little. Then she turned to her mother with a smile, the expression lighting up huge blue eyes. She looked so much like her father in that moment, Murrue couldn't help smiling back.

"Birdie!" chirped the baby, waving her arms. "That's right, birdie.." said the woman, amber eyes softened with her smile. Stellar was learning more and more each day, and her parents were more than happy to teach her. Even though she was so little still, she was very bright, a trait Mwu said she'd inherited from her mother. Murrue had blushed at that..did it really matter where it had come from?

"Where birdie?" asked Stellar, looking all around her.

"They're up in the sky, sweetie...they're flying."

"Fly?"

In response, Murrue pointed upwards to the blue sky. "Up there, look.." Stellar looked up, little face lighting up as she saw a small flock of birds make their way through the air. "Birdie!" She reached up, grasping with tiny hands, as though she could pick the birds out of the air. Murrue giggled, standing and lifting the toddler into her arms. "The sky's too far away, honey. We can't fly like the birdies. But Papa can.."

Stellar looked up at her mother. "Papa fly?" At the nod, the little girl smiled happily, cuddling up to Murrue. The auburn-haired woman leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her daughter's head. "That's right, Papa can fly."

That afternoon, the two of them sat in the shade of a large tree, protected from the baking sunlight, Stellar was fast asleep, her activities from the morning plus her lunch tiring her out. Murrue sat beside where the baby slept curled up on a blanket, a book in her lap. But her attention was focused elsewhere. She found her amber eyes trained on the blue sky, a small smile on her lips.

Sometimes I wonder..she thought, one hand absently stroking her daughter's wispy hair, if he can see me now. If he can see how happy I am now. If he'd lived..would I ever have met Mwu? My life would have been so different, but would he and I ever have been as happy as Mwu and I are now?

She wasn't sure. The answers to that..they'd never be found. Her future had turned out wildly different that she'd imagined three or four years ago, but much better than she'd previously hoped.

"What are you dreaming about?" The familiar voice broke Murrue's daydream, and she looked up in surprise to see her husband tiptoeing across the grass, cap in one hand, bag in the other. Instead of replying, she pressed a finger to her lips, gesturing to where the baby still slept peacefully. Mwu grinned, sitting down beside his wife to pull her into his arms. She smiled, eyes closing as he pressed little kisses to her neck. "What are you doing home so early?" she murmured, confused, but not really that surprised. He chuckled softly, leaning his head against hers. "Turns out I didn't have classes this afternoon..so I came right home. Why, don't you want me here?" he teased.

"Don't be silly.." she replied, leaning against him. "Why wouldn't I want you here?"

Mwu closed his own eyes, arms wrapping tightly around her. "So..what were you thinking about? You looked kinda sad.."

"Nothing.." Murrue whispered. "Just about how much things have changed.."

The couple sat there together on the grass, the only sounds to be heard the wind in the trees, their own breathing, and the occasional burble from their sleeping infant daughter.

Whether they fell asleep like that, they had no idea, but it seemed as though only a few moments had passed before the sun started to sink into the west, the fiery orb seeming to set the sky ablaze. Murrue opened her eyes to the feeling of something patting her cheek. "Hmmm...?"

Stellar sat there, having crawled onto her lap. "Mama?" she whimpered, blue eyes brimming with tears. Murrue gasped, untangling herself from Mwu's embrace and picking up her daughter. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry.." Hugging the little girl close, she carried her inside the house.

"You were a very good girl.." she told Stellar gently after she'd been fed and changed. "You didn't cry once.." She hugged the child again, kissing her on the cheek. Her sunny nature restored, the toddler giggled and wiggled about in her arms.

"Shall we go and find Papa?" Murrue asked, balancing the little girl on her hip. Out in the garden, Mwu had woken up, rubbing his eyes with a fist. "Man..what happened?" Looking up blearily, he grinned as he saw his wife walking towards him, carrying little Stellar in her arms. The baby wriggled to be put down, and her mother set her on the grass, expecting her to crawl towards him.

But she didn't.

Slowly, little Stellar climbed to her feet, and took three tiny baby steps towards her father, almost toppling over, but still managing to keep her balance. Murrue watched, holding her breath, tears in her eyes. Mwu smiled, holding out his arms, until his little girl had managed to reach where he sat. Scooping her up into his arms, he stood up, swinging her around with a shout of laughter.

"Hey now..where'd you learn that?" The tiny girl didn't reply, instead reaching chubby arms up towards the sky. "Fly!" she chirped happily. "Papa fly!"

"Huh?" he asked, laughter in his voice. "Fly?" Stellar nodded. "Papa fly!" Confused, Mwu looked to Murrue. His wife simply smiled, the tears still shining in her beautiful eyes. "I told her that we couldn't fly like the birds, but that you could."

Understanding, he grinned, tucking his daughter into his arms and crossing the lawn to embrace Murrue. "That's right, I can fly. Not like the birds, but I can fly."

Stellar beamed, delighted. "Stellar fly!" She pointed up to the sky again, and Mwu laughed.

"Sure," he said, kissing both his little girl and his wife. "One day, Stellar can fly..."

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( Hurray for waffle XD

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