I've Got You

A Short Story

By Danielle Cheri

Anthony walked into the shop. He picked up Teddy.

"Papa! I missed you." He said.

He chuckled and kissed his son's cheek. "I missed you, too, Teddy-boy."

"Mama taught me how to spell my name."

"Did she?" He walked over to Susan as her latest customer left. "Why don't you tell me?"

"T-E-D-Y." He said proudly.

"You missed a D, darling." Susan said as she accepted Anthony's kiss to her cheek. "I think Max is on the verge of taking his first steps."

"What makes you think that?" her husband asked.

She pointed to where they had constructed a small play pen for Max. He was standing by the fence, his hand hovering over it, but not holding it.

"How long has he been doing that?" Anthony asked, putting Teddy down and walking toward the baby.

"He's been standing in the same spot most of the day. He walked a couple steps holding on. But mostly he's just stood there and watched everything."

"Learning the business?" he asked as he kneeled down. "Mama said we were all walking before we were one year old. Well, except for Sebastian. He took a little longer." He smiled. "Are you going to start walking Maxie?"

"Papa." Max said, bouncing up and down. He was now holding on to the fence.

"Max." He said, leaning forward and kissing his forehead. He lifted the baby into his arms. "I'll take these two and get out of your hair." He kissed Susan's cheek once more.

"Did you see Bartholomew and Liv before you left?" she asked before he could move.

"Yes. They were on break. Liv was playing very well with the others. Bartholomew had his nose in a book."

"Of course he did." She ruffled Teddy's hair. "Try your name one more time."

"T-E-D-D-Y." he said proudly.

"Very good! Now that we have that mastered, we'll start working on your full name."

"How do I spell 'Max'?"

"M-A-X." She said.

"M-A-X." he repeated. "That's easy."

"Yes, fairly easy." She smiled. "Go with Papa into the sitting room and play until your brother and sister get home."

"Yes, Mama." He slipped his hand into Anthony's outstretched one. "Papa, will you help me spell names?"

"Sure. Which one first?"

"Your name, Papa."

Anthony sat on the floor. He held Max up. "P-A-P-A."

"P-A-P-A. That's short."

"That's 'Papa.' 'Anthony' is much longer." He held Max's hands and spelled out his name.

Teddy repeated it and requested one after another.

Anthony obliged. After a while, he stood. Still holding Max's hands, he helped the boy around the room.

He seemed a little unsure at first, but was soon taking steps with more assurance. He even let go of one of his father's hands, but held fast to the other.

Eventually Anthony stopped walking. He kneeled down in front of his son. He pried his other hand out of Max's. The baby cried, frightened, but he remained standing.

Anthony put his hands on either side of his son's waist. "It's okay, Max. I'm here. Walk to me. You can do it."

He stared at his father intently. His green eyes shone. "Papa."

"Yes. It's all right, darling boy."

Teddy kneeled down beside him after watching for a while. "Walk, Max." he encouraged.

With his brother's prodding added, Max grew bold. He lifted his foot and then put it back down. "Papa." He said again.

"I'm right here."

He lifted his foot again and moved it forward slightly before he put it down.

"Good. Now the other one."

He concentrated hard, lifting his other foot and then sat it down in front of the other.

Anthony let go of his waist, but kept his hands at his side.

Max took one step before he realized his father was no longer holding on and he fell forward.

"We have to show your mother." He picked the baby up and hurried into the shop. "Suzie, he walked." He announced.

"What?" Susan beamed. "Show me."

He put Max down. The baby clung to his hands. Anthony pried his hands loose. "Walk to Mama, Maxie. Show her."

He looked at his feet and then up at Susan. He smiled and took a step, his arms held out for balance. And then he took another. He was almost to Susan when he dropped to the floor and crawled the rest of the way to her. He pulled himself up using her dress as a hand hold.

She laughed and picked him up. "Congratulations, Maxwell, you can walk." She kissed his chubby cheek. "We'll have to see if you will show your grandparents later." She held him close. "My baby will be all grown up before I know it. Maybe I shouldn't have encouraged the walking."

"We all grow up, sweetheart. You were teaching Teddy how to spell his name today. Are you going to stop teaching him? Refuse to let him go to school?"

"No." She wiped at her eyes. She kissed Max again and put him back on the floor. "Walk back to Papa, darling."

He walked back and forth between his parents for the rest of the afternoon as Teddy asked for some more things to spell. There were a few more customers before closing that interrupted them.

When Bartholomew and Liv came home, Max had grown tired of the walking and plopped himself down on the floor in front of Anthony. He refused to get up to show his oldest siblings he could walk.

He held his arms up. "Papa?"

Anthony picked him up. "Maybe later." He kissed the boy's cheek. "But I'm so proud of you."

"He could probably use a little nap." Susan said.

"Probably. You three help with the closing duties." He told the other children as he walked toward the door.