13. Lettie’s First Words

“Oh!”

Violet was finally learning to form words, and that was one of her favorite things to say these days: “oh.”

“What’s ‘oh’ supposed to mean?” Mr. Fisalis wondered.

“Hmm... No idea,” I replied.

Neither of us had a clue what it meant. We could only watch as she smiled and continued to say, “Oh.”

But eventually, the meaning of that sound became clear.

“Ohtah!”

One day, all of a sudden, the word had leveled up from “oh” to “ohtah.”

“Wow! Her vocabulary’s growing! Mr. Fisalis would be so happy if he were around to hear it.”

“It’s a shame he’s at work.”

“He always has the worst timing. What’s ‘Ohtah,’ though?” I posed my question to the servants, giving a puzzled tilt of my head. Even now that it was up to two syllables, I still had no clue what it meant.

“Ohtah!” The next time she said it, Violet was looking straight at Rohtas.

“‘Ohtah’... Oh! Do you think she’s trying to say ‘Rohtas’?” I asked the butler himself, struck with the sudden realization.

That seemed to click for him too. “Oh... Now that you mention it, it does sound that way.”

Just to be certain, I pointed at Rohtas and asked her, “Who’s this, Lettie?”

“Ohtah.”

That settled it.

“Gosh... So Lettie’s first word is ‘Rohtas,’ huh?”

“This may be presumptuous of me, but I must admit I’m quite pleased.”

Hearing Violet’s first words had me overcome with emotion, while Rohtas cracked a delighted smile.

“But ‘Rohtas’? Not ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’? I wonder why,” I murmured as I gazed down at Violet, who was looking at the butler with a smile.

“Because ‘Rohtas’ is the most commonly used word in this house, no?” Mimosa cheerfully suggested.

Oh, good point!

The word (or name, I guess?) that Mr. Fisalis, the servants, and I all said most often was “Rohtas.” With how many times Violet was hearing it a day, it was no wonder it was the first word she learned. That checked out.

Besides, Rohtas did love to pamper her! (That went for everybody in the mansion, though!)

“Huh! Now I get it. Still, Cercis’s gonna cry when he hears this.”

“I’m sure.”

Picturing his reaction with ease, a rueful smile rose to the servants’ faces.

* * *

But seriously, now that I was thinking about it, Mr. Fisalis had started off the morning with, “Rohtas, about my personal plans for the day...”

And from there...

“Rohtas! Where do we put this?”

“Rohtas, Cartham said he wants to talk to you about purchasing the next batch of ingredients.”

“There’s a letter for you, Rohtas.”

“I think that’s enough training for today, Rohtas!”

And so on and so forth. The whole day was one big “Rohtas” parade. And since Violet spent most of her hours in the parlor, she had front row seats to the spectacle whether she liked it or not.

“Rohtas. Do you remember the matter I asked you about earlier?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

Even now, Violet was watching as Dahlia flagged the man down for a discussion.

“No wonder she learned his name.”

“Indeed.”

And is it just me, or do we work Rohtas way too hard around here?

* * *

“Have you and Lettie been well?” Mr. Fisalis asked.

He was saying it a lot more conversationally now, but it was the same line that always used to follow his “I’m home” toward the start of our marriage. Of course, back then he’d disappear off to the cottage as soon as it’d left his mouth, so it was high time I let that go.

Filling him in on how the day had gone was a part of my routine, but today I had something special to report.

“Yes! We had a great time today. Plus, I have some big news!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

The meaning of Lettie’s “oh” had finally been revealed. I had to wonder what kind of face my husband was going to make when he learned the truth.

“Lettie said her first word today.”

He looked surprised. “What? She did?”

Oh, but just wait until you hear that it was “Rohtas”! I was smiling just thinking about it. No, no—I can’t spill the beans just yet. Restraint is key!

“Yeah. You know how she’s been saying ‘oh’ a lot lately?”

“Uh-huh.”

“We found out what she’s been trying to say with that. It even evolved from ‘oh’ to ‘ohtah.’”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yep. Hey, Lettie, who’s this?” I asked right before my astonished husband’s eyes, suddenly pointing to our butler.

Violet smiled and answered, “Ohtah.”

“Ohtah... Oh, so it’s ‘Rohtas’! That’s what ‘oh’ meant all along. But I can’t believe this... ‘Rohtas’ is the first word Lettie learned?!”

Mr. Fisalis was clearly devastated to discover the true meaning of “Ohtah.”

“Well, what can you do? It’s got to be the word she hears most often.”

“Yeah... You’ve got a point...”

He looked like he’d begrudgingly accepted the explanation, at least!

* * *

“Lettie, this is ‘daddy,’ okay? Go on—say it.”

“’Kay!”

“Not, not the ‘okay’ part! Dad-dy!”

“’Kay!”

“Please, Lettie... Daddy wants to hear you say his name!”

Since that little incident, Lettie’s vocabulary had grown exponentially. She could respond to things with “okay,” and she could manage easy words like “ball.”

And as for Mr. Fisalis? Whenever he had a moment to spare, he spent it giving Violet a crash course(?) in how to say “daddy.” Rohtas beating him to the punch had been a bitter pill to swallow, it seemed.

He was currently in the middle of giving Violet a lesson atop his lap, but it didn’t seem to be going too well if the sour look on his face was any indication.

“Oh, I know! If I make everyone else in the mansion call me ‘daddy,’ I bet she’ll pick up the word faster!”

“Cercis, please. Nobody’s going to agree to that.”

“No? And here I thought it was a great idea.”

“Besides, no one here says your name as often as Rohtas’s.”

“It’s true, but you shouldn’t say it.”

Crestfallen, Mr. Fisalis squeezed Violet against his chest. But c’mon! No duh we didn’t use his name that much—he wasn’t home most of the day!

And then...

“Dada! Hee hee!” Violet giggled at her demoralized father.

Huh? What did she just say?

I looked over at Violet with a start, and Mr. Fisalis seemed to have come to the same realization.

“Lettie? What did you just say?”

“’Kay!”

“No, not that! Wait, I have an idea. Lettie, who’s this?” he asked her, pointing to himself.

“Dada,” Violet answered with a giant grin.

“Oh, Lettie! You’ve made Daddy’s day! Did you hear that, Vi? Did you?!”

“Yep! Loud and clear!”

“I can’t believe she learned it so soon after I started teaching her! Our little girl’s a genius!”

Overjoyed, Mr. Fisalis pulled Violet into another tight hug. I wasn’t sure about the genius part, but it seemed my husband’s persistence had won the day!

* * *

One day, sometime later:

“Sorry... They’re back again.”

“Uh...”

“Good to see you!” came a chorus of voices.

When I went to greet my husband at the door, I found that he’d brought his subordinates home with him.

“I’m afraid they overheard me telling Corydalis that Lettie had finally learned how to talk.”

“Oh my! I see!”

Mr. Fisalis looked dead on his feet—but his co-workers seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I supposed it all evened out. Besides, I was used to getting mobbed by the knights at this point.

“Well, since they’ve come all this way, we may as well have dinner—”

“No need to show them so much hospitality. I was planning to kick them out as soon as they’d gotten a look at Lettie.”

“Don’t be such a tyrant!” the crowd yelled back.

We were a little late serving dinner due to the short-notice Guest Shift, but the knights were having such a great time flocking to Violet that no one seemed to mind.

“Hey, Lettie! I’m Angelica! An-ge-li-ca!”

“Ann!”

“Omigosh! Did you guys hear that? She called me ‘Ann’!” Angelica was practically jumping for joy.

“Okay, Lettie, what about me? Alkanna! Al-kan-na!”

“Al!”

“Aww, I hope you never stop calling me that!” said Alkanna, a huge smile plastered over her face as she hugged the little girl close.

Finally, it was Chamomile’s turn. She looked at Violet, still cradled in Alkanna’s arms, and said, “Listen up, Lettie! Your big sis here is called Chamomile! Cham-o-mile!”

“...Camee?”

“Looks like that name was a little too tricky for her.”

“I’m impressed, though! The little girl’s got a knack for nicknames.”

“I like it! From now on, I say everyone calls me ‘Camee’ for short!”

Chamomile seemed pleased with her brand new nickname.

“Gosh, she’s cute. Too cute! I wish I could take her home with me! Oh, can I? Please?” Alkanna begged Mr. Fisalis, giving Violet another tight squeeze.

“You’re not going anywhere with my little girl!” he insisted, scrambling to steal his daughter back from his subordinate.

“Meanie! That’s what you are, Vice Captain—a big, fat meanie!”

“Booo!”

“No Lettie-hogging allowed!”

“I can do whatever I want; she’s my daughter. Isn’t that right, Lettie?”

“Yeah!”

Showered in jeers by his subordinates, Mr. Fisalis screwed his face into a frown. Violet, on the other hand, continued to smile blissfully.

Then all of a sudden, Chamomile broke into a grin. Pointing to Mr. Fisalis, she asked, “Lettie, who’s this?”

Following where her finger was pointing, Violet stared right into my husband’s face.

“Heh heh. For your information, Lettie knows how to say ‘daddy’ now. I didn’t spend all that time teaching her for nothing.”

Just as he was bragging to Chamomile, however...

“Some old fart who comes over a lot.”

“Huh?! I never thought I’d hear you say something so casually cruel, Lettie! Daddy’s shocked... Hold on a second—one of you girls is playing ventriloquist!”

Violet’s answer had Mr. Fisalis aghast—but it turned out it was just Angelica playing a prank from behind her.

Nice job playing along with the joke! The whole room erupted into laughter. You’re a regular comedian, Mr. Fisalis! Aren’t you proud? Okay, maybe not.

“Hey, Angelica! Who are you calling an old fart?! Don’t be rude—I’m still in my twenties!”

“That’s the part you have a problem with?!”

You’re focusing on the wrong thing, Mr. Fisalis! I thought. Now it was my turn to play the straight man.

“Besides, you’re all older than I am!”

Oh no! That’s the worst thing you could possibly say here! Look, there’s a vein popping out on the Bombshell Trio’s foreheads! And the rest of the knights are averting their eyes... Yeah, they don’t want anything to do with this.

“See this, Lettie? Your poor daddy’s getting picked on,” Mr. Fisalis said, hugging Violet close and (fake) crying.

That got a resounding laugh out of her. “Dada! Hee hee!”

“Whoa... My own daughter got a kick out of that...”

“Omigosh! Lettie said ‘Dada’!”

“Wow! She’s grown up so much since the last time we saw her.”

“Color us impressed!”

It looked like the sound of Violet’s voice had quelled the ladies’ rage. Be glad she saved your butt there, Mr. Fisalis!

It went without saying that the knights loved Violet, but it looked like they were equally fond of their vice captain. It was nice to watch them all having fun teasing each other. Heck, whenever he was with his subordinates, Mr. Fisalis couldn’t fire off the comebacks fast enough.

Here I was so delighted every time I got to see a new side of my husband; why on earth did he seem to hate having his co-workers over so much?