Thomas said his first word on a Tuesday in August.
We were in the kitchen. Mrs. Aldren was there, which meant she was a witness and therefore the record was unimpeachable. Rose was at the table. Damien was at the counter. I was at the stove.
Thomas was in the high chair.
He had been working toward language for several weeks in the careful way he approached everything, with assessment and patience and the sense of someone who was going to do it once and do it correctly.
He looked at Damien.
He said, very clearly, “No.”
The kitchen was very still.
“No?” Damien said.
“No,” Thomas said, with full conviction.
Rose looked at her brother.
“He said no,” she said.
“I heard,” Damien said.
Mrs. Aldren covered her mouth with her hand in the way she covered things she didn’t want to perform
