The laughter was still echoing through the living room when Nova's cry cut through the air—not distressed, but demanding. The kind of cry that said she'd been patient long enough with her parents' identity crisis and now required immediate attention.
"I'll get her," Samantha said, but all four of them were already moving.
They found Nova in her nursery, standing in her crib—actually standing, which was new and concerning given she was only three months old—with her hands raised imperiously like a tiny queen summoning her court.
"Did she just—" Kai started.
"Stand on her own? Yes," Marcus confirmed, his scholarly instincts immediately cataloging this development. "That's... several months ahead of schedule."
"She's not just standing," Callum observed, his former Overseer training kicking in. "Look at her hands."
