momslilassassin | Skywalker Home, Naboo

"Broken?" Val said. "Paper broken?"

She had learned not to break things!

Ben laughed. "It's okay to break this one. I promise."

"It's okay to break this paper," Ender said gently. "It's wrapping paper. That's what it's there for. It hides the gift, and then you break it and see it."

"Ohhh," Val said softly, then gave it a good hard yank and giggled at the ripping noise it made.

"That's good," Ender enthused, beaming. "You've got it now."

He may have tugged a little of it open for her anyway, though.

Well, they'd be there for a week, otherwise.

"ELEPHANT!" Val shrieked when she finally saw what was under the paper.

"Happy birthday, Valentine," Ender said, beaming bright. "It's all yours."

Ben slid his arm around Ender's waist and leaned into his shoulder as Val tackled the elephant, babbling excitedly to herself.

"We've done good, kreetle."

"I don't think we'll be able to convince her to let go of that one for at least the next six months," Ender said wryly, dropping his head against Ben's.

"Probably not," Ben agreed, chuckling. "At least it took her mind off the tiaras?"

"We're going to have to start buying her those in a few years, aren't we?" Ender said. "Unless we're lucky and she grows out of it."

"Probably a bit of both," Ben admitted. "Buy them and then she'll grow out of it."

"Hopefully," Ender said, smiling faintly. "You want to get her her next present?"

If they could get Val's attention away from the elephant she was currently choke-cuddling.

"I'm not sure it's going to be quite as big a hit," Ben admitted, pulling out another brightly wrapped gift.

He'd been working on it for weeks, so he hoped she liked it a little. "Val? Want another?"

Val was going through the incredibly important process of gnawing on the elephant's leg, so when she looked up, it was with the fabric still between her teeth. She looked surprised.

"Yes, you get more presents," Ender said.

She stretched her arms out.

Ben put it down right next to her. "It's not heavy," he promised. "It's a game."

A Force-assisted game intended to teach her engineering. Shh.

By now, Val had at least gotten down the basic definition of tearing. Though, at the end of it all, Ender did wind up squatting down to help hear tear it.

"Ooooh?" she cooed, faintly confused.

Then shoved her fist in her mouth.

Ender gently pried it out.

"Like this," Ben said, holding his finger out and concentrating in the Force. The wheels began to spin, shooting rainbow glitter around the plexiglass container.

Val's eyes went huge. "Sparkly," she sighed. She stretched that tiny hand out and batted at it. The wheels budged... a little bit.

"Try again, sweetheart," Ender said.

"Move it with your brain, like the sand game," Ben encouraged.

Val's face scrunched up in frustration. She kept pushing, and it kept not working, and then her little eyes went red, and--

... right as the first tears hit her cheeks, the wheels started moving. Really, really fast.

"You did it!" Ben cheered as tiny little lights went off inside the contraption as well.

He turned to Ender. "As she gets better, she'll be able to shift the gears around and make new configurations, which'll turn different colors."

Ender smiled. "So it's an engineering toy as well," he said. "Good work, Skywalker. That should keep her busy for a while."

Val wiped at her eyes. The tears were getting in the way of her seeing the sparklies now.

Ben beamed at the praise. "She won't recognize it for a while, but it's the inner workings of a food replicator."

"You're determined to turn her into a little mechanical genius, aren't you?" Ender teased.

"Of course I am," Ben said, smiling down at Val. "She's got the brains for it."

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