Maeve's First Word Problem Solo

Early Easter Break 2026

With the coming of his seventeenth Birthday, Simon was no longer under The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery - which simply meant he could now use magic outside of school. He found this especially exciting when he thought about his internship with St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Surely it would open up new opportunities to him.

At home, on Spring Break, this also meant he could now use small spells around the house when before he couldn't have - after helping Aunt Maggie with supper he could use Scourgify, the cleaning charm to scrub surrfaces instantly. When watering the plants in the garden that were beginning to spout he could use Aguamenti to produce water from his wand and fill up the watering can. He could even use Reparo when Uncle Mark's favorite mug fell to the floor from Porter's bounding chase around the kitchen after a tennis ball.

His favorite was a simple Lumos when he would enter a room for a short time and didn't need to turn on the light but simply just needed it lit for the short duration that he was in there. The problem began when Maeve began loving Lumos.

She loved it so much, those bright blue eyes of hers lit up and so did her smile and she'd laugh and laugh and laugh every time a spark of light was produced. Simon would light candles in the bakery with lumos and at home make a tiny glow for her to play with - having her chase the floating light around much like Porter liked to do with the tennis ball. Eventually, Maeve even started to copy him. "Luuu mooo!" she'd say.

Uh oh.

From that point on, Simon tried to avoid using magic. His muggle baby cousin didn't need a real magical spell to be her first word. Surely such a thing would violate The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Nope, he couldn't have that. What followed was Simon not using magic or being extra careful not to let her hear him.

The family helped as well. "Ah, Simon!" Uncle Mark would say when he entered the room and would instantly place one hand over each of the girl's ears drmatically. And Clara would try to expand Maeve's vocabulary by saying every word she could, hoping Maeve would pick up another favorite word. "Here's your plate, your plate, Maeve. For dinner. We are going to eat. You need a spoon. Yes, a spoon," she'd say as she reached out to hand one to the small girl.

But Maeve kept trying.

"Loo muh!"

"Lu mo!"

Each time, everyone would glance the one another cautiously. In those days he was home for Spring Break, they didn't realize that the little one was thinking of Simon constnatly and she was hearing his name all the time. Aunt Maggie might ask, "give that to Simon," when they were packing up for a trip to the park, Clara might look out the foyer window and say "Simon, come look!" and Uncle Mark would tell Maeve upon Simon's arrival home from internship, "Your favorite person is here, Maeve - Simon!"

"Lu mo!"

"Li mo!"

"SIMO!" Oh this girl was so close to talking and everyone was grateful for that, as it seemed she was a bit slightly behind. It had been discovered around Christmas that she needed ear tubes after frequent ear infections and it seemed she had been hearing most sounds at a whisper. Her surgery had been right before Simon’s visit from Hogwarts and she was trying so hard to get out those words, babbling away - no matter the variety.

Simon arrived home one late evening from a long internship shift. He should have been home well before supper but now it was late and he was just going to get a drink of water and head downstairs to his bedroom. He entered quietly so not to disturb anyone, thnking everyone in the house was already asleep. "Lumos," he said as he entered the kitchen and a small light automatically glowed from the end of his wand, giving light to some of the kitchen.

Stood before him was Clara, cutting up some apple for a late night snack into small pieces, most likely for Maeve who he saw in the high chair. He felt his heart race and looked at Clara who looked to him. "Siiii mo!" Maeve said.

"Wait...." Clara said, realizing it was now a new beginning. This was a good thing. Simon watched as Maeve reached out for him. "Siii mo!" she said again and flailed her little arms. "Simon!"

It was just then that Aunt Maggie and Uncle Mark were entering the room. Everyone exploded into applause and cheers and smiles. Maeve had said her first real word.

Simon came closer to the high chair and knelt down and Maeve reached out, putting her little hand on his. "Simon! Simon!" she said again clearly.

"Did you hear that?" he asked in amazement. "She said my name!"