The Newest Addition: Irrilia

Firsts

"We're here, Irrilia." Raphael said softly to his daughter. Irrilia was in awe of her surroundings. The pair were standing on a tall rooftop where they could see the large, luminous city and the vast, sparkling night sky.  Raphael placed Irrilia down to allow her to venture further. She toddled towards the edge of the building until she reached the ledge, which was taller than her. She frowned at this. Raphael kneeled down behind her. He put his hands under her arms to lift her up so she could see better. She squealed at her view. It was so amazing!
Countless bright lights were spread out before in many colors, some she wasn't familiar with yet. Sounds of sirens and car horns echoed up to her and her father. Her eyes moved from the city to the night sky. It was pitch black with billions of twinkling stars sprinkled across it. Irrilia's favorite detail of the sky was the moon; it was perfectly full and glowing ominously. She loved it. Irrilia turned and tugged at her father's arm with one hand and the other pointed up at the sky. "What? You wanna get a closer look at the sky?" Raphael said. "Gyah!" she squeaked out. Raphael stood up and lifted her to his shoulders then perched her on them.
She kept her eyes glued to the sky while her mouth gaped open. Irrilia wanted to count the stars, but she couldn't for two reasons; first, she could only count to five and second, there were far too many stars for her to attempt to count. Despite that one imperfection, Irrilia still adored the view above her.
Raphael looked up at the sky and Irrilia. He liked to see that she was enjoying this. Earlier that day, he decided that it might be time he took her out of the lair to see the outside world for the first time. For past several days, Irrilia had been eager to see the outside world. She would toddle over to where sun beams would leak out and sit in them for as long as she could. Sometimes, she would stand up and try to reach above her like she was trying to go for the source of the light. Irrilia was seriously curious about the outside world. And so there they were, on top of a tall building with Irrilia on Raphael's shoulders as the two star-gazed. Irrilia's chunky tail swayed against Raph's shell and her hands were positioned on top of his head.
"....Sss...st-staaarr...."
Raphael's eyes went wide. "Irrilia...?" he blurted out. Irrilia paused for a moment. Then, she threw her arms up in the air enthusiastically and cried out, "Star!"
Raphael couldn't believe it. Irrilia just said her first word! He lifted her off his shoulders and hugged her. He kissed the top of her head making her giggle. "Star star star star star!" she joyfully cheered. Raphael had to laugh at Irrilia's enthusiasm. He wasn't sure if it was over the stars themselves or she was sharing his happiness over her first word. Maybe both.
But he didn't care. He was just glad she was happy.