Trini was so excited to go shopping with her mother today - it was a girls' day, just her and Tessi and Mami doing what, in Trini's mind, girls did best. No one could decorate for a party with the same panache like girls could; she'd learned that word from TJ when he'd baby-sat on her parents' date-night.

'Mami, look at those ones.' Trini pointed to a packet of brightly coloured valentine-shaped cutout streamers. They were shiny and bright, and Trini knew nothing said party like things with sparkle and shine. 'Those are pretty! We can put them on the suh-tair 'pindles.'

'The banister spindles? That's a good idea Trini.'

'And these ones too!'

Trini pointed to the strings of pink and white glass beads, then turned to her big sister, who seemed to be off in her own little world today. 'Tessi?'

'Mm.'

'Tessi.' Trini waved her hand in front of her face. 'Yooooooo-hoo, hel-looooo, Tessiana, you in there big sis-uh-ter?'

'Sorry, Trini, just thinking.'

'What you thinkin' a-bout?'

'What I am going to wrap Max's birthday present in,' she said on a little sigh. Tessi knew such matters were important to Max, since he had funny eyes. Not like Carey with his left and rights different colours, Max just squinted a lot. 'He likes bright colours and I was trying to decide if he should have stripes or bubbles on his wrapping paper.'

'Bubbles,' Trini said definitively, watching Meredeth put a few more packets of decorations in the cart. 'Everyone likes bubbles, they are so much fun and fuh-loaty.'

'Have you picked out something for Max's birthday, Tessi?' Meredeth asked as they turned the aisle to find silver and pink balloons.

'Oh, yes, Mami. I would like to buy the Total-Tanks dump truck. He loves his trucks and cars.'

'Is it in our budget range?'

'Uh-huh, Daddy showed me on the Internet. It is eighteen dollars and fifty-nine cents.'

'That would be a great gift,' Meredeth told her daughter; she knew that wasn't the entire reason Tessi was so lost in thought. Meredeth had a feeling her little Mother Goose of a daughter could see, or at least suspect, what she and Esposito already knew - Max would need glasses before age four.

But today wasn't the day to worry about the inevitable; instead she looked at Trini perusing the balloon selection like it was wedding china and asked, 'Katrina, what are you getting your brother for his birthday? His birthday is slightly more important than Valentine's Day.'

'I know, Mami, but...I don't know whattta get him.'

'You bought him lots of Christmas things,' Tessi reminded her sister. 'Was there anything you wanted to buy Max for a present but didn't get to buy him?'

'No.' Trini shook her head, sucked in her lower lip in thought. 'I used up all my 'deas at Christmas time.'

'Well, we'll figure something out. Mami, what is the day today?'

'Today is February third, Tessiana,' Meredeth replied, leaning on the edge of the shopping cart as she watched Tessi get out her little notepad and pencil from her child-sized purse. 'What you got there?'

'My notepad. Daddy says all good inves'gators write down important notes. Now Trini, we have eleven days to pick a present and buy it for Max. Mami said she will give each of us twenty dollars.'

'Maybe...maybe can we look on the Inner-net suh-tore?'


Trini had been on the computer before to use the Internet but that had been with her daddy to play a card game with him, but this was different. She had a mission now, and Tessi was so smart; she got to go to school every day and practice using the computer as more than a toy. Trini had no doubt her sister the genius would help her find something for little brother Max.

'Okay, Trini.' Under her mother's watchful eye, Tessi had finger-pecked in the website - manhattan-top-toys-dot-com - into the right slot on the screen and hit enter. Soon they were looking at the site that was so full of colours and ads and words Trini didn't know that her fingers tightened on Tessi's arm. Tessi patted her sister's arm and smiled at her. 'Now, we type in here what we want to look for.'

'But I don't know what to look for.'

'That's okay, they have depar'ments over here.' Tessi moved the arrow to the left-hand column and highlighted the options. 'Do we want to look at board games or cards, or trucks and airplanes or action figures or stuffed animals or-'

'Ohh, suh-tuff animals.' Trini leaned forward. 'Max has her baby animals but he needs one just for cuddling now.'

Tessi smiled, gave her sister a little kiss.