April 4th, 2003

"Sit still." Dave said trying to tie the hat onto Ireland head.

"Go! Go!" Ireland clapped.

"I need to bundle you up. It's not summer yet. You need a hat and mittens on." He said finally getting the hat on. "Now your sister." He grabbed the tiny hat and popped it on Lyric's head; "You're not as squirmy as Ireland. You'll get squirmy eventual though." He lad a blanket on Lyric and stood up, "Randi, we're going."

"Bye!" Randi yelled from her office. She was so busy with her orders lately. She couldn't believe she was thinking about opening a shop. Dave smiled and pushed the double stroller out onto the porch. He got in front o fit and eased it down the porch steps.

"Okay. Here we go. Daddy and daughter day." Dave smiled pushing his daughters down the sidewalk. Ireland sat behind Lyric talking to herself. Dave had to laugh. It was so great to see her talking. She was really getting big. Luckily, he had his little peanut Lyric. Within ten minutes, Dave was at the mall. He pushed the stroller into the mall. He thanked the woman who held the door open for him. "Thank you."

"No problem. Are those cuties yours?" The blond asked.

"Mine and my wife's." Dave nodded making sure she could see his wedding ring.

"They're gorgeous." She smiled, "How old?"

"Ireland is fourteen months and Lyric is a month." Dave smiled proudly.

"Lovely names." She smiled extending her hand, "Vanessa."

"Dave." He said shaking her hand.

"I have two myself. Close in age like yours." She smiled, "Tyler is twenty-four months and Olivia is thirteen months."

"Nice." Dave said.

"Well, I'll let you and your girls go shop. Little girls deserved to be spoiled." Vanessa smiled, "Nice meeting you." She said walking off. Dave couldn't help but to watch her rear shake. ~Randi is better.~

"Come on. Let's see what kind of sales there are so I can get you some clothes. Summer in coming in a couple of months." Dave said pushing the stroller into baby gap. He removed the girls' hates and mittens so they wouldn't get too hot.

Dave went to the clearance rack. He pulled out a small purple long-john outfit. It was mighty cute. He looked at Lyric and smiled. He hung the outfit on the stroller's bar. He looked back at the rack and found a pair of overalls. They were gingham yellow and looked like they would fit Ireland in a few months.

"How do you like this, Pumpkin?" Dave asked holding it up to his chest. Ireland giggled clapping her hands.

"Dada!!" She cheered.

"All right. We'll get this." He said, "How do you think Momma is coming along with her orders? Yeah, I think she'll have it done buy the time we get home" Dave grabbed a package of onsies for Lyric and went to the register.

"Good afternoon." Andie, the cashier, smiled.

"Afternoon.' Dave put the three items on the counter.

"Some good choices." Andie smiled, "Those yours?"

"Yeah." Dave chuckled taking out his wallet. Everyone seemed to be all over him when he took the girls out for walks lately.

"Twenty-three dollars even." Andie smiled. Dave nodded and handed her twenty-five. "Enjoy your purchases."

"We will." Dave chuckled and pushed the stroller out, "Why don't we go get mommy a surprise." Dave and the girls wandered their way into the jewelry store. Dave wanted to get Randi something special. Randi had been going non-stop since giving birth to Lyric. The girls were hard to deal with at times and Randi wear was booming. Since their one-year wedding anniversary was only a few days ago, they really didn't celebrate much. They exchanged kisses and hugs. Randi gave him a card and he did the same. They were just too busy to celebrate. It wasn't like Randi could have sex yet anyway. She still had a few more weeks of the no sex rule.

"May I help you?" Jamie Lynn, the sales person, asked.

"Yeah. I want to get my wife something special." Dave said, "Like a necklace or something."

"Very well." Jamie Lynn pulled out a tray of diamond necklaces. "How are these?"

"Nice but not enough colour." He said, "Do you have anything with an amethyst or a um, what ever the birthstone for March?"

"How about a mothers necklace?" Jamie Lynn said. "It's just a simple gold chain and a stone pendent for each child. If you have more then you can slid another stone on." She pulled out an example. Dave nodded.

"Yeah. That's nice." Dave said, "I'll take one. Our kids were born in February and March." Jamie Lynn nodded.

"I will be right back." She smiled. Dave knelt down in front of the girls.

"I think Mommy will like the necklace." Dave smiled. Lyric stirred slightly, whimpering. He stood up and scooped her into his arms. He pulled out a bottle from her diaper bag and fed it to her. Lyric greedily ate. With in a few minutes, Jamie Lynn came back.

"How is this?" She held up the necklace. Dave smiled.

"I love it. Thanks." Jamie Lynn laid it in velvet box and slipped it in a bag. Dave handed her his credit card. She glanced at Lyric as she charged it. Dave kissed Lyric and put her back into the stroller.

"Here you go, Sir. Have a nice day." She said handing the bag to him. He smiled softly.

* * *

Randi sat in front of her computer looking at her designs. She shook her head and hit delete. Lately, she was only getting horrible ideas in her head. She looked over to a pile of boxes that needed to be shipped out the next morning. Randi ran her hands over her head. She was so tired. She wanted and needed sleep badly.

"Hey." Dave walked in. "The girls are down for their naps."
"Good." Randi said leaning back in her chair. "Did the three of you have fun?"

"I think so. Everyone was oooing and ahhhing over them." Dave smiled, "We got you a present."

"A present?" Randi began to smile again, "What is it?" He handed her the long box.

"Open it." He said. Randi opened the box and looked at Dave.

"Oh it's beautiful." She pulled it out and slipped it around her neck. "The girls birthstones. I love it." She leaned up and kissed Dave softly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Baby." He said.

April 18th, 2003

Her first steps. Ireland had taken her first steps and they weren't tiny. It seemed like she wanted to run and leave the house as soon as possible. She was bolting around the house. She was hell on two legs. Between running after her and running to fed Lyric, Randi and Dave were more tired than ever.

"Dada!!!!!!!!!!!" Ireland screamed running into the play room, "DADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I'm right here. No need to yell." Dave said putting Lyric in her swing.

"Wic nap." Ireland said. "Dada pay." Dave ran his hand over his face.

"Daddy needs a nap too, Pumpkin."

"Pay! Pay!" She cried.

"You can't always get what you want with whining." Dave said. Ireland moaned and fell to the floor.

"Pay. Pay." She whimpered. Randi walked in.

"Play with the child, Dave. I can hear her all the way down the hall." Randi said.

"I can't. I have to go to work." He said. "I need to pay the bills."

"I forgot." Randi said sitting down in front of the swing. Lyric turned her hazel eyes to her mother.

"Nap Wic!" Ireland cried. Randi sighed gathering Ireland into her arms.

"Have fun at work." Randi said.

"Oh I will. It'll be nice and quiet there compared to here." He winked leaving the room. Randi smiled.

"Why don't you, Lyric, and Momma go pop some popcorn and watch a movie?" Randi suggested.

"No Wic." Ireland moaned.

"I can't leave Lyric in here by herself. She's a baby and she needs to be taken care of." Randi said. Ireland glared at Lyric. Her little hand smacked the baby's face.

"Nap!!!!" She cried. Lyric's lips started to tremble and she burst into tears.

"Ireland Grace Malucci!" Randi snapped, "That is not nice and that is not what big girls do!" Randi got up and scooped the crying baby up. Ireland sat down on the floor and started to cry.

"Me Bebe!!!!" She wailed. Randi sighed looking at her daughter. Sibling rivalry was starting early. Randi knelt down and picked Ireland up too.

"I think we need to have a chat, Ireland." Randi said walking up the stairs. She laid Lyric in her crib and gave her a bottle she soon calmed down. Randi sat in the rocking chair and cradled Ireland; "I know Mommy and Daddy have been super busy with Lyric, pumpkin. We haven't been spending our usual time with you and I'm sorry. But Lyric is getting bigger and soon she'll be sleeping through the night, so then Mommy and Daddy can spend time with you too. It's just going to be hard for awhile. She's just a tiny baby. You're a big girl." Ireland whimpered into Randi's chest. "I promise, Pumpkin, Mommy will spend more time with you. You're more important than Randi Wear."

"Mama." Ireland whimpered.

"I know, Baby." Randi kissed her daughter's head. "I promise, even having Lyric around will be fun soon. Soon, she'll be able to play with you and then the two of you will be best friends. But for now, you can't hit her. Hitting is very bad."

"Mama." Ireland whimpered again. Randi sighed.

"I think you're just tired. Let's go lay down in Mommy's bed." Randi said softly, "Maybe you'll be in a better mood then." Randi got up and went into her bedroom with Ireland. Maybe some quality sleep time would help Ireland feel more needed and wanted I this family.