May 1st, 2003
Dave looked at himself in the mirror. No greys. No wrinkles. This birthday wouldn't be so bad. He was only turning thirty-five.
"Only. Only." Dave muttered to himself. "Keep telling yourself that, Malucci." He squirted some gel in his hand and ran it through his hair.
"Dave, are you coming?" Randi, dressed in a simple black dress, walked into the bathroom.
"Yeah. Just a little nervous." He said.
"Why?" She laughed, "It's your birthday, not the end of the world."
"You never know." Dave chuckled, "The girl ready?"
"They're waiting downstairs." Randi said. Dave watched her as she walked down the stairs. Dave bit his lip. She was certainly a fine piece. Dave fixed the collar on his suit and walked into the living room. The girls, who were dressed in their best clothes, were sitting on the floor patiently waiting. Randi scooped up Lyric and Dave took Ireland's hand. The all walked out to the car.
"Need to buckle you up, young lady." Dave said making sure Ireland was strapped in her car seat. He gave her a peck on her cheek.
"Kiss!" Ireland clapped her hands. Dave chuckled and kissed her again.
"We have reservations, Dave." Randi reminded him.
"I know." He chuckled getting into the car; "We'll make them. I want to show off my gorgeous little family."
"Haven't you done that enough?" Randi chuckled as they drove down the street. Dave shook his head.
"No." He said, "I want the whole world to know I have three gorgeous girls who live with me." Randi giggled softly.
"You can show me off once I loose this pregnancy weight." She said.
"Oh don't start on that." He said, "You've lost a lot of weight and you look amazing." Randi shook her head.
"In a couple of months maybe." Dave sighed. He thought she looked amazing, but there was not arguing on this subject. Dave pulled the car into a space in front of Le Petite, a wonderful French Restaurant near the water. Dave got out of the car and helped Ireland out. He put her on his hip as he walked around to the other side. Randi unhooked Lyric's car seat and carried the whole thing to the door.
"Here you go." Dave opened the door for her. She smiled thankfully and walked in.
"Hi. We have a reservation for Malucci." Randi said. The hostess looked in the book and nodded with smile.
"Right this way." She led them to the back of the restaurant. "Would you like a couple of highchairs?" She asked as she put a couple of menus in front of them.
"Yes. Thank you." Dave sat down smiling at his wife; "This place is lovely. I'm glad you made reservations." Randi nodded.
"I always wanted to eat here." She said looking through the menu. "Everything looks so good." The waitress walked up with a couple of highchairs. Dave strapped Ireland in. "Could I start you off with something to drink?"
"Could we just have a couple of glasses of water?" Dave asked.
"Certainly. I'll be right back." The waitress walked away.
"Here, Baby." Randi handed Ireland a breadstick. She giggled and began to gnaw on it.
"What should I get?" Dave asked. Randi shrugged.
"It's your birthday. You can get whatever you want." She said.
"Escargot?" He asked. Randi giggled softly.
"If that's what you truly want." She said. Dave grinned brightly.
"I just may have to get it then." He said putting the menu down. Dana, their waitress, came with their drinks.
"Are you two ready to order?" Dave nodded and told the waitress what he and Randi wanted.
"Is there something I could get for her. Like a side of pasta or something?" Randi asked. Dana smiled slightly.
"I'll see what I can do." She said as she collected the menus.
"Thank you." Randi smiled fixing the bottle in Lyric's mouth. "This is nice. We haven't gone out as a family in a long time." Dave nodded.
"Yeah. We need to do this more often, but obviously at cheaper restaurants." He said. Randi nodded in agreement.
"You want your present?" Randi grinned. Dave cocked his eyebrow.
"You didn't have to get me anything. We're out to dinner." He said. Randi giggled removing an envelope from her purse.
"I know." She handed it to him. Dave smiled as he opened up. A giant smile came across his face as he pulled out a coupon for a night of sex with Randi without kids in the house.
"This is the best present." He chuckled looking over at Ireland who was throwing breadsticks into Lyric's seat.
"I thought you'd like that." She winked, "Ireland, knock that off right now young lady."
"Wic pay!" She whined. Randi shook her head.
"No. Lyric doesn't want to play. She's being good." Randi handed Lyric a breadstick. The baby looked at it oddly and squeezed it until it broke. Ireland pouted until their food was served. Dave looked at his escargot. "Having second thoughts?"
"No. I can do it." He chuckled. The waitress put a dish of spaghetti in front of Ireland.
"Thank you." Randi smiled cutting up the spaghetti for Ireland. She giggled and picked the food with her fingers. "Are you having a good birthday?" Dave nodded.
"It's one of the best one yet." Dave said.
"Good." Randi said, "Maybe you can cash that coupon in tonight." Dave chuckled.
"I think I will save that for later." He winked.
"Whatever you want, Birthday Boy." Randi chuckled. Dave smiled gently as he ate. He had the three most gorgeous girls here at the table with him. This was certainly a good birthday.
May 15th, 2003
Randi stared at her computer screen. She sighed deeply. She was checking her finances with Randi Wear. She ran her hand through her brown locks. She did pretty well with it and pulled in about two thousand dollars a month. She usually got two big orders a day, which meant, by Friday, her shipping day, she would probably have to send out fifteen dresses, ten skirts, and twenty other things. She was starting to get stressed. Randi was trying to figure out how to increase her production. It was her dream to open up a shop and sell all her products. Dave knocked on the door softly as Randi hit print.
"You okay I here? You've been here for awhile." He said. Randi nodded.
"I'm going to open up a shop." She said.
"Ah…When?" Dave said scratching his neck.
"Soon." Randi said getting up and showing her everything she printed. "I send my designs to this place and they'll produce whatever I want and they only want two percent of the sales. They can even ship the products from there until I can get up enough money for my own factory."
"Your own factory?" Dave looked at her, "That's like…really big."
"Oh I know. That won't happen anytime soon." She said, "But I can open up a small shop down town and still keep my online shop. Now that pulls in about two thousand a month and twenty-four thousand a year. With the shop, I will be pulling in a whole lot and I can pay back any loans I take from the bank to open the shop." Randi smiled looking up at her husband.
"You've really researched this haven't you?" He asked.
"It's what I want to do. It's been my dream to open up a shop." Randi said. Dave put the papers down and nodded.
"Then I'll help you open one." Randi grinned broadly throwing her arms around Dave's neck.
"There's a few key places downtown that are selling spaces." She said, "I want to have a look at them today." Dave nodded.
"We can do that." He said. "Ireland is at Ella's so we on have one little monkey to handle." Randi chuckled slightly.
"Get her ready and I'll meet you at the car."
* * *
Randi walked ahead of Dave with the realtor. Dave bounced Lyric on his hip as the realtor unlocked the front of the shop. Randi looked around her.
"Very spacious." She said. The realtor nodded.
"The large windows will let customers browse before they even enter the shop." She walked to the middle of the shop where the counter was. "This area will be perfect to put your register and phones." Dave looked around.
"It is nice." He said.
"And up those stairs, you have your second floor." Randi looked up and saw the banister and baluster all around. She could envision white Christmas lights hanging off of them.
"Lovely." Randi smiled as the realtor lead them into a back area.
"And here you can put your changing rooms if you so wish." Randi nodded. She could easily see six changing rooms fitting in here. The realtor led her into another room. "And this may be good for an office or whatever you wish. Through that door is a small warehouse, you can store your items there or whatever you want." Randi nodded.
"I love it." Randi looked at Dave. "What do you think?"
"I think that it's in a perfect spot in town and fits your needs." He said shifting Lyric on his hip. Randi looked at Lyric.
"What do you think, Lady bug?" She asked. Lyric cooed softly. Randi smiled and looked back at the Realtor. "Well, we have an appointment with the bank for a loan, but I can make a down payment right now if that's all right with you." The realtor saw commission in her eyes.
"That's perfect." She said pulling forms out of her briefcase. Randi grinned brightly looking at Dave. This was it. She was buying her own shop. It was happening quicker than she thought.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Malucci." She held out her hand. Randi shook her hand.
"Thank you. Thank you very much." She said. This was going to be a long journey getting this shop ready for business, but she could do it. With Dave's motivation, She could do this. Dave hugged his wife. At this moment, He was so proud of her for pursuing her dreams. He hoped this shop would do well.