More to handle - 5.14 pt1

Authors note: I want to apologize in advance for the severe passing of time here. Well actually within the last few and next few posts. I have wanted to catch you all up to me. With this post though, you might understand the lack of pictures - due to concentration on the game! Kind of forgot to take them... Sorry.

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Rosetta lay in the delivery room for six hours total. David didn't want Rylan to see any of what was happening, but didn't have a babysitter, so, as much as he wanted to be in the room, he had to take care of their boy. The two of them were in the waiting room most of the time, but when Rylan got fussy, he was taken outside to get some fresh air. It seemed to help calm him.

Inside the hospital, Rosetta was busy giving David the girl he'd wished for. More so than that, she was giving him three girls, not just one.

Between sleeping spells as the nurses were getting the triplets ready to go home, Rosetta wondered why she had had three babies. Triplets didn't run in her family. It was a complete - total - shock. When the doctor had told her - after the first one had been born - not to relax just yet, there was one more to go she had been surprised. She came close to fainting when they told her there was a third on the way. Rosetta wasn't sure if she could stay awake anymore to deliver that last baby, but she did it. That, though, is the reason she was now dozing in and out of sleep while the nurses prepared the infants. She was thoroughly exhausted from the pushing, and the emotional shock.  

Since one woman couldn't carry three babies in her arms safely, the nurses provided a basket to bring the girls home in. After Rosetta had a small nap and the girls were all bathed and checked out, the hospital staff snuggled the babies in the basket together, wrapped in blankets, and sent them home with their mother.

Rosetta walked out, carrying the basket of joy, ready to surprise her husband. She spotted him and their son off in the shadow just talking together. She heard that Rylan was asking questions about babies, like what they do or what they eat. Smiling, Rosetta announced her arrival.

"Well. I have happy news, good news, and surprising news. What do you want first?"

David locked his eyes on the basket. "The good news."

"You can go shopping, we'll need some things." She told him. When she saw he was waiting for her to continue, she did, "The happy news is, it's a girl."

David's smile widened and he started toward his wife for a kiss. She held up a hand.

"The surprising news is, there are three girls."

His jaw dropped. "Wow. Three girls!" He smiled again, unable to contain his excitement. "That's amazing! And I thought you couldn't do a better trick than delivering just one baby!" He planted that kiss he'd been waiting for right on her lips, "Thank you Rose. Thanks for giving us a family."

She shrugged her shoulder a little, "You had a hand in it too, you know. Though I wonder still why I had triplets, there are no triplets, much less twins, in my family history."

David thought for a moment. "Oh. You know, my grandfather was a triplet. I wonder if it came from my side?"

They took the limo home, the family of 6, and David was sure to tell the driver to make it a safe and slow ride. On the way home they discussed names. They had only picked out one name before the girls were born, not three. They gave the first born the name of Brenna, it might be a day or two before the other two girls had their names. Rylan had been silent most of the trip home, which was kind of unusual, but he didn't seem unhappy.

Since the girls were sleeping and Rylan was okay, they made a quick stop at the store to pick up a few things they would need right away before going all the way home. David picked up another swing or two, making sure one was pink.

When they got back to the house, the driver helped unload their new purchases since he knew the family well and figured they'd have other things to tend to. One at a time the babies were taken from the basket, cuddled and given a bottle before setting them either in a swing or a crib. As she was feeding one of the girls, Rosetta remembered what she had thought about two babies not being much harder than one. Now they had four. It was going to be a bit harder than she anticipated.

After a few days all three girls had their names. Brenna, Caylin and Dayna. So far, being so young, the infants mostly slept and that made life a little easier. Rosetta napped when she could, and took care of Rylan. When the babies were up, Rylan watched them with mild curiosity. It looked to Rosetta like he thought they might be aliens from another planet. He hadn't spoken much since the girls had been brought home, mostly just observed. He played by himself while his mommy or daddy took care of the new babies, and when it was his turn with them he giggled and played happily. He asked for things when he needed or wanted them and nearly always got what he requested. Eventually he found that his parents had enough time and love for all four of their babies, and he wasn't going to be left out. After that he started talking again, babbling about anything and everything, like he usually did. He even talked to his sisters about what he was doing and what he thought they needed to do - they seemed to like listening to him.

David didn't slack in his baby care, he helped out in as many ways as he could. He would feed the girls and Rylan in the mornings if Rosetta wanted to sleep in, then bathe them and play with them all. He let his wife have enough time to get up, get showered dressed and eat before he would go to the park for his practice. As much as he wanted to be home with his family, he had to make some money to keep them going.

The months went by as quick as they possibly could. One day when David came home from working, he entered a completely silent house. The sound of it was unnerving. He didn't think he'd heard silence in the last four years of his life, basically since Rylan had come into the world. Instantly he thought something might be wrong so he raced up the stairs. When he reached the top he heard the soft tinkling of a lullaby playing. He slowed down to quiet his steps. Looking into the room at the top of the stair he saw all of his girls sleeping. The triplets were all in their own swings, and Rosetta was passed out on the small couch they had gotten. He smiled at the sight. When David walked into his bedroom he found that Rylan was asleep in there too.

David and Rosetta had tried to put Rylan in his own room after the second floor was added, as they had planned, but when they did he would just cry and cry. So they moved him back into their room again. Instead, they went ahead and bought a twin bed to get him ready for when he grows out of that crib. By then he'll have no choice but to go to his own room.

David cleaned up their bedroom a bit, picked up a few toys that were scattered around and made the bed. Rylan woke and smiled at his father. "Daddy home, Daddy home! Hi daddy!"

"Heya buddy. Shhh. Mommy is still sleeping." David said to the tot.

"No, I'm up. Welcome home dear, I didn't hear you come in." Rosetta said, sleepily, from the doorway.

David walked over and wrapped his wife in a hug, then he kissed her. When he pulled away he laughed a little. "Oh Rose, you wouldn't have heard a tornado coming through. The only thing your ears are tuned to anymore are children's voices. Not that it's a problem. Oh, I stopped at the store on my way home today, because I got paid, and I bought the girls some cribs. They are downstairs to be brought up, unassembled."

"That's great. You take care of Rylan and I'll go down to start bringing them up." Rosetta left before he had a chance to disagree with her plan. It wasn't long before he heard her pulling the boxes up the stairs. He tickled Rylan and talked to him before taking him downstairs to feed him dinner. 

David brought Rylan back up to the second story when the little one finished eating. It was getting close to bedtime, so they wanted to stay upstairs. He brought the toddler to the little potty seat so he could use it.

"Peee peeeeee daddy. Me pee pee. Do you pee like me?" Rylan inquired.

Chuckling at his son, David replied, "Yes, but I use a bigger potty because I'm a bigger person. Now, you wanna go play in the other room?"

"Yes yes. I do, we play peek-a-boo?"

"Sure. Your mommy's still putting the girls' cribs together, so we have some time."

David went out of the door, Rylan following close behind. The two of them sat down on the rug and started a game. When his son tired of that game, David was quick to switch to a word game to keep his sons language skills sharp. Just at that time though, Rosetta came out of the girls' room.

"Whew, okay well I got them all up here, and put two of them together. Now my hands hurt though, so the last one is yours to do. I'll take him." She said to her husband.

He smiled at her before rising to his feet, "No problem. I'll get it there. I have magical skills you know, it'll be done in a jiffy."

Rosetta scooped Rylan up in her arms. She watched David go and then asked the toddler if he would snuggle with her for a few minutes. Rylan was quick to say his usual 'yes yes'. She went over to the rocking chair and sat down with him. Her son laid his head on her shoulder while they rocked back and forth. This was one of the only times where you would find the little one so quiet. He enjoyed the snuggle time with his mommy, and sometimes even dozed off into a nap.

David came out about twenty minutes later saying that the cribs were ready. Rosetta stood and handed Rylan over. She then picked up one triplet at a time, snuggled her, fed her, burped her and laid her in a crib. David had picked out three different colors, he based his selection on the colors the girls' seem drawn to most. Caylin likes blue best, Dayna tends to prefer grey things and Brenna leans more toward green toys. To his dismay, none of his little ladies seemed to like pink much.

Dayna was the last to go in her crib. Rosetta played with her and snuggled her before laying her down. She stood after all of the girls were settled in and watched them. She never dreamed she would have this many babies to tend to at once, and it was tough sometimes, but she was loving every minute of it. Time seemed to fly by everyday. Before they knew it the girls were about to celebrate their first birthdays.

The months went by and the girls got bigger every day. Rosetta and David both made sure to spend some special time with Rylan daily because they didn't want him to feel left out. As the girls had gotten older they needed attention more frequently so it often felt like most of their time was taken up by caring for the triplets. David was normally the one to get his son out of bed in the morning, since Rosetta usually was cooking breakfast for everyone when the little one woke. David would always give him a few snuggles and tickle his sides to get him laughing first thing. He'd then change his clothes and play with him in the upstairs den before bringing him down to eat.

Rylan would come back upstairs with both parents to get the girls up from their morning naps. He would wander off to David and Rosetta's room, where he still slept, and play with David's old toy. He had spotted it one day from his crib and was instantly attached. Every day he found time to seek it out and play with it, he would sing it songs and cuddle it. At first David hadn't wanted him to play with it, for fear of it coming apart while the toddler was holding it. He knew it was an old toy and was just worried for the boy, but eventually he gave in.

David felt proud of the fact that his little man knew the difference between things that were toys, and things that were not his. He always heard horror stories from other families with toddlers that got into things they shouldn't, or broke things around the house that they played with when they weren't supposed to. Rylan never did anything like that. He only ever got things that were given to him, or things he knew were toys.

One day, Sonia had come over early to help Rosetta with anything that needed to be done in prep of the babies' birthday party. Rosetta had told her there wasn't much left to do so they could just hang out for a while. They stayed upstairs where all the kids were and Sonia played a video game while Rosetta watched. Rylan even came out of his parents bedroom to see what his Auntie Sonia was doing. He sat and watched the game for a while also.

"Race race!" He'd said. "No Auntie, the purple car, purple not yellow. Yay!"

Sonia laughed at him and did whatever he asked in the game. After a time though, Rylan wandered off to play with other things. She put the game away so she could better talk to Rosetta.

"So anyway, we've been living together for a week or two now, Steve and I. He's real nice. Actually we're going to dinner later, so remind me not to eat much cake. He's working this afternoon, or he'd be coming to the party too."

"That's so great that you and him came together. I'm happy for you." Rosetta said. "When can I expect you to have a baby?"

Sonia laughed a little, "Oh I don't know, we haven't talked about it. We'll need a bigger place if that is to happen. I'd love a little one of course, and wish I had one the same age as yours."

"Oh, you'll get there I'm sure, I don't remember a day gone by that you haven't mentioned wanting a kid. I think if you hadn't met Steve when you did, you would have adopted a baby!"

"Yes, you're probably right about that."

The girls heard the doorbell ring and made their way downstairs to answer it. Sonia carried Rylan.

To be continued...

Life is perfect - 5.13

Quite a few months have passed since I came back home.  Rylan gets bigger every day, he's almost crawling around! Just another month or so at best and he'll be all over the place. I'm so proud of our little man that I could burst. All that tummy time we gave him really paid off, he's up on his hands and knees all the time, rocking back and forth and smiling. Like he really wants to go somewhere but hasn't figured out to move his hands and knees properly yet. It's so cute to watch him, I could do it all day.

I've gotten back into the habit of doing my garden work every morning. Though I'm not sure how long that will last once I go back to work. I am kind of losing interest in it though, it takes my time away from my guys. So any plants that reach the end of production I will just recycle and not replant. Maybe when I retire, or have no baby to care for I'll start gardening again. For now though, I'll let it pass on.

I've been away from work since Rylan was born, they've given me all the time I wish actually and I'm just not ready to go back quite yet, but maybe soon. I just want the baby to be a bit older I guess. I keep thinking they are going to call me and ask when I am planning to come back. They never do thankfully.

Rosetta came in from the garden and she found David sitting in the living room reading, while Rylan sat in his swing. The baby was going in and out of consciousness as David stood and approached his wife. He had a look in his eyes that Rosetta had come to know well, but hadn't seen in a time. They twinkled in the light, reflecting his inner feelings without having to say a word. Rosetta felt her body heat just from his look. Her breath quickened. It had been a while since she felt his mood in this manner. The baby came when the two of them got back together, then after he was born it's not like she could just jump back into bed. She needed time to heal, for her body to rejuvenate.

When David wrapped his arms around her she nearly started peeling her clothes off right away. She restrained herself though and let him do what he would, even though any seduction was unnecessary. He kissed her lips tenderly, then trailed his kisses down her jawline. When he reached her neck she let out a pleasurable moan. She gasped lightly when she felt his teeth touch her skin, biting her gently. Her pulse quickened and her blood felt like it was boiling. She felt the tingling all the way down her spine. His muscles tightened under her fingers as she gripped his back, hugging him close. Rosetta felt like her knees were just about to give out when he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. It still amazed her how strong he really was.

Though her mind was mostly on one thing only, the mothering instinct kicked in quick. "What about the baby?"

David looked at her, she could nearly feel the heat coming off the fire burning in them, "I'm sure he'll be fine for a while. He's dozing in his swing - he'll be asleep soon."

She smiled as he lay her on the bed. The two of them made love twice, mostly because the first time didn't last long since it had been over a year.

Pretty soon they were celebrating Ryan's first birthday. They decided to keep it small, no party really just the family. Rylan hadn't been introduced to many people, and they didn't want to overwhelm him. The day after his birthday, while David went to the park to perform his magic for tips, Rosetta took little Rylan shopping for new clothes. He had grown out of most everything they had, except a pair or two of pants.

Rylan seemed happy to be fully clothed. He fell into a fit of giggles when his mommy popped a shirt over his head. She took it off and put it on again, just to hear him laugh. In between listening to his peels of laughter and struggling to get shoes on wiggling feet, Rosetta finally got Rylan dressed then she put him in his swing for a bit while she cleaned up the house.

David came home, from putting on a magic show for tips, while Rosetta had started to potty train the little toddler. Since the two of them were busy, David took it upon himself to start some dinner. He was just putting it on the stove when Rosetta walked in carrying Rylan.

"Hey you. I didn't hear you come in." She smiled warmly at David when he glance over his shoulder. "Thanks for starting dinner, I was just about to do that."

She set Rylan in his chair and brought out some homemade baby food for him to eat. Rylan had learned fast to eat solid food instead of a bottle. Rosetta watched as he grabbed handfuls of food in his little fists and shoved it in his mouth. She didn't mind the mess at all, she even found it kind of cute the way he ate.

"Oh, David what are are we going to do? He's getting so big, I don't want him to grow anymore. What happens when he gets older?"

David set the plate of finished hamburgers on the counter and walked over to his wife with a big smile. "That's when you have another one."

Rosetta returned the grin. "I hadn't thought of that."

He kissed her cheek. "We'll talk about that later. I'm going to run out to the store before they close tonight. Do you mind? I just want to get a few things."

Rosetta shook her head and glanced toward Rylan, "We don't mind. Come back soon though. We'll miss you." She kissed his lips and he left.

David was only gone a few hours before he returned with his purchases. As soon as he walked through the door, Rylan was there to greet him, begging to be picked up. His father was happy to oblige and bent down to scoop him up into his arms. David snuggled and kissed his boy.

"I bought you a few things! I got you some new stuffed animals and a rocking horse, you might be a little young for the horse as of yet, but you never know. I got you a magic wand too, so you can practice being like daddy if you want to." He waited for a moment, but when Rylan said nothing David chuckled. "We have to get you talking little man. Come on let's go have some lessons."

Setting Rylan on the floor, David scooped up the rocking horse and a bag of stuffed animals to take into the den for his son to play with. He was happy the rocking horse was already built, and didn't require any assembly. He sat on the floor and checked it out to make sure it was safe though, before he would let his son near it.

David felt a tug on his shirt and scooted around to face Rylan. It was then they started their speech lessons. Rylan seemed to want to learn, and picked up words quickly. Sometimes though he used them in the wrong context and it made David or Rosetta laugh. Gently they would correct him and tell him the word he was actually looking for. The toddler would always giggle and clap his hands then say, "Yes yes." There was never more than two corrections and he never messed up the same word again. Rylan was a very fast learner and always hungered for more.

A few weeks after Rylan's birthday I started having to get up in the night to empty my stomach. Also in the mornings I was always ill and could hardly hold my breakfast down. It didn't take me long to figure out I was pregnant again. This time though, I was prepared and unafraid. I've been through it once, and I can do it again. Not tough at all, and two babies won't be hard either. I mean Rylan is a joy, a perfect angel. He never gives me any trouble at all. I think he'd love to have a little brother or sister to play with too. I find myself excited about it, the thought of another child. We'll be the perfect family, two adults, two children. Maybe we can look into getting a dog or cat after this one is old enough.

I can't wait to tell David either. I'm sure he'll be thrilled too.

I was still in the bathroom when I heard Rylan fussing a little, and David coming to get him. Since the baby was taken care of, I brushed my teeth, and showered while I was in there. I stared at myself in the mirror for a minute and couldn't wipe the goofy smile off my face.

Rosetta came into the kitchen and sat down at the table, just looking at her husband. He was eating pancakes, his favorite, as was Rylan. David had cut the baby's up real small and put only a small amount of syrup on it. The boy seemed delighted with the meal, it being the first time he'd had pancakes.

David finally noted that he was being stared at and turned a questioning eye at Rosetta. "Do I have something on my face?" He rubbed his cheeks and forehead.

Giggling, his wife shook her head no. He nodded and went to take another bite of his breakfast when she said, "I'm pregnant honey."

He nearly choked on that last bite. David forced himself to swallow before coughing twice. Fast as a fox he was on his feet and pulling her to her own. "Are you serious? That's awesome!" David hugged her tight and then pulled back to look at her. "I hope it's a girl. We've got a little me crawling around, I want a little you too!"

Rosetta was smiling again. She was glad to see that she was right in her assumption about his reaction. "Speaking of the little you. I hope he takes to this okay. Having another baby around. What do you think?"

"Oh I think he'll do splendidly. He'll have a playmate are you kidding? Not to mention a sibling to torture. Someone to pinch or wrestle and argue with."

"Just promise me something." Rosetta said as she grinned at him, "No more shopping okay? We won't need anything new, we can just use what Rylan has. Two babies isn't going to be much different than just one."

"Ahh." David looked like he was having a hard time making that promise, but he laughed. "Ahh... okay, okay. But if it's a girl she'll need some pink things! All the things he has are boy colors!"

Rosetta rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"I feel really bad now that I have to go out and practice my magic! I want to stay with you and rub your belly!"

Over the next few weeks David made good on his promise and had not bought anything new. He went to the park nearly every day to practice his act and earn some money doing it. Every week he would get at least one gig and performed admirably.

Rosetta had been trying to teach Rylan to walk on his own for the last week. He seemed to be potty trained completely already, which thrilled both parents, and was talking just fine. The only thing left that he really needed to work on was his balance. During one of their lessons Rosetta suddenly had to use the bathroom. She stood and rubbed her stomach for a second remembering why she had to pee so frequently. She smiled to herself as she left Rylan, "Be right back baby, and we'll keep trying."

She left the bathroom door open so she could keep an eye or ear out for the baby. It always made her nervous when she didn't know exactly what was going on with him.

Rosetta glanced out of the door just before she got down to business and saw something that made her heart sing. Rylan was walking all on his own. She had never been so proud of him. She stood and watched him for a moment as he practiced, not wanting him to know she had seen him. She feared that he would stop if he knew her eyes were on him. The urge hit her again and she had to stop watching him to finally use the toilet.

When she finished she pulled out her phone and called David. She spilled the news just as soon as he picked up. She didn't want to keep him so she made the conversation short. It wasn't but just a moment after she hung up with him when she realized how odd it actually was for him to have answered. Normally he wouldn't when he was doing an act for tips. She thought it strange, but dismissed it and went back to watching Rylan. He had stopped walking and was playing with his xylophone by that time though.

Only five minutes later David came through the front door. "I have some news dear. I think you  might like it. Lets sit down in the den and chat."

She embraced him and agreed to do as he said. It was a surprise for him to be home so early, and she delighted in the small curveball. David walked with his arm on her waist when they sat he threw his arm over her shoulder and leaned in close.

"So. I'm going to admit that I didn't work today." He said, looking at her. She raised an eyebrow but waited for him to continue. He smiled wide. "I went to a contractor. I've hired someone to build a second story on our house. They are also going to pave the driveway and walkway."

Rosetta was wide eyed. This was something she hadn't expected at all. It was possibly even the farthest thing from her mind. "Wow. Wow. Yeah. How much is that going to be?"

David waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Ahh, no big deal. We still have a good amount of money from selling most of the wedding gifts we were given. The crappy or pointless ones anyway."

"Well in that case - that's great. I'm so glad you thought of that. Rylan will need his own room soon, he'll be too big to keep sleeping with us."

"They start tomorrow." David tacked on.

Her eyes widened again, but then she laughed. "Okay, that's fine. Oh, this is exciting. We haven't made any changes to the house in a while."



Outside view

First floor

Second floor

During the construction, which took a few months, David would go to work for tips at the park, and fulfill his weekly gig while Rosetta and Rylan would either come with him, or spend the majority of the day with Sonia. Rylan adored his Auntie Sonia and delighted in her company each time they visited.

Rosetta and Sonia often watched a movie together while Rylan played on the floor. Sometimes he would even watch the TV as well. He always brought a toy or two with him though, to keep him occupied.

"So, Rosetta hon you look like you're gaining a bit of weight." Sonia smiled and winked at her best friend. "You must be settled in and happy."

Rosetta gasped with surprise, it had just hit her that she hadn't told Sonia yet that she was expecting.

"What? Did I offend you. I'm sorry I thought girlfriends were supposed to do that." Sonia said, shocked at the reaction she had gotten from her lighthearted fun poking.

"Oh no no. It's not that." Rosetta grinned. "I'm pregnant. I just... forgot to tell you."

"What?! How could you forget to tell me such a thing?" Sonia was shocked. "How far along are you? I mean obviously you're showing now, so you must be what...?"

Laughing, Rosetta continued. "I guess with the construction and all, I've just had my mind on that. Sorry, but yeah I forgot. Yes, I think I'm about halfway through, actually maybe more. David and I are both just ecstatic over it. That's was the main reason behind getting the second story actually. So Rylan and his brother or sister could have their own rooms. Um. Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom."

Sonia laughed and said 'okay' while Rosetta walked by. She scooped up Rylan and tickled him, "I hear you're going to have a sister or brother! Are you excited? I know I am for you. You're going to love having another kid around."

Rylan said "Brother, I want boy. Mommy told me 'bout baby." He scrunched up his face a little. "Better be boy like me, share my toys. Daddy said girl baby like pink. I don't like pink."

Sonia laughed. "Oh. Well some girls like pink. I don't myself. My favorite color is black so see, not all girls do."

Rosetta came out then and deemed that it was time to head back home. "Thanks for letting us use you during the day by the way. It's nice to get away from the noises, but not have to go all the way to the park. Especially if it's hot out. I don't know he does it. I'm thankful for the shelter." She hugged Sonia.

"Oh no problem. I'm happy to have you here. You give me company, Rylan is such a joy. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"They'll be finished with the house by the end of the week, so I won't be in your hair but a few more days. I think they are just painting now, and putting up moulding or something."

The two girls said goodbye and Rylan waved his chubby hand at Sonia. "Bye auntie!" He said.

The construction finished just as Rosetta had predicted. She figured she'd have to dust nearly every day for a week or more to keep the remnants of construction to a minimum. There seemed to be white grit everywhere. David helped cleanup everything he could, paint spots or what ever he might run across during daily life.

They had tons of room now, but that made Rosetta realize that they didn't have enough stuff to fill it up. That was okay with her, as she figured they would start filling in the empty spaces soon enough. As of now their bank account was nearly down to double digits, so they couldn't get anything right away.

One morning Rosetta just couldn't sleep anymore. She felt like her nerves were just doing everything they could to jump out of her skin. She got out of the bed and checked Rylan. He was still sound asleep so she decided to take a bath. David must have gotten out early to do his magic act and didn't wake her. Rosetta spent about an hour in the bathtub, just soaking. She wished that she had had some bubbles but they were out. Finally feeling relaxed, she stepped out of the tub, dried off and dressed.

When she came out of the bathroom Rylan was awake and sitting up in his crib. "Momma! Morgin momma!"

Rosetta chuckled. "Morning to you too my sweet boy. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes momma. Dreamed of an owl! It was big and white, eyes like plates!"

She made the bed before getting Rylan out of bed and he watched her every move.

"Momma clean. Rylan help?"

"Oh, that's okay honey, I got it. Let's go get you some breakfast! How's that sound? What would you like?"

"Chocolate cake!"

Rosetta laughed. "I don't think so little man, how about oatmeal?"

Rylan screwed up his face in disgust for a second, but something made him change his mind. He smiled and nodded eagerly.

She carried Rylan down the stairs and set him in his highchair. She got his oatmeal ready and gave it to him with a spoon. He didn't use the spoon. Rosetta smiled at him, "You'll have to start using a spoon eventually you know."

Rylan smiled a wet oatmeal smile and reached down for another bite. "Fun momma, fun." He said.

"Yeah I know. You like making a mess." She was grinning at him. When she turned around she saw David coming in the room. Her grin turned to a warm smile. "Hey honey, I was wondering where you were off to."

"Oh I was just out in the garden. You don't have to do it today, it's taken care of. So no bending over or squatting needed." He reached out and put a hand to her stomach. "No offense dear but you look like you're about to pop. Isn't the due date soon?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, just a week and a half away. I'm ready for it though. My nerves are shot, and I don't know how much longer I can handle this back pain. It's worse this time than when I was carrying Rylan in there."

David looked at her with concern. "I'm sorry honey, I wish I could help. Even my magic massages don't seem to help ease the pain for you. Why don't you go sit down and relax while I tend to your first born."

Rosetta hugged him tightly. "That sounds good. I'll be in the den if you need me okay?"

She left the room and David went to the highchair where Rylan had finished sucking down his breakfast. "Eww. Oatmeal boy. Let's get you cleaned up and out of this chair."

Rylan giggled as his daddy wiped his face and hands with a warm cloth. "Fun mess daddy! Ticky mess! Peek-a-boo?"

David smiled. He loved the fact that a topic change could happen in an instant with his son. It went from one thing to another so fast that he could make any ones head spin. "Sure sure, peek-a-boo it is. Come on kid." He pulled Rylan out and set him right there on the floor, sitting down cross legged with him.

Games with his daddy were always a delight for Rylan. He would burst into a fit of laughter and clap his hands whenever he was surprised by Davids face appearing from behind his big hands. His father would then smile wide and clap with the baby. David was such a kid himself in so many ways that he seemed to know exactly how to make his little one smile, or laugh. It seemed to come so natural to him. David loved the sound of his child laughing so much that it had become his goal in life - to hear that sound every day. He had not been let down yet.

During one of the laughter fits from the young one, David heard Rosetta in the other room. "David. I'm having contractions. I just know it."

She came waddling around to the kitchen archway, she had just arrived when the floor was suddenly wet. "Oh, that'd be my water breaking. It's time." She smiled at her family, which was about to get just a little bit bigger. "Rylan, your little brother or sister is on the way. Let's go to the hospital to get taken care of okay?"

"Okey mommy. Sorry daddy, no more peek-a-boo. Later?" Rylan asked. He watched his daddy smile, but keep his eyes on his momma while he picked him up off the floor. Everyone headed outside. They took the limo to the ER this time, instead of having David drive.

To be continued...