You Know Me Through The Years

Terrible Two's

Dante had just walked in the door when he stumbled upon a wild Mara in it's habitat. 

Well, not really, she was just standing there with her little stuffed puppy named Ruby with her thumb in her mouth. No one in their right mind would pass up a cute two year old who was waiting for her Daddy to come home from a long hunt. He looked down at her and noticed she had already been bathed and dressed for bed, but that didn't stop him from smiling at her. 

"Daddy!" She took her thumb out of her mouth and lifted her arms up in the air as a sign for 'pick me up' with a giant smile on her face. He couldn't resist her so, he did what she wanted and bent down to pick her up. 

"What are you doing up, Princess? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Dante poked her on the tip of her nose and she giggled, dropping Ruby in the process. "Where's your mom?" He bent down to pick up the stuffed animal and handed it back to his daughter before walking into the kitchen. 

"Mama! Daddy back!" Mara yelled out as Roe came from the utility room next to the garage with a basket full of fresh sheets. 

"I see that." She walked over to Dante and gave him a kiss on the cheek before moving to the living room and then up the stairs. "Well, now that daddy is back, you can go night night." 

"No! No night night!" Thus the terrible twos have made an appearance. "Daddy home." She was still working on words, but what could someone expect from a two year old who was overly spoiled. She was holding on to Dante's black shirt like her life depended on it, almost afraid that her mother was going to rip her from him. 

"You want to put her to bed?" Roe looked back at him as she made it to the top of the stairs and she seemed to have had enough of her daughter for one day. Dante gave her a questioning look as to what her attitude was for and then decided it would be better just to keep his mouth shut until later. 

"I got her, Babe. Don't worry." Now was a good time for that good ole Father/daughter talk. It was just going to be difficult because Mara was not very good at telling Dante everything because her vocabulary wasn't that developed. "Come on, Princess, let's get you to bed." 

"No night night." She shook her head and then started to whine. 

"Mara." He gave her that look. The look that said 'cut it out' otherwise known as the 'dad' look, but that didn't stop her. "Why are you crying?" 

"Mama mean." The little girl's lip started to quiver as her father brought her into her room and Dante had to keep from coddling her. "Mama take Ruby." 

"Why did mom take Ruby?" They stood in the middle of her room as he looked at his crying daughter.

"I pee pee on floor." Of course, they were in the middle of potty training and Mara seemed to do it on purpose when she didn't get her way. She cried even more when Dante looked at her with disapproving eyes. "I sorry!" 

"We don't pee on the floor, Mara." He lowered his voice to get the point across and waited for her to calm down. "Are you going to do it again?" 

"No." She shook her head. "I not do it more." Mara tucked her face into Dante's neck trying to find a way to get out of going to bed. 

"You better not do it again." He told her putting her in her bed and tucking her in. "Go to bed, Princess." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and made sure Ruby was safely tucked into Mara's little arms. "I love you." He put a hand on her red hair and fluffed it. 

"Okay Daddy." She grabbed on to his wrist with both her little hands to keep him from going anywhere, but he unwrapped her hands from him. 

"Good night, Mara." Dante stood up and made sure her little lamp was on before turning off the lights and leaving her room.