Today is finally Valentine’s Day! Yippee!
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Momma says when I come downstairs. To celebrate, she makes heart-shaped pancakes with chocolate chips in them. They taste like a candy bar. Yum!
I give her a big squeezy hug and say, “I love you, Momma, more than bees love honey.”
Just then, Daddy comes in with a little red velvet box for Momma. “Happy Valentine’s Day, darlin’!” he says.
“For me?” Momma asks. She opens the box. Inside are heart-shaped diamond earrings. “Ohhh, I love them!” she says as she hugs Daddy.
Daddy kisses me on the cheek and gives me a pretty pink card. On the front it has glitter and a girl who looks like a little princess.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I say. “I love you more than bears love honey.”
After breakfast, I get all my things together. I have my backpack, lunchbox, cupcakes with conversation heart decorations for the class party, and a shoebox to collect my valentines.
When we get to school, everyone is so excited about the party! All my classmates brought shoeboxes to put their valentines in, too. We decorate them in the morning — I draw pink hearts all over mine.
“Your box turned out so cute!” Lucy tells me.
After lunch, we put our boxes on top of our desks so everyone can deliver their valentines. All around the room, kids are sorting out their cards and delivering them to boxes.
I see Randall Jeremiah Johnson across the room. His box is decorated with a gigantic green dinosaur eating a red heart.
Once all of our cards are passed out, the party begins. Some kids are at the party table getting treats, but Lucy, Cara, Paula, and I decide to look at our cards first.
The first valentine I grab is so big I can hardly get it out of my box. It is a card made out of notebook paper folded in half with a poem on it. It says: “Roses are red, you like pink, some dogs stink.”
“Who gave you that?” Cara asks.
Lucy peers over my shoulder. “No one signed it,” she says.
Even though it’s not signed, I recognize the handwriting. It’s from Randall Jeremiah Johnson. Just then I see him walking toward me with a big cupcake. Oh, no! “Let’s go get our treats from the party table,” I say quickly.
My friends and I head across the room. I look over just in time to see Randall Jeremiah take a humongous bite of cupcake. I guess he changed his mind about coming over to us.
When I get home from school that afternoon, I show Momma all of my cards. I save the biggest one for last. “This is the card that Randall Jeremiah Johnson gave me.”
“Well, isn’t that nice?” Momma says. “He even wrote you a little poem. Why don’t you call him and see if he would like come to the party tomorrow?”
I’m not sure I like that idea, but Momma did say I should try to be his friend. “Okay, I guess so,” I say. “But do you think I could I ask two people to come tomorrow? Randall Jeremiah and someone else?”
“Who else are you thinking of inviting?” Momma asks. “We’ve already invited everyone we know.”
“We didn’t invite Miss Rose to the party!” I say.
Momma smiles. “What a sweet idea. You go right ahead and call her.”
First, I call Randall Jeremiah Johnson. “This is Kylie Jean Carter,” I say when his momma answers. “May I please speak to Randall Jeremiah?”
“I’m sorry, he’s not home right now,” Randall Jeremiah’s momma replies. “May I take a message?”
“I am his friend from school,” I tell her, “and he is invited to a party tomorrow.”
“I’m sure he’ll want to come to the party,” she says. “Thank you for inviting him.”
Next I call Miss Rose. “Hi, Miss Rose!” I say when she answers. “This is Kylie Jean. I am calling to invite you to Nanny and Pa’s anniversary party tomorrow. It’s a surprise!”
Miss Rose says, “I would love to come to the party!”
“Did you get the special valentine I sent you?” I ask.
“I sure did! And it is just lovely!” she exclaims.
We chat for a few minutes, and before we hang up, Miss Rose says, “Thank you again for inviting me to the party, Kylie Jean. You are just the queen of kindness!”