Father and Son

Chapter 11: Valentine's Day

Jayden was starting to crush on Emily. She was silent and cute. James was always telling about how much he loved his mom and how love can blossom anywhere. He could send her little special Valentine's cards.

"Daddy, can you help me with something?" asked Jayden.

"Sure, buddy. What do you need?" asked James.

"I want to make a Valentine's card for Emily, but I always mess up," said Jayden.

"Come here," said James. He a red sheet of construction paper. He cut a big red heart. He then cut a smaller yellow heart out of yellow construction paper. He stapled one side of the yellow heart to the red heart. He then gave it to Jayden and gave him a red marker.

"What do I do?" asked Jayden.

"You write what you want to say and then give to her on Valentine's Day," said James.

"Okay," said Jayden. He wrote "Happy Valentine's Day" in big red bold letters. He liked it and then drew hearts everywhere. He laughed and showed it to his father. James liked it.

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It was finally Valentine's Day. Jayden was nervous. Things like: What if she hates it?: or: What if she throws it away?: flew through Jayden's mind. James smiled at his nervous son and nudged him toward Emily. Jayden looked up at him.

"Go," said James gently. He smiled as Jayden walked forwards.

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Jayden said," Hey, Emily."

"Hi, Jayden," said Emily, and she smiled. Jayden relaxed a bit, but only a bit.

"Um, I made this for you, but my dad helped with it. Here!" Jayden rambled, blushing. He ran off quickly. Emily was confused and hurt. She looked at the card. She got up and stumbled a bit. She went to her mom.

"Mommy, what does this say?" Emily asked.

Elizabeth read it and said," It says Happy Valentine's Day. Who gave it to you?"

"Jayden, but then he ran off and I thought we were friends," said Emily. Elizabeth saw that her daughter was confused and hurt. It obviously hit her hard for Jayden to run off like that.

"Oh, Emmy," said Elizabeth. Emily blushed at her nickname.

"What?" asked Emily.

"When a boy runs off at Jayden's age, it means he's nervous. Nothing else. You are his friend, but giving you a card must have been nerve-wracking for him," said Elizabeth.

"Oh," said Emily and she smiled. Elizabeth smiled too.

Jayden had walked in a little while ago and heard what Emily said. He was nervous and he was glad that Elizabeth cleared things up because he had no idea what to say.

"Hey, Emily," said Jayden.

"Hey, Jayden. Thanks for the card," said Emily, and she gave him a hug. Jayden smiled and hugged her back.