Page 72 of An Adventure For Aster

“Those are pretty,” one of her students said. She couldn’t tell who, she couldn’t see over the arrangement in front of her.

She set them on her desk and found the little card. “Yes, they are,” she said. There had to be four dozen flowers in this. Regardless of him working for Blossoms, the amount of money was crazy.

Sure, he had a great job and she was positive he was compensated well, not that she asked and she wouldn’t.

He probably had a lot of money put away from the service too since he’d said he’d lived in military housing and not his own place. It’s not like he was flashy or had a lot of possessions. She knew he didn’t.

She pulled the card out.Happy Valentine’s Day. Three dozen or so for you, the rest for your class. Isn’t it right to share?

She put her hand to her heart and must have had a crazy sappy look on her face.

“Are you going to cry, Ms. Scarsdale?” Henry asked.

“No,” she said. “But do you want to know what the card says?”

“Yes!” There was a chorus of shouts.

“It says that I get to share them with my class. So get in line and you each get to pick one flower from the arrangement. You point to what you want and I’ll wiggle it out.” Chairs were moving quickly. “Take your time getting in line. You know the rules. No running.”

No one listened and she couldn’t blame them. It was perfect timing to have these delivered right now because they were going to start to hand out Valentine's Day cards and treats for everyone. She had a big bag of cards for the kids and a little baggy of treats for each of them. Not just candy, but pencils and stickers and magnets. Fun things.

When the first child got to her desk, she asked Micah which one he wanted and he picked out a pink rose. “I’m going to give it to my mother.”

“I think that’s a lovely idea,” she said.

One by one her students picked their flowers out and she was left with almost three dozen as Aster predicted.

“Wow, that is some bouquet.”

She turned to see Maxine standing in the doorway. “It is,” she said. “I got to share with the kids. Where are your students?”

“They are coming back from Art class in a few minutes, then we’ll have our party.”

Her kids were one by one dropping the cards in the boxes against the wall she’d had them all make. When everyone was done, they could get their boxes. Any child who didn’t come in with them today, she had extra and they came in at lunch to make cards so no one felt left out.

This year that hadn’t happened and she was thrilled. She’d even told Aster that, so it was super sweet that he’d done the same thing with her gift today. He didn’t want anyone left out.

Maybe it had something to do with him saying once that his parents never did special things like other kids’ parents did. No gifts or cards. They normally had the minimum required and just accepted it.

She knew not everyone went overboard and she didn’t expect it. Money could be tight. She lived in a household like that, but her mother always made sure someone knew they were appreciated.

Aster said his parents were just selfish and disconnected more times than not.

“It’s your turn, Timothy,” she said when her next student didn’t stand up.

He finally grabbed his cards from his bag and walked to the window by the boxes. Timothy had been too busy playing with the lily that he’d picked. All the kids were playing with their flowers, some talking about who they might give it to.

“Don’t you dare rush out of here at the end of the day,” Maxine said. “You know I’m going to want details.”

“I’ll be here,” she said. “Probably cleaning the room up.”

Maxine left after that and Raine and her kids went about their party once all the boxes were on the desks.

While the kids were opening their cards, she was handing out her bags of goodies and cupcakes and cookies from the desserts that were brought in from other students. Also good to have these parties at the end of the day and send them home loaded up with sugar rather than have them wiggling around in their seats ready to run.

“Who is your boyfriend, Ms. Scarsdale?” Ava asked.

“Not anyone you know,” she said.

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