In a quiet household in Pennsylvania, Miranda came home after a long day at school.
It was Valentine's Day. But she wasn't in a festive mood.
Miranda's last Valentine's Day was rather bittersweet. She was dumped by her boyfriend Aaron and hooked up with Miranda's arch nemises Jennifer.
Luckily, Miranda had real friends to help her cope. Vampirina Hauntley and her haunted house friends. They not only cheered Miranda up, they also gave Aaron and Jennifer the scare of a lifetime.
It was Miranda's best and worst Valentine's Day ever. She felt silly since it should be just the best Valentine's Day ever.
On this Valentine's Day, Miranda's parents were out for dinner, so Miranda was all alone. Valentine's Day was suppose to be about romance, giving one a sense of togetherness with people you love.
But Miranda wasn't feeling that Valentine's Day feeling.
She looked through the mail and noticed a rather peculiar letter among the typical bills and junk mail.
It was a purple envelope sealed with a black heart. Miranda opened it and took out a spooky purple card decorated with hearts and spiderwebs.
When she opened the card, Miranda gasped as the letter floated in the air and started to speak!
"You're invited to the Ghoulentine's Day dinner party at the Hauntley Residence. Be there or be scared!" The invitation laughed a spooky laugh before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
"Whoa..." It took Miranda a full minute to get over the awe. Once she was good again, she realized that her loyal friends have done it again! Cheering her up when she needed it most!
With a glowing smile and lifted spirit, Miranda rushed to her room to pick out an outfit.
The sun had set and night fell. Nighttime was a special time for the residents of the Scare B&B.
"I can't wait for Miranda to come over!" Vee said, very excited. She and her family were dressed in their Transylvanian best.
"Indeed, my little spider!" said Nanpire, Vee's grandmother. "She is going to love our Ghoulentine's Day tea party!"
The doorbell shrieked and Vee quickly answered it. She smiled all fangs seeing her favorite babysitter Miranda. Miranda wore a short baby blue rhinestone dress with tulle butterfly sleeves and fuchisa patent leather boots. In her arms was a bouquet of flowers and a box of Valentine's chocolates.
"Happy Valentine-I mean, Ghoulentine's Day, Vee!" Miranda greeted as she came inside.
"Wow! You look great, Miranda!" Vee said.
Vee's parents Oxana and Boris arrived. "Welcome to our Ghoulentine's Day party, Miranda!" Boris said.
Miranda was amazed by how Vee's parents dressed. They wore long dark capes and eerie outfits, they really did look like vampires! "Wow! You guys look...spooky chic!"
"Thank you, Miranda!" Boris said, covering the lower half of his face with his cape. "We're glad you could come! This tea party was my mother's idea!"
Nanpire the Great came out from the kitchen. "Happy Ghoulentine's Day, Miranda!" Nanpire said before giving Miranda a big hug.
"Oh! Hi, Mrs. Nan!" Miranda said, pleasantly surprised. "It's good to see you again!"
"BOOOOOOO!" A deep, haunting voice bellowed from behind Miranda, causing her to scream and drop her things. She spun around and saw Nanpire's husband Grandpop.
"Mr. Pop!" Miranda put a hand to her chest. "You scared me!"
Grandpop laughed his spooky laugh. "Nothing like a good scare!"
Miranda knew very well that monsters liked a good scare. "Yeah, good one, Sir." She chuckled nervously.
"And what a spooktacular scream!" Nanpire praised. "You truly have a gift, Miranda!"
"Uh, thanks." Miranda picked up her flowers, but she noticed her chocolates were missing. "What happened to my chocolates?"
"Over here!"
Miranda looked over and saw Demi the ghost trying to wrestle the box of chocolates away from Penelope, the Hauntley's pet man-eating pet.
"Penelope won't let go!" Demi said. "She's fighting back hard!"
"Penelope! Stop!" Vee shouted to stop her pet plant. Soon, all the Hauntleys tried to make Penelope release the sweet as Miranda just stood there and watched.
Chef Remy Bones rushed in. He looked upset. "What is all this noise out here?! I have dinner waiting and the food is getting cold!"
Miranda saw Penelope and the Hauntleys still battling over the chocolates. She sighed before taking a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs,
"EVERYBODY STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
All the monsters froze, stunned by Miranda's powerful scream. Even Penelope dropped the chocolates out of her maw. Vee saw Miranda look very cross. The human picked up the chocolates and smiled at Penelope. "Here, Penelope. You can have these." She tossed Penelope the box and the plant ate it whole.
"But...you brought those for us!" said Demi. "Aren't you mad?"
"No. Why would I be? They're just chocolates. And Chef Remy made tons of food. Besides, how often does Penelope get to have chocolate?"
The Hauntleys were surprised. They hadn't thought of that.
"Not...very often." Oxana replied.
Miranda gave a nod. "Exactly. Let Penelope have a little treat. This is a time for loving, not fighting."
Truly thankful for her treat, Penelope gave Miranda a hug with her viney arms. She purred as she snuggled and nuzzled Miranda.
"You're welcome, Penelope." Miranda said, giggling.
Nanpire smiled proudly at Miranda. "You sure are good with Penelope!"
Miranda giggled. "Well, what's not to like about Penelope? She has more personality than any plant I know."
That earned another snug from Penelope before she picked up Miranda's flowers off the floor. "Thank you, Penelope." She offered Oxana her bouquet of beautiful pink tulips. "These are for you guys."
But Oxana looked rather shocked than happy. She forced herself to smile as she took the flowers. "They're so...pink."
Miranda gasped. "Oh man! I forgot vampires don't like pink! I'm so sorry!"
"No! No! Don't be sorry, Miranda!" Oxana assured. "I can just snip them later." She stared at the tulips. "Huh. I've never seen flowers like these before. What were they called again? Two-lips?"
"Why do they call them that? They don't seem to have any lips at all!" said Boris.
Miranda giggled. "They don't have lips. But I do know tulips represent eternal love. Pink ones represent care and good wishes."
"Really?! Pink does?" Vee asked. "I didn't know flowers represented things."
"They do. It's not just the color and shape of the flower, but the meaning behind it." said Miranda. "Like Penelope, she may be big and look scary. But she's really a sweetheart."
Penelope clapped her leaves in applause.
Oxana looked at the pink tulips. "You're right, Miranda. These tulips are delightful. I'll keep them as they are."
In the dining room, everyone gathered to enjoy their Ghoulentine's Day dinner.
"Wow! This monster lobster is amazing, Chef Remy!" Miranda praised. "You really nailed tonight's dinner!"
The skeleton chef bowed. "Oh, thank you!"
Grandpop cut a dinner roll in half. "Do you have some of your homemade devil's sauce, my lovely?"
Nanpire smiled. "But of course!"
Miranda watched Nanpire reach into her purse and take out a rather large bottle of red sauce. "I never leave hime without it!"
"Whoa! How did that fit in your purse, Mrs. Nan?!" asked Miranda.
"It's magic! What else?" Nanpire said matter-of-factly.
Grandpop carefully squeezed a few drops of devil's sauce on his roll, smoothed it down well, then sandwiched the top of the roll on. He took a big bite and hummed in sweet bliss. "Delicious as ever!"
Now Miranda was interested in that sauce. "Huh. Can I try some devil's sauce?"
"Certainly!" Grandpop gave Miranda the sauce. "Just be careful not to-"
But Miranda squeezed a large portion on the sauce on her roll.
"Use too much!" Grandpop shouted. All the Hauntleys stood up with panicked looks on their blue faces.
Miranda froze on the spot. "What? What's wrong?!"
You can't use too much devil's sauce!" said Nanpire. "Otherwise, the food will-"
"OW!" Miranda yelped when a fork was thrown at her head. She looked at the table and saw her roll grow several times larger! Two arms and legs sprouted from it's bread body. A pair of fiery red eyes popped out and a mouthful of sharp teeth snarled.
"Go bad!" Nanpire finished.
Miranda shot out of her seat just as her sauced roll grabbed a knife.
"MIRANDA! RUN!" Vee yelled.
Miranda took off without hesitation. The evil roll tried to follow her but Chef Remy and the Hauntleys blocked it's path.
"You stay right there!" Grandpop snapped.
But the roll just got more angry. He grew a few more inches and held up his mighty arm, ready to knock back the family with one big swing.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
A thunderous battle cry was heard. The family looked back and saw Miranda charging in with a sword. Shocked, they jumped aside and Miranda swung the sword, cutting off the roll monster's arm!
The monster was about to use his other arm, the one with the knife in it's hand.
But the creature was too slow. Miranda swung that sword again and the arm fell to the floor.
"Sorry, Dough boy." Miranda taunted. "Guess you'll have to kick me to death!" She threw the sword away. "But you'll have to catch me first!" And the babysitter took off.
Enraged, the roll charged after Miranda. Once he left the living room,
"NOW!" shouted Miranda.
Penelope launched herself and snapped the monster's face in her powerful jaws. Penelope kept chomping away at the living roll until there was nothing but crumbs.
"Yeah! Way to to, Penelope!" Miranda high-fived her plant friend. They went back to the living room. "Are you guys okay?!" Miranda asked her friends.
Vampirina, her parents, her grandparents, and Chef Remy Bones all stared at Miranda. She devised a plan and effortlessly defeated a kill-crazy monster.
Miranda felt uncomfortable by their hanging faces. "Guys? What's wrong?"
"You...you..." Oxana tried to say something.
"Defeated that devil sauced dinner roll!" Grandpop said in awe. "You were fang-tastic!"
"And where did that sword come from?!" asked Chef Remy.
"From that suit of armor in the hallway." Miranda pointed to said hallway.
Vee frowned. "I'm sorry, Miranda. We ruined your Valentine's Day."
"What are you talking about?" Miranda asked, confused. "You guys didn't ruin anything."
Everyone was surprised to hear that. "We didn't?" they said unison.
Miranda shook her head. "No, not at all." She smiled. "In fact, this was the most action-packed Valentine's Day I ever had! It's never a dull moment here at the Hauntleys! That's just one of the reasons I love this place...and you guys."
"Really?!" asked Vee.
"Really." Miranda said with a nod. "Vee, you're the only real friend I have. And I accept everything about you."
There was silence for a moment.
"What do you mean I'm your only real friend?" Vee asked. "Don't you have any other friends?"
"No." Miranda shook her head. She sighed. "I don't like to talk about this...but I got to be honest with you guys. When I was little, I was always shy and quiet. My parents were also pretty strict with me so I didn't really go out much. I just stayed at home and watched movies, did chores, and only hung out with my family."
Everyone hung on Miranda's every word. Even Penelope, Demi, and Gregoria listened from the hallway.
"But as I grew up and my parents became more and more busy with their jobs and financially supporting me, we all knew I had to do more to pull my weight. So, as a first step toward independence, they hooked me up on this babysitter gig. It was so much fun being a friend to all the kids I've watched. I learned so much and loved being a friend to the kids and their families." Her smile fell. "But eventually, they all grew up and didn't need a babysitter anymore. So, they all drifted away and I never heard from any of them again. It's like...they abandoned me..."
"But...have you ever tried making friends your age?" asked Boris.
Miranda kept frowning. "Well, I tried to. But I never kept one. Like, I would meet someone, talk to them, and ask them to hang out sometime, but they never did. Plus...the fact that I got bullied a lot by my peers didn't help either. So, I just gave up on friends my age and focused on being the best babysitter I can and devote myself to my family."
Miranda was surprised when Vee gave her a big haunted hug.
"I'm so sorry, Miranda." said Vee. "I had no idea. But I promise I'll never turn my back on you."
"But Vee, at some point, you won't need a babysitter anymore." said Miranda. "You'll be all grown up and move on to bigger and better things. And...you'll forget about me."
"That's not true, Miranda." Oxana said. "You don't need to be a babysitter to stay as Vampirina's friend."
"And we would never forget about you!" Boris said. "It's impossible! You're always full or surprises! More than any human we've met!"
"Yeah! You took down that roll monster without batting an eyelash!" Gregoria added. "Any other human would have turned tail and ran. But you stayed and saved the day! You're more than just a babysitter, you're one of us!"
"You see, Miranda? We're more than friends. We're family." said Vee. "And family
Miranda put her arms around the little vampire, hugging her tightly. "Thank you."
Everyone gathered to join in one big group hug.
"You guys are the best." Miranda wiped a little tear away and smiled.
Nanpire reached into her purse. "Here, Miranda. I want you to have this." She handed Miranda a little black box. She opened it and gasped in awe. "Whoa! A necklace? For me?!"
"Not just any necklace. A haunted heart necklace." said Nanpire.
Miranda looked at the marvelous pendant. It was a red, heart shaped jewel with two silver bat wings. "It's beautiful! I'll always wear it!" She promptly put the necklace on. "Thank you so much!"
"Happy Ghoulentine's Day, everyone!" said Miranda.
"Happy Ghoulentine's Day, Miranda!" Vee said, hugging Miranda.
Miranda couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day. The Hauntleys were like her second family, a family she knew will never forget about her.
Everyone was so happy, they didn't even notice Miranda's new necklace faintly glow...