Notes: Mari and Sammy - thank you SO much for bouncing ideas and for your always wonderful feedback.
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It's always appreciated.
Special thanks to my cousin whose FB message last night inspired this story!
To everyone like me in the midst of this polar vortex, stay safe and warm!
Hope you enjoy!
Operation Valentines (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"How was school today?" Elizabeth asked, smiling warmly as Jacob and Kaitlyn preceded Joseph into the condo after he picked them up from school.
"Great!" Jacob announced, slinging his backpack in the corner of the foyer and heading into the dining room where Elizabeth and Angie were at the table.
The toddler's eyes brightened immediately at the sight.
"Ah ee!" she squealed, clapping.
Elizabeth grinned at her reaction. "Who's that, Angie?"
Angie hit the table excitedly and pointed at the new arrivals. "Kay-cup! Kay-nin!"
Joseph chuckled, standing behind the kids. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"Chopped liver!" Jacob repeated, laughing at the phrase.
"Clearly not as exciting as Jacob and Kaitlyn," Elizabeth said. She looked at Angie. "I think Grandpa's going to need a special kiss."
Before he could even approach, Angie put her hand to her lips and thrust it toward Joseph, blowing him a kiss. He smiled, pretending to catch it. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"What are you making, Angie?" Kaitlyn asked, coming over to the their side of the table where red, pink, and white papers cut into heart-shapes were strewn about with crayon-scribble marks all over them.
"See!" Angie said proudly, holding up out of her creations. "Ah bah mo neen! See!"
Kaitlyn took it gently. "Ohh are you making Valentine's?"
"It's not Valentine's Day yet," Jacob said.
"No, but these are special Valentine's that we're going to mail to the mainland," Elizabeth explained. "I got a message from a friend of mine in Chicago. Her granddaughter's first grade class is having a Secret Valentine's Delivery. They're asking friends and relatives to send cards to the children from all over the country. They'll open them on Valentine's Day and track on a big map where the cards come from. I told her Angie and I would send her granddaughter a card."
"That's a really cool idea," Kaitlyn said.
"Yeah!" Jacob agreed. "I bet none of the other kids will get a card all the way from Hawaii."
Kaitlyn's brow knit for a moment. "Unless …" Her voice trailed off.
Elizabeth shared a quick smile with Joseph, guessing where the thoughtful pre-teen's mind had gone. "Unless what?"
"Unless we help you," Kaitlyn said, her eyes bright at the idea. "Then you could send a card to everyone in the class."
"Oh yeah!"
"Because maybe not everyone has friends or relatives in different states and they won't get many cards."
"That is a wonderful idea, Kaitlyn," Elizabeth said, reaching over and touching her hand. "Very thoughtful."
Joseph nodded. "It is." Surveying over the hearts on the table, he said, "And it certainly looks like you've got enough paper here."
Kaitlyn took a seat and picked up some of the hearts. "We can use the ones Angie's already colored on and add a message or a drawing."
"Or both!" Jacob added, pulling out a chair for himself.
"Yeah," Kaitlyn said, her excitement growing. "Then they're all from Angie and us, too."
"Perfect," Elizabeth said. "I'll message my friend and see if she has the first names of all the children in the class."
"This is gonna be fun!" Jacob said. He grinned across the table. "Right, Angie?"
She looked between them, picking up on their excitement and clapped. "Yay!"
Joseph returned from the kitchen after re-filling Angie's water cup. As soon as he set it down on the table in front of her she grabbed it with both hands to take a drink.
"Speaking of Chicago," he said, "I talked to Boyd Cooper earlier, he told me the wind chill was -50 in Chicago this morning.
Elizabeth shook her head in amazement. "That's what Nancy said. We had some cold winters in New York and in Chicago when we lived there, but the wind chill was never that low."
"What's 'wind chill'?" Jacob asked, looking up from where he was writing a Happy Valentine's message on one of their cards.
"It's basically how cold it feels outside when you take the wind into account and not just the temperature," Joseph said.
"It can be very dangerous for any exposed skin like your fingers or your nose or your ears," Elizabeth added. "You can develop frostbite or even worse."
Both Kaitlyn and Jacob's eyes widened.
"You said it was -50?" Kaitlyn repeated.
Joseph nodded. "In some places even colder."
"Whoa," Jacob said. His eyes drifted down to the table as he took that in. He looked back up. "Chicago. That's where we're sending these cards, right?"
"That's right," Elizabeth said. "School is actually closed there right now because it's too dangerous for the children to be outside, but they'll be back in class by the time our cards get there."
Jacob's lips twisted in thought. "Maybe I'll draw some palm trees on the valentines and tell them I hope it gets warmer soon!"
"I'm sure they'd appreciate that," Elizabeth said.
" 'Cause -50 … that's like polar bear weather!"
"Bee mo!" Angie cried, hitting the table. "Kay-cup!" She pointed at the hearts in front of him.
Kaitlyn giggled. "I think she wants you to get back to work."
Jacob grinned. "Aye aye, ma'am."
Joseph laughed, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "She's the boss." He straightened. "And speaking of the boss, it's about time for me to go pick up Grandma Ang from bingo."
"Ama Ang!" Angie said, clapping excitedly.
"That's right," he said, smiling at his granddaughter. "So you all keep at it and we'll be right back."
"Mama! Dada!" Angie cried when Steve and Catherine came through the door shortly before dinnertime. She scrambled up from where she'd been playing on the floor with Jacob and Dylan who'd arrived a few moments earlier with Jenna.
"Hey, baby girl," Steve said, swinging her up into his arms as soon as she reached them. He planted a kiss on her cheek and passed her to Catherine when Angie reached eagerly for her mother, babbling away.
"What did you all get up to this afternoon?" Catherine asked, looking around at the group.
"They were very busy while I was at bingo," Ang said.
"I was just showing Mom all the cards we made with Angie," Kaitlyn said, motioning to the array of hearts on the coffee table.
"Yeah, for Operation Valentines!" Jacob said.
" 'Operation Valentines'?" Steve asked. "It's January 30th."
"Not everybody waits till February 13th, Commander …" Catherine teased.
"I don't wait till the 13th," he insisted. Grinning, he shrugged. "I go on the 12th."
Rolling her eyes with an amused smile, Catherine turned back to Jacob and Kaitlyn and asked, "What's Operation Valentines?"
Kaitlyn looked at Elizabeth who nodded. "Go on, honey, it was your idea."
"Well, one of Aunt Elizabeth's friends has a granddaughter in first grade and her class is collecting valentines from friends and family. We decided to make a card for every kid in the class so they would all get one from Hawaii."
"And maybe if they think about Hawaii they won't feel so cold," Jacob added. "I drew palm trees and sunshines on some of the cards."
"That's really great," Catherine said. "What a neat project."
"They're going to keep track of all the places they get cards from on a big map," Elizabeth said.
"Yeah, so I was thinking maybe we could ask Mary and Aaron and Joan to send a card from Los Angeles," Kaitlyn said. "And Nonna could send one from New Jersey."
"I'm sure they'd be happy to," Jenna said.
"What about overseas?" Steve asked, glancing at Catherine. "We know lots of people stationed in different countries."
"I was thinking the same thing," Joseph said.
Kaitlyn gasped. "That would be amazing! They'll be so excited to get all those cards."
"They're gonna need a bigger map," Dylan remarked.
"I'll bet if we combine forces, we can get a card sent from every continent," Joseph said.
Jacob's eyes widened. "Even Antarctica?"
"Give your Aunt Catherine a day and a half," Steve said with a smile in her direction. "She'll find someone."
Catherine chuckled, but they all knew the wheels were as good as in motion.
"It looks like Operation Valentines is going global," Jenna said.
Elizabeth smiled at Kaitlyn. "From one little card to a whole operation, thanks to you."
Kaitlyn shook her head. "Maybe it was my idea to send lots of cards, but this is going to be a team effort."
"The best way to get something done, right, Uncle Steve?" Jacob asked.
Steve smiled and nodded. "That's right."
"Yes, it is," Elizabeth agreed. "And this team effort is going to make one class of first graders very, very happy."
Hope you enjoyed!
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