His kids loved Valentine's Day.

Mr Baldi sat at his desk, taking advantage of the class's art project to grade quizzes. Despite his instruction for them to work quietly, the room was abuzz with noise: friends talking to one another, shouting for someone to pass the glitter glue, or the occasional frustrated groan when a heart came out lopsided.

But he didn't mind. A noisy class was a happy class.

Usually.

Baldi looked up from Sam's quiz to look at the student in question. Sam sat at their desk, hunched over a sheet of construction paper, a maroon crayon in their hand.

To Baldi's mild surprise, their Valentine Mailbox was already finished; two pieces of white construction paper folded into a box that hung off the edge of their desk, bedecked with pink and red hearts. Their name was carefully drawn with red glitter glue on the front, with no smudges or errant drops in sight. That wasn't much of a surprise to Baldi, though. What Sam struggled with in math, they more than made up for in writing and art.

Although, looking down at their quiz again, they were steadily improving in that department as well. A bright red 70 was circled at the top of their paper, and Baldi had drawn a cartoonish version of himself saying "Good job!" right next to it.

The tutoring sessions were helping. Well, that and the meetings with the counselor, to say nothing of Baldi's own involvement...

Wait, if Sam was already done, what were they coloring?

With a grunt, Baldi pushed himself out of his chair and walked towards their desk. He leaned down slightly as he grew closer, and gently rapped his knuckles against the side of Sam's desk.

He'd learned not to hold the yardstick when speaking with the child.

"Sam?"

Sam blinked, as if snapping out of a trance. "Huh?" They looked up, right into Baldi's curious face. And then they went pale. "AAH!" Sam flung themselves over their paper, curling their arms to hide it. "Don't look!"

"I won't," Baldi chuckled. He was still curious, sure, but this was clearly a secret. "I just wanted to know what you were drawing. If your mailbox is all done, you can read if you want."

But Sam just shook their head, still hiding their paper. "No, that's okay. I wanna color."

"Well, alright... it's your own free time, you can do what you like with it. Just remember to save some paper for everyone still working."

Sam smiled brightly, showing teeth. "I will! I already gave my extras to Susan and Tim!" They pointed with the hand holding the crayon. A bit of paper showed as a result, but Baldi didn't look. He knew not to betray Sam's trust, and Sam trusted him a great deal. He wouldn't ruin that. "They're putting the most hearts on their boxes, they said."

"Well I'm sure they'll look lovely. Yours looks very nice, by the way."

Sam's smile grew even brighter, and Baldi felt his heart ping a little.

"Well," he said, ruffling Sam's unruly hair. "I'll let you get back to work. Okay, everyone, you have twenty minutes to finish your boxes, then we're getting ready for recess!"

The chorus of "Okay!"s was accompanied by more frantic cutting of hearts.

Three days later, it was Valentine's Day. Everyone milled around the room, dropping cards and the occasional treat into boxes. At the front of the room, Baldi had a table with punch and cookies set up, and he would put on a movie when the cards were all done. He'd narrowed it down to either 'Beauty and the Beast' or 'Mulan,' and the decision was still bothering him.

He was considering just having the class do an impromptu vote instead of choosing himself, when Sam approached him. They held a folded piece of construction paper in their hands, which Baldi noticed immediately. "Uhm, Mr Baldi...?"

"My mailbox is on the side of my desk, Sam." Baldi pointed it out. "I know it's kinda hiding, but-"

But Sam just shook their head. "N-No, I wanted to give it to you myself." And they held the paper out. "Can you open it, please?"

Baldi blinked, mildly surprised. He'd expected the paper to be a big card, but he didn't expect to receive it so directly. "Well, of course. Let me see, please." He gently took the card and looked at the front. It had a huge red heart drawn on it, gold glitter glue carefully smeared into the shape of cherub wings. It was lovely so far.

He opened the card.

On one side, there was a crayon drawing of Sam and himself, standing in front of the school, holding hands. They were both smiling, but Sam had a tiny little tear coming from one eye. But still, their crayon self looked happy.

On the other side, there was a poem written in maroon crayon:

'Thank you for always being there for me

And making me numbers I'm able to see.

Thank you for being a teacher who's nice

And always giving me good advice.

For listening to me when I talked about home,

For making sure I wasn't all alone.

And telling me Dad's rules were bad,

And for letting people make you my new dad.

Happy Valentine's Day,

I love you a lot, Mr Baldi.

From your student, Sam, who is me.'

"It..." Baldi found it difficult to speak. "It's very nice, Sam," he finally managed.

Sam stood in front of him, anxiously twisting their hands. "Really? I tried to make it perfect-"

"It's just lovely, thank you," Baldi choked out again, closing the card. He'd put it in his gradebook so it wouldn't wrinkle, and then find a place for it at home. "Can I give you a hug?"

Sam nodded, flinging themselves at Baldi when he knelt down and hiding their face in his shoulder. "I love you, Mr Baldi," they mumbled, as if they thought the card's sentiment wasn't enough.

"Love you too, kiddo..." Baldi whispered. He thought about the poem again, and briefly his mind flashed to the weeks prior. To counselor visits and bruises on Sam's hands and wrists, to phone calls and letters and I'm a registered foster parent, if no one will take them then damn it, I will and

And his grip tightened. "Love you, too."