Chapter 4 - When You Put Your Heart in It

Back in the dining room, the boys continued making their Mother's Day cards for Amanda. Philip looked over at Jamie and said, "You know, we have to make cards for Grandma, too. It's Mother's Day for her also."

Jamie ignored him as he continued to labor over writing the message for his card. Every few minutes, he stopped writing and looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He mumbled incoherently as he sorted out what he wanted to say.

Philip looked over his shoulder and burst out laughing. He grabbed the paper from Jamie. He read,

"'I like my bike. I like my room.

I even like my brother.

But most of all, in all the world,

I really like my mother.'"

He laughed so hard that he could barely finish.

"Give it back!" yelled Jamie. Jamie yanked the paper back from his brother.

"Hahaha! 'I like my bike! I like my room!'" he teased. "That's so dorky! And you even like me! Oh my gosh, Jamie, that's hilarious!"

Jamie fought back tears. "Go away!" He yelled and grabbed the pink eraser beside him. Furiously, he tried to erase the line that said, "I even like my brother." But the more he rubbed the eraser across the page, the more the writing smudged and the paper ripped. Angrily, he balled up the card, threw it onto the table, and put his head down. He bit his lip to keep from crying, but even that couldn't stop his tears. "Go away," he repeated softly.

Philip immediately felt sorry. He didn't mean to make Jamie cry. He just couldn't resist teasing him. Reaching for Jamie's card, he tried to smooth it out. "Ah, Jamie, I'm sorry. I was just messing around. I… I… just got mad because I can't write anything good like that." He held out the wrinkled card. "Mom's really going to like your poem. Want me to help you fix your card?"

Jamie sniffled and took the paper back from Philip. "No, I can do it, but I need to start over." He began to slowly write out the lines of poetry again. When he got to the line about his brother, he stopped. He looked up towards the ceiling again. He mumbled to himself, "Uh… 'I even like my…' other? Smother? Another? Hmmm. I can't think of anything else that rhymes with 'mother'. Or what if I change 'mother' to 'mama', then I could like my… llama? Diorama? Vasco da Gama? Hmmm… No." With a reluctant sigh, he rewrote that he liked his brother and continued to copy the rest of his poem onto the new card.

"Are you any good at drawing flowers, Jamie?" Philip asked.

Jamie hesitated. Was this an opportunity for Philip to tease him even more? "Why do you want to know?" he asked cautiously.

"Cause I want to put some on Mama's card. You know how she likes yellow flowers, but I don't know how to draw them. Look," he said, holding up his paper for Jamie to see. "All my flowers look like yellow blobs."

Jamie had to admit that he was right. Philip's flowers did look like yellow blobs. He took a blank sheet of paper and began to demonstrate while he explained what to do. "And there you have it. A pretty yellow flower. Whaddaya think?"

Philip stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he concentrated on recreating Jamie's drawing. Upon finishing it, he held it for Jamie to see. "Look! I did it!"

Jamie smiled. "Your flowers are really good, Philip."

Philip smiled back, proudly. "Now, what about tulips? Can you draw tulips? I want to put some on Grandma's card. You know how much she loves those tulips that are under the kitchen window!"

To Be Continued...