I had come to Aunt Sarah's this morning, so that I could carry out my plan without interference from my staff. I wanted to thank Alastair for winning Elfie for me. I didn't know if he did at the hot springs, he was at with our friends right now, but I knew Phoe slept with it while we were staying at Aunt Sarah's property.

Although I had yet to work out what I wanted to make for Alastair. I was thinking about candy since that was customary for this holiday, but I didn't know what kind.

I said, "Thank you for helping me with this," as she let me in. "My staff probably would have chased me out of the kitchen."

She ruffled my hair. "I was happy when you asked me, Tia. We haven't had a lot of chances to spend time together. Besides, I like doing these sorts of things. Lany could tell you that."

I set my bag down. I was sure he could. He really did seem to enjoy them and that it came from Aunt Sarah.

"Have you decided what you want to make yet?"

I shook my head. "I haven't been able to."

"Well, I have everything you could possibly need."

My eyes widened. Flour, sugar, chocolate chips, whip cream, butter, cake mix, cookie dough, eggs. She had gotten so many other ingredients, too. Why did she go overboard for me?

"It won't go to waste. I gave my staff the morning off. Our chef will be able to do whatever she wants with the ingredients after we're done."

Oh... That was nice...

"People usually make something with chocolate, but you don't have to. I'm going to make Lany a desert that doesn't use chocolate after we make your desert."

He would probably be embarrassed, but I was sure he'd enjoy it, too.

"What kind of chocolate things could we make?"

"There are cookies, cakes, brownies, fudge, fondue. A lot of things really."

That did sound like a lot. I didn't want to do cakes because I thought that was for birthdays. Ice cream would melt, so that might not be the best idea.

I furrowed my eyes. "I'm not sure what fondue and fudge are, so I think either cookies or brownies."

"Fondue is made with melted cheese."

I raised an eyebrow. "People put cheese in desserts?"

She laughed. "Yeah. And fudge is a sugar candy."

"Cookies or brownies."

"Sounds good." Aunt Sarah smiled. "Do you want to show off for your Romeo?"

My cheeks burned. "My what?"

"Your special someone."

"I don't have a special someone!" I took a breath. "Phoe's friend, Noah, has a big brother called Alastair. Alastair won the elephant I gave Phoe for his birthday. I wanted to do this to thank him."

Her face lit up. "That's great, Tia! I'm sure he's going to enjoy it!"

"I want to make chocolate chip cookies," I said.

"I'll find a recipe then."

I had such a great time with Aunt Sarah. I didn't really have the chance to do these things with Mother and Daddy. I wasn't a kid anymore, but it was nice to feel like one.

Honey laid by my feet as I sat on the couch, listening to my music.

It was nice to have peace and quiet. The monkeys were bouncing off the walls when they woke up. That made it hard for me to eat my pancakes. I got so stressed out that Honey had to bring me in here and calm me down. En even let me eat my pancakes on the couch.

Chan and Angie had come over to give us Valentine's presents. They had given me a small tub of chocolate ice cream for mine since that was one of my favorite desserts.

They had pulled Hannah, En, and Del aside to talk. They might have thought they needed a break since they took the monkeys out with them.

Honey jumped off my feet when Del came in.

Del signed to ask if I felt any better.

I answered back with a little.

He smiled before he moved to the side.

I sat up. What was Eni's sister doing here? Noah was with Eni and their friends in their other world.

I paused my music and waved since I didn't know what else to do.

She let Honey smell her hand before she sat down. "I have something for you."

I tilted my head. What did that mean?

She set a picnic basket on the coffee table and smiled. "Go ahead. Open it."

I opened the basket. Chocolate chip cookies? That was a nice surprise.

I used the sign for thank you but as soon as I did that, I remembered that she would probably not understand me. I could feel my lightning pool in my cheeks.

"That means 'thank you', doesn't it?" She looked at Del who nodded. "You're welcome." She reached into the basket and pulled out red bows. "I got something for your dog, too, but I'm not sure if she'll like these."

Honey sat by her feet and barked happily. She wanted to look pretty.

"Can I put them in?"

Honey barked again.

She tied them on Honey's ears. She patted her head after she was done. "You're such a pretty puppy."

Honey gently licked her nose.

"You're welcome, honey."

I didn't like that smile Del had. "What a nice Valentine's present."

I was sure his words didn't match what he was thinking.

I chased Del toward the backyard. I didn't want Del to think of her as my girlfriend. I didn't deserve to get a girlfriend... Cole didn't get to enjoy his wife because of me... Besides, why would she want to be my girlfriend? I could barely talk, and I needed so much help. Why would she want to put up with that?

He ate one of the cookies I made while I did Honey's bows. I was glad to see he enjoyed it. It was worth the time and effort to make them.

I laughed behind my hand when Alastair took off. He wasn't happy to be teased by his big brother. I couldn't blame him. I probably wouldn't be happy either.

Alastair was such an interesting guy. I wanted to get to know him better. Maybe Annie could give me some advice on how to do that.

***

Happy Valentine's, minna! Thoughts on T? Star?