London, England. February, 14, 1935.

Alex came down the stairs, ready for breakfast. Rick placed a plate of pancakes on the table..... shaped like hearts. Giving him a weird look, Alex took one of them and set it on his plate. The aroma was wonderful. He automatically knew his Mum didn't cook..... when she did, Rick, Jon, and Alex always said they had to go and then went to the little shop down at the corner to have breakfast. They always felt guilty, but it was better than dying.

Evelyn entered the room and smiled. She *knew* her family loved her cooking, but she was glad her husband had took care of it for today.

Rick grinned at her and pulled a small wrapped box out of his pocket and handed it to her. She unwrapped the delicate paper, and opened the box ever so slowly. She gasped at the ring before her eyes. It was gold and shiny red rubies were placed together to form a beautiful heart. Inside was the inscription, "E+R=<3"

She leaned up to kiss her husband, then handed him an envelope.

"OooOoo a card!" He kidded her as he opened it. He pulled out two tickets. "Vacation." Evie stated and he grinned that famous grin of his.

Rick then turned towards his son, "What'd you get for your girlfriend, Romeo?"

Alex looked up, "For what?"

"Valentines day, of course...." He saw his sons' eyes widen. "Arg, don't tell me you forgot....."

Alex nodded his head in horror.

Evie laughed at her son's expression and sat down at the table to get her food. "It's a holiday, so you don't have to go to school today. You have all day to get her something."

He sighed in relief and got up. "I'm going to go now!"

****In Alex's room****

He rummaged through his closet. While throwing things behind his shoulder, "No, not it. Not it either. That's not it. Nope.... No.....no.... Ugh! Where is it?!" He exclaimed to himself as he had cleared out his closet and everything was now scattered in all directions on the floor.

Alex walked over to his bed and peeked under it. It had to be under there. He cleared some things out of the way when he spotted it and reached under there and grabbed it. He set his piggy bank on the bed and tilted it upside down for the money to come out. Nothing. He shook it a little harder and this time he noticed there was no sound. He peeked inside the slit and saw that it was empty.

He ran out of the room and down the stairs hysterically and bumped into his Dad. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"I got robbed!"
"What?"
"My piggy bank is empty!!"
"Hold on, buddy, you spent your money last week on all that candy, remember?"
He thought for a minute. "Ohhh.....yeah...."

"Instead of buying her something, why not give her something? Go look in the basement."

"The *basement*?!"
Rick just nodded and walked off.

Frustrated, Alex made his way downstairs into the basement where his dad had told him to go. He had no idea why he was down here but he might as well look around. Fumbling for the light-switch, he turned it on and light up the huge room. There were so many boxes and trunks he didn't know where to start.

After walking around the room, he decided to open a large chest that was in the corner. He first pulled out a wedding dress. He threw it to the side and kept looking. He pulled out a cute little brown teddy bear. His mum had showed him this bear once, and he knew it was hers when she was a kid. It was cute, but he couldn't give it away. He kept digging. Finally, he held a locket in the palm of his hand. It had a very delicate chain so he had to be careful. He opened it. There were two spots where you could put pictures. The necklace was beautiful. It would be perfect to give Valancy. She would absolutly love it.

Alex came back up and went into the living room to ask if he could wrap it. Evie was sitting on the sofa, and Rick in his chair as always. Seeing the familiar locker in her son's hand she told him, "That used to be mine."

Alex frowned..

She smiled instead, "And it's a perfect gift. Go wrap it."

A smile formed on his lips and he hurried out of the room.

******

They had decided to meet by the huge oak tree in the park. Alex had gotten there first, and he was seated peacefully under the shade and protection of it. Valancy came walking up to him, smiling, with both hands behind her back., and sat down next to him.

"Here you go, Alex O'connell." She grinned and handed him one of the hugest lollipop's that he had ever seen, the kinds that look as if it would take years to finish. And across it read, "Hug Me." So that's exactly what he did.

She smiled as he handed her a box. When she had opened it she gasped at the necklace and took it out. She lifted her hair up, "Can you put it on me?"

He helped her put it on and then she let her hair fall and she looked down, admiring it. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank You."

"Happy Valentine's Day."
****
Valancy came to school the next day and smiled at Alex as she walked to her desk. And inside her locket, was a picture of her.... And a picture of him.