“Okay, Aprille, Jackson, time to go, I’m running late. Your lunches are on the table. Aprille take care of your brother at school OK. See you at 7:00. Love you. Bye.” Slam. She shut the door hard.

“Jackson, time to go to school. Ma already made lunch and breakfast. Come on, get up. I don’t want to be late again.”

“Uhhhhhh,” came a groan from the stairs. Jackson was going down the stairs, but slowly.

Thud, munch, thud, munch. The sounds were coming from Jackson’s  footsteps and Aprille’s sounds of eating.

About fifteen minutes later the siblings were out the door.

“You know sometimes I wonder if Ma and Pa are ever getting back together,” Aprille said.

“I know. It gets me sad to think that Pa lives in another country, ” Jackson said looking down at the pavement. “We only get to see him once or twice a year.”

“I can always tell when Ma is feeling sad or depressed but she always makes us feel like everything is how it used to be,” Aprille said with a tiny smile on her face. “You know her birthday is coming up soon, we can make a surprise party for her.” Her grin grew bigger.

“That’s right. We should figure it all out after school,” Jackson agreed. “Class is about to start. Bye.”

“Now students, today’s lesson is the story of a family. Of course most of you in this classroom have two parents, woman and man, but maybe you have two dads or two moms. Or maybe you only have one parent,” Mrs. Bloome said.

All of a sudden Aprille slapped her chest where her treasured necklace stayed. It was a necklace her father gave her when she was only a young girl. She never took it off, never. It was the only thing she had left of him.  She missed him so much. She wished to see him more often.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Bloome,” Aprille said with her hand in the air. “May I use the restroom.”

“You may, Ms. Hollow,” Mrs. Bloome said.

Outside in the school halls, Aprille was the only thing alive, everything else was just benches and lights.

Aprille was still clutching her necklace. Aprille’s eyes began to get teary.

“What if I never see him again,” she said to herself through small sobs.

When she entered the classroom again, her eyes were still a little red from the crying.   

“Are you alright Aprille?” Mrs. Bloome said. Aprille just simply nodded.  

About half an hour later, everyone was rushing to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was always a noisy place but  that day it was crazy. Everybody was screaming and running around, but not Aprille or Jackson. They were quietly sitting at a lunch table all for themselves. Neither of them were talking, just quietly eating their lunch.

Three hours later, school had ended and the siblings were walking home.

“You know now that I think about it, we haven’t celebrated Ma’s birthday in years.” Jackson said. ”I think she needs something like that to cheer her up.”

“I agree, we should get started right away,” Aprille said and started running to the door.

It was Friday morning and the siblings’ mother had already left for work. Aprille and Jackson were at the table eating breakfast and getting ready for school, when they heard a knock on the door.

“Stay here okay,” Aprille said to Jackson. Aprille answered the door and didn’t believe who it was.

“PA!” Aprille yelled, and flung her arms around her father.

“Oh my gosh my children, they’ve grown so much. How old are you, Aprille?”

“Thirteen.”

“And you Jackson?”

“Ten.”

“Where’s your mother?”

“She is at work, ” Jackson replied. “You know her birthday is today and Aprille and I were planning a surprise party for her, could you help?”

“Why not,” their father said.

“Do you know Ma’s  favorite food, we were thinking on ordering her favorite food,” Aprille said.

“Oh, I remember our first date. Your mother and I were still in college, we went to this Italian restaurant. I remember it like it was yesterday.” The siblings could tell he was deep in thought so they didn’t want to interrupt him.

Aprille pulled her brother to a side. “This might be easier than we thaught. I think they really miss each other,” Aprille whispered in his ears.

“Uh-uh,” Jackson said nodding.

“Well Jackson and I should be heading to school but we will see you  later,” Aprille said grabbing her backpack and gesturing Jackson to the door. “Bye,” the siblings said in unison. Their father could just smile.

In class neither of the siblings could concentrate on their school work; they could only focus on what was going on outside of school. The school day felt like it was going to take days to finish. But finally the second to last bell rang. It was the last subject of the day.

“This hour’s subject is science, as you all know, and today is Part 1: Electricity,” Mr. Gaven the science teacher said. “Electricity runs through our homes all the time. When we turn on the light, when we cook, and even keeps the refrigerator cold. But …”

Aprille could no longer hear Mr. Gaven talking because she was trapped in her thoughts. She thought that if she could keep her parents together for even a small amount of time she might be able to get them together again forever.Aprille was anxiously tapping her pen on her desk. She was watching each second go by on the clock. Then finally the moment the siblings had been waiting for. RING! The bell rang and Aprille and Jackson were the first to get out of their seats.They immediately started running towards home.

The sibling’s home was fully decorated. There were signs that read Happy Birthday Mary and I Love You and balloons all over. “Wow Pa you did a great job,” Jackson said in amazement.

“Thanks, what do you think of the cake?” Their dad had made a circle cake covered in chocolate icing and there were pink sprinkles shaped like hearts all around the borders of the cake. In the center was a candle of a family.

“This is all wonderful,” Aprille said

“Glad you think so, but I still haven’t ordered the food yet. I will do that right now, you two should put on something fancy.” So off the kids went into their rooms to change. A couple of minutes later the siblings got out of their rooms. Aprille was wearing a white dress up to her knees. She had a pink belt around her waist. She had pink slip-ons and a pink head-band in her hair. She had diamond earrings and a pink purse.

   “You look gorgeous sister,” Jackson said

   “Thank you brother, You look very handsome yourself,” Aprille said back.

   Jackson was wearing a white shirt with a black tie. He was wearing black jeans, shiny black shoes and a nice black coat.

   Then the siblings went down stairs and the food was already there.

   “Wow kids you look great. Could you set up the table while I get dressed.”

   The siblings got right to work. Their mother would be there any minute. Five minutes later the table was set and their father was dressed. The three of them couldn’t wait any longer, they were about to burst. Then the door knob turned and the door creaked open. Their mother had finally arrived.

SURPRISE!

“Oh my gosh.” Their mother hugged the kids, but once she saw who else was in the room she froze. Tears started to form in her eyes. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said and hugged her old husband.

“I’ve missed you too,” he whispered in her ear.

All four of them were partying all night long.

Then finally Paul proposed for the second time.

“I can’t bear another day without you Mary, I want to live rest of my days to be with you.”  

Right away Aprille touched her necklace. “We are a family again,” Aprille thought to herself.

“Will you marry me?” he said

“Yes. I will!”