“… I can’t help…. Falling in love…. With… you…” Hold up, what? Elvis Presley? Is that you? Doesn’t sound like you. But those are your words. Giana blinked, rubbing her eyes, and yawned. She slowly opened her eyes, to see Zephyr standing in front of her, holding a red rose, and serenading.

When they finished, they smiled, “Good morning. Happy Valentine’s Day, love.”

Her jaw dropped on the floor, “Uh.. thank you! But, um…” her cheeks flushed a bright crimson, “Well…” She looked down.

“What?”

“I… I kinda forgot that today was Valentine’s day, but I still have a gift for you!! Don’t worry! But, um.. Well… I kind of agreed to baby-sit today.”

“Oh… love, it’s alright.”

“Well, what if… what if you came with me? Yeah! Yeah! Then we can still spend the day together!” 

“Are you sure? We can just wait until we get back!” 

“No. No, no, no, no, no. You will come with me, but we’ve got to go, go, go! Otherwise we’re going to be late, late, late!” 

Once they gathered all their stuff, they headed down to the car, and started to drive down to the kids house. However, when they were a few minutes away, and from being on time too, when they got stopped by a parade. 

“Ughhh!” Giana groaned, “I can’t believe I forgot about the Valentine’s day parade! Now I’m going to be late – again!”

“It’s okay, G. Maybe it’ll pass quickly.” 

Zephyr was wrong. The parade did not pass by quickly. And when it finally passed, and they arrived at the children’s house, they were thirty minutes late. Giana quickly knocked on the door, praying they wouldn’t be mad at her.

“Oh. Good, deary, you’re here,” the adults rushed out of the house, leaving Giana with a bunch of confused looks staring at Zephyr.

“Uh.. Hi, everyone! This is… um.. This is Zephyr. They’re my significant other.”

“Ohhhhhh!!! HI ZEPHYR!!! I LOVE YOUR NAME!!!” Niki shouted.

“Heh heh, thanks.”

“So, Zephyr, this is Raven, Niki, and Oliver. Raven, Niki, and Oliver, this is Zephyr.”

After everyone was acquainted, they played a round of games, twister, uno, and an abundance of card games. They all ate dinner and then got cozied up in bed, prepared for Giana’s story. 

“It all began one foggy day…” Giana began, “A small bluebird swooped through the forest. Their feathers fluttered with the wind, gaining speed as they went. They had an unusual name, so everyone just called them ‘Dusty’ which was their nickname. Unfortunately, the fog covered their vision, so they couldn’t see that far ahead of them. On the other side of the woods, another bird was soaring through the air. It was a lovebird named Ellie who had a slight genetic alteration that made her more unique than any other lovebird. She had a peachy color to her feathers which made her stand out from the crowd, and also was the fastest flier in the entire forest due to a wing change. Ellie was flying right in Dusty’s direction. Without seeing each other in the fog, they crashed into one another. Ellie looked up first, and her eyes enlarged. She said hello to Zephyr. Zephyr also looked up…” Giana’s eyes widened, and she looked quickly at Zephyr and then back at the kids, “Uh, I mean…uh…D-Dusty. A-anyway. They were both flustered and apologized profusely. They went their separate ways, but ended up bumping into each other quite often, learning more and more about each other. Soon, they were both excited for their unplanned meetings. And others around them began to notice how attached they grew. And finally, they both realized their feelings for each other, and had a very long talk, flying in the midnight moonlight. Ze- uh… Dusty looked at Ellie, her face illuminated with the dim moonlight, and they realized just how much they cared for her. Meanwhile, Ellie thought of all the fun things they had done together, all the moments and all the jokes they had shared. ‘Can I tell you something?’ Ellie said. 

Dusty nodded. They said, ‘I need to tell you something as well.’

Ellie replied, ‘Oh you can go first!’ But Dusty insisted she did. In the end, they concluded to say it at the same time.

‘One’ Dusty began.

‘Two’ Ellie said.

‘Three!’ And in unison, they both shouted; “I LOVE YOU!” This stopped them mid-flight. And they looked at each other with surprise.

‘I-I’m not sure where to go from here…” Dusty blushed. 

‘I am sure we’ll figure it out,” Ellie replied, “For now, let’s just have some fun tonight!” They both smiled. They flew gently in comfortable silence for the next few hours, contemplating and thinking about what just happened. Just enjoying each other’s company in the darkness and the cool breeze.” Giana finished. The kids were all asleep. She smiled. Looked over at Zephyr. They smiled back. 

“That story didn’t happen to be about someone…I might possibly know, would it?” Zephyr teased. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giana smirked. They both chuckled. Giana walked over and hugged Zephyr tight. 

“I love you,” Giana whispered. 

“I love you more,” Zephyr replied softly. 

Cites

https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1157833253/vector/cute-cartoon-birds-couple.jpg?s=612×612&w=0&k=20&c=bAZ5va5Ynty3cvV6M61T101wG_HIQfbxVuUonufnyzg=