(This is part two of two. To read part I click here or scroll down)
In the town of Normal, Pennsylvania, there’s a little church at the corner of Wilson and Elm. This year the church decided to have a Valentine’s Day dance – but not everyone present was excited to be there. Senior Pastor Henry O’Donnell’s daughter Katie had agreed to do childcare, but only because her boyfriend, Alex, had dumped her a couple days earlier, killing her Valentine’s Day plans. And Associate Pastor Michelle Tellum’s boyfriend, Ian, was performing at the dance with his jazz band. This meant that Michelle and Ian had had to eat their Valentine’s Day dinner early and skip desert. Not Michelle’s idea of a romantic holiday.
Michelle sat at a table with the girls who were dating the other members of Ian’s band. They complained about the lack of alcohol at the church event while Michelle sulked and watched the couples dancing. She was surprised to discover choir director Shane Reed was an excellent swing dancer. He and his girlfriend Audra Park spun around the floor making everyone else look bad. Michelle thought Ian was pretty sexy when he performed, but at the moment she was feeling a little jealous of Audra.
Meanwhile, down in the Sunday school room, Katie listened to sad songs on her MP3 player while the kids built a makeshift city out of blocks. The Boyer sisters, Mary, age four, and Susie, age two, were there, as was Sierra Smith, another four-year-old from Mary’s Sunday school class. Audra’s son Tyler was the only boy present if you didn’t count the baby, Scott Lopez, who was asleep in a crib.
After a while, Mary looked up from the tower she was building and noticed tears running down Katie’s cheeks. Mary nudged Sierra. They weren’t used to seeing someone Katie’s age cry. The two girls went over to investigate.
“Why are you sad?” Mary asked.
“Because boys are all big, lying jerks,” Katie said.
“I don’t like boys either,” Mary agreed.
“Good,” Katie replied. “All they ever do is make you cry.” Then she put her head down on the desk, turned up her music, and moaned miserably.
Mary and Sierra were not quite sure how to react. Tyler came over to see what was going on.
“Go away, Tyler,” Sierra said. “You’re a boy and all boys are lying jerks.”
“Take that back!” Tyler replied angrily.
“Get out of here,” Mary said. “You’ll make Katie cry even worse.”
Tyler was not sure how he’d gotten blamed for Katie’s weeping, but he wasn’t about to let two younger girls tell him what to do. “Make me,” he said.
Mary and Sierra immediately pounced on him. Two-year-old Susie didn’t know what was going on, but joined in the beating out of an innate sense of feminist sisterhood and a love of hitting things. Tyler decided maybe letting the girls tell him what to do was better than having to admit they’d beaten him up. He dashed out of the room with the three females chasing behind.
Katie looked up just in time to see her charges escaping. “Come back,” she shouted, but to no avail. She quickly scooped the baby out of the crib and took off in pursuit. Scott was not pleased to have his slumber disturbed. He expressed his displeasure in loud wails.
Up in the social hall, Shane and Audra were taking a break from their energetic dancing. They got some refreshments and sat at the table next to Michelle’s.
The band switched to a slow, romantic ballad. Michelle watched all the couples dancing close and whispering to each other and felt her jealously like a knife in her heart. It was Valentine’s Day. She should be dancing cheek to cheek with Ian, not sitting at a table with a bunch of whiny groupies.
She heard Shane ask Audra if she was ready to dance again. “I need a few more minutes,” Audra laughed. “You wore me out!”
Michelle leaned over and asked, “If you need a break, do you think I could borrow Shane for a song?”
Audra shrugged and nodded. Michelle took Shane’s hand and led him out to a spot directly in front of the band. Shane put his hands on Michelle’s waist. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Shane’s eyes widened in surprise as she pressed herself against him.
Michelle snuck a peek at Ian. He was staring at them with a troubled frown on his face. Michelle leaned her head on Shane’s shoulder to hide her satisfied smile. She had finally gotten his attention.
Shane had noticed Ian’s troubled look as well. And he’d noticed an equally troubled look on Audra’s face. But he didn’t quite know what to do. So he made sure to keep his hands nice and high on Michelle’s back and tried not to look like he was enjoying himself.
When the song ended, Ian grabbed the microphone and said, “Let’s pick up the pace a bit.” He instructed the band to play an upbeat Dixieland number.
“Well, thanks for the dance,” Shane said to Michelle.
“Aw, come on, one more,” Michelle replied. As the band launched into their jaunty tune, she began bumping and grinding around him. Shane tried to dance in a casual, disinterested way, but he had to admit Michelle had some pretty hot moves.
Now more than just Ian and Audra were watching them. Most of the congregation were not used to seeing one of their pastors behaving in such a manner. Pastor O’Donnell knew Michelle was courting trouble and was about to intervene when the gaggle of kids burst through the door like a tornado.
Tyler ducked under the refreshment table and out the other side. Mary, Sierra and Susie followed in hot pursuit. But somehow Mary caught the edge of the tablecloth on her barrette. This upset the punch bowl, and punch sloshed across the floor. Michelle had just completed a little spin. She stepped back and slipped in the liquid, falling hard on her rear.
The sight was so unexpected everyone burst out laughing in spite of themselves. Everyone, that is, except Ian. He leapt down from the stage and ran to Michelle.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Michelle looked down at her white dress now stained red with punch and cried “No!” She scrambled to her feet and ran out of the room.
“Go after her,” Shane said, giving Ian a nudge. Ian took the advice.
Baby Scott’s wail announced Katie’s arrival. She looked at the aftermath of the disaster and her heart sank. But everyone turned out to be quite sympathetic, especially the parents of the kids in question, who generally expected them to cause trouble. They assisted Katie in rounding up the children while Shane found a mop to clean up the spill.
Out in the hall Ian was trying to understand Michelle through her sobs. He finally made out that she was disappointed they hadn’t spent more time together that evening. There was also something in there about chocolate cake. Ian thought he understood.
“Do you know why I didn’t want to order desert at the restaurant?” he asked.
“Because (sob) you needed to (sniff) set up your gear.”
“No,” Ian said, “that was just an excuse. I spent all day making a chocolate raspberry cheesecake. I was going to take you back to my place after the dance and surprise you with it.”
Michelle stopped crying. “You cooked for me?”
“Yeah. It’s probably not as good as that cake at the restaurant, but since I spent…” Ian had to table his thought as Michelle planted a big kiss on his mouth.
When Katie marched her charges back down to the Sunday school room, she got a surprise of her own. Alex was waiting for her. “Can we talk?” he asked.
Katie put the baby in the crib and told the other kids, “Do not leave this room under any circumstances. Do you understand?”
Mary, Sierra, Tyler and Susie returned to their toys while Alex and Katie spoke in urgent whispers in the hall. After a while, Mary noticed the whispers had stopped. She remembered that Katie had ordered her not to leave the room, but surely poking her head out the door wouldn’t count.
What she saw in the hall shocked her. Katie was kissing Alex! “I thought you said boys were lying jerks,” Mary blurted.
Katie laughed. “Maybe, but they’re also pretty nice to kiss.”
Mary returned to the classroom pondering this new piece of information. She looked at Tyler who was racing some cars down the streets of the block city they’d built. He didn’t look like he would be all that great to kiss. But Katie was older. Maybe she knew what she was talking about.
Thirty seconds later Tyler came barreling out of the room again, pursued by the three little girls. He darted past Katie and Alex, up the stairs, and nearly knocked over Michelle and Ian who were making out in the hall.
“Girls are crazy!” Tyler yelled.
“Sure are,” Ian agreed.
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