Valentine's Day

Love had filled the air. The seals nuzzled everyone and stared up at them with adoring eyes, Cookies had become a bit nicer and Hairy had taken to watching movies on Lifetime in the middle of the day and crying.

"It's just so romantic!" he would blubber, blowing his nose on the Kleenex. "So romantic!"

Even Pumble had gotten into the romance of it all, as he sat in the spa feeding himself chocolate covered strawberries. "You know," he told the ducks as they floated in the bathtub, "I had a girl once."

"Be serious!" they cried, leaning in for the juicy gossip. Pumble nodded, pleased at the response, and paused dramatically.

"Her name was Petunia," he said romantically. "Petunia the Bee. But you see, it was never meant to be." He giggled at the rhyme.

"What happened?" the third duck cried.

"Well, her mother was the Queen Bee of another hive. She was in line to the throne, and had been bethrothed since eggs to this loser." Pumble narrowed his eyes. "We dated all through bee school, but it was to no use. Her mother wouldn't let me marry her. She kept her locked up in the very top part of the hive. One night, I begged her to elope with me and presented her with the finest honey in the land. But she was too scared of her mother's wrath, and turned me away." Pumble looked at the anxious faces watching him and felt pleased as a storyteller.

"Well that's horrible!" one of the ducks cried. "So that's it? Just this tragic ending?"

"Well, she got to be queen and I got to come here," Pumble said, grinning. "Honestly, why would I want to sit around a palace and have to solve problems when I could eat chocolate strawberries in a bathtub. I do believe I got the better end of the deal."

"So what are you doing for Valentine's Day then?" the second duck asked. "I'm going to--" Pumble stopped as one of the seals delivered and envelope to him. "What the devil is this?" he asked as he tore it open. He pulled out a red card and opened it, reading it in shock.

"What is it?" the first duck asked.

"What's going on?" the second duck asked.

"Is it Petunia?" the third duck asked eagerly.

"It's a secret admirer!" Pumble said in amazement. "My admirer wants to meet me on Wednesday for a midnight rendezvous!"

"A midnight rendezvous?" Cookies exclaimed, eavesdropping from the doorway. "Why that's romantic! This woman is in love with you! Only women in love crave midnight rendezvous."

"What if she just likes him?" Hairy asked practically. "Perhaps she gets off work at midnight."

"As what?" Cookies asked scornfully. "A bar maid?"

"I suppose I should pick her some flowers," Pumble said thoughtfully. He wasn't quite sure what to think of a secret admirer. He'd never had one. "I could brush my teeth to."

"That's a brilliant idea," Cookies snorted.

"What exactly does a secret admirer do?" one of the ducks asked. Cookie laughed at him and said, "You poor silly duck." Pumble was glad he hadn't asked.

"A secret admirer is someone that sends you secret notes and gifts because they care about you," Cookies said. "You always know someone's in the distance, watching and pining for you."

"That's so romantic!" Hairy cried as he blew his nose. He felt all weepy. The seals nuzzled up to him and barked happily. "I love you too!" Hairy squealed, petting their soft heads. "I love everybody!" He buried his face into their squirming body and cried tears of joy.

"What is wrong with him?" Ccookies said in disgust. "Get ahold of yourself man."

"He's just feeling the love," Pumble smiled. "Just like me."

"It's just so wonderful!" Hairy cried. "Everyone's so happy! I just feel all squishy inside."

Cookies rolled his eyes.

"We must get you ready for your secret rendezvous!" Cookies said, checking his watch. "There isn't much time!"

"What should we do?" the ducks asked. "What do you do for a rendezvous?"

"It's very simple," Cookies began.........

To be continued