Bumping for 2023
Bumping (late) for 2024
Many thanks to ccblueberry for being my beta this time around.
A/N: The photos of the vintage valentines were copyrighted, so I couldn't download them. I included the links if anyone wants to view them.
ETA Oct. 2011: The links no longer work to the specific cards so I've removed them. You'll have to use your imagination!
Valentine Memories
Beth pushed the speed dial on her cell phone. Mick picked up on the first ring.
"Hi Beth."
"Hey Mick. I'm glad you're up already. Can I stop by after work?"
"Sure. You know you don't have to ask, right?" He could almost hear Beth blush over the phone.
"I'll see you in an hour."
An hour later Mick heard the elevator ding and he greeted Beth at the door with a kiss on the cheek. "Hey."
"Hey yourself!" Beth grinned. She handed Mick a large envelope as she walked into the loft, depositing her jacket and bag on a chair.
"What's this?" Mick took the envelope and looked at the front as he closed the door. It was addressed to Mick St. John, in care of the Assistant District Attorney's office. He looked at Beth with a puzzled expression.
"Ben gave it to me to give to you. It came in the mail today."
They sat next to each other on the couch and Mick carefully opened the envelope. He slid out the contents and looked at Beth in surprise and confusion as he held a hand made valentine. A piece of white construction paper had been folded in half to make a card. On the front were several hearts, cut a little unevenly from red and pink construction paper, each a little smaller than the previous one and glued on top of each other in bull's eye fashion. Written in a child's hand in red crayon were the words, "To Mick".
Mick just stared at it. "Well, come on, Mick, open it and see who it's from!" The reporter in Beth couldn't stand the suspense. He slowly opened the card. Across the top, taking up both pages, was written in large letters "Happy Valentine's Day!" It was signed at the bottom, "Your friend, Jacob". There was a crayon drawing of Mick, complete in knee-length duster, holding hands with a little boy dressed in green pajamas just like Jacob had been wearing the night Mick rescued him.
Mick just stared at the card, speechless. Beth put her hand on the back of his neck, twirling his curls in her fingers. "Mick?" she said softly. "Are you okay?"
"Excuse me a minute," Mick choked out. He set down Jacob's valentine, and brushing his nose with his thumb and finger, stood and walked into his office. Beth remained on the couch. She could hear Mick opening file drawers. He walked back into the living room carrying a manila folder and sat next to Beth. She waited for him to speak.
"I've saved a couple of valentines from my past, ones that were special to me." He opened the folder and gently picked up the first one, handing it to Beth. It was old and faded. Heart-shaped, the front showed a little girl holding an umbrella. Beth carefully opened it. The picture inside showed the girl sitting alone on a bench. The verse read:
There's plenty of room on this bench for you
There's room in my heart as well,
How I want you for my Valentine
I hardly dare to tell.
It was signed, Love, Helen
Beth looked at Mick expectantly. "This was the first valentine I ever got from a girl. We were ten years old. She had blonde pigtails and freckles on her nose."
"What did you think when she gave you this valentine? Did you sneak a kiss at recess?" Beth asked with a mischievous smile.
Mick looked up at her, horrified. "Are you kidding? This card scared me to death! I stayed as far away from her as possible after that!" Mick and Beth both broke out laughing.
Mick placed Helen's card back in the folder, picked up the next one and gave it to Beth. Also faded, it had a little girl on the front with rosy cheeks and a red bonnet, holding a bucket full of red hearts. On the hearts it said,
Buckets of love to you,
My Valentine!
"Look – see how her arm moves up and down?" Mick said excitedly. Beth carefully moved the arm.
"That's darling! Who's this one from?"
"Turn it over," Mick said, suddenly serious. Beth looked at the back of the valentine and read in an old-fashioned scrawl,
To Mickey,
Happy Valentine's Day,
With love from Mother
Mick was silent for several minutes. He took Beth's hand, rubbing his thumb across its back. Finally, he found his voice. "She sent that to me when I was in the war. She always wanted to make sure I had something at every mail call. Back then they didn't have the kind of cards that say "To my son on Valentine's Day" like they have now. But she wanted me to have a valentine." He got a faraway look in his eye and gave a soft laugh. "I remember she said she had a hard time finding a card that was appropriate to send a son!" Beth gave his hand a squeeze and he smiled at her. He took the card from Beth and put it back in the folder. He picked up Jacob's card, read it again, added it to the folder, and began to close it.
"Wait a minute, Mick," Beth said as she reached for the folder. "I thought I saw another one in there." Mick held the folder out of her reach, and they locked eyes, both filled with determination. They stared each other down for a minute, then Mick gave Beth his little half grin, and with a resigned sigh, handed the folder back to her. She immediately opened it up to the back. "Aha! There is another one in here!" Beth picked up another valentine obviously made by a child. Two hearts, cut from pink construction paper, had been tied together at the top with red ribbon. The heart on top had "Happy Valentines Day" written in red marker. The writer had run out of room writing "Valentines" and so the N, E and S were on the next line. Beth's eyes suddenly grew wide and she looked up at Mick. Mick simply nodded at her. Beth lifted up the top heart and let out a small gasp. The bottom heart had bow-tie pasta glued all around the edge and several heart-shaped stickers all over it. Written with a silver glitter pen, it said,
To my Garden Angel
Love, Beth
Silence filled the room. Now it was Mick who waited for Beth to find her voice. She gave a little laugh and said, "I didn't know how to spell 'guardian'." Then so softly that even Mick could barely hear her she said, "I made this and gave it to my mother, asking her if there was a way to get it to you. She said she would try. That satisfied me and I never saw it again. Soon I forgot all about it."
"She stopped by my office and gave it to me. Told me that you wanted me to have it. I used to look at it a lot. I even reglued some of the macaroni when it fell off."
Beth laughed lightly and it was music to Mick's ears. She leaned into his chest and tried to nonchalantly wipe her eyes on Mick's shirt. Mick wrapped his arm around her and held her tight.
"I do, you know."
"Do what?" Mick said into her hair.
"Love you."
"I love you too, Beth." Laying the folder of valentine memories on the table, he pushed Beth down onto the couch. "Let me show you just how much."
The End.
A/N: I found the name "Helen" on a list of popular baby names in the 1920's. It was number three.
A/N: When looking up vintage valentines online, I did not find any that were "To Mother/Father/Son/Daughter" etc., so I assumed they did not exist in that time period. I did find some WWII valentines, but they were definitely meant for sweethearts. I found one that might have been suitable, but it had a sailor on it, and Mick was in the army.
Lovely.
I'm so glad you enjoyed my MickBeth sweetness for Valentine's Day! 
sweet ... 
)