Chapter 25
“It’s cold!” Regan says. She crosses her little arms over her chest and pouts up at me. “Ms. Clarissa, it’s too cold out here!”
I lean forward, putting my hands on my knees so I’m eye level with the three year old. “Remember what we talked about inside?”
She shakes her head. That’s probably because she was too busy playing with the sparkles on her shoes. “We talked about how a greenhouse is what?”
She thinks about it for a moment. “Green?”
“Well, yes, but that’s not all.” I stand up and look over my group of seven kids. “Who thinks it’s cold out here?”
They all raise their hands. “Who remembers what it’s like inside the greenhouse?”
“Hot!” a five-year-old named Gabriella says.
I nod. “Yep! It’s cold out here, but our greenhouse is nice and warm inside. That way we can grow our flowers no matter what the weather is like outside.” I hold up the tulip bulb my grandpa had given me weeks ago. “Are we ready to plant our first one?”
A chorus excitement fills the air. “Who remembers what this is called?”
“A bulb!” Gabriella says.
“Yep, it’s a bulb. Great job. Let’s go plant it!”
The kids walk in a single file line across the grass and to my new greenhouse, which looks amazing in the daylight. Inside, I have them stand around the table, all facing the clay pot in the center.
We talk about the proper way to plant a tulip bulb and I let each kid take turns covering it with potting soil. I’m not exactly a plant expert, but I did to a ton of research on tulips last night, so I tell them everything I learned.
“Someone’s here,” Jabir says. He points to the door.
I walk over and look out the small window in the door. Gavin backs his truck up to the greenhouse. When he gets out, he waves at me and then walks to the tailgate drapes an arm over it.
“Hold on a minute,” I tell the kids. “Jabir, will you be the leader?”
He nods eagerly and holds open the door to the greenhouse while I step outside.
“What’s all this?” I ask Gavin.
“Can you bring the kids out here?” he says.
I call for them and they all rush up beside me, forming a semi-circle around Gavin’s tailgate. “This is my friend Gavin,” I say. The kids say hello to him and he grins back.
“Have you planted the tulip yet?” he asks.
Last night, while talking on the phone and staying up way too late, I’d told Gavin about the tulip bulb my grandpa gave me, and how today we were going to plant it in the greenhouse. I can’t believe he remembered.
“We just did,” I say.
“It’s a flower,” one of the kids says.
Gavin puts his hands on his hips as he addresses the kids. “Did you all pay attention to Ms. Clarissa’s instructions?”
“Yes!” they shout back.
“Do you think you could do it again?”
“Yes!”
I lift an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
