Life in Mellowdene : The Unromantic

"You're not very romantic, are you, daddy?"

Hi. Darcy here. The above accusation came from my younger daughter - Helen - a few days ago. I was a little taken aback as this had no preamble, no earlier words to give me a little warning. Consequently my reply wasn't immediate, my mind whirling to find reasons for my daughter's curiosity. I didn't delay that long as my reporter brain kicked in, realising that the answer was standing before me.

"Why do you think that, darling?"

"Valentine's Day. You never buy mummy Valentine flowers or chocolates. You won't take her out for a meal on the day. I know you love her but you ignore the most romantic day of the year."

I played for time whilst I searched for a reason that may satisfy her. "You do know your mummy doesn't treat me either?"

"I'll be having a word with her too," Helen said after considering my point, "but what's your reason daddy?"

"Well, we like it to be special for us, poppet. With everyone else doing it, we feel it's not really for us."

"I think I see... but it seems a shame to me. It would be nice to be romantic any time. You seem to be missing out. Oh, well... Thanks daddy."

With that, she ambled out of the room.

It was then I heard a chuckle. Turning, I saw a face appear over the back of the settee. My elder daughter, Una.

"Where did you spring from?"

"Relaxing on the floor. Meditating. And I heard it was good for the back."

"And for eavesdropping?"

"A good reporter doesn't miss opportunities, dad."

Una's desire to become a significant part of the family business shows no sign of abating. She regularly pops into the office of the Mellowdene Examiner.

"Was this an opportunity, then?"

"You handled it nicely. Helen doesn't know about Valentine's Day like we do."

"Oh, and what do we know?"

"That it's a human celebration. I'm not sure how Sylvanians took it up. We seem to do a lot of that, what with Halloween and Christmas." She stopped abruptly, as if her speech had strayed into unintentional waters. "But they are fun, of course..."

Maybe she had a point but that wasn't what struck me at that time.

"So you believe in humans, Una?"

"Oh yes. My research supports that."

"And where did you do this research?"

"The records room has a file on them."

"You've been in the Examiner's records room?"

"Yes. Miss Antonia lets me go in..." said Una, hastily adding, "...as long as I promise not to look in the confidential file cabinets. Which I wouldn't."

"Right..." Did I need to have a word with Antonia Petite? Probably not.

"Anyway," she said, hurrying to change the subject, "I don't think you're unromantic. So what if you don't do all the Valentine Day stuff? You do other romantic stuff. I worked it all out."

"Worked what out?"

"There used to be three special days you'd celebrate with mum. Every year on the same date. We'd have babysitters and you'd go out. Flowers, little presents, a posh meal. Romantic stuff. And then it became four days. Same dates again."

I had a sneaky feeling I knew where this was going, but I let her continue.

"And then I realised," Una said, throwing out her arms, "that the new date started after Clop was born. I did some rough sums and realised that all these romantic dates were a few months before our birthdays. Me, Danny, Helen and Clop!"

"Erm..."