Posey carried a bouquet of blue and pink flowers.
The minister said, “You may now kiss the bride.”
Nick and Tyler both said, “Gross.” Everyone laughed.
They ate hamburgers and hot dogs. One of the neighbors had made a wedding cake with six layers.
Everyone stayed until it was dark. Then it was time for Gramps and Mrs. Romero to leave.
“See you next week,” Mrs. Romero called as they pulled out.
Posey and her mom and Danny waved until they were gone.
“Come on, Hero,” Posey said. “You’re sleeping in my room.”
Posey had put Hero’s bed on the floor next to hers. She brushed her teeth and got into bed.
“Good night, Hero. Sleep tight,” she said.
Hero got up and went to the door. He scratched to go out.
“No, Hero, you sleep here now.” Posey got up and led him back to his bed by his collar.
“Lie down,” she said.
As soon as Posey got back in bed, Hero got up again and went to the door.
No matter how many times she told him, Hero wouldn’t stay in his bed.
“What are you doing still awake?” her mom asked when she opened the door.
“Hero won’t go to sleep,” said Posey.
“I think we have to let him sleep downstairs. That’s where he slept at Mrs. Romero’s house.”
“But I want him to sleep with me.”
“Let’s give him a few days to get used to living here,” said her mom. She led Hero downstairs.
The next morning, Posey found Hero sleeping by the kitchen door. She took his leash off the hook and snapped it onto his collar.
“Come on. Let’s go play,” she said.
Hero followed her down the steps. Posey headed toward Nick and Tyler’s house.
Hero pulled in the other direction.
“No, Hero, you don’t live there anymore, remember?” said Posey.
Her mom came out to the driveway with Danny.
“Hero thinks he still lives in Mrs. Romero’s house,” Posey told her.
“Give him time,” said her mom. “He’ll get used to it.”
HOMESICK
Hero tried to go to Mrs. Romero’s house the next day, too.
And the next.
When Posey threw his ball, Hero didn’t run after it.
When they went inside, he lay down next to the kitchen door.
He didn’t eat any of his food.
“What do you think is wrong with Hero?” Posey asked after dinner one night. She was coloring while her mom cleaned the kitchen.
“I don’t know. What do you think?” said her mom.
“Maybe he has a temperature,” Posey said.
“Maybe.”
Posey colored in another flower. “Or maybe he ate something bad.”
“He doesn’t seem to be eating much of anything, does he?” Her mom finished drying a pot. She put it in the cabinet.
“I miss the old Hero, don’t you, Mom?”
“I do.”
Posey colored more. “Do you think Mrs. Romero misses him?”
“I’m pretty sure she does.”
“She had him for a long time, didn’t she?”
“Since he was a puppy.”
Posey put her blue crayon back in the box and picked a yellow one. She colored the same petal on a flower for a long time. She frowned, like it was hard work.
“What do you think we should do?” Posey said at last.
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
Posey knew her mom was looking at her. She didn’t want to look up.
She didn’t want to say the words out loud.
She remembered how she felt when she heard Hero was moving. That he wouldn’t know where she was.
That he would think Posey didn’t love him anymore.
Instead, he thought Mrs. Romero didn’t love him.
Posey’s eyes were stinging when she looked up. “I think we have to give him back to Mrs. Romero,” she said.
HOME AGAIN
Posey’s mom turned into Gramps’s driveway.
Posey had put on her pink tutu before they left. It would help her be strong like Princess Posey. Strong enough to give Hero back.
He was lying on the seat between her and Danny. Posey kept her hand on Hero’s back the whole ride.
When her mom stopped the car, Posey opened her door to let Hero out.
“Hero!” cried Mrs. Romero.
Hero went crazy. He ran to Mrs. Romero and almost knocked her over. She knelt down and put her arms around Hero’s neck.
He licked her face all over.
When she let him go, Hero ran to Posey. Then to Gramps. Then to Posey’s mom and Danny and back to Mrs. Romero again.
They all laughed.
“He’s checking to make sure his whole family is here,” said Gramps.
It was impossible to be sad when Hero was so happy.
When he finally calmed down, they went inside.
“Come with me,” Mrs. Romero said to Posey. “I have something to show you.”
They went upstairs. A sign on one of the bedroom doors said “Posey’s Room.”
The room had a bed and a bookshelf. Three small windows looked over the field behind the house.
“Is it really my own room?” said Posey.
“You can paint it any color you want,” Mrs. Romero said.
Posey ran downstairs.
“Mrs. Romero wants me to spend the night so we can buy paint for my room,” she told her mom. “Can I?”
“Sure.” Her mom picked up Danny.
“We’ll bring her home in the morning,” said Gramps.
It took Posey a long time to pick out the color she wanted at the hardware store. She finally chose purple. Mrs. Romero said she would make purple striped curtains to match.
They went to the counter to pay.
“That’s quite a color you picked out,” the cashier said.
“Posey’s grandfather told her she can have any color she wants,” Mrs. Romero said.
“My gran is making curtains to match,” Posey said. She looked at Mrs. Romero. “Is it okay to call you that?” she whispered.
“It’s better than okay. I love it.”
Mrs. Romero put her arm around Posey’s shoulders. “I will get out my sewing machine the minute we get home,” she said.
HENRY’S HOUSE
“Bye, Gramps! Bye, Gran!” Posey called. Gramps tooted the horn as they pulled out of her driveway.
Posey headed for the kitchen door. Suddenly, she heard a high yap!
Posey looked at Mrs. Romero’s yard.
A little black puppy was standing beside the hedge. It was the smallest dog Posey had ever seen. It looked like a tiny bundle of fur.
Posey ran over and picked it up. She held it carefully against her chest. It didn’t even weigh as much as a feather.
The puppy licked Posey’s face with its tiny pink tongue.
“That tickles,” Posey said.
“Winnie, come back!” a voice called.
A tall boy with dark hair ran into Posey’s yard.
“Henry!” Posey shouted. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my new house,” he said.
“That means you live next door to me!” said Posey.
Henry took Winnie from her. “Good thing you found her,” he said. “Stella would kill me if I lost her.”
Winnie licked Henry’s face, too. He laughed.
“You’re not afraid of dogs anymore,” said Posey.
“You want to come see where Winnie sleeps?” said Henry.
“Hold on! I have to ask my mom.” Posey raced up the steps and into their kitchen.
Her mom came in from the living room. “Who’s Henry?” she asked.
“He’s my friend. He wants to show me where Winnie sleeps,” Posey told her.
“Who’s Winnie?” Her mom sounded confused.
“Henry’s dog,” said Posey.
“Where does Henry live?”
“Next door! Where do you think?” Sometimes her mom didn’t understand anything.
“Oh, I see.” Her mom laughed. “So now it’s Henry’s house.”
“Can I go?” Posey repeated.
“Sure.”
Posey ran back outside. “Henry,” she shouted. “Wait for me!”
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Princess Posey and the Flower Girl Fiasco Page 2