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Princess Posey and the Flower Girl Fiasco

Page 1

by Stephanie Greene




  Enjoy all of the Princess Posey books

  1

  PRINCESS POSEY and the FIRST GRADE PARADE

  2

  PRINCESS POSEY and the PERFECT PRESENT

  3

  PRINCESS POSEY and the NEXT-DOOR DOG

  4

  PRINCESS POSEY and the MONSTER STEW

  5

  PRINCESS POSEY and the TINY TREASURE

  6

  PRINCESS POSEY and the NEW FIRST GRADER

  7

  PRINCESS POSEY and the CHRISTMAS MAGIC

  8

  PRINCESS POSEY and the FIRST GRADE BOYS

  9

  PRINCESS POSEY and the FIRST GRADE BALLET

  10

  PRINCESS POSEY and the CRAZY, LAZY VACATION

  11

  PRINCESS POSEY and the FIRST GRADE PLAY

  12

  PRINCESS POSEY and the FLOWER GIRL FIASCO

  To Posey readers everywhere.—S.G.

  For Stephanie Greene, Susan Kochan, Marikka Tamura, and Cecilia Yung. Thank you.—S.R.S.

  G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

  an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  Text copyright © 2018 by Stephanie Greene. Illustrations copyright © 2018 by Stephanie Roth Sisson.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  G. P. Putnam’s Sons is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Greene, Stephanie, author. | Sisson, Stephanie Roth, illustrator.

  Title: Princess Posey and the flower girl fiasco / Stephanie Greene ; illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson.

  Description: New York, NY : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, [2018]

  Summary: Posey is excited that Gramps and her neighbor, Mrs. Romero, are getting married, but unhappy that Mrs. Romero and her dog will move away.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016044140 | ISBN 9780399175695 (hardcover)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Family life—Fiction. | Weddings—Fiction. | Neighbors—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.G8434 Pmt 2018 | DDC [E]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044140

  ISBN: 9780399175695 (hardcover)

  ISBN: 9780147517203 (paperback)

  ISBN: 9780698403956 (ebook)

  Design by Marikka Tamura.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Jacket art © 2018 by Stephanie Roth Sisson

  Cover design by Marikka Tamura

  Version_1

  CONTENTS

  Enjoy All of the Princess Posey Books

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright

  1 HENRY’S BIG NEWS

  2 EVEN BIGGER NEWS

  3 THE PERFECT WEDDING PRESENT

  4 “HERO, TOO?”

  5 “IT WON’T BE THE SAME”

  6 “I DON’T WANT TO”

  7 HERO COMES TO STAY

  8 HOMESICK

  9 HOME AGAIN

  10 HENRY’S HOUSE

  HENRY’S BIG NEWS

  It was show-and-tell time.

  “Who has something they would like to share with the class?” said Miss Lee.

  Henry’s hand shot up.

  “Go ahead, Henry,” she told him.

  “We’re moving to a new house,” Henry said.

  “That’s very exciting,” said Miss Lee.

  “I like our house now.” Henry frowned.

  “I’m sure you’re going to like your new house, too,” said Miss Lee. “Where is it?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t see it yet.”

  “Will you still go to our school?” said Ava.

  “Will you still be in our class?” Posey asked.

  “My mom said yes,” said Henry.

  “That’s wonderful.” Miss Lee smiled around the circle. “We will look forward to hearing about Henry’s new house, won’t we, class?”

  Everyone nodded.

  Except Posey.

  She felt sorry for Henry.

  Posey never wanted to move from her house. She loved her bedroom and her backyard.

  She liked the way the kitchen door slammed when she ran outside. She liked the feeling of the wooden deck under her bare feet in the summer.

  She liked having Nick and Tyler on one side, too. And Mrs. Romero and her dog, Hero, on the other side.

  Posey never wanted any of that to change.

  EVEN BIGGER NEWS

  Posey’s mom picked her up after school.

  “How come you aren’t at work?” Posey asked when she got in the car.

  “I want to make a special dinner,” her mom said. “Gramps and Mrs. Romero are coming. Gramps said they have something to tell us.”

  “What do you think it is?” said Posey.

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I bet they’re getting married,” Posey said.

  Her mom laughed. “You’ve been saying that for months.”

  “I bet they are.”

  They got what they needed at the grocery store. Posey picked out a mix to make a cake.

  Danny tried to grab candy in the checkout line the way he always did.

  When they got home, Posey set the table. She folded the napkins so they looked fancy.

  She wrote everyone’s name on a piece of paper and put it where they would sit.

  Then she went upstairs and put on her pink tutu and her favorite star necklace. When the front doorbell rang, she ran to open the door.

  It was Gramps and Mrs. Romero.

  “You never come in the front door, Gramps!” said Posey.

  “This is a special night.” Gramps helped Mrs. Romero off with her coat. “I thought we should do it right.”

  Posey’s mom came out of the kitchen with Danny.

  “Dad, Norma,” she said. “You better tell us your news fast or Posey’s going to burst.”

  Gramps coughed. He took Mrs. Romero’s hand.

  “I asked Norma to be my wife, and she said yes,” he said.

  “I knew it! I knew it!” Posey shouted. “You’re getting married!” Posey jumped up and down. She twirled around. “I told you so, Mom!” she cried.

  Her mom kissed Gramps and Mrs. Romero. They both kissed Posey and Danny.

  Everyone was laughing and talking when they sat down to dinner.

  “When is the wedding?” Posey’s mom asked.

  “We don’t want to waste any time, do we, Norma?” said Gramps.

  “We were hoping for a simple ceremony in your backyard next Saturday,” Mrs. Romero said.

  “We’d be honored,” said Posey’s mom.

  “Can I be the flower girl and pick whatever flowers I want?” Posey said.

  “Absolutely,”
said Gramps.

  “You and I can go shopping for them,” said Mrs. Romero.

  Posey suddenly felt shy. “Does this mean you’ll be my grandmother?” she asked.

  “Only if you want me to,” said Mrs. Romero.

  After Gramps and Mrs. Romero left, Posey went upstairs to get ready for bed. Her mom came to tuck her in.

  “No book tonight?” she asked.

  “I used up all my energy being excited,” said Posey. She yawned.

  “I’m not surprised,” said her mom.

  “What will I call Mrs. Romero?” Posey said.

  “You two will have to work that out.”

  Posey curled up on her side. “It’s like a fairy tale, except with gray-haired people,” she said.

  “It certainly is,” said her mom. “I’m very happy for Gramps.”

  “I’m happy for us, too,” said Posey.

  THE PERFECT WEDDING PRESENT

  Posey told her friends when she got to school the next day.

  “I was a flower girl when my aunt got married,” said Ava. “She was so beautiful.”

  “Mrs. Romero’s beautiful, too,” said Posey.

  “I didn’t know grandparents got married,” said Grace. “They’re so old.”

  “Gramps is sixty,” Posey said.

  “Sixty! That’s much older than fifty!” said Nikki.

  “Is Danny going to carry the rings?” said Ava. “My little cousin did that. They were on a pillow.”

  “My mom’s afraid that Danny will bury them in his sandbox,” said Posey.

  “He might even eat them,” said Grace.

  The girls giggled.

  “Your gramps and Mrs. Romero couldn’t get married if he did that,” Nikki said.

  Posey didn’t want that to happen. She was so excited that Mrs. Romero was going to be her grandmother.

  During math, Posey tried to pay attention. But she wanted it to be art time so she could draw a picture.

  When it was, she hurried to get markers and paper. She drew Gramps and Mrs. Romero and Hero in the house next door. Then she drew herself and Danny and her mom in their own yard. She drew a huge heart around all of them.

  She wrote “My Family” at the top of the paper.

  Miss Lee asked what the picture was about. Posey told her.

  “You’re a lucky girl,” Miss Lee said.

  “I’m giving the picture to Gramps and Mrs. Romero,” said Posey.

  “It will be a perfect wedding present,” said Miss Lee.

  “That’s what it is, a wedding present,” said Posey.

  “I’m sure they will love it.”

  Posey was sure they would, too.

  “HERO, TOO?”

  Posey showed the picture to her mom when she came home from work.

  “Can we buy a frame for it?” Posey asked.

  “Me see,” said Danny. He tried to grab the paper.

  “Danny, don’t!” Posey said. “You will tear it.”

  “Here, Danny, play with this.” Posey’s mom pulled a pot with a lid out of the cabinet. She gave them to him. “Be a parade,” she said.

  Danny loved to watch parades on television. He’d bang a pot and lid together and march with them.

  “Take the parade into the living room,” Mom told him.

  Danny marched out of the kitchen, banging all the way.

  “Okay.” Posey’s mom sat at the table and smoothed Posey’s picture in front of her.

  “That’s you and me and Danny,” Posey said. She pointed. “And that’s Gramps and Mrs. Romero and Hero. They live in Mrs. Romero’s house.”

  “It’s a wonderful picture, Posey,” her mom said. “But I have something to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “Mrs. Romero and Gramps are going to live at Gramps’s house.”

  “At Gramps’s house?” Posey’s eyes got as big as quarters. “You mean Hero, too?”

  “Hero, too,” said her mom.

  “No fair! Why can’t Gramps live in Mrs. Romero’s house?” Posey cried.

  “His place is much bigger,” said her mom. “Think of how happy Hero will be with that big yard to run around in.”

  “He won’t be happy! He won’t have me!” Posey started to cry. “Tell Mrs. Romero not to sell her house.”

  “I’m afraid she already has.”

  Posey put her head on her arms. “I wish Gramps had never met Mrs. Romero!” she wailed.

  “You love Mrs. Romero,” her mom said.

  “I don’t anymore! I don’t! Gramps won’t visit us all the time. I won’t get to see Hero.”

  Nothing her mom said made Posey feel better.

  Posey went upstairs after dinner and got into bed. She didn’t want to take a bath or read a book.

  Her mom came to say good night. She said Posey would feel better tomorrow.

  But Posey was never going to feel better.

  Hero wouldn’t know where she was if he moved. He would think Posey didn’t love him anymore.

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  Posey didn’t want Mrs. Romero to be her grandmother.

  She wasn’t going to call her anything.

  “IT WON’T BE THE SAME”

  Gramps came to take Posey to school the next morning.

  “Remember, no long faces,” her mom said. She handed Posey her lunch bag. “Gramps deserves to be happy. You can see Hero whenever you want.”

  “It won’t be the same,” said Posey.

  She went outside and got into Gramps’s truck.

  “Morning,” he said. He backed down the driveway. “Your mom said she’s going to buy you a new dress for the wedding.”

  “I know,” Posey said.

  “Mrs. Romero wants to buy you a pair of shoes to go with it,” said Gramps.

  “I don’t want new shoes.”

  Gramps raised his eyebrows. “Even if they match your dress?”

  Posey shook her head.

  “How about you two picking out your flowers this afternoon?”

  “I don’t care what kind they are,” said Posey.

  “You don’t?” Gramps looked at her for a long minute. “If that’s how you feel, I will pass that information along.”

  Posey went straight to her table when she got to Miss Lee’s room. She didn’t want to tell her friends about Hero yet. She knew it would make her cry.

  Henry was already there.

  “Did you see your new house yet?” Posey asked.

  “No. My dad said it has a doghouse in the backyard, so we’re getting a dog,” Henry said.

  “Doesn’t he know you’re afraid of dogs?” said Posey.

  “He said I won’t be afraid when I get used to it. My sister said she wouldn’t move unless she could have one. We’re getting a small one.”

  “A small dog will be good,” said Posey. “You can hold it in your lap.”

  “That will make it easier for it to bite me,” said Henry.

  At recess, Posey cried when she told Ava and Nikki and Grace about Mrs. Romero and Hero moving.

  Nikki held her hand. Grace patted her face.

  “Mrs. Romero is mean,” Ava said.

  “She’s selfish,” said Grace. “That’s what my mom calls my brother when he takes all the cookies.”

  “Maybe your mom will buy you a dog,” Nikki said.

  They made her feel a little better. But Posey didn’t want a different dog.

  She only wanted Hero.

  “I DON’T WANT TO”

  “I got some boxes for Mrs. Romero to use for packing,” Posey’s mom said when they got home from school. “After you have a snack, you can help me carry them over to her.”

  “I don’t want to,” said Posey.

  “You don’t? Mrs. Romero migh
t appreciate some help.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You love helping her,” said her mom.

  Posey shook her head.

  “Okay. I won’t be long.”

  Posey didn’t go to Mrs. Romero’s house the next day, either.

  She didn’t see her for the rest of the week.

  On Saturday morning, Posey went outside to ride her bike.

  Mrs. Romero was sitting on their back steps.

  “Long time no see,” she said. She patted the step beside her. “Sit down for a minute.”

  Posey sat.

  “This has all happened very quickly, hasn’t it?” Mrs. Romero smiled. “Gramps and me and the wedding.”

  Posey nodded.

  “I know you’re going to miss Hero,” said Mrs. Romero. “I bet you think it’s no fair I’m getting both him and Gramps.”

  “How did you see inside my head?” Posey asked.

  “I didn’t. I know what’s inside your heart.” Mrs. Romero hugged Posey tight. “How would you like to have Hero live here for a while?”

  Posey sat up straight. “With me? In my own house?”

  “I talked to your mom. She’s willing to try it.”

  “It will make Hero so happy!” Posey shouted. She jumped to her feet. “I will walk him and feed him and everything! Mom won’t have to do anything!”

  Posey’s mom came onto the porch. “I see you told her,” she said to Mrs. Romero.

  “Hero’s going to live with us!” Posey shouted.

  “It may not work out, Posey,” said her mom.

  “It will, it will, I promise!”

  “Norma, I hope you’re sure,” said Posey’s mom.

  “I am.” Mrs. Romero stood up. “I couldn’t bear it if this marriage made anyone unhappy.”

  HERO COMES TO STAY

  The wedding was so much fun.

  Nick and Tyler came. So did some of the neighbors.

 

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