Xinxin and Vadim looked around, frozen, in the spot where they realized their baby boy was no longer next to them. “Joseph?” cried Xinxin. “Joseph!” screamed Vadim. No answer. Could someone have taken him? No, this town was not known for kidnappings. Could he have run away on purpose? Yes, but it’s more likely that something caught Joseph’s eye and they simply got separated. Sight going blurry, hearts beating faster, Xinxin and Vadim’s heads spun around in every direction “Joseph!” screamed Xinxin. “Joseph?” cried Vadim. No answer. Only a block away from home, they realized Joseph couldn’t have been lost far away. “Let’s retrace our steps back to the park.” Xinxin suggested. Vadim replied calmly after taking a deep breath  “I’ll go there, you go to the police.” 

On her way to the police station Xinxin stopped by the building they lived in and asked the doorman if he saw Joseph come in. The answer, unfortunately, was no. Joseph, only three years old, was watched by his parents or a babysitter for every minute of his life. He had never been alone and Joseph’s parents were certain he did not know his way around the city. However, Joseph, Xinxin, and Vadim walked the same path to the park everyday and, purposely or not, Joseph had remembered it. Walking back from the park, Joseph saw a shiny coin in the dirt behind a bush. He ducked down to dig it up and when he got back to the sidewalk his parents were gone. Joseph was not scared, he knew where he was and he knew that unexpected situations were a part of life. He tried a new shrimp flavored food two weeks ago and even though he didn’t like it, he survived. 

Slightly off the beaten park path one block behind Joseph’s apartment, stood Cory Roselove’s big beautiful house and rose garden. Nothing could be mixed up with the Roselove house which was surrounded by acres and acres of roses, and Joseph’s daycare class had taken a field trip there two days ago. Their trip was intended solely for the kids to play in the garden but, Joseph sneaked out to the shop and overheard adults talking about buying roses, how one of Cory’s roses was the ultimate symbol of love. They said there was no better gift in the world.

While Xinxin and Vadim searched for him, Joseph walked over to the Roselove house and knocked on the door because he wasn’t tall enough to reach the doorbell. Cory opened the door and saw no one until he looked down and was greeted with a voice that sweetly said “I want to get a rose for mom and dad.” “Come on in,” said Cory. 

Cory looked around when he opened the door. There was a class standing outside his house and Cory assumed Joseph had come with the class while they were taking their afternoon walk. Cory took Joseph to the backyard garden and told him “walk around for a bit and look at all of the flowers while thinking of your mom and dad. Then, you will know exactly which flowers are perfect for them.” Having energy from the excitement of getting his parents a present, Joseph ran around the rows back and forth for a few minutes. He jumped up and down as he rounded a corner so Cory came to join Joseph and asked him to point to the roses he wanted. 

First, Joseph pointed at a blue one, and then a firey, orange red one. Done pointing he said “the blue one for mom because she always says bloopy, and this one for dad because of his car. “Wonderful” said Cory, “now look at the roses and think of the best things about your mom and dad. When you are done, give the rose petals a small kiss.” “Ok!” Joseph laughed as he kissed the top of the soft rose. Joseph added that together, the roses make a key to a secret underground balloon pool. He knew this because the bird sitting on the roof had told him. He thought Cory should also know because the balloon pool had been hidden under Corys feet for years. 

“Thank you for sharing! You know, information not shared becomes lost. Anyway, I’ll wrap up this treasure for you” Cory said as he tied the roses together with a red string. Then, Cory gave Joseph a card in the shape of three hearts and helped Joseph write “to mom and dad.”

“There you go, kid.”

Joseph said Thank you and Cory led him to the door. The class that was standing outside before was still there now having a picnic across the people-only street. Cory let Joseph leave and he went back inside. Joseph walked back home one block and went upstairs to the third floor to wait for his parents. The doorman didn’t see Joseph run though because the lobby was dark and he was too busy daydreaming about traveling.

Both parents had met back at the park panting after an hour of searching. Xinxin stressed “This isn’t happening. Let’s go home to get a picture of Joseph and give it to the police. I didn’t have one with me when I was there so I just described him.” Reaching their building the doorman had no news for them. When they got up the stairs and saw a child sitting cross legged by the door with two roses, their shock was at maximum level. They ran to Joseph and picked him up.

“Where were you?” Xinxin’s eyes bulged out of her head

“I got roses for you,” smiled Joseph proudly.

Xinxin took the roses and was about to scream but the look on Vadims face told her to cool it. After a deep breath she replied “Thank you, this is a great surprise but please don’t ever scare us like that again. We were looking everywhere for you honey.”

Vadim chimed in, “Yes, we were worried you got lost and looked around the whole town. We’re glad to see you’re ok but promise not to run off without telling us?

“I Promise… sorry” Joseph mumbled.

After the reunion, a call to the police, and a few calming moments Xinxin asked “ how in the world did you think to get the famous Roselove roses for us?”

Joseph shrugged “Because I love you.”