At the party, they sang "Happy Birthday", ate cake and ice cream, and Dixie opened her presents. She opened all her presents except for Tad's because he was too shy to give it to her. Everyone is outside now. Dixie is playing with her friends, Will, and Lanie. Bess and others are watching them. Tad is away from all of them, watching Dixie intently. Joe and Ruth are trying to get him to go over to Dixie, but he won't. He has Dixie's present in his hands behind his back.
Dixie looked away and saw Tad standing all alone. Tad watched her as she walked over to him. She stood right in front of him and said, "Hi!" Tad doesn't say anything. "I'm Dixie," she says. Ruth tells Tad, "Go ahead. Say 'hi' to Dixie." Then Dixie says to him, "Say something. Talk. I won't bite or anything. I might lick, though." Ruth laughs softly at this. Dixie looks up at Ruth and asks, "Are you his mommy?" Ruth says, "Yes." Then Dixie looks back at Tad and says, "My mommy's over there." She looks and points at Bess. Then she says, "If you don't talk, I'll walk away." Finally, Tad says, "Hi. I'm Tad." They shake hands, and Dixie says, "Tad? I know you. My mommy says you and me were babysat together when we were babies. Do you remember?" Tad replies, "No." "Oh. You're shy, aren't you?" Tad nods a 'yes'. "Well, you don't have to be shy around me. Don't you have any friends?" "No," says Tad. Dixie says, "I can be your friend!" "Really," Tad asks. "Yes." "Cool." Dixie laughs.
"Hey! I didn't get a present from you," says Dixie, "Do you have a present for me, Tad?" Tad turns shy for a few seconds. Then he takes it from behind his back and says, "Yes. Here." He gives it to Dixie. She tears off the card and gives it to her mom, who is now standing behind her. Dixie rips the paper off to reveal a little white box. She opens it and is amazed. It's a bracelet with plastic, colorful stars all the way around it. She loves it very much and puts it on. She ends up never taking it off. Dixie exclaims, "I love it! Thank you, Tad." She kisses his cheek. Tad blushes a little, smiles, and says, "You're welcome, Dixie." Dixie smiles.
Bess kneels down to her daughter. "Why don't you take Tad over to your other friends," she suggests. "Ok. Come on, Tad!" Dixie grabs his hand, and they go to the other kids. Tad ends up having a great time, thanks to Dixie mainly. So great that that he wants to sleep over. Dixie's other friends were gone already, and Tad lives only a few houses away from hers. Bess, Joe, and Ruth agree to let Tad sleep over. Tad and Joe stay while Ruth goes home, packs a bag for Tad, and takes it back. Joe and Ruth tell Tad to be a good boy and do whatever Dixie's mom says. Tad agrees to do both of those. Then his parents leave, and Dixie leads Tad inside to her room.
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