The day started like any other for Oliver Malveaux – until a familiar voice during story time came through the classroom Toniebox.
Oliver, 4, had been missing his dad, Pierre, an Army sergeant first class who had been away on deployment for months. Pierre has spent much of Oliver’s young life rotating through multiple deployments, which meant he’d missed plenty of milestones at home.
So when Oliver’s mom, Molly, heard from his teacher, Ms. Jess, that Oliver seemed sad at school and was talking about how much he missed his dad, she and Pierre came up with a plan to bring him a little comfort from afar.
Oliver loves being read to by his dad, so Molly asked Ms. Jess if the class could use their Toniebox for a mystery reader recording. Pierre recorded a message and a reading, which was loaded onto a Tonie character for the class.
When Oliver was called to the front and the character was placed on the Toniebox, the room heard Pierre’s voice.
“Oliver! What’s up, Big Dog?” he said – and Oliver immediately lit up, grinning as classmates cheered.
Pierre then told the class to sit down because “Daddy’s going to read a book,” before reading One Fish, Two Fish for the pre-K students. Molly said Ms. Jess was “one hundred percent on board” once they worked out the details, and the moment left Oliver smiling from ear to ear.
How The Mystery Reader Surprise Became Something Even Bigger
The recording was a hit – and it gave Pierre an idea.
When the family reunion finally got closer, Pierre decided to turn the mystery reader surprise into a second, even more personal moment. On a different day, Oliver was called up again during class. Ms. Jess told him his dad wanted to read another book – but that this time, it would need to be collected from the front office.
Oliver walked out into the hallway and toward the office, expecting another recording.
Instead, Pierre was there in person.
Oliver screamed, sprinted to his dad, and leapt into his arms for a hug that had been months in the making.
Molly said: “Seeing Oliver walk out and then seeing his dad, screaming, and running to jump into his arms, made my heart melt.
“My boys love their dad so much, they are so strong and resilient. Our family was finally back together after 9 long months apart.
“I hope others can see how military deployments affect kids, it is important to know how resilient military children are forced to be.
“They didn’t have a choice in this life, and they are so strong and unbelievable. It is so important to us as a family to cherish every moment we have together.”
