The Truth About Stacey (4 page)

Kristy was worried. She took the balloons as a personal insult. It turned out that she'd run into Liz that afternoon herself. Only Kristy had had the nerve to tell Liz who she was—president of the Baby-sitters
Club,
and therefore Liz's number one rival. According to Kristy, they had “exchanged words,” which I guess meant that they had had an argument. But by the time I was talking to Kristy over the phone in the evening, all she could say was, “Why didn't
we
think of balloons? Why didn't
we
think of balloons?”

The very next day, though, Monday, something wonderful happened that took our minds off the agency—followed by something horrible that put our minds right back on it.

The Baby-sitters Club had walked home from school together. When we reached Bradford Court, Claudia went to her house to work on a painting for art class, and Mary Anne went to her house because she was supposed to bake cranberry bread for the Thanksgiving dinner she and her father would be sharing with Kristy's family (which included Watson, Kristy's stepfather-to-be, and his two little kids; Kristy said it was going to be one interesting meal).

“Want to come over for a while?” Kristy asked
me after Claudia and Mary Anne had left. (Not one of us had a baby-sitting job that afternoon.)

“Sure,” I replied, eager for even a
look
at Sam Thomas.

We stepped up to her front door and Kristy took her house key out of her purse. Since her parents are divorced and Mrs. Thomas works full time, Kristy is often the first person home in the afternoon. But when she put the key in the lock, she discovered that the door was open.

“That's odd,” she murmured. “I hope David Michael didn't get here first. He hates to come home to an empty house.” We walked into the front hall. Kristy's mother was there.

“Mom! What are you doing home?” exclaimed Kristy.

Mrs. Thomas smiled. “Hi, honey. Hi, Stacey.”

“Hi, Mrs. Thomas,” I replied.

“Look who's here with me,” said Kristy's mother.

“Who?” asked Kristy suspiciously.

“Come in the kitchen.”

Sitting at the kitchen table was Jamie Newton. He was drinking milk and coloring in a coloring book.

“Jamie!” cried Kristy. “Hi!”

“Hi there, Jamie,” I said.

“Hi-hi,” answered Jamie cheerfully.

“What are you doing here?” Kristy asked him.

Jamie glanced at Kristy's mother.

“Go ahead and tell them your news, sweetie,” said Mrs. Thomas.

“My mommy's having a baby,” he announced. “She's at the hospital.”

“Having the baby?
Now?”
asked Kristy, sounding dismayed.

“Kristy, I know you girls had plans for helping the Newtons out,” her mother said, “but the baby started to come late this morning. Several weeks ago, the Newtons had asked me whether I'd be able to watch Jamie if the baby arrived at night or while you girls were in school. I told them I'd be glad to. When Mr. Newton called me at work to say that it was time for him to take his wife to the hospital, I told him just to drop Jamie by my office on the way.”

“On the way!” said Kristy. “But you work in Stamford.”

“I know. The Newtons' doctor is with the Stamford hospital, though, so I really was on their way. Jamie worked very hard with me today, didn't you, Jamie?”

Jamie nodded proudly.

“He made a picture for the baby and read some books and copied things on the Xerox machine.”

“And we had lunch together,” added Jamie.

“That's right,” said Mrs. Thomas. “We ate in the cafeteria.” She looked at her watch. “And now, girls,” she said. “I'm leaving Jamie in your capable hands and going back to the office for a few hours.”

I got the distinct impression that Mrs. Thomas hadn't gotten much work done that day.

“But, Mom, wait! What about the baby?” asked Kristy. “Don't leave us hanging!”

“Yeah!” I exclaimed. “What did Mrs. Newton have?”

“Sorry, no word yet. Mr. Newton promised he'd phone as soon as the baby is born. He knows to call here after three o'clock.”

“Well, how long does it take?” asked Kristy indignantly. “I mean, to have a baby?”

Her mother smiled. “It depends on the baby. You took twenty-four hours.”

“Wow,” I said.

“Twenty-four hours!”
cried Kristy. “Oh, no. I cannot wait that long.”

“Well, maybe this baby will come faster. Now listen, Jamie's going to stay with us until his father comes home from the hospital. Since he may be spending the night, why don't you get
his pajamas and things, but stay around here the rest of the time. It'll be easier for Jamie than going back and forth. Here's the key to the Newtons' house. I'll pay you for sitting this afternoon, by the way. And I'll be home by six-thirty.” Mrs. Thomas kissed Kristy good-bye and waved to Jamie and me. Then she was gone.

“Well, this isn't exactly the way I'd thought things would work out,” said Kristy, “but it
is
a pretty exciting afternoon.”

“I'll say! … Hey, where are your brothers?”

“You mean Sam?” teased Kristy.

“We-ell …”

“Let's see. Today's Monday so it's Charlie's day to watch David Michael. Oh, I bet he met David Michael at school and took him back to Stoneybrook High to watch cheerleading practice. Sam's probably with them.”

“Cheerleading practice?”

“Yeah. David Michael loves it. He comes home

and shows us the cheers.”

I giggled.

“So, Jamie,” said Kristy. “What do you think? You're going to be a big brother pretty soon.”

Jamie shrugged and continued coloring.

“What do you want?” I asked him. “A brother or a sister?”

“Brother.”

“Aren't you excited?”

Jamie shrugged again.

Kristy and I glanced at each other.

“You know,” I said suddenly, not at all sure where the idea came from, “being a big brother is so important that I think you ought to have a Big Brother Party, Jamie.”

Jamie looked at me with wide eyes.

Kristy jumped in immediately, understanding just what I meant. “That's right,” she said. “We should celebrate this afternoon. We'll have a special Big Brother Party for our favorite big brother—you.”

“A party for
me?”
said Jamie, his voice squeaking.

“Yeah, we'll invite everyone,” I added. “Kristy, do you think your mother will mind?”

“Nah.”

I dashed to the phone and began dialing. In ten minutes, I had spread the news to Claudia, Mary Anne, Charlotte, and the Pike kids. I'd also called a few other baby-sitting charges, but they weren't home.

“Well,” I said to Kristy and Jamie when I was finished, “Claudia's on her way over, Mary Anne will come when she finishes the batter for
the cranberry bread—she says she can bake it tonight—Charlotte's coming, and Mallory Pike is going to bring Claire and Margo over.” (There are eight Pike kids. Mallory's ten, and Claire and Margo are four and six.)

“Terrific!” cried Kristy. She was rummaging around in the kitchen and had pulled out a bag of marshmallows, several apples, a can of juice, and a carrot, which I assumed was for me. “Claudia's bringing over something from her room,” she added. “Pretzels, I think. Jamie, what would you like to do at your party? Play games?” She began to slice the apples.

Jamie nodded.

“What games?” I asked.

Jamie looked blank.

“Put some music on the stereo in the rec room and spread a bath mat on the floor,” Kristy instructed me. “We can play musical rug. It's easier than musical chairs. I'll explain later.”

“All right,” I replied. “And we can have egg races—you know, with spoons. And the kids can make paper masks. We'll have a contest for the funniest one.”

“Good idea. Then when it's time to calm everyone down, we'll see if we can get Mary Anne to read
The Little Engine That Could.
She makes it
really funny, using all these different voices.”

“Oh, boy!” exclaimed Jamie. “Oh, boy!”

At that moment, Claudia arrived. Charlotte was right behind her. I gave her a hug. The Pikes showed up next, and just after Mary Anne arrived, Charlie walked in with David Michael. I was so excited about the Big Brother Party that I was only a little disappointed that Sam wasn't there.

The little kids—Jamie, David Michael, Claire, and Margo—gathered excitedly in the rec room, which I had decorated hastily with a roll of green crepe paper. The members of the Baby-sitters Club looked on proudly. Mallory wandered between the two groups. But Charlotte hung back.

“Everything okay?” I asked her. She nodded shyly. “Why don't you come over here with me?” I led her to the group of kids. “This is Jamie. You know Jamie Newton, right?” Charlotte nodded again. “He's our guest of honor. He's going to become a big brother.”

Jamie beamed.

“Make way for the food!” called Kristy, carrying a tray of food in from the kitchen. Charlie followed her, bringing napkins, plates, and paper cups. Then he left. I don't think Big Brother Parties held any interest for him.

“Eat now, games later!” Kristy announced.
She turned to Mary Anne and Claudia and me. “Take the food away in twenty minutes, no matter what,” she whispered. “Otherwise, they're going to spoil their appetites for dinner.”

Everybody helped themselves to the food. Claudia gave Jamie a paper crown to wear while he ate. When twenty minutes was up, we returned the food to the kitchen. Then the games began. Charlotte wouldn't join in musical rug or the egg races, but she did enter the mask contest. Claudia had just finished awarding prizes for the masks (we had decided that each of the kids should win a prize) when the phone rang.

“Kristy!” Charlie called from the kitchen. “Phone! It's Mr. Newton!”

“Aughh!” shrieked Kristy.

“Jamie, it's Daddy!” I cried. “Come on!”

The entire party ran into the kitchen. Charlie made a fast getaway.

Kristy grabbed up the phone. “Hello? Mr. Newton? … She did? … She
did?
Oh, that's great! It's super! … How much? … Wow…. Yeah, sure. Here he is.” Kristy handed the phone to Jamie. “Your daddy wants to talk to you.”

Jamie took the receiver and held it to his ear.

“Say hello,” prompted Kristy.

“Hello. Daddy? … Fine. We're having a
party…. Okay…. Okay…. Okay…. Bye.”

Kristy took the phone back. “When do you think you'll be home?” she asked Mr. Newton. “Oh, okay. Well, we'll give Jamie dinner. You can pick him up anytime…. You're welcome. And congratulations! Bye.”

Kristy hung up the phone and faced us.

“What is it? What is it? What
is
it?” I cried.

“It's a—”

“Girl,” supplied Jamie quietly.

We all began shrieking.

“She weighs nine pounds,” added Kristy, “and her name is Lucy Jane.”

More shrieking.

In the midst of the noise and excitement, I realized that Jamie was gone. I dashed out of the kitchen and checked the bathroom. No Jamie. Frantically, I ran through the first floor of the Thomases' house. I found him in the laundry room sitting next to Louie, crying.

I stepped in and sat beside him on the floor. “What's wrong, Big Brother?” I asked.

“The baby's here.”

“And you wanted a boy instead of a girl, right?”

Jamie shrugged.

“Don't you like her name? I think Lucy is a pretty name.”

“It's okay.”

“It's a big change, huh?”

Jamie nodded.

“Your family will be different.”

“Yup,” said Jamie. “And that's not all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something else will be different. There will be lots of changes.”

“What else will be different?” I asked.

“Kristy can't baby-sit me anymore.”

“What do you mean?” That cold feeling crept into my stomach again.

“Mommy called a girl and said, ‘We need an older sitter for the new baby.'”

“Was the girl named Liz Lewis?” I whispered.

“I think so. But … but …” Jamie's tears started to fall again. “I want
Kristy
!”