Ann Martin - Kristy And The Mothers Day Surprise

Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise

Ann M. Martin

Chapter 1.

Ive been thinking about families lately, wondering what makes one. Is a family really a mother, a father, and a kid or two? I hope not, because if thats a family, then I havent got one. And neither do a lot of other people I know. For instance, Nannie, Moms mother, lives all by herself. But I still think of her as a family a one-person family. And I think of my own family as a real family . . . I guess.

What I mean is, well, my family didnt start out the way it is now. It started out as two families that split up and came together as.

Uh-oh. I know thats confusing. Im a little ahead of myself. I better back up and begin at the beginning.

This is the beginning: Hi! Im Kristy Thomas. Im thirteen years old. Im in eighth grade. Im the president of the Baby-sitters Club (more about that later). I like sports, and I guess you could say Im a tomboy. (Well, wouldnt you

be one if you had a whole bunch of brothers?) Im not the neatest person in the world. I dont care much about boys or clothes. Im famous for coming up with big ideas.

Okay, enough about me. Let me tell you about Knock, knock.

Darn, I thought. Who could that be? It was a Friday evening and if I didnt have any plans or even a baby-sitting job. I was in my bedroom, just messing around, enjoying my free time.

Whos there? I called. Oswald! my little sister replied. Oswald? Oh. . . . Oswald who? I asked. Help! Help! Oswald my gum! I was laughing as I opened the door and found a very giggly Karen in the hallway.

Pretty funny, I said, as Karen ran into my room and threw herself on my bed. Whered you hear that one?

In school.Nancy told it to me. What are you doing with the door closed?

Just fooling around.

But this is our first night here.

Im sorry, Karen. I didnt mean to shut you out. Its just that I had a rotten week at school and today was especially rotten, so I wanted to be by myself for awhile.

Youre probably wondering why Karen said, But this is our first night here. I think now would be a good time to explain my family to you. See, Karen isnt exactly my sister. Shes my stepsister. Her little brother Andrew is my stepbrother, and her father is my stepfather. Karen and Andrew only live with us part-time. I like when they come over because then my family consists of Mom, Watson (hes my stepfather), Sam, Charlie, and David Michael (theyre my brothers), and Karen and Andrew. Oh, andShannon and Boo-Boo. Theyre our dog and cat, and theyre part of the family, too.

How did I get this weird family? Well, you can probably imagine. My mom and dad were divorced. They got divorced right after David Michael was born. Then, a couple of years ago, Mom met Watson and started going out with him. Watson was divorced, too. And after awhile, Mom and Watson got married, and then Mom and my brothers and I moved into Watsons house. Thats how I got my big family. The only unusual thing is that Watson is a millionaire. Honest. Thats why we moved into his house. Its a lot bigger than our old one. Its huge. In fact, its basically a mansion. Living in a mansion here in Stoneybrook,

Connecticut, is fun, but sometimes I miss my old house. Its on the other side of town, where all my friends are.

So now Im part of a six-kid family. My brother Charlie is the oldest kid. Hes seventeen, a senior in high school, and thinks hes a big shot. Sam is fifteen. Hes a sophomore in high school. Then theres me, then David Michael, who~ seven, and then Karen and Andrew, who are six and four. Usually, Karen and Andrew only live with us every other weekend and for two weeks during the summer. The rest of the time they live with their mother, whos not too far away in a different neighborhood in Stoneybrook. But the night Karen bounced into my room with her knockknock joke was the beginning of a much longer stay. Karen and Andrew were going to be with us for several weeks while their mother and stepfather went on a business trip.

Knock, knock, said Karen again.

Whos there? I replied.

Hey, Karen! Come here! It was David Michael, yelling down the hail.

What? Karen yelled back.

Come look at this bug! (David Michael just loves bugs.)

Karen was off my bed and out of my room in a flash.

I smiled. I really like my family, especially when Karen and Andrew are here. The bigger, the better. Sometimes I think of my friends as family, too. Is that weird? I dont know. But my friends do feel like family. I guess Im mostly talking about my friends in the Babysitters Club. Thats a club I started myself. Actually, its more of a business. My friends and I sit for families in Stoneybrook and we earn a lot of money.

Heres whos in the club: me, Claudia Kishi, Mary Anne Spier, Dawn Schafer, Mallory Pike, and Jessi Ramsey. We are six very different people, but we get along really well (most of the time). Thats the way it is with families.

For instance, Im pretty outgoing (some people say I have a big mouth), and as I mentioned before, I like sports and couldnt care less about clothes or boys. My best friend is Mary Anne Spier (shes our club secretary) and we are so different. Mary Anne is quiet and shy, hates sports, is becoming interested in clothes, has a boyfriend, and comes from a very small family. She lives with just her dad and her kitten, Tigger. Her mom died a long time ago. Mary Anne and I have always been different and have always been best friends. We lived next door to each other until Mom married Watson, so we practically grew up together.

One thing thats the same about us is our looks. We both have brown hair and brown eyes and are short for our age.

The vice-president of the Baby-sitters Club is Claudia Kishi. Claud lives across the street from Mary Anne. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, typical or average or ordinary about Claudia. To begin with, shes Japanese-American. Her hair is silky and long and jet-black. Her eyes are dark and almond-shaped and exotic. And her skin, well, I wish it were mine. Im sure her skin doesnt even know what a pimple is. Which is interesting when you consider Claudias eating habits. Claud is pretty much addicted to junk food. Her parents dont like her to eat much of it, though, so she has to resort to hiding it in her room. Everywhere you look, you find something: a package of red-hots in the pencil cup, a bag of Cheese Doodles under her bed, a box of Cracker Jacks in the closet. This makes for a crowded room because Claudia is a pack rat. She has to be. Shes an artist and needs to collect things for her work, such as shells, leaves, and interesting pebbles. Plus, she has tons of supplies paper, canvases, paints, pastels, charcoals and most of them are stored under her bed. Claud likes Nancy Drew mysteries and is a terrible student (even though shes smart). She

lives with her parents, her grandmother, Mimi, and her older sister, Janine. Its too bad that Claud is such a poor student, because Janine is a genius. One last thing about Claudia her clothes. They are just. . . so cool. Well, I mean Claud is. Shes the coolest kid in our grade. Her clothes are wild. Claud loves trying new things and she has an incredible imagination. She wears hats, weird jewelry (she makes some of it), bright colors anything she can get away with!

Dawn Schafer is the clubs treasurer. Now shes got an interesting family. Dawn used to live in California. She lived there with her parents and Jeff, her younger brother. Then her parents got divorced and Mrs. Schafer moved Dawn and Jeff all the way across country to Stoneybrook. The reason she chose Stoneybrook is she grew up here, and her parents (Dawns grandparents) still live here. We got to know Dawn and she joined the Baby-sitters Club and everything seemed great. Except that Jeff missed his father and California a lot. Finally, he moved back there. Now Dawns family is split in half and separated by a continent. Dawn seems to be handling the changes well, though. Shes pretty mature. And shes a real individual. She solves her own problems, makes her own decisions, and