"Babysitters Club 028 Welcome Back, Stacey!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babysitters Club)

I didn't know what to say, except that I wouldn't be making a decision for awhile.
Then I called Claudia. Her reaction was a little different. "You're coming back? You're corning back?" she shrieked. "Oh, Stace. Oh, I mean - I mean, I'm sorry. About the divorce. Really. But you're coming back? I can't believe it! Oh, please, please, please come back!"
"Pretty please? With a cherry on top?" I teased her.
Claudia laughed.
"Listen," I said. "I don't know what I'm doing yet. You know how much I love New York. Besides, Mom isn't positive she wants to go back to Stoneybrook. She's just thinking about it."
At long last I called Dawn for advice. She would be more understanding, I decided. And she wouldn't get all hung up about where I lived. She'd want me to come back to Stoneybrook, but not as badly as Claud did. And she's be a little more sympathetic about the rest of my problems.
"The thing about divorce," she told me, "is waiting. You have to wait for a awful lot - for decisions, lawyers, even movers." (I giggled.) "The best way to look at the situation is to realize that the worst part is over. You
know your parents are splitting up. Now it's just a matter of dealing with each new step that comes along."
That was sound advice from practical Dawn. I decided to take the advice and wait - for each of my parents to find a new place to live. Then I would decide what to do next.
Chapter 8.
"Good-bye, Mommy! Good-bye, Daddy!" called Henry cheerfully.
" 'Bye, Henry," said the Walkers as they headed for their front door. " 'Bye, Grace," they added.
" 'Bye," said Grace in a small voice. She was sniffling.
As much as Grace likes me, she never likes for her parents to leave. She usually cries.
Friday night was no exception.
I picked Grace up and whispered, "Blow a kiss to your mom and dad. Then they'll blow kisses to you in bed when they come home."
"While I'm asleep?" asked Grace, her voice wobbling.
I nodded.
Grace blew noisy kisses after her parents as they closed the door behind them.
"Well," I said, setting Grace down as she
dried her tears, "I better start getting supper ready." I was going to be baby-sitting at the Walkers for a long time that evening. Mr. Walker's show was opening, and it was a big event.
"Is it hot-dog night?" asked Henry excitedly. (He knows that his mother leaves only hot dogs or hamburgers for me to prepare if I have to give the kids dinner when I baby-sit.)
"It certainly is," I replied.
"Oh, boy!" Henry began to jump up and down. (Grace imitated him.) "What a great night!" Henry went on. "Hot dogs for supper, a special cartoon show on TV, and Mommy bought us new pastels today."
That does make for an exciting evening, when you're five.
"Okay," I said, "who's hungry?"
"I am! I am!" said Henry.
"I am! I am!" said Grace.
"Good. Let's see. While I fix the hot dogs, you guys can have a table-setting race. I'll time you and tell you how long it takes to set the table." (Just so you know, you can only have a table-setting race when you're using paper plates and cups, and plastic forks and spoons, which is what the Walkers always leave out when a baby-sitter is going to feed the kids.
That way, you don't have to worry about breaking anything.)
Grace grabbed some napkins.
Henry grabbed three paper plates.
"Take your marks, get set ... GO!" I shouted.
Henry and Grace scurried back and forth between the counter and the table, working frantically, while I turned the hot dogs in the skillet and got milk and applesauce from the refrigerator.
"We're done! We're done!" Grace shrieked suddenly.
I checked my watch. "What do you know?" I said. "You guys just broke your table-setting record! You beat it by three seconds."
"We did?! Oh, boy!" cried Henry.
"Good timing," I added, "because supper is just about ready."
I served up the hot dogs and applesauce (not my idea of a great meal, but it was easy to fix) and we sat down to eat.
"Do we have any toothpicks?" asked Henry, as he was about to bite into his hot dog.
"I think so," I replied. "Why?"
"You'll see. I can make something." Henry set his hot dog back on his plate and took it out of its bun.
I got up, found a box of toothpicks, and handed it to Henry. Very carefully, he broke several of the toothpicks in half. Then he chopped one end off of his hot dog, stuck four half-toothpicks in the long part, attached the little piece with another half-toothpick, and announced, "Look! I made my hot dog into a dachshund!"
"Hey, that's great!" I exclaimed.
Well, of course, Grace had to turn her hot dog into a dachshund, too, before she could eat it, so supper took a little longer than usual that night. By the time we'd finished, the cartoon show was about to begin.
Henry and Grace settled themselves at a table in front of the TV with a stack of drawing paper and their new pastels. One thing I love about the Walker kids - they almost never just park themselves in front of the TV and stare at it. When they turn it on, they work on a project at the same time.
So the kids colored while I cleaned up the kitchen. When their show was over, Grace said, "Could you please read to us, Stacey?"
"Sure," I replied. "What do you want to hear?"
Henry and Grace have a huge collection of books. That's because Mr. and Mrs. Walker
like to read, and also because Mrs. Walker knows a lot about children's books since she illustrates them.