The Baby-Sitters Club belongs to Ann M. Martin

I was walking home from school when my best friend, Kristy Thomas, caught up to me.

"How dare you leave without me," teased Kristy as we laughed.

I forgot we were both baby-sitting for the Barretts and DeWitts today. Opps! Then, we plan to walk to Claudia's together after that. Honestly! Who am I? I'm Mary Anne Spier. I'm 14 years old and a long time Stoneybrook, Connecticut resident. I'm a ninth grader at Stoneybrook High School.

For a long time, it was just me and Dad. He raised me on his own after Mom died when I was very small. He couldn't raise me right away at the time, so my maternal grandparents raised me for a while until I was 18 months when he was ready to take me back. He got strict for many years because he wanted to prove he had to be a perfect parent. Luckily, that's over because I proved him that I was a middle schooler, not a baby.

And now, I got a beloved stepfamily and two devoted adopted siblings. First of all, Sharon Schafer, was actually Dad's old girlfriend from high school. She's been living in California since college. She got married there and had two children, Dawn & Jeff. Then, the Schafers got divorced and Sharon returned here with her kids. When Dawn and I first met, and became best friends, when we found out Dad and her mom went out way back in high school, we wanted to be sisters. I'm glad we are. Jeff didn't adjust the move and went back to California not long before Dad and Sharon got married when I was 13. Jeff visits here often. Dawn and I enjoy being stepsisters.

Like I said, I got two adopted siblings. Their names are Carlos Peters and Meredith Sousa. They get along wonderful. Carlos lost his family-including his two older siblings-at age eight. His room was an attic. Meredith's father was killed after a tour bus crashed. That was before she joined my family as an exchange student. She and I became friends right away. We share my room. We enjoy that. Then, she learned that her mom and only younger sister died the same way her father did.

Carlos happens to be my friend, too! I met him when we were in sixth graders. He attended Stoneybrook Day School, which is across town. He was a basketball player since he was a fifth grader. I was glad he's my brother now. His friend, Lily Anne Rose, who is also an orphan, went to Stoneybrook Middle School with me. We all attend Stoneybrook High School since that's the only high school we have here.

It didn't take us long because Mrs. Barrett and her husband came home before five. Then, Kristy and I walked to Claudia's.

"Do you want to stay at my house for supper?" I asked.

"Sure," replied Kristy. "I'll call Mom to tell her so Charlie won't have for me until after dinner at your house."

At Claudia's, Kristy had already called her mom and it was all set after that. Good. I called Dad to let him what was going on. It was a busy meeting.

After the meeting, when I got home, I was cooking dinner. Dawn told Dad and Sharon wanted macaroni and cheese during the meeting. She was helping Mallory watching her seven siblings I'm not exactly into cooking, but I'm starting to like to do it. I decided to add rolls for dinner, too. Carlos and Meredith are home for dinner. They were setting the tables for themselves, me, Kristy, Dad, and Sharon. Dawn won't be home until after nine pm. The dinner was ready by the Dad and Sharon came home from work at the same time.

"Just in time. Dinner is served," I said.

"Oh, good," said Sharon.

At the dinner table, we were talking while we were having dinner. The only person who didn't speak one word was Dad. That's not like Dad to me. Why? He's always talkative and it's usually the other way around-me. After dinner, Kristy got picked up by Charlie after we cleaned the kitchen.

Then, I was talking to Carlos about Dad.

"I noticed that, too," said Carlos.

"So did I," said Meredith.

"That was very unusual," I said as they both agreed. "It's usually me who isn't talkative most of the time."

"That's so true," said Meredith as we laughed.

I decided to go see Dad who was in the living room.

"Dad," I said as I sat down on the couch with me.

That was when he looked up smiling at me.

"What's up, peanut?" asked Dad.

"I noticed how quiet you were at dinner," I said. "Meredith and Carlos noticed that as well."

"I had a busy day, that's all," said Dad.

"You were never like that. It's usually the opposite way around," I said as we both laughed.

An hour later, I called my other best friends, Kayla and Kaylee. We talked for a while. The girls like to take turns to talk to me. In fact, they both put speakers on so they can both talk to me at once.

At nine-forty-five, Dawn came home late from baby-sitting.

"I bet watching those Pike kids are a challenge," I said.

"Yes, the triplets broke a vase," said Dawn.

"Not again. Did they play ball in the house?" I asked.

"You got it," said Dawn. "I noticed it was Adam. I made him clean it up and tell his mother when she came home. He did say it was an accident, but his mother was mad at him because she told the kids not to play ball in the house. She grounded him for a week. She knew it wasn't Jordan or Byron's fault."

At ten, I went to bed.