The Baby-Sitters Club belongs to Ann M. Martin

I had just finished dinner and was helping my stepsister, Dawn Schafer, cleaning the kitchen. She does the dishwasher and I clear the table. My adopted siblings, Meredith Sousa, was washing the table and Carlos Peters' job is at the end: taking out the trash. We had decided to do that way for now on when they both joined our family. Before they came, Dawn and I always take turns. I'd clear the kitchen one night and the dishwasher another night.

I'm Mary Anne Spier. I'm 14 and live in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. Besides my siblings, I live with my father and Dawn's mother, Sharon. Here's a funny part: they went to high school together and dated during that time. That was before he married Mom. Yes, Dad and Sharon broke up after high school. But Mom died when I was too young to remember her.

Sharon was married in California. Besides Dawn, Sharon also has a son, Jeff. She recently got divorced and returned here with the children-only Jeff moved back to California. Dad and Sharon had just got reunited back then. Several months later, they got married. That's how Dawn and I became stepsisters. In fact, we were already best friends before then.

Carlos was the first one to be adopted. He was the youngest of three children. He lost his parents and his two older siblings, Alexander and Alexandria. Alex died from scarlet fever at the age of 11. Both his parents and Alexis, who was nine, were killed in a car crash when an 18-wheeler crashed into their car. Carlos' room used to be an attic.

Meredith was the second one to be adopted. Her father was killed after a tour bus crashed. She was an exchange student from London, England, when same thing happened to her mother and younger sister, Kara. I supported her by going to London for the funeral with her. We share my room.

After I finished cleaning the table, I packed my suitcase because my family and I are visiting my favorite place in the work: New York City for a whole week! I can hardly wait for tomorrow to arrive. None of us would be in school tomorrow. We all attend Stoneybrook High School for ninth grade. I already did my homework done that I was going to do in New York City so I can enjoy my vacation. Well, I started some earlier before dinner because I had a sitting job this afternoon: math and history. I decided to do English and Science after I packed. All I have for French homework is studying for a test when I come back from vacation. I got the study guide since the teacher said I don't have to use my textbook. Thank god for that. I put all my homework in my backpack after they were done and put the study guide in my suitcase. I'm glad that's all done.

I got comfy afterwards. We'll be leaving at around eight. It's the weekend. I still can't wait! New York City, here I come! The best part is that Kayla and Kaylee get to join us! Yay!

They came over earlier for dinner so that we can all leave together.

Oh, yeah, I got breathing issues, too. It's a pain. I have an inhaler, Advair. It's hard to get used to it. The inhaler either doesn't always work or goes empty without knowing it. Luckily, I have two of them in case one goes empty, but sometimes, they're both empty. I had it since Christmas Vacation when I had pneumonia. That was no fun.

At nine-thirty, I was reading in bed. We don't have to go to bed early, but we do need to get up at seven on the nose. The girls and I were too excited to sleep. We whispered until we fell asleep thirty minutes later.

The next day, we were already up before seven and got dressed. We made the beds, brushed our teeth and hair before we came down with our suitcases.

"You're already up?" asked Dad.

"We just couldn't wait for New York City," I said.

"Yeah," said Kaylee.

Then, it was time to leave for New York City. Dad went to get gas on the way.

We went inside, Dad checked in, and we went to our room. I sat on the couch.

"We'll get settled in and we'll go to the buffet for lunch," said Dad.

"Okay," I said.

Then, we left the room at 11:00 am for lunch. We just love the buffet. After that, we get to spend the afternoon in the pool. It's inside, which was the best part. We spend a few hours there. We had a fun time.

We explored the city for the rest of the day. That night, we went to Bubba Gump for dinner.