Author's Note: Reunion time! This really dialogue heavy so warning in advanced. Thanks for reading and please review! I appreciate all readers and I'd love to see what you think!
Kristy had gotten to the new Pike home around four because that was when Charlotte would be home from work. Byron wouldn't get off until five and she would have the cake for them. It didn't take long to get ahold of the others. Most were excited to see each other all together again.
She rang the doorbell and the dog had started to bark again. From her spot she could hear Charlotte say Twizzler down. Huh, so that was the dog's name. Kristy had recruited her foster daughter, Kylie, to help her before going to a friend's house nearby.
"I hope this cake tastes good," said Kylie tossing a black braid over her shoulder after petting the dog.
"It'll be great, your cookies went over well," she said rubbing the top of her head while the eleven-year-old grinned.
Charlotte had opened the door letting them inside. Kristy had brought an old moon chair for someone to cuddle up in. An old director's chair that she had found and some big pillows. She had called ahead to get the pizza delivered by five when everyone would come. Hauling everything up and into Claudia's former room was strange but in a way comforting.
"I'll drop off Kylie for you," said Charlotte. "Then I'll be in the next room if you need me."
Nodding Kristy got to work and finished setting up everything. She had even found the old club notebooks and record books that were stored on the bottom shelf in her office. Her adopted daughter Molly had colored a sign that said Baby-Sitters Club meeting in progress to put on the door.
Satisfied she made sure it looked nice and sat back.
"Kristy, Claudia is here," called Charlotte from down the steps. Bounding down she could see Charlotte giving her the tour of what they changed. Something about the finished basement becoming Byron's man cave.
She stopped at the bottom step and threw her arms out expecting a hug. Kristy Thomas was hardly a hugger, but this was the exception seeing everyone again after a long time.
Claudia Kishi stood there and smiled at her, rolled her eyes, and then hugged her old friend. Claudia still looked good with flawless skin and a thin frame, but just about the same height as her. Both girls stood about five foot three inches.
"Kristy!" she said gleefully. "I haven't seen you in months probably Christmas maybe? Or no, New Years, it was New Year's. How are the kids?"
"Fine and fine," she said ticking off the answers right away. "Kylie is with a friend for the afternoon. Conner, Molly, and Jeremy are at home with their dad. I last saw them making popcorn to watch something on Disney. How've things been since, well…"
Her voice faltered off and Claudia just gave her a watery smile.
"It's been okay," she said in a small voice and then straightened up. "Charlotte can I see what you're doing with Janine and I's old rooms?"
Kristy just watched them leave and motioned that she'd be waiting at the door. Nope talking to Claudia about her husband was just as awkward as it was at New Years. She really wanted to help her old friend though especially since the accident. She didn't want to think about that before there was a knock on the door.
"Kristy," said Mary Anne throwing her arms around her this time around. "I'm so glad to see you! Did you get the texts of Vivian's second birthday?"
"Only about over a dozen," she said. "You gotta scale back Mary Anne I know she's your last baby but…"
Mary Anne just gave her the best don't you start look. It was almost as good as hers, thought Kristy, perking up slightly. That didn't matter while the two took a seat on the last step and bumped against each other.
There was another knock and this time Mary Anne got up to get it. To her surprise it was Mallory with Stacey next to each other. They probably rode together seeing as they lived right behind each other. Kristy awkwardly hugged Stacey since she was never that close to her. Mary Anne squeezed both tightly.
Behind them trailed Dawn glancing around making sure that the door was shut behind her. That was everyone that said that they were going to be there. Shannon lived in Paris and really had no reason to visit besides seeing everyone again. Logan would catch up with them later, at least she thought so. Abby was on the road coaching right now. Jessi's flight wouldn't get here until Thursday.
"Alright let's head up," said Kristy. "The pizza guy is going to come in about fifteen minutes or so."
"I love hot pizza," said Mary Anne sighing. "So Stacey what do you think of…"
They had trekked up to Claudia's old room Kristy falling behind them. Everyone taking seats in the chairs she had set up, on the spare bed, or on the floor. This was definitely like old times especially when she saw Dawn reach for the old club notebooks.
"So, this meeting of the baby sitters club is called to order," said Kristy grinning tossing an old hat she had into the middle of the room. "Let's get caught up. Stacey, I know I haven't heard from you in like three years. Dawn how long has it been again? And Mallory… Who wants to go first?"
A collective groan filled the air.
"Hey if you really want this to be like an old meeting you can give me money," said Stacey. "After all it is dues day."
"We'll give you money if you go down and give to the pizza guy," said Claudia.
Stacey pretended to think of that but then just grinned nodding slightly. She'd do it while everyone reached for their purses and handed her a dollar or two. A slight awkwardness hung in the air from the more distant friends but that didn't matter. Mary Anne was breaking all of that just by talking herself. She wasn't normally the chatter box, but she had pictures of her daughter's second birthday and everyone was going to know about it.
"Oh and there's snacks too," she said gesturing over to food on an old desk.
"You have a fruit and veggie bowl Kristy," said Dawn. "You remembered."
"Well it's not like it's hard to forget."
Stacey and Dawn reached for the carrot and celery sticks before settling back down. Clearing her throat Kristy did have something interesting to tell them.
"I do have some babysitting news," said Kristy getting everyone's attention. Confused looked on faces and a smug smile on her face for learning about this. In a way it was kind of shocking. "Okay so I figured that you would all get a kick out of this. Apparently, Charlotte and Byron hired babysitters to help out during the wedding."
She paused for a dramatic effect leaving Claudia and Stacey to roll their eyes.
"And…" said Mallory waving around her fork before taking a bite of her cake.
"And, she told me that the sitter will be bringing a couple of friends. It's Laura Perkins, Lucy Newton, and Andrea Prezzioso."
A bit of a stunned silence hung in the air before Dawn had burst out into laughter. Followed by everyone else in the room. Mallory kept herself from choking on her cake. Claudia actually dropped a cookie. Stacey covered her mouth with her hand. Mary Anne automatically reached for the club record book.
Kristy just beamed in pride. It was like everything came into a full circle.
"No way, are you serious? I still have my notes on her nap time schedule," cried Mary Anne going to the pages about the Newtons and Perkins.
"Now that is weird, I mean we used to babysit her and now she's babysitting our kids," said Claudia. "That's hard to believe but they are fifteen now about sixteen and they're learning how to drive…"
"You're kidding! Is it wrong to feel old and I'm not even thirty yet?" said Stacey.
"It's the circle of life," said Mallory jokingly. "Please tell me their bringing Ricky and Rose Salem too. Or, um, oh who are some of the other babies we sat for?"
"There's a girl named Hope Felder," said Kristy wiggling her eyebrows.
Mary Anne threw a piece of popcorn at her. "I have notes of when Mrs. Felder was pregnant with her. We never even got to see the baby though. I feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and I'm really glad that you thought of getting us together while we were in town."
The others nodded now that the tension had broken. Claudia and Stacey sharing something on their phones.
"I can't believe that Byron and Charlotte are getting married and trying to have a baby. I remember them being 10 and 8," said Stacey glancing around the room. She had stretched out on the floor and just glanced around. "She's 24 now and Byron's 26."
"It's weird that Janine's room is slowly being turned into a nursery," said Claudia shuddering. "You brought us all here to feel old didn't you Kristy?"
She stuck her tongue out at her before Claudia tossed a potato chip in her direction. The conversation had switched to other sitting charges. Mallory keeping them up to date about everyone in her family. Kristy telling them that Karen is halfway through grad school, David Michael's small business loan went through, Andrew practically just started law school. Emily had just graduated from SHS. Charlie and Sam had their own wives and families that they'd stop by for Watson and her mom to see. They were still working but had talks about retirement here and there.
Dawn shared that Jeff started seeing someone seriously, finally might she add. Sharon and Richard were doing well.
Janine may not have been in a relationship yet, but she was seriously catching eyes of someone, at least in the last report from Claudia. Her parents had moved to a smaller place close to downtown. Mrs. Kishi was invited to the wedding, because she was Charlotte's boss and friend at the library. Claudia and her mom were going to be at the wedding, but Mr. Kishi had to go on a business trip.
Stacey's mom had remarried when she was in high school. Her dad and Samantha were doing well and taking care of her own half sibling that was still in school.
The pizza had come and almost gone about halfway through the meeting. The old record book had been passed around laughing at old stories and their younger selves.
"So, I told Ryan that he had to," said Mary Anne. "Now that's why we don't have the girls sharing rooms. That bathroom is going to be so cluttered when they turn into teenagers."
"I only have one son, but I can imagine what it would have been like if I had a daughter," agreed Stacey. "Anyway, how's DC Mary Anne? Is it anything like New York?"
"Not to offend Stace but I think DC is better than New York," admitted the brunette. Stacey pretended to be offended and clutched her chest dramatically. She just giggled and nodded "Yes, I like how everything is in one place and we live in a good neighborhood in Silver Spring. You know I even paid my way through grad school being a tour guide because there's so much."
She had taken a piece of cake and took a small bite.
"Oh well at least it's a city I can't imagine living out in the middle of the country somewhere," said Stacey. "Like in Green Acres."
"I remember those reruns on TVLand," said Dawn. "I used to love watching all those old shows on that channel and Nick at Nite. It used to air after um…" She snapped her fingers and then nodded. "Spongebob I think. Man it's hard to believe that shows been on for so long, it feels like forever."
"Like how long we thought we spent in eighth grade," teased Claudia.
Laughing Stacey helped herself to a piece of sugar free angel food cake. It was great to have so much more diabetic options.
"Yea like that," agreed Kristy. "I still remember how we'd stay up late like that. I think we watched Titanic one night."
"I remember crying so much during that movie," said Mary Anne. "I can't watch it to this day without crying. It's harder as a parent like in that one scene."
"Okay no more talking about sad movies," said Kristy putting the empty pizza box to the side. "Or kids. We babysat so much and have kids of our own let's not talk so much about that."
"Blasphemy," said Dawn.
"Who are you and what have you done with Kristy?" asked Mallory and then nodded. "I get it though. I haven't seen you in so long I want to know what's up with you. Not your families. Let me see if we can get this straight. Kristy you still live in Stoneybrook, Claudia you're in New York, still right?"
She nodded and chimed in. "Stacey is in New York with me, just a different neighborhood. Mary Anne you're just outside DC. Dawn in LA, which wow, how expensive is that?"
"Very I'm lucky I'm still living at home with my dad," said Dawn. "As embarrassing as it is, I'm lucky I don't have to pay those outrageous prices. Mallory are you still living Boston?"
"Yep although I do commute to NYC for my job, I've been here since the last month because of the wedding. I'm lucky that I can work from anywhere."
"Thank you Mal, that is the point I was trying to make," said Kristy. "I like getting caught up with you guys. I don't know when we'll be able to do this again."
"Well I don't know about the others but you can always catch up with us," said Stacey gesturing to Claudia and Mallory.
"It doesn't matter we have cell phones," said Mary Anne. "We can all face time and eat breakfast together."
Kristy nodded and took another piece of the cake. "Yea it's just that it'll be a while before we see each other in person. Although I might be able to visit you this summer Mary Anne. We still need a family vacation."
"I'll let you have my bed," she said grinning.
Everyone burst into a laugh and continued to gab talking about anything and everything. Dawn had recalled how they stayed up that one summer for two days straight to watch all of Buffy before the series ended. Phone numbers exchanged as the clock started to tick down to six. The smell of something in the oven downstairs reminded them that they needed to leave soon.
Then they heard a door slam.
Concerned they crept down the steps to see a woman arguing with Charlotte and Byron. When did he get there? That didn't seem to matter before curiously listening in.
"Come on we can talk about this," said Byron to a blond woman shaking her head.
"Everything is okay for the most part, you should really ask the rest of your siblings though," said the woman. "Thanks for the opportunity and I wish I could see it through but I can't."
Next to him Charlotte had tried to protest but wiping her eyes. Byron had pulled her into a hug before the woman had just walked out the door without a second word. What just happened and who was that lady. Charlotte had hugged him while he just rubbed her shoulder whispering something into her ear.
He had looked up and locked eyes with the members of the Babysitters Club and turned a little red.
Not the one to see Charlotte cry Stacey had jumped to help her hugging her too, despite not knowing what happened.
"Uhh," started Kristy.
"That was our wedding planner," said Byron. "She just quit on us."
"A week before the wedding!" cried Mallory. "And what did she mean about your family?"
Byron had turned to the others and Stacey had pulled Charlotte into the kitchen for a piece of cake. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I had asked the others if they had anything they wanted to help with," said Byron. "Apparently Jordan used to date the photographer and fired her. Margo moved around the final wedding dress fitting to accommodate a bridal shower that Charlotte didn't even want. Claire had gone and ordered a different set of flowers. Vanessa went and added a bunch of new songs to the playlist causing the DJ to quit. Nick added seven new people to the guest list that we did not expect. The only person that hasn't done anything is Mallory. Adam too, but he's in the military and not here so that doesn't count."
Well that sounded like a bit of a bind for them. At least the big stuff wasn't touched like catering and the venues. Then a bright light-bulb went off above Kristy's head and without thinking. It was like she was thirteen again and glanced at her friends.
"Why don't we do it," said Kristy gesturing to her and her friends. "I got married in less then a month. Plus we're all here for the wedding we might as well pitch in. I'm sure that I can get your DJ back and maybe do something about the extra guests."
Everyone had turned to glare at her expecting to just be guests. Then Mary Anne brightened up at the thought.
"I can pull some strings and help with the dress," she said clapping her hands. "I have a connection."
"I'm not a professional but my photography skills are better than they once were," said Claudia. "I'd have to get the equipment from my apartment, but I'll do it."
"I think I can handle the flowers," said Mallory. "I'll kill all of them for too if you want."
Kristy watched his face watching for a reaction before smiling. "I can't really pay you guys."
"You don't have to," she said.
Byron contemplated about what just happened and before nodding. Kristy couldn't help it but let out a loud whoop making all of the girls laugh. The Baby-Sitters Club to the rescue once again.