CHAPTER 2: Here A Family, There A Family

Andrew and I got off the bus and headed toward the little house, Mom's house. When we came into the kitchen, we found her cleaning off the stovetop. "Hi, Mom!" I called.

"Hi, kids,' she answered. "How was school today?"

"Oh, it was great, Mommy!" Andrew said excitedly. "Guess what? We just found out they're putting together a kids' show choir!"

"Really?"

I nodded. "It's for kids between the ages of seven and eleven, and get this: Jason's going to be one of the people in charge!"

"Wow, that's great!" Mom commented.

"I have to call Kristy!" And I hurried into the living room.

Well, it's time to explain a few things here. You see, my parents were once happily married when they had Andrew and me, but when we were really little, they got a divorce. Of course, being as young as we were, they had to reassure us quite a bit that even though they still loved us very much, and always would, they just didn't love each other anymore. Daddy stayed at the big house, because it's where he grew up, and Mom, Andrew, and I moved into this house. (We spend alternating months at each house, so we're never at the same house for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas for two years in a row.) Soon after that, Mom met and married Seth, who's our stepfather, and Daddy met and married Elizabeth, who's our stepmother.

Elizabeth has four kids from her first marriage, so I have three stepbrothers and a stepsister. First of all, there's Charlie, who's twenty, and Sam, who's eighteen. They attend NYU, where Charlie's a junior, majoring in something called sports medicine, and Sam's a freshman, majoring in something called sports journalism. Kristy, my stepsister, is sixteen and a junior at Stoneybrook High School. And she's also the president of the Baby-sitters Club. I think it would be so cool to belong to that, because I've seen how much fun those girls have. (Just be glad I didn't say gigundo!) David Michael just turned eleven, and is in fifth grade at Stoneybrook Elementary School.

Daddy and Elizabeth also adopted Emily from Vietnam when she was two. Now, she's almost six and in the afternoon kindergarten at Stoneybrook Academy. Here's how that works: Daddy works at home in the mornings, then drops Emily off at school on his way to work. Elizabeth usually comes home in time to get Emily off the bus, unless she knows she has something else to do, then she asks someone else to meet her there. Also, despite hearing only Vietnamese for the first two years of her life, she now speaks perfect English. Sometimes I wonder if she's bilingual, or will be when she grows up. Like Daddy always says, only time will tell.

I also have pets at each house. At Mom's, there's Seth's cat and dog, Rocky and Midgie, as well as my rat, Emily Junior (guess who I named her after?), who travels back and forth with me. At Daddy's, there's Shannon, David Michael's dog, and Pumpkin, their cat. She came to live there shortly before Boo-Boo, Daddy's old cat, passed away.

In fact, since Andrew and I have two of almost everything, I used to call us Karen and Andrew Two-Two, because when I was in second grade, Ms. Colman read a book to our class called Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang. Well, guess what? Andrew has now heard that book, too, so now he calls us that. Surprised? I'm not.

Okay, back to me. I picked up the phone in the living room and dialed the big-house number. "Hello?" Elizabeth answered.

"Hi, it's Karen. Is Kristy home?"

"No, she's at the Perkins'," Elizabeth answered. "Can I take a message?"

"Guess what? They're putting together a kids' show choir!" I exclaimed.

"Really? That's wonderful! David Michael just told me, and he's planning to try out, too!"

That didn't surprise me, but I still thought I'd offer my support. "Good for him," I said. "Tell him I'll see him there, okay?"

"You got it. And I'll tell Kristy you called, too."

"Thanks." And we hung up.

It was going to be just like the good old days again.