Author's notes: Thanks to all who reviewed my first chapter!

kerok29: Wow, you were quick in working that out! I haven't entirely decided where that story line is going to go (well, I haven't decided where any story line is going to go yet actually!), but I'm hoping Stacey doesn't know either…

Angelina Maria: Thanks for the pointer about too many letters at once. I had wondered about that before I posted it, but I find the letters easier to write than dialogue, so I went with it. But from now on I'm going to start each chapter with a letter and then continue in proper "story style" with the reaction of the receiver of the letter.

And, if anyone was wondering, I didn't intentionally leave Jessi out of the first chapter, I just forgot her. And Logan. But they'll come into the story as soon as I've figured out a future for them both! I'm almost on holiday now, (4 more exams to go…) So I should be updating this pretty quickly. At least till I get writer's block. So please keep reading and reviewing!

And I forgot a disclaimer last chapter so here it is: I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story if they have been mentioned in the Baby Sitters Club series.

Dear Mary Anne

Hello, how are you and the family? Richard and I are great, but there's one thing I'm beginning to worry about. River. We're looking after him and Stormiee Skye this weekend, which is fine of course. You know we love to give those kids any bit of security we can. Dawn's wonderful of course, but she's definitely more interested in her protests and organic vegetables then her children…But anyway, what I'm really worried about is what Dawn's going to do when she finds out why River loves Richard so much…I have a sneaking suspicion its not because Richard taught him how to organize his suitcase by colour…I think its more to do with the junk food Richard lets him eat. Its not much of course, just a few candy bars and chips here and there. But Dawn is going to go completely off her head if she finds out. And she's bound to sometime. Mary Anne what am I supposed to do?

Love, Sharon

I sighed as I finished reading my stepmother's letter. My step sister can be a little crazy at times. She just gets so worked up over things – like the time she discovered an organic vegetables shop had used pesticides on their plants…And when she was protesting something, the rest of her life went out the window. This was why she had never been able to hold down a steady job. She had worked in LA as a nanny for a while. But when she didn't turn up to a job for the third time running, with no explanation other than some rambling story about McDonalds trying to take over the world, the agency fired her. I hate to say it, but they had a point. Last time her two children, River and Stormiee Skye, (I don't know where she got those names,) were staying with us a McDonalds ad was on TV. Both of them immediately blocked their ears and closed their eyes. They explained that they didn't want to be brainwashed. I would love to give Dawn a lecture on child raising, but any criticism of her lifestyle tended to start a long and boring ramble about how my brain had obviously been rotted by society or something.

Suddenly I felt a gentle tug on my trouser leg. My daughter, Maya was sitting at me feet. She looked up at me and said

"Tie me down. Please?" I gasped. Her first sentence! At 2 ½, you might expect her to have said a sentence before now, but we had adopted her in Moscow just after her 1st birthday. We weren't surprised it had taken her this long to learn English words. After all she had heard nothing but Russian for the first year of her life. I didn't even care that I had no idea what she was asking me to do – I was just so proud of her!

"David!" I called. "Come here! Maya just said her first sentence!" My husband rushed into the room immediately, Go Fish forgotten. As a doctor at the local hospital, he had missed a lot of our kids' "firsts."

"Tie me down." Maya insisted, holding her foot up to me. She was wearing the new sneakers we'd bought her yesterday.

"Daddy" whined a small voice behind us. It was our 6 year old son, Connor. "You didn't finish our card game!"

David headed off to finish Go Fish while I congratulated Maya on her sentence. She ignored my praise though, and just kept insisting I tie her down. On about her 6th try I finally realised she wanted me to untie her shoes. I complied, and then hurried off to start dinner.

As I chopped potatoes, I thought about the reunion my old friend Kristy was organizing. I was looking forward to seeing everyone. I'd kept in touch with Abby and Stacey, and David and I saw both of them whenever we went to New York. David was often invited to medical conferences there and the kids and I would go with him. Sometimes we stayed with Stacey, and other times we headed out to Long Island and visited Abby and her family. And of course, I looked after Dawn's kids whenever she was off on a crusade and Dad and Sharon couldn't take them in. But the rest of the BSC I hadn't been in regular contact with since High School. I had seen Mallory and Kristy at the grocery store a few times when I was visiting Dad and Sharon in Stoneybrook, but had never met their children or husbands. And as for Jessi and Claudia, I knew Claudia was in Stoneybrook but I'd never seen her, and last I heard Jessi was dancing with some company somewhere.

I threw the potatoes into the pan just as Connor came wandering into the kitchen.

"What's for tea, Mommy?" He asked. I smiled to myself. Until I had Connor I'd never realised how truly beautiful that word was. I loved being a mother. I hadn't minded giving up my career as a nurse for it one bit. I hoped the rest of the ex BSC members were as happy as I was.