CHAPTER 1: Kristy

After I'd calmed down, Jason went to start dinner, and I reached for the phone, which was on the end table by the couch, and dialed Mom and Watson's number. "Hi, Watson, it's Kristy," I said when he answered the phone. "Is Mom home?"

"Yes, she is," he answered. "Just a minute."

"Hi, Kristy," Mom said a minute later. "How are you?"

"Well, I went to the doctor today, and found out that I'm two months pregnant."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah, but I'm not exactly looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy," I told her. And believe me, I sure as hell wasn't.

Both of us laughed. "You'll do just fine, sweetheart," she reassured me.

At that moment, Jason called out, "Kristy, dinner's ready!"

"Well, I should go now," I told Mom. "Hey, say hi to the kids for me, okay?"

"Okay. 'Bye."

"'Bye, Mom." And we hung up.

Jason and I sat down to eat. He'd fixed hamburgers and mixed vegetables, and poured each of us a glass of strawberry iced tea. One of the reasons I fell in love with him is because he's a really good cook, whereas I'm one of those people who worries that if I pour milk on cereal, it'd burst into flames. It still amazes me that with all my baby-sitting experience, the one thing I have trouble with is cooking. I mean, I can make anything that requires a microwave or toaster oven, but that's about it.

"You know," Jason said, taking a bite of his burger, "we got an invitation in the mail this afternoon for the Stoneybrook High School graduation."

I wasn't surprised, because this year, Karen and David Michael were going to graduate. "When is it?" I asked.

"Next Sunday," he answered. "I thought maybe we could leave here as soon as we get off work on Friday, since that's the last day, then stay for the graduation, and go back on Monday, unless something happens."

"Sounds good to me," I decided. "Wow, I can't believe their turn to graduate is finally here."

"Aye, same here. And don't worry, I don't plan to sing 'Sunrise, Sunset' until it's Emily's turn. I told her that when we were there last Christmas, and she said, 'No, you're not!'"

I couldn't help laughing. I started to get up from the table to put my dishes in the sink, but I started to feel dizzy, and had to sit back down.

"Here, allow me," Jason said. He picked up my dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

I felt bad about Jason having to do all the work, so I got up again. That's when I fell to the floor and passed out.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the bed. Jason was wiping my face with a cool washcloth. "Wh...what happened?" I asked.

"You passed out," he explained as he put the thermometer in my mouth. "Don't worry, I brought you in here." A minute later, I heard a beep, and Jason removed the thermometer. "99.8."

I looked down. Jason had apparently undressed me down to my underwear, and was wiping my face, hands, and stomach with the washcloth.

"Feeling any better?" he asked. I nodded. I also wondered why I'd gotten dizzy and passed out after dinner.

Later that night, I lay in bed with Jason's arm across me. He'd pulled me closer to him, but I still couldn't sleep. In the darkness, while I played with his real father's ID tags, I studied his features: short black hair, moustache and goatee, scar on right cheekbone, Union Jack tattoo on his right bicep—which he'd spent some of his graduation money on—and when he's awake, green eyes. When his pajama top is off, I can see his appendix scar. I, on the other hand, hide mine at night, not that I'm ashamed of it, I'd just rather not look at it. All through the night, I thought about the Baby-sitters Club, and remembered that we hadn't had a reunion since we'd passed the torch to Karen and her friends.

The next morning, soon after Jason left to do some errands, I got out my address book. The first person I called was Claudia. She may have been a dud when it came to schoolwork, but Janine, her older sister, is a genuine genius, as in 196 IQ, and was even taking college courses while she was still in high school. Recently, she'd just finished her internship at Stoneybrook General Hospital, where she's an ER Resident. When we were growing up, it always seemed that teachers were always comparing the two sisters, and were disappointed when Claudia turned out to be the opposite of Janine.

"Hello?" Claud said when she answered the phone.

"Hi, it's Kristy," I said.

"Kristy! Hi! How are you and Jason doing?" Claud had dated Jason for about three years before they broke up, and soon after that, Jason and I started dating.

"Oh, I'm fine, considering," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I went to the doctor yesterday, and found out that I'm two months pregnant."

"Really? That's great!"

"Thanks. Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because last night, I was thinking it was time that the original BSC members had a reunion."

"Sounds great. When?"

"Well, Karen and David Michael's graduation is coming up next weekend, so why not then?"

"Sure, I got the invitation in the mail the other day, so I'll definitely be there."

"Great. I'll call Mary Anne and Logan, Dawn, Mallory, and Shannon, and you call Stacey, Abby, and Jessi," I said.

"Okay, thanks for calling. 'Bye."

One down, four to go. The next call was to Mary Anne and Logan. Neither of them were home, so I left a message on their answering machine with my name and phone number, and asked them to call me.

Next, I called Dawn. I told her about the BSC reunion, and when it was. "Great, I'll be there! Can I bring a friend?"

"Sure," I answered. "Oh, and can you call Mary Anne and Logan and remind them?"

"Sure," she answered. "'Bye."

Three down, two to go. The next call was to Mallory. (Of all of us, she's been married the longest, almost two years; Mary Anne and Logan have been married for a year and a half; and Sam and Stacey have been married for nine months.) Mallory also happens to be eight months pregnant, and the best part is, she's having twins. We were so surprised when we found out.

"Hi, Mal," I said when she answered the phone.

"Hi, Kristy! What's new with you?"

"Well, I just found out that I'm two months pregnant."

"Hey, great!" Mal said. "I know exactly what you're going through. I'm entering my eighth month."

"So, I take it, this means that you won't be able to attend the BSC reunion?"

"No, I'm afraid not," she answered glumly. "Sorry."

"That's all right," I said. "We're having it at Mom and Watson's, so we can set up their WebCam. Which reminds me, I'll have to call them tonight to clear it." I'd given them their WebCam for their tenth anniversary.

"Great. Well, tell everybody that Ben and I said hi, and sorry we couldn't make it."

"Okay. 'Bye, Mal."

"'Bye."

The last person I called was Shannon Kilbourne. In addition to being the French teacher at SHS, she's also engaged to Bart Taylor, my ex-boyfriend from eighth grade, and their wedding is planned for Halloween weekend. In fact, Bart and I had coached opposing softball teams until our sophomore year of high school. Shannon wasn't home, either, so I left a message on her answering machine, and asked her to call me.

When I hung up, I felt really excited, and hoped the next weekend would hurry up and come.

When Jason returned, he handed me a book, What to Expect When You're Expecting. I looked through it, and found that the dizzy and fainting spells I'd had the day before were normal for pregnancy.

I was also looking forward to seeing my friends again.

The following Friday morning, we loaded our suitcases into the truck. Our plan was to leave for Stoneybrook as soon as we got off work that day.

When we arrived in Stoneybrook and pulled into Mom and Watson's driveway, we saw Bebe Everett's little red Miata, like the one owned by Carol, Dawn's stepmother. The only thing that's impossible to miss about her car is the Rush bumper sticker on the back. She says it's a travesty that they haven't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet.

We rang the doorbell, which was answered by Karen. She looked great. Her hair was now cut and styled like Stacey's had been during our BSC days. "Hi, Karen," I said.

"Hi," she answered as she wrapped each of us in a hug and rested her head on Jason's shoulder, just like she'd done since she was seven. You see, soon after Jason first moved to Stoneybrook, Andrew got his first bike with training wheels. One day, I took him, Karen, and David Michael on a bike ride. Andrew was so excited to have his own bike that he started pedaling faster than the rest of us. Before Karen could catch up to him, Andrew saw a little squirrel and tried to miss it, but in the process, he hit his head on a little brick wall that happened to be nearby. (He ended up having whiplash as a result of that, and was in a neck brace for two months.) I sent David Michael to get Watson, and Karen got Jason to stop and help. After Jason called the ambulance, he saw Karen crying on the curb. Since then, Karen has basically idolized him. "Come on in."

We walked into the living room, where we saw everyone else, including Jason's family. Bebe was home from college—where, like Jessi, she's studying to be a professional dancer. She sure looked different from when we'd first met. Not only were her braces long gone, but her formerly strawberry-blond hair was now cut and styled like Mary Anne's. If it wasn't for the difference in eye color—Mary Anne's are brown, and Bebe's are gray—they could've easily passed for identical twins.

The others looked pretty different, too. David Michael's dark brown hair now had dark blond highlights in it, and he had a little diamond earring in his left ear. I'll never forget last Thanksgiving when I first saw he'd gotten it, and I could only imagine how hard he had to twist Mom's arm to let him go through with it. From what I'm told, it was nothing like the time Mal and Jessi had theirs pierced.

Emily was now almost as tall as me, and her jet-black hair was not only waist-length with rainbow streaks in it, but she also had pierced ears. When Emily first came to live with us, she had a bunch of ear infections, and they got so bad that the doctor had to put tubes in her ears. When I called Mom on Mother's Day, she said that Emily had just gotten the tubes out, and to celebrate, Mom let her get her ears pierced. The only thing about my baby sister that's never changed is that she was barefoot. She still never wears shoes around the house, even in the coolest weather.

Andrew was not only taller than all of them, but he was almost as muscular as Jason. His hair was still the same platinum-blond, only it was shoulder-length and styled like Andy Gibb. Definitely not the painfully shy boy I'd met when he was three. Still, it was great to see them.

"Hi, how are you?" Diann asked as we finished hugging everybody and sat on the couch.

"Do you want to tell them, or should I?" Jason asked.

"You tell them," I said.

"Well," Jason began, clearing his throat, "I went to the doctor with Kristy last week, and he says that she's going to have a baby."

"Hey, great!" Steve said. "How soon?"

"Well, the doctor says I'm two months pregnant, so it'll be at least the middle of January by the time the baby's born, but the doctor says the earliest I could have it is Christmas," I answered.

"Right now, Kristy's at a very vulnerable stage," Jason said. "She's very emotional, and sometimes throws up in the morning after breakfast."

The boys made faces when Jason said that. I was also hoping I'd be able to keep food down while we were there.

"Aaanywaaay..." we all said together. I know it sounds dorky, not to mention immature, but it still cracked us up.

"I thought that since we were here, I'd have a reunion with my old friends in the Baby-sitters Club," I continued.

"That's nice," Watson said. "When?"

"This weekend," I told him. "I hope you don't mind me having the reunion here, or using the WebCam."

"Not at all," Mom answered.

"Do you know where you're staying?" Bebe asked.

"We were planning to stay here, if that's all right with you," Jason said to Mom and Watson.

"Definitely!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Where will they sleep?" Emily asked.

"Well, they can sleep in Kristy's old room," Watson said.

"Great idea! Let's clean it up!" Karen announced, and the four kids ran upstairs as Jason's family got up to leave. I could tell that my take-charge personality still lived on.

"Well, it was great seeing all of you," Diann said as she put her purse on her shoulder. "We have to get going. When Jason first told us about the baby, we started going through his and Bebe's old baby clothes that we'd saved."

"And if I'm not mistaken, I think Bebe's old crib is still in the apartment building's toolshed," Steve added. "It just needs a fresh coat of paint, a C-clamp, and some wood screws, but it'll be as good as new."

"And I have a date with Byron Pike tonight," Bebe grinned. "We're going to the new indoor waterpark in Hartford."

"Okay," Mom said. "Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem," Steve said as he and Watson shook hands. Then Jason's family walked out the door.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. When I answered it, there stood Charlie, my oldest brother, and his family. He's a physical therapist assistant at SportsMed in Stamford, and his wife, Kathy—who used to baby-sit for David Michael, along with me and my older brothers—works at the day care center that Mom used to take David Michael to when he was really little. They have two kids: Marissa, who's five, and will be starting kindergarten in the fall; and Charlie Jr. (CJ, for short), who's two. They go to the day care center with their mother so they can save on baby-sitter costs. In fact, when Marissa starts kindergarten—which will be at Stoneybrook Elementary, like my brothers and me—Watson will quit his job and take care of her until she goes to school (assuming she's in the afternoon kindergarten), then drop her off at the day care center. Sure, they can be a handful at times, but they're still awfully sweet. "Hi," I said. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Charlie said as Marissa kicked off her flip-flops, then helped CJ. They came in and sat down as Emily returned with the bag of toys for them. As soon as they started playing—and Emily helped them with some of the toys—the phone rang, and Mom went to answer it.

"Hello?" I heard her say. "Oh, hi, Sam...You're coming tomorrow?...Okay, don't forget to remind Stacey about the BSC reunion. Do you want to put her on, and I'll put Kristy on?...Okay." Then she said, "Kristy, could you get on the other line, please?"

"Sure," I said. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kristy, it's Stacey." I heard Mom hang up the other extension just then. "So, when's the reunion?"

"Tomorrow night," I told her. "The only thing is, we'll have to set up Watson's WebCam so that Mallory can see us."

"That's fine," she said. "When is she due?"

"It shouldn't be much longer," I answered. "I don't know if you heard yet, but I'm due in January."

"Actually, yes. Boy, it seems like everyone we know is getting married or having babies, huh?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, see you tomorrow. 'Bye, Kristy."

"'Bye,"

As I hung up the phone, I was really looking forward to seeing my friends again.