CHAPTER 15: Kristy

The next morning, Jason and I loaded up the truck and prepared to go back to Hartford. "Do you know what time Karen will be coming home?" I asked.

"Watson's just leaving now," she answered as she poured us some coffee. "If you'd like, you can stay until they get back."

"Sure," Jason agreed, taking the coffee cups from her and handing one to me. I'm just glad it was decaf, because according to a week-by-week pregnancy book I'd read, not only was the baby about the size of a plum, but the regular kind would be dangerous. And that's also all Watson will drink after his heart attack.

We sat on the porch with our coffee and cinnamon-swirl bagels. As I started on my coffee, Jason took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Normally, I think smoking is one of the most disgusting habits in the world, but Jason only smokes ginseng cigarettes, which don't contain any tobacco or nicotine. None of us smoke: Mal and I, because of our pregnancies; Dawn, because she's a health nut; Stacey, because she's a diabetic; Abby, because of her asthma and allergies; Jessi, because she's a dancer; and Mary Anne and Logan, because like Dawn, Mal, and me, they think it's ugly and unhealthy. The only ones who do smoke are Jason and Claudia. Also, Jason very seldom smokes, and he recently promised me that after the baby was born, he'd try to cut down.

"It's been quite a week, yes?" Jason asked, blowing a smoke ring into the air.

"I'll say," I nodded as I finished my coffee. "I'm just glad Karen doesn't need glasses anymore, except for reading."

Jason nodded and took another puff on his cigarette. "And I'll bet you're glad she's coming home today, too. I know I am."

"Mm-hm."

A few minutes later, we saw the green station wagon—which had been Mom's car since before David Michael was born. And considering how long she's had it, it's actually in pretty good shape. Jason took one last puff on his cigarette and put it out. He doesn't want Karen or any of my other siblings to see him smoke.

The car pulled into the driveway a minute later, and Watson and Karen got out. Just as I'd expected, she ran up and gave each of us a hug. She still had the bandage on her nose, and most of her scabs were going away, but other than that, she looked so much better. "Hi, Karen," I said.

"Hi," she said. Just then, David Michael, Andrew, and Emily came out of the house, and there was even more hugging.

"Where are your glasses, Karen?" Emily asked.

"Don't need them anymore, except for reading," Karen answered.

"So, can I still call you Professor?" David Michael asked. We all laughed, mostly because we were so glad the whole ordeal was over.

"You want to hear something funny, Karen?" I asked.

"What?"

"When you woke up from surgery, you were calling for Louie."

You're probably wondering what we're talking about. You see, when Karen came out of the coma, we learned that the accident had damaged her retinas, causing blindness. She had Lasik surgery a couple of days ago, and the doctor removed the bandages yesterday. That was when we found out that she would only need her reading glasses from now on. It's funny, the surgery was able to correct her distance vision, but nothing else. And in case you're wondering, Louie had been our old collie that had to be put down soon after I started eighth grade.

"I was? I must have been dreaming," she said.

"Don't feel too bad, Karen," Jason said, patting her arm. "Remember when I had my appendix out during our trip to Washington, and what Bebe said I did?" Then he started singing, in the slurriest voice possible, "Good morning, starshine; the Earth says hello..."

Karen's eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah, that was so hilarious!"

"Remember when I had mine out, and what I'm told I said?" I reminded her. Then, in my slurriest voice, I said, "This meeting of the Baby-sitters Club is now in session..."

As we laughed, I remembered how David Michael had told that story during our trip to Washington with the Stoneybrook Kids. I once told him that if he ever told anyone, I'd personally beat the living crap out of him, but considering that he only told Jason, Bebe, and the Stoneybrook Kids, I couldn't go through with my threat.

Soon after that, we went inside for lunch. Mom served us sandwiches—bologna, ham and cheese, peanut butter (some with jelly, some without)—baked beans, and chips. At least Mom and Watson have an ice maker on their fridge, because if they didn't, and some of us wanted cubed or crushed ice, it wouldn't surprise me if Emily, our comedienne, asked if anyone wanted them carved into little animals. We also had soda, milk, iced tea, or water to drink. I chose milk, because at this certain stage of my pregnancy, it was the only drink my stomach could handle.

After lunch, Jason said, "Well, time to leave." After we finished our round of good-bye hugs, we got in the truck, and started on our way.

When we got to the apartment complex, we saw Jason's family in the front yard. We got out of the truck and walked over to them. "Well, we're heading back to Hartford now, Mum," Jason said.

"Before you go, I have something to show you," Bebe said, holding out her left hand. On her ring finger was a yellow-gold ring with a pear-shaped diamond. Obviously, an engagement ring.

"Who's the lucky guy? Do we know him?" I asked.

"I think you do," she smiled. "Byron Pike. Oh, and Daddy and I enrolled in a ballroom-dancing class at the community center, because we're planning to dance to 'The Laendler' from The Sound of Music for our dance. Byron and his mom are in the class, too."

"Cool," I said. I couldn't wait to tell Mal.

"And we'll let you know when the wedding is as soon as possible," Steve added.

"Thanks, Steve."

"Well, we can't stay long; we need to get home," Jason said at last.

"Okay," Diann said. "See you kids later." After she gave each of us a hug, we got in our truck and drove off.

As we headed back to Hartford, "Piano Man" by Billy Joel was playing on the radio. I remembered hearing it in my college dorm one Saturday morning, and it happened to be the first song I heard when the alarm went off. I'm told it's a good song to wake up to.

Jason and I arrived home about an hour and a half later. When we got inside, I laid down on the couch and took a nap while Jason unpacked our stuff and started the first of several loads of dirty laundry.

It had been a hell of a great trip, in spite of Karen's accident, and I was glad to be home.