Kristy waved goodbye to Abby as they walked off the school bus together, and went in opposite directions. She walked up the driveway and into the house, where she was greeted by Shannon the dog. Petting her, she walked into the kitchen, where she was greeted by her mom.
"Hi Sweetie, how was your day?" Elizabeth asked. She was sitting at the kitchen table absently looking through an issue of Birdbaths Monthly. Kristy couldn't help but notice how tired she looked.
"It was okay," Kristy responded. "Is Watson home yet?"
Elizabeth frowned. "He's working late today. He might end up staying over at the office, actually. Why?"
Kristy shrugged. "I was just wondering," she said, trying to mask the confusion she felt.
"I'm going to go upstairs and work on homework. Let me know when dinner is ready,"
"Of course I will," Elizabeth said.
Kristy walked out of the kitchen without saying anything else, and trudged up the stairs to her bedroom.
Once inside her room, where she could be alone with her thoughts, Kristy shut the door and lay down her on her bed. She wondered what was really going on with her mom and Watson. She wanted to believe that he has just working late, but she could hardly imagine that it was true. After his heart attack, Watson had drastically cut down his hours at work to putting himself in that position again. He hadn't really stayed late at work since, and for good reason.
Unless avoiding her mom and the rest of the family was a good enough reason to put himself at risk again. Maybe he was never coming back.
Kristy had barely been seven when her real father had walked out on their family, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. That was a day that would remain with her forever. And even though Patrick was back in her life, to a point, it didn't change the past, and nothing could erase the years that she and her brothers had lived without a father.
The fact that he was back didn't necessarily make him a father either. That was Watson's job now. Though they had never really talked about it officially, she and her brothers had reached a mutual consensus on this topic.
Unless of course, Watson was tired of being their father. That happened sometimes.
Kristy sat at her desk and picked up the softball and mitt that were on the floor beside her. She tossed the ball into the mitt, repeatedly, creating a rhythm that she forced herself to concentrate on lest she think of anything else. Back and forth, back and forth. She repeated this motion for the next twenty minutes, when she realized how tired she was. Setting down the softball and mitt on her desk, she lay down on her bed, and fell into an uneasy sleep.
She awoke about an hour later to the sound of someone pounding at her door.
"Kristy, come on!" called David Michael "It's dinner time."
Kristy rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock on the stand next to her bed. It was already after six. Too bad she wasn't the least bit hungry.
"Kristy! You need to come down now!" David Michael shouted from the hallway.
"I'm coming!" Kristy shouted back, rubbing her eyes.
She rose up from the bed and quickly looked at her reflection on the mirror that hung above her dresser. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, so she tried to straighten it out the best that she could. It didn't really help that much, but why should she care? It was only her family, and besides, she looked how she felt.
Opening the door, Kristy walked through the hallway and downstairs into the kitchen. She had one step to go when something made her stop dead in her tracks.
Stacey McGill was seated at the kitchen table next to Sam, laughing and passing the salad bowl to Nannie.
Recovering, Kristy made it the rest of the way to the table and took her seat. It's not that she didn't like Stacey; of course she did, they had been business partners together. It's just that, well, she was kind of intimidating.
The girl was drop dead gorgeous and a math genius. This had never really bothered Kristy while they were working together in The Babysitter's Club, but now that they didn't spend much time together, she couldn't help but feel a little awkward around Stacey.
"Thanks for coming to dinner Kristy." Sam said, smirking. "I don't suppose you noticed that Stacey is here as well."
"I did, but thanks so much for pointing it out to me," Kristy said dryly. She turned to Stacey. "How are things going with you?"
Stacey smiled. "Really good. I joined the math team, and we have our first competition coming up in a few weeks."
Sam gave her a sideways glance. "The math team? That's for losers. You're not a loser, are you Stacey?"
Stacey smiled shyly. "No. You don't think I'm a loser, do you?" she asked, worried.
Sam grinned. "You won't be if you spend enough time with me. And if you avoid Kristy."
"Kristy's a loser!" David Michael affirmed cheerfully.
Kristy shot Sam a look. "Seriously Sam, you need to get a life."
"That wasn't very nice Sam!" Stacey admonished. Kristy gave her a grateful smile.
"Could we all quiet down please?" Elizabeth said, smiling, but with enough sternness in her voice so that all of the kids took notice. "You can all rest assured that no one at this table is a loser."
Laughter broke out around the table, and everyone finished up passing the dishes around and taking what they wanted.
Nannie and Elizabeth started a conversation with David Michael and Emily Michelle about the activities that they had planned for the upcoming weekend. Sam was trying to make the younger kids laugh by making faces behind Nannie's back.
Kristy turned to Stacey, and attempted to resurrect their earlier conversation. "Are you doing anything else, besides the Math team?"
Stacey shrugged. "Sam wants me to join the cheerleading squad. Fall tryouts were forever ago, but I could make the winter team. Claudia might try out with me."
"I guess that could be fun," Kristy said politely. She hated cheerleading.
"What have you been doing?" Stacey asked.
"I've been really busy with soccer. And I still baby-sit occasionally, mostly for the Perkins' girls and kids around the neighborhood. With that and school I'm really busy."
Stacey nodded sympathetically. "High school is way harder than I thought it would be."
Sam then rejoined the conversation. "You spend too much time studying Stacey. You need to spend more time with me."
Stacey gave him a smile. "Maybe we could study together sometime."
Kristy nodded her head in agreement. "You could. Isn't Stacey a year ahead of you in math, Sam? She could tutor you."
"You can stop talking now Kristin," Sam mumbled.
Kristy glared at him, while Stacey caught her eye and laughed. Kristy had to admit that Stacey was one of the better girls that Sam had dated. She could be a little boy crazy at times, but for the most part she was sensible.
Dinner continued with much conversation and laughter. When everyone was done eating, Nannie quickly got up to clear the table, and came back with dessert. She had baked chocolate chip cookies earlier that day.
Seeing this, Emily Michelle and David Michael's eyes both grew big. The dish was passed around the table, with Sam taking three cookies, and Stacey discreetly not taking any. The room was quiet for a few moments, until Emily Michelle broke the silence.
"Where's Daddy?" she asked.
Elizabeth and Nannie shot worried looks at each other, but Elizabeth's voice was calm as she responded.
"He's working Emily. He will be home to play with you tomorrow."
"Good. I miss Daddy," Emily said, taking a bite of her cookie.
"He misses you too, Sweetie," Nannie said.
"You'll have to tell Watson I said hi," Stacey said to Sam and Kristy. "It's been awhile since I've seen him."
"Sure," Kristy said, without much enthusiasm. This wasn't a topic that she was exactly comfortable with at the moment.
"Maybe you should hang around here more often," Sam said slyly. "Then you can tell him yourself."
Stacey shrugged her shoulders and giggled. "Maybe."
Once everyone had just about finished their dessert, Nannie and Elizabeth rose to start clearing the table and clean up the kitchen. Kristy and Stacey helped out as well, with Sam entertaining David Michael and Emily Michelle by putting on a movie in the living room. After being told that guests weren't allowed to help in the kitchen, Stacey joined them as well.
Kristy was helping put the leftovers in Tupperware and then into the refrigerator when she saw headlights coming up the driveway, followed by the sound of the opening of the garage door. She couldn't help but notice the nervous looks exchanged between her mom and Nannie.
A few moments later, the door between the kitchen and the garage opened, and Watson stepped in. His clothes were disheveled, and he reeked of alcohol. Shannon the dog took one look at him and scampered underneath the table, her tail between her legs.
"Anybody home?" he called out.
Elizabeth quickly ran to him in an attempt to stop anything before it could start.
"What are you doing?" Elizabeth hissed. "You can't come in here like this. The children could see you!"
Kristy stood unable to move from her spot at the kitchen counter. Her hand held the lid of a container tightly, as if holding on as tight as she could somehow make her safe. As much as she wanted to avert her eyes, she remained transfixed on the scene unfolding before her.
Emily Michelle came running into the kitchen, her pigtails bouncing with each step.
"Daddy!" she squealed.
Watson pushed Elizabeth aside, and moved towards Emily Michelle. He could barely walk in a straight line, and stumbled into the kitchen table. This gave Nannie enough time to grab Emily Michelle and take her out of the room.
Holding onto the back of one of the chairs to keep himself steady, Watson's gaze traveled the room. He's eyes stopped when he noticed Kristy.