"Cowabunga!"
Kristy awoke with a start, shooting up into a sitting position as she felt her bed shake.
"Help, I'm drowning in the deep end," Karen cried, her arms waving as she flayed around on the comforter.
Kristy groaned. "What are you doing, Karen?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm playing a game with Andrew and David Michael," she explained nodding to their siblings who were standing in the doorway. "You can play too if you want."
"No, I don't want to play," Kristy grumbled. Karen had been home for just over eighteen hours, and already she was silently willing her back to Chicago. "Please get out of my room."
"Okay, but just so you know, I saw Morbidda Destiny put a spell on you!" Karen ran out of the room, David Michael and Andrew following close behind her.
Looking at the clock, Kristy saw that it was past ten. Maybe it was a good thing that the kids had woken her up. Her stomach was fluttered as she thought of everything that was going on in her life. She has no idea how to handle any of it. A year ago, she would have had a solution for every problem, probably in bullet points on an alphabetized list. But that was the old Kristy, and as much as she hated to admit it, that's not who she was anymore.
She wasn't sure why, or how she had changed. She figured that it was something about the magnitudes of the problems that she was now facing. She smiled wistfully when she thought of last year. She had taken the Babysitter's Club very seriously, but looking back she could see that even the mysteries they had solved hadn't been as problematic as they originally though. Now they seemed like nothing, whereas she was filled with dread when she thought about even beginning to resolve her current situation. Everything was so far out of her reach.
But she had to do something. And if her brothers weren't going to help her, she was going to find out on her own.
She knew that she couldn't be totally alone, though. She just wasn't as strong as she used to be. She had to make up with Abby, first. Alone, she knew that they were both mostly alone and scared, but together, they could be strong.
Kristy pulled herself out of bed, took a shower, and got herself ready for the day. Already that weekend was half over. She hadn't even thought of her homework and everything that she had to do for school; she had so many more important things going on.
She sighed. It was going to be a long day.
An hour later she had showered, dressed, and had eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple for a late breakfast. She now sat in the living room listlessly staring out the window in the direction of Abby's house. She knew that she had to make up with her best friend. She just wasn't sure, how exactly, mostly because she didn't really know what was wrong. Sighing, she got up and walked out the door and across the lawn to Abby's. Her heart pounding a little bit harder than normal, she rang the doorbell. She normally didn't knock when she went to the Stevenson's, but today it just didn't seem right to let herself in. The late autumn air was cold as she waited on the porch.
"I'm coming," Abby shouted from inside the house. Kristy heard her running down the stairs.
Abby opened the door. "Oh. It's you," she said, her words hanging in the air.
"I need your help Abby. Please," Kristy pleaded.
Abby's face softened. "Come in," she said, opening the door.
The two girls stood awkwardly in the entryway, neither of them saying anything.
"We can go upstairs, if you want," Abby offered.
Kristy nodded, and the two made their way up to Abby's room. As they got to the hallway, Abby sprinted ahead, ran into her room, and closed the door behind her. "Just a second," she called.
Waiting in the hallway, Kristy rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for whatever Abby was doing. What was she doing, anyway? She could hear the closet door opening and closing. A few moments later Abby opened the door wordlessly. Walking into the room, Kristy didn't notice anything amiss, and immediately dismissed whatever questions she had. She sat down on Abby's bed.
"Patrick isn't David Michael's real father," she said quietly.
"What?" Abby asked, shocked. She sat down on the bed next to Kristy. "Then who is?"
"I don't know," Kristy said, shaking her head. "He told us when we were at dinner last night. He wouldn't tell us who really was. But that's not even the worst part!"
"Then what is?" Abby asked incredulously.
"Charlie knew about this all along, I guess. But he wouldn't say anything either. He went back to his stupid school as soon as he dropped off Sam and I."
"How can you stand not knowing? You're going to talk to your mom about it, right?" Abby asked.
"I want to," Kristy admitted, "but Charlie told us not to bother her about it, and Sam is no help. But I need to know the truth. And I think that David Michael does too."
Abby nodded sympathetically. "Parent's think that they are protecting us by keeping secrets, but it usually doesn't work out that way."
Kristy fell back on Abby's bed. "I just don't know what to do."
"You need to talk to your mom," Abby said, her voice suddenly confidant. "Even if you have to do it by yourself."
"Are you sure?" Kristy asked hesitantly.
"Of course I'm sure!" Abby replied. "And you should probably do it right now. The longer that you wait, the harder it will become. I'll walk you out."
Abby rose up off the bed and held out her hand to pull Kristy up. She accepted, and the two walked out of the room and downstairs. Standing again in the entryway, Abby reached out and gave her friend a hug."
"You can do it," she said.
Kristy left the Stevenson's and walked across the year back to her house. She knew that she had to talk to her mom right away, but she still was a little hesitant about doing it alone. She decided to try talking to Sam one more time. He was her brother, after all. He would help.
Walking into the house and upstairs, she knocked hard on Sam's door, earning curious stares from her younger siblings who were gathered together in Karen's room. When no one answered, she knocked again, harder still.
Suddenly, Karen stood beside her in the hallway. "Sam's not in his room," she informed Kristy. "He went to the movies with Stacey."
"Thanks, Karen," Kristy said, trying to be as nice as she could. At least Karen was being useful instead of annoying for once. Either way, though, it didn't really matter. Sam wasn't home, and she needed to talk to her mom right away. If she didn't now, she didn't know if she ever would.
Mentally coaxing herself, she through the open doorway and into her mom and Watson's room. Her mom was folding laundry on the bed.
"Mom, can I talk to you?" Kristy asked, almost hesitantly.
"Of course honey," Elizabeth said, setting down the shirt that she was folding. "Is this about your fight with Abby?"
"No…" Kristy said, trailing off. She wasn't exactly sure where to begin.
Elizabeth reached out and put her hand softly on Kristy's shoulder. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, sweetie. I know that things haven't been the greatest around here lately, but I think that everything is about to come together. I want to listen to whatever it is that you have to say."
"It's about Patrick," Kristy said hesitantly
Elizabeth softened. "I could tell when you and Sam came back last night that dinner hadn't gone well. What happened?"
Kristy took a deep breath. "He said that he's not David Michael's father. Is that true?"
All the color quickly drained from Elizabeth's face, and she sank down to the bed slowly. She obviously hadn't been in any way prepared for this to come up.
Kristy's heart started to flutter. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea. "Are you okay mom?"
"Please leave," Elizabeth said, in what was almost nothing more than a gasp for air.
"Mom? What do you mean?"
"Leave," Elizabeth said, this time with more command in her voice. "I will talk to you about this, I promise. But I can't do it right now. Go to your room."
"Okay mom. Sure." Kristy left the room hurt and confused. She walked across the hall to her room and closed the door behind her. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, or what to make of what had just happened. For whatever reason, she didn't want to call Abby and talk to her about it. And she wasn't sure if she was supposed to leave her room or not. It wasn't like she was being punished, but still, she felt that she better stay put for a little while. Resigned, Kristy sat down at her desk, and pulled various notebooks and textbooks out of her backpack. She might as well get to the homework that she had been neglecting as of late. Besides, concentrating on something other than what was going on would probably be the best thing for her to do right now.
Kristy began to work ardently on her homework, which was somewhat reminiscent of the hard working student that she had been last year, before everything had started to fall apart. Honestly, it felt kind of good to slip into this pattern again. There was definitely comfort in routine. While she was working on some math equations, she heard a soft knock on her door, which was then opened by Nannie.
"Can I come in?"
Kristy nodded, and sat up straight in her desk chair.
Nannie closed the door behind her and sat down on Kristy's bed. "Oh honey, won't you come and sit with me?"
Kristy complied, and sat next to Nannie who put her arm around her. This small action already made Kristy feel the smallest bit better.
"It's been hard around here lately, hasn't it?" Nannie asked.
Kristy nodded as she felt tears starting to fall down her face. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying.
"Your mom sent me in here to talk to you," Nannie continued. "You know that she loves you and your brothers more than anything, right?" Kristy nodded, and Nannie went on. "She always did what she thought was best for you, as most parents do. Sometimes, in looking back, the best decisions weren't made, of course. But know that your mother did everything she could to protect you, and to keep you from being hurt. She really did try."
"I know that," Kristy said softly, wiping tears away with the sleeve of her shirt.
"You're mom isn't up to talking to you about everything. Not today. So she sent me. You can ask me anything you like."
"Is it true that Patrick isn't David Michael's father?" Kristy asked.
Nannie nodded her head slowly. "Yes, that's true."
"Then who is?"Kristy asked.
Nannie closed her eyes for a moment, and then let out a slow breath. "Watson."