Chapter 7: Claudia

I have to admit that coming home is always a little weird to me. I suppose this is normal for most kids, once they've lived on their own for awhile at college. But for me, my parents' house on Bradford Court held so many memories. It made me think of my grandmother Mimi, and how even today I miss having her presence around. I do, however, feel that that she is always with me, watching over me.

It's also the street that Kristy, Mary Anne and I grew up in. It's where for so many years we held our Baby-sitters Club meetings. As I looked around my bedroom, I realized it had changed a lot since we were thirteen. I suppose a lot of that had to do with my moving out. Most of my things were in my apartment in NYC, and my room was cluttered with many of my old things that I hadn't brought with me. The room contained a lot more easels and art supplies than there used to be. Plus, I had my desk cleared off so I could set-up my laptop. I didn't think I would need to use it for anything, but you never know when work will call.

Even though physical art is truly my passion, I found myself drawn to the world of graphic arts, really starting in high school when I got my first computer. I suppose, being the artistic person that I am once I got the thing it just seemed inevitable that I would be interested in checking out all of the different graphic programs. This lead to me finding a job at a small advertising agency in high school in which I assisted their graphic designer on small projects. It was then that I decided to major in graphic design, minoring in art so that I could still pursue my passion but also have something solid to make a career out of should the art world not go the direction I wanted. I was thrilled when NYU accepted me, and I'm so proud that I managed to graduate on time. I haven't always been the best of students, and I did have to take a lot of summer classes to ensure I'd graduate on time, but it was well worth it.

Through some contacts from the company I worked for here in high school, I connected with a small graphic design company in Long Island. I start next week, and I'm a little nervous about it. My parents helped me move into my new apartment a couple of weeks ago, which is a very small studio apartment (all I can afford in New York). I thought about seeing if Stacey wanted a roommate, but she's been a bit distant lately. I was looking forward to seeing her later this afternoon. Her train arrived last night, and we had agreed to get together today, since tomorrow was the big BSC Reunion.

I wasn't quite sure how I felt about the reunion. I hadn't really kept in touch with, well, any of the members but Stacey, and even she and I weren't as close as we once were. Thanks to e-mail, I knew a bit about what Dawn, Kristy and Mary Anne were up to, but not much. I suppose it will be fun and interesting to see how everyone is doing, since in some cases, I haven't seen anyone since high school graduation. Dawn, in particular, since she was out in California for high school and college.

As I had been going through my things last night when I got home, I discovered one of the old Baby-sitters Club notebooks under my bed. I had to laugh as I went through it, reminiscing about our old BSC experiences. I wondered what our clients were up to. I remembered running into Jamie Newton a couple of months ago, and I didn't recognize him. When he told me he was planning his 13th birthday party I couldn't believe it. I told him I remembered his 4th birthday party and naturally, as most adolescent boys do, he rolled his eyes. It was just so weird to think of Jamie as the age of us baby-sitters when we were in the club. Jamie still seemed so young, I guess we were too then.

Last night was kind of a wild night here. My sister Janine, and her husband James, had come into town with their new baby. Janine got married my sophomore year in college. James Carrington was an older guy; he was still in law school at the time but almost out. They met at Oxford (yep in England), which is where Janine went to college (my sister is a certified genius, and even graduated high school a year early. James is originally from London but his family moved to the Boston area when he was in high school. He attended Yale for undergrad and went to Oxford for law school. Janine had always wanted to study abroad, and when she got a full scholarship to Oxford, she decided to take it.

James graduated a year into their relationship, and had gotten a job at a prestigious law firm in London. After Janine graduated, they got married in London, which I'll admit was a rather fun excuse for a vacation. Janine got a job teaching high school science and started taking graduate courses. The pregnancy came as a bit of a surprise, since Janine is still in school but they were happy nonetheless. Little Lynn Elizabeth Carrington was born about two months ago, and last night I was able to meet her for the first time.

In many ways I can't believe my sister is a mother. Janine and I didn't always get along so well when we were younger, but in recent years we've become very close. Lynn is absolutely adorable, and I must say, is one of the most outgoing babies I've ever met. She simply could not stop smiling! And she didn't cry a peep when mom, dad or I held her. An absolute angel.

It saddens me that Janine lives so far away. I know they really love their life in England, but I'd love to see them come back here someday. I think they'd both like to, but James' job is so good right now they don't want to leave just yet.

Anyway, we all had a great time seeing them last night. They left this morning to head to Boston to visit his family. I wish they could have stayed longer.

I heard the doorbell ring and looked at the clock. I realized it was probably Stacey and ran down the stairs to let her in, since I knew both of my parents were out.

When Stacey and I retreated to my bedroom the first thing I did was show off pictures of my new niece. Stacey was all "ooh, ahhh" over here (I do have to admit, she is adorable) and then she plopped herself on my bed.

"So, what's new?" I asked her, since it had been a few months since we had seen each other last.

I noticed that Stacey seemed a bit nervous. "Oh, you know, the usual. Jonathan's ALWAYS trying to get me to go out with him and check out new clubs with him. I don't mind every now and then but, well he is gay and I'm tired of going to bars full of hot men that will never be interested in me," Stacey replied.

I laughed. I've met Jonathan several times and while he is an awesome guy, I could understand what she means. One of my good guy friends is gay also, Dan (we actually tried to set Dan and Jonathan up once, but it didn't work out) and he's the perfect guy to take out shopping (although, I have to admit, I'm embarrassed to show him pictures from my middle school years. He'd absolutely die knowing my horrendous 80's fashion sense. I could just hear him now, "Claudia, the parrot earrings are a marvelous touch but really darling, red stirrup pants over a yellow shirt? Are you trying to blind people?").

"How's Paul?" Stacey asked.

I sighed. Paul is…a guy friend of mine who I met my freshman year of college and we became friends rather quickly. Paul designs websites and is a really awesome guy, but…well, he's not exactly the type who's ready for commitment. But, we've messed around a lot. I guess you could say he's a friend with benefits. We both admit that we're attracted to each other but, well I guess neither of us really wants anything more than what we have. At the moment, neither of us was dating anyone so we'd been seeing each other a lot.

"He's good, I guess. He got a job working for a radio group in New York. He's designing one of their websites. Did you know that Sam Thomas is a DJ for a radio station now? Paul was just mentioning that he had become friends with one of the jocks for his station and I found out it was Sam! Can you believe it?"

Stacey feigned a curious smile and responded, "huh, I thought it sounded like him on that station," but I could tell something was off. She obviously already knew what he was up to, and suddenly it all clicked.

Stacey had been awfully quiet about boys recently, and that was unlike her. Stacey and I were always boy-crazy and we always talked about guys together. I brushed off her standoffish stance about men because I knew we were graduating and perhaps she was more focused on her career.

However, I had a sneaking suspicion for awhile that she was dating someone. Last time I saw her, she was glowing. She brushed it off as things going well and finding out that she had gotten a job. I let it go, since she didn't seem to want to discuss men, but I had a feeling something was going on.

Now, seeing her reaction to my news about Sam…I wondered.

"Stacey, are you dating Sam Thomas?" I blurted out.

Stacey sat up and stared at me. "How…how did you know?" she finally asked. I sighed, then laughed. "Come on Stacey, I've thought for awhile now that you were dating someone, but I didn't push it. Your reaction just now to Sam's name told me everything. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

Stacey sighed. "Well…the fact is, no one knows, well except Sam's parents and mine. We didn't plan it, I met Sam at a bar and he saved me from a drunken stupor that might have ended badly and we just started dating. It's completely different from when we were kids though. We have different things in common now. I didn't tell anyone because well, after awhile we decided that we enjoyed just being ourselves, and not having to share it with others."

I nodded. I could understand how she felt. "So Kristy doesn't know?" I asked. Stacey nodded. "As far as I know, she doesn't. But…I'm going to have to tell her, everyone really. Sam and I are moving in together, and I think that will be a lot harder to hide," Stacey stated.

I squealed. "Moving IN together! My gosh Stace, are you getting married?" Stacey flashed me her bare left hand and shook her head. "No, not yet anyway," she added. "It just made sense economically since we spend so much time together and, I do think we'll get married but neither of us is in any hurry. I'm thinking after I graduate grad school."

I just nodded. "Well, I wish you would have told me but I'm happy for you. How are your parents handling it?" I asked.

Stacey groaned. "Not well, really. Mom is taking it better than dad is. Mom realizes that I'm an adult and that I need to make my own decisions. Plus, she and Sean lived together before they got married and I think she's feeling a little guilty about that. Dad, however, is just not okay with his little girl living with another man. It's going to take time," Stacey replied.

I nodded. "I know my parents threw a fit when they found out that Janine and James were living together. Fortunately once they got engaged they forgot all about it and let it go." Stacey nodded.

I looked at my desk and something caught my eye. "It's just kind of weird though." I tossed Stacey the copy of the BSC notebook I had found. "I found this and was going to bring it to the party. What's funny is, you have an entry somewhere in here where you talk about Sam being a pain." I said with a laugh.

Stacey laughed. "Well, he was…he still is actually, but not all of the time. We have fun together. At least he doesn't call me 'dahling' anymore!" And I laughed, thinking about our experience at Shadow Lake when Sam was being a major pest.

"Are you ready for this reunion?" I asked suddenly. Stacey set down the notebook on the bed. "Well, I'm not sure what to expect, that's for sure. But I do think it will be nice to see everyone and see what everyone is up to," Stacey replied thoughtfully.

"I agree, but I'm just a bit nervous. Things are so different now. I mean, our slumber parties back then consisted of talking about boys, Hollywood, our sitting charges, clothing…"

Stacey smiled, "and it still will, only on a more adult level," she replied. I laughed. "I guess so. I just don't know how comfortable I'd feel talking to Kristy about sex and stuff though."

"Well, then don't. And I wouldn't worry, Kristy's grown too, and I'm sure she has her own experiences. She did mention providing liquor, right?" Stacey asked.

"THAT'S what I'm afraid of. Alcohol makes me talk. Promise me you'll stop me from admitting or saying anything too stupid, okay?"

Stacey smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure Sam and my news will be enough gossip for Kristy to handle for one evening," Stacey stated.

We both sat there for a moment, thoughtful about what was to come tomorrow night. Suddenly, I had a great idea. "Hey, want to go shopping with me?"

Stacey looked at me. "Did you have to ask?" I laughed as I jumped up and grabbed my keys and my purse. "Come on, let's have some fun at good ole Washington Mall!"