DISC: I DO NOT own any of the chars from BSC. They belong to Ann M. Martin. I Do however own anyone you don't recognize!
Enjoy!
"Kristy's Big Decision"
CHAPTER 5
Tuesday,
Well, I survived my first job. I'm not sure your kitchen will ever be the same again, Mal. I think I did okay breaking up that fight between Charlotte and Margo. And at least the kids had a good time…
Don't be so modest. The kitchen's fine. Although I don't think Margo will ever look at Mom's new stew the same way again!
When Anya arrived at the Pike's the next afternoon, she rang the door bell. She was soon greeted by Pow, the Pikes' basset hound as well as Mallory.
"Hey!" Mal greeted. "Come on in. The girls are excited to meet you. I told them we had a new member, but I didn't tell them much." She then added, "The triplets went to play basketball with Jake Khunn and Nicky went with them. Nicky is nine and the triplets are eleven."
Anya nodded.
"Okay." She said.
Stepping into the house, Anya stopped to pet Pow before following Mal into the living room.
When they got there, Claire and Margo stopped what they were doing and gave Mallory their full attention.
This was rare for them and Mal took full advantage of it.
"Come here you guys." She said. "There's someone I want you to meet."
The two girls joined Mal and Anya by the couch. They gave the newest member curious looks.
"This is Anya." She introduced. "She's our newest club member."
"Hi." Anya said. She knelt down on the girls' level and gave them a friendly smile.
"Hi." Margo said.
Claire was looking at Anya as though she were trying to figure something out.
Anya gave her a minute before helping her along.
"Is your real name Anastasia?" She asked in wonder.
"Maybe…" Anya said with a grin.
"Wow!" Claire breathed. "A real princess!"
"I was named after her." Anya told both girls.
"Wow!" Claire said again.
Anya giggled.
Margo frowned.
"What's up, kiddo?" Anya asked.
Margo shook her head.
Mal thought she knew what was bothering her little sister.
"You can ask her, Margo. It's okay."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"That's probably Charlotte." Mal said. "She wanted to come over and play with Margo."
When she returned, Charlotte was behind her.
Char smiled when she saw Anya.
"Privyet!" She greeted.
"Privyet to you too, Char. How are ya, huh?"
"Good!" Charlotte replied.
"What does Privyet mean?" Margo asked.
"It means hi in Russian." Anya replied.
Claire's eyes grew wide.
"We wanna learn to! Will you teach us, Anastasia, please?"
Margo nudged Claire in the side.
"What!" Claire demanded.
"Don't' call her that." Margo hissed. "She might get mad."
Anya frowned.
"Margo, it's okay." She assured her.
"Are you sure?" Margo asked.
Anya nodded.
"Yes. IN fact," she said, still on the girls' level, "you can call me Anastasia."
"Me too?" Claire asked hopefully.
Anya laughed.
"Yes, little one. You too. You all can if you want. I don't mind."
Margo grinned.
"I'm glad Stacey isn't' here." She said. "She hates it when anyone calls her that."
Unfortunately, Charlotte heard her and was on her feet in a second.
"Take that back!" She demanded. "That's my sister you're talking about!"
Margo shook her head.
"Stacey's not your real sister and it's true." Margo insisted.
"Is not!" Charlotte yelled.
"Is too!"
Anya jumped in before things could go any further.
She put a hand on Charlotte's shoulder to calm her and Mal did the same to Margo.
"Why don't you tell me about Stacey." She suggested to Charlotte. "I haven't met her yet."
Charlotte thought about it for a minute. She sat down next to Anya and started telling her about Stacey.
Mal was impressed.
While Anya had Charlotte's attention, Mal took Margo into the kitchen to have a talk with her. She was also going to start lunch for everyone.
"I really miss her." Charlotte told Anya.
Anya gave her a small hug.
"I'm sure she misses you too. But she'll be back."
Charlotte nodded. She felt a little bit better now.
Just then, Claire joined them.
"Anastasia, I'm bored!" She declared. She flopped down on the couch beside the older girl.
"You're bored, huh? Well, what if we invite someone over for you to play with. Charlotte's here, but I know she's gonna spend time with Margo and Vanessa. Let's ask your sister if we can invite someone new over for you."
Claire was curious now.
"Who?" She asked.
Anya grinned.
"Let's see what your sister says first. If she says yes, I'll tell you."
Claire nodded.
"Okay." She replied. "Mallory!" She called as she ran ahead of Anya into the kitchen.
After Anya had explained to Mal what was going on, she agreed to let one more person come over.
"Great!" Anya said enthusiastically. With that, she dialed a number and was soon greeted by a familiar voice.
"Hello?" Alex answered.
"Privyet, sweetheart." Anya replied. "Listen, how would you like to come over and play with Charlotte? I'm sitting at the Pike's and Mal's youngest sister needs a new friend to play with. She's six."
"Okay!" Alex agreed.
"Can I talk to Sara for a minute, sweetie?" Anya asked her daughter.
"Okay." Alex replied. With that, she got Sara for her.
"Whose she talking to?" Margo asked as she listened to Anya's part of the conversation.
"I don't know." Mal replied.
Ten minutes after Anya was done her phone call, the doorbell rang.
Anya got it with Claire right behind her.
"Privyet, Alex!" Anya greeted the little girl happily. She gave her a hug and kiss before leading her into the house. She thanked Sara for bringing her.
"No problem." Her older sister replied. "You owe me." Anya giggled.
"I'll cook your favorite dinner tonight."
"Sounds good to me." With that, Sara said good-bye to everyone and left.
Once she was gone, Anya put an arm around Alex's shoulders and grinned at Claire.
"Claire, I would like you to meet Alex. Alex, this is Claire."
Alex smiled at her.
Claire grinned back.
"Preveet." She tried.
Alex giggled.
"Privyet." She said in return. "Do you like playing house?"
Claire nodded.
"Yeah!" With that, the two girls ran off to play.
"She's cute." Mal said.
"Thanks. " Anya replied. She sat down on the couch for a second.
Just then, Vanessa came in. She had been writing a poem when Anya had arrived.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi. You're Vanessa, right?" She asked.
Vanessa nodded.
"Yup." She turned to Mal just then. "Can I Go over to Haley's, please?"
"Sure!" Mal replied. "BE careful."
"I will!" Her sister called back.
Just then, there was a squeal, followed by a slight crash in the rec room.
Both girls jumped up and raced for it.
They found Char and Margo trying to pick up multi colored beads, buttons and assorted fabric as well as a can of glitter.
"What are you guys doing?" Mal asked.
"We're trying to make crowns." Charlotte replied.
Mal nodded.
"Okay. Just don't destroy the rec room while you're at it."
"We won't." Margo told her.
Once she was satisfied that the girls were okay, Mal led the way out of the rec room.
Before long, Mal was calling the girls in for lunch. She had made them sandwiches with Anya's help, along with a new stew their mother had prepared earlier that morning.
The girls joined them after a few minutes.
Alex and Claire were talking and laughing as though they had been friends forever.
Anya was happy about this. She could tell Alex wanted to hang out with Charlotte too. She hoped Margo would let her join them once lunch was over.
Once everyone was settled, Margo gave her mother's stew a once over before making a face Mal knew only too well.
Anya caught her look out of the corner of her eye and tried to avert disaster.
"What's wrong, Margo?" She asked.
Margo scrunched up her nose in distaste.
"I don't like the stew." She said. "It looks disgusting."
Rather than trying to get her to try it right away, Anya tried to sympathize with her.
"You know what?" She said while leaning over to her so only she could hear her.
"What?" Margo asked.
Anya tried to keep a straight face as she replied, "I never cared for stroganoff either."
"What's that?" She asked.
"That's what this stew is called." Anya replied.
"That's a funny name!" Margo said with a giggle.
Anya nodded.
"You really don't like it either?" Margo asked.
Anya shook her head.
"Nope. But you know what?"
Margo shook her head.
"It's always good to try new things. Why don't you taste it just once. If you don't like it, I'll make you another kind." She offered.
Margo thought about it for a minute. She took a tentative taste and swallowed.
"Well…?" Anya asked.
Margo looked unsure for a minute.
"Did Anastasia eat stragaoff?" Margo asked.
Anya giggled at her pronunciation.
"Yes." She replied. "But she didn't like it either. And it's called stroganoff. Can you say that?"
Margo tried and succeeded after a second attempt.
"Good girl!" Anya praised.
Margo grinned. She ate some more of the stew and finished half the bowl before moving onto her sandwich.
Mal was impressed. She had a feeling if she would have tried to get Margo to eat it, her sister would have fought her every step of the way.
"Now what do you think of stroganoff?" Anya asked the little girl.
"It's okay. " Margo said truthfully. "IF Anastasia ate it, I guess I can learn to like it too."
Anya gave Mal a thumbs up and Mal returned it.
After lunch was over, the girls wanted to play outside.
Mal and Anya allowed them to.
"Can I play with you guys?" Alex asked Charlotte and Margo as the girls started a game of jump rope.
Charlotte grinned.
"Sure!" She said.
Alex grinned at her and said thanks as they started a jump rope rhyme.
By the time Mr. and Mrs. Pike returned around four-fifteen, the girls were playing a game of Go Fish while Mal and Anya watched to make sure Margo didn't cheat.
"How did it go?" Mrs. Pike asked as she paid both girls for a job well done.
"Good!" Anya replied. "The girls had a lot of fun."
Margo ran up to her mother just then.
"Mommy, can you make stroganoff for dinner? Please?"
Anya winked at Margo.
"That's my cue to leave." Anya said. "I'll see you later, Mal. Come on, sweetie." She said to Alex. She took her hand and led the way down the street.
As she turned to leave, Margo and Claire both called after her.
"Anastasia, wait!"
She turned back to the two little girls who had just addressed her.
"Dosvedanya!"
Anya grinned and repeated it back before turning the corner and disappearing out of sight.