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 11
"What about Long Island?" Mary-Anne suggested.
Claudia nodded.
"Yeah. We could go bug Abby."
"Nice try." I said. "I was thinking more along the lines of something more kid friendly."
Claud pouted.
"Long island has arcades." She said.
"Let's really think for a second." I said. "What's the most magical place on earth?"
"Ireland!" Claud shouted.
We all gave her a look.
"What? Don't you guys ever watch the Lucky Charms commercials?"
Anya laughed.
"But Kristy's right." She said. "If this is gonna be a vacation for the kids, we need to think of a place they would like to go."
"Walt Disney World." Mal piped up. "My brothers and sisters have never been there before. Then again, the triplets wouldn't be caught dead at a place like that. And if they're not going, Nicky won't wanna go."
"Well, the girls are easy to handle." Claudia replied.
"Most of the time. " Mal agreed. "Now that we've gotten that part taken care of, how are we gonna pay for this? I'm sure the treasury wouldn't be able to cover it."
"Well, I've been saving my baby-sitting money." Anya said. "I don't really do that much shopping."
"How much do you have?" Claud asked.
Before Anya could answer, I shook my head.
"You don't have to give it up." I said. "It's yours."
"Exactly." She said. "And I wanna share it with you guys and the kids."
Mal grinned.
"So how much do you have?" Mary-Anne asked.
Anya did a quick calculation in her head.
"About two-hundred dollars."
"Wow!" Claudia replied.
"Well I Have been baby-sitting for the last two months. And I have done baby-sitting before this." She pointed out.
"Just wow!" Claudia repeated.
"Well, if we pull half of everything we've made and then-" Mal started to say, but I cut her off.
"You guys, wait! We don't have to do that."
"Why not?" Dawn asked. She had joined us for a special meeting and had been quiet almost all the way through it.
"Because, Watson said he would treat us. He hasn't taken us anywhere since last year."
"Awesome!" Mallory exclaimed.
"You said it!" Claudia agreed.
Anya grinned as well.
"I'll still share my money with you guys." She offered. "After all, Alex is coming along."
"So is Karen." I put in.
"Okay, okay." Mal said. "We all know Alex and Karen and probably my sisters are going. But we need to figure out who else is. I'm sure Watson has a limit as to how many charges we can take."
I nodded.
"He said we could take ten or twelve at the most. We already have five, so that leaves seven more."
After thinking for a few minutes, we came to the conclusion that we would invite the Papadakis' to come along in light of what had happened a few days ago. We also thought of asking Charlotte to come since she and Alex had become such good friends.
"I think that's about it." I said. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, anymore club business?"
Mary-Anne nodded.
"I do." She said. "I can't go to Disney World with you guys."
"Why not?" I asked.
"I'm going back to Philadelphia for two weeks to visit family."
"Okay. We'll miss you. But we'll bring you something." I promised her.
"Thanks. " Mary-Anne said as her eyes started to water a little.
The rest of the meeting was spent talking about our upcoming trip and figuring out plans for our camping trip that we were going to take two weeks before summer ended.
Before we knew it, Watson had finalized the plans and everything was set. All that was left was to tell the kids.
We thought having a sleepover at my house would be a great way to surprise them.
Since mostly girls were coming, it was easy enough to get them to agree.
Karen and Alex quickly claimed karen's bedroom, along with Charlotte.
As for Mal's sisters, Claire burst into tears when she realized she had left her plush lamb named BaBa behind.
Mal comforted her as best she could, but it was no use.
Finally, Mrs. Pike arrived with the lamb, along with Margo's toothbrush.
Once all the kids were settled and in their pajamas, we gathered them in the living room for a talk.
"Okay, you guys!" I said in true president fashion. "We have a surprise for you. Now, do you know what the best part about summer is?"
Alex's hand shot up first.
I smiled at her.
"Go on, Alex." I said. "And you don't have to raise your hand."
Alex nodded.
"Yeah," David Michael said. He had joined us for this meeting since he would be coming on the trip. "This isn't school, stupid."
"Hey!" Alex shot back. She was on her feet in an instant and her hands were planted on her hips.
I had to keep from laughing. The reason was she reminded me of "Anastasia's" Anya in the movie when she was eight.
"Take that back!" She demanded.
"Make me." David Michael challenged.
"Alexandra Nicole Springer…" Anastasia said sternly.
Alex rounded on her mother.
"What? He started it."
Anya gave her a look that clearly stated she was skating on thin ice.
"Well he did." The seven-year-old insisted.
"David Michael…" I said warningly.
David Michael sighed, but apologized nonetheless.
"It's about time." Alex said evenly.
"Alexandra…." Anya said. "You're really pushing it."
Alex sighed and sat down.
"Thank you." Anya said.
But when her mother wasn't looking, Alex threw a glare at David Michael.
"You were saying. " I said to Alex.
"Summer vacations." She said. She had calmed down by this point.
"That's right! Now, can you think of a place all of you would want to go?"
The kids shouted in unison.
"Disney world!"
Anya smiled at me and I grinned in return.
Karen spoke up just then.
"Are we really going to Walt Disney World, Kristy?" She asked, trying her best to use her indoor voice.
"Well…" I said, dragging it out. "Why don't you guys see for yourselves." With that, I pulled out several bags from .
They each had a plush animal in them, along with a brochure for our upcoming vacation.
"Awesome!" Alex cried the minute hers was open. She grinned at her mother. "Thanks, Mama!"
Anya nodded.
"NO problem." She said
We had all picked out plush animals we knew the kids would like.
Some of the kids got plush dolls instead.
For example, Anya had chosen a plush Lilo for Alex, since Lilo and Stitch was her favorite movie.
For Karen, I had gotten her a plush Ariel.
For Emily Michelle, I had gotten her a plush Pluto, since she had fallen in love with him since she had turn three.
For Sari, Karen had picked out a plush Goofy, since he was her favorite.
For Hannie, I had picked out a plush Pocahontas and Charlotte had gotten a plush Pooh bear.
For Linny, we had played it safe and gotten him a plush Woody.
Mal had picked out a plush Mickey for Claire and a plush Tigger for Margo.
Once all the kids had their new friends, we told them more about the trip and allowed them to ask questions.
Just then, Sari hugged Goofy to her.
She laughed as his voice filled the room.
""Hello! My name's Goofy! Can I have a hug?"
As Sari and Emily played with their new toys that both talked, I glanced at Anya.
"Did you know they were going to do that?" I asked.
Anya shook her head.
"No. Now wonder it was twenty bucks." She whispered.
Just then, the sound of "Part of Your World" filled the room, followed by Karen's squeals of delight.
After the kids had calmed down, we made them some hot chocolate and allowed them to watch a movie before going to bed.
Halfway through The little Mermaid, the younger kids fell asleep.
Anya and I tucked the younger girls in bed and made sure they were okay before leaving the room.
I kissed Emily and Anya did the same with Sari.
Sari was doing well for this being her first time away from home.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we found Alex half asleep and Karen not far behind.
Charlotte was reading her copy of "Charlotte's Web" while Hannie watched the rest of the movie with the Pike girls.
"Okay, you guys." Anya said. "it's time for bed."
There was a chorus of no and aw man from the six to nine year-olds in the room.
The only ones who didn't' put up a fight were Alex and Karen.
I picked Karen up while Anya got Alex.
We tucked them in Karen's room before going back downstairs to deal with the storm that was the Pikes.
Charlotte went upstairs without complaint, while Hannie agreed with Margo and Claire.
Finally, after twenty-minutes of arguing, the girls went to bed.
Anya, Mal and I camped out in my room for the night. This was so we could be close by in case the kids needed us.
"I'm glad the kids are excited about the trip." Anya said as she settled down in her sleeping bag.
"Me too." I said. "It's gonna be fun."
"Something tells me this is gonna be a trip we won't forget any time soon." Mal said as a yawn escaped her lips.
Something told me she was right.
Somewhere around three in the morning, the silence of the house was broken by an unearthly noise, followed by the wail of two three-year-old's.
Anya and I were up in a flash. Mal woke up as well, but we told her to go back to bed since it didn't' concern her sisters.
As we reached Emily's room, we heard Goofy say something to the affect of, "I love hugs, can I have one? You give the best hugs In the whole wide world!"
We entered the room to find both girls in tears.
Anya rushed to Sari's side while I comforted Emily.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Em." I said, bouncing her a little. "What happened, huh? Come on. Let's get you a drink of water." With that, I took Emily downstairs and returned with two sippy cups full of water.
I handed one of the cups to Anya and helped Emily sip from the other.
"Goofy bad!" Emily declared.
"No, no." I said. "Goofy's not bad. He's just loud."
"Bad doggie!" Emily said. She glared at Goofy.
Anya managed to settle both children down by singing to them.
"Sing Cember, please Anya?" Sari asked.
"Of course I will." Anya said. With that, she started to sing.
It wasn't' long before both girls were fast asleep once again.
When we returned to my room, Anya sighed.
"Do you think it's too late to call and get our money back? We can say Goofy's a hazard to kids."
"Anya!" I said with a laugh.
"Well it's true." She insisted as she climbed back into her sleeping bag. "Either that or a hazard to baby-sitters."
"Something tells me he never learned how to tell time." I said dryly from my bed.
Anya mumbled something in Russian in reply.
I took that to mean she was off to dreamland once again.
It wasn't long before I fell back to sleep too.