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 21

We spent the next few days wandering through the various theme parks.

We wanted to get as much park time in as we could, knowing we only had two days left.

Anya spent more and more time with Jon and enjoyed most of it.

She enjoyed is company, but wasn't very fond of his Goofy tendencies.

Alex on the other hand ,found them hilarious and got a kick out of it Whenever Jon acted Goofy around her.

Anya tried to get Jon to take Marie, but he explained he wasn't going home right away. He also suggested calling Sara and having Marie plead her own case.

"That won't work. " Anya said as she stroked the cat's fur. "Sara said no cats. Let's just say last Halloween, she let Pooka out on purpose. I think she thought he would get rid of the black cat population in one night.

"What a wonderful friend you have." Jon commented.

"Pooka's a nice dog. " Alex commented. "He's warm to sleep with."

"Nice dog maybe." Jon said. "Silly friend, yes."

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Anya asked.

"Yeah."

Alex giggled.

"Pooka's not black! He's brown and white. Mama has a picture of him in her wallet. Show 'em."

"Alex, I don't think Jon wants to se a picture of Pooka with a birthday hat on."

"Please?" Alex asked.

"If there was birthday cake I might want to see it." Jon said.

"He's eating one!" Alex told him. "Come on, Mama, please show 'em."

"Come on, Mama, please give me a birthday cake." Jon begged.

"You two are too much." Anya said as she got her wallet out. She thrust the picture in Jon's hands before ruffling Alex's hair and leading the way over to a vender selling cupcakes.

She bought three of them. She took one for herself and gave the other two to Alex and Jon.

"You know, Alex, that's not really a cupcake. It's a Mickey Monster head. But if you let me taste it for you, I can see if it's safe."

Alex shook her head.

"Nice try." She said. "You have your own. Besides, trying to trick a princess is wrong."

"It might be wrong, but my tummy says it feels so right."

"Your tummy needs a better conscience." Alex said.

"Jiminey Cricket is a conscience for people, not for tummies."

"Jiminey who?" She asked.

"Haven't you ever seen Pinocchio?" He asked.

Alex shook her head and looked confused.

Anya stepped in just then.

"She hasn't seen it yet." She said truthfully.

"Well, Jiminey is a small fairy that tells little children they should give hungry people they're Mickey shaped cupcakes."

Alex tilted her head in thought.

"I don't think that's right." She said.

"Well, you're thinking wrong." Jon said.

"First of all," Anya said as she sat down upon a bench and Alex sat on her lap, "Jiminey is a Cricket, not a fairy. Secondly, Mister His Eyes are bigger than his stomach, eat your own cupcake and stop trying to swindle another one from Alex."

"I'm not trying to swindle, I'm just trying too borrow." HE said.

"I'll share half with you. " She offered.

"You don't have to do that." He said sincerely.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"He's sure. " Anya said pointedly.

"I have a feeling my rumbly tumbly doesn't need another cupcake."

"Mama, I'm thirsty." Alex said.

"Okay. We can get a drink over there." She said, pointing to a vender that sold cold juice and soda.

"Allow me. " Jon said.

"You know," Anya said, leaning over to whisper in Alex's ear. "Just between you and me, this isn't going to turn out well."

"I know." Alex said with a giggle.

Jon left to get the drinks. He approached the counter and guessed what Alex would like based on her love of Lilo and Stitch. He ended up picking a pineapple mango drink with a hint of strawberry.

He got Anya a rootbeer cream soda and got himself some coffee.

"Might I suggest a carrier?" The man behind the counter said.

"Well, it's not that far away. What's the worst that could happen?" Jon retorted.

"Oh let me count the possibilities."

"You can't count them because there aren't any."

"If you say so." He said. "Have a magical day."

"You too." With that, Jon started making his way back to the girls.

Jon got about five steps before colliding with a kid holding a Mickey balloon.

Without warning, the balloon popped, causing the child to burst into angry tears.

She thrust a finger at Jon and glared at him.

"Sorry about that, pal." He said.

The girl continued to glare. Her mother rushed forward at the sound of her daughter's wails.

"What happened, sweetums? " She asked.

Jon couldn't' help but notice the thick bag she was carrying.

"He popped Mickey!" The girl cried.

"You did what to my sweet little girl's balloon?" She asked. And without giving Jon time to explain, she swung the bag like a javelin until it hit its intended target. "That'll teach you to pop innocent children's balloons! Take that! An that!"

"Uh-oh." Alex said from a few feet away. "It sounds like Jon got someone mad." She then got a good look at the woman's coat and exclaimed before Anya could stop her, "Mama, I didn't' know Cruella Devil worked here. Now wonder they don't allow dogs in the park."

Fortunately, Anya was stopped from having to explain that by Jon returning sopping wet and no drinks in hand.

He slid to a stop by running into the bench.

Alex frowned.

"Boy." She said. "First that lady beat you up and then the bench doesn't like you."

"Nope. Not very popular today." He said.

"What did you do to make Cruella mad?"

"I accidentally popped her kid's balloon. I would have replaced it. I'm going to go try and find her to replace the balloon."

Alex shook her head.

"You don't learn the first time, do you?" She asked.

"Nope." He said.

"Why don't you forget about the balloon." Anya suggested.

"But I accidentally popped it. I feel bad for popping the balloon."

"I have an idea." Alex said only half sarcastically. "Why don't you buy me a balloon."

"Alex!" Anya chided her.

"What? " Alex asked innocently. "It'll solve his problem."

"You know, that's a great idea." Jon agreed.

"No." Anya said. She turned to Alex. "You don't need a balloon, my cherina."

"I know. I was just trying to keep Jon out of trouble."

Anya smiled.

"Something tells me that's an impossible feat." She said with a smirk.

Just then, Claud and Margo joined them.

Margo had a plush Patch in her arms.

"Where did you get him?" Alex asked.

"I won him at the hotel." Margo replied.

"Mama, can we go back and play games?" Alex asked.

"Sure. " Anya said.

Jon grinned.

"Great! I've been meaning to try that claw machine."

Anya rolled her eyes as she led the way back to the hotel.

"What's up?" She asked as she jogged up beside Claudia.

"Kristy wants to hold an emergency meeting of the BSC in our room." She said.

"What about the kids?" Anya asked.

"Mrs. Brewer said she would watch them, along with Mrs. Papadakis and Watson."

"I can watch Alex." Jon volunteered just as he smacked into a pole.

"Yeah." Anya said offhandedly. "Something tells me she'll be watching you."

"Pole 1, head zero." He said underneath of his breath.

Alex's eyes lit up.

"Please Mama!" She begged. "It'll be fun. It'll be like teaching Goofy baby-sitting."

"Karen told you about her dream, huh?" Anya asked.

"Uh-huh." Her daughter replied.

Anya thought about it all the way back to the hotel.

Finally, she agreed on one condition.

"I don't want her to have anymore candy." She said. "She's had enough already."

"Sure thing." Jon said. "More candy."

"No more candy." Anya emphasized.

"Okay." He said.

"I love you, sweetie." Anya said, giving Alex a kiss on her cheek. "Be good, okay?"

"Yes, Mama." Alex replied.

"Although maybe I should be saying that to Jon instead of you." She commented.

"He's good!" Alex insisted. "He just does really silly things."

After she was sure Alex would be okay, Anya rushed upstairs with Claudia to join us for the meeting.

The minute she was gone, Jon smiled down at the almost eight-year-old.

"Let's get the fun started!" He declared. With that, he produced a role of tokens and headed for the Genie claw machine.

Alex followed him eagerly. She had her eye set on a plush Kiara.

"I'll bet you can't get it in two tries." Margo said from just behind them.

"Can so." Jon shot back.

"Prove it." Margo challenged.

"I am King of the claw machine."

Alex giggled while Margo rolled her eyes.

To everyone's surprise, Jon won after only one try.

Even though Alex ended up getting Todd instead of Kiara, she was still happy. She had always loved the Fox and the Hound and Todd was her favorite character.

"Now beat that. " HE said to Margo.

"Watch this." Margo said. With that, she put a token in and watched the machine do its thing.

Genie's hand dipped into the pile of plush and picked out Roo.

Margo frowned.

"I didn't want him." She said. "This machine ripped me off."

"Did not." Jon said.

Margo glared at him. She left her prize in the machine, where Alex picked it up and ended up giving it to a child who hadn't won.

"Aw, how Roodiful."

"This is fun!" The seven-year-old declared. "Wanna play ski ball now?"

"No." Jon said. "I wanna brownie."

Alex frowned.

"Mama said no more chocolate."

"No. She said no more candy." Jon said. "A brownie isn't candy. And what if we told her the aliens from toy story came down and forced the brownie into your mouth?"

"Mama doesn't like when people lie to her."

"It won't be a lie. I have a costume." Jon told her.

Alex shook her head.

"No." She said. Then as an after thought she added, "Are you and Goofy related?"

"Not that I'm aware of." He said.

"Come on. " Alex said as she took his hand and led him over to the ski ball machine. "Let's play some ski ball."

"I wanna play the eat a brownie game." Jon said.

"You can have one. I Don't want one."

"I can?" He asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied.

"It's not very fair for me to eat a brownie if you can't have one. It's not very polite." Jon pointed out.

Alex glanced around before spotting a counter that sold fruit flavored granola bars.

"Mama won't mind if I have one of those." She said, pointing to the granola bar list.

"But I want a brownie." Jon whined.

"You can have your brownie." Alex assured him. "I'm gonna get a granola bar. May I have a lemonade too, please?"

"No problem." Jon said.

"Thanks!" Alex said, flashing him one of her winning smiles.

"It's my pleasure, princess." Jon replied.

Alex giggled.

"Your British accent needs work."

"Yes it does." He agreed.

Getting to the counter, Jon ordered a raspberry lemonade for Alex, along with a granola bar. He also ordered a coke for himself and a large fudge brownie.

Finding a table, they sat down and started to eat their respective snacks.

"Have you ever been to Russia before?" Alex asked.

"Nope." Jon replied.

"Me neither." Alex said.

"I'll bet it's a nice place." He said.

"Mama's been there." Alex said.

"She has?" Jon asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Very cool." He said.

Just then, a woman joined them. She smiled at Jon in recognition before giving Alex a friendly smile.

"Well, we're just running into each other all over the place, aren't we?" She asked, winking at Jon.

"It would appear that way, wouldn't it?" He said. Then just remembering he wasn't alone, he pointed to Alex. "Danielle, this is Alex, Alex, this is my friend, Danielle."

"Privyet." Alex said. "Hi."

"Hi, sweetheart." Danielle replied. "Are you Anastasia's little girl?"

"Yeah." Alex said. "How do you know my Mama?"

"We had a mutual friend." Danielle replied.

"What's that mean?" Alex asked.

Danielle blushed and hastened to explain.

Once she was done, Alex nodded in understanding as she took a bite of her granola bar.

While Jon and Danielle started a small conversation, Alex busied herself with trying to find Karen.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Danielle asked.

"Sure." Jon replied.

After making sure Alex would be okay for a minute, Jon followed Danielle a little ways away.

As they reached the spot, Jon almost slipped on some wet paint that hadn't been cleaned up yet.

"You should be more careful." Danielle said. "In fact, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Am I in trouble with the supervisor?" Jon asked.

"No." She replied. "I just wanna warn you to be a little more careful."

"Okay. Am I in trouble with an inspector?" He asked.

"No." She replied. "Like I said, you need to be more careful."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Jon asked.

Danielle leaned over and whispered something in Jon's ear.

They were soon interrupted by the sound of someone coughing.

Jon whirled around at the noise and rushed to Alex's side.

The little girl was on her knees once again, trying to catch her breath.

"Either eating a granola bar is really tiring," he said, "or something's really wrong here."

"Do you know her mother's phone number?" Danielle asked.

Fortunately, Karen ran over at that moment. She took in the situation and was able to keep it together better than she had the last time.

"I'll go get Anastasia!" Karen said. With that, she ran off.

Soon, Mrs. Papadakis and Mom were around Alex, trying to help her.

Danielle went to call an ambulance while Jon stayed by Alex's side. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he wasn't' about to leave the child now.

He had a feeling Anya was going to be very angry at him when she found out what had happened. He only prayed she would give him the chance to explain.

Meanwhile, in Claudia's room she was sharing with the Perkins girls, we were in the middle of our BSC meeting.

I had already called the meeting to order and Claud had passed around a few Mickey bars along with other assorted treats.

Anya was munching on some trail mix mixed with sunflower seeds while the rest of us took a Mickey bar.

"So any new business?" I asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

I was about to say I had some and go on to explain about a new festival idea I had when the door opened, revealing Karen.

She looked scared and her eyes were as wide as saucers behind her pink glasses.

"Karen, what's wrong?" I asked.

Karen wasted no time.

"It's Alex!" She explained worriedly. "She was eating a granola bar and she started coughing! Jon asked me to get Anastasia."

Anya jumped to her feet, the bag of trail mix falling to the floor in her haste.

"Are they still in the game room?" She asked my sister.

Karen nodded.

Anya followed her out of the room with the rest of us close behind.

I wasn't sure what had happened, but I prayed Alex would be okay soon…