Baby-Sitters Club belong to Ann M. Martin
Dad and Sharon asked me and Dawn to go rake leaves on a Saturday morning while they go out shopping. They also asked Jeff, who was visiting from California, to help us to get that done faster. I'm Mary Anne Spier and I'm 13. I live in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. I attend Stoneybrook Middle School as an eighth grader. It was a little cloudy, but it was still a nice day to rake. We plan to see our girls this afternoon.
"I was gonna clean my room, but that can wait for another time," said Dawn.
"Good plan," I said.
We had just finished when I could feel pins and needles on my right hand all of sudden.
"Are you okay?" asked Dawn.
"My hand is getting sore for some reason," I said.
That was when I noticed I was getting a splinter.
"Glad we finished in time," I said.
"I know," said Jeff.
"Why don't you go take care of it while Jeff and I put stuff away?" asked Dawn.
I went upstairs while Dad and Sharon were coming home. Dawn and Jeff came inside at the same time.
"You look happy about something," said Dawn.
"We have some news," said Sharon.
"Where's your sister?" asked Dad.
"We had just finished with raking when she started to get a splinter. She had just gone upstairs," said Dawn. "I told her she can go take care of it while Jeff and I put things away."
"We can wait for her," said Dad.
Dawn and Jeff helped bringing the groceries in while I was in the bathroom trying to get that splinter out with tweezers, but it was being stubborn. I came down to Dad.
"Do you have a moment to help me with this splinter?" I asked. "I'm having a hard time getting it out."
"Sure," said Dad. "Excuse me for a moment."
"We can finish from here," said Dawn.
Luckily, he was able to get it out. It was starting to bleed.
"I'll join you in a moment," I said.
"Take your time," said Dad. "We'll have to keep taps on that."
"I thought about the same thing," I said.
I went to get some tissues to cover it until the bleeding stopped. I didn't want to put a band aid because my hand is sensitive to that stuff. I went go join them in the living room to have a family meeting.
"Mom and Richard had news," said Dawn.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Richard and I have decided to adopt an orphan," said Sharon.
"Really?" I asked.
"Where?" asked Dawn.
"Stoneybrook Orphanage," said Dad.
"I hope we'd get someone older. I like being the youngest," said Jeff.
"We haven't decide on age yet," said Sharon.
"But the ad says that the adoption day will be taken place a week from tomorrow," said Dad.
When they mentioned that, I knew that place looked familiar.
"I know where that is," I said. "I know two of the kids from there. One of them is Lily. We attend the same school and are good friends. Then, she introduced to her long time friend, Carlos. He plays all of the sports, including basketball, against my school. You should see him play. He's excellent. We hit it off right away. She told me that he started doing it in fifth grade, but we have been friends since sixth grade. He knows Shannon. He attends Stoneybrook Day School with her."
"How did you knew about that orphanage?" asked Dawn.
"Lily and I would do school projects together all the time," I said. "I'd either go there or we'd do them here."
"I remember meeting her a few times," said Dad.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that part," said Dawn.
"Carlos was the youngest of three siblings. He became an orphan when he was only eight. His whole family, including his parents and older siblings, got killed in a car accident," I said. "That's all the family he had left. Both sets of grandparents died a long time ago and his parents had no siblings, which is why he have been there since then."
"That's a shame," said Dawn.
"I know. There is one thing: Lily told me that he doesn't like to talk about it because he will get emotional," I said.
"Understandable," said Dad.
"He also suffers depression," I said. "I recall her telling me that he have been like that since he joined them. When I saw him not long ago, I suggested him to Dr. Reece. I wondered how he's making out with that."
"Where do you plan to put him?" asked Dawn.
"Well, we do have an attic," said Dad.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "That's a good idea."
"I plan to clean it there and get it ready before we adopt him," said Dad. "I'm starting my vacation on Monday, so it would be a good time to do."
"I can help. I'm free," I said.
"It feels like our family is getting bigger," said Dawn.
"Do you mind if we tell the girls when we go meet them tonight?" I asked.
"That's fine," said Sharon.
Then, I offered to help bring in the groceries while Dawn and Jeff put stuff away.
Later, when we left to join the girls, Dawn said, "Do you have any sitting jobs at night?"
"Yes, just one," I said. "It's on Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Barretts."
"I can take over for you while you help your father," said Dawn.
"Okay," I said.
At the mall, Dawn and I told the girls the news and they were thrilled that we're adopting an orphan.
"I bet your family is going to adopt Carlos," said Kristy.
"I mentioned it about him," I said. "He's going to be so surprised. The attic is going to be his room, so we're cleaning it up while Dad's on vacation from work."
"That's good," said Mallory.
"What happened to your hand?" asked Stacey.
"I had a splinter. It happened after we finished raking," I said.
"Ouch," said Kristy.
"I know. Thank god we were done at the time," I said. "I had a hard time to remove it, so I had to ask Dad to help."
"They can be stubborn to be taken out," said Mallory.
When I got home, I said, "All the girls were excited to hear about the news."
"Do you have any plans tomorrow after church?" asked Dad.
"No," I replied.
"I noticed all the rooms, including the attic, are big enough to have twin beds, so what's that I'm planning to do," said Dad.
"I like the thought of that," I said.
"We can go to a furniture store to buy them," said Dad. "I'll let the clerk know about making the delivery later in the week to give us time to clean the attic, especially before all the beds come in."
"Makes sense," I said.
"We can also go to the mall for the wallpaper and we can go to Wal-Mart for drawers, nightstand, and some hangers," said Dad.
"I also know Carlos is into sports," I said.
"Most boys are like that," said Dad. "We can always leave the rest for now to let him decide on what he wants to do with it."
"That's a good idea," I said.