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. Our only plan is to see the girls, but that's not until tonight, so it was a good time for us to do that.
"I was planning to clean my room, but that can wait for another time," said Dawn.
"Good plan," I said.
I felt a pinch. I was getting a splinter.
"Are you alright?" asked Dawn.
"I noticed I'm starting to get a splinter," I said.
"Why don't you go inside to take care of it while Dawn and I finish out here?" asked Jeff.
I had gone inside to go handle it when Sharon and Dad came home.
"Do you need our help bringing the groceries in?" asked Dawn.
"That would be great," said Sharon.
"You just missed Mary Anne. We were in the middle of raking when she saw a splinter on her hand," said Dawn.
"We told her we can finish up," said Jeff. "I'll put the things. I'll help in a second."
Inside, I was in the bathroom trying to remove the splinter, but it was stuck and had a hard time with it. I never had one in my life and I don't want to mess it up while trying to do this on my own. Once I heard Dad's voice, I came down to see if he can help with that.
"Dad, are you free for a second? I'm having a hard time getting that splinter out," I said.
"That sounded stubborn," said Dawn.
"Yes," I said.
"I can help you with that," said Dad.
He looked over. "We'll be down in a moment."
"Take your time," said Jeff.
"We can put the groceries away," said Dawn.
He was able to take it out in no time. I don't see how he can handle that better than I could.
In the living room, we came to join just after they finished putting stuff away.
"We have some news we'd like to share," said Sharon.
"Like what?" asked Dawn.
"Your mom and I have decided to adopt an orphan from the Stoneybrook Orphanage," said Dad.
"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," I explained.
"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.
"I forgot about that part," said Dawn.
"Carlos was the youngest of three siblings. He doesn't have any family. His whole family, including his parents and older siblings, got killed in a car accident five years ago," I said. "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.
"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 does open up to me though because he knows I'm there to listen. He tells me he have been dealing with depression, so I suggested him to Dr. Reece. I wondered how he's making out with that," I said.
"That's good," said Dad.
"Where do you plan to put him?" asked Dawn.
"Well, we do have an attic," said Dad.
"That's true," I said.
"I'm starting my vacation on Monday, so I plan to clean it there and get it ready before we adopt him," said Dad.
"I can help. I'm free," I said.
"Do you mind if we tell the girls when we go meet them tonight?" asked Dawn.
"That's fine," said Sharon.
Later, Dad said, "Do you have any plans tomorrow after church?"
"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.
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'm free on that night. I can take over for you while you help your father," said Dawn.
"Okay," I said.
"I'll try to help out, too, but it's a busy week of baby-sitting," said Dawn.
"No worries," 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."
"And, excited since he have been living there for the past five years," added Stacey.
"The attic is going to be his room, so we're cleaning it up while Dad's on vacation from work," I said.
"That's good," said Mallory.
"Can we pitch in?" asked Kristy.
"Sure, the more, the merrier," I said. "I'm sure Dad won't mind."
"What happened with your hand?" asked Stacey.
"I had a splinter earlier," I said.
"That sounds painful," said Kristy.
"I had trouble, so I was able to ask Dad for help," I said.
"Good," said Claudia.
When we got home, I said, "All the girls were excited. They offered to help."
"That's fine," said Dad.