“Kids,” began Mommy, “we have good news for you. Everyone has agreed on equal time. Even the judge. You are very lucky that the arrangements can be changed this easily.” (Andrew started to jump up and shout. But I kicked his ankle. This was not the time for that.)
“This is what we have decided on,” said Daddy. “Starting on the first day of next month, you will spend a month at the big house, then a month at the little house, and so on. Next year, we will switch the months so that you will not be at the same house each Thanksgiving or Christmas or for your birthdays.”
“How does that sound?” asked Mommy.
“It sounds great,” I replied. And it did — even though Mommy had begun to cry.
The Puppy Mix-up
I knew why Mommy was sad. It was because she would not see as much of Andrew and me. She would miss us. Andrew and I had asked for a big change. “But now,” I said to Mommy one day, “I will see you just as much as I see Daddy. Even Steven. Fair is fair. Besides, when I am at Daddy’s we can still talk on the phone. And if we have a program at school, you can still come to it. Plus, you will not have to get baby-sitters so often.”
“Honey, I know,” said Mommy. She smiled. “I just need to get used to this idea. That’s all. And you are right. Even Steven. Fair is fair.”
I told myself to be extra nice to Mommy — Seth, too — and to remember to call her a lot when I was at Daddy’s.
* * *
Meanwhile, another exciting thing was happening. The puppies were going to their new homes. They were old enough to leave Astrid. One day when Hannie and I went to Maria’s house, only five puppies were left.
“And three more people are going to pick up their puppies today,” said Maria.
“Oh, how can Astrid stand to see them go?” I asked. “That is so sad.” For a moment, I thought of Mommy. She felt sad watching Andrew and me leave. And we were only leaving for a month. The puppies were leaving forever.
But Maria replied, “Astrid doesn’t mind. Baby animals are supposed to leave their mothers.” (I guess puppies are different from children.) “Come on! I hear a car. Let’s see who is here.”
A man and a boy came to the door. The boy was about my age. When Mr. Kilbourne let them inside, the boy ran to the puppies. “Hi, Bucko!” he cried. He picked up a puppy wearing a yellow ribbon. “You can finally come home with me! Wait until you see your bed!”
Just as Bucko was leaving with his new family, Mr. and Mrs. Franco arrived to pick up their puppy. “ ’Bye, Bucko!” Maria and Hannie and I called. Then we followed the Francos to Astrid and her babies.
“Okay,” said Mr. Kilbourne. “It’s the red ribbon, isn’t it?” He stooped down and picked up the puppy wearing the red ribbon. Then he handed it to Mrs. Franco. “Here you go.”
Mrs. Franco reached for the puppy. But she did not take it. Instead, she leaned forward and stared at it.
“What is the matter?” asked her husband.
“This is not Twinkie,” she replied. “This is not the puppy we chose.”
“You’re kidding,” said Mr. Kilbourne.
“Dear, the Dodsons are here!” Mrs. Kilbourne called to Maria’s father. And she led them inside.
Mr. Dodson reached for the puppy with the green ribbon. Then he drew back. “That is not Woody,” he said.
“What is going on here?” asked Mr. Franco.
He sounded angry. Maria and I looked at each other. Uh-oh. The green ribbon and the red ribbon.
“Um,” said Maria, “try switching the puppies.”
Mrs. Franco picked up the Dodsons’ puppy. Mr. Dodson picked up the Francos’ puppy.
“Twinkie!” cried Mrs. Franco.
“Woody!” cried Mr. Dodson.
“Maria,” said her father sharply. “How did you know the puppies had been switched?”
Maria and I had to tell our story then. The last thing Maria said was, “It was an accident. We are sorry.”
“Really, really, really sorry,” I added.
The Kilbournes were not too mad. (They just said they would talk to Maria later.) When Hannie and I left that day, we said good-bye to the rest of Astrid’s puppies. The next time we visited, the puppies would be gone.
Bob
One morning I woke up at the little house and thought, “This is my last complete day here for one whole month.” Andrew and I were going to the big house the next morning. For an entire, long month.
Guess what happened at breakfast. I had just put a spoonful of cereal in my mouth when Andrew said, “Excuse me! Excuse me! I have something to say. Excuse me, everybody!”
“Yes, Andrew?” said Seth.
“I have decided what pet to get.”
Well, for heaven’s sake. I had forgotten about Andrew and his pet.
“What did you decide on?” asked Mommy.
“A hermit crab. It is little, and it stays in a tank, and it is very easy to take care of.”
“That sounds like a fine pet,” said Mommy.
“Just fine,” agreed Seth.
“We will go to the pet store this afternoon,” added Mommy.
* * *
Andrew sang songs in the car on the way to the pet store. Mostly he sang “Bingo.” “B-I-N-G-O! And Bingo was his name-o!”
“Bingo. That is a nice name. Is that what you are going to name your hermit crab?” I asked my brother.
“Nope,” replied Andrew.
“Oh. What are you going to name it?”
“I don’t know. I have to see whether it is a boy or a girl.”
“Honey,” said Mommy, “I am not sure we will be able to tell a boy hermit crab from a girl hermit crab.”
“The people at the pet store will,” said Andrew.
And that was the end of that.
When we reached the pet store we walked straight to the counter.
“Let me talk!” Andrew whispered to Mommy.
“All right,” she replied.
“Excuse me, sir,” said Andrew to the man behind the counter. “Where are the hermit crabs?”
“Right over there,” he said. He pointed to a tank.
Mommy and Andrew and I looked at the tank of tiny hermit crabs in their shells. Andrew looked the longest. He stood there forever. I felt bored. “Mom-my,” I whined.
“Go look at the fish,” Mommy said.
I think I stared at those fish for ten hours. When I returned to the hermit crabs, Andrew was still standing in front of the tank. He was saying, “Too little, ugly shell, bad colors, too shy,” as he looked at each crab. But, finally, finally, finally he chose one.
The man behind the counter helped us find a tank and some other supplies. While he was ringing up our things, Andrew asked him, “Is my crab a boy or a girl?”
The man looked startled. “Uh, I’m not sure,” he replied. “I can’t tell.”
I thought Andrew would be disappointed, but he just said, “I think it is a boy.”
And that was the end of that.
“So,” I said to Andrew as we were riding home in the car, “if your crab is a boy, what are you going to name him?”
Andrew glanced down at the tank in his lap. He squinched up his face. Then he said, “I am going to name him Bob.”
A few minutes later, as we were pulling into our driveway, I realized something. Emily Junior and Bob were going to be two-twos with Andrew and me. So they would be Emily Two-two and Bob Two-two.
Good-bye and Hello
That night was the last night Andrew and I would spend at the little house for a long time. It was very busy.
First Mommy helped us get ready to switch houses. “You will not be back here for a month, so if you see something you cannot do without, bring it with you.”
I knew what she meant. Since Andrew and I are two-twos, we have clothes and toys and stuff at both houses. But we do not have two of everything, and besides, more of our stuff is at Mommy’s than at Daddy’s. I checked my school papers and my books and some art projects I was working on
. I piled things into a box.
Then I had a talk with Emily Junior. “You are going to be a two-two from now on,” I told her. “Just like me. Goldfishie and Crystal Light cannot be two-twos. They have to stay at the big house because it is not easy to move a fish tank full of water around. But you can go back and forth with me. And Bob can go back and forth with Andrew.”
I packed up Emily’s rat supplies. In the next room, Andrew was packing up his stuff, and Bob’s crab supplies.
When we had finished packing, Mommy said, “Okay, time for dinner.” That was all she said. So boy, were Andrew and I surprised when we walked into the dining room and found … a party! Mommy had put flowers on the table and tied balloons to the back of each chair. And Seth had fixed a special supper.
After dinner, we watched a video together. (Mommy had chosen Mary Poppins.) And we fixed popcorn. We pretended we were in a movie theater.
* * *
The next day was Tuesday. It was THE BIG DAY. I woke up early. I just could not sleep. Andrew could not sleep either. He tiptoed into my room in his pajamas. He climbed in bed with me.
“Karen?” he whispered. “What if we do not like staying at the big house for a month?”
“We will like it,” I replied. “We love the big house. And we will not miss Daddy anymore.”
“What if we miss Mommy?”
“Then we can call her. She will be right here with Seth.” Andrew did not say anything. “Well, you know what?” I went on. “If we do not like these arrangements, we can always talk to Mommy and Daddy again. The judge will help us fix things. She wants us to be happy. Anyway, think of it, Andrew. The big house for a month! You can build all sorts of things with Sam. You can bake cookies with Nannie. Hey, we will get to see David Michael in his play! Best of all, Daddy will be there whenever we want him. And we will not have to go back and forth so often.”
Andrew was smiling. “I can see Shannon,” he added.
“And in a month, we will come back here.”
After school that day, Mommy and Seth took Andrew and me to Daddy’s. Mommy cried a little. So did Seth. So did Andrew and I.
“Good-bye!” I said, as Seth drove away.
“See you later, alligators!” Mommy called to us.
Andrew and I dried our tears as soon as we were inside the house. Daddy was there to greet us. He had come home from work early. He gave us big hugs.
Then Sam said, “Andrew, I have a new model airplane. Want to help me with it?”
And Kristy said, “Karen, come upstairs with me. I will help you get Emily Junior settled. And tomorrow I want you to meet my friend Tess.”
That was how our first month at the big house began. I thought it was off to a good start.
About the Author
ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.
Copyright © 1994 by Ann M. Martin
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First edition, 1994
e-ISBN 978-1-338-05706-5
Ann M. Martin, Karen's Two Families
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