Ann Martin - Here Come The Bridesmaids

"Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la," Myriah, Johnny, and Charlotte joined in.

"Come on, everybody!" Ben urged.

Jake blushed. Becca rolled her eyes. Nina began moving her mouth, but nothing came out.

"If you want to have hot chocolate, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la," Ben continued in this goofy voice, "you must sing these Christmas carols, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la."

Ben was being unfair. Some of those kids are super-shy. He was tormenting them!

But you know what? One by one, they all started singing. Even Nina. It was a little like the Whos, in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

As for me, quiet Mallory Pike? Well, I guess my performance at the Baby-sitters Club meeting had loosened me up. I sang out, horrible voice and all.

When we finished the verse, Mathew asked, "What comes next?"

"Wait." Ben ran into the living room and returned with a big book of carols. He flipped through the pages and said, "Um, here it is. 'Fast away the old year passes.' "

We sang through the whole song, with Ben calling out the words in advance. By the end of it, everyone was smiling. The kids wore

these little brown hot-chocolate mustaches.

"This is funl" Jamie exclaimed.

"Remember last year, when those kids went from door to door, singing carols?" Charlotte said.

"They came to our house," Jake said, "and my mom invited them in for cookies."

"Can we do that?" James asked.

"Go caroling?" I replied. "You really want to?"

"Yeeeeaaaahhh!" It was unanimous.

Ben and I looked at each other. "When?" he muttered.

"Closer to Christmas, like next Saturday," I suggested.

"Yeeeeaaaahhh!"

The kids were jumping up and down. Nina's hot chocolate mug went flying (fortunately it was empty and plastic).

"Sounds good to me," Ben said, paging through the book again. "I guess we better keep practicing. Okay, how about 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer7?"

Well, we got through that one, and "Silent Night," and "Oh, Hanukkah," and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and a couple of others.

Halfway through "We Three Kings," I

caught a glimpse of the stove dock turning to 12:27.

I was due home at 12:15.

"Oops, I have to go!" I blurted out.

Ben looked disappointed. He walked me to the door, while the kids scattered.

"I don't know about this," Ben said. "What if the kids get too shy again? What if we don't sound good?"

"Don't worry, it’ll be great," I said. " 'Bye!"

" 'Bye."

What’s the worst thing about having seven siblings? Sometimes your parents don't even know you're alive.

What’s the best thing? Sometimes your parents don't even know you're alive.

When I got home, Dad was busy chewing out three of my brothers while Mom was doing an art project in the basement with the rest of my sibs.

I slipped right in the back door, twenty minutes late. No one said a word.

Quickly I tiptoed to my room. When the phone rang, I called out, "I'll get it!" as if I'd been in the house for hours.

I picked up the phone in my parents' room. "Hello?"

"Mallory? Hi, if s Claudia! Guess who just called me?"

"Who?"

"Mrs. Barrett."

Sometimes BSC clients call during non-meeting times. It’s usually an emergency, which means Claudia has to call around frantically.

"She's, like, hysterical," Claudia continued. "I had to listen to a lecture about bad caterers. Then she tells me every single thing going wrong with the wedding plans. Finally she says she totally forgot about all the kids who are coming to the wedding. What if they make too much noise? What if they get hun—“

"So she needs a sitter?"

"Two. I already lined up Shannon, but no one else can do it."

"I can!" I exclaimed.

"Great," Claudia replied. "Thanks. We'll talk later. I'm going to call her right now. 'Bye."

" 'Bye."

How cool.

I was going to be part of the wedding. Official Keeper of the Kids. Maybe I could stand in the receiving line with the families.

I began dancing around the bedroom. I began thinking about a beautiful dress I'd seen at Steven E, a store in the mall. Maybe I'd be allowed to buy it for the wedding. I had a whole week to convince Mom and Dad.

I froze.

A week from today. That was the day of the wedding.

Saturday.

The same day as the Christmas caroling I'd just planned.

Uh-oh.

I picked up the phone and began tapping out Claudia's number.

"Hey! Quit it!" shouted my brother, Adam, over the phone. "I'm talking!"

I was about to yell at him, tell him to get off, but I didn't. I just said "Sony" and hung up.

It was no use. Claudia was already calling Mrs. Barrett. Confirming the appointment.

One thing you never, ever do as a BSC member is cancel an appointment — unless you have somebody to cover for you. (Even then Kristy chews you out.)

With a sigh, I slumped onto the bed. I was

stuck. I was going to have to let down all those kids.

Well, maybe not. We hadn't said we were definitely doing it. Had we?

I waited a few minutes and picked up the phone again. Adam was finished, so I called Ben.

I explained everything to him. I hoped he wouldn't be too mad.

The first thing he said was, "Cancel it."

"Cancel my job?" I asked. "I can't do that."

"Well, you said you'd do this first."

"Yeah, but this is a job."

"So? What am I going to tell the kids?"

"Ben, we said we'd think about caroling. We didn't say we would do it!"

"Tell them that. My brothers have been practicing! They can't wait."

I fell silent. I could hear Ben breathing like an angry bull. "I ... I don't know what to say," I murmured.

"So you're going to cancel on us?" Now he was practically shouting.

"I have to, Ben."

"Fine. Great. Whatever."

Click.

I stared at the receiver, gaping.

He hung up on me. Just slammed the phone

down without saying good-bye.

What a jerk.

I slammed the phone down, too. Let him take the kids by himself. Let him do whatever he wanted by himself.

No way was I ever going to talk to him again.

Chapter 5.

Suzi.

You know what Stacey calls me? A little dictator. Because I dictated my entry to her.

Stacey thinks that is very funny.

I know how to write. But it takes too long. Anyway, I really like the way Stacey puts hearts on her i' s. So I let her write, when she baby-sat for me.

I am in my old house. I miss it so much. Even though I still live here. That's because my family will be moving. So we're kind of connected to the new house now.

I miss my old bed, too. I'm going to sleep on a bunk bed in the new house, with Madeleine, my new sister. She's only four. I'm five and five-twelfths.

Know what else? Soon I will have two daddies. My new one is named Franklin. Maybe he is related to Benjamin Franklin. I asked him that once, and he just laughed. But he did not say no.

My old daddy got a divorce. He lives in Milwaukee now. That's far away. Like a million miles, or maybe even a thousand. But not a googolplex. That’s the highest number in the universe. My big brother, Buddy, told me.

I miss my old daddy even more than my old house and bed.

The new house is yucky. I do not not NOT want to move there.

We went there the day before yesterday with my new daddy's kids. Stacey went with us, but she mostly played with Marnie and Ryan. The house smelled like paint. Ick! And the kitchen wallpaper had pictures of broccoli on it. So we have to look at it while we eat. That is so disgusting. One of the bathrooms has a gross hole in the ground instead of a toilet. Franklin said the plumbers were coming to put in a new one.

The ceilings have holes, too, with wires coming out of them. Buddy said they were alien monster claws, and I got scared. Mommy yelled at him. He's mean to me.