Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 033

"Yeah!" agreed the rest of us.

"I know," said Kristy. "I have to admit I'm going to miss that regular job, though. The Papadakis kids are so nice. I really like them. You should have seen what they made their grandfather to welcome him back to his house." "What?" asked Jessi.

"A welcome-home card that's taller than Linny." "You're kidding!" cried Stacey.

Kristy shook her head. "Nope. They worked hard on it, too. Even Sari. Mrs. Papadakis had given them lots of materials - paper doilies, cotton balls, glitter, stars, you name it. Linny drew big letters that spell out 'WELCOME HOME, POPPY/ Hannie colored them in, and Sari glued stuff anywhere she felt like it. The card is actually sort of funny-looking. There are glue drippings even/where, things falling off the edges, and every time the kids pick the card up, glitter showers off of it. But they're really proud of their work." "That's kind of sweet," I said.

"Yup. Anyway, one good thing about the end of the job with the Papadakises is that now I'll have more time to spend with Emily. Which brings me to my next piece of news," said Kristy. "The teachers gave Mom and Watson the results of their reevaluation of Emily." I glanced around my bedroom. Every single one of us had leaned forward. On the floor, Jessi in her jeans and ballet leotard, and Mal in a new sweater dress, were leaning forward. On the bed, Stacey in a funky New York sweat shirt, Mary Anne in one of Dawn's baggy T-shirts, and I in a Day-Glo-striped top and skintight knit pants, were leaning forward. And on the desk chair, Dawn, wearing an outfit of Mary Anne's, had cocked her head toward Kristy. (She couldn't lean forward or the chair would have fallen over.) "The news," said Kristy, "is good." The six of us let out sighs of relief and relaxed a little.

"The teachers say Emily has made a lot of progress," Kristy began. "First of all, she's not so afraid of everything. She trusts people more. She knows that when she's left somewhere, or even just left alone in her room, someone will come back for her. She's still not crazy about thunderstorms or the dark, and she still cries out in the night sometimes, but she's better about both things." "What about school?" I asked, sounding like a nervous parent.

"The teachers are positive that Emily will be able to start preschool in the fall," Kristy answered. "That's fine with us. She'll be three then, which is the age Andrew and Karen started preschool. Also - " Ring, ring! "I'll get it," said Dawn. She picked up the phone. "Hello, Baby-sitters Club. Dawn Schafer speaking." (A pause.) "Oh, sure. I'll get right back to you. 'Bye." Dawn hung up, and we arranged for a sitter for the Delaneys, who live in Kristy's neighborhood. We had to call on our associate members, though, since the seven of us regular sitters were all busy that afternoon. Luckily, Shannon Kilbourne could take the job.

The phone rang a couple more times then, and we got busy with our calendar and schedules. Kristy was beaming. She just loves busy meetings.

The meeting finally settled down, though, and Kristy finished telling us about Emily. "One thing we'll have to do this summer is get her toilet-trained," she said. "But I think Emily will manage that. The best part, though, is that the teachers can't believe the progress Emily has made in terms of skills. You know, learning her colors and stuff. And that," she went on, "is due to you, Claud." I grinned. I felt so proud. I, Claudia Kishi, the not-so-hot eighth-grade student, was a teacher! A good one. I could teach kids things, and teach them so well that real teachers were impressed! "Remember how worried you were about Emily?" Jessi said to Kristy.

"Yeah." Kristy looked a little sheepish. "I guess I was more worried than I needed to be. Mom and Watson and the doctor and the teachers kept saying Emily would be fine. I was afraid something was really wrong. Thank goodness everyone else was right. They knew what they were doing. Oh, you know what else the teachers said?" Kristy was looking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"That you should keep working with Emily. Mom wants to talk to you about that. You don't have to turn her into Super-Baby, but your tutoring sessions are good preparation for real school." "Wow! They really want me to work with her?" "Yup. I guess I could do it, or Nannie could.

But Mom says it's good for Emily to get close to people outside our family. Besides, you're doing a great job." "Thanks! I guess I ought to call your mom. We haven't set up Emily's next session. Do you think your mother's home from work yet?" Kristy looked at my clock. "I don't know. It depends. She might be. Try calling her, okay?" "Okay." I reached for the phone and dialed the Thomas/Brewer number.

After three rings, I heard a fumbling noise at the other end. There was a pause. Then a voice said cheerfully, "Heyyo!" Oh, my lord! Emily had answered the phone. "Emily? It's Claudia." "Hi, Ko-ee." "Hi!" I put my hand over the receiver. "You guys! You won't believe this. Emily answered the phone!" Kristy looked shocked. Then she grinned. "Let me talk to her." I handed her the phone. "Hi, Emily! It's me, Kristy." Kristy paused, smiling. Then she looked at the rest of us and announced, "Emily just said, 'Heyyo.' " Well, of course when that happened, everyone else wanted to talk to Emily on the phone. It wasn't until the last of us had gotten off that I said to Kristy, who was holding the receiver, "Do you think your mother's there? Someone must have helped Emily get to the phone, and I still need to talk to your mom to set up the next tutoring session." Kristy giggled. "I forgot about that." After asking Emily about five times if she could please talk to Mommy, she finally reached Nannie, who said that Kristy's mom wasn't home but that she'd call me that evening.

It was after six by then, so my friends left. I stayed in my bedroom. I sat at my desk and stared up at the photos of Mimi and me. "I can't believe I thought I was adopted," I said to Mimi's picture. "But you have to admit, the clues were there. And Emily Michelle and I do have a lot in common. But I am so, so, so glad I'm your real granddaughter. I mean, your family-related-blood kind of granddaughter. And I'm glad Mom and Dad are my birth parents. I'm even glad Janine is my natural sister. Really. I am." I stood up, turned off my light and walked down the hall to Janine's room. "Let's make dinner together tonight," I said to her. "We'll surprise Mom and Dad. It'll be fun." Janine looked at me in surprise. Then she said, "Okay." But first she had to save some material on her disks and switch off her computer. When that was done, she smiled at me. My sister and I went downstairs together.

About the Author ANN M. MARTIN did a lot of baby-sitting when she was growing up in Princeton, New Jersey. Now her favorite baby-sitting charge is her cat, Mouse, who lives with her in her Manhattan apartment.

Ann Martin's Apple Paperbacks are Bummer Summer, Inside Out, Stage Fright, Me and Katie (the Pest), and all the other books in the Babysitters Club series.

She is a former editor of books for children, and was graduated from Smith College. She likes ice cream, the beach, and I Love Lucy; and she hates to cook.

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BSC033 - Claudia and the Great Search

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