Karen's Two Families

  The author wishes to thank John C. Esposito, attorney-at-law, for his suggestions and comments while preparing this manuscript.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Astrid of Grenville

  2 Missing Daddy

  3 David Michael’s Play

  4 Big Enough

  5 Emily’s Bed

  6 Astrid’s Puppies

  7 Yipes!

  8 Andrew’s Pet

  9 Whose Rules?

  10 A Madhouse

  11 Ms. Colman’s Advice

  12 Mommy and Daddy

  13 Ribbons

  14 Trouble

  15 Lawyers

  16 Oops!

  17 Changes

  18 The Puppy Mix-up

  19 Bob

  20 Good-bye and Hello

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Astrid of Grenville

  “ ’Bye, Daddy!” I called. “I’m going to Maria’s house!”

  I closed the door behind me. I ran across the lawn to the street. Spring had finally arrived, and I was glad. All winter the grass had been brown and dull-looking. Now it was green again. And thick. It felt like a carpet under my feet. It made me think of a silly poem Mommy had taught me:

  Spring has sprung. The grass is green.

  I wonder where the flowers been.

  (You have to say “been” like “bean.”)

  Spring has sprung. The grass is ris.

  I wonder where the birdies is.

  Pretty silly. Andrew loves that poem. (Andrew is my little brother. He is four going on five.)

  I looked both ways. Then I crossed the street. I did not go to Maria’s house. Not yet. First I went to Hannie’s. Hannie Papadakis is one of my best friends. She lives next door to Maria Kilbourne.

  I rang Hannie’s bell.

  “Coming!” called Hannie.

  A few moments later Hannie dashed outside. “Okay, let’s go!” she cried. She grabbed my hand.

  Hannie and I ran to Maria’s, and Maria let us inside.

  “Where is she? Where is Astrid?” I asked.

  “On the sun porch,” Maria replied. “Resting.”

  “Resting?” I whispered. “Okay.”

  My friends and I tiptoed to the sun porch. We peered in at Astrid of Grenville.

  “When are the babies due?” I asked.

  “Soon,” replied Maria. “I do not know how many days. But soon.”

  Astrid of Grenville is a Bernese mountain dog. She is expecting puppies. Hannie and Maria and I cannot wait. Astrid has had puppies before so we know this will be exciting. Guess what. My stepbrother David Michael has a puppy from Astrid’s last litter. He named the puppy Shannon after Maria’s big sister!

  We sat gently on the couch where Astrid was napping.

  “Oh, how are we ever going to be able to wait for the puppies to be born?” I said. “I wish Astrid would have them right now. How many babies do you think she will have, Maria?”

  Maria frowned. “I am not sure. But a lot. Maybe eight or ten.”

  “Wow!” I exclaimed. I paused. “Hey, maybe Mommy or Daddy will let me have a puppy.”

  Hannie and Maria spoke at exactly the same time. Hannie said, “Karen, you know what your parents said about pets.” And Maria said, “Astrid’s babies are going to be purebred. We are going to sell them. The puppies will cost a fortune. Plus, a whole bunch of people have already said they want to buy puppies after they are born.”

  Boo and bullfrogs. Oh, well. I did not really think I could have a puppy. We have enough pets already. That was why Mommy and Daddy had said no more. At least, no more big pets.

  I sighed. “I know I cannot have a puppy,” I said. “I just want to watch Astrid’s puppies grow. Maybe I could even watch them be born. That would be cool.”

  “Well, maybe you could watch,” said Maria thoughtfully. “If the puppies are born during the daytime.”

  “And if you are at your father’s house,” added Hannie.

  Those were some big ifs. But I had a good feeling about Astrid and her puppies. And I was going to think positively. More than anything, I wanted to see those puppies grow.

  Missing Daddy

  I knew there was a good chance I would not be at Daddy’s house when Astrid’s puppies were born. I would be at Mommy’s. You see, I live at two houses. I have two homes. I am a two-two.

  Hello. My name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old. My hair is long, I have some freckles, and my eyes are blue. Some people call me Four-eyes. That is because I wear glasses. I have two pairs. The blue pair is for reading. The pink pair is for the rest of the time.

  I am in second grade. I go to a school called Stoneybrook Academy. It is in Stoneybrook, Connecticut, which is where I live. My teacher is Ms. Colman. She is gigundoly nice, the best teacher I have ever had. She never yells. She hardly even gets mad. When I am noisy, and she wants me to settle down, she just says, “Indoor voice, please, Karen.”

  How did I get two families? Well, I did not always have them. When I was very little, I had just one family: Mommy, Daddy, Andrew, me. We lived together in Daddy’s big house. It is the house he grew up in. But after awhile, Mommy and Daddy began to fight. They fought a lot. About everything. Finally they decided they could not live together anymore. They loved Andrew and me very much, but they did not love each other. They were going to get a divorce.

  After the divorce, Mommy moved into a little house. It is not too far from Daddy’s. Now Andrew and I live at the big house with Daddy every other weekend and on some vacations and holidays. We live at the little house with Mommy the rest of the time. (That is why I would probably be at Mommy’s when Astrid’s puppies were born.)

  Mommy and Daddy have gotten married again (but not to each other). Mommy married a man named Seth. He is my stepfather. Daddy married a woman named Elizabeth. She is my stepmother. And that is how I would up with two families.

  These are the people in my little-house family: Mommy, Seth, Andrew, me. These are the pets: Rocky, Midgie, and Emily Junior. Rocky and Midgie are Seth’s cat and dog. Emily Junior is my rat.

  These are the people in my big-house family: Daddy, Elizabeth, Andrew, me, Kristy, Charlie, Sam, David Michael, Emily Michelle, and Nannie. Kristy, Charlie, Sam, and David Michael are Elizabeth’s kids. (She was married once before she married Daddy.) So they are my stepsister and stepbrothers. Kristy is thirteen. I just love her. She is a good baby-sitter. Charlie and Sam are old. They go to high school. David Michael is seven like me. But he does not go to my school. Emily Michelle is my adopted sister. Daddy and Elizabeth adopted her from the faraway country of Vietnam. She is two and a half. I named my rat after her. Nannie is Elizabeth’s mother, which makes her my stepgrandmother. She helps take care of the house and us kids, since Daddy and Elizabeth both work.

  The pets at the big house are Boo-Boo, Shannon, Goldfishie, and Crystal Light the Second. Boo-Boo is Daddy’s fat old cat, Shannon is the puppy I told you about, and Goldfishie and Crystal Light are (what else?) goldfish!

  Remember when I said I am a two-two? I am Karen Two-Two because I have two of so many things. I have two homes and two families, two mommies and two daddies, two cats and two dogs. Andrew is a two-two, too. I used to think we were lucky. But lately I have been changing my mind.

  David Michael’s Play

  Not everyone can have two of all the things I have. Do you know what? I even have two best friends. Hannie is my big-house best friend. She lives across the street from Daddy and one house down. Nancy Dawes is my little-house down. Nancy Dawes is my little-house best friend. She lives next door to Mommy.

  Having two best friends is nice, but there are some things I
wish I did not have to have two of. For instance, I have two stuffed cats that look exactly alike. Moosie stays at the big house, Goosie stays at the little house. And I have two pieces of Tickly, my special blanket. But do you know why? It is so I will not have to remember to bring them with me when I go from house to house. Before — when I had only one Tickly — I used to leave him behind at one place or the other, and then I would cry and carry on, and someone would have to go get him for me. Finally I tore Tickly in two.

  You see, there are some problems with being a two-two. For Andrew and me, the biggest problem is we only get to see Daddy and our big-house family two weekends each month. That is only four days each month. Nothing. We miss Daddy a lot.

  The day that Hannie and I visited Astrid of Grenville was a Saturday. It was the Saturday of a big-house weekend. When I finished petting Astrid and talking to my friends, I ran back to Daddy’s. I love big-house weekends, and I did not want to miss a thing. Plus, this seemed to be an extra busy weekend.

  Guess what. The weekend was so busy that by the time I was at home again, hardly anyone else was there. Only Daddy and Andrew.

  “Where is everybody?” I asked.

  “Let me see,” replied Daddy. “Kristy is over at Bart’s house, Nannie is in a bowling tournament, Charlie and Sam are watching baseball tryouts at school, and Elizabeth and Emily took David Michael to school for a rehearsal.”

  “Rehearsal? What rehearsal?” I asked.

  “David Michael is in The Wizard of Oz,” said Daddy. “He plays one of the Winkies. Today he will get his costume.”

  “He is in The Wizard of Oz?” I repeated. “I did not know that. When did that happen? Boy, I miss everything around here.”

  Just then Daddy looked at his watch. “Uh-oh,” he said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I just remembered. I have a tennis game in an hour.”

  “Today?” I cried. “But Daddy …”

  “I’m sorry,” said Daddy. “I guess I forgot you two were going to be here this weekend. I got my dates confused.”

  Andrew looked as if he were going to cry. I wanted to cry, too. But then Daddy said, “Oh, well. It is just a tennis game. I will cancel it. I can play tennis any time. But I hardly ever see you guys.”

  I knew how Daddy felt. Phew! I was glad he canceled his game.

  Daddy and Andrew and I read stories together. We read until Elizabeth came home with Emily Michelle and David Michael. As soon as I saw them, I jumped to my feet. “Hey, David Michael! Can I try on your Winkie costume?” I asked him.

  “Sure,” he replied.

  “Boy. I cannot believe I didn’t know about your play.”

  “I guess you were not here when I tried out for it.”

  “I am hardly ever here,” I replied grumpily.

  Big Enough

  My grumpy mood did not last long. The rest of the weekend was too much fun. When everyone in my big-house family had finally come home, Daddy said, “Well, it is a little early in the season, but let’s have a barbecue. Then we can have an indoor picnic.”

  So we did.

  On Sunday, Kristy and I took a bicycle ride. After that, Nannie let me go with her to bowling practice. When it was time to return to the little house, I did not want to leave. I cried while Daddy drove us to Mommy’s.

  Mommy met Andrew and me at the front door. “Karen? What is the matter?” she asked.

  “I did not want to come back,” I mumbled. “I was not ready to leave the big house yet. Two days there is too short.”

  I flumped up to my room. I let Emily Junior out of her cage, and I held her in my lap for awhile. I could hear Andrew grumbling around in his room. He was not happy either. At the big house, he and Sam were making a model airplane. Andrew would have to wait two weeks before they could paint bat eyes on the wings.

  After awhile, Andrew stuck his head in my room. He glared at me. “I wanted to finish that plane, Karen,” he said.

  “I know you did. You are mad. So am I.”

  Andrew pointed to Emily Junior. “Well, at least you have a pet of your own. I do not even have a pet.”

  “You do too. Goldfishie is your very own goldfish,” I reminded him.

  “Oh, Goldfishie does not count. He has to stay at the big house. I hardly ever see him. David Michael takes care of him.”

  “Well, what about Midgie and Rocky?” I asked my brother. “They live here.”

  Andrew made a face at me. “They are not mine!” he exclaimed, as if I should have known better. “They are Seth’s. I want my own pet. And I want to take care of it all by myself.”

  “So I guess helping me take care of Emily Junior would not be good enough.”

  “No way,” said Andrew.

  “Then you better talk to Mommy and Seth,” I told him.

  Andrew did not wait very long. At supper that night he said, “Excuse me. Excuse me, everybody.”

  “Yes, Andrew?” said Seth.

  “I have to say something very important. I would like to have a pet of my own. I am big enough. I would take good care of it.”

  “Well …” Mommy began.

  “Karen has a pet of her own — at each house. And David Michael has a pet. But all the other pets belong to grownups.”

  I looked at Mommy. Mommy was looking at Seth.

  “Please?” said Andrew.

  “We’ll see,” replied Mommy.

  When supper was over Andrew came into my room again. “Do you think Mommy will let me get a pet?” he asked.

  I was not sure. Mommy had said, “We’ll see.” That could mean anything. I did not want to disappoint Andrew. But I did not want to get his hopes up, either. Just in case. So I said, “You know what? I really do not know. But I have a suggestion. Do not bug Mommy about the pet, okay? Do not bug Seth, either. Let it alone for awhile and just see what happens.”

  “Okay,” replied Andrew. He looked more cheerful. “I am going to go dream about the perfect pet now.”

  Emily’s Bed

  Mommy did not say anything more about a pet. I reminded Andrew not to ask her about it. “Do not be a pest,” I said. “Not if you want Mommy and Seth to think you are old enough for a pet.”

  I gave Andrew something else to think about instead. We began a countdown until the day we could go back to the big house. We shouted out the numbers every morning when we woke up. “Five more days!” Then, “Four more days!” And finally, “One more day!” And best of all, “Today! Today is the day!”

  Seth drove us to the big house in time for supper on Friday. “Good-bye!” we called to him. “See you on Sunday!”

  Then we ran to the front door.

  “I wonder if everyone will be here,” said Andrew.

  “Maybe not. So do not be upset,” I warned him.

  But guess what. Before I could put my hand on the knob, the door flew open. There was David Michael in his Winkie costume. There was Kristy. There was Emily. There was my entire big-house family.

  I needed a long time to hug everybody.

  “What is for dinner?” asked Andrew when the hugging was over.

  “Lasagna,” said Elizabeth. “We are going to have an Italian meal tonight. Lasagna and garlic bread and salad.”

  “And we will speak Italian,” I added.

  “Do you know any Italian?” Daddy asked.

  “Sure,” I replied. “Fribber barber moogoo blinky.”

  Daddy laughed. “Okay, let’s eat.”

  We sat at the table in the kitchen. We can just barely fit at it, even though it is long. Four people on one side, four on the other, Nannie (or one of the grown-ups) at one end, Emily in her high chair at the other end. When we had been served our Italian meal, we began to talk. (We spoke in English.)

  “Tess and I are writing a report together,” said Kristy.

  “Who is Tess?” I asked.

  “My new friend. You met her, didn’t you, Karen? She came over last — Oh, I guess you were not here. Well, anyway, you will like her.” r />
  Then Nannie said that her bowling team was going to be in the play-offs, starting the next day.

  “The play-offs?” I repeated. “You made the play-offs? The last time I was here you did not think you would make the semifinals.”

  “Oh, well, that was two weeks ago. Anyway, do you want to come to our big game tomorrow?”

  “Sure!” I replied.

  Nannie’s game was going to be on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday morning I was playing on our driveway with Kristy and Emily when a truck pulled in. The sign on the side said TUCKER FURNITURE.

  “Hey! What are we getting?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Kristy replied.

  We watched as two movers unloaded an enormous box.

  “Oh, I bet I know what that is!” exclaimed Kristy. “I just remembered. It must be Emily’s new big-girl bed. Look, Emily!”

  “Her what? Why didn’t I know about that?” I cried. When had Emily gotten big enough for a big-girl bed? That was very important. It meant Emily Michelle was growing up.

  I just could not believe all the things Andrew and I missed out on while we were at the little house. It was double not fair. NOT NOT FAIR FAIR.

  Boo and bullfrogs.

  Astrid’s Puppies

  On Saturday afternoon, I went to the bowling alley with Nannie. Her team won their big game. They were very excited.

  On Sunday, Andrew and I went back to the little house.

  On Monday, I went back to school.

  On Tuesday, Hannie had big news.

  It was early in the morning. Nancy and I were already at school. We were sitting on two desks in the back of our classroom. Ms. Colman had not arrived yet, and neither had most of the kids.

  Suddenly Hannie burst into the room. “Karen! Nancy! I am glad you are here,” she cried. “Guess what. Astrid had her puppies last night!”

  “Oh, she did? Cool!” exclaimed Nancy. “How many did she have?”

  “Eight,” said Hannie. “I already saw them. Maria called me really early this morning. She said to come right over, so I did.”

  “Ooh. What did they look like?” asked Nancy.