Karen's Stepmother

  This book is in honor

  of my newest cousin Alyssa Suzanne Craft.

  Welcome!

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Elizabeth’s Bedtime Story

  2 Karen’s Two Mothers

  3 The Magic Acorn

  4 Chores

  5 Go-Carts

  6 Elizabeth’s Talk

  7 The Horrible Thought

  8 Two Mother’s Days

  9 No Chores, No Allowance

  10 Interrupting

  11 Karen’s Wicked Stepmother

  12 Losers

  13 The Fight

  14 Mother’s Day at the Little House

  15 Karen Causes Trouble

  16 Mother’s Day at the Big House

  17 Getting Along

  18 Grease

  19 The Race

  20 Happy Mother’s Day!

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Elizabeth’s Bedtime Story

  “Now, Emily, what you have to remember is that this is going to be your home for a month. A whole month. Things might be a little different. But I will be around. I will take care of you like I always do.”

  Hello, it’s me again. Karen Brewer. I was just talking to my rat, Emily Junior. We are here at Daddy’s house for a month. My little brother Andrew is here too. Also Bob, his hermit crab. I am seven, and Andrew is four going on five. We both have blond hair and blue eyes. Plus I have freckles and I wear glasses. I even have two pairs of glasses. The blue pair is for reading. The pink pair is for the rest of the time.

  Knock, knock, knock. “Karen? Can I come in?”

  I returned Emily Junior to her cage. Then I looked up. My big stepsister Kristy was at the door. Kristy is thirteen. I just love her. She is a gigundoly wonderful babysitter. Also, she is lots of fun, she is a good person to talk to, and she will always keep a secret.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “So how are you doing?” Kristy asked me. “I cannot believe you are here for a whole month. Are you nervous?”

  “Who me? No. Not at all. Andrew and I wanted to spend more time at the big house. Remember?”

  “I know,” replied Kristy. “Just wondering.” She glanced around my room. “How is the unpacking coming along?”

  “Fine. I am almost finished. I do not really have much to unpack. Just this school stuff — oh! Oh, no!”

  “What?” asked Kristy. “What is wrong?”

  “My worksheet! Ms. Colman gave us a worksheet today. We have to finish it and hand it in tomorrow. I bet I left it at Mommy’s house. I — oh, wait. Never mind. Here it is.” I found the paper stuck inside a book I was reading. Whew. “I guess I have everything I need here after all,” I said to Kristy. “Will you help me with this, please?”

  Kristy and I worked on my sheet. Just as we were finishing it, Daddy came into the room. “Almost time for bed, pumpkin,” he said.

  “Okay. Daddy? Can we read together?” I asked.

  “Sure. Put your pajamas on and brush your teeth. You choose the book. Then I will come back and we’ll read.”

  The book I chose was Howliday Inn by Mr. James Howe. The books by Mr. James Howe are almost always scary but funny. Daddy and I took turns reading the first chapter aloud. When we finished it, Daddy closed the book and said in a mysterious voice, “To beeee continuuuued.”

  I giggled. “You are silly, Daddy.”

  Daddy kissed me good night. Then Elizabeth came into the room. She sat on the edge of my bed and smiled at me. Elizabeth is my stepmother. Also, she is Kristy’s mother. “How about a bedtime story?” she asked me.

  “Daddy and I just started one,” I told her.

  “No,” said Elizabeth. “I mean a made-up story. A story made up by me. I could tell you a little bit every night while you are here this month. I just started one for Andrew. His is about a chipmunk named Dallas.”

  I laughed. “What would mine be about?”

  “A magic acorn,” Elizabeth replied. “An acorn named Hoover who lives in Central Park in the middle of New York City.”

  “What makes Hoover magic?” I asked.

  “Well,” said Elizabeth. And she began her story. When she reached a stopping place she said, “I am so glad you and Andrew will be spending more time with us, honey.”

  I was pretty glad myself.

  Karen’s Two Mothers

  In case you were wondering, Andrew and I do not live at just one home with one family like a lot of kids do. We live at two homes with two families. But we have not always done that. A long time ago, when we were much younger, we did have just one home and one family. Mommy and Daddy and Andrew and I lived here in this big house where Daddy grew up. I thought we were happy, but I guess we were not. At least, Mommy and Daddy were not. They began to fight all the time. Finally they decided to get a divorce. They did not love each other anymore (but they still loved Andrew and me). Daddy stayed in his big house, and Mommy moved into a little house. Andrew and I went with her. We lived with Daddy every other weekend. The rest of the time we lived with Mommy.

  After awhile, something interesting happened. Mommy and Daddy got married again, but not to each other. Mommy married a man named Seth. Now he is our stepfather. And Daddy married Elizabeth, our stepmother. That is how Andrew and I wound up with our two families.

  This is our little-house family: Mommy, Seth, Andrew, me, Rocky, Midgie, Emily Junior, and Bob. (Rocky and Midgie are Seth’s cat and dog.)

  This is my big-house family: Daddy, Elizabeth, Kristy, Charlie, Sam, David Michael, Emily Michelle, Nannie, Andrew, me, Shannon, Boo-Boo, Goldfishie, Crystal Light, Emily Junior, and Bob. 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. Charlie and Sam are old. They go to high school. David Michael is seven like me, but he does not go to my school. (I already told you about Kristy.) 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 step-grandmother). She moved in to help run the house and to help take care of all the pets and us kids. The pets are Shannon (David Michael’s puppy), Boo-Boo (Daddy’s fat old cat), Goldfishie and Crystal Light (can you guess what they are?), and Emily Junior and Bob. (They go back and forth between the big house and the little house with Andrew and me.)

  Not long ago, another interesting thing happened. Andrew and I asked for equal time at our two houses. Now we spend a month at Daddy’s, then a month at Mommy’s. We are soooo happy about this change. And today is the start of our very first month at the big house. To be honest, we are just the teensiest bit nervous about it. We have never spent so much time with our big-house family — or away from Mommy. But we are looking forward to it. We were hardly able to spend any time with Daddy before.

  Guess what nicknames I chose for my brother and me. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. (I thought of the names after my teacher read a book to our class. It was called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.) We are two-twos because we have two houses and two families, two mommies and two daddies, two cats and two dogs, and two of lots of other things. Since we go back and forth between our houses, we have two bicycles, one at each house. I have two stuffed cats — Moosie at the big house, and Goosie at the little house. Plus we have clothes and books and toys at each house. I even have two best friends. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street from the big house. Nancy Dawes lives next door to the little house. (We are all in Ms. Colman’s second-grade class. We call ourselves the Three Musketeers.) And of course, I have those two pairs of glasses.

  Now Andrew
and I had become equal-time two-twos. (So had Emily Junior and Bob.) And Elizabeth was my mother for the month.

  The Magic Acorn

  On Wednesday morning I woke up in my room at the big house. It was the bedroom I had grown up in until the divorce. And now it would be my bedroom for a month, instead of just on weekends. That was a nice feeling.

  I hopped out of bed and dressed quickly.

  “Hello, everybody!” I cried as I ran into the kitchen.

  My big-house family was gathering for breakfast. Some of them looked a little sleepy. Especially Sam. But even he managed to mumble, “Morning.”

  The ten of us squished around the table. We passed boxes of cereal back and forth. We poured glasses of juice and milk.

  “Karen, honey,” said Elizabeth, “don’t you want some fruit with your breakfast?”

  “Mmm-mm,” I replied, my mouth full of cereal. (That meant, “No, thanks.”)

  Elizabeth checked on everyone’s meals. I chomped away and listened to the big kids. They always talk about interesting things, like dates and dances and driving cars. Charlie even has his own car. It is called the Junk Bucket. Also, he and Sam have a snowblower. Big kids are so lucky.

  Just wait until I am big.

  My family had to hurry through breakfast. Elizabeth said we were running late. “May I suggest that we start ten minutes earlier tomorrow?” she added. Then she glanced at me. “Karen, where are your blue glasses? Why don’t you wear them around your neck so they will be with you at all times?”

  “That is all right, Elizabeth,” I replied. “I know where they are. I never forget them.” (Well, hardly ever.) “They get in the way when they hang around my neck.” I paused. “Hey, you know what? I just thought of something. A good — ”

  “Honey, you are late,” said Elizabeth.

  “Yeah, but a good invention — I mean, for anyone who wears glasses — and that would be me, of course — ”

  “Karen!” cried Elizabeth. But she was smiling.

  “Let me tell you about this invention.”

  “Karen!” Now Elizabeth was laughing. “Slow down. You are talking a mile a minute. And you really are late. Charlie is waiting outside for you.”

  I guess I do talk too much. A lot of people have told me that. And sometimes I talk too loudly. Grown-ups are always reminding me to use my indoor voice. Oh, well. I like to talk.

  I grabbed my things and raced outside. Charlie was going to drive Hannie and her big brother Linny and me to our school in the Junk Bucket. This was so cool. I bet no other second-graders were driven to Stoneybrook Academy by high-school guys with their own cars.

  School that day was great. Ms. Colman returned our spelling quizzes. I had gotten one hundred per cent. Hannie and Nancy and I played hopscotch at recess. Also, we jumped rope. Later, Ms. Colman told me that a poem I had written was very beautiful.

  After school that day, Nannie decided to bake gingerbread. She let David Michael and Andrew and Emily and me help her. We ate the gingerbread for dessert that night, and everyone in my big-house family said it was delicious. Except for Sam, who said it was ginger-licious.

  At bedtime, Daddy and I read another chapter of Howliday Inn. Then Elizabeth peeked into my room. “Do you want to hear some more about the magic acorn?” she asked me.

  “Sure!” I replied.

  The night before, Elizabeth had told me that Hoover the magic acorn had been born on an oak tree in Central Park. Now she told me how he was struck by lightning, and fell to the ground. That was when he discovered his magical powers.

  I decided that my mother for the month was a gigundoly wonderful storyteller.

  Chores

  My first day at the big house had been wonderful. I just knew the rest of the month would be wonderful, too. I thought of reading with Daddy every single night for twenty-nine more nights. And hearing twenty-nine more parts of the story about Hoover.

  I sighed with happiness when I woke up in my old room on Thursday morning. I was ready for another wonderful day. So I leaped up and dressed in a hurry. When I ran downstairs for breakfast, Elizabeth looked at me. She frowned slightly. “Honey, are you sure that is what you want to wear today? An orange shirt and a pink skirt? And I don’t think your socks match.”

  I looked down at my outfit. I had not paid much attention when I put it on. But I did not feel like changing it. I did want matching socks, though. So I ran upstairs, yelling, “I will find new socks!”

  “Indoor voice!” Elizabeth called back.

  After breakfast that morning, Elizabeth took Andrew and me into the living room. She said we needed to have a talk. We were not running late, so we had time for one.

  “Are we in trouble?” asked Andrew.

  I was wondering the same thing. I did not think we were, but with grown-ups, you just never know.

  Elizabeth smiled. “Oh, no!” she said. “Of course not. But I want to explain something to you, now that you will be spending more time here. In this house, everybody is responsible for certain chores. Even Emily. Every morning, Emily helps David Michael when he feeds Shannon and Boo-Boo. David Michael also takes the trash out. Charlie drives the things we can recycle to the recycling center. Kristy vacuums. Sam irons. And everyone is responsible for making their beds and keeping their rooms neat. That is how the kids earn their allowances. Now you will have chores, too. You will make your beds, keep your rooms tidy, and take care of Emily Junior and Bob. Also, Andrew, you will help Nannie with the dusting. And Karen, you will separate the things we can recycle — the glass and metal and plastic and papers — for Charlie, so they will be ready for him to drive to the center. The recycling bins are in the garage. Do you have any questions?”

  I glanced at Andrew. I was surprised. At Mommy’s house we help out whenever she or Seth asks us to. But we do not have assigned chores. And I did not know the people at the big house had chores.

  But do you know what Andrew said then? He said, “I like to dust!”

  Well, for heaven’s sake.

  Elizabeth smiled. Then she turned to me. “Karen?” she said.

  “Okay. I will do my chores.” I thought they would be easy. I always take care of Emily Junior anyway. That is not a chore.

  In school that day, Ms. Colman said, “Girls and boys, who knows what special day is coming soon?”

  Chris shot his hand in the air. “Memorial Day,” he replied.

  “Before that,” said Ms. Colman.

  “Oh! Mother’s Day!” I cried. (I forgot to raise my hand, but Ms. Colman did not seem to mind.)

  “That’s right,” said my teacher. “And soon we will begin making cards and gifts for whomever you would like to honor.”

  I knew who that would be. Mommy and Elizabeth. I would have to make two of everything. I was so busy thinking about what I would make that I forgot all about Elizabeth’s chores.

  Go-Carts

  Friday afternoon. I just love Fridays. I like school very much, but I like the weekends, too. And I was looking forward to the big-house weekend. Nothing special had been planned, but I was sure it would be fun. You never know what might happen at the big house.

  Mrs. Papadakis drove Hannie and Linny and me home from school. The weather was beautiful, and we did not want to go inside. I am so happy when the weather is warm enough for no jackets and no sweaters, and you can play outside for hours and your hands don’t get cold.

  Hannie and Linny and I hung around on the Papadakises’ driveway. After awhile, Andrew and David Michael came over. Then my friend Melody and her older brother Bill came over. Then Maria Kilbourne, who lives next door to Hannie, came over. Finally Timmy and Scott Hsu came over.

  We talked about school. (We go to lots of different ones.) The older boys circled their bicycles in the street. Melody found some chalk and drew a hopscotch game. Linny dragged some junk out of his garage and studied it.

  Soon all the boys were looking at the junk. Then the girls began to look at it, too. I did not think it was very interest
ing. It was just some pieces of wood and some metal rods and some screws and nails. So I was glad when Maria said, “What is it good for?”

  “Building stuff,” replied David Michael.

  “What kind of stuff?” asked Andrew.

  “Lots of things. Inventions,” said Bill.

  “A doghouse,” said Hannie.

  “A go-cart,” said Timmy.

  We all turned to look at Timmy. Now that was a good idea. If we had go-carts, we could feel like real drivers.

  “A go-cart,” I repeated. “Cool.”

  “A racing car,” added Linny thoughtfully.

  “Hey!” cried Scott. “I bet if we look in our garages, we can find enough parts to build a go-cart.”

  “I bet we could find enough parts to build lots of cars,” said Bill.

  “And we could race them!” exclaimed David Michael. “Right down that hill.” David Michael pointed to our street. Starting where we were standing, the hill slopes down, down, down, for a long way, very slowly. We like to coast our bicycles there. Racing go-carts might be even better.

  “Hey, you know what?” said Melody. “I just had a great idea! We could each build a racing car. Each one of us. And then we could hold a race. A real race, with someone yelling ‘GO!’ and someone at the finish line and a big audience.”

  “We could have it on Memorial Day,” added Timmy.

  Everyone thought this was a terrific idea. Everyone except Andrew. Andrew tugged at my shirt. “Karen, Karen,” he said. “I do not think I can build a car all by myself.”

  Andrew was probably right. He was the littlest kid there. So I said, “Andrew and I will build a car together.” (Even though I did not know very much about go-carts.) The other kids thought this was okay. They knew why Andrew and I were going to work together.

  Then Bill added, “We don’t want any help, though. Do we, you guys? We want to build our cars ourselves. No grown-ups.”

  We agreed. No help from adults. This was not really a rule. We just wanted to see what we could do on our own.