Karen's Baby Read online

  “Bottle-warmers,” I told him.

  “Oh. Are you going to decorate them?”

  “Decorate them?” Hmm. I had not thought of that. I looked at my work. Plain felt sewn together with plain yarn. The bottle-warmers did need decorating. “That is a great idea!” I told Andrew.

  “It is? I had a great idea?”

  “Yup. Thank you.”

  I was decorating the bottle-warmers with a glitter pen when Nancy came over.

  “Look,” I said. “Look at the presents for your baby.”

  “They are beautiful,” replied Nancy. “But what are we going to do with three bottle-warmers? We are only going to have one baby.”

  “Oh, you can always use extras.”

  I was having fun making those bottle-warmers. I was having fun making hats, too. I had made the first felt hat at Daddy’s house. It looked like a beanie. In fact, it looked a little like the hat that went with my Brownie uniform. Only it was not brown. Now I was trying to make other kinds of felt hats. You know something? I had a feeling Nancy’s baby would not really need so many bottle-warmers and hats. But I had other plans for them.

  Nancy sat down across the table from me. She found some Styrofoam balls. She stuck them together with toothpicks. “Look! A snowman!” she said. She glued sequins down his front for buttons.

  After awhile, I finished decorating the bottle-warmer. “I better call your mother,” I said to Nancy.

  Nancy sighed. “The baby is not coming yet.”

  “It has to come sometime.”

  I phoned Mrs. Dawes. “Hello,” I said. “It’s me, Karen.”

  “Honey, the baby is not here.”

  “I know, but is he coming?”

  “Nope. Not yet.”

  “Okay. Keep me posted.” (Mommy always says that.)

  I went back to the playroom.

  “No baby,” I told Nancy. “Hey, you know what? Maybe your mother will have twins. Or triplets! Or … or … What comes after triplets?”

  “Quadruplets, I think.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “Or even quintuplets. Nancy, you could have your very own quints! You could give them names that all start with the same letter. Like Robbie and Rosie and Randy and Regina and Rebecca. And you could dress them in matching outfits.”

  “Where would they sleep?” asked Nancy.

  “In lots of bunk beds. You would be a star at school. Nobody at school has quints in his family.”

  “Well, maybe quints would be fun.”

  “Of course they would be fun. Gosh, I wonder if anyone has ever given birth to more than five babies. I wonder if you could have seven or eight. Wouldn’t that be cool? Nancy? Wouldn’t you like to have eight little sisters?”

  “I do not think so,” said Nancy.

  Bears and Balloons

  The next day, Mrs. Dawes picked up Nancy and me at school. Nancy and I usually carpool, since we live next door to each other.

  I was a little surprised to see Mrs. Dawes. I was expecting Mommy or Seth to pick us up. I was pretty sure Mrs. Dawes had gone to the hospital to have the baby. But the baby was not coming yet. Goodness, this baby was a slowpoke.

  “Girls,” said Mrs. Dawes as she was driving us home, “guess what I am going to do this afternoon.”

  “Have the baby?’ I asked. “Is the baby coming?”

  Mrs. Dawes did not really even answer me. She said, “I am going to pick out things for the baby’s room.”

  “Cool!” said Nancy. “You mean the furniture?”

  “I mean everything. Everything the baby will need. Furniture, diapers, clothes, toys. We have to get ready for when he comes.” Mrs. Dawes glanced at me in the mirror.

  I was very good. I did not ask when the baby was going to come.

  “Who would like to go to the store with me?” asked Mrs. Dawes.

  “Me! Me!” Nancy and I cried. And Nancy added, “Can we invite Hannie, too? This is important, Mommy. The Three Musketeers should be together. Hannie would not want to miss this.”

  “Okay,” agreed Mrs. Dawes. “An adventure for the Three Musketeers.”

  Later that afternoon Mrs. Dawes drove Nancy and me to Hannie’s house. We picked up Hannie. Then we drove to the baby store downtown. That store is wonderful. It has only things for babies. And it has any baby thing you could think of.

  When Hannie and Nancy and I stepped inside we stopped and stared.

  “Oh,” Hannie whispered.

  “This is like a baby museum,” I whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” asked Nancy.

  We shrugged.

  Mrs. Dawes said, “Before we start shopping, why don’t you girls decide on a theme for the room. Maybe animals. Or the seashore. Think of something a boy or a girl would like.”

  After a long discussion, my friends and I decided on teddy bears and balloons.

  And then the fun began.

  “Furniture first,” said Mrs. Dawes.

  We picked out a crib, a dresser, a changing table, and a rocking chair. Each one was decorated with a picture of a teddy bear. Then we found a lamp with a bear on it. The bear was holding a bunch of balloons.

  “Now for baby supplies,” said Nancy’s mother.

  We picked out crib sheets, blankets, a car seat, a stroller, a highchair, an infant seat, and a walker for when the baby is older.

  “Clothes,” said Nancy’s mother.

  Undershirts, socks, sleepers, a snowsuit, a hat, plus diapers and bibs.

  “Toys,” said Nancy’s mother.

  Teddy bear, mobile, two rattles, and a music box.

  “Yikes,” I said. “I did not know babies needed so much.”

  Nancy’s mother was talking to the salesman who had helped us. “You can deliver everything?” I heard her say.

  “When? When will it be delivered?” I cried. “I want to set up the baby’s room right away.”

  “Oh, we can’t do that, honey,” said Mrs. Dawes. “The things will be delivered after the baby is born. Then we will set up the room.”

  “Boo,” I said. But now I had a new project. I was going to make a list of things my baby would need.

  Going to the Hospital

  “Mush, mush, mush. I am making mushed potatoes,” said Andrew.

  “Andrew, please stop playing with your food,” said Mommy.

  It was dinnertime at the little house, and Andrew was being a slob. A week had gone by since my friends and I had picked out the baby things. But the baby was still not on the way.

  Ring, ring!

  “Darn it!” said Mommy. “Why do people always call while we are eating?”

  “I’ll get it,” said Seth.

  Seth ran into the kitchen. When he came back to the table he was smiling. “We better set another place,” he said. “Guess who was on the phone.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Mr. Dawes. The baby is coming. He is about to drive Nancy’s mother to the hospital. Nancy is going to spend the night here. She’s on her way over.”

  “She is? She is?” I leaped out of my chair. I almost knocked it over. “The baby is coming!” I cried. I danced around the table. “The baby is coming! The baby is coming! The baby is coming! And Nancy and I are going to have a sleepover on a school night! I never had a sleepover on a school night!”

  “Karen.” Mommy caught me by the arm as I whizzed by her. “My goodness. Please settle down. And use your indoor voice. If you cannot calm down, you and Nancy will have to sleep in separate rooms tonight.”

  Uh-oh. I stood quietly by Mommy’s chair. “I promise I will be good,” I whispered.

  “Thank you,” she whispered back.

  A few minutes later, Nancy rang our doorbell. She was carrying her bookbag and an overnight bag and her best doll.

  “Look,” she said. “There go Mommy and Daddy.”

  I saw the Daweses’ car backing down their driveway.

  “I wonder how long it takes for a baby to be born,” I said.

  “I don’t kn
ow. Daddy told me he would call tonight.”

  “We will know before we go to sleep!” I exclaimed.

  After dinner, Mommy helped Nancy get settled in my room. Then Nancy and I decided to work on our baby presents. I had quite a few. I had made a tall pile of bottle-warmers, and a shorter pile of felt hats. Nancy had made three mobiles and three pairs of felt booties.

  “What are we going to do with all this stuff?” asked Nancy.

  “Well — ” I began, but the phone rang.

  “Daddy!” shrieked Nancy. But the caller was Kristy.

  Nancy and I went back to the baby things.

  “I have never seen so much baby stuff. Except in that store,” said Nancy.

  Ring, ring!

  “Daddy!”

  This time the caller was some friend of Seth’s.

  The third time the phone rang, it was for Andrew. He never gets phone calls.

  “Who was that?” I asked him.

  “My friend Alicia. She invited me to her birthday party.”

  Lucky duck.

  The fourth time the phone rang, it was … Mr. Dawes.

  “Aughh!” Nancy shrieked.

  “You are a big sister now!” I shrieked.

  Guess what Mr. Dawes said to Nancy. He said, “Honey, the baby is on his way, but he is not here yet. And it is getting late. It is time for you to go to bed. So I will call you before you leave for school tomorrow morning. I promise.”

  “Okay,” said Nancy. “Good night.”

  And I said, “Nancy, your baby is a Giant Slowpoke.”

  Daniel

  I did not sleep very much that night. Mr. Dawes had said he would call in the morning. But I thought he might change his mind. Maybe the baby would be born and Mr. Dawes would be so excited he would call anyway. Long after Mommy turned out my light, I lay in bed thinking.

  “Nancy? Nancy?” I said after awhile. But Nancy did not answer. She was asleep. How could she sleep at a time like this?

  I turned over in bed. I closed my eyes. I began to count babies. After about one hundred babies I fell asleep.

  On Wednesday, Nancy and I woke up before Mommy came into my room.

  “Today you become a big sister!” I announced. “How do you feel?”

  “Important,” said Nancy proudly.

  The phone rang during breakfast. We all looked at each other.

  “That must be your father, honey,” Mommy said to Nancy. “You answer it.”

  Nancy grabbed for the phone. “Hello?” she cried. “Hi, Daddy … I am? … I do? … You will? … I can? … Oh, thank you! I will tell you the name I chose when I see you. I want to surprise you. Tell Mommy I love her…. What? … Oh, okay.” Nancy held the phone away from her ear. “Daddy wants to talk to you,” she said to Mommy.

  Then she sat down.

  “Nancy, what is it? Do you have a brother or a sister? I am going to explode!” I said.

  Nancy grinned. “It’s a boy!” she exclaimed. “I’m a big sister! I’m a big sister, and I have a baby brother. I decided to name him Daniel. I changed my mind one last time,” she added. “Guess what. Daddy is going to pick me up after school and take me to the hospital. I will get to meet Daniel. Oh, and the store is going to deliver the baby stuff today. I think that is what my daddy and your mommy are talking about.”

  Seth drove Nancy and me to school that morning. We ran inside and all the way to Ms. Colman’s room, even though we are not supposed to run in the halls. We could not help ourselves.

  Nancy told her news to all the kids in our room. “I am a big sister,” she announced. “My mommy had the baby last night. It is a boy. I named him Daniel. I get to visit him this afternoon. I am going to hold him and feed him and change him. I know I will be the best big sister ever. Soon I will bring Daniel in for Show and Share. Then you can see him in person.”

  Oh, I cannot wait until I am a big sister myself.

  The Littlest Baby

  When school ended, Nancy and I ran outside. We looked at the line of cars waiting to drive kids home. We saw Nancy’s daddy and my mommy. We both ran to Mr. Dawes’s car. I just had to talk to him.

  “Hi, Karen,” said Mr. Dawes.

  “Hi! How is Mrs. Dawes? How is the baby?”

  “They are both fine. They will be home soon. Maybe even tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow! Yea!” That was sooner than I had thought.

  When I was sitting in our car with Mommy, I said, “How come Nancy gets to see Daniel? I thought children were not allowed to visit people in the hospital. I thought we were too young.”

  “Sometimes children are allowed to visit,” replied Mommy. “In special cases. And babies are special cases. It is important for brothers and sisters to get to know each other as soon as possible. So there is a new rule at the hospital. Older brothers and sisters can visit the new babies and their moms late in the afternoon. A special visiting time for kids.”

  “Oh…. Mommy, what am I going to do at home today while I wait for Nancy to come back? I cannot think about anything except Daniel.”

  “You can watch for the delivery truck,” said Mommy. “It has not come yet. Then you and I can go next door and tell the driver to leave the boxes and packages in Nancy’s garage. We can watch the driver unload the truck.”

  When we got home I sat outside on our front steps. But not for long. The air was too cold. I even saw some snowflakes. So Andrew and I watched from the living room. We waited and waited.

  “Here is the truck!” I yelled finally.

  Mommy and Andrew and I ran next door. We watched a man and a woman take box after box after box out of the truck. They piled them into the garage. They did not leave any room for Mr. Dawes’s car.

  Just before dinnertime, Nancy’s father brought Nancy back to the little house. “I will see you later,” he said to her. “I will come back after dinner, in time for you to go to sleep in your own bed.”

  “Okay,” said Nancy. “ ‘Bye, Daddy.”

  “Nancy, Nancy! Tell me everything about Daniel!” I begged.

  “Maybe later,” said Nancy.

  “I think Nancy is tired,” said Mommy. “Ask her about Daniel at dinner.”

  At dinner I said, “Okay, Nancy. Now tell us about Daniel. What is he like?”

  Nancy shrugged.

  “Do your parents like his name?”

  “I guess.”

  Nancy would not tell us about her baby brother.

  Later, Nancy and I went upstairs to my room. “What is wrong?” I asked. “Why won’t you talk about Daniel?”

  Nancy began to cry. “Because I am afraid of him, that’s why. He is the littlest baby I have ever seen. He looks like he might break. I’m afraid I will drop him or hurt him. And guess what. He probably is coming home tomorrow afternoon. I do not want him home so soon, Karen.”

  I did not know what to say to Nancy. I did not understand her. I wanted a baby and I could not have one. Nancy had a baby and she did not want him. Boo.

  After awhile I said, “Hey, Nancy! I have an idea! This will cheer you up. I know what to do with all our baby stuff. We can sell it! We almost have enough for a store of our own. What do you think?”

  Nancy shrugged. “I cannot think about anything except Daniel. Anyway, I have to pack my things. Daddy will be here soon.”

  Daniel’s Mezuzah

  When Mommy picked up Nancy and me after school the next day, she had some news. It was good news for Nancy and bad news for me. “Nancy,” said Mommy, “your father called me today. Your mother and Daniel are going to come home tomorrow, not this afternoon.”

  “Yea!” cried Nancy.

  “Boo,” I said.

  Then Nancy asked, “Why?”

  “Your mother is tired,” said Mommy. “She just needs a little extra rest. Oh, your father wants to know if you want to visit Daniel this afternoon.”

  “No, thank you,” Nancy answered politely.

  “Mommy, what are we going to do this afternoon?” I whined. “I thought Nancy
and I would be able to play with the baby.”

  “Guess what. Mr. Dawes has a job for you two. He hoped you would want to put away the baby’s things. He unpacked the furniture this morning, but nothing else. And now he is at the hospital again.”

  “Nancy, we can set up Daniel’s room!” I cried. “That would be fun. Wouldn’t it? Please, Nancy?”

  Nancy smiled a little. “Okay. I guess it would be fun,” she said.

  Kristy came to Nancy’s house that afternoon. She stayed with Nancy and me, and helped us unpack the boxes.

  “Oh, look! Here is Daniel’s lamp!” I cried. Kristy and I lifted the teddy bear lamp out of its box.

  “It’s so cute!” exclaimed Kristy.

  “Here are Daniel’s toys,” I said later.

  Nancy peered at them. “See, Kristy?” she said. “The music box plays ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.’ And here is a mobile. We can hang it over the crib. I think Hannie made another mobile for Daniel. We can hang that one over the changing table. Oh, here. Let’s put the teddy bear in the rocking chair.”

  Nancy took charge. “Next let’s fill up the dresser,” she said.

  We put away Daniel’s clothes.

  “Now let’s set up the changing table.”

  We unpacked Baby Wipes and diapers and lotion and powder.

  Just when I thought Daniel’s room looked perfect, Nancy said, “I almost forgot. One more thing. Mommy and I picked this out. Daddy bought it yesterday.” Nancy ran to her room. When she came back she was holding something small. It was packed in tissue paper. Nancy unwrapped the paper. Inside was an ornament. It looked like Noah’s Ark.

  “What’s that?” asked Kristy.

  “It is Daniel’s mezuzah,” said Nancy. “Daddy is going to put it right here.” She pointed to a spot on the door frame. “Mezuzah means doorpost,” she said. “In Hebrew. See that little piece of paper inside the ark? All rolled up? It has some Bible passages written on it. And Shaddai. That means the Almighty.”

  “Nancy has one by her door, too,” I told Kristy. “And there is one on the front door of the house. The papers inside are the same, but the cases are different. Right, Nancy?” I said proudly.