BSC03 The Truth About Stacey by Ann M. Martin

Author:Ann M. Martin [Martin, Ann M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-03-29T16:25:57+00:00

She led us upstairs and into the little room that had been fixed up for Lucy. A big white crib stood in one corner, but Lucy was asleep in a blue bassinet near the door. "She's too little for the crib," Mrs. Newton whispered. "Infants feel more secure in a small bed."

The members of the Baby-sitters Club silently surrounded the bassinet and peered inside.

"Ohhh," I breathed.

"She's so little," whispered Mary Anne.

She certainly was. I guess I hadn't realized just how little a newborn baby really is.

"Can I touch her?" I asked Mrs. Newton softly.

She nodded.

I leaned over and ran my finger along one of Lucy's tiny hands. It was soft as silk, and perfect: four little fingers and a thumb, each ending in a fingernail no bigger than a speck. I breathed in. Lucy smelled sweet, like baby powder and milk. I ran my hand lightly over the fine dark hair on her head. She stirred then and opened her eyes just long enough for me to see that they were a deep blue. Then she closed them again.

I glanced up. Claudia, Kristy, and Mary Anne looked enchanted.

A few moments later we were back downstairs, sitting in the living room while Mrs. Newton opened the baby presents. She exclaimed over each one and commented on the original wrapping.

"Do you think the hat will fit?" Mary Anne asked anxiously.

"In a few weeks it should be just right."

Mary Anne let out a sigh of relief.

"Mrs. Newton?" Kristy said. "Could I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Suddenly my stomach lurched. I had this horrible feeling I knew what Kristy was going to ask. I looked over at Claudia and found that she was already looking at me. Oh, no, her eyes seemed to be saying, I can't believe she's going to bring this up now.

But she did.

"I'm not sure how to say this," Kristy began, "but when Jamie was at our house last week, he said we wouldn't be baby-sitting for him anymore. I mean, no — He said he heard you on the phone with Liz Lewis from the Babysitters Agency. Is — ? Can we still — ?" Kristy didn't know how to finish what she had started.

Mrs. Newton's face was flushed with embarrassment.

I was pretty sure mine was, too. It felt very hot.

"I guess I should have told you," said Mrs. Newton. "I knew how excited you were about the new baby. And of course you'll always be our favorite sitters. It's just that an infant is so delicate and fragile, and needs extra-special care — "

"But we're responsible," protested Kristy.

"I've taken care of babies before," I added.

"Newborns?" asked Mrs. Newton.

"Well, one was ten months and the other was eight months."

"That makes a big difference," she said. "There's even a big difference between a three-month-old baby and a newborn. Anyway, what I was going to say, is that for the next few months, I'll simply feel more comfortable leaving Lucy with an older sitter. The times when I take Lucy with me and there's just Jamie to sit for, I'll be glad to use the Baby-sitters Club.

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