Read Online Baby-Sitters On Board by Ann M. Martin - Free Book Online

bathing suit and went up to the Sun Deck. I was half afraid that Parker wouldn't show up, but he did, promptly at 10:30.
And our day began.
I had thought we were going to lounge around and go swimming, but Parker wanted to do things. With a mischievous grin, he said, "There's a Ping-Pong tournament today. Let's sign up." "Ping-Pong!" I cried. "Only old people and little kids play that." "Exactly," said Parker. "We'll give 'em a run for their money." So we played Ping-Pong. I'd only played a few other times (the McGills have a Ping-Pong table in their basement), but Parker must have played a lot. Anyway, he was good. And we were a good team. We kept beating the other couples. I nearly died when Kristy and her old man friend took their Iturn playing against us, but I managed to psych Kristy out.
"Whoo-ee," I teased her. "Who's your boyfriend?" It was mean and I knew it, but Kristy had been mean to me on the ship. She'd been rude and messy and had made jokes about contaminating me. So I was glad to be able to psych her out.
Parker and I won the tournament. We were awarded a huge tin loving cup, which Parker said I could keep. After that, we ate lunch at the cafe and then we went back to the Sun Deck for a swim. We lay on the lounge chairs, drying off in the hot sunshine.
Somehow we started talking about divorce. I told him about my family. Then he told me about his. "You're lucky," he said. "At least your mom isn't remarried. I ended up living with my dad after the divorce and what did he go and do? He got married to this lady who has two little boys. They're five and eight. Right away, I asked to live with my mom instead. My parents said okay, but only for a month. I just moved back in with Dad a couple of weeks ago and he took me and my stepmother and the two brats on this trip so we could get to know each other better. What a stupid idea. I spend as little time with them as possible." "How do you know the boys are brats then?" I asked him.
"Come on," said Parker. "All little kids are brats. Especially stepkids." "I don't know," I said, trying to be patient. "My, um, friend Kristy" (I guessed I could still call her that) "just got a stepfather, a four-year-old stepbrother, and a six-year-old stepsister. And she loves them. Well, she loves the kids anyway. She's getting used to her stepfather." "Remarriages are just plain bad ideas," said Parker flatly. "My mom's feelings are hurt, and my whole life has changed. Dad's being selfish." It was hard to admit, even to myself, but I kind of thought Parker was the one who was being selfish. I didn't say so, though.
At that moment Parker suddenly jumped up and said, "Enough sitting around!" (I bet he meant enough talking about divorces and marriages.) We went to the video arcade. We watched a movie in the theater. Finally, we found one of those booths where you can have your picture taken. I went in first and crossed my eyes and stuck out my tongue. Parker went in next and made monkey lips and flared out his nostrils. Then we squeezed in together and took two normal pictures of us smiling. We each kept one normal photo, Parker kept the goofy one of me, and I kept the goofy one of him.
What a wonderful day.
Parker and I decided to spend at least one day together at Disney World.
Was this love? Was Parker my first true boyfriend?
I decided that the answer to both questions was yes.
Mary Anne.
The triplets are in trouble.
Last night when they got back from Treasure Cay, they were all excited about something and they kept running through the ship. I didn't know then what they were doing, but whatever it was, they sure were noisy about it. They ran from deck to deck, thundering up and down stairs and occasionally knocking into people.
Finally one of the stewards caught up with them. He gave them a talking-to and led them back to their parents' cabin. The triplets stood by sheepishly while the steward spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Pike. When the man left, Mr. Pike called Stacey and me into the room.