Read Online My Mother Got Married by Barbara Park - Free Book Online Page A

would happen. I told you I was sick but you wouldn’t believe me. You didn’t even care.”
    My mother looked as guilty as anything. “I cared,” she said, rubbing my cheek again. “I know you had a bad day, honey, but—”
    A bad day? Was that the understatement of the year or what?
    I rolled my eyes. “Losing your favorite pencil is a bad day, Mother,” I interrupted. “Puking in a trash can is just a little more serious.”
    My mother knows when she’s licked. She didn’t bother making any more excuses. Instead, she just sat there quietly while I ate my soup.
    Ben and Lydia called her. She shouted, “Be there in a minute!” but she didn’t go right away.
    For a little while, it was just her and me.

(eight)

I
    SPENT the weekend at my dad’s. I still wasn’t feeling great, but anything was better than being home with Thomas. At least my father didn’t keep coming into my room saying “Pretend that I’m a doctor and my name is Carl and I get to give you a shot.”
    My dad tried to understand what I was going through. Even when I was sick and grouchy he was pretty patient with me.
    “I hate it there. I hate it,” I complained again and again. “Living with the Russos is like living in a loony bin. Thomas is actually a man named Carl and Lydia has a phone growing out of her ear.”
    Dad surprised me. Ordinarily he would have put his hand on my shoulder and said something like, “Oh, come on, son, it’s not that bad.” Or, “Just give it a few weeks, it’ll get better.” But this time he really caught me off guard.
    He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If I could have you here with me, I would. I hope you know that.”
    For a split second my whole world lit up. Just the thought of it was enough to change my mood.
    “Dad! That’s it! Of course! That’s the answer to my problems! I’ll come here and live with you! Just you and me. It’ll be great! Why didn’t we think of this before?”
    Dad looked puzzled. “We did, Charlie. We talked about it with your mom before this all happened. You said you didn’t want to leave your old neighborhood or change schools or stay with a baby-sitter when I’m out of town.”
    He paused a second, as if he was trying to recall something else. “Oh yeah, and you weren’t too crazy about the idea of sleeping in the living room forever either. Don’t you remember that? It wasn’t even that long ago.”
    Suddenly my world crashed back in on top of me again.
    “Yeah … I remember,” I said, glumly staring at his pull-out couch. “I just forgot for a second, but I remember now.”
    It was pretty obvious that I was disappointed. Dad reached over and gave me a quick hug.
    “Never any easy answers, are there, son?” he asked sympathetically.
    I shook my head no. Not anymore, I thought sadly. Not since last year when you left.
    I DIDN’T go home until four o’clock on Sunday. I would have stayed at Dad’s for dinner, but he was having shrimp egg rolls, beets, and stewed tomatoes. Men eat like that when they’re alone.
    When I walked into the living room that afternoon, Mom and Ben were sitting on the couch. Thomas and Lydia were stretched out on the floor in front of them. Seeing them like that sort of took me by surprise. They just looked so much like a normal family without me there.
    I stood in the doorway with my suitcase. The extra son with the extra father.
    “Oh, good, Charlie!” my mother exclaimed when she saw me. She hurried over and gave me a hug.
    In her hand was a magazine. “There’s a great article in here. I found it in the dentist’s office yesterday and I’ve been waiting for you to get home so I could read it to everyone.”
    I didn’t bother to argue. My mother takes her magazine articles very seriously.
    She clicked off the TV and looked around. “Is everybody listening? It’s called ‘Bonding with Your Stepchildren.’ ”
    Thomas bolted up. He’d been watching some wildlife show and was pretty annoyed that Mom