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

had just clicked it off.
    “Hey! What happened to the snakes?” he hollered.
    My mother smiled.
    “In a minute, Thomas. Right now this is more important. The doctor who wrote this is a psychiatrist with five stepchildren. He’s had a lot of experience with families like ours—you know, stepfamilies—and he’s made some suggestions that I thought might be good to try.”
    Ben shifted uneasily in his seat.
    “I’d rather watch the snakes,” whined Thomas.
    “Shh,” shushed my mother, and she began to read.
    “ ‘It’s a good idea for each parent to spend time alone with his or her new stepchild. This should be quality time set aside for just the two of them. By joining in a favorite activity together, they can get to know each other away from the pressures of the family. They can learn to confide in each other. Learn to trust. And it’s through this trust that the bonding process can begin.…’ ”
    When she had finished, Mom looked up from the magazine and beamed proudly. I’m not kidding. It was like she wrote it herself or something.
    “Well?” she asked. “What do you think?”
    Ben was still fidgeting. Slowly he shook his head. “I don’t know, Janet. I think we’re doing fine the way we are. Isn’t it better to learn to blend together as a family than to split everybody up?” he asked.
    Thank you, Ben, I thought secretly. Thank you for wanting to spend quality time alone with me.
    Meanwhile, my mother looked up at the ceiling and grimaced.
    “Spending time alone with each child is not splitting everybody up, Ben. If Thomas and I spend some time alone and we get to know each other better, how can that possibly split things up?”
    Mom looked at Lydia and me. “What do you two think? Lydia? Charlie?”
    Lydia shrugged. She was right in the middle of pulling one of her rubber bands out of her head.
    I just stared blankly into space. Maybe sleeping on the couch at Dad’s wouldn’t be so bad after all. At least my father didn’t need to be forced to love me.
    Suddenly Thomas got up off the floor and stormed over to where my mother was sitting. Then he leaned right into her face.
    “I said I want to watch the snakes, dammit!”
    Hearing him swear took all of us by surprise. A big hush settled over the room and my mother’s mouth dropped open. So did mine.
    I tried to keep from laughing, but it wasn’t easy. Especially when Ben grabbed Thomas by the arm and marched him up the stairs. Thomas knew he was in big trouble. The whole way to his room he kept saying, “I don’t have to watch the snakes, Dad. Let’s be friends. Do you want to be friends, Dad?”
    When Ben finally came back downstairs, he walked over to my mother and put his arms around her. He did it right in front of Lydia and me.
    “Looks like maybe we’d better give this guy’s idea a try,” he said, picking up the magazine.
    Mom rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, “Thanks.”
    I left the room. It bothered me to see the two of them hug. I wouldn’t have minded if Ben had given her a hearty slap on the back once in a while, but soft whispering and hugging—well, it just got to me, that’s all.
    T HEY SET it up for Saturday. Ben and I would go fishing and Mom would take Lydia shopping and out to lunch. Thomas would go to his friend Jeffrey Pete’s house. His turn would come next.
    The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to go. What kind of personal junk was I supposed to learn about Ben, anyway? That he liked to stomp around in nature in a flannel shirt and eat Hungry Jack pancakes? That he went outside every night after dinner and watched the sun set? Okay, fine. So what?
    And what about me? Was I actually supposed to confess my true feelings about his family? Should I tell him that I thought his son was a mental case, or that sometimes Lydia was unbelievably selfish? Would that “bond” Ben and me together?
    Or how about this one? Would it help if I told Ben that sometimes when no one was around I