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The New Baby

One fine spring day, Carol went to school. When she came home, she was expecting Mamma to be there in the kitchen. Mamma was always waiting to listen to her discuss her day over a glass of milk when she came home. But...Mamma wasn't there. Carol felt strange, almost lonely. She was confused, and she was just a little scared. Second graders never played in the house by themselves. Did Mamma forget? Did she go to visit the neighbour and wait too long to come home? What should she do now?

Just as Carol began to panic, Daddy came out of the bedroom. What was Daddy doing home? He always worked until almost supper. He was carrying what Mamma called a 'train case'. The train case was a bag where her parents put toothbrushes, shampoo and hairbrushes when they were moving or went on vacation. But Carol always knew about vacations beforehand and she hadn't seen a moving truck.

Daddy put the case down on the kitchen table. He told Carol to change into 'visiting clothes' and to make sure her hair was brushed...and to hurry up about it. Carol wondered if she was staying overnight somewhere, but it was a school night. She couldn't wait to find out what was happening.

She ran to her room and put on a dress Mamma had made for her. Visiting clothes were special. They were better than school clothes but not as fancy as church clothes. The dress Carol put on was a simple green one with pockets, but it was made of a material you didn't play in. Carol wouldn't have wanted to play in that itchy material anyway. Her parents liked the dress, though, so it would be a good choice for today.

Once properly put together, the excited little girl got into the car with her father. She got to ride in the front because Mamma wasn't there. Carol finally got to ask where Mamma had gone. Mamma went to the hospital because she had delivered the baby. Carol had a baby sister.

Mamma and Daddy had wanted a boy. They were going to name him Kevin. But Carol liked having a sister better because she could teach her to play house, how to take care of baby dolls and use the Easy Bake Oven. Boys didn't like those things.

Carol was happy for herself, but she was even happier for Mamma. Just after the family had moved into their new home, Carol had come inside from playing to find her mother sobbing in the master bedroom. Carol's heart broke when she heard her mother's sadness, she had to do something. She grabbed a hankie from the laundry basket and went into her parents' bedroom.

There were no lights

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