"You mean you just took it for granted that I'd stay home with Mal and the kids?"

"Well, one of us has to be here," she said reasonably. "And anyway, all you have to do is tell Alex you'll see him tomorrow night."

She flounced up to our room to get changed and left me fuming in the kitchen. I couldn't believe that Stacey was being so selfish.

I was still thinking about our fight as Mal and I helped the kids get ready for bed that night. I went into Vanessa's room to close the window, while Mal helped Claire and Margo.

"Mary Anne," she said, "can you stay and talk to me for a minute?"

"Sure." I sat down on the edge of the bed. "What's up?"

"I've been doing some writing," she said.

She reached under the bed and pulled out a notepad and a ballpoint pen.

"Poems?" I asked.

"Well," she said, "yes. But different from the usual ones. I'm writing some poems for Chris. You know, the boy at Ice-Cream Palace." I must have looked surprised because she added, "I have this big crush on him. I think he's adorable, don't you?"

"Well, yes. He's really cute."

"Here, read them and tell me what you think." She shoved the notebook at me and I quickly scanned a page. It was obvious that Vanessa was crazy over Chris. How could this have happened? I wondered. She didn't even know him!

Am accent -Uou^kt

X ICvUJW  At*. /UA

uu^ /fltn/iil Jkwe. Ant /iX fatcJty

"Very nice." I handed her the notebook. What else could I say?

"I wrote eight all together. I just hope he likes them." She snuggled down under the covers.

"You're going to show Chris the poems?" A little warning bell went off in my head. Somehow I knew this wasn't such a great idea.

"Of course not/' she said with a laugh. "I want to be his secret admirer. It wouldn't be much of a secret if he knew who wrote them, would it?"

"I guess not." I paused. "What exactly are you going to do with them?"