"Hi, Jamie!" "Hi, Jamie!" "Hi, Myriah! Hi, Gabbie! Hi-hi!" called Jamie. Standing in their yard next door were Myriah and Gabbie Perkins. The girls are good friends of Jamie's.

The Perkins family moved into Kristy's house when Kristy and her mom and brothers moved to Watson's. Considering I lost my best friend then, I feel lucky that such a nice family moved in. Us club members baby-sit at the Perkinses' a lot. Myriah is five and a half, Gabbie is two and a half, and their little sister Laura is an infant.

"Come on over!" Jamie called to the girls.

"Overrun with kids," I thought I heard Logan murmur, but I wasn't sure.

"No, come over here!" cried Gabbie. "Come on, Jamie. We have something to show you." "Okay." Jamie set Tigger on the ground. He called good-bye to us, and ran next door.

"Want something to drink?" I asked Logan.

"Sure," he replied.

I knew exactly what he wanted. That's how well we know each other. I didn't even need to ask him.

"Be right back," I said, as I got to my feet.

Logan didn't like having to wait outside (I could tell by the look on his face), but what could we do? I ran inside, opened two sodas, and ran back outside. I handed one to Logan as I sat down again.

"So," I said, as I settled myself on the stoop, "how are Kerry and Hunter?" "You mean, what are you getting yourself into when you sit tomorrow?" "No!" I said, even though I knew Logan was teasing me.

Logan smiled. "Well, Hunter's allergies are as bad as ever, and Kerry is going through a stage." "A stage?" "Yeah. She's been saying that we treat her like a baby. I think she wants to be, you know, more independent. She could also use a few friends. She hasn't really made any since we moved here." I nodded, staring down the street.

A few moments later I said, "I think we have more company." Charlotte Johanssen was headed our way. She's eight, another kid our club sits for. And she reminds me of myself - nice, but shy, trying hard to please people.