“Why are you mashing your peas?” Mom asked me at dinner a couple of nights later.

“So they’ll go with my mashed potatoes,” I explained as I smashed my fork down on three big juicy ones. “I thought the dinner should have a theme.”

“That’s fine,” Dad said, raising an eyebrow at me as I started to work on my meatloaf. “Just so long as you eat it after you smash it.”

Let’s face it — mashed potatoes, peas, and meatloaf ranks right up in the Top Ten of yucky dinners. Unfortunately, coordinating the meal didn’t help. Now that my food was all on one level, the thought of eating it was even more repulsive. Luckily for me, I was saved by the bell. Or I should say, the ring.

“Now, who would be calling during dinner?” Mom grumbled as she scooted back her chair and stood up to answer the phone. “I’ll tell whoever it is to call back.”

But she didn’t. Instead, my normally calm mother squealed (yes, squealed!), “Oh, Peaches, that’s wonderful news!”

“What?” In a flash I was by Mom’s side. “I want to know.”

Mom cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. “Russ and Peaches are buying a new house. Their old one will be too small for them, so they’re moving. To Stoneybrook!”

“Hooray!” Janine and I both shouted. Then I raced to get on the extension.

“When are you guys coming?” I cried.

“That’s the hitch,” Russ replied. “You see, we found a buyer for our house but we have to move out in about a week and a half. We can’t move into our new house until a month later. We’re hunting for a place to stay.”

“Well, of course you’ll stay with us,” Mom said firmly.

“Are you sure?” Peaches asked. “I mean, six people is a houseful. And a month is an awfully long time.”

“You’re coming here,” Mom insisted. “And that’s that.”

“Oh, Ri,” Peaches gushed, “you are so wonderful.”

“What will you do with your furniture?” I asked, imagining it all stacked up in our living room.

“We’ll put that in storage,” Russ said. “Don’t worry, we’ll just bring a few clothes and our toothbrushes.”

Then Mom and Peaches started talking details.

“We’ll fix up the den and you two can stay there,” Mom rattled off. “You and Russ can take the train to work —”

“Correction,” Peaches cut in. “Russ will take the train to work while I sit around the house and get fat.”

“You quit your job?” I gasped. Peaches worked for an advertising firm and was always coming up with wacky ideas for selling toys and weird household products. When they lived in Stoneybrook before, she would try out her latest jingles on us. Janine and I would sing the songs over and over until our parents begged us to be quiet.

“I’ve always wanted to be a mom,” Peaches explained. “I’m going to stay home and enjoy the whole experience.”

I could tell by the proud note in her voice that becoming a mother meant an awful lot to her.

After a few more minutes of discussion with Mom, Russ and Peaches agreed that they’d arrive at our house a week from Saturday.

“Only ten more days,” I cried as I hung up the extension. “I can’t wait.”

We tried to return to our dinner but we were too excited. Mom filled Dad in on the details while Janine and I gushed over what it would be like to have a baby in the house.

“She won’t have the baby while she’s here,” Mom pointed out.

“I know that,” I giggled. “But it will be under construction. We’ll have so much fun. We can look at those name-the-baby books and baby catalogues, and listen for the heartbeat.”

“There’s a wonderful video called The Miracle of Life,” Janine said excitedly. “We can watch that and follow the baby’s progress as it develops.”

It was just like Janine to view Peaches’ visit as some kind of science project. But I didn’t mind. For once, science might be really truly interesting.

“Before you both get too carried away,” Mom said, pointing at our plates, “let me remind you that your dinners are sitting there growing extremely cold.”

I looked down at my mashed meatloaf-peas-and-potatoes. The last thing I wanted to do was eat it. Besides, I was dying to spread the great news. “Look, Mom,” I said, picking up my plate, “I’m not really hungry. Is it all right if I put this in the fridge? I can reheat it later.”

Dad leaned forward and whispered across the table to Mom. “I think what Claudia is trying to tell us is that she has some important phone calls to make.”

I grinned at Dad. “You read my mind.”

He waved his napkin at me. “Go ahead. Just don’t spend the entire evening on the phone. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of homework to do.”

“I promise I’ll be brief.”

I think I flew up the stairs. I had a ton of calls to make and not much time. Naturally, the first person I dialed was Stacey.

“Peaches and Russ are moving to Stoneybrook,” I shouted the second she picked up. “They’re going to be staying with us for a whole month.”

“Oh, Claud, that’s wonderful!” Stacey gushed. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’m not sure. Peaches will be around a lot. She’s quit her job, so she can concentrate on being a mom.”

“Maybe she needs some help gathering baby supplies.”

“Stacey, you’re a genius! I’ll call Peaches back and find out what she needs. Maybe I can even make something for her.”

I hung up and dialed my aunt. “Peaches, what do you need for the baby?”

“The works,” Peaches replied. “A crib, changing table, rocker, night-light, diapers, clothes, towels, washcloths —”

“How about a blanket?” I asked.

“Blankets, a stroller, a playpen,” Peaches continued without skipping a beat. “In a word — everything.”

I called Mary Anne next. First I broke the big news about my aunt and uncle’s move back to Stoneybrook. Then I asked for her help.

“I want to make something for their baby,” I explained.

“Gee, Claud, you’re much more creative than I am,” Mary Anne said. “I’m sure they’d love a painting for the baby’s room, or one of those funny mobiles that you make.”

“I want this to be something the baby can use,” I explained. “I want to knit a blanket.”

“I didn’t know you knew how to knit,” Mary Anne said.

“I don’t. I want you to teach me, just like Mimi taught you.”

Mimi was special to everyone, but she and Mary Anne had been extra close. This may sound kind of sappy but I thought since Mimi had taught Mary Anne to knit and since Mimi was Peaches’ mother, it would be fitting that Mary Anne teach me. The circle would be complete.

“Gee, Claud …” Mary Anne hesitated. “A blanket is an awfully big project to start with. Why don’t you do something smaller, like booties?”

“No, I’ve made up mind. I really want to knit a blanket.”

“Well, okay. How about if we meet for our first lesson next Monday? That way I can have time to find some patterns, and buy whatever we’ll need.”

After I hung up I dialed the rest of the BSC. Here’s what each of them had to say about how we could help Russ and Peaches after they moved to Stoneybrook.

Kristy, the athlete and organizer, declared, “We can all help Peaches stay fit and healthy during her pregnancy. Maybe we should set up a schedule, and each of us can go for walks with her around Stoneybrook.”

Mal, our writer, decided she’d create a mother’s journal for Peaches. “So she can write down all of the thoughts she’s having, and share them with her baby when she’s older.”

Jessi, the ballerina, wanted to rush right over with some classical music tapes. “Babies can hear in the womb, you know,” she said. “Peaches can rest the headphones on her stomach and her baby will develop a taste for wonderful music, and be born with a sense of rhythm and a desire to dance.”

“If you speak French to the baby from the very start,” Shannon explained after offering to bring over old beginning French textbooks and tapes, “your new cousin will be bilingual without any effort.”

Logan’s response was the sweetest. “Your aunt sure is lucky because, if I know you and the rest of the BSC, she won’t have to lift a finger. All she’ll have to do is sit on her nest and wait for that little egg to hatch.”

I even called Dawn in California. “Oh, I just hate you,” she cried. “You’re going to have so much fun without me.”

“Hurry and come back,” I urged. “We all miss you.”

“I miss you guys, too. The We Love Kids Club is fun, but it’s not the BSC.”

After I hung up, I thought, Dawn’s right. The Baby-sitters Club is special. Not only was everyone nearly as thrilled about Russ and Peaches’ return to Stoneybrook as I was, they’d even thought of useful ways to help out with the baby. This was going to be an exciting year.