A tornado had just hit doll land when Bean’s mom opened the front door.
“Hi, sweetie!” said her mother. “How did it go? Where’s Nancy? Hi, Ivy.”
“Hi,” said Bean. “It was fine. I don’t know where Nancy is.”
“Hi,” said Ivy. She made a sound like a siren. “Here come the firefighters!”
“There you are!” said Bean’s mom as Nancy came into the living room. “How was it, honey?”
Nancy took a deep breath.
Bean looked up at her.
“I think I’m too young to babysit, Mom,” Nancy said.
Bean’s mom looked worried. “Why, sweetie?” She turned to Bean. “Bean? Did you misbehave?”
“Me?” Bean said with wide eyes. “I was perfect!”
“Why don’t you want to babysit again, honey?” said Bean’s mom. She turned to Nancy and brushed her hair out of her face.
“I just don’t like it,” Nancy said. “I was nervous the whole time.”
“Nervous? What were you nervous about?” asked Bean’s mom.
Bean wrapped her fingers around her own neck and dangled her tongue out of her mouth.
Nancy saw her. “I was just nervous. I think I’ll wait until I’m older before I babysit again.”
“Too bad,” said Ivy. “I thought you were a great babysitter. I was hoping you could babysit for me one day.”
“NO!” said Nancy.
“Nancy!” said Bean’s mom. “I think Ivy’s being very nice. You don’t have to babysit if you don’t want to, but you may not be rude.”
Nancy clenched her fists into balls and looked at the ceiling. “I am being driven out of my mind!”
“Maybe you need to take some time in your room then,” said Bean’s mom sternly.
“Fine!” Nancy stomped off down the hall.
Bean’s mom looked after her for a moment and then turned to Ivy and Bean. “Did something happen while we were gone?”
“Happen?” said Bean. “Nothing happened.”
“Not a thing,” said Ivy.
The two girls finished playing. They lay on the floor, relaxing among the books and dolls.
“You know,” said Ivy, “I wish Nancy would babysit me.”
“Yuck,” said Bean. “Why?”
“I could use two more dollars,” said Ivy. “I want to buy some dirt so I can make my own volcano, like Sophie W.’s.”
“Oooh, that’s better than a doll baby!” said Bean. “Let’s use our money for dirt!”
“We should be able to buy a lot of dirt for four dollars,” said Ivy. “I want it to go all the way up to my porch so I can jump into the crater.”
“Cool!” said Bean. “Tomorrow’s Sunday. We have a whole day to make a volcano!”
Ivy looked at the ceiling. “I wish we could make a tornado, too.”
“Yeah, that would be fun.” Bean thought for a moment. “You know,” she said, “my dad has a leaf blower.”
“Oh boy,” Ivy wiggled happily. “We can blow your playhouse over.”
Bean’s mom came into the living room. “I just called your mom, Ivy. She says you can stay for dinner if you want.”
“Yes!” yelled Ivy and Bean at the same time.
Bean’s mom smiled. “Smart move. We’re having cream puffs for dessert.”
“We are?” asked Bean. She loved how the cream came shooting out onto both sides of her face when she took a bite. “How come?”
“Oh, to celebrate Nancy’s first time as a babysitter,” said her mother.
“And to celebrate how good Ivy and I were,” added Bean. “Right?”
“Right. That too,” said Bean’s mom. She left the room.
Bean leaned close to Ivy and whispered, “Can you believe how great this day turned out?”
“And there are still lots of hours left,” said Ivy.
