And Baby Makes 3

Rehearsals were not going well at the P*lace this afternoon, mainly because one of the members of Kids Incorporated was missing. Renee had been skipping rehearsals a lot lately. She’d also been moody and cranky. No one, not even her sister, Stacy, could figure out why. Of course, it would be easier if she would show up once in a while.

“Man, we are getting nowhere!” Ryan said angrily. He turned to Stacy. “Where is your sister?”

“I don’t know! I haven’t seen her since this morning.” she told him.

“This is the third time she’s been late this week.” The Kid said.

“I’m worried about her.” said Connie, one of the most recent additions to the band. If it hadn’t been for Renee, Connie probably wouldn’t have auditioned, and ever since then, she’d been looking up to her.

“Rich, did you do something to her?” Ryan asked Richie, the new drummer. Renee and Richie had gotten off on the wrong foot since the beginning, especially after he’d raffled off a date with her to make money for the band.

“No! Uh, I don’t think I did. At least, not today.”

“Great. Well, guys, we might as well pack it in.” Ryan sighed disgustedly.

Richie was still trying to figure out what he might have done to possibly upset Renee. “I got in her way last week.” he said. “Maybe that was it.”

“Oh, give it up, Richie!” The Kid scoffed. “You’re never gonna understand Renee. She’s always been like that.”

“Kid, that’s not true!” Stacy said to him. “Renee’d never skip rehearsal on purpose. And we did tease her a lot when we were younger."

“Are things this bad at home?” Ryan asked her.

“That’s just it.” she explained. “Things aren’t anything at home. I hardly ever see Renee, and when I do, she’s always grouchy. The last lime I asked for her help, she totally bit my head off.”

“What’s she doing that’s keeping her from rehearsal?” Richie wondered.

“I don’t know, but if this keeps up, we may have to cut her out for good.” Ryan said solemnly.

When Renee finally did arrive, she noticed that the instruments and mikes were put away, indicating that rehearsal was over. “Thanks for waiting for me!” she snapped.

“Well, thank you for being so prompt” Ryan spat back.

“Oh, and while we’re on the subject,” she said, getting in his face, “thanks for finishing that interview!”

“I thought you were gonna do that.”

“No, yesterday I told you I wouldn’t be able to, remember?”

“So we lose one interview, so what?”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m dropping the paper.”

“You dropping the band, too?” The Kid said sarcastically.

“Why? Need more room for your ego?” Renee sneered.

“Well, you keep missing rehearsals.  What’re we supposed to think?” Stacy asked her.

Renee snapped at her, too. “How about something besides yourself for once?”

“Look, if you’re just gonna barge in here spouting insults, you might as well just leave.” Ryan told her.

“Fine!” she remarked, and then mumbled, “It’s not like you ever listen to a thing I say, anyway.”  She turned to leave and nearly crashed into Riley.

“Oh, there you are!” he said. “Your mom called. She needs you to come home right away.”

“Both of us?” Stacy asked.

“No, just Renee.”

That did it. “Oooooooh!” Renee growled, clenching her fists. Then she stomped out of the P*lace, slamming the door so hard the walls shook.

“Whoa! Did I miss something?” Riley said.

“Yeah, Mount Saint Renee just erupted.” said Ryan. “And we’re right in its path.”

There were 20 minutes left until the Kids’ next rehearsal, and it seemed as if Renee was, again, not going to show. In fact, Richie and The Kid were placing bets on just how long she’d keep them waiting.

“Half an hour.” Richie guessed, slapping down a five-dollar bill.

The Kid shook his head.  “Richie, Richie, Richie. So young, so naive.” he said. He pounded the table. “45 minutes, double or nothing!”

“You guys, that’s not nice.” Connie scolded them. “Renee’s our friend.”

“Not lately.” Richie said.

Miraculously, Renee showed up then. “Good, you’re here.” Ryan began. “Now, we gotta get started because we just got a lot of new songs...”

But Renee cut him off “I just came to tell you I can’t stay.” she said hastily, and turned to go.

“Aw, man, what now? Look, this isn’t working out. You can’t be a band member in name only.”

“Since when is it a problem? You’ve all missed rehearsals before.”

“Not six in a row!”

“Renee, can’t you stay for just one song?” The Kid asked her.

“No, I’m running late as it is.”

“Please?” asked Connie sweetly.

“I said I couldn’t, Connie, okay? Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Well, thanks for the advance notice!” Ryan said, slumping angrily into a chair. “Just what are we supposed to do now?”

“Same thing you always do,” she muttered, “shut me out.”

“You know something? That’s a good idea!” said Ryan. He leapt out of his chair and pointed to the door. “Let’s start right now!”

“Ryan, what are you doing?” cried Stacy.

“I’m doing your sister a favor!” he replied. “She can’t fit being in the band into her busy schedule, so now she won’t have to!” He looked at Renee, expecting her to defend herself.  She just stared at him, wide-eyed, her chin quivering. Then she burst into tears and ran from the P*lace.

Stacy rounded on him. “I can’t believe you DID THAT!” she screamed, shoving him back into the chair.

“Way to go, Ryan.” The Kid said disapprovingly.

“Wh-just 10 minutes ago you were all mad at her!” Ryan sputtered.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to yell at her like that. You know how sensitive she is.”

“Even I wouldn’t hurt her feelings.” Richie added.

“But...oh, come on!” said Ryan. “She was yelling at everybody. I mean, she chewed out Connie. You know that’s not normal.”

“Can’t you see that something’s bothering her?” Connie asked him.

“But...but you said...” They glared at him. “What?” They kept glaring. He sighed. “I’ll go find her.”

She was huddled on the stairs leading to the Magic Shoppe, sobbing. She didn’t hear Ryan coming, and when he said, “Need a tissue?” she jumped.

“Leave me alone, I’m already...”

“Late, yeah, I know. Your White Rabbit impression is getting old. Just what are you so late in doing, anyway?”

“You really wanna know?” she challenged him.

‘‘Enlighten me.

“Well, let’s see. I have to mail 20 baby shower invitations, have my dad paged, re-interview the superintendent,” she glared at him, “buy pickles, water the geraniums, my homework, Stacy’s homework, cooking, cleaning, ironing, and oh, yeah, rehearsals! Although I guess I don’t.. .have to worry about that anymore.” she said, her voice breaking.

“Yeah, about that. Look, I might have gone a little bit overboard. The gang...” he laughed, shaking his head. “The gang made me see the error of my ways.”

“Great.” she said absently.

“Well, you don’t have to thank me now.” he quipped.

“I still can’t make rehearsals.” she said sadly.

“Why do you have to do all this extra work all of a sudden? Where’s your dad?”

“Working extra hours to get a promotion so we can afford having another mouth to feed.  Mom’s gotten so tired lately that I usually end up doing all the work.” She sighed. “Everyone’s so worried about how Stacy’s gonna feel once the baby’s born, but nobody stopped to think about me. I have enough responsibilities already. I don’t need anymore!”

“Well, have you tried talking to them?”

“When do I have the time? I have to get up an hour early so I can sneak off to school before my mom wakes up. And I can barely concentrate. I’m not looking forward to my report card. But still, as soon as I get home, it’s, ‘Oh, Renee, love, be a dear and sweep the back porch. Darling, could you give me a hand with dinner? There’s a good girl. Isn’t it your turn to do the dishes? I’m so dreadfully tired!”’ she said, mimicking her mother.

“Renee, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. But can’t you ask her to give you a break?”

Renee shook her head. “I just don’t have the heart. I mean, she is pregnant. And every time I try, she just goes on and on about how grateful she is to have a “wonderfully considerate” daughter like me. Talk about guilt!”

Ryan had an idea. “What are you doing now?”

She stared at him. “Ryan, I just told you.”

“Yeah, but after that, are you done?

“I guess.”

“Well, why don’t we round up the gang, and we’ll all help you? If you tell them what you told me, I’m sure they’ll understand. We finish up quick enough, we might just have time to squeeze in a number.”

“Oh, I hope so! I’ve really missed you guys.”

“We missed you, too.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Well, yeah.” he shrugged.

Before she could stop herself, she reached out and hugged him. “Oops! Sorry!” she said sheepishly.

Ryan himself was a little late for their next rehearsal. He wasn’t at all surprised to find Renee standing there waiting for him with her hands on her hips. “Now who’s late?” she teased, smiling.

“I just had a talk with your parents.” he told her.

Her smile faded. “How much trouble am I in?”

“None, although they were disappointed that you hadn’t come to them sooner. But you’ll be happy to know that they’ve decided to divide the chores up a little bit more, so neither of you will be late for rehearsal.”

“Uh, neither of us?” Stacy interjected.   Renee’s face lit up.

Ryan laughed. “You’ve got a lot of work to catch up on, young lady.” He turned to Renee. “Oh, and they asked me to give you this.” He handed her a $20 bill.

Renee was positively giddy. “Ryan, I could kiss you!” she said. He gave her a funny look. “But I won’t.” she assured him. Instead, she turned to her friends. “I’m sorry I’ve been so mean to you guys, really. I was just so stressed out.”

“That’s okay.” The Kid said reassuringly. “I should have known you wouldn’t miss rehearsals unless it was for a good reason.”

I told you that you shouldn’t have been mad at her!” Connie said to him. They all laughed.

“And I’m sorry I yelled at you. It’s nice that you were worried about me.” Renee said to her.

“I just can’t believe I didn’t notice anything.” Stacy said. “You know I wouldn’t have asked you to help me if I thought you couldn’t.”

Renee just smirked at her sister. “And you’ll be even sorrier when you see how many dishes there are in the sink!” Stacy whimpered. “Oh, and Dad likes extra starch in his shirts. And don’t trample Mom’s geraniums. She hates that.”

“Well, now that you’re all here,” Riley said, “maybe you can finally rehearse?”

“Yeah, let’s hurry up, guys.” Renee pleaded. “I’m really out of practice. So, what have I missed?”

“Well, we finally got that Bon Jovi song down.” The Kid told her.

“And somehow, Richie got a drumstick stuck in his ear.” Stacy added.

“It’s really an interesting story if you want to hear it.” Richie said.

Renee looked back at Ryan. “Why did I want to come back here again?” she asked him. He had no idea.

About a week had passed, and a few of the Kids were hanging around the P*lace when Stacy burst in.

“Has Renee come here yet?”

“Why, is she missing again?” Riley asked.

“No, she’s at the hospital with my parents.” Stacy said hurriedly.

That got everybody’s attention.  “Is your mom having her baby?” asked Connie.

“Yeah, they came to get us, but I was in gym class.” Stacy explained. “That was 4 hours ago.”

“Well, I read someplace that having a baby can take a long time.” Ryan told her.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

Renee came in then, both crying and smiling. She ran to Stacy and hugged her. “We have the most adorable baby brother!” she squealed.

“Congratulations!” the Kids said to them.

“Now that calls for a celebration.” Riley announced. “Ice cream on the house in honor of little...hey, what’s his name?”

“Oh, Mom and Dad already decided that if it was a boy, they’d name him William.” Renee told him.

“But we’re gonna call him Billy.” Stacy said.

“Boy, do I feel sorry for you two!” Richie said. “All those smelly diapers!”

“But babies are cute!” Connie pointed out. “When’s he coming home?”

“In a couple of days, which means someone better get started on all that housework.” Renee said. Stacy groaned inwardly. “But not alone. I’ll help you.” Renee reassured her.

“We should go do our next number now,” Stacy said, “‘cause I can’t wait to get the house ready for Billy to come home!”

“Hey, maybe you’ll have another performer in the family.” The Kid joked.

“We could start our own band!” Renee laughed.

“You know the best part about having a little brother?” Stacy told her. “Now I have someone to blame everything on!”

“Welcome to big sisterhood, Stace.” she said.

The End