The only problem was that it was getting very stuffy in the backseat of the car. Monty was having trouble breathing.
“Could you open the window a little?” Monty asked Ilene, who was seated on his right.
“Are you crazy?” she asked Monty. “We’ll drown from all the water.”
“Just a little,” he pleaded.
“No way,” said Arlene.
Monty swallowed hard and tried to take a deep breath. It seemed as if there were no air in the car. Neither Arlene or Ilene seemed uncomfortable. But Monty’s mouth felt dry, and he was having trouble swallowing. It felt as if a weight were pressing down on him and preventing him from breathing. This was the way it felt when an asthma attack was coming on. It felt as if he were choking.
Monty reached for his pocket to get his inhaler. It was difficult because he was squished between Arlene and Ilene.
“Stop poking me,” said Ilene.
“I’m not poking you. I’m just trying to get something from my pocket,” he said, gasping for breath.
Mrs. Kelly quickly turned around. “Oh, Monty,” she said. “Are you having a problem?”
But Monty wasn’t having a problem anymore. He had succeeded in getting his inhaler, and now it was in his mouth. He inhaled, and the medicine immediately went to work clearing his lungs.
Mrs. Kelly honked the horn. “Stop! Stop!” she called to the attendants at the car wash. But because they were inside the rainy building and the attendants were outside, they didn’t hear her.
She lowered the window a crack.
“Mom, I’m getting all wet,” complained Arlene.
“A little water won’t hurt you,” said Mrs. Kelly. “It’s Monty I’m worried about.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Kelly,” Monty whispered. “I’m better now.”
The car moved out of the building and into the daylight.
Two men with towels were wiping and rubbing the sides of the car. Mrs. Kelly opened the window wider.
“Can you take a deep breath, Monty?” she asked him.
Monty gave a weak smile. “I’m okay now. Honest,” he told his friends’ mother.
“Wasn’t that a great surprise, Monty?” asked Arlene as her mother paid for the car wash.
“Wasn’t it fun? Just like going on a ride at an amusement park?” asked Ilene.
“I guess so,” said Monty. “Mostly I just go on the merry-go-round when I’m at an amusement park.”
“We went on a Ferris wheel with our dad,” bragged Arlene.
“And you screamed that you were going to die,” Ilene reminded her sister.
“I did not.”
“You did so.”
“Did not.”
“Did so.”
“Are you up to having a cup of hot chocolate?” Mrs. Kelly asked Monty.
“Yippee! Hot chocolate!” shouted Arlene.
“I love hot chocolate. Don’t you?” Ilene asked Monty.
He nodded. He’d just learned something new. Not all surprises were good for everyone. But it was all right. He felt better now.
The next day there was another kind of shower. This one was a surprise too. It was a party called a shower. The funny thing was that Monty knew about the party and his father knew about the party, but his mother didn’t know about it at all.
Monty’s father explained to him. “It’s called a baby shower. Mom’s friends are going to give her presents for the new baby. There was a shower before you were born. Usually people don’t have a second shower. But so many years have passed since you were born that we gave away all the infant equipment and clothing. So Betty Wilson decided to give a new shower.”
“That sounds like fun,” Monty said. Everyone loves presents, even unborn babies. And there always was ice cream and cake at a party, he thought. Only then Monty’s father told him that they weren’t invited. “Just women,” said Mr. Morris. It didn’t seem fair. But on the other hand, Monty didn’t really want to spend the whole afternoon with Betty Wilson and a bunch of other ladies.
“Here’s the plan,” explained Monty’s dad. “The party is a surprise. So we mustn’t let your mom know about it.”
Just then the telephone rang. It was part of the plan.
In a few minutes, Monty’s mother came into the room where Monty was sitting with his father. “Betty Wilson just called. She has some relatives coming to visit this afternoon and she discovered that her large coffeemaker is broken. She wants to borrow mine.”
“Fine,” said Mr. Morris.
“Will you take it to her?” asked Monty’s mom.
“How about I take you and the coffeemaker,” offered Mr. Morris.
“I’m feeling a little tired. You don’t need me. Just drop off the coffeemaker, okay?”
“Mom, you’ve got to go . . .” said Monty.
“Why?” asked Mrs. Morris, looking puzzled.
Oops. Monty realized that he’d almost spoiled the surprise. “Because maybe your coffeemaker works differently from Mrs. Wilson’s,” he said. “You better go and show her.” Thank goodness he hadn’t given away the news about the party.
“Tell you what,” suggested Monty’s dad. “Monty and I will drive with you to Betty’s. “We’ll wait in the car while you drop off the coffeemaker. Then we can bring you right back home.”
“All right,” said Mrs. Morris with a sigh. “But it does seem unnecessary for three people to take one coffeemaker. Why doesn’t she just make tea for everyone?”
Mr. Morris tried to persuade his wife to put on her new maternity outfit before they left the house. “It’s such a lovely color on you,” he said.
“I don’t need to dress up just to deliver the coffeemaker,” insisted Monty’s mom. Monty and his dad both knew she’d be sorry later, but it would be too late.
They all got in the car. Monty sat in the back with the coffeemaker beside him. When they reached Betty Wilson’s, Mrs. Morris got out of the car. She opened the back door and reached for the coffeemaker.
Monty started to say, “Have a good time.” Luckily he didn’t.
The door opened at Betty Wilson’s house and Monty’s mom walked inside with the coffeemaker. Even from the car Monty and his dad heard everyone inside shouting, “SURPRISE!”
“Phew,” said Mr. Morris. “We almost didn’t make it.”
Then the two male members of the Morris family went to see a feature-length cartoon that had gotten good reviews. And when they came home, there was a plate with a large slice of cake for them to share. It had come from the shower.
“You really tricked me!” said Monty’s mom, trying to sound cross. But she had a big smile on her face. “It was a lovely party,” she said, “and it was a real surprise, too!”
She showed off all the gifts she had received for the baby. There were little tiny outfits, booties, sweaters, and soft infant toys. The more Monty looked at them, the more he thought that he should give his new sibling a gift, too.
It was still another six weeks until the baby was expected. He talked about the new brother or sister with his parents often. He wondered if the baby would look like him and if the baby would like all the same things he liked. Sometimes he put his hand on his mother’s stomach and he could feel the baby moving inside. Once he felt a huge kick.
“That was just like a karate kick,” Monty told his mom. “I bet our new baby is a boy like me. I can teach him all the karate moves.”
“Girls do karate too,” Mrs. Morris reminded Monty. “Don’t forget Ilene and Arlene both do karate.”
Monty nodded. But secretly he was certain that he was going to get a baby brother.
Now Monty went into his room and looked around. What did he have that he could give to a new baby? His books were much too difficult. His games were much too hard. His clothing was much too large. He opened and closed the drawers in his bureau. Then he sat down on his bed, and immediately he thought of something.
He ran to his mother. “Can I have a piece of gift-wrap paper?” he asked.
“Sure. What do you need it for?” Mrs. Morris asked.
“I’m going to give you a present for our new baby, and I want to wrap it up,” Monty explained.
“Oh, Monty. That’s very sweet of you,” said his mother. She had folded up the wrappings from all of the new gifts, so she was able to offer Monty several choices of paper. One had little elephants, lions, and giraffes on it. Another paper had stars in every color of the rainbow. And a third had pictures of a teddy bear doing different activities. Monty liked them all, but the one with the teddy bear was the best.
He took the paper and went back to his bedroom. He put the paper down on his bed and laid the gift on top of it. Then he folded the paper around the gift the way he’d seen his mother do in the past. Of course, the paper didn’t stay in place.
Monty went back to his mother. “Can I have some tape?” he asked. “I need it for the package.”
Mrs. Morris found a roll of tape and handed it over to Monty.
Monty took it to his room and taped the gift wrap around the package so it wouldn’t open.
Mrs. Morris had come home from the shower with all the baby presents and wrappings and lots of ribbons too. That gave Monty an idea.
He went back to his mother. “Can I have a piece of ribbon?” he asked her.
“Monty, what is this mysterious present you are wrapping?” asked Mr. Morris.
“You’ll see,” said Monty.
He took the ribbon into his room and tied it around the gift. There were still a couple of kids in Monty’s class who couldn’t tie their own shoelaces, but Monty was good at tying. When he was finished, the package looked a little lumpy. Maybe he should have asked for a box to put it in before he wrapped the paper around it. Monty considered untying the ribbon, removing the tape and the paper, and starting over. He decided that it didn’t really matter. In one moment, his mother would open it up.
Monty took the lumpy package into the dining room where his mother was still admiring all the new gifts.
“Here is my present for our new baby,” he said.
“Oh, Monty. Thank you very much,” said Mrs. Morris.
She looked at Monty’s father. “What do you think Monty is giving his new brother or sister?” she asked him.
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Mr. Morris.
Monty’s mother removed the ribbon. She carefully removed the tape from the gift wrap so that the paper could be reused again at some future time. She opened the paper. There lay the teddy bear that Monty had gotten from their next-door neighbor Mrs. Carlton before she had moved away. It had once belonged to Mrs. Carlton’s son, who was now a grown man. Monty’s mom had washed it in the washing machine, and it looked like new again.
“Do you really want to give your teddy bear away?” asked Mrs. Morris.
“I like it a lot,” Monty admitted. “But I think it’s a good present for a baby, don’t you? Besides, I’m getting pretty old. In the summer I’ll be having another birthday,” he reminded his parents. “And next year at school, I’ll be in second grade.”
“That’s true.”
“You used to think I shouldn’t have any stuffed toys because of my asthma. But this bear didn’t make me feel sick at all,” Monty said. He paused for a moment. “Do you think our new baby will have asthma?” he asked his parents.
“Oh, Monty,” said his mother. “We don’t know about asthma just as we don’t know if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl. But someday, we hope you’ll outgrow your asthma. Many people do. And should the baby have it, hopefully he or she will also outgrow it. But there is one thing we know for sure already.”
“What’s that?” asked Monty.
“No child will ever be quite like you,” she said, putting her arms around him and giving him a big hug.
Before going to bed that night, Monty decided not to take a bath. His parents mostly took showers instead of baths. It seemed a very grown-up way of getting washed, and Monty wanted to try it out. His father helped him adjust the water, and it turned out to be lots of fun. It was like standing in the rain with no clothing on and with a bar of soap in your hand. So that made not one, not two, but three showers in one weekend.
All his life, Monty had been the only child in his family. In the Kelly family there were two children, Arlene and Ilene. Joey had both an older brother and an older sister. Just about every kid in his class had siblings. It was something that kept Monty thinking. He asked Mrs. Meaney if she had any brothers or sisters.
“I have one of each,” she responded. “I’m in the middle.”
Monty wondered what it would feel like to have another child in the family. He would have to share his parents with the new baby. Most of the time, he looked forward to the big event. But sometimes, he worried that the baby was unnecessary.
Still, lately there had been so much company at home that Monty didn’t have time to think about it. First his Aunt Naomi came to visit. She was his father’s sister. Then his Uncle Ben and Aunt Kimberly came. Uncle Ben was his mother’s brother. Of course, they had all visited before, but only now did Monty begin to think of these relatives as siblings of his parents. Having a sibling worked out for both his mother and father. He guessed it would work out for him, too.
The best company was when his grandparents came. They were his mother’s mother and father. They stayed in the guest room, which was going to be made over into a room for the new baby. In fact, his grandfather helped Monty’s father paint the room a pale yellow color. Monty helped too. While they worked, Monty’s mom went shopping with his grandmother to pick out a new crib and chest of drawers for the baby.
“You won’t be able to visit us after our baby comes.” Monty worried aloud. “There won’t be any place for you to sleep,” he told his grandparents.
“Of course they’ll visit,” Monty’s mom reassured him. “Maybe the baby will stay with you for a few nights, or maybe we’ll get a sofa that opens up and your dad and I will sleep on it while Grandma and Grandpa will use our room. We’ll work it out.”
Grandpa went home after a few days, but Grandma stayed. She was going to help Monty’s mom with the new baby. The baby was expected any day now. And in the meantime, she cooked supper each evening and did the laundry so that Mrs. Morris could take it easy. Grandma went to the supermarket and did the shopping. She vacuumed and straightened up the house. She finished knitting a little sweater with a hood that she’d been making. Everything was ready for the baby.
Each afternoon, Monty rushed home from school expecting to hear the big news. Monday, no baby. Tuesday, no baby. Wednesday, no baby. Thursday, no baby. Friday, no baby.
On Saturday, Monty expected that the baby would come while he was home. He went outside and played with Joey. But from time to time he ran into the house to check things out. No baby.
“Isn’t this baby ever going to come?” asked Monty.
“The baby will come. Be patient,” said his grandmother.
“I’m tired of being patient,” Monty complained.
“Me, too,” his mother agreed.
“Me, too,” said his father.
On Sunday, no baby.
By Monday, Monty had given up expecting the baby. There were too many other things to think about. That day at school, his class was looking forward to seeing a magician who was going to give a performance for all the students. But shortly before the magic show was scheduled to begin, a voice over the loudspeaker in his classroom called out. “Will Monty Morris please report to the office.”
Monty was surprised. His name had never been called before. Once Cora Rose was called when her mom came to take her to the dentist. And once Joey was called because his mom was taking one of the family dogs to a vet and no one would be home for Joey when school let out. Monty didn’t have a dentist appointment or a dog so he worried a little as he hurried to the office.
To his surprise, his grandmother was standing there waiting for him. She had a big smile on her face and she said,
“Congratulations. You are a big brother. You have a baby sister.”
“I do?” Monty asked with surprise. Somehow, he’d forgotten all about the new baby today.
Then he realized what else his grandmother had said. A sister. He’d been certain that he was going to have a brother.
“When was she born?” he asked.
“Right after you left for school. Your mother could tell the baby was getting ready to be born. So I drove her to the hospital and your father met us there. And by the time you were eating lunch here at school, you had a sister.”
Mrs. Remsen, the secretary, came out from behind her desk.
“Congratulations, Monty,” she said giving him a high five. “You’re a big brother now.”
“Come on,” said Monty’s grandmother. “I’m going to take you to see your mom and the baby.”
“Now? Right now?” asked Monty.
“It’s okay,” said Mrs. Remsen. “You can miss a little school. This is a special occasion after all.”
Monty followed his grandmother out of the school building. Suddenly he thought of something. “What is my sister’s name?”
“Your parents have decided to call her Amanda Lee,” said his grandmother as they got into the car.
Monty thought for a moment and shook his head.
“That’s too long. You can call her Amanda Lee,” he said, “but I’m going to call her Mandy.”
“It is a long name,” his grandmother agreed. “I have a feeling that we’ll all be calling her Mandy before long.”
“You’re going the wrong way,” Monty said to his grandmother as she turned the corner. “Our house is down that other street.”
“We’re going to the hospital. That’s where your mom and Mandy are. They won’t be coming home until tomorrow.”
Monty made a face. “I don’t really like going to the hospital,” he said. “I can wait until tomorrow to see them.”
Amazing Monty Page 3
