Mayson Thomas xx Stacey McGill

Kristy, Mayson, and the Baby Parade

Mayson's POV:

"New Zealand! Did you know there are more sheep in New Zealand than people?" Watson told us at the dinner table one day in summer.

"Everybody knows that." Kristy said.

"Really? Does everybody know that?"

"Yes." She said.

"Did you also know that there is a certain breed of miniature New Zealand sheep that burrow holes in the sides of cliffs and that they were the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien to create the hobbit holes?" Watson asked. We all nodded. "Ha ha! No, you did not know that. You couldn't have known, because guess what? I made it up. It's not true." He told us. "I still think it'd be a cool place to visit though, no? New Zealand? Come on." He added. Ever since mom and Watson gave up on having a baby Watson's been trying to distract her from being sad.

"I just got a very interesting email." My mom said coming back into the room.

"I thought there were no phones at the table, mom." Charlie said.

"I was on the phone in the kitchen while I was getting the Perrier that no one else saw fit to refill. Kristy, Mayson,  you're going to be in the baby parade." She told us.

"What's the baby parade?" Me and Kristy asked in unison.

"The Stoneybrook Baby Parade. It started during World War II when all the women were going stir-crazy at home, so they started dressing their babies up in funny costumes and giving out prizes for the best ones. Anyway, it became an annual event until about ten years ago, when, well, they retired or died or something. This year is the 80th anniversary and the town decided to bring it back. They want all the surviving winners to get on a special float together, and that means you, Kristy and Mayson!" Mom told us.

"That's right!" Watson said.

"Wait, we won the baby parade?" Kristy asked.

"Were the judges blind that year?" Sam asked and Kristy hit his arm.

"You were so adorable. You two were 18 and 8 months old. I dressed you up as a little baby Mrs. Claus and a little elf." Our mom told us. "And with those big red cheeks of yours, you looked like a Christmas card from the 1940s." She added. Watson showed us a picture of him as baby Richard Nixon from when he won the baby parade and then we were asked if we'd do it.

"Will our friends find out?" We asked in unison, sometimes we are exactly like twins but we're not.

"The Stoneybrook Baby Parade. It's back. After all these years, my time has finally come. It says you have to be aged two or under to enter. Twelve years ago, Mimi and Alma, Mary Anne's mom, entered Mary Anne and me in a costume contest." Claudia said at a meeting.

"They did?" Mary Anne asked.

"Your mom was already sick. It was just something to take her mind off everything." Claudia told her. "They spent weeks sewing and designing our costumes, and at first we were going as rag dolls, like Raggedy Ann and Andy. But Mimi was like, 'What's cuter than babies dressed as rag dolls?'" Claudia added.

"Babies dressed like horses?" Mallory asked.

"Close. Babies dressed as adorable baby animals dressed as rag dolls." Claudia replied.

"I didn't know about any of this." Mary Anne said.

"It was so kawaii, we practically redefined kawaii." Claudia said. "But then what happened?" Claudia asked.

"We won, then my dad buried the evidence in his office box of repressed memories?" Mary Anne asked.

"Liz Thomas shows up at the last minute with Kristy and Mayson in some hand-me-down Christmas dresses and wins the whole thing because of..."