Emma Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice (12 page)

“So tell the part again about when he woke up,” said Katie, whipping the marshmallow cream.

I sighed. “Come on!”

“It's just so cute!” said Mia. “You're so lucky to have someone who worships you like he does!”

“Well, he doesn't worship me all the time,” I pointed out.

“Enough of the time,” said Mia.

“Yeah, but you don't want to see him when he's
not
worshiping her!” Alexis laughed.

“Ugh, Katie, I can't even look at that raspberry stuff,” I said, wincing. “I think we need to retire the vampire cupcakes after today.”

“The poor girl is traumatized,” said Alexis.

“Remember how I said my mom's book club wanted to place an order?” said Mia. “Well, they're reading a vampire book now!”

Everyone laughed but Alexis, who was thinking hard. “Hey, we should have a ‘Book Club Specialties' section on our website, where we suggest pairings of popular book club books with certain cupcakes!”

“Wow, that would be really cool!” said Katie.

“We should really brainstorm on this and come up with a few,” said Alexis. “I seriously think it would be a great category for us. We do so many book clubs, anyway.”

“Oh, Alexis, by the way. I think you should try to sell cupcakes to the hospital's cafeteria! Their baked goods are so pathetic looking,” I said. “And
if there's one place where people need cheering up with a good cupcake, the hospital would be it.”

“It might be too much work. I mean, would we have to bake every day?” she asked, already trying to schedule it in her mind.

“Maybe we could do it once a week?” Katie suggested.

“Yeah, and we could do specialty cupcakes for the hospital, too! Like the vampire ones could be for blood transfusions! Or we could do a jelly bean topping and call it the Tonsillectomy. Tonsils look like jelly beans, you know,” said Mia, all fake serious.

“Not Jake's!” I said. “His were like golf balls, the doctor said.”

“Eeeewww!” everyone said in unison, laughing but grossed out.

“Listen, guys, seriously about the vampire cupcakes. I think we need a warning on those or something.”

Mia looked thoughtful. “Like a little sign to go on the platter?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Eat at your own risk?” joked Katie.

“Exactly!” I said.

“Not a bad idea,” agreed Alexis. “Better to be prepared . . .” She trailed off.

“Yeah, yeah.” We all laughed. Alexis is all about preparation.

Mia inked out a little sign in neat handwriting on a white doily, then she attached it to a folded piece of white cardstock, so it would stand up. It said exactly what we'd wanted:

Vampire Cupcakes

Eat at your own risk!

(With a napkin under your chin!)

“Perfect!” I said. “Now, what kind of cupcakes would you make for a cute guy getting ankle surgery?” And then I told them all about my Diego encounter.

That night, my dad carried Jake down to the TV room where we all had a picnic dinner on a blanket on the floor. Jake had vanilla ice cream again; his throat hurt too much to subject it to any of the specialty ice creams my mom had let him stock up on last week. I could tell he felt lousy because he didn't even fight it. My dad ordered up an
Ice Age
movie that Jake requested, and we all watched it.

“Can we do this always?” Jake croaked a few minutes into the dinner and movie.

Sam tousled Jake's hair.

“Well, I don't know about always, sweetheart. It's not the
most
comfortable place to eat dinner . . . ,” said my mom.

“But we can do it sometimes,” agreed my dad.

“Fridays,” said Jake, his eyes starting to droop.

“We'll see,” said my mom.

My parents looked at each other as Jake began to fall asleep right there before our eyes. They smiled.

“Hey, can I take you up to bed?” asked Sam.

Jake nodded, his eyes still closed.

Sam gently scooped him off the floor and lifted him high onto his shoulder. Jake wrapped his arms across Sam's back and laid his head on Sam's shoulder, so he could continue to sleep. We all smiled at how cute it was, especially Sam.

“We'll be up in a minute to tuck you in, sweetheart,” said my mom. “And we'll be taking turns to check on you all night.”

They left the room, and we were all quiet for a moment, kind of watching
Ice Age
.

Then Matt said, “I like the new, tame Jake.” We all nodded and laughed.

“Maybe they took out his temper when they took out his tonsils!” I said hopefully.

“I wish!” my mom groaned.

“We're very proud of you four kids,” said my dad. “You're very good to one another.”

“Most of the time,” added my mom with a wink.

“And, Emma, you were terrific today. We couldn't have done it without you. Thanks, sweetheart,” said my dad.

My mom nodded. “And I'm so proud of how brave you were. I know you were nervous in the lab room where you'd already fainted once this week. But you set a great example for Jake with your bravery.”

“You're the best kind of sister a brother could have,” agreed my dad.

“I'm the
only
sister he has!” I laughed.

My parents went up to check on Jake, and Matt and I were alone in the TV room.

“Was it gnarly?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Not too bad, really,” I said. “I mean, I wasn't the one getting the operation, so I didn't see much.”

“I'm kind of squeamish too,” he admitted.

“Really? No way!” I couldn't believe that.

He looked at me. “Uh-huh. Like, one time, at
practice, Jamie Fernandez got hit with a ball right on his eyebrow, and it split open and you could, like, see the bone underneath, and the skin was kind of flapping on either side, and the blood was just pouring down his face, all in his eye. . . .”

And that's when I realized Matt was just teasing me. I couldn't believe I fell for it.

“I hate you!” I cried, slamming him with a throw pillow from the sofa.

He ducked, laughing. “Got ya!”

“Ugh! Brothers!” I yelled.

But later that night, as I tiptoed down the hall to my room, I heard Jake quietly calling my name.

“Jake?” I whispered.

“Come, Emmy,” he said.

I went into his room.

“Will you and the girls make me my very own big bowl of frosting, like you promised?”

“Oh, sure, Jake. No problem.” I couldn't believe he'd remembered that!

“Thanks. Do you know what?”

“What?”

“I want to be a doctor when I grow up.”

“Wow, Jake! That's a great idea! I'd be so proud of you. It's a lot of work, learning how to become a
doctor, but I bet you'd be really good at it. . . .”

“And you have to be my nurse,” he added, and he rolled over sleepily.

Oh boy.

“Thanks, Jake. That would be . . . divine. Just divine,” I said. And I crossed my fingers behind my back. Then I smiled. Maybe Katie was right after all. Little boys really were made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Most of the time.