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I hate to admit it, but this time Karen had the great idea instead of me. Maybe I'm rubbing off on her.
Karen had just gotten a new goldfish (Crystal Light the Third) and wanted to introduce it to all the pets in the Big House.
Jessi and I (my English teacher insists it's not "me and Jessi") were watching my siblings and their menagerie. Besides Karen's goldfish, she has a rat (Emily Jr., named after our adopted Vietnamse toddler sister), her brother Andrew has a goldfish (Goldfishie) and a hermit crab (Bob), plus there's our puppy Shannon (named after a friend of mine who goes to private school and has a million extracurriculars), and Watson's ancient cat Boo Boo.
I was really excited by Karen's idea, but we stopped her short of reaching into the fish tank to grab Crystal Light III. "Careful!" said Jessi while I turned off a commercial that was making Emily cry. "Maybe we should bring the other pets to see the goldfish instead of carrying them around in a plastic baggie".
"Could we have a party here with the pets?" asked Karen. She loves parties (and so do I, honestly, as long as nobody fights or gets hurt). "Sounds like a great idea!" I said.
"And we don't need to write invitations or anything, because pets can't read" said Jessi. "We can even have it today".
"Yay!" said my siblings.
Suddenly, the front door opened. It was my friend Abby. "Sorry! I thought this was my house!" She told us she had gone for a jog around the neighborhood. Abby loves running despite her asthma and allergies.
Karen told Abby that she "absolutely must come to the lovely party we're having in honor of Crystal Light the Third". That kid is a bit dramatic sometimes.
Abby laughed and asked Karen if she'd gotten a new goldfish. "But of course" she had. Karen was trying to talk like an English Royal.
I assigned all the kids tasks for the pets. Karen was in charge of Emily Jr., Andrew got the aquatic pets, and David Michael made sure that Shannon and Boo Boo kept away from Emily Jr.
"This reminds me of the time Becca threw a birthday party for Misty". That's Jessi's little sister and her hamster.
"Is it anybody's birthday?" asked Abby.
"It's Bob's birthday!" said Andrew.
"How old is Bob today?"
"I don't know."
"Happy Birthday anyway Bob!" Karen started singing Happy Birthday. Then she added verses for Goldfishie, Emily Jr., Boo Boo, Shannon, and Crystal Light the Third... the best and last, according to her.
"That's enough, Karen. I think Shannon needs to go for her walk. You and David Michael and I can walk her," Jessi said.
Andrew and Emily (human Emily) didn't mind. It was getting to be time for Emily's nap anyway, so Abby took the younger kids upstairs to settle down and help Andrew put Bob back in his tank, while I shooed Boo Boo into the back yard, put Emily Jr. back in her cage in Karen's room, fed the goldfish, and wondered how on Earth the Kishis survived in a small petfree home.