Sweet Valley Kids #14: Jessica the Baby-Sitter

Jessica and Elizabeth are super excited because their neighbor, Mrs. DeVito – no relation to Danny – just had a new baby. She told the girls they could come over anytime they wanted to see baby Jenny. The girls are so enamored over the baby that they start wishing their mom would have a baby too. Alice gushes over Jenny and how much she loves babies, which doesn't help the situation.

After talking it over, the girls decide that they convince their mom to have another kid. Alice and Ned actually talk about how much they loved having kids and tease Steven because he was super into his new sisters. He even tucked his favorite stuffed rabbit in with Jessica when she cried.

The girls assume that their plan is working and that they can tell all their friends about it. They even make lists of their favorite baby names. When they find out that their classmate Andy's mom is pregnant, they ask him what it's like. He tells them how his mom gets weird cravings and is tired a lot. Since Alice eats weird food and also sleeps a lot, they think she might already be pregnant. More evidence comes when they get home and find her napping on the couch.

When snooping around the house, the twins find plans Alice drew for a nursery. That just adds to their mounting evidence. To make things worse, she takes them shopping and stops by a baby store. After gushing over all the cute clothing, she lets each twin pick out a new baby outfit and claims they can give one to the neighbors and keep the other because you never know when a baby outfit might come in handy.

The twins spend so much time talking about babies that Alice eventually suggests they go over and see Jenny. Mrs. DeVito asks them to watch Jenny while she does some cleaning. Jenny goes from cute and sweet to screaming and bright red in a fraction of a second and literally does not stop crying until they finally leave.

After talking it over, the girls decide that they no longer want to have a baby sister but worry that Alice is already pregnant. They climb into bed with their parents and start talking about how three kids is the perfect amount and how they like being the babies of the family. After finally asking if she's pregnant, she asks why they would think that and then explains that the second outfit was for a completely different pregnant woman she knows. The designs they saw were for one of her classes. Both twins are relieved that they don't need to deal with a new baby, and Elizabeth gets her heart set on trying out for the new soccer team.

*According to Ned and Alice, they dressed the twins in different clothing from the time they were born to help foster their own identities. Someone didn't read Sweet Valley Twins...

*Liz picks out Emily as the name for her little sister, but Jessica picks out all this long and preppy or snooty names. Lila suggests naming the baby Cassandra, which sounds like a soap opera villain.

*The “weird” food that Alice eats? Yeah, she put ketchup AND mustard on her hamburger and had not one but TWO pickles that same night. Man, the twins would flip out if they saw how many pickles I eat. And, now I want pickles.

*Jessica wants a little sister who she can dress up, play dolls with, and treat like a princess. Elizabeth wants a little brother she can build a fort with outside.

*Jessica picks out a white dress with little pink hearts all over it. Elizabeth goes with a blue outfit that has bears and building blocks on the front.

*In case you were wondering, Alice doesn't work and isn't an interior designer yet. She's still in college, hence the nursery designs.