Mallory's Super Sleepover (3 page)

The family meeting that Dad called didn’t exactly go the way I was hoping it would, so I decide to call a meeting of my own.

Actually, I didn’t decide that myself. Mary Ann helped.

She convinced me that the only way I would get to have a sleepover is if I show my parents why having a sleepover is a good idea.

I take the piece of paper I’ve been working on all day off my desk, fold it neatly, and slip it into my pajama pocket.

It’s time for some before-bed show and tell.

I go over the plan in my head that Mary Ann and I came up with.

Step 1: When Mom and Dad are already in bed, go upstairs in my
I LUV U
pajamas and pink heart slippers, knock softly on their door, and ask politely if I can come in and talk to them.

Step 2: Show them all the reasons why having a sleepover birthday party is a good idea and tell them how much I really, really, really want to have a sleepover birthday party.

Step 3: Wait for them to say
YES!

I look in my bathroom mirror and adjust the ponytail on top of my head. “Wish me luck,” I say to Cheeseburger.

I take a deep breath as I walk up the stairs. When I get to Mom and Dad’s room, I put
Step 1
into place. I knock on their door. “May I come in please,” I ask in my super polite voice.

“Mallory?” Mom says like it’s a surprise to hear from me at this hour but a nice one.

I take that as a good sign.

When I walk into their room, my parents are reading in bed.

Time for
Step 2
. I plop down on their bed between them. “Mom, Dad, I have something to show you,” I say with a smile. I cross my toes inside my slippers. I hope this goes the way I want it to. I pull the piece of paper out of my pajama pocket and start reading.

When I finish reading, I put one arm around Mom and the other around Dad. “Please, please, please,” I say. “Can I please I have a sleepover party?” I ask in my
this-is-something-I-really-want-and-I-really-hope-you’ll-say-yes
voice.

I cross my toes extra hard and make a wish that
Step 3
will happen like it’s supposed to.

Mom and Dad look at each other like they’re considering my request.

Even though they don’t say anything, I think they’re having one of those silent
it’s-OK-with-me-if-it’s-OK-with-you
conversations that parents have when their kids ask for something and they want to make sure they’re on the same page before they say
yes
.

“Mallory, a sleepover sounds like a fun way to celebrate your birthday,” Mom says like she’s the official parent spokesperson.

I uncross my toes and wait for Mom to say what I hope she is about to say next.

“You may have one,” she says.

When Mom says that, I feel happiness bubbling up inside me like water in a fountain. I squeeze both of my parents’ necks. “Thank you so, so, so much!” My voice sounds as happy as I feel.

Mom unpeels my arm from around her neck and gives me a serious look. “Sleepovers are fun, but they have a way of getting out of hand,” she says.

Dad nods like he agrees with Mom. “We want to keep this small. Just a nice night with a few friends.”

Mom gives me a serious look like she means what she is about to say next. “Mallory, you have to tell us about all of your plans before you make them, and you have to promise the party will not get out of control.”

I don’t think either of those things will be hard to do.

I raise my right hand for the second time today. “I, Mallory McDonald, do solemnly swear to tell you about all of my plans before I make them, and I promise I won’t let my party get out of control.”

Mom and Dad nod like they approve.

I hug them one more time. Then I bound down the stairs. Time to put
Step 4
into place. Email my best friend and tell her the good news!

Even though it’s my bedtime, I go straight from Mom and Dad’s room to the computer in the kitchen. Some things just can’t wait, and telling my best friend, Mary Ann, that my parents said yes to the sleepover is one of those things.

Plus, Mary Ann said she wasn’t going to bed until I do.

I flip on the light in the kitchen, sit down at the desk, click on the computer, and log in.

Then I let my fingers do the talking.

I click the
send
button and wait.

I hope Mary Ann stayed up like she said she would. I look at the clock on the kitchen wall. I also hope I don’t have to wait too long to hear back from her. If Mom and Dad find me on the computer this late, I know I will get in trouble. The last thing I want to do is get in trouble, get punished, and not get to have my sleepover party.

I take a cookie out of the jar on the counter and take a bite.

I try not to look at the clock, but I can’t help it. I watch the second hand go around the face of the clock once, twice, a third time, and a fourth time.

It starts to go around a fifth time, but before it makes it all the way, I hear the three words I’ve been waiting for:
You’ve Got Mail
.

I race back to the desk, sit down, and start reading.

I smile when I’m done reading and click off the computer. I’m glad Mary Ann is coming over to help me plan. I turn off the light in the kitchen and go to my room.

I get in bed. Even though I’m really happy about getting to have the sleepover, something that Mary Ann wrote in her email is stuck in my head.

I think about what she said about making this sleepover the biggest, bestest, superest sleepover ever. Then I think about what Mom said about making sure this party doesn’t get out of hand and what Dad said about a nice night with a few friends.

I don’t quite know what Mary Ann has in mind when she says biggest and bestest and superest, but I have a feeling it’s not the same thing Mom and Dad have in mind.

I rub Cheeseburger’s back. “I’ll just have a talk with Mary Ann and tell her what Mom and Dad have in mind,” I tell my cat. She purrs like she agrees.

My eyelids are starting to feel heavy, but it’s a happy kind of heavy. I close my eyes. I’ll talk to Mary Ann tomorrow afternoon, and as soon as I do, we can start planning my sleepover and that will be almost as much fun as having it.