Natalie Wants a Puppy by Dandi Daley Mackall Read Free Book Online Page B

on the other side of Charley. “Honey, I’m over here!”
    Daddy sets me down. I run to the other side of the car. “Mommy!” I scream.
    She steps out of the backseat. I run to hug her. To be hugged up by her.
    But her hands are full.
    And they are full with a real, live baby.

Chapter 16
Runaways
    I stare at the boy my mom is holding. He is wrapped in a green blanket. His eyes are black and look like Anna’s. He has a lot of black hair. And I can see a scar on his lip, like the one Jason has on his arm.
    “Are you sure it’s a baby?” I ask. “Jason’s baby was bald.”
    Mommy laughs. “He’s almost six months old. But he’s small for his age because he didn’t get a very good start in life.”
    Part of me feels sad about that baby’s bad start and the scar. Only the rest of me feels aggravated. On account of I want to hug my mommy, but her hands are full of baby.
    “Want to hold your brother?” Mommy asks.
    “No thank you,” I answer. What I want to hold is Mommy.
    Granny drives us home. I sit in front. They sit in back. We are two plus three.
    Granny does all the talking. “Nat, I called your dad in China and told him about your graduation. I knew they’d find a way. And here they are. Now, isn’t that something!”
    “Yeah,” I answer.
    “I signed them up on that graduation sheet,” Granny goes on. “So we’re all set for tomorrow. Tell Nat what it was like the first time you saw Samuel.”
    “Samuel?” I ask.
    “One of the nurses started calling him Samuel,” Mommy explains. “The name stuck. I like it. Don’t you, Nat?”
    “It’s okay,” I answer. But it isn’t okay. Well, it is. Only not all the way. There is no fanciness in that name.
    “I’m still not sure about the name,” Daddy admits. “ Samuel. Samuel, go to your room. Samuel, stop coloring the wall. I don’t know. It’s like something’s missing.”
    “Tell us about your puppy, Nat,” Mom says, just when Granny pulls us into the driveway.
    “Puppy 24 is a great puppy,” I say. “Plus, she already loves me.”
    “How could she not?” Mom asks.
    Granny and I get to our front door first. It takes Granny forever to unlock it.
    “Hurry, Granny!” I can’t wait for Mom and Dad to meet Puppy.
    The door opens, and Puppy 24 comes running outside.
    “How did you get out of your kennel?” I askPuppy. She lets me pick her up.
    “I bet I forgot to put her in,” Granny says. We walk inside. “I was in such a tizzy when your dad called me from the airport.”
    Daddy comes in and pets my puppy. “Pleased to meet you, Puppy 24.” Then he takes the baby so

    Mommy can hold Puppy.
    “She’s adorable,” Mommy says. Puppy 24 wags her tail like crazy. I can tell she loves Mom already. “Will she grow any bigger?” Mom asks.
    Granny laughs and disappears toward the kitchen. In a minute, she’s back. “Where’s Percy, Nat?”
    I look around, but I don’t see my cat. I hadn’t even thought about him. “He’s probably hiding.”
    “Why would he do that?” Daddy asks.
    “He doesn’t like Puppy,” I explain. I check under the couch and in the big chair. I look out atthe backyard. Then the front yard. My heart gets thumpy. “Percy!” I call.
    “I hope I didn’t let him out when I was in such a rush before,” Granny says.
    I run through the house, calling, “Percy! Percy!” Only he’s not anywhere. What if he thought I didn’t love him anymore? That I only loved Puppy?
    When I get back to the living room, the baby is crying his head off. Granny, Mommy, and Daddy are in a circle around him. Making faces. Making goo-goo noises.
    “Hey!” I cry. “Percy’s gone!”
    “He’ll come back, honey,” Daddy says. He jiggles the baby. But that baby keeps crying.
    “No!” I can feel this bad twitchy in my heart. Percy’s gone, and it’s my fault. “Percy won’t come back!”
    “Nat, sweetheart,” Granny says. “We’ll all look for that cat together. Give us just a minute here. Okay?”
    But I don’t