Chapter Four
"Finally," Trixie muttered as she saw Honey, Jim, Mart and Dan enter the White Plains McDonalds.
Di, overhearing Trixie's remark giggled. "We've only been waiting for ten minutes,Trixie."
"It seems like a life time," said Trixie. "I'm dying to know if Sergeant Molinson found anything." Aloud she called out to the remaining Bob Whites,"Yoo Hoo, Honey, over here!"
The foursome seated themselves at the large table Brian,Trixie and Di had saved for them.
"Did Sergeant Molinson find anything out?" Trixie asked eagerly as Honey settled herself in a seat beside Brian.
"Maybe we should eat first," said Honey, a teasing glint in her eye.
"Honey Wheeler, you of all people know that I'm about to burst!"
"Anybody who looks at your belly can come to that conclusion," said Mart.
Just when Trixie looked like she was indeed going to burst from anger, Honey intervened.
"Sergeant Molinson looked around. He said that whoever left the baby also didn't leave many clues. He's checking the missing persons file to see if there are any missing baby girls and that he would contact us as soon as he found anything."
"Boy won't Moms and Dad get a big surprise when they come home from vacation!" said Mart.
"Maybe we should take the baby," said Honey worriedly. "You really shouldn't be taking care of a baby in your condition."
"What condition? I'm pregnant, I don't have a disease, and I can perfectly take care of a baby!"
"Of course you can," said Jim, rubbing Trixie's back, trying to calm her.
"Oh Honey,"said Trixie, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just tired of people treating me like I'm made of glass!"
"I'm sorry too, Trix," said Honey. "You are able to take care of a baby and we all know that you need practice. Maybe, though,Diana and I can come out and help you?"
"Hey," said Dan, "I'd like to help take care of the baby too!"
"You can all help," said Trixie. "I guess I'll need some help.But what are we going to name that poor baby.We can't go around calling her 'the baby' all the time."
"How about we choose a name after we eat," pleaded Mart.
"Okay," said Brian with a chuckle and he took everyone's orders. When he came back with the food,everyone munched contentedly for a minute until Diana brought up the subject of baby names.
"How are we going to choose one?" she asked. "We hardly agreed on Dodgy's name."
"Let's do this," said Jim. "We'll all choose one name and write it down on a piece of paper. Then we'll draw one and whatever name is on that piece of paper is what we'll call the baby."
"Good idea,"said Brian. He drew a used shopping list out of his back pocket and tore it into seven pieces. Everyone grabbed pens from purses and pockets and soon there were seven folded pieces of paper sitting in the middle of the table. Brian gathered them into a small hill, closed his eyes and drew one.
"Julie," he said reading the name off the piece of paper.
"Ooooh, I like that one," breathed Honey.
"That is good,"said Mart."Who's was that?"
"Mine," said Dan, looking a little embarrassed at how well everyone liked his idea. "It was my mom's name."
"I think that it's a wonderful name," said Diana.
"What other names are in that pile, Brian?" asked Trixie curiously.
"I put in Elizabeth," said Brian.
"That's pretty," said Honey. "I put in Sarah."
"I voted for Katherine," said Diana.
"I thought Breanna was pretty," said Trixie.
"Mine was Vanessa," said Jim.
"I put in Tory," said Mart.
"I like all of those," said Trixie. "I think I might add some of those to my baby name list." She turned to where she was facing the baby in the highchair. "Well, Julie," she cooed to the baby, "how do you like that name?" Julie blew a raspberry in response.
"I think that I'll take that for a yes," said Honey with a giggle. "How did your morning go?"she asked Trixie.
"Productively," said Trixie. "I think we pretty much cleaned out our bank accounts."
"You should see some of the stuff we got," gushed Diana. "We found the cutest baby stuff you'll ever see."
"Now come on," said Dan. "We're not dressing her up in frills and lace are we?"
"Oh,Dan," said Di. "You have to dress her up some,But don't worry,"she said as Dan's face took on a pained look."We got enough stuff that's cute without frills and lace."
"Good," said Dan, "We wouldn't want you to be dressed up too much now would we Julie-girl," he addressed the baby. Julie giggled and reached out her arms to Dan. As he picked her up he asked Trixie, "What did Dr.Ferris have to say about Julie?''
"Besides being underweight, he thinks that she's perfect," said Trixie.
"It's about time that we take our leave guys before McDonalds arrests us for loitering," said Brian as he picked up his trash and headed towards the trashcan. The others followed his lead except for Dan who was holding Julie. Trixie picked up his trash along with hers as she got up.
"Who's riding in what vehicle?" asked Jim as he climbed into the driver's seat of the Bob White station wagon. Not surprisingly,everyone wanted to ride in Brian's jalopy with Julie.
"I'll ride with Jim," said Trixie as she climbed into the front passenger side. "Honey,you can ride in my place."
"Thanks,Trix," beamed Honey as she sat down on one side of Julie's car-seat.
"Dan, you can take my place," said Di and Dan climbed in on the other side of Julie's car-seat.
"Mart, you can ride in the front," said Brian and they started off. Jim drove behind Brian in case the jalopy should break down on the ride between White Plains and Sleepyside.
When they were about five miles out of Sleepyside, they saw that a wreck had taken place. Oil was all over the road. Brian tried to brake the jalopy but his efforts were in vain. The jalopy hit the oil, did a sickening spin and went into a ditch.
To Be Continued