Free Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu by Charise Mericle Harper

WHAT IS HARD
    Mimi said she could hardly wait to get her new sister, and that the waiting part was taking forever. "When do you get her?" I asked. "Can you go on Saturday?" Mostly my parents did shopping stuff and errands on Saturdays and Sundays. Once when we were getting a new kitchen table and chairs we even had to rent a trailer and stay overnight in a hotel. They were really far away, but Mom loved them, so Dad had to say yes.
    Mimi said she didn't think it was that easy, because her mom and dad were still getting interviewed and tested to see if they would be good parents. Mimi said even though they were a great mom and dad to her, it wasn't good enough. "They still have to take a super-big test," said Mimi. "And write tons of e-mails, fill out lots of papers, and do lots of talking on the phone. Then at the end, after they pass, the tester people are going to come to our house and look at everything. And they'll probably even look in my room!"
    Mimi seemed nervous about that, and she was right to be worried, because Mimi's room is a disaster. She has the messiest room I have ever seen. She was for sure going to have to clean it up. And just when I was thinking that, Mimi said, "I'm for sure going to have to clean up my room." It was like she could read my mind. Good friends are like that.

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    WHAT I DID NOT KNOW
    After we had finished with all the new-sister stuff, I suddenly remembered the other part of Mimi's letter that I wanted to talk about. I really love dolphins, so of course I had to ask Mimi about her dad. "Can he really swim like a dolphin? You know—the up-and-down part? How about if you close your eyes—does it feel like you're riding on a real dolphin?" Mimi shook her head no but said, "It's still pretty cool. Plus you don't have to worry about sharks." "Good point," I said. I'd forgotten about sharks. Sharks can ruin everything.

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    The wrong fin can ruin your fun.

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    Before she went home for supper, Mimi made me promise not to tell her sister secret to anyone—not even Augustine Dupre. This was a hard promise to make. Augustine Dupre is the flight attendant who lives in the little apartment in my basement, and even though she is all grown up, she is still one of my best friends. One of the best things about Augustine Dupre is that she is a great listener. It's always super easy to tell her stuff. Sometimes I tell her things that I didn't even know my brain was thinking. The words just come out of my mouth and float straight up to her ears. I thought about it for a moment and then I said, "Okay, I promise!" But inside my head my brain was thinking,
It's not going to be easy.
    WHAT MINI RAN BACK TO TELL ME AFTER SHE LEFT
    "Oh, I forgot," said Mimi. "You can tell your mom, because my mom told her so she already knows." So of course as soon as Mimi left again I ran into the kitchen to find Mom. "You knew? How come you didn't tell me? Mom! How could you keep such a super-big secret and not tell me?" Mom looked at me and said, "What secret, honey?" Mom is very sneaky. You can't fool her into telling you a secret just by pretending you already know it. "Mimi's sister secret!" I said. "Oh," said Mom. "That secret. I'm glad she told you. Isn't it exciting? Now she'll be a big sister. She must be thrilled." Mom was so smiling and happy that I mostly forgot to be mad at her for keeping it from me.

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    "And guess what, Mom?" I could hardly wait to tell her the next part. "She gets to pick out stuff for the room, and if it's a baby maybe even pick out her name. Isn't that cool? She could call her Vanilla or Jessica or Violet or..." And then I sat down with some paper to make a list because I was super excited and my brain was thinking of all sorts of cool names. Sometimes great thoughts don't stay in your head. That's why it's good to write stuff down. It was a good thing I was doing that, because two minutes later Mom said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you about Mrs. Luther. Did you know she