Amy Meets Her Stepsister

Big, Exciting News!
Amy Purvis’s mom grabbed a potholder. She lifted the pot lid. Amy took a sniff.

“Mmmm,” Amy said. “That smells so good!”

Inside the pot was a big batch of their famous chicken noodle soup. They had made it together. “The perfect dinner for a cool night,” Amy’s mom said with a smile.

Amy giggled. “Mom, this batch will last us all year!” It was a lot of soup for just the two of them.

Amy set the table. She put out two napkins and two soup spoons. Meanwhile, Amy’s mom ladled soup into bowls.



Just as they sat down to eat, the phone rang.



“Start without me!” said Amy’s mom, popping up to answer it.

Amy slurped up some broth and noodles. Right away, she felt warm all over.

“Oh, hi, Eliot!” she heard her mom say into the phone.

Amy’s face lit up. Eliot was her father. He lived in Orange Blossom, a big town near Santa Vista. Even though her parents were divorced, Amy got to see her dad a lot.

“Uh-huh,” her mom was saying into the phone. “I bet she would love that!” She looked over at Amy and smiled. “Why don’t you ask her?” Her mom held out the phone to Amy. “Your dad has a question for you,” she said.



Amy jumped up and took the phone.

“Hi, Dad!” she said excitedly. “What’s up?”



“Hey, kiddo,” came her dad’s voice through the phone. “How would you like to spend this weekend at my house?”

“Really?” said Amy. She loved her weekends with her dad. “But I thought that was next weekend.”

“I know,” her dad said. “But I’ve got some really big and exciting news to tell you.”

News? “What is it?” Amy asked.

“You know what? I want to tell you in person,” her dad said. “Oh! And Julia is going to come visit on Saturday too.”

Julia was Amy’s dad’s girlfriend. He had met her about a year ago. Amy really liked Julia. She still kind of wished her mom and dad were married. But since they didn’t want that, Amy was happy her dad had met someone as nice as Julia.