Stay

Jewel speaks to Bernadette on the phone. She recognizes her sister’s voice, and slowly, other memories come back to her.

Meg tells Piper that Jewel was thrilled to hear from Bernadette and wants to go live with her. However, Bernadette can’t come and get Jewel, as she is in a wheelchair; Jewel will have to take a bus, for which she doesn’t have money. Baby is also not allowed on the bus.

Tamara at the animal shelter tells Meg and Piper that lots of people are interested in adopting Baby, but they update her on Jewel’s story. Tamara has an idea to help Jewel and Baby: If Baby can be registered as Jewel’s emotional support animal, he can travel on the bus with Jewel. The shelter can hold Baby for another week and even train him for his job. However, someone still needs to come up with the money for Jewel’s bus ticket and an official vest for Baby. Piper has an idea for this.

A man at the shelter begins training Baby for his role as an emotional support animal.

The Firefly Girls meet to discuss brownie sales. After they recite the pledge, Piper tells the girls Jewel and Baby’s story, which moves them. Piper asks if they can give up this year’s brownie money from sales to help Jewel and Baby instead of spending it on a pizza party or movie night like they usually do. The girls ask how much money they need to raise; Piper explains that the bus ticket, the vest for Baby, and the deposit Jewel needs to pay at Heartwell Manor totals $460.

The girls are overwhelmed by this amount and unsure whether they can raise that much or if they even want to give up their money. Piper speaks passionately about how they have all needed help at some point in their lives, and Karina reminds the girls that the Firefly Girls pledge instructs them to “demonstrate kindness, compassion, fairness, and strength” (239). Along with Sapphire’s urging as well, they manage to garner a unanimous vote in favor of helping Jewel and Baby.

Daria suggests that if they are to sell enough brownies in time, they also need to tell Jewel and Baby’s story. They decide that Piper should speak at the next school assembly on Friday. While the girls are initially worried about the repercussions of others at the school finding out they live at the shelter, they eventually promise to join Piper up on stage in support.

Ree visits a now conscious and coherent Jewel, who talks about her past life. She describes her time as a music teacher, how the unpaid hospital bills grew, and the hope she felt upon Bernadette’s call. Ree remembers her little brother, who she has not seen since she left home herself because their home was not a safe place growing up. She tries to reassure Jewel that things will be better now for her and Baby.

Piper lies awake trying to think of the things she has to be grateful for, trying to look at the “doughnut” and not “the hole.” Firstly, Gary has managed to get a “free” car—his boss had an old one that wouldn’t work and told Gary he could have it if he managed to fix it, which he did. He has promised to take boxes of brownies to work in his car and sell as many as he can. Secondly, the girls at the troop who go to church have promised to talk about Jewel and Baby there and ask people to help. Finally, Ree, too, has promised to get the word out on the street: Everyone she knows is willing to help one of their own however they can. Ree also told Piper that she met Jewel the previous day; she is doing much better.

Ree contemplates how Piper, Karina, Sapphire, and the other girls have disproved Ree’s belief that dogs are animals and are better than humans. She marvels at the hope and determination these girls display to help Jewel and Baby.

Piper talks about Jewel and Baby at the school assembly, supported onstage by the rest of Troop 423. The girls run out of brownie order forms after and are thrilled. However, Piper also knows they are running out of time: The hospital can only keep Jewel for another week, after which she will have to leave anyway. She cannot go to the emergency shelter, as the shelter will not allow even an emotional support animal.

Gary brings home $138 from brownie sales at work, and Piper is thrilled. She hands over the money to Mrs. Bailey, who informs her that more order forms and brownies will arrive the next day. However, she also reminds Piper that their troop only gets to keep a portion of their sales money; the National Firefly Girls Council keeps 60% to cover their costs. Piper feels a renewed sense of urgency to raise enough money.

A little boy and his father come into the animal shelter and spot Baby. They ask to adopt him, and the shelter worker tells them Baby is not up for adoption yet, as they are hoping to reunite him with his owner soon. However, she hands them a form to fill out anyway, “just in case” (261).

Rick, who volunteers at the community kitchen, hands Piper $20 for Jewel, having heard about what the Firefly Girls are doing for her. He reveals that other volunteers are also collecting money and should be able to have some more soon.

The Trudeaus walk back to Hope House. Ree, who is waiting outside, greets them. She hands them more money: She has spread the word on the streets, and everyone who uses signs to collect donations is giving up a portion of their collections for Jewel and Baby.

As Piper sits with her family for movie night at Hope House, she thinks about how different everything feels now; movie or otherwise, they rarely did things together as a family before. Now, although the past few months have been extremely difficult, she doesn’t feel wrong, out of place, or ashamed about her family or their situation. Being together now feels “like home.”

A new dog arrives in the kennel next to Baby; she is old and big, reminding Baby of Ajax. She is also sad and confused, and Baby tries to reassure her about how the shelter is a nice place. The dog wonders if her people will come back for her. Baby cannot lie and offers comfort instead, pushing his bunny into the dog’s kennel under the wire wall.

Between all the money collected at church, Gary’s sales, Ree, and the community kitchen volunteers, there is $286 that the Firefly Girls can keep; they need to raise $174 more by Thanksgiving. Piper tries to keep her hopes up, remembering how Meg always tells her that people are “mostly good.” Meg brings in more money from Dylan’s teacher and Byron, who works at Hope House, but it is still not enough. To cheer her up, Meg decides to take Piper to visit Baby, which Piper agrees is the “best medicine.”

Baby is thrilled to see Piper. He can feel her worry, and as he did with Jewel, he jumps at Piper and covers her in kisses to take the worry away. Meg joins Piper, and together, they take both Baby and the dog next door out for a walk in the sun.

Money continues to trickle in over the week from different places: Gary, Rick, Ree, and even Jerome and Noah, who manage to sell some brownies, too. Piper and the Firefly Girls collect a large amount of cash at school as well from everyone who picked up order forms. Back at Hope House, Mrs. Bailey counts out the entire amount collected as everyone waits with bated breath. To their shock, she announces that they have raised $586 that they can give to Jewel and Baby. The adults and children hug and cry in delight.

The dog next door and the bunny go to a new home. Baby is thrilled when Piper comes back again. She takes him out of his kennel and puts a vest on him that makes him feel important. She then says “his two favorite words. / ‘Let’s go!’” (285), and Baby wonders where.

On the way to the hospital, Piper and Dylan look through the bag the shelter gifted Baby; it contains treats, a water bowl, and medical records, among other things, but Dylan notices the bunny is missing.

The Trudeaus go up to Jewel’s room with Baby, and Jewel and Baby are overjoyed to be reunited. They drop Jewel and Baby off at the bus station, where Ree, too, comes to see them off. Jewel thanks the Trudeaus for their kindnesses, and especially Piper for seeing “[not] just with [her] eyes, but with [her] heart” (290). Although Piper’s heart breaks to say goodbye to Baby, she also feels happy at the ending Jewel and Baby have gotten.

Dylan comforts Piper as they walk back to their car. Meg notices that Dylan doesn’t have his favorite toy, Ted the Shark, with him and briefly panics. However, Dylan reveals that he slipped it into Baby’s duffel bag to replace the bunny. Piper thinks about the serendipity over the past few weeks: Seeing Jewel and Baby, meeting Ree, moving into Hope House, and finding the Firefly Girls troop all came together to help Jewel and Baby, and Piper, too.

Baby rides on Jewel’s lap on the bus and is not hidden in a duffel bag anymore. There is no more fear in Jewel’s voice when she talks to him. She tells him Heartwell Manor is not grand or fancy, but they won’t need much as long as they’re together. Baby thinks that he and Jewel are “a pack of two / warm and safe together / again” (296).