I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)

"Excuse me, are you alright, sir?"

27-year-old Frank Howard looked up, and was greeted with the face of a beautiful woman. She was blonde – like his wife. In her arms she held a baby that couldn't even be a year old yet.

"I'm fine thank you, ma'am. Would you like to sit down?"

The woman did so, holding her baby close to her as she smiled at the man in-front of her. "What's your name?"

"Frank," the man replied quickly. "And you?"

"Shannon," the woman replied. "And this here, is my little Ponyboy."

"Ponyboy," Frank repeated just to be sure. Shannon nodded, smiling; she was real proud to say that Ponyboy was hers; he was perfect.

"Ponyboy Curtis," she said. "Named by his father: Darrel Curtis." The woman chuckled.

"Ponyboy's a lovely name," Frank commented, smiling at the gurgling baby boy. "For a lovely boy."

The two adults sat at the bus station for a while, and got onto the discussion of work. Shannon learnt that Frank taught at an elementary school up in Vinita, however he was hoping to move to Tulsa and get a job somewhere in the city. This led onto Shannon talking about her oldest son, Darry, starting school, which turned into a conversation about her family.

"What about your family?" Shannon asked politely, wiping Ponyboy's mouth with a cloth. "You've heard all about mine. What about yours?"

"Well…" Frank swallowed, pushing his blonde hair back. "Ma…ma wife and boys were both killed in a car crash. I was there too – but 'lucky' me; I was spared."

Shannon blinked twice, staring at the man for any hint that he was joking. But she saw how guilty he looked, and felt sympathy for the man; she wouldn't know what to do if her family were killed in an auto wreck.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, holding Ponyboy closer to her body.

"Two boys: one ten, and my baby – he was one. They were dead as soon as the damned truck hit us. My wife, Jenny, died in hospital. But not me…everyone but me!"

"There might be a reason why God decided to keep you alive," Shannon suggested lightly, patting Ponyboy's back gently. "How um…long has it been?"

"Almost a year," Frank responded, gazing at Ponyboy. The kid was just so cute.

Shannon nodded. "They wouldn't want you grieving about them, Frank. Maybe a year's enough…they'll want you to move on. Think of it this way: Jenny and your little boys are safe now. Nobody can hurt them," the woman explained, smiling.

Frank grinned and chuckled, still gazing at Ponyboy.

"Ponyboy, why don't you say hello?" Shannon smiled, turning Ponyboy away from her chest so he could face Frank.

"Hello, Ponyboy," Frank greeted, bowing his head and holding his hand out to the baby.

Ponyboy gurgled, reaching his little hand out and grasping onto one of Frank's fingers. The baby stared into Frank's gray eyes for a moment, and then giggled. The man smiled.

He hadn't felt this way since he'd first heard his youngest son speak. What was this feeling? Frank wanted this baby - he needed him. He was just like his son…

"Well, I best be going now. I've left Darrel with Darry, and my other son, Sodapop, and he won't be able to cope for more than two hours with those two," Shannon stated, standing up. "Say bye, Ponyboy."

Frank held his hand up to the baby, and Ponyboy happily grabbed it. The baby liked this man; of course a baby can't explain why, but he just felt comforted. Not like when his mother sat down next to a certain Mr Cade; Mr Cade made Ponyboy cry. But Frank - Frank was nice.

"Bye, Ponyboy," Frank chuckled. He didn't want to let go of the baby. But unfortunately Shannon was in a rush to get home and gently pulled Ponyboy's arm away. "I hope I see you again." Nobody was listening, so he was okay.

Ponyboy Curtis, huh? Frank would make sure to remember that name. He was different from other babies. He had the same eyes and hair as his youngest son. But his smile…it was perfect. Everything about him was just perfect. And who knew…maybe one day, Ponyboy could be his.

XXX

"Ponyboy, time to wake up, kiddo."

The thirteen-year-old opened his eyes slightly, however when the harsh beams of sun from his window hit his eyes, he immediately squeezed them shut again.

"Five more minutes," Ponyboy grumbled, burying his face in his pillow. Sodapop was sitting up beside him, grinning like crazy. Darry got the message and grinned as well.

"Okay, enjoy your five minutes," the man smiled softly, pretending to leave the room.

Ponyboy exhaled heavily, opening his eyes. Darry never let him sleep in; what was the special occasion? When the boy noticed Sodapop smiling at him however, his tired eyes widened and he frowned.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the boy asked aggressively, not noticing that Darry was still standing by the door.

"Grouchy guts," Sodapop laughed, poking his little brother in the ribs. Ponyboy scowled but couldn't resist his laughter. And when Darry joined in…well, the frown disappeared, that's for sure.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up!" Ponyboy shouted after a while, shooting up and rushing to the bathroom. Sodapop chuckled and Darry just shook his head with a big smile on his face; their baby brother was so hard to predict sometimes. One minute he's grouchy as ever, the next he's smiling like there's no tomorrow. And they loved him so much.

Ponyboy showered and brushed his teeth. While Darry prepared breakfast and Soda watched TV, Ponyboy got dressed. Unfortunately for the youngest Curtis, Sodapop had used the last of the hair grease, meaning he couldn't look to his full standard. And since they were tight with money, there'd be no more grease for at least a few days.

"Breakfast's ready," Darry announced, setting three plates down on the dining table. Sodapop flipped the TV off and rushed to the table while Ponyboy trailed out of his bedroom miserably. "What's with the long face, little man?"

"No grease left," Ponyboy mumbled, sitting down next to Sodapop who was stuffing his face with food. "I look stupid."

"No you don't," Darry disagreed. "I think you suit your hair better without it."

Ponyboy just groaned and picked up his knife and fork, wasting no time in eating his breakfast. Why let a perfectly good breakfast go to waste? Especially when his big brother had prepared it for him.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Soda asked his oldest brother, raising his glass to drink some more milk. "Last day before the weekend's over." Both Ponyboy and Sodapop sighed.

"Well, we really need some groceries. How 'bout we head into town later – we can go grocery shopping-" The two younger Curtis's sighed again. "And then we can get some ice-cream, if you lazy kids feel up to it." Darry smiled at his two younger brothers, who were now grinning.

"That sounds like a grand idea, Darry," Sodapop nodded, grinning like crazy.

"Hey, big brothers always know best," Darry smiled, raising his eyebrows at both of his younger brothers. Ponyboy frowned, thinking carefully.

"What about little brothers?" he asked, feeling a bit left out. He'd always be the baby; he'd never have a little brother to boss around. Not that that was a bad thing, but still.

"Well…" Darry started.

"Little brothers are always cute," Soda laughed, poking Ponyboy's nose. Ponyboy scowled.

"You're Darry's little brother, remember," he reminded his older brother. Sodapop nodded and pulled a silly face.

"And I'm cute," he stated, brushing his blonde hair back. "Ain't that right, Darry?"

Darry shook his head with a smile plastered on his face. "You're both cute. Real cute," he told Ponyboy, who had now gotten settled with his breakfast. The boy flushed a bit but grinned at his eldest brother; today was a good morning, since some mornings he and Darry just argued for no reason. And he hated those mornings.

To say Sodapop was excited was an understatement. He knew a few chicks who hung around the ice-cream place, and he knew he'd just have to get some of their numbers if any of them were cute. Ponyboy was less enthusiastic, trailing around the grocery store but sticking close to the eldest. Darry rubbed his brother's hair as he gazed at the list, wondering where to go next. Meanwhile Sodapop was bouncing up and down the aisles, hitting stray tins of soup of the shelves. The assistants were too bewitched by Sodapop's beauty to say anything.

Of course, that was just an accident waiting to happen, as Sodapop accidentally bounced into an older man. The man was unharmed but he shoved his cart rather sharply in order to stop it from hitting Sodapop, and the cart fell right over. Everything fell out.

"Sodapop!" Darry shouted, grabbing their own cart and pushing it over to Sodapop and the man. Sodapop grinned sheepishly. "You get this picked up now!" Though if Darry had to admit it, he was trying his best not to laugh.

The man's stuff was picked up and placed back into the cart. Ponyboy took note of the man's appearance: he had a good build, had blonde hair that was so dark it was almost brown, and his eyes were the grayest eyes Ponyboy had ever seen.

"Franklin," the man greeted, holding his hand out to Darry. "Frank for short."

"Darrel," Darry smirked, shaking the man's hand. "Darry for short." Frank smirked as well.

Ponyboy poked his head from behind Darry's back; the boy would be lying if he said he wasn't embarrassed at the display that Sodapop had caused. Luckily (and surprisingly) nothing had been damaged.

"Sodapop Curtis," Sodapop shouted in Frank's ear, patting the man on the back. The older man didn't so much as flinch before looking down at Ponyboy. A thought hit him; where had he heard the name Sodapop before? However he shook the thought away, and cocked an eyebrow at the youngest Curtis.

"And who's this?" he asked. Ponyboy considered hiding behind Darry again, but his older brother chuckled.

"This here's Ponyboy," Darry laughed.

Frank froze. Ponyboy…Curtis? The name, the name! He remembered the conversation he had with Shannon Curtis thirteen years before. Ponyboy was the one! The one that Frank had wanted.

And he wanted him now too.

"Oh…" Frank said lowly, grabbing the shopping cart. "I'll see you soon. Thanks for helping me pick up my stuff by the way."

He'd just been in a high school looking for a job about three days before, and he'd seen that boy in one of the pictures. How did Frank not recognize it was Ponyboy?! The man paid for his stuff and left the store. This kid had such a big effect on him. Frank wanted the kid.

And he'd have him eventually.

AN: Not sure about this. What do you guys think? I would have uploaded sooner but I was sick on Thursday and Friday :/ I hope ya'll liked it! Should I continue?