Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Outsiders.
Darry: 4 years old
Soda: 1 week old
Mrs. Curtis looked down from the dishes she was washing to meet the eyes of her crying four year old, Darrel.
The little boy was tugging at her skirt, whimpering and blubbering in such a fashion, that Mrs. Curtis couldn't even understand what he was saying to her.
She wiped her wet hands off on her apron before bending down, picking up the small child, and going to sit on a chair at the table. As soon as he was in her arms, little Darrel buried his head in his mother shoulder and cried and moaned.
She sat in one of the chairs by the kitchen table, and rocked her eldest son back and forth, patting his back, and saying soft things to him until his sniveling stopped.
At last, Mrs. Curtis pulled Darrel away from her shoulder and looked him in his ice blue eyes. She said, "Now, what, Darrel Shaynne Curtis Junior, is the matter?"
The small boy had tears filling his eyes again as he said, "I…I…don't like the…the baby!"
Mrs. Curtis sighed, because she had sensed that this was the issue. She started to say something, but was cut off when Darrel cried out, "No! You and Daddy, already hold him more than you ever hold me, and he's just been here two days, and I've been here four years!"
Darrel stared to cry again, so Mrs. Curtis held him close as she told him, "Oh, my sweet Darry boy. I know this is very hard for you to understand right now. But listen, you can never ever forget this: Daddy and I love you with all of our hearts. We love you and your new brother, Soda, just the same amount, and we'll never love either one of you more than the other. Darry, baby, you are my beautiful son! You're my first born child! Soda is just a baby, so he needs a lot of attention from Daddy and me right now, but that doesn't mean that we're going ignore you!"
Darry sniffed, wiped his nose with the back of his little hand, and said, "Well, that Miss Kayla down the street is always talking about how she wants a baby. Please, pretty please Mommy, give that Soda baby to her!"
Mrs. Curtis had to smile a bit before saying, "Oh, Darry. Miss Kayla wants to have a baby of her own, and she plans on having one, when she marries that nice Mr. Johnson in the fall next year. She doesn't want our Soda.
And we couldn't give him to her anyway, Darry! We love him, just like we love you, baby."
Darrel sniffed a bit more, and seemed to be pouting, and pondering what his mother had just told him. He then said, "He cries too much. It woke me up last night."
Mrs. Curtis nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, he woke us up too, honey. But he's a baby, and he can't take care of himself, like a big boy like you can."Darrel seemed brighten a bit at being called a big boy.
His mother continued, "And Darry, don't you want a little brother that you can play with. You always say that you get bored when Daddy and I can't play with you. In just a year or two, you'll be able to play with Soda just like he was one of your friends."
Darrel cocked his small head to the side, and gazed at his mother as he thought about this too. Before either of them could say anymore, Mr. Curtis walked in the kitchen, with a tiny baby Sodapop in his arms.
He strolled over to his wife, and bent down, affectionately kissing her on the head. He then carefully knelt down next to them, and held up the baby for them both to see.
"Say Darry, would you like to hold your little brother?" Darry looked up at his mother before looking back at his father and responding with a nod.
Mr. Curtis then carefully placed an infant Sodapop into Darrel's small arms. Mrs. Curtis shifted him around, and showed Darrel how to hold his arms, and how to properly support the tiny child's head.
Darrel stared down at his brown haired, brown eyed baby brother. Those small brown eyes seemed to dance with liveliness as they gazed up at Darrel.
After a few long moments like this, Darrel looked up at his parents and said with a shrug, "Oh, I don't know. I guess he ain't so bad when get used to him…look now, he's smiling."