A/N: Yet another collaboration between myself (m3535) and Zayhad. This time not a slash-fic. We will post every Thursday, as has always been our habit.

Zayhad will make an illustration for every chapter. To see it, go to deviantart dot com and look up Zayhad. She has a folder in her gallery with the story's name on it. If you would like to leave a comment but don't have a deviantart account, you're welcome to write it in a review here. She will be most pleased.

We hope you'll enjoy, and we're looking forward to hearing from you - old and new readers alike.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Susan Hinton

Chapter 1 – Can I Name Him?

"Sodapop, get down from there!" cried a shocked Mrs. Matthews.

A small blond-haired boy of nearly three was standing on top of a bookcase, which he had obviously climbed, his face pressed against the window. He was stretched out just balancing on his toes on the top shelf.

Mrs. Matthews, who was looking after the two Curtis boys while Mr. Curtis picked up his wife and newborn son at the hospital, had only left Sodapop out of sight for half a minute. But as she should have known, having babysat for the Curtises before, that was more than enough time for the blond boy to get into trouble. She rushed over and caught him just before he lost balance and fell down. "What were you doing up there?" she chided. "You can see out the window just by standing on your toes on the floor!"

"I wanna better view. I wanna see my new baby! When they coming, ms Mafews?"

Darry, who was sitting on the floor playing with a red toy car looked up at Mrs. Matthews and his younger brother. He hadn't been paying attention to Sodapop and although he loved his brother, the thought of getting one more wasn't very appealing. That meant more kids to share his toys with.

"Moooooom!" cried a child's voice from the kitchen and in walked a red-haired boy with chocolate and crumbs around his mouth. "I'm thirsty." He looked up at his mother, who was standing with Sodapop in her arms, and sent her a pair of pleading eyes.

"What have I told you about raiding other people's fridge?" scolded Mrs. Matthews. "Get into the bathroom so we can clean you up!"

Sodapop was squirming in her arms, trying to get free. He wanted to get back to the window to look for his new brother. The four-year-old Keith grudgingly followed them into the bathroom.

Darry turned his head to look after them but returned his gaze towards the door as he heard a car drive up to the curb outside. "Mom and Dad's home!" he yelled and heard his brother scream from the bathroom and only a few seconds later he came running through the living room.

Sodapop was first at the door, jumping up and down trying to reach the doorknob. "Darry - open! Open! Open!"

"They're gonna open the door in a minute," Darry sighed and got up from his spot on the floor.

Mrs. Matthews went over and picked Sodapop up again before opening the door. Keith and Darry stood behind her, craning their necks to see what was happening outside. Mr. Curtis got out of the car and waved at the people in the doorway before helping his wife out of the car.

"Look, look, LOOOK!" yelled Sodapop, fighting to get down, as he saw his mother coming up the garden path with a bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Sodapop!" scolded Mrs. Matthews and held onto him. "Wait till they're inside! And don't you jump your mother, you hear? Little babies are very fragile."

"I will never hurt my baby!" said Sodapop, staring at the bundle in his mother's arms.

Mr. Curtis helped his wife up to the house, and then took Sodapop from Mrs. Matthews and give him a bear hug. "Hello, my big boys," he said and reached down to ruffle Darry's hair.

"Dad, lemme down!" cried Sodapop, who hadn't removed his eyes from the baby.

"Okay, but be calm, okay?" said Mr. Curtis and put him down.

Sodapop moved over in front of his mother and reached his arms in the air, expecting her to give him the baby.

She sent him a smile and shook her head. "You can sit beside him on the couch," she said, but seeing the inpatient look on Soda's face, she bent her knees and got down to his level with a bit of discomfort. "See? This is your baby brother," she smiled.

Darry walked over to his mother and looked at the baby. He didn't look so special, he thought, and couldn't see what all the fuzz was about.

Sodapop beamed and carefully pushed the sleeping baby's nose. "Wake up!" he said and pushed the nose again.

Mrs. Curtis laughed and looked up at her husband, who was smiling down at them.

"Let him sleep," Darry interrupted, taking a hold of Soda's arm. "Otherwise he'll just start screaming and won't stop until he gets our toys."

Sodapop shook Darry's hand off and returned his attention to the baby boy. Then he wrapped his arms around him and tried to pull him away from his mother.

"No, Sodapop, he's too fragile for that."

"But he mine!" said Sodapop, not understanding.

"He's your little brother, yes," said Mrs. Curtis, holding onto the baby. "And you will have to be a big boy and help Mama and Daddy take care of him, but you can't hold him just yet, okay?" She looked at Soda and tried to make him understand. "He's just a little baby. When we had you, Darry couldn't hold you right away, either."

"But..." started Sodapop.

"He ain't yours," said Darry irritably. "He's Mom and Dad's."

"But I asked them to buy me a little brother. And look - they did!"

Mrs. Curtis exchanged looks with her husband and decided that it might not be time just yet to tell Sodapop where babies came from. "Let's go inside and you boys can have some milk and cookies."

"I already had cookies," said Keith.

"I think you ate them all," said Sodapop, briefly looking away from the baby.

"Did not!" Keith said, frowning. "There was some on the top shelf I couldn't get to..."

"Why don't you kids get a cookie and run out and play while I change your baby brother?" Mrs. Curtis said.

But Sodapop had no intention of leaving the baby. He followed Mrs. Curtis to the bathroom to watch. When she placed the baby on the table it woke up and started crying.

"Mom - you made him cry!" said Sodapop accusingly. "Take him down - he don't like it up there!"

"He's just not happy about the blankets being taken off," she said and started to change him.

The small boy was still crying when she was done, and she wrapped him in the blanket again and took him up into her arms. She hushed and rocked him. Then she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Everyone flocked around her to get a better look.

Sodapop sat down next to her and stared at the little boy. "Can I pet him?"

"Yes, gently."

Sodapop very carefully stroked the bald little head. "He got no hair."

"Neither did you when Mom and Dad brought you home," Darry said and leaned in to get a better look at the little baby in his mother's arms. He was awake now and blinked up at Sodapop and Darry.

"He looking at me!" squealed Soda.

Mrs. Curtis didn't have the heart to tell him that newborns couldn't focus yet.

"Hello. I'm Sodapop Curtis. I'm your big brother!"

The baby made a small sound and blinked again, making Soda lean in closer. Mrs. Curtis watched as her son was getting lost in studying the newborn and she leaned back on the couch. She was still a little tired even though she had spent a few days in the hospital.

"I want a baby too," Keith suddenly said and looked expectantly at his mother.

"Oh," said Mrs. Matthews, surprised. "Well... We can talk about that later."

"You should get one," said Sodapop. "They can play together then."

"We can play with him too," Keith said, watching the baby. "When he can walk and stuff. He ain't much fun now."

Darry just shook his head and sat down to play with some building blocks.

Sodapop sat, his eyes glued to the baby. Mr. Curtis didn't think he had ever seen his middle son so focused on one thing for so long.

"If you sit still, you can try and hold him," said Mrs. Curtis and carefully placed the baby on Soda's lap, so that its head was supported by her thigh.

Sodapop beamed as he wrapped an arm gently around his little brother. "It the happiest day in my life!"

Mrs. Curtis smiled and gently ruffled his hair while helping him support the baby with the other hand.

"What are you gonna call him?" Mrs. Matthews asked as she held on to her son so he didn't run off to raid the plate of cookies.

"Can I name him?" asked Sodapop, looking up at his father.

"Um," his father said and looked a little hesitant. "Well, do you have any suggestions?"

Sodapop looked at the baby, thinking long and hard. He wanted to give him a good name. He already loved his little brother so he thought of what else he loved. That was easy. "Pony... Ponyboy!"

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis looked at each other and then at the baby.

"Ponyboy Curtis... that's got a good ring to it," grinned Mr. Curtis.

"But Darrel…" Mrs. Curtis said, looking a bit skeptical.

"Why not? It's an original name, Ponyboy."

"That's not a name!" Darry broke in, feeling a little excluded from the whole thing. "You can't name a person Ponyboy!"

"It's no stranger than Sodapop," said Mr. Curtis.

"Well, that's a stupid name, too."

"Darry," his mother said in a warning tone.

"We can give him a common name also," said Mr. Curtis. "Like we did with Sodapop. Then he can chose to go by that name instead if he prefers that. What about Christopher? Or Thomas?" Darry just mumbled something and looked a little hurt from not having had a say. Mr. Curtis noticed and placed a hand on Darry's shoulder. "You don't like Christopher? What name would you like?"

Darry leaned against his father, still looking a little grumpy. "I like Michael better."

"Ponyboy Michael Curtis..." said Mr. Curtis and gently ran his fingers down the baby's cheek. "I think that's a perfect name."

o0o0o

Sodapop adored his new little brother and spent nearly all his waking hours with him. Of course, as Darry pointed out, he wasn't much fun for the first few months, but Sodapop kept talking to him and showing him things, as if Ponyboy really understood. When Mrs. Curtis took Ponyboy for a stroll in the pram, Sodapop always joined - usually on his hobbyhorse, racing up and down the sidewalk, occasionally stopping to have a peek at the baby.

"Sodapop!" Mrs. Curtis called as her son raced too far ahead for her liking. "Come back here!" She sighed. It would be easier for him to run off steam when they got to the park.

When they reached the park, she sat down on a bench and watched Sodapop run around on the grass. A dark-haired boy with a toy truck spotted Sodapop and got up from his spot in the sandbox. "What are you playing?"

"I'm in a rodeo," explained Sodapop as if it were obvious. "What you doing?"

"Driving in the sand," the boy said and showed him his truck. "I'm Steve. Who are you?"

"Sodapop," grinned Soda.

"I ask your name," said Steve.

"It's Sodapop!"

The boy looked skeptical. "That's a strange name."

"I know!" beamed Soda. "But it's great, 'cause soda pop is my favorite food."

"Dad say pop ain't food," Steve said, looking determined. "He say I gotta drink water."

"He sound not very nice," said Sodapop, furrowing his brows.

Steve shook his head. "He ain't. My dad always grumpy."

Sodapop eyed the toy in Steve's hand. "If I can hold your truck you can pet Mr. Pony. But be careful, he bite sometimes."

Steve grinned and nodded before handing Sodapop his toy truck. Then he pet the horse's head, carefully as if afraid it might actually bite him.

"Wow," said Sodapop, admiring the blue truck. "My big brother too have trucks, he almost never let me play with them. He say I break them."

Steve looked a little worried all of a sudden. He hoped Sodapop wouldn't break his truck. "Where your brother now?"

"In school," said Sodapop. "He old."

A thin black-haired woman sat down on a bench close to Mrs. Curtis. Standing next to her was a tiny fragile looking boy with hair as black as hers. He was holding a shabby teddy bear with one of its eyes hanging by a thread. The boy looked up at the woman a little nervously and then wandered off slowly with the teddy bear pressed to his chest. The woman mumbled something with an irritable look on her face and lit herself a cigarette.

Sodapop spotted the new kid and forgot all about Steve and his truck. He dropped the toy on the grass and ran over to the other boy. "Hi," he grinned, stopping right in front of him.

Steve picked up his truck, checked it for damages, and followed Sodapop.

The small boy took a few steps back and clung to his teddy bear so hard that all the stuffing was squeezed into its head. "H-hi," he mumbled and looked up at the two with big black eyes.

"Your teddy look sick. You want my Mama to fix him? She a nurse," said Sodapop.

The boy looked down at his teddy bear and gulped. "Mama say... n-no money..." he nearly whispered.

"Oh, she don't want money!" grinned Sodapop and reached for the bear.

The little boy turned his back to Sodapop and clutched the bear even closer to his chest. "M… my teddy," he whimpered, his whole body shaking.

"Oh, you can hold him if you want," said Soda and instead took the boy's hand to lead him over to his mother.

"Hello there," smiled Mrs. Curtis.

The black-haired woman sent them an indifferent look and then returned to smoking her cigarette and ignoring her child.

"H… hi..." mumbled the boy, glancing at his mother out of the corner of his eye.

Sodapop opened his mouth to say something to his mother, but then realized that he didn't know what the dark boy's name was. "What your name?" he asked.

"J-Johnny," whispered the boy.

"Mom - Johnny's teddy is sick. I said you can fix him."

Mrs. Curtis leaned forward and smiled at Johnny. "Can I see him?"'

Johnny stood like frozen for a minute before reluctantly handing her the teddy bear. She studied it and then took out her bag to find a needle and some thread. "I will just put his eye back on and he should be as good as new," she smiled to the anxious looking boy.

The little boy looked very scared, Sodapop thought. Maybe it was because he was worried about his teddy bear. "Don't worry. She don't hurt him. She fix Mr. Pony all the time, and he fine," said Soda and stuck his hobbyhorse's head up in front of Johnny's face.

Johnny looked at it and gently let his thin fingers run over the fabric where Mrs. Curtis had stitched the horse up.

"Here you go," Mrs. Curtis said and handed Johnny his bear. Its eye was now stitched back on and Johnny stared at it with wide eyes as he took it. "T… thank," he whispered, looking up at Mrs. Curtis admiringly.

"You're welcome," she smiled and looked over at the woman who was clearly the boy's mother. Mrs. Curtis wondered why she hadn't repaired her son's teddy bear herself.

"You wanna come play?" Steve asked. "We can play in the sand box."

Johnny looked away shyly but followed the other boys to the sandbox. Mrs. Curtis leaned back on the bench and smiled at the three children running towards the sandbox with each of their toys.

Steve and Sodapop immediately hit it off. Johnny was very shy, hardly saying anything, but he looked like he enjoyed watching the other two.

"Where you live?" asked Sodapop. "Maybe we can play more. I live in Tulsa."

"We all live in Tulsa. It's too far to the park if you don't live in Tulsa," Steve explained.

Johnny looked like he was gathering courage to speak "Live in house..." he mumbled and cuddled his bear.

"Me too!" grinned Sodapop. "Right over there." He pointed in the direction of the Curtis house.

Johnny looked over his shoulder at his mother and when seeing that she wasn't looking at him he pointed in the same direction. "Live there..." he mumbled and quickly took his hand down again.

"I live on Greene Street," Steve informed and plowed his truck into the sand castle he had just made.

Mrs. Curtis called for Sodapop, telling him it was time to go.

"You can come visit me," said Soda to his new friends. "Ask your mama."

"I wanna," Steve beamed and finished destroying the sand castle. "You just wait - I come to your house and we play!"

"Where's your mama?" asked Sodapop and looked around.

"Over there," Steve said and pointed at a woman sitting on a bench, reading a book. "That's my Mama. She nice. Not like Dad… He always grumpy or at work. Mama take me here to play."

Johnny just stood there listening, seemingly overwhelmed by all the words that Steve and Sodapop knew.

"Ask her to take you to my house!" said Sodapop.

Mrs. Curtis had now come over to get Sodapop since he hadn't come when she had called.

Steve ran over to his mother and dragged her back to where Mrs. Curtis had now picked Sodapop up. "Mama, can I go with Sodapop and play?" he asked.

The woman looked puzzled. "Sodapop?" she asked a little confused but nodded hello to Mrs. Curtis.

"Well, not now, of course," said Mrs. Curtis. "Since it's nearly dinner time. But your son is very welcome some other day. We live 324 Walnut Street - over by the lot."

It took Mrs. Randle a few moments to grasp that Sodapop was the name of the boy in Mrs. Curtis' arms. "Well, I can bring him by tomorrow if that would be okay with you?" she said and Mrs. Curtis nodded.

Steve was jumping up and down with a huge grin on his face. Johnny on the other hand just stood looking at his feet.

"What about you, honey?" Mrs. Curtis asked him. "Do you want to come visit Sodapop too?" She knew where Johnny lived. Just about fifteen houses from theirs. The parents often fought so loudly it could be heard all the way to their house.

He looked up at her, hugging his bear tightly and seemed to be struggling with the words. "A… ask Mama…"

He spoke so quietly that Mrs. Curtis had to bend down to hear what he was saying. Then she let Sodapop go and pushed the pram over to where Johnny's mother was sitting. "Hi," she smiled. "I'm Maggie Curtis. We live on the same street."

The woman looked up at her with eyes that were puffy and narrow. She smelled of alcohol. "Is my kid causing trouble?" she asked in a harsh voice.

"No, of course not! He's a very sweet kid. I just wanted to ask if he can come to our house to play sometimes."

The woman looked at her like she was joking but when Mrs. Curtis didn't change her expression Mrs. Cade's face turned serious. "I ain't paying for food or nothin' while he's at your house and you come pick him up if you want him there," she said and pointed at her with her cigarette.

"Okay," said Mrs. Curtis, a little surprised, although she didn't have the best impression of Mrs. Cade as it was. Then she kneeled down in front of Johnny. "Johnny - Sodapop and I will come and get you tomorrow, alright?"

The little boy's face lit up.

o0o0o

Sodapop excitedly raced up and down the sidewalk even faster than he had on the way out. Mrs. Curtis had to get strict with him to keep him from running too far. They found Mr. Curtis and Darry in the front yard setting up a swing in the old oak.

"Hello, you two," Mr. Curtis smiled and lifted Sodapop high into the air. "Have a good day? You didn't stress Mama out to much now, did you?"

"Huh?" said Sodapop, who had no idea what 'stress' meant. "I got new friends! They come tomorrow here!" he beamed and wrapped his arms around his father's neck.

"Oh? New friends? So we're gonna have the house full tomorrow?" He reminded Maggie that they had promised to look after Keith while Mrs. Matthews was at a job interview.

Ponyboy started crying in the pram and Sodapop immediately tried to climb it to see him.

"No, Soda, you're gonna knock it over!" Mr. Curtis said and pulled Sodapop off the pram while Mrs. Curtis picked up Ponyboy and gently rocked him in her arms.

"I think he's hungry and also needs a clean diaper," she said and went inside the house.

Mr. Curtis had to put Soda down because the minute Pony was out of sight he started to wiggle like a fish on a hook. Sodapop dashed past Mrs. Curtis into the kitchen. He pulled out the bottom drawers and used them to climb up onto the kitchen table - headed for the cookie jar. A few minutes later, Mrs. Curtis came out from the bathroom and sat down on the couch with the baby. Sodapop jumped up next to her and tried to jam a cookie into Ponyboy's mouth.

"No, no, no," she said and snatched the cookie from Soda's hand. "He can't eat that yet," she tried to explain and carefully parted Ponyboy's lips so Soda could see that he had no teeth. "See? He has no teeth so he can't chew his food yet. Mama will feed him, okay? You just run out and play with Dad and Darry."

Sodapop looked at his little brother for a long moment, feeling sorry for him that he couldn't eat cookies. "When can he eat cookies?"

"When he gets his teeth. And at first he will only be able to eat soft things," she explained. "But when he's ready to eat cookies I will make sure you get to give him one."

"Great!" grinned Soda and suddenly remembered the swing he had seen in the yard.

Darry was testing it when Sodapop emerged from the house. He got off the swing. "You want a go?" he asked and steadied the swing. "If I push you, you won't break it."

"How can I break it?" said Sodapop, already climbing the swing. "I'm so little."

"You tend to be wild," Darry said and started pushing Soda on the swing.

"Higher!" demanded Sodapop. "Higher, Darry! I wanna see over the house!"

Darry used all his strength but the swing didn't go much higher and before long he had tired himself out. "Dad, can't you push him?"

Mr. Curtis went over and took a hold of the swing, backing up and then letting it go. "Don't tell your mother that you went this high," Mr. Curtis demanded and laughed.

"Higher, Daddy!" squealed Sodapop euphorically. I can fly! All way up to the sky!"

A while later Mrs. Curtis called them in for dinner. Mr. Curtis had to wrench Sodapop off the swing to get him inside.

Mr. Curtis smiled and ruffled Darry's hair. "You're such good boys," he said and put a spoon of mashed potatoes in Soda's mouth.

"I can eat myself," said Sodapop, splattering mashed potato everywhere because his mouth was full of it.

"You're a pig," said Darry, but couldn't help sniggering.

Mr. Curtis just shook his head and wiped his mouth. Yes, they really were supposed to let Soda eat on his own, but it was tempting to just feed him, because when they didn't, they had to scrub down the walls afterwards.

Mrs. Curtis looked at both her sons. They were so different. Darry had always been calm, serious and tidy. Sodapop was wild, chaotic and bubbling with energy and joy. She had never met such a happy child. Even as a small baby he would laugh most of the time. She loved both of them and wondered how Ponyboy was going to turn out. In a way she hoped most like Darry. Sodapop was a wonderful boy but he was such a handful, she didn't know if she would be able to control two of his kind at same time.

After dinner the kids were placed on the floor with some toys while the parents cleared the table. "You can play for an hour and then it's off to bed so you're good and rested for tomorrow," Mr. Curtis said.

"I'm not tired," announced Sodapop and started building a tall tower of toy bricks.

"You're never tired," Darry mumbled, playing with his blue truck. It was his favorite toy in the world and no one else ever got to play with it.

A good hour later, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis walked up to them and picked up each of their kids. "Time for bed. Big day tomorrow."

"No! I'm not finish!" protested Sodapop and wriggled free. He then took a run-up and raced into his tower, bricks flying everywhere.

Mr. Curtis chased after him and finally caught him half way through the house. "Soda, you little trouble maker," he laughed. "You have to go to bed now." He looked at his son whose eyes were huge and clear. He was overtired.

"I'm not tired!" protested Sodapop while his father carried him into the bathroom to brush his teeth. That was always a big task, because Sodapop kept talking so foam flew everywhere.

"Try to be quiet for just one minute," sighed Mr. Curtis. "Otherwise we'll never be done!"

"What's a minute?"

"It's the time it takes normal people to brush their teeth," said Darry.

Finally after some struggling Mr. Curtis got Soda's teeth brushed and he changes him into his PJs. Darry was already lying in bed when Mr. Curtis came in with Soda hanging over one arm. He put the boy down in the crib. "Goodnight," said Mr. Curtis and kissed him on the forehead. "Now go to sleep okay?"

"I'm not tired. Read a story, Daddy. Please!"

"Alright," said Mr. Curtis.

"A good one," said Darry. "Not Butter the Bulldog (which was Sodapop's favorite story and so Darry had heard it a hundred times).

"I love Butter the Bulldog!" exclaimed Sodapop as if it were a secret nobody knew.

Mr. Curtis took down a big book from the shelf and sat down on a small chair. "This book has a lot of different stories so we will just pick a random one," he said and turned a page. He then started reading, changing his voice so it fit the characters in the story.

Sodapop wasn't any closer to sleeping when the story was over. He was excited about the next day and not at all in the mood for sleeping. He was standing in his crib, jumping up and down.

"Sodapop, it's time to lie down and go to sleep," Mr. Curtis repeated and lay him down, pulling the blanket over him. "Otherwise you will be too tired to play with your new friends tomorrow. Daddy also has to go to bed soon."

"You can go to bed," said Sodapop.

"Not before you're sleeping," he said and let his hand run over Soda's golden hair. He got up from the chair and turned off the lights. "Sweet dreams," he whispered and hoped that Soda would fall asleep soon enough.

Sodapop kept talking to Darry until Darry told him to shut the hell up.

"That's a bad word!" gasped Sodapop.

"I'm tired," Darry complained and turned his back to his brother, pulling the blanket up to his chin. "I wanna sleep and Dad said you should too."