Soda's POV

"Well, that's it. The bed's put together, Soda." My older brother Darry said. "And the crib is taken apart and in the basement."

I nodded, surveying the room. "Do you think Brianna will be okay with sleeping in a bed?"

"She can't sleep in a crib forever, Soda." Darry pointed out.

"What if she falls out?" I asked.

"Soda, it's not like this is bunk beds and she's sleeping on the top one." Darry sighed.

"She can still fall." I pointed out.

"Brianna will be fine. If she can take naps on the couch without falling off, she can sleep in a bed." Darry replied, picking up the instruction sheet for putting the bed together. "Since I helped put the bed together, Pony can help you make it."

With that, he left me standing alone in Brianna's room. Brianna is my two and a half year old daughter. She has brown eyes and dark golden hair that went just past her shoulders. She looks a lot like me which is something most people point out when they see her. I was raising her with help from my two brothers because when Sandy and I found out that I was Brianna's father, Sandy left and never returned. Leaving me to raise Brianna. I still think about Sandy once in a while. I wonder if she ever thinks about the daughter she left behind. And it makes me angry to think that she would just leave her child like that. Brianna did nothing her, she was just a tiny infant when Sandy left the second time. Brianna still doesn't know any of this. She's still too young to understand. And I'm still not sure how to answer her when she finally does get old enough to realize that other kids have a mom and she doesn't.

"Hey, the bed looks good." I turned around to find my best friend, Steve entering the room. He stood next to me with his arms crossed.

"Darry says I have to help make the bed." That was my younger brother, Ponyboy.

"Daddy?" Brianna walked across the room and held onto my leg. She looked at the bed that was now where her crib used to be. Her eyes showed that she was not happy about what she saw.

I picked her up. "Do you like your new bed?"

"No." Brianna said softly.

"It's a big girl bed for a big girl like you." I told her. "Uncle Pony is going to help me make it."

"Want my crib." Brianna said.

"Sweetie, you're too big for a crib." I told her gently, even though part of me was still worried that she'd fall out of the bed. At least cribs have railings to prevent something like that from happening.

"Hey Brianna, why don't you come outside with me and help me with your uncle Darry's truck?" Steve suggested. He waited for me to put her down, then took her hand and led her out of the room.

Steve's POV

"Are you afraid to sleep in a big bed?" I asked Brianna once we were outside.

"Uh huh." Brianna nodded.

I knelt down and turned her towards me. "But, you've slept on my bed."

Brianna had slept on my bed a few times when Soda would bring her over to my apartment on his way to school in the evenings. Darry still watched her most nights. As did Pony when he wasn't working at the movie house. But once in a while, I'd watch her at my place. And she never seemed scared of sleeping in my bed.

"Why are you scared?" I asked as I started to open the hood of the truck.

Brianna looked at me and shrugged.

I grinned at her. "There's nothing to be scared of. Is my bed scary?"

"No." Brianna mumbled.

"Is your daddy's bed scary?" I picked her up and stood her on a chair I brought outside.

"No." Brianna said with a grin.

"Then your bed isn't scary. And do you know what the best part of a big girl bed is?" I asked as I handed her a flash light.

"What?" Brianna asked.

I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "They're a lot easier to get out of than cribs."

"What are you telling my daughter?" Soda asked coming out of the house.

"Nothing." I replied. But I gave Brianna a little wink.

"Brianna, what did Steve tell you?" Soda asked.

"Nothing." Brianna said with a grin.

"Okay, do you want to see your bed now that it's all made up for you?" Soda asked Brianna.

"Go ahead." I told her. I helped her off the chair then watched as she followed Soda back inside the house.

Soda's POV

I took Brianna back to her bed room where Pony was finishing with putting stuffed animals on the bed.

"Do you like your bed now?" I asked her. It was now made up with pink and white bedding. Two-Bit had laughed when I picked it out. But pink seems to be Brianna's favorite color. And she was the one who would be sleeping in the bed. Not Two-Bit.

Brianna nodded but still looked like she was uncertain about the whole thing.

"See Brianna? All your stuffed animals love sleeping on a big girl bed." Pony told her. "They couldn't wait to try it out."

Brianna walked across the room and touched the pink comforter that covered her bed. Then she looked at me.

"You can sit on your bed. Or lie down on it." I told her. I watched as she climbed on the bed and sat in the middle of it. "But no jumping, okay?"

She nodded. But I knew she'd eventually start jumping on the bed anyway. I wasn't going to tell her that, though. I just wanted her to get used to the bed and to enjoy it.

"Do you want to stay here for a while?" I asked.

"Uh huh." Brianna replied.

"Okay, I'll come check on you in a little bit." I said as I left the room. Pony had already gone to the living room and joined Darry in watching a basketball game on television. Steve was still outside fixing Darry's truck. I sat down next to Pony even though I don't like watching sports.

"Is Brianna okay with her new bed?" Darry asked.

"For now. I think the real test will be tonight when she actually has to sleep in it." I replied. "But like you said, she should be fine."