This chapter is gonna be full of fluffiness, especially between Ponyboy and Dally. I love it when Dally is a softy and it's not entirely unrealistic considering that in the book Dally really only truly cares for Johnny and Ponyboy, even if he's not willing to admit it out loud.

Just FYI, here're the nicknames the gang calls Pony: honey, baby, buddy, Little Man (by Darry when Pony is upset), Munchkin, Squirt, and kiddo.

Chapter 2: Afternoon with the Gang

Soda's POV

About 10 minutes after 12 Dally, Johnny and Two-bit sauntered into the station and Steve came in from the garage to join us.

Two-bit grinned and hopped up on the counter to sit next to Pony, "Hey fellas! Hi there Squirt!" He gave my baby brother a big hug and Pony hugged him back eagerly, "Hi 'Ickey!"

Pony can't pronounce names and stuff so well since he's so little so he just calls Two-bit 'Ickey' because of Two-bit's love of Mickey Mouse.

Johnny came over too, getting a hug from Pony as well, "Hey Pone!" "Hi Ohnny!"

Two-bit turned to me with a bright grin on his face, "How you likin' work so far Soda?"

I shot Two-bit a grin, "Man you wouldn't believe all the girls that've been comin' around today! It's been awesome!"

Two-bit raised one eyebrow in interest and looked thoughtful for a moment before grinning, "Man, maybe I should consider gettin' me a job! Imagine all the blondes I'd get if I worked here!"

Dally rolled his eyes and smacked Two-bit on the back of the head, "Keep dreamin' man, you wouldn't be able to keep a job for more than five minutes if there were broads everywhere!"

Johnny nodded silently in agreement, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter at Two-bit's mollified expression. Steve and I burst out laughing when Two-bit tried to reason that he "could so keep a job if there were girls around!"

Pony's face had brightened up a lot since the guys came inside; he loved the gang and the gang loved him, they were all incredibly protective of Pony and they were all willing to drop everything and anything if it was for Ponyboy.

I can remember one time when Pony was only about 3 months old and Two-bit actually bailed on a date with a blonde because Pony had been teething at the time and was bawling his eyes out. The whole gang had stayed in the house that night, all of us taking turns holding Pony, trying to comfort him and distract him from the pain in his mouth. Eventually we had all ended up falling asleep sprawled all over the living room with Pony finally fast asleep in Darry's arms.

Pony held his arms out towards Dally and cheerfully shouted, "Awwy!" as he waited to be picked up by the blonde Greaser. Dally grinned sweetly at the baby and picked him up, kissing his head gently as the little boy latched onto him.

If you knew Dallas Winston you would never believe it if someone came up to you and told you that he could smile so warmly like this; Dally's face was usually cold and dangerous and his eyes were always icy and jaded from his childhood in New York but every time he was with Pony it was like he was a whole different person. Even if Dally was in one of his dangerous moods when he wanted to go jump a Soc or something it was like that anger evaporated into thin air if Pony crawled over to him or captured his attention in some way. It was incredible really- the effect one little baby could have on someone like Dallas Winston.

"Hey buddy, you ready to go home now?" Pony nodded as he cuddled into Dally's chest- Pony really loves to cuddle but he mostly does it with Dally or I because we're the ones he spends most of his time with.

"Alright then, say goodbye to Soda." I took Pony back into my arms and I kissed his soft auburn hair as we hugged tight before I handed him back to Dally.

"Have a good afternoon Pony, I'll see you when I get home. Love ya baby!"

Pony smiled from Dally's arms and waved over his shoulder as they walked away, "Uv you Oda!"

I watched them walk away, already missing my baby brother. Steve then stuck his head out of the door reminding me that if I got back to work then I could see Pony sooner than if I slacked off. Good old Stevie, always there for me when I need him.

Dally's POV

As we walked away from the DX and headed towards the Curtis house I was watching Ponyboy who was cuddling against my chest like he loves to do all the time. I'm not the kind of guy that usually goes for cuddling- hell, I actually really hate little kids- but Pony was a whole different story. I can honestly admit that I love Ponyboy, I have ever since he was born, probably because when I'd first held his small, fragile body and looked into his innocent green eyes I had thought, 'Damn, is he ever tiny' and since then I've been protective of the baby Curtis. I guess he reminded me that I hadn't always been cold and hard, I'd grown up that way because of my childhood, and I'd be damned if I was gonna let that kid turn out like that.

"So what do ya want for lunch baby?"

Pony looked up at me and got a cute, concentrated look on his little face as he thought real hard, "Oup pease Awwy!"

Two-bit cocked an eyebrow, obviously not having understood the kid, "What the heck is 'oup'?!"

I rolled my eyes, Two-bit has really gotta stop drinkin' so much cuz I think he's running out of brain cells, "He said 'soup' ya idiot! Y'know he can't talk so good yet."

I gave Pony a little kiss on the head, "Okay Pony, I'll make ya some soup. And good job rememberin' to say 'please' kiddo." Darry had been drilling it into Pony's head to always be polite since he had started talking about a month ago so we would always praise him when he remembered to say 'please' and 'thank you'. But sometimes I really wished Darry wouldn't do that cuz after all I wanted to make sure this kid grew up to be a tuff Greaser, not some pansy kid who's afraid of his own shadow!

When we got to the house I brought Pony to his and Soda's room to change him and when I was finished I handed him to Two-bit and went into the kitchen to start on lunch. I heard them turn on the TV and Two-bit's excited yell told me that Mickey was on- at least that would keep the goofball occupied for a while and plus Ponyboy liked the cartoon mouse too.

"You need any help Dal?"

I turned around to find that Johnny was standing in the door to the kitchen looking at me like a lost puppy; damn, I hadn't even heard him follow me to the kitchen! "Nah kid I'm good. I'll have it ready in a few minutes so just go watch TV with them and keep an eye on Two-bit, okay?"

Two-bit's voice sounded from the living room, "Hey! Just because he got hurt the last time he was alone with me doesn't mean that I need a babysitter!"

"Man you were the one that knocked over the table that made the beer bottle fall off and got Pony all cut up from the shards! Do you remember how bad that day was?!"

That really had been a terrible day. It had been Soda's last week in school and so we (the gang) had been taking turns looking after Pony while Soda was at school and Darry was at work to try and ease their burden a little bit by looking after the baby for them. It was Two-bit's turn that day and Johnny and I had promised to come by the house that afternoon to help him out. When we had gotten to the house we had heard Pony crying and Two-bit's panicked voice and for a second I had thought that some Socs had followed Two-bit to the house and were in there hurting them.

Imagine my surprise when I slammed open the door to find the kitchen table on its side, beer bottle shards all over the floor, and a slightly hysterical Two-bit hovering over a crying 9 month-old Ponyboy who was bleeding from cuts on his arms.

We had had to take Pony to the hospital where he had received stitches for some of the cuts that were too deep to leave to heal on their own. Johnny and Two-bit went to call Darry and Soda and I had stayed with Ponyboy since he'd absolutely refused to leave my arms and would scream even louder if a nurse tried to take him away from me. After asking- well, ordering- the doctor to let me stay while they stitched him up he agreed because it was clear that the only way the kid would cooperate was if I was with him. Just as the doctor finished up a very concerned and angry-looking Darry and a panicked Soda had burst into the room and demanded to know how their baby brother was.

After a few hours Pony had gotten the clear to leave and the doctor had given Darry and Soda instructions on how to take care of the stitches and informed them that if they were kept clean there would be little to no scarring. The whole ride home Darry didn't say a word and Soda was too busy fussing over a still-sniffling Pony to focus on anything but him. Once we'd gotten back to the house Soda went to his bedroom where Pony's crib was to put him to bed and I followed since I didn't want to be in the room when Darry exploded. As Soda and I got Pony ready for bed and coaxed him to sleep we could hear Darry lecturing Two-bit very loudly about Ponyboy's safety and wellbeing and that if Two-bit ever endangered him like that again... well it wouldn't end well for Two-bit.

In the end Darry had banned Two-bit from the house for a week and he hadn't been allowed to stay alone with Pony for a month. Two-bit had felt real awful about what had happened to Ponyboy and had apologized at least 100 times but the kid had forgiven him almost instantly so eventually it had all turned out okay. You could still see the scars on Pony's arms if you looked close enough but they were fading pretty fast.

After five minutes the soup was done- I had picked tomato soup since it was Pony's favourite- and I ladled it into 3 regular bowls and Pony's plastic Superman bowl. I placed the bowls on the table and grabbed Pony's bottle and filled it with apple juice before placing it next to his bowl.

I walked into the kitchen to find the three of them with their eyes glued to the TV watching Mickey, Pony was sitting safe and sound in Two-bit's lap and I picked him up easily, "Lunch is ready boys! Are ya ready to eat kiddo?"

Pony nodded eagerly and I got his hands washed and then placed him in his highchair as we all dug into the soup.

After lunch was all cleaned up we spent the rest of the afternoon watching cartoons and Ponyboy ended up falling asleep against my chest in the middle of an episode of Mickey Mouse. I barely held in a yawn myself and decided to join Pony in the land of sleep for a while, it's not like I'd gotten much sleep at Buck's last night. Why did he always have to play Hank Williams?! Like anyone would ever be able to sleep with that crap blaring all night. Hank Williams...

I just couldn't resist throwing in the Hank Williams thing at the end- it just fit the situation perfectly. XD I'm so glad that people are enjoying the story so far, thanks for all the kind comments! I'll have the next chapter up soon so please look forward to more! ^^