Steve's POV

I had been looking through a car magazine when I heard a familar light knock on the door. Standing up, I went to the door and answered it. Knowing that Soda and Brianna would be on the other side. When Soda had told me earlier that he was going to need me to watch Brianna while he spent an evening with his brothers, I had offered to go down the short hallway to his apartment. But, Soda said he'd bring Brianna over to my apartment.

"Hey, thanks for watching her tonight," Soda said when I answered the door.

"No problem," I told him. "Are you sure you don't want me to watch her at your place?"

Soda nodded. "She hasn't been here in a while."

"Do you still have coloring books?" Brianna asked me, tugging on my hand.

"They're where I've always kept them," I replied. "There should be a new box of crayons, too."

Brianna started to walk towards where I kept the coloring books but Soda stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't you want to say good-bye to your daddy?"

"Bye daddy," Brianna said giving Soda a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"That's better," Soda said with a grin. "Now be good for Steve, okay?"

"I don't think I have to worry about her," I said with a laugh.

"I don't either," Soda said. "Oh, Pony told me that she took a nap earlier, so she might be coming down with something. But, she seems fine now."

"I'm sure she's fine," I said. "Maybe she was tired earlier."

"If she starts to show any signs that she's not feeling well, have her lay down," Soda left then, closing the door behind him and I walked over to where Brianna was looking through the stack of coloring books. She had picked out a few of them herself when I took her to the store a few months back. There was one with Bugs Bunny on the cover and another one with Woody Woodpecker.

"Can I color a picture for daddy?" Brianna asked.

I nodded. "I think he'll like that. What are you going to color for him?"

"This one of a pony," Brianna told me pointing at a picture of a horse grazing in a field.

"That's a good picture," I told her. "I think I'll color this one of Bugs Bunny eating a nice big carrot."

"Okay," Brianna agreed as she started to color her picture using a blue crayon to color in the horse.

Brianna's POV

I liked going to Uncle Steve's because he always had coloring books for me and he colored with me, too. He was coloring Bugs Bunny while I colored a pony for daddy. I wanted to give daddy a picture of the pony because he had lost his horse, Mickey Mouse a long time ago.

"I bought a few actiivity books, too," Steve told me. "Did you see them/"

I nodded. "They have dot to dots and other stuff, right?"

"That's right," Steve told me. "And there's still pictures to color."

We colored for a little while when Steve stood up and told me that he was going to go wash a few dishes in the kitchen. He left me alone to color by myself and I took out out an activity book, yawning as I did because I was feeling tired. I found a dot to dot game and scratched my tummy where it had started to itch.

"Are you hungry, Brianna?" Steve asked, coming out of the kitchen.

I shook my head. "No, but my tummy itches."

Steve walked over to me and knelt down, pulling my shirt up a little bit, revealing little red bumps all over my tummy. "Why don't you go lay down on the couch? And don't scratch your tummy."

"Why not?" I asked. "It itches."

Steve led me to the couch and had me lay down. "Because I think you have the chicken pox and you're not supposed to scratch them."

"I want daddy," I told him, not liking that I was all itchy and daddy wasn't there.

Steve pushed my hair back and looked at me. "I know you do. I'll call the house and see if they're still there. But, I can't promise that I'll get a hold of him. They might have left already."

I closed my eyes as Steve covered me with a blanket, telling me again not to scratch. I was very tired and it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

Steve's POV

I sighed and picked up the phone, dialing Darry's number. The phone rang several times before I hung up and looked at the couch where Brianna was sleeping. Little red dots were now starting to cover her everywhere. And I wanted Soda there as much as she did. After all, he had taken care of her while she was sick before. I hadn't and I didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, Brianna slept most of the evening. She did wake up a few times to say that she was hot and to try to scratch the little red bumps. Not that I blamed her. I remembered when I had the chicken pox and I knew how much it itched.

Shortly before midnight, there was a knock on the door and I answered it. "Thanks for leaving a sick kid with me."

I grinned so Soda would know that I really wasn't upset. But he looked at me with concern anyway.

"I knew I should have stayed home with her," Soda told me. "Was she any trouble?"

"No, she slept most of the night. But, I did have to make sure that she didn't try to scratch, she has the chicken pox, buddy," I told him. "I tried to get a hold of you at Darry's but you were already out."

"I'm sorry you had to watch her while she wasn't feeling well," Soda said. "I know she would have liked to have played a game or something with you if she was feeling better."

"Don't worry about it," I told him. "We did get to color for a little bit."

"Daddy?" Brianna woke up and tried to sit up. "I don't feel good."

Soda's POV

I walked over to Steve's couch where Brianna was now sitting with a blanket wrapped around her. She was covered in the familar red spots that come with the chicken pox. When I had left her a few hours earlier, she had no spots.

"Did Stve take good care of you?" I asked even though I knew he did.

Brianna nodded. "But he won't let me scratch and I'm all itchy."

"I know it itches," I told her. "But it's not good to scratch when you have the chicken pox. So, try not to scratch, okay?"

"How can I try not to itch when it's so itchy?" Brianna asked me sounding annoyed.

I grinned and pushed her hair back from her face. "I'll call Darry when we get home. He might know how to stop the itching so that you won't scratch."

"Didn't you have the chicken pox?" Steve asked.

"When I was three and Pony was one," I replied. "All three of us had it around the same time so Darry might be able to remember what our parents did. Unless you have any ideas."

"My mom rubbed some sort of lotion on me," Steve said. "But I don't remember what it was called. Maybe Darry would know."

I picked up Brianna and started to walk towards the door.

"Steve, where's the picture I colored for daddy?" Brianna asked.

Steve went to get the picture and handed it to me. It was a picture of a blue horse.

"It's Mickey Mouse," Brianna told me.

"It looks just like him," I said even though Mickey Mouse wasn't blue. "Thank you, sweetie. I'll hang it on the ice box when we get home."

"Why don't you stay home with her until she's better?" Steve suggested as he opened the door. "I think we'll be okay at the station and if I have to, I can ask Ponyboy to help out. He wouldn't mind, would he?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Stop by tomorrow when you get home from work."

"Okay," Steve agreed as he reached out and squeezed Brianna's shoulder. "I'm sorry we couldn't have more fun tonight, Brianna."

I walked down the hall to my apartment with Brianna clinging to my neck. As soon as I unlocked the door, I took Brianna to her room and put her to bed, fully clothed. Then I called Darry who sounded a little irritated when he answered the phone.

"Brianna has chicken pox," I said quickly. "Do you remember what mom did when we had it?"

Darry sighed. "I think she added baking soda to a bath."

"Is that all?" I asked. "Steve said his mom rubbed a lotion on him when he had it."

"I don't remember much about it, little buddy," Darry told me. "But I can bring you a box of baking soda in the morning."

"That would be great," I said. "Oh, and tell Pony that he doesn't have to watch her. Steve said that I could stay home with Brianna while she's sick."

"What about the station?" Darry asked.

"If Steve needs extra help, he'll call Ponyboy," I replied. "Pony has always been good at helping out when we've needed it."

"Okay, well I'll see you in the morning," Darry said before hanging up.

I also hung up my phone and went to check on Brianna who had fallen asleep. It was probably the first time in a long time that she had gone to bed without asking for a story. I left her room, closing the door behind me and went to get ready for bed myself. I hoped that the baking soda baths would help Brianna to not want to scratch. But I had a feeling that I was going to have to watch her carefully to make sure that she didn't try to scratch.