July 4, 1970

Darry POV

"You look like you could use some help." I looked up from the food I was making to find Angelina standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Help would be nice." I replied. Angelina smiled and walked over, already pushing her sleeves up.

"What do you need me to do?"

"You could frost the cake for me. I'll slice up fruit and mix the potato salad together." I said, gesturing to the cake. Angelina nodded, grabbed a knife, and picked up the bowl of frosting.

"This is enough to frost three cakes." She commented, stirring the frosting up again.

"I know. The boys like a lot of icing on their cake." Angelina laughed as she began frosting. "So how long have you been over here?"

"Not very long. I drove Em, Rachel, and myself up here maybe ten minutes ago. We went straight to the backyard and said hi to everyone. I asked where you were and they said you were working, so I decided to come in and help you out. I'm surprised no one else offered to help."

"They didn't help me pack the cars when we went camping. What makes you think they'd help me cook?" I laughed. She laughed along and returned to the frosting.

"Those guys though." Angelina laughed again as she smoothed out the frosting on side of the cake. "I don't get why they wouldn't help you."

"Well most of them lived by 'every man for himself' unless they were in serious trouble."

"Like the rumbles?" She asked, finishing off the frosting from the bowl.

"Yeah. Especially with the rumbles. I'm just glad that time seems behind us." I watched as Angelina added decorative swirls onto the frosting with the knife. She delicately maneuvered the frosting and even added some designs looking like fireworks. Very appropriate for the occasion. "And thanks for stopping by and being our nurse all those times. Johnny probably never would have let me stitch that one cut all the way up his forearm." She smiled and licked the frosting off the knife.

"Well I couldn't just let him bleed out. But I never could handle dealing with the gang on a regular basis. They know if they get out of line you'll tie them in a knot." She responded putting the bowl and knife in the sink. "You're such a great leader for them."

"Thank you Angelina." I finished draining the potatoes and put them in the bowl with the other ingredients. I capped the bowl, shook up the contents, and put everything in the fridge. I heard a baby cry and a combination of shushing and laughing.

"No." I look back over at Angelina, her face shocked.

"What?"

"Did I just hear a baby screaming?" Her voice sounded irritated but her expression registered confusion.

"Yeah, I heard it too. Jennifer and Sodapop said they'd come over and bring the twins with them." I said nonchalantly as I took out some fruit from the refrigerator.

"What? Why are they here?" That's definitely an irritated tone. She looked in the direction of the back yard as we heard childish giggling coming from one of the guys.

"They wanted to introduce everyone to the babies." I explained, grabbing another knife for the fruit.

"They're five days old! You don't bring a five day old to a party." She huffed slightly behind me. I could almost see the hair blowing out of her face from the force of her breath.

"You think she's crazy don't you?" I half laughed as I faced her again.

"I've thought she's been crazy ever since we came to Tulsa. I just still need to accept that it has no bounds." I laughed as Angelina shook her head at the thought of Jennifer. "But I love her." She sighed as I placed the fruit on the table.

"Yeah, I don't know how many times I've had to tell Sodapop to keep his clothes on." Angelina tried to suppress a laugh but eventually couldn't contain it. Her laugh became contagious and I couldn't help but join in. We eventually calmed down and got back to preparing the food.

"Wow. I'm so glad I don't have a brother. I thought dealing with Jennifer's antics, Emma eating every speck of food in the house, and Rachel going AWOL to read or write was a hassle."

"Sodapop's not too bad. I'm just glad Ponyboy's wised up a bit. He isn't so absentminded as he's used to be. He almost forgot his own birthday once." I chuckled slightly and Angelina nodded her head. We finished preparing the fruit just as Jennifer poked her head into the kitchen.

"Hello family!" She called, walking in and hugging Angelina. "How are you doing?"

"I think the better question is, how are you and the babies doing?" She asked, not as irritated as before.

"Fabulous." She grinned letting go of Angelina. "Everyone loves them and they're doing great. Sodapop was just thinking we should head down to the park to get a good spot for the fireworks." I looked over at the clock and nodded my head.

"All right. Do you mind helping me get everything packed for the walk?" I asked Angelina as Jennifer returned to her bundles.

"Not at all." We quickly got everything packed and I went to the backyard to get everyone.

"We should get moving soon." I announced to the gang. Jennifer smiled as she finished strapping the twins in their double stroller. "Everyone has to carry something." I said. All the guys walked into the kitchen and grabbed the various plates and bowls of food. I peeked into the stroller at my niece and nephew. "Hi you two." I smiled and gently rubbed their cheeks with my free hand.

Once we arrived at the park Angelina rolled out our old picnic blanket we've been using the past five years. Each gang member set down their item and Angelina rearranged everything so it was easily accessible. Everyone ate until all that was left was one corn cob and a bit of potato salad.

"How long until the fireworks?" Dally yawned as we bagged up the trash.

"Not for another fifteen minutes." Johnny said looking over at Angelina's watch.

"Wake me up when that happens." He said walking over to a nearby tree.

"I don't know Dally, if the fireworks themselves don't wake you up, nothing will." Two-Bit said causing almost everyone to snicker. Dally turned around and flipped us all off before continue his walk. He ended up settling down by a tree and we all went back to socializing. I noticed Rachel get up and beckon Ponyboy to follow but the babies soon distracted me.

"Who's a little precious baby? You are!" Jennifer cooed at Patrick.

"Aren't they going to get hungry Jennifer?" Angelina asked, looking at the babies.

"Well..."

"Get away from me with those grubby little fingers!" Emma yelled from across the park. We all look up at Emma running like hell as Two-Bit chased after her, his hands covered with mud.

"You can't run forever!" He laughed as she dodged him.

"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TOUCH ME!" She screamed as she ran past a tree, which Two-Bit subsequently ran into. He stumbled backwards and tripped on Dally's legs.

"What the hell Two-Bit?" He growled.

"Well maybe that knocked his brains in place so he won't be such an idiot." Emma said standing over him.

"Good luck with that. He's taken worse hits than that." Steve commented, nudging Sodapop and smiling. From what I could tell, he seemed fine. Dally tried to readjust himself against the tree but just sneered.

"It's starting to get dark babe. We should go home before the fireworks start." Sodapop said, buckling Mary into her seat.

"Yeah, we don't want them scared before bedtime." Jennifer nodded, handing Patrick off to Soda.

"Well good night you four." I said as Jennifer gave me and Steve a goodbye kiss.

"Happy Fourth of July everyone!" She called to everyone and they all waved back.

"I'll tell you if you missed anything." Steve said as he went to join to rest of the gang.

"Rachel? Ponyboy?" I looked back over at Angelina who looked at the tree, her hands on her hips. What are they doing now? I got up and started walking. I followed her gaze and noticed two pairs of legs dangling from a branch. Now this will be good. "What are you doing?"

"Hanging around." Rachel responded, swinging her legs around so she now hung upside down. Angelina shook her head and Rachel got down with Ponyboy following.

"And you?" She asked, looking forward to his answer.

"Monkey see, monkey do." Ponyboy smiled and shrugged. As the words left his mouth, the first firework went off with a thunderous boom. Everyone, including myself, jumped as the colors seemed to rain down across the sky. We all stood in awe as the beautiful light show rained above us.

"God bless America!" I shouted, as I heard the National Anthem beginning to play in the distance.