"Hey Soda?" Darry called as they walked into the seemingly quiet house. He was carrying a sleeping Hailey and Violet had the envelope of all of their pictures in it. No one answered, and Darry walked to put Hailey in her crib. He came back out and smiled lightly at Violet. "They've probably gone to the Ribbon; I heard there were some races going on tonight." Violet nodded,
"Alright, I'm going to get changed and then start cleaning. Are we going grocery shopping tomorrow?" She asked walking back into their room.
"I'm going to call the bank and see what the balance is." Darry said, walking over to the phone. He sat in his chair and started to feel relieved that for once, everything within the last few weeks was calm. Sodapop and Pony were both in love, Kessler hasn't come around for a while, and last but not least, Violet and he were acting like a married couple. He had been saving a third of his paycheque to put towards a wedding, since he didn't want Violet to have a 'greaser wedding'. He wanted to give Violet the wedding of her dreams, and he knew the only way to do that was to start saving now. He knew Violet didn't want to have the wedding until she had already given birth (and knowing her until she lost some of the baby fat) so that gave Darry at least six months to save. He heard the phone ring before he was about to call the bank, so he picked it up. He wasn't worried, social services just came and all the bills were on time.
"Hello?" He asked his voice a little deeper than usual.
"Hello… Is this Darrel Curtis?" He heard a friendly feminine voice ask.
"Yes it is; may I ask who I'm speaking with?" Darry asked, wondering who would be calling them.
"Well, its Madelyn Hayes, Violet's mum." Darry felt himself start to smile.
"It's good to hear from you Mrs. Hayes. How are you and Mr. Hayes doing?"
"Alright I suppose. We finally got out of our rent contract and we're heading back down to Tulsa. Is Violet there?" Darry called Violet and she walked over in once of Darry's fleece shirts and a pair of sweat pants. 'Who is it?' She mouthed while she took the phone.
"Hello?"
"Violet?"
"Mom? What… How did you get this number?" Violet asked quietly, reaching to hold Darry's hand. She hadn't spoken to her parents in over seven months.
"Your brother gave me the number… We're coming down to Tulsa Violet. We… We want to see you."
"Well… I mean… I guess you know that I'm living with Darry."
"Yes, your brother told me what has been going on… We'll be in town by Tuesday. We're going to stay with Jason until we can find a proper house. We hate being away from you and Hailey." Her mom said softly.
"Okay… Well I can't wait to see you mom." They talked for a little while longer until Violet heard the front door open. She said goodbye to her mother and looked up to see Pony standing there, with a love struck look on his face. He smiled dreamily, and Darry looked at him.
"Where have you been all day kiddo?"
"Well… It was Lexi's birthday today and I wanted to spend the day with her since her mom had to pick up a double shift and her brother is in jail."
"Well, how did it go?" Pony grinned, and Darry remembered that grin. The same grin he wore after his first time, the same one Soda wore after his first time. He looked up at his younger brother with his eyes slightly wide.
"Pone? Can I talk to you outside on the porch?" He walked out onto the porch with his little brother and sat beside him on the porch railing.
"So… What did you do for her birthday?" He asked and Pony shrugged, lighting a smoke.
"Well… I picked her up some chocolate and a teddy bear… And with the money left over that Soda gave me and the money from Mr. Jones, I found a nice little ring for her in the window of a pawn shop. I thought it would be nice for her to have… a representation that she's my girl." Pony said, and Darry smiled.
"Sounds like she had a great birthday," Darry said nodding. He waited a few more minutes for Pony to go on, and when he didn't he moved off the railing, reaching to grab the handle.
"Darry?" Pony said quietly. He turned around and looked at Pony.
"Yeah Ponyboy?"
"Well… We… Since it was our six month anniversary… We… We decided that today was the right day to… You know… Have sex." Pony said quietly, and Darry smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Well congrats little colt. I guess that Soda gave you a condom right?" He nodded.
"He gave me two and Lexi was on the pill. We took every precaution Dar… She doesn't want to have kids until we're both done university and both with a steady income." Darry smiled lightly, shaking his head. "What?" Pony asked when he saw his older brother smiling like a cheshire cat.
"It's pretty cool that you and Lexi are already planning your lives together and you're both still juniors. It's… Inspiring." Darry said and Pony blushed but smiled.
"I can't imagine my life without her. Every time I think about her… I get butterflies. I understand now when Soda said love is a nice… It is nice. It's the best feeling in the world." Darry chuckled and rolled his eyes at his brother's sappiness.
"Did you finish your homework?" Pony nodded and smiled at his brother, following him inside. Darry put his brother in a head lock, and for the first time in a long time, the two brothers wrestled.
Jason sat at the Dingo with Dallas, Steve and Johnny.
"What do you mean, you haven't seen him?" Jason asked, looking at the boys.
"Well… We were following him around town and stuff and then… We lost him. He was threatening Violet's life… He's taken a turn for the worst." Steve said.
"What are you talking about? What was he saying?"
"He said he's tired of trying to hurt her directly… And he's going to hurt people that matter to her. He said that wounds heal in time, but wounds from a traumatic experience and psychological wounds take longer to heal." Dallas explained gruffly, and Jason sat there in silence wondering what the boys were trying to say.
"He's going after you, Darry, and the baby." Johnny said quietly.
Thanks again to GreaserGirlie for her amazing review! Please leave a review and tell me wht your thoughts on this chapter are! I promise I'm friendly and I love to talk!