September 3, 1974

Jennifer POV

"Ouch! Seriously Baby?" I rubbed my stomach where my child had decided to kick me. "I can't wait for you to come out." I muttered as I cleared the table.

"Want some help?" Johnny came up behind me and began stacking plates. We both carried our stacks of dishes to the sink. "You're missing Sodapop." Johnny said simply as he handed a dish to me to dry and put away.

"That's an understatement."

"I know." I rested my hand in my stomach and looked into the living room where Angelina was playing with Patrick and Mary. "Why don't you go be with the kids, I'll finish this up." Johnny said quietly, taking my towel away from me. I walked into the living room and sat on the couch continuing to watch my children play with their Auntie Angelina.

"Will you and Mommy tell us a story?" Mary asked Angelina.

"I suppose so." Angelina replied, getting up to sit on the couch with me. Patrick sat on my left, and Mary on Angelina's right.

"What do you want to hear about?" Patrick rested his hand on my stomach, over his soon to be sibling, as he thought.

"The three little pigs." He finally decided.

"Is that all right with you, Mary?" Angelina asked. Mary nodded her head and then rested her head on Angelina's arm. We waited for a moment so that the kids could get comfy before we began.

"There once were three little pigs, who wanted to build their own houses. The first built his house out of straw, since it was fast. By afternoon, he was done with his house, and was able to play." I began.

"The second pig built his house out of sticks, and it took a little more time than the first pig, but by the evening, the second pig was able to play as well." Angelina continued.

"The third pig was a wise little pig, and decided to build his house out of bricks. It took a lot longer than the other two pigs, and he was not able to play with them." Johnny sat on the floor in front of Angelina as we were telling our story.

"One day, a big bad wolf came out of the woods and knocked on the first pig's house."

"Little pig, little pig, let me in." Johnny said in a low voice.

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin." Patrick and Mary said together.

"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down." Johnny threatened, beginning to huff and puff.

"The wolf huffed, and he puffed, and he blew that pig's house down." I said, suddenly feeling a weak contraction. I rubbed my stomach and we continued with the story. At the end of the story, both of the twins were yawning and very sleepy. "Time for bed you two." I sang as the five of us walked upstairs to put the twins to bed.

"You all right, Jennifer?" Angelina asked, as I gasped with another contraction.

"I'm in labor." I said quietly, not quite believing it myself.

"How far along?" Angelina asked as we sat on the couch.

"Not very long at all, we still have a couple hours before we need to go to the hospital." Angelina nodded. "What about the kids?"

"I'll stay here and watch them." Johnny volunteered. "Just keep me updated so I can take them to meet their new brother or sister."

"All right." I said as I had another contraction. We sat in the living room and watched The Waltons, and the show was just ending when I had an incredibly painful contraction and my water broke.

"Let's go." I said to Angelina. "When I said I couldn't wait for you to come, I didn't mean tonight." I grumbled to my baby as I got off the couch.

"All right." She grabbed my hand and took my keys off the hook. The drive to the hospital was nearly silent, and when we got there, I was admitted rather quickly. "Do you want to call Sodapop?" Angelina asked me. I nodded and she handed me the phone. I dialed the number to his hotel room and he picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." I said quietly.

"Is everything all right?" Sodapop's tone changed rather quickly from neutral to worried.

"Everything's fine, and hopefully, I'll get to meet our child tomorrow morning." I squeezed my eyes shut as I had another contraction.

"You're having the baby? I should get home." Sodapop sounded frantic and I could imagine him looking around the room, ready to throw everything in his suitcase and race home.

"No. You stay there. Denver to Tulsa is a long drive and besides, you still haven't inspected that gas station yet."

"All right, but call me and keep me updated. God, I wish I was with you."

"I love you Sodapop."

"I love you too Jennifer." He hung up the phone and I set my receiver back into the cradle.

"What did he have to say?" Angelina asked.

"Just that he wished he was here and that he loved me." I replied, taking some of the ice chips a nurse placed on my bedside table.

Hours passed, and my contractions became increasingly stronger and closer together. Angelina was just dozing off when a nurse came in and told me I could start pushing. Angelina held my hand, as I pushed.

"Here you are Mrs. Curtis, your beautiful baby boy." The nurse placed him on my chest, and my eyes welled with tears.

"Hello Shayne David. I love you." I whispered, counting each of his tiny fingers and toes. After a few minutes, the nurse took my son away and I used that as my chance to take a quick shower and change. When I had gotten back to my room, Angelina was on the phone with her husband, telling him that Shayne was here.

When the nurse brought Shayne back to me, he was screaming his little head off.

"Shhhhh honey. It's okay." I gently rocked him in my arms and proceeded to call Sodapop. "Good morning sweetheart." I said over the crying.

"Is that our baby?" Sodapop asked immediately.

"It's our little Shayne David Curtis." I said happily, bouncing my baby slightly.

"Can I talk to him?" I held the phone near Shayne's ear, and he quieted down slightly as he listened to his daddy's voice.

"Mommy!" Johnny came in holding the twins' hands and they ran right over to me and their new brother.

"Children, this is your new baby brother Shayne." I said, as they came even closer.

"Hi." Mary said, reaching out and touching Shayne's hand. Patrick took the phone and began talking to his father, I had almost forgotten he was still on the phone.

"I love you too, Daddy." He said as he hung up the phone. I quickly picked up the phone again and dialed Darry's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Jennifer. Just wanted to tell you that our new addition to the Curtis family is here."

"That's great! I'll come by and see him or her after work. It sounds like you have a bit of a crowd in your room right now."

"That's fine, I'm sure he can't wait to meet his Uncle Darrell." I laughed. "And it's boy."

"A loud boy, like his father." Darry laughed as Shayne decided to start crying again.

"I guess so."

"So what's his name?"

"Shayne David." I said, looking down at my son once again. The other end was absolutely silent, and I thought we may have lost connection. "Hello?"

"Shayne David." Darry repeated, sighing slightly. "Dad would have been proud to share his name with his grandson."

"I'm sure. Soda and I felt we needed to pay homage to him since it's been ten years. " I paused looking back at my baby. "And to his godfather."

"Godfather?" Darry gulped "Well then I'm sure proud to share my name with my nephew and godson." I smiled. "So I'll see you later tonight."

"All right. See you." As soon as I hung up with Darry, Rachel and Ponyboy walked in.

"Hello little Shayne David." She said, leaning over him slightly. Her necklace hung right in front of him, and he stared at it curiously.

"He likes your necklace." Ponyboy laughed, reaching out to rub his nephew's head.

"Wait, so how did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Sodapop." Rachel and Ponyboy laughed. "He called us the second he found out the good news." Ponyboy elaborated.

"That would be him." I laughed, "I'm surprised the whole town doesn't know about it."

We continued visiting for the next half an hour before Shayne and I both got tired.

"I think we should let Mom and Shayne rest." Angelina said quietly as she began ushering everyone out of the room. I smiled as she took Shayne from my arms and put him in his crib and then rolled the crib next to my bed so I could tend to him as needed. "Have a nice nap." She whispered, kissing Shayne's little forehead and then giving my hand a squeeze. She walked out and closed the door and I rolled over and softly sang lullabies to my son until we both fell asleep.