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Inside of his office in San Francisco, twenty-two year old Ponyboy Curtis was sitting in his desk hard at work on upcoming forth novel. He was a little behind the deadline the publishing company had given him, so he was currently under a lot of stress. At first, Pony worked at home but after his twin boys; Michael and Keith were born he needed a quiet place where he could concentrate and with having two baby boys, well, quiet was something you weren't going to get. His mother-in-law Margaret Mathews was now their unofficial nanny, living in guest bedroom of the house after having driven up to help Karen out with the babies. So far, Pony had written three best selling books, the first one he had written was actually a twelfth grade English assignment about anything the class thought was important enough to write about, a theme about their own ideas and experiences. The length of the assignment was no less than five pages...by the time Ponyboy was finished it was over thirty pages long.

Pony titled the story 'That Was Then, This Is Now', the story had been about two best friends who find that their friendship was deteriorating due to having to deal with poverty and their often time violent surroundings. "Write what you know", he remembered Mr. Syme telling him along with the rest of the class. It was probably the best advise anyone had ever given him.

Mr. Syme couldn't believe it when Ponyboy handed him his composition and went through the pages seeing that it was almost long enough to be a movie script.

"Is this some kind of joke?" He asked but Pony assured him it wasn't. Then to his surprise Pony received a phone call at his house from Mr. Syme himself. His teacher told him that he couldn't put it down and that it was the best writing paper he had ever read from a student. Mr. Syme encouraged Ponyboy to seek publication after he graduated, which was something Ponyboy always kept in the back of his mind.

Ponyboy graduated from high school when he was only sixteen since he had skipped ninth-grade altogether. A year later he went to Oklahoma State University but he found that he was sitting in his dorm room writing more then he was going to any of his classes. Finally after only twelve months, he dropped out much to the shock of his parents. He told them his plans and that college was just a waste of time for him. Ponyboy had finally decided that he wanted to be an author. Pony traveled to California and was able to sell his story to a publishing company.

What happened next came straight out of a fairy tale. The book began flying off the shelves once it was released under his 'P.M. Curtis' (he was advised to do so because no one would take the name Ponyboy seriously). He began making more money then he ever dreamed possible and soon sighed a contract with the company to write more books. Everyone was so happy for him when he gathered them together and told them the news.

"I can't believe this is happening," Pony said in disbelief. "Somebody slap me."

Two-Bit did.

Ponyboy laughed as he remembered that before swearing because his wrists were starting to go numb.

I'm gonna give myself carpal-tunnel syndrome," Ponyboy muttered to out loud as he forced himself to take a break.

Standing up from the typewriter he went over to the minibar and took out a can of Pepsi. Cracking the top open and taking a long swig, Pony looked over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was getting close to seven-thirty at night. He then glanced over at the small shelve in his office that held his other two books; 'Rumble Fish', and 'Tex'. Because of those three books he now had a high six-figure income in the bank. Once Ponyboy starting earning some serious money one of the first things he did was drive down to the bank, Pony paid off the rest of the mortgage of his parents house as well as taking care of any other debt they had. Pony did not tell them what he had done and a few days later he got a phone call from his mother.

"Thank you," Linda while crying tears of joy, "You didn't have to do that."

"Why?" Ponyboy responded as a big smile came over his face. "I wanted to."

His father then took the phone.

"It's your money!" Darryl Senior shouted, trying to sound mad but Pony could tell from his voice that he was choked up, "We're doing fine, it's your money!"

"Your welcome, Dad," Ponyboy smiled as his eyes became a little misty as well.

It made Ponyboy feel so good, that may have been the best moment of his life. Ponyboy walked over to the window and started out into the sky as the sun was starting to set. He didn't know why but the sunsets in San Francisco looked so much more beautiful than in Tulsa. Ponyboy watched the sun falling into the sky, the orange, yellow, and pink meeting the bright blue. He then looked back over his shoulder at the typewriter before thinking of his family at home.

"The hell with it," Ponyboy said. He only had one more chapter left to go but he could finish it tomorrow. He was going home. Exiting his small office and hopping into his red Pontiac Firebird, Pony made the short drive back to his house, once he got inside he saw the light to the kitchen was the only light that was on. He quietly walked his way to the kitchen and smiled when he saw Margaret cooking up a big meal.

"Hey, Mom," Pony greeted when he saw her.

"Pony," Margaret smiled. She, along with her daughter were really the only ones who called him by his real name anymore. Everyone else knew him as Michael Curtis. "I was hoping that you'd be home by now."

"Are the boys asleep?"

"Yes, and so is Karen."

Ponyboy sat down at the table and rubbed his sleepy eyes for a moment as his mother-in-law had made him a juicy double cheeseburger with extra cheese and bacon. Pony didn't even try to stop the wide grin that came to his face as he looked up at Margaret.

"You are a saint." Ponyboy then picked the burger up and began mauling it like he hadn't eaten anything in three days.

"You look exhausted," Margaret observed, "You gotta try to remember to relax every now and then. What's the last thing you've eaten that didn't come out of a vending machine?"

Pony held up the burger. Once his mouth was no longer filled with cheeseburger he said;

"I can't believe I agreed to write another book so soon after my last one. After this one I'm taking a break."

"Well, you deserve it. I'm going to go off to bed, wake me up if you should need anything."

Pony nodded.

"Thank you, but I can take care of things from here."

After reaching out and giving his arm an affectionate touch, Margaret left the room leaving Ponyboy to himself to finish eating. As Pony continued to maul into the juicy burger he began thinking about the upcoming family reunion on the Forth of July. He was excited about seeing everyone again. Once he was done, Ponyboy walked up the stairs and into his twins bedroom. He carefully walked over and looked down into the crib at the two babies sleeping peacefully. Once children were born, Pony's relationship with his parents instantly got closer now that he knew what they went through when he and his brothers were infants. Two in the morning feedings, five in the morning feedings, changing diapers; 'Ugh, how did all of that come out of that little body?' He remembered thinking. Then there was one night when Keith wouldn't stop crying no matter what he tried and Ponyboy had visions of himself tossing Keith out the window. Once he finally got Keith to calm down, Ponyboy called up his parents;

"Thank you for loving me so much," Ponyboy nearly sobbed, "Was I this bad when I was a baby?"

Smiling, Ponyboy carefully reached out and gently stroked each of their cheeks before heading to the bedroom he shared with Karen...he didn't know how long he was going to get to sleep.

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The holiday was Independence Day, or the 4th of July when all of the family gathered at the old house of Darryl and Linda Curtis. The men were hard at work, Sodapop, Johnny, and Two-Bit pushed two picnic tables together while Darry and his father maned the grill, cooking hotdogs and hamburgers on them. Joseph had busied himself by chasing after Joshua; Two-Bit and Kathy's son.

"Honey, honey, be careful!" Jennifer called out.

"Don't worry Jen, it's what boys do. It shows they like each other," Two-Bit called back.

Shaking her head, Jennifer went back inside with the rest of the women and helped Linda, Kathy, Angela, and Sandy with the fried chicken, potato salad, and green beans. They also had strawberries and watermelon and root bear with vanilla ice-cream to make milkshake floats. The front door opened and Ponyboy came in, carefully pushing a stroll that held his twin boys as Karen and Margaret walked behind him.

"Nice of you to show up," Angela remarked.

"You try traveling with two infants," Karen responded.

"Johnny and I got here with Thomas on time."

That was right, their son Thomas was only six months old.

"But you still live here," Ponyboy reminded her, "Karen and I live out in San Francisco now."

"No need to remind us, moneybags," Angelina said while rolling her eyes, "Anyway, foods up!"

After getting all the food they wanted they all sat down at the picnic tables and began doing what they always did whenever they all could get together. Eat, laugh, reminisce over the good times, and talk about what they had going on for themselves now or what they were hoping to do down the line. The conversation died down when the group began to smell something rancid.

"One of the babies just shit himself," Two-Bit said.

"Two-Bit!" Margaret furiously whispered, "Their are two five-year-old boys at the table!"

But, just like he did all of his life, Two-Bit ignored her.

"I bet it was Keith! I bet it was Keith!" He yelled. Karen went over to the stroller to check her sons and sure enough, it was. Two-Bit whooped and hollered as if had just won something. "I knew their was a reason you named your kid after me, Pony! When I was his age my farts use to smell like rotten cheese!"

"I'm going in to change him," Karen said as she picked Keith up and carried him into the house.

"I'll help you," Margaret said, still giving her son the evil eye and followed after her daughter.

"I'll help too," Jennifer echoed, disgusted with Two-Bit and got up.

"Me too," Kathy said while glaring at Two-Bit.

"Me too," Angela got up as well. Linda said nothing but she wasn't going to be the only woman out here so she got up to go after them. As soon as the patio door shut, Ponyboy looked over at his brother-in-law and shook his head.

"You're astounding, Two-Bit."

"What? It give us a chance to talk for a few minutes without any broads around."

Sodapop then realized this was as good a time as any.

"Guys, I want to tell you something but don't let anyone else know just yet," Soda began, once everyone nodded he said, "Sandy's pregnant again."

"Good for you," Two-Bit beamed slapping Soda on the back, "So who's the lucky man?"

Sodapop glared at him but Darryl Senior had a bright smile on his face at the news that he was going to be a grandfather again. He reached out to Soda's hand and gently squeezed.

"I'm very happy for you, Soda," he said as tears started to form in his eyes, "Can I tell your mother?"

"Yeah," Soda wouldn't want to deny her the right of knowing something so important. "But, tell her tonight."

"Promise," Darryl said while standing up. "Now if you boys will excuse me, I gotta hit the can."

Once their father was inside, Ponyboy asked Darry;

"So what about you, Darry? Are you going to have anymore kids?"

"Well, we've talked about it," Darry sighed, "But right now it's hard enough just focusing on the one."

"How's Steve doing?" Johnny asked Sodapop

"He's doing great. I think being a husband and father finally loosened him up a little."

"Has anyone heard from ol' Dally?" Two-Bit asked. "Is he still keeping himself out of trouble."

"As far as I know," Johnny responded. "I talked to him a couple of weeks ago to tell him what happened to Tim."

Tim Shepard had been killed by the police after robbing a liquor store. As much as he hated to think it, Ponyboy always thought that Tim would be ultimately dead or in jail. The only good thing that had came from it was that Curly was finally starting to get himself together, not wanting to end up like his older brother. He had entered a rehab program and from what Ponyboy had heard from Johnny and Angela was that Curly was taking it seriously. Johnny then cleared his throat and tried to get the conversation back on something positive.

"So how's the new book going?" Johnny asked Ponyboy.

"I'm all finished. It should be out in a couple of months."

Sodapop smiled. He was very proud of what Ponyboy had accomplished, especially in such a short period of time. Soda wasn't surprised at all that Ponyboy was the most successful out of all of them, financially, anyway.

"What's it about?" Soda then asked.

"Well...it's kinda about us."

Everyone now had their full attention on Ponyboy as he continued;

"I had this idea when I thought back to when Mom and Dad were in the car accident and...what would have happened if they had died."

No one said a word after that, all you could hear was the sound of the faint wind brushing amongst the trees. The accident their parents had gotten in was something they never talked about, they liked to pretend it didn't happen because even though it was bad...it could have been a lot worse.

"Well...you certainly know how to kill a mood, Pony." Two-Bit complimented.

"Why would you want to write a book about that?" Darry asked his youngest brother.

"It's not about the parent's death, it's about the brothers relationship, how they grow and change. The oldest one decides to give up going to college and take care of his younger brothers so they don't have to end up in a boy's home. They also have to deal with the same stuff we did, you know, the greaser and soc stuff. It's way more positive than negative, you'd have to read it to understand."

"Sounds interesting, I might have to actually read this one," Soda said.

Ponyboy gave him a look.

"You've never read any of my books?"

"I've skimmed through them," Soda then saw Ponyboy's face. "What? You know I never liked to read."

"What's it called?" Darry asked.

"The Outsiders."

"Well," Two-Bit raised his beer bottle, "Here's to your new story. Let it be another best seller."

Ponyboy shook his head.

"No...this is our story."

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The End.