Ponyboy's POV
Soda had to work over time the entire week after he and Steve went out. Which meant I had to watch Brianna for a few extra hours each afternoon. Not that I minded. I enjoy watching Brianna. But I knew Soda felt a little guilty for not being with Brianna as much. Even though I always assure him that she's fine.
Two-Bit came over and helped me watch her so I could start dinner. He enjoys watching Brianna, too. Probably because she laughs at everything he says. Today, he was reading a book about baby animals to her, making these awful but funny animal noises. Even I had to laugh as he attempted to immitate the different animals.
"Two-Bit, you should do story time at the library." I told him. "The kids would love you."
Two-Bit just cocked an eye brow. "I thought this was a library. You and Darry certainly have enough books."
I laughed. Brianna laughed, too. She then reached for a block and studied it for a while before dropping it and reaching for another block.
Soda's POV
I really don't like working over time. By the time I got home, I wanted to lay down and take a nap. But I knew I couldn't. Besides, I also wanted to play with Brianna. She always seems to be learning something new.
"Hey Two-Bit. Where's Pony?" I asked as I removed my shoes.
"In here!" Pony called from the kitchen. "I'm getting dinner ready."
"What is it?" I asked, sitting on the floor with Brianna.
"Spaghetti." Pony replied.
I covered a toy with my DX shirt. Brianna just reached for another toy. But when I lifted the shirt and cried "Peek a boo!" She laughed and reached for the toy I had just hid. We continued the game for a while. While we were playing, Darry came home from work as well.
"She's good at reaching for things." Darry commented. "Soon, she'll be crawling."
"I guess we'll have to baby proof the rest of the house." I said.
Darry looked at Two-Bit who had stretched out on the couch to watch Mickey Mouse. "Well, it's already Two-Bit proofed. So baby proofing it shouldn't be to hard."
"Hey!" Two-Bit cried throwing a pillow at Darry.
But it was true. We would have to go through the house and move some things to higher places. A lot of the babyproofing was already done. But now that Brianna was reaching for things and would probably be crawling soon, we'd have to make sure everthing in her reach was safe.
"Dinner's ready." Pony said from the doorway of the kitchen.
Darry's POV
The rest of us joined Pony in the kitchen. Brianna immediately started banging her spoon on the tray of her high chair. We no longer tried to give her food while we ate unless it was cracker or a few pieces of cereal.
"Does Brianna get some spaghetti, too?" Two-Bit asked.
"I don't think so." Soda replied. "I think she's still a little young for that."
Pony nodded in agreement. "But, is it okay to give her a piece of toast?"
"Yeah. I don't think that'll be a problem." Soda said. He turned to Brianna. "Would you like uncle Pony to give you some toast?"
I watched as Brianna examined the toast and looked around at the rest of us with a "What am I supposed to do with this?" look on her face. She often does that with foods she hasn't tried yet.
Soda just picked up his piece of garlic bread and said, "It's yummy." Before taking a bite.
Brianna just put down her toast and reached towards Soda's. She does that a lot too even though we all usually have what she has.
"You have your own toast." Soda said pointing. "See?"
Soda proceded to take Brianna's slice of toast and pretended to take a bite of it. "Mmm, Brianna's toast is yummy. Can daddy have Brianna's toast?"
That did the trick. Brianna reached for her own toast and when Soda gave it back to her, she nibbled on it a little. At least until she saw the spaghetti. Then she tried reaching for that.
"Sorry sweetie." I said. "I don't want to clean up another mess."
But, Soda was already feeding her her own dinner. He even gave her a taste of the spaghetti sauce. He didn't give her any pasta though. He tries to use good judgement around her. And that's good to see.
Soda's POV
I finished feeding Brianna and then finished my own meal. I don't usually feed her until I'm done eating. But I figured that if I fed her, she'd lose interest in the spaghetti. I even gave her a toy to play with while I finished eating.
Brianna still watched as I ate. But she played with her toy too. Dropping it on the side Two-Bit was sitting on. He picked it up and she dropped it again. This went on for the rest of dinner. She'd drop her toy and Two-Bit would pick it up.
Pony watched in amusement. "Darry, call Two-Bit's mom and have her come here. She'd never believe that her son is actually picking something up off the floor!"
Darry and I both laughed. Brianna laughed too but only because Two-Bit was playing her little game. She likes it when people play with her. Likes the attention that she gets. And she certainly gets a lot of attention.
When I finished eating, I lifted Brianna out of the high chair. I got her ready for bed, then played with her in the living room some more until putting her to bed for the night.