Ponyboy's POV
"I'm going to the department store down town." Darry said Saturday morning at breakfast. Not that I was surprised. Darry usually did the shopping on Saturdays.
"We'll come too." Soda said as he wiped Brianna's face.
"Are you sure, Soda?" Darry asked. "I'll be stopping at the grocery store, too. Besides, you don't usually have Saturdays off, wouldn't you rather do something else?"
Soda shook his head. "No, I want to take Brianna out. Show her all the store decorations."
Darry grinned. "Oh, I get it. You just want Brianna to see all the trees and lights."
"And, " I added, "Have her picture taken with Santa."
Darry turned and looked at me. "What about you, Pony? Are you staying here or are you coming with us?"
I thought for a minute. It would be nice to have the house to myself for a few hours. At the same time, it wasn't everyday that I got to go do stuff with my brothers. Darry worked too much and Soda had to take care of Brianna. "I'll go with."
"Well, hurry up, I want to leave soon." Was Darry's response. I figured he didn't want to be out shopping any later than he had too. Besides, he had promised to toss the football with me that afternoon.
Soda's POV
An hour later, I was pushing Brianna around in her stroller in the department store. Darry had gone off to look for something and Pony had decided to stay with me. We wandered around stoping to admire the different decorations. And trying not to accidently bump into anyone. The store was usually busy on Saturdays. But it was even busier now with all the holiday shoppers.
"Awe, what a cute baby." A lady commented as she passed us.
I grinned with pride.
"Where do you think Santa is?" Pony asked.
"I don't know. Probably by the toys. I think that's where he was when we were still young enough to have our pictures taken with him." I replied.
Sure enough, we found Santa by the toys. Along with a long line of kids and parents. It looked like evryone had the same idea. Everyone wanted their child's picture taken with Santa.
"I hope Darry doesn't mind waiting." Pony said when he saw the line. "This might take a while."
"Well, hopefully the line will move fast." I said. Waiting isn't something I enjoy doing. Especially if it's a long wait.
Ponyboy's POV
Soda and I stood in line with Brianna as it slowly moved forward. The younger kids seemed to move quickly. But the older ones took longer. Probably because they wanted more stuff. I remembered when I used to sit on Santa's lap telling him what I wanted. The last time I sat on his lap was when I was ten. I told him I wanted him to give Mickey Mouse back to Soda. He didn't. I kind of knew he wouldn't but at ten, there's still a part of you that hopes that maybe Santa is real even though you're old enough to know the truth.
"This is taking a long time." Soda commented. "What are these kids asking for? Everything in the store?"
"Be patient Soda. It's Brianna getting her picture taken, not you." I said, pretending to be annoyed. "Why don't you go find Darry?"
"And risk not seeing Brianna on Santa's lap for the first time? No way." Soda tickled Brianna when he said this causing her to giggle. "But you can go look for Darry."
"No, he'll know where to find us." I said as the line inched forward another two feet.
Soda's POV
After standing in line for an hour, which seemed more like three hours, it was finally Brianna's turn to sit on Santa's lap. I got her out of the stroller and handed her to Santa.
"Ho ho ho! And who's this pretty little girl?" Santa asked.
"Brianna." I told him.
"Well, that's a nice name.' Santa said.
I stepped back so the person taking the picture could do their job. Brianna just looked at Santa at first, reaching for the beard. She looked confused because she had never seen a beard before. Or at least not a long one. Then she looked at me, and back at Santa then back at me. She looked like she was ready to cry.
"It's okay, Brianna." I told her from where I stood.
Brianna looked at Santa again. Still unsure of what to think of him. At that moment, the person with the camera took the picture.
"All done!" Santa said cheerfully handing Brianna back to me. He also handed me a candy cane.
A few minutes later, we got the picture back. It was a cute picture with Brianna looking up at Santa.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Darry asked, joining us.
"I guess." Pony replied.
"Good." Darry said then he looked at me. "Is that Brianna's picture with Santa?"
"Yup!" I said as I showed hime the picture.
"That's a good picture of her." He commented when he looked at it. "Well, let's get going. I want to be home early enough so Pony and I can toss the football around."