Soda's POV

I woke up on Christmas morning with a huge grin on face. I've always liked Christmas. And this year was extra special because it would be Brianna's first Christmas. Of course she had no idea what was going on. To her it was probably just another day.

"Hey, you!" I said softly as I entered Brianna's room. She was standing in her crib, holding onto the railing. "It's Christmas!"

"Gah?" Brianna just looked at me.

I lifted her out of the crib and put the dress on her that she had worn for the picture. Steve had brought the pictures and the dress over the day before. Pony and Darry had gone out to do some last minute shopping so, I was able to get the pictures wrapped before they got home. Now, all I had to do is wait for them to open the pictures.

"Are you ready to see what Santa brought you?" I asked Brianna as I carried her to the living room. Under the tree were lots of presents. Even though we don't have a lot of money, we all spent more than we should have on Christmas presents. Especially when it came to Brianna's gifts.

Brianna watched as I plugged in the lights on the tree. She liked looking at those lights. One day, she tried to grab them, but Pony caught her just in time. Darry would have been upset if the tree got damaged. And of course, I would be upset if she got hurt. We have to watch her carefully which isn't always easy since she's become a fast crawler. She can be clear across the room in the blink of an eye.

Ponyboy's POV

I walked into the living room where Soda was sitting on the floor shaking the gifts. Brianna was staring at the tree. She sure liked those lights. Cherry told me in school the other day day that babies like bright objects and maybe that's why Brianna was so fastinated with the lights on the tree.

"Soda, quit trying to guess what your gifts are." I teased. Not that I should talk because I sat down next to him and started shaking my gifts, too.

"Dah?" Brianna said pointing at the tree.

I grinned and pulled her onto my lap. "Yes, that's a tree."

She looked at me and grinned.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Soda and I both looked up to find Darry standing between us. Even though he had his hands on his hips and was trying to act angry, a small smile crept over his face. He likes Christmas almost as much as Soda and I do.

"Hey, Darry, can we open our gifts?" Soda asked. He always is the first to ask to open gifts. And I knew what Darry's answer would be.

Sure enough, Darry said, "We have to wait for Steve and Two-Bit little buddy. They won't be here till around noon."

"Not even one?" Soda asked.

"Nope." Darry replied. "Come help me fix breakfast. That should keep your mind off of presents."

"Darry, this is Soda your talking about." I said as I stood up and took Brianna's hands in mine. "Let's walk around for a while, Brianna."

Darry's POV

I grinned. Ponyboy had a point. Soda's always loved opening gifts. But I managed to get him into the kitchen kneeling down briefly to give Brianna a kiss. "Aren't you pretty in your little dress."

"Darry, what do you think Brianna thinks of all this?" Soda asked once I joined him in the kitchen.

"I don't know, Soda. She probably has no idea what's going on. But it's a special day because you'll remember it." I told him. "Now, why don't you frost the cake?"

"Okay." Soda said looking into the living room where Pony was walking around with Brianna.

"Oh, and I bought red and green sprinkles to put on it." I said placing two jars in front of Soda containing little candy sprinkles. Soda grinned as he started to frost the cake. He occassionly looked out at Ponyboy and Brianna while he worked on the cake.

"She's fine Soda." I said absently as I turned over the pancakes I was making.

"I know. I'm just wondering when she'll start walking on her own." Soda replied.

"She has plenty of time, Soda. Some babies don't start walking by themselves until after their first birthday." I told him.

"Yeah." Soda grinned. "It's Christmas and I can't wait to see her reaction to her gifts."

I grinned too. I think all of us were excited about Brianna seeing her gifts. Even if she was still too young to understand what was going on.