I know I said I'd update last month, but I had a terrible case of writer's block (and I mean it!), I couldn't write to save my own life… now I'm finally updating even if this chapter's quite short. I'm leaving to go on vacation in a couple of hours and I'll stay away from home until 13th…I hope I'll be able to put up chapter 17 as soon as I'm back!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders.

16 – Babies and birthdays

Summer went by quickly. The best thing that happened was Ponyboy signing a contract to get some of his works published (they would be out in the winter). It was a series of short stories that would be printed along with another guy's works, but Ponyboy didn't mind: he was just happy he was having such a great chance.

Joan and Adam had their baby, Zachary, in August and some days after the birth Soda and I went to visit them with Jesse James.

"He's adorable, he looks so much like you, Joan…" I told her, after taking a peek on the sleepy baby.

"You think so?" Joan smiled proudly.

"Yeah, the next one is gonna look everything like me!" Adam piped up. "And it'll be a girl!"

"What are you now, a fortune teller?" Joan said.

"Exactly. I see…that Zach and Jesse James are going to be best friends when they grow up…and I see…your mother will phone in ten minutes."

When Joan's mother really phoned ten minutes later, Soda asked Adam how he knew. Adam grinned and replied: "She phones every other day at the same time. Joan hasn't noticed, but I have."

"I do hope our children become friends though." I said.

When Joan reached us we all sat in the living room talking. "Sybil, you'll never guess what Lucy Barnes did!"

"What?" Lucy Barnes was one of our class mates from college. We had never been great friends, because she was so much different from Joan, Helene and I.

"You remember in our final year of college she was dating Charlie West?"

I nodded. "So?"

"My mom just told me on the phone…she heard this from her cousin's friend…that Lucy and Charlie broke up because she cheated on him with his brother!"

"I guess the men in the West family are that attractive." I commented, while Sodapop and Adam started laughing.

"Man, I should pay attention to Ponyboy." Soda joked.

"I think I'm safe, my brother is four years younger than me. Joan, you wouldn't go for a twenty year old, would you?" Adam laughed.

"You can never be serious, can you?"

"I guess not."

Not much later we left because Joan and Adam were busy with Zachary and Jesse James needed to take a nap.

"Thank God. I'm always afraid I'm gonna break something when I'm in their house." Soda sighed, while opening the car door for me. Then, noticing the look on my face, he added: "I like Adam and Joan just fine, but everything in their house looks so…"

"Expensive?" I suggested.

"I was gonna say fragile, but I guess it's the same thing. When their kid grows up, they better replace their furniture a bit."

"Yeah, we're lucky that way. There's nothing in our house that can easily be broken." I paused. "And you know what? I like it better that way. I want our children to be able to invite their friends over and have fun without worrying about these things."

"Our children?" Soda repeated.

"Yes…what, you want Jesse James to be an only child? He'd be very lonely." I looked at our baby in his carseat.

"Well I don't know, I ain't the kind of guy who wants plenty of kids. I wonder how my parents managed to not go insane with three kids, and three boys at that." He told me as he started the car.

"I wonder that too." I replied. "But it's not like I want a bunch of children. Just another…or maybe other two…like your parents. But not now…when Jesse James is two years old or something…" While Soda was approaching our street, I remembered something. "Would you mind stopping by at Steve and Evie's? I wanted to see Julie."

"It's just Evie now, and you can't always worry about Julie. She's got her parents for that."

"I know. I'm not trying to be her mother…but I feel bad for the way things turned out…I just want to lend a hand if I can."

Soda eventually went home with Jesse James to put him to bed, while I went to see Evie and Julie. They weren't home.

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Something very unpleasant happened in September. Shadowfax, that hadn't been feeling well for the past months, got weaker and weaker till Mr. Danes, Sodapop's boss, had enough of seeing one of his horses like that and shot him.

Soda was miserable. When he came home, he told me what happened.

"I should've seen it comin', but Mr. Danes just…all of a sudden…he took his heater and he shot…" Soda paused. "I know it's better, Shadowfax was sick and he wasn't going to recover, but…" He stopped talking and he didn't say anything for the rest of the day. The only moment when he seemed to feel better was when Jesse James woke up and he played a bit with him, but his mood didn't improve until early October.

We invited some people for Soda's 25th birthday, on October 8th: Steve, Two-Bit and his girlfriend of the month, Josh Becker and a couple of other friends. Josh was bringing along some girl he was going out with.

"Soda, everyone's here but Josh." I noticed that evening.

Soda answered with his mouth full of chips and I didn't understand anything. "What?"

He swallowed and repeated: "He said he might be a little late. He said he was probably coming over with this girl…"

"This girl who?"

"I don't know…this girl he's dating."

"Hey, Soda! Come here!" Steve shouted from the other part of the room.

While he reached his friends, I went upstairs to check on Jesse James. He was sleeping soundly and once again I was grateful for having such a quiet baby.

Once I got downstairs, I bumped into Ponyboy who was grinning like a madman. "Hey, Pony…what's going on?"

"Hum…nothing."

I eyed him suspiciously but didn't ask anything. I entered the living room and couldn't believe my own eyes.

"Sybil!"

I felt so relieved and happy when I realized who it was that Josh had brought along. "Sophie!"