Darry opened the front door to his run down house. Robin slowly followed him inside her eyes looking all around, taking everything in. It was much smaller than her grandmother's house, and from what she could see it didn't have and upstairs. But unlike her grandmother's house it did have a more friendly feeling. It wasn't all clean and proper looking; it looked like people actually lived in it. She gazed upon the pictures that hung on the walls. Everyone looked so happy in the pictures. She could even pick Darry out in some of the pictures. There were definitely no pictures like this a Grandmother's house. She liked it here already.
The living room was littered with dirty plates, empty beer bottles, and various other things. It made Darry wish he made the boys clean up after themselves. Robin didn't seem to mind though, she seemed fasinated by everything. That's a good thing right?
"C'mon Robin," He said picking her bags up "You can put you things down here."
Robin turned to follow Darry down the hallway. He led her to a bedroom at the end of the hall. The room was sort of bare, there was a bed, a dresser, and a desk. It didn't look like anyone had been in there in a while. Darry set her bags down and walked over to the window to open the shades. The light poured in letting them see everything clearly. Robin looked over to the desk and the two pictures that sat upon it.
She walked over and climbed up onto the chair and grabbed one of the pictures. "Who's this?" She asked.
Darry walked over and looked at the picture. He smiled a little, "That's your Uncle Sodapop."
"Uncle Sodapop." She repeated slowly staring intently at the picture, tracing a small finger over the image leaving a small trail through the thin layer of dust. Slowly she lifted her head looking up at Darry, amazement gleaming in her tiny eyes. "He has a horse!?"
A low chuckle escaped Darry's lips as he looked down at her. "No," He said shaking his head a smirk now resting on his lips. "It wasn't his exactly." Her tiny eyebrow quirked, a confused look spreading across her face. Darry chuckled again. "I wasn't his, but it liked him better than it's owner." He tried to explain.
A moment later her face had the happy amazed look back on it. "What's her name?" She asked looking back to the horse again.
"His name was Mickey Mouse." He said looking back down at the picture again.
Her little head snapped up her curls bouncing around, a broad smile on her face. "Mickey Mouse? I love Mickey Mouse!" She said with a giggle placing the picture back on the desk and grabbing the next one. She stared at it longer than she did the other one, looking at all the faces that were stranger to her. Darry let her look for a moment before peaking over her shoulder to look at the picture himself. She raised her head and pointed to one of that faces.
"That's you." She said happily, proud of herself for correctly identifying someone.
Darry grinned nodding his head. "Yep," He assured her looking back at the picture of him and his brothers.
Her small finer moved across the glass and rested now on a new face. "Uncle Sodapop?" She said sounding less sure than before.
Darry nodded again "Uh huh," He said pointing now to the boy in the middle, his youngest brother. "And that's Uncle Ponyboy." He answered her unspoken question.
"Uncle Ponyboy." She repeated again as she had when he told her Sodapop's name. She stared at the picture again running her finger through the dust making lines and swirls all across it. She seemed to like the pictures. Darry walked across the small room to where he'd laid her bags. He picked them up off the floor, ready to put things away when he heard the front door slam. His head turned slowly towards the bedroom door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Robin's head snap up, startled. She turned her head looking over at him a questioning look on her face.
"Dar?!" The voice called out from the living room. Who else would it be?Darry thought shaking his head. Robin had placed the photograph back onto the desk and was now standing on the chair. Darry went to help her off of it only to find she didn't want to let go. So he held onto her carrying her out onto the living room.
"Darry!? You home?!" He called again as Darry and Robin reached the living room. He heard shuffling in the kitchen and figured Two-bit was rummaging through the ice box, most likely for a beer. A second later the ice box swung shut and Two-bit popped the top off his beer as he headed towards the living room. He opened his mouth to call for Darry again and stopped dead in his tracks. He cocked a brow in his infamous way and stared at the sight before him. Confusion, wonder, and amazement spread across his face.
"What the h-" He started but Darry gave him a warning look not to finish his sentence. Robin looked from Two-bit to Darry before burying her head in her hands and then his shoulder.
"Darry?" Two-bit asked confused.
"This is Robin," He said with an I'll explain later look. It took him a moment before he found the right words to say, and he went with the simplest version. "She's my daughter."
In the years Darry had known Two-bit never once had he seen him speechless until now. Two-bit's jaw dropped and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked from Darry to Robin who every few seconds peaked through her fingers over at Two-bit before hiding her face again. He closed his mouth after a second realizing it was just hanging open. His face relaxed and he looked up from Robin to Darry. "Wow," He said barely at a whisper. The shocked seemed to be wearing off now. His face was back to it's normal goofy look and he caught Robin peaking out at him.
Two-bit smirked his lopsided smirk. "Hey Robin," He said tilting his head and looking at her. "I'm Two-bit."
Slowly Robin raised her head and looked at him carefully. She didn't say anything for a few minutes until she caught sight of his shirt. A smile spread across her face fast as ever. Two-bit cocked his brow and noticed she was looking at his shirt. "You like Mickey Mouse?" He asked.
That was all it took. She shook her head, her grin from ear to ear. "Nope." She said simply "I love Mickey Mouse."
Two-bit laughed his trademark laugh as Robin wiggled in Darry's arms until he set her down. As soon as her feet hit the floor she was off down to the room that was now hers. Not a minute later she was back and holding a Mickey Mouse doll in her hands. "See?" She said walking right up to Two-bit and holding the stuffed animal up for him to see.
"Well look at that." Two-bit said looking down at her still grinning. "I have the same exact one at home!"
Robin giggled and shook her head "Nu uh!"
"Uh huh!" He argued a slight laugh escaping his lips. He turned in his place a bit as if he were going to walk to the door. "I'll go home and get it."
She giggled again and shook her head. "No, no."
Darry grinned watching the two of them together. He should have know from the minute she'd mentioned liking Mickey that her and Two-bit would get along wonderfully. He didn't listen to much of their conversation but a few minutes later she had grabbed Two-bit's hand and was dragging him into the living room. He was glad to see she was adjusting. The only bad thing was he didn't know exactly how long she'd be staying. Of course he wanted her that wasn't the question. In the shot amount of time they'd spent together he already felt a bond between the two of them. There was no denying her either, she looked too much like him. It was a matter of time before JoAnne changed her mind and came right back to get her. It's been four years! Four years since Robin was born, how could she just give her up now. Unless, he thought. Unless she didn'tgive her up. Darry shuttered at the thought. Nothing could have happened to JoAnne. No, he would have been notified or something like that. They wouldn't just drop her off at his work!
He ran a hand through his hair trying to clear his thoughts. He looked over at his daughter and Two-bit playing in the living room just as Two-bit glanced up. "I'm gonna go put her stuff away." He said. Two-bit nodded and turned his attention back to playing what ever game Robin had thought up. Darry turned and headed back down the hallway to what was now his daughters bedroom.