Part 8

Sodapop's POV

It was just as intimidating 16 years later as it was the actual day it happened—facing the parents of the girl you'd wanted to marry. And her mother still didn't like me. Talk about holding a grudge. So after Daphne had been whisked away by her grandmother—the one Sandy had used to get annoyed at after being lectured for breaking curfew—there was really nothing for me to do but say goodbye to Two-Bit and take Amy home. We were expecting Ponyboy and his family over for dinner tonight, and I knew Tracy would be wanting me to fire up the grill and start barbequing. So I did just that. Said a goodbye to my buddy and headed home.

"There you are!" Trace exclaimed as I carried Amy into the kitchen. "I was starting to get worried. You're never at the park this long." Tracy wasn't from around Tulsa, so she was still nervous whenever I "disappeared" for a while. Even though I reassured her often that I knew my way around and could take care of myself, she didn't like it. But that's a wife for you. Just one of the reasons I love her.

Amy's face split into a grin when she saw her mother, and I handed her off to Tracy. "What time are they coming?" I asked, referring, of course, to Pony, Eva and the twins.

"Eva said to expect them in about a half hour, so get out there and start cooking already," Tracy ordered, slapping a hamburger flipper into my hand. I gave her a mock salute and went to the backyard. And I glanced at my watch, counting the seconds—one, two, three, until…

"Soda Curtis! You need the meat!" Tracy called, sticking her head out the back door. I laughed and went back inside. I'd known that was coming. Never failed.

Then I started grilling the hamburgers. But I'll admit, my mind was exactly on the meat I was flipping. I was going to have to figure out how to tell Tracy about Sandy's daughter being in town. But first, I was going to have to figure out how to tell her about Sandy.

Sandy's POV

The sky was getting darker by the minute, I noticed as I anxiously looked out the window for the hundredth time, hoping against hope to see my daughter coming home. Thunder clapped in the distance, but it was coming nearer each time I heard the ominous boom. At first it had just been spitting little droplets of rain, but now it was starting to get harder, the drops coming down faster and faster. I could only pray that my Daffy wasn't stuck out there in the storm somewhere.

I grabbed the phone receiver and punched in my parents' Oklahoma number, not even caring about the long-distance charges. "The number you requested is currently unavailable. Please hang up and try your call again," announced the automated message. I slammed the phone down, muttered a word I hadn't uttered since Daphne was four years old and started parroting everything I said, and promptly "tried my call again". But this time I got nothing. And there was that word again. Why, why did there have to be a thunderstorm now, of all times?

I thought back to that letter she'd found…only one of several letters written and never sent. The last time I'd seen him he'd made it quite clear that things were over between us and that he wasn't interested in hearing from me. He'd wanted to move on with his life. My part in his story was over. But that didn't stop me from thinking about the past…

Somehow I found the other letters as the storm grew worse. Lightning flashed outside, and I shivered as I opened the first envelope.

Dear Sodapop,

I'm sorry for what happened in Tulsa. I shouldn't have just shown up like I did, with the baby and everything. I just needed to come home for a visit. You have no idea how lonely things can be in Miami when you're a single mother living with your grandmother. Of course, you'll never have a problem like that. And I'm sorry for what happened before too. With my just leaving and returning your letters, I hope I didn't hurt you too badly. I've taken up your habit of calling the baby Daffy. I hope she won't mind when she gets older. You were always proud of your original name, so I can only count on her being the same way. Speaking of Daffy, she must be awake from her nap by now. Once again, I'm sorry, Soda. Love, Sandy

This was the one Daphne had read, the one that caused her to run away from me to find him. Reading it now, I realized how much it did sound like he could be her father. No wonder she'd jumped to that conclusion. The second letter…

Dear Sodapop,

It's amazing how much Daffy's eyes remind me of yours, Soda. Same brown, happy eyes, eager to see everything going on around you. It's hard to believe sometimes that she isn't yours. I wish things had been different, but I wouldn't give up my baby for anything. Would I go back and change what happened between us? I wish I hadn't hurt you the way I did. Sometimes I even wish I'd agreed to marry you after you found out about Daffy. But if I really think about it, I wouldn't not want my daughter in my life, no matter how she changed my future. Maybe I'm crazy. My mother would certainly think so. But then, she never approved of much that I did.

Soda, there's something I need to tell you, something I think you deserve to know…who Daphne's real father is. This is harder than anything I've ever had to do before, telling you his name. Especially since he's someone who, at least when I knew him, was close to you. Daphne's father is…

I am a mean, cruel writer, aren't I? You'll have to wait for an update to find out, and judging by how long this one took, that could be awhile. Lol, how I love to write cliff-hangers. What did you think? Who do you think the father is???