January 30, 1978

"What does that say, KJ?" I heard Keith say from the living room.

There was a temporary silence from the living room until I heard KJ speak up a moment later. "Keith Mathews, Junior," he said slowly, making sure to sound out each word.

"Good! That's your name, but we all call you KJ for short, since my name is Keith, too."

"We have the same name, Daddy?"

"Kinda. Mommy's and Daddy's can name their kid's after them if they want to. Mostly, that happens with little boys like you, and not with little girls like Sky. But it can get confusing if we were both Keith Mathews, so since I was named that first, we put Junior after yours. And said it doesn't get confusing, we call you KJ for short."

"Cause Keith starts with a K and Junior starts with a J?" KJ tried to clarify.

"That's right, good job," Keith encouraged.

I smiled to myself as I walked out from the kitchen in the direction of Sky's bedroom. When I walked in, she was on the floor playing with the dollhouse that Keith had built for her. She looked up when I walked in, smiled, and got up from her spot on the floor. I squatted down to the floor as she ran toward me as fast as she physically could, making it easier for her as she jumped into my arms and tried to wrap her tiny arms around my neck. I hugged her tight against my torso, swinging her back and forth a bit, which made her start to giggle.

"Hi, Mama," Sky said with a smile.

"Hi, baby girl," I smiled back, "What're you up to?"

Sky released me and ran back over to her dolls. She picked up two of the store bought dolls then came back over to me. "Playing with dolls."

This was one of the harder parts about having a daughter for me. When I was growing up, I didn't play with dolls a lot, unless it was at school. Even then, that wasn't a lot, either. I could never really get into the activity of playing with dolls, ever in my entire life- and it probably didn't help that I was around more guys than girls when I was a kid. I always tried my best when Sky asked me to play with her dolls with her, and she seemed to have a good time when we did, so that's a good thing. To me, as long as she was happy and was enjoying it, that's all that mattered.

I sat down with her on the floor of her room and began to play with her. This continued for about five minutes until Keith knocked on the door and stood in the doorway. "We need to head over to the hospital," he announced, not looking nervous at all.

Not knowing the situation, I of course felt panic begin to rise in me. "What's wrong?" I asked nervously.

"No, nothin's wrong, calm down. But Darry just called- Cherry and Ponyboy are at the hospital."

"Is she havin' the baby?"

"Yes she is."

Ponyboy and Cherry had gotten married just a little around a year ago. A few months after they were married, they had a dinner at their house, saying they had an announcement to make. That night, they told us all that she was pregnant with their first child. We had all congratulated the two on their announcement on them becoming parents, then kept teasing the two on how they didn't waste any time on starting their family together. They both had cheeks as red as her hair the entire night from what we had said.

The four of us all left the house a little while after the phone call. Keith and I took KJ and Sky with us- obviously- and gently set them in them in the backseat of the car. We all drove off to the hospital in a period of fifteen minutes. Once we got there, the two of us grabbed the two quickly from the backseat of the car, then rushed into the hospital. We asked the nurse at the front desk what room "Sherri Curtis" was in, then rushed up to the room number she told us.

When we all got to the room, we saw that everyone was already there. "Why're we always the last to get here?" I asked in a quiet voice.

Keith shrugged a bit. "Save the best for last in everything," he answered nonchalantly, and I couldn't help but laugh.

The four of us walked up to the group of our friends, letting KJ and Sky sit in the waiting area with Mariah, DT, Patrick and Ellie. The waiting area wasn't far away from where the rest of us stood, so we all could keep our eyes on them and the surrounding area. The six were all playing around with each other, smiling and giggling, and I wished that I had my camera with me.

"How long have they been here?" I asked as I walked up to the group of girls that I'd known for years now.

"A couple hours, I think," Marilyn answered, "Ponyboy didn't call me and Darry till about half an hour to forty-five minutes ago."

"Good thing Cherry's a pediatrician," Evie commented, "She probably knew what was goin' on the whole time."

"It's not that hard to tell," Candy mentioned, "Trust me, it's really not."

Marilyn and I both nodded in agreement. "She's not wrong."

The rest of the day was spent waiting for news on Cherry and Ponyboy. A few of us went to go take the kids down to the cafeteria of the hospital and to walk around with them, knowing they'd get bored just sitting. We had been doing things with the kids so they wouldn't get bored while waiting- but we also made sure not to go too far away in case we had to be reached about any news.

A few hours later, once we were all back at the room, Ponyboy came out from the room. He had a weary smile on his face. "Anyone wanna come in?" he asked. We all took turns going in, obviously letting Darry and Sodapop in first. We all then went in by two's, since that was all that was allowed in one room at one time- not including both Cherry and Ponyboy. The kids also all went in with their parents, since they were an exception to the rule since they were still little, so KJ and Sky both came in with Keith and me.

The four of us walked into the room quietly, then walked over to where Cherry and Ponyboy were by the bed. In her arms was a little blue bundle.

"Boy?" Keith half asked, half stated.

"That's right," Ponyboy answered.

"What's his name?" I asked curiously.

"Jonathan Ponyboy Curtis," Cherry answered in a quiet voice.

"Who picked the name?"

"That was a mutual agreement." Her voice was a bit teasing, as well as her grin.

Ponyboy shrugged a bit. "I wasn't too keen on the idea of having a Ponyboy Michael Curtis, Junior, so we agreed on my name being his middle name."

"What about Jonathan?" Keith inquired, "Y'all know a nickname for it, right?"

Ponyboy and Cherry shared a loot. "We know," Cherry answered, "We thought 'bout that. And we thought it'd be a nice tribute to him."

We all smiled in agreement at their decision and explanation.

I started my senior year (last year) of high school this past Monday. I'm graduating in May 2017 (I do online school, and the University I do it through graduates in May, and they have one whole bit ceremony for all the graduates of that year. It's pretty cool. My mom watched the graduation online when she graduated a few years back through the online academy. For the high school students who did school online, they sit altogether in a different color than the college graduates, so they're clearly seen in the huge crowd. All the college graduates have black gowns and hats on, then you just see a little sea of blue- that's the high school graduating class. It's seriously cool. We already got hotel rooms for graduation since it's not in New Jersey, but it Virginia- that hotel is now all booked up, but me and my mom are good, we got our rooms. My distant cousin (who we're oddly close with) from my dad's side and her husband are planning on coming to see me graduate. I'm excited.

Anyway, I'm rambling, I'm sorry.

Just so you know, since I'm now in school, I might make updates for this story and my others all once a month rather than twice a month. I have a creative writing class, so I'll have those writings, plus a paper for earth science, I believe. It'll be less rushed on me. I know it seems a bit selfish but in a way it's not, cause when my writing is rushed, my writing sucks and I don't want you guys all have to suffer just cause I'm stressed out. So in two weeks, there will be no update. In four weeks from now, there will be. Another four weeks, another update. Again, I apologize for this change, but I just don't want to rush things if I don't have to cause I'll already be stressed enough with this being my senior year, and applying for colleges and retaking the SAT and studying to get my drivers permit and license. Plus I'm looking for a job, so yeah.

Anyway. Hope you enjoyed the chapter- see you in four weeks. Peace from all the hippies of the world.