Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.
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7 months later.
Soda's POV.
I woke up in the morning, did my usual routine, and went to work. I thought about all the things that happened in the last seven months. Well, Ponyboy was doing well in school and had skipped another grade, which made him in grade 11, Darry got another raise, and Sara found out she was pregnant. We both weren't so happy about it, but there was nothing we could do about it now. She was due in another 1 1/2 or 2 months.
Sara was still working for another few weeks, her stomach was already popping out like crazy and he found it hard to get around. I worked the night shifts with her. I didn't like the feeling I got in my stomach if I left her there by herself. We both decided that we would get married after the baby was born, and I promised her that I wasn't going to leave her. Sara seemed satisified with that.
We couldn't afford a house, but we are saving up a small house close to where I live now. All we could afford though was a small apartment on Main Street. It was only two streets down from my house now, so it would be pretty easy to walk or drive back and forth. Sara and I were moving in the apartment in a month, just before the baby was born. We had no idea if the baby was a boy or girl, but it didn't matter. I'm actually quite terrified about being a father. I've never had expeirence, or even taken care of a baby before. I guess this was going to hit me hard. But Sara kept telling me I was going to do fine. All I could do was trust her.
After I broke out of my thoughts I realized I was at the DX and Sara was standing in the doorway in a bright green top with a white shrug over it. Mr. Barnes said she could wear what she wanted when he found out she was pregnant. I guess he wanted her to be comfortable. She looked beautiful, but she always was. The wind was making her red ringlets fly around her. I got out of my truck and walked towards her and softly kissed her on the lips, "Hey, how are you today?"
Sara smiled and walked through the door of the DX station, leaving it open with her hand for me to enter. "Pretty good. My back's a little better today, too." I felt bad for Sara having to work while she was pregnant. I told her she didn't have to, but she insisted that she would to help save up money for the small house we were both interested in.
"Good. I was worried about you," I said while resting my arms on the counter. Sara was already behind the counter leaning against the back wall. "Do you have a doctors appointment today?" I thought I remembered Sara saying something about having an appointment somewhere, but I wasn't sure.
"Yeah. He can tell us if our baby is a boy or girl. Do you want to know?" Sara asked. I wasn't sure if we should of not. I guess Sara could decide.
"Do you want to know?" I asked, hoping for a answer.
"I don't know. I kinda wanted to be surprised, but maybe it would be easier when we pick a name," Sara explained. I thought that was a pretty good answer. I agreed with her on that one.
"Well, I guess we can, we're going to have to find out at one point, anyways," I mentioned. Sara nodded her head and sat on the chair by the cash register.
"Okay then. I'll ask him to check for me," Sara decided after a few minutes of silence. This time I just nodded my head and glanced out the window to see if there was any customers. I noticed that Steve was tending to a car with 2 girls in it, so I didn't bother going out. After all the girls seen Sara pregnant, and they knew I was the father, they didn't bother to flirt with me anymore. I guess they thought that was what was right. "You know, if you want, you can come to the doctor with me," Sara suggested.
I answered without thinking, "Sure, why not." Sara seemed happy with that, her green eyes brightened up and leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
"I love you, so much."
I smiled and said, "I love you, too." I got up from where I was leaning and kissed her on the forehead. "I better get out there with Steve before he starts complaining again. If you need anything let me know." I walked on the other side of the counter and kissed her passionately. When I was just about to pull away, Mr. Barnes walked in through the door.
He cleared his throat and I took that as a sign to get out there. "Mr. Curtis, Ms. Smith."
I smiled and Sara and took my arm off her shoulder, "Right away, sir," I said while walking towards the front door. I turned around when I passed Mr. Barnes and smiled wickedly at Sara, she looked down and blushed. Mr. Barnes turned around to make sure I was on my way out and followed behind me, and made his way back to his office.
"About time," Steve called as I slowly trudged towards him. "I thought I was going to have to cover your shift for you," Steve joked. I punched him in the stomach and he replied with an, "Ow!"
"Well man, thats what you get. Can't anybody have time for theirselves anymore?" I asked while opening the hood of a car.
"You weren't by yourself, you were with Sara." Steve always liked to make a point, and always wanted to be right. I sighed and continued to work on the car.
By the time I got that one finished I decided to take my lunch break since it was already 12:30. I found an old rag and cleaned my hands with that. After that I went inside and found Sara and brought her out in front on the store by the old tires. "Wanna eat lunch here with me and Steve?" I asked even though I knew she was going to say yes. Sara nodded her head and sat down on a tire next to me. Steve came over shortly over after that with a sandwich in one hand, and a pepsi in the other.
"Hey," Sara said to Steve while finishing off her own sandwich. Steve sat on the ground across from us and looked up. "You know, you can just sit on the tire next to us. Isn't it a little dirty down there?" Once again Sara was worrying about everyone else instead of herself.
"Nah. Its good down here," Steve insisted. Steve was probably didn't want to get up from where he was sitting anyway. But Sara didn't argue, she just looked over towards the road. Our lunch break was usually about an 1 hour if we were lucky. Sometimes it was just 15 minutes, depending on how much work we got done. Mr. Barnes usually just came out and told us when to get back to work.
Minutes passed by and I tried to convince Sara to sit on my lap. It didn't work out very well, like usual. "I'm too heavy," Sara warned as I pulled her on my lap.
"Yeah right. That stomach of yours doesn't do you justice." I smiled and kissed her on the lips. When she pulled away, I ran my fingers through her soft, red hair. Sara giggled and Steve looked disgusted. "Come on Steve, lighten up," I teased while I kicked my foot at him. But before we could talk about anything else Mr. Barnes came out and told us our break was over.
"Since its a Friday you can all leave early," Mr. Barnes said proudly. "Sara I know you have a appointment at 4 so you can all leave at 3 if you wish," he explained.
"It'd be my pleasure," I replied with a grin. Sara and Steve laughed and I seen a smile cross Mr. Barnes face. I looked at my watch and it said it was already 1:30. Sara went back inside to the air conditioned room while Steve and I baked in the sunlight. The heat was unreal today.
The rest of the evening went by quickly. Their wasn't many customers so me and Steve just talked. He asked me was I ready to be a father, and what did I think of it all. I just answered the questions to the best of my ability. Steve just agreed with me, but I wasn't completely sure what he was thinking about. But when 3 o'clock came around, I couldn't of been happier. I was off for the whole weekend, and so was Sara. It was a holiday so no one really had to work.
Sara met me by my truck and we decided to go to my house first and then go to the doctor. I thought it would be nice to let Ponyboy and Darry know where we were going. When we got there, I explained to Darry about how we might know what gender the baby was. Darry couldn't really tell us what to do anymore. But the memory of when I told him was still very vivid in my mind. He got mad and almost slapped me in the head, but he didn't, no matter how much he wanted too. He accepted the fact after a while. Ponyboy didn't really know what to think, well, what was he supposed to think? I just hope he doesn't get mixed up in this mess anytime soon. I wasn't saying Sara was a mess, its just this whole baby thing. I didn't like to think about it much, it was the least of my worries at the moment.
I walked to the truck and opened the passengers door for Sara and carefully shut the door behind her. I trudged along to the drivers side and hopped in. The doctors office wasn't very far away, only about 5 minutes, so it didn't take long. Sara got out by herself this time and met me at the hood of the truck. I took her hand and squeezed it tight. I was beginning to get nervous and never felt like this before. I looked at Sara before we entered the office and I could see the scared look in her deep, green eyes. It reminded me of the time when she told me she was pregnant. I squeezed her hand a little harder and opened the glass door that read, "Dr. Griffen's Office."