Mid 1950
"Mom, I don't think Soda understands what you mean." Darry stated as his mother wiped away the chocolate that had been smeared across her son's chin. Shannon chuckled and nodded at Darry, who was eating the chocolate that was on his hands.
"Of course he doesn't; Soda's only a baby aswell. But you're a big boy, so you know that I'm going to be a bit more tired and I won't be able to spend as much time with you as I should be because I'll be at the hospital." Shannon answered, picking her son up and cuddling him.
Darry looked up at his mother with a pout forming on his lips, making Shannon sigh.
"Honey, you know that babies are a lot of hard work. I'll be able to play with you more when the baby is born." Shannon said to Darry. Darry's pout didn't disappear, however he nodded his head, showing that he understood what his mother meant. "Now, why don't you go and see if Soda's awake? You can play with him for a little bit." Shannon suggested, however Darry stuck his tongue out.
"No way! Soda's a baby! He needs to go and play with the other babies while I play with my friends!" Darry insisted. Shannon sighed; Darry was starting to become a lot more difficult since Soda was born.
"But what about when the new baby is born? Since Sodapop's still a baby, he and the new baby will be playing while you're on your own." Shannon said, and Darry frowned.
"Okay…" he sighed in defeat, jumping out of his mother's arms. The young boy wandered into Sodapop's room, where his little brother was sitting up in his crib and gurgling.
"Soda, you can't be a baby anymore." Darry told his brother, moving closer to the crib. Soda looked up at his brother and pointed at him and giggled.
"Sodapop." Darry said sternly. "Stop being a baby; there's going to be a new baby soon and mom and dad won't be able to take care of you aswell, so you need to be a big boy, like me."
Sodapop, not understanding what was being said to him, held his arms out to Darry. Darry groaned; when would his little brother actually listen to him?
Still, Darry lifted Sodapop out of his crib, with a lot of difficulty since he was only five years old, but he still managed. He set his brother on the floor and walked out, leaving Soda to crawl behind him.
"Mom, Soda's being naughty; he won't listen to me." Darry stated as his mother folded up some clothes. Shannon gave Darry a confused look and raised her eyebrows.
"What do you mean, Darry?" she asked. Darry rolled his eyes; everybody in his family seemed to be acting very silly today.
"Well, since the new baby's coming, Soda can't be a baby anymore. I keep trying to tell Soda that he can't be a baby, but he won't listen." Darry huffed, crossing his arms. Shannon chuckled and ruffled her son's hair.
"Darry, just because I'm having a new baby doesn't mean that Soda has to be a big boy like you. He'll still need feeding and changing, just like a baby does. He can't suddenly grow up just because I'm having a baby." She explained. Darry looked up at her sadly.
"When Soda was born, I wasn't allowed to be a baby anymore." He stated with wide eyes. Shannon looked at her son, confused.
"What do you mean, honey?" she asked.
"When you found out you were having Soda, you told me that I couldn't sleep in my crib anymore. You told me that I needed to give my pacifier to Soda, and I wasn't allowed to drink out of my bottle anymore. And everyone likes Soda more than they like me, 'cause he's all cute an' stuff. Only Grandma Thelma and daddy like me now." Darry whimpered, and almost started crying.
Shannon felt awful; she knew that she had been spending more time with Sodapop, and it was true that when people walked past the family, they usually cooed at Sodapop while completely ignoring Darry. It was obvious that Darry was starting to feel ignored now, and it made Shannon feel bad, really bad.
"Oh baby." Shannon said, and picked up Darry and cuddled him. Darry snuggled into his mother's embrace while Shannon started moving around slightly. "I promise that we'll start spending more time with each other." She vowed, kissing Darry on the forehead.
Darry gently pushed his mother's face away from his, and whispered,
"Mom, you can't kiss me; I'm a big boy." He told her.
"But to me, you'll always be a baby. My baby." And she would never let him go.
I am SO SORRY for not updating for these past few days. Truth be told, I was stuck on this chapter which I started writing on Saturday, however it started getting harder but it's finished. Unfortunately, I can't promise that I'll be updating tomorrow, but I will try my best :) Anyway, here's a funny story that happened today: In our Religious studies class, our teacher walked out of the room to talk to a boy who got sent out. When she was outside, one of my friends (who I call my brother for some reason) started humming the Jingle Bells song with a lisp, and then everybody joined in. It was the funniest thing ever, and the teacher didn't hear a thing XD ~Stay Gold~