The next morning came far too soon. I guess maybe it was the late night on the Fourth of July catching up with us, but it seemed like all of us were dragging at the breakfast table.

"So Soda, I'll pick up Scout first and then we'll come get you, okay?" Our counseling appointment was in the afternoon this time, after my babysitting.

"Yeah, fine" he agreed, rubbing his eyes. I noticed he needed to shave, too.

"Pony, you're working until three?" There was no response, as Pony stared into his cereal.

"Pony?" Darry asked again.

"What?" He looked up, dazed.

"Man, you guys are out of it this morning. You're working 'til three?"

"Yup."

"Okay, well depending how things go with Scout and Soda, I'll swing by to pick you up. Otherwise, call Two-Bit."

"Okay." Pony was totally monotone. No energy at all.

Soda, surprisingly, wasn't much better off.

"What time?" He managed to spill at least half a cup of coffee down his shirt while asking. "Shit," he muttered.

"One o'clock," Darry answered, taking his coffee away. "Go put on a clean shirt and be ready to go in five minutes. And shave."

Soda staggered off like a zombie into the bathroom.

I just sat at the table, too tired to eat much but a few spoonfuls of cereal.

"You alright?" Darry asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"Well that seems to be a common denominator around here." Darry took my plate and brought it over to the sink.

"Common denominator? You're a complete math nerd, Darry." Pony managed a small laugh.

"Yeah, well, that's why I'm gonna be an engineer." He winked at me and I felt a new wave of happiness at the fact that he'd be going back to school. I noticed a pattern in myself – I often didn't realize how much things were bothering me until I finally spilled my guts about it. And I probably never would have if Dr. Lee hadn't made me figure out exactly what it was that was upsetting me. I'd have to remember to thank her.

"You ready to go?" Darry was glancing at his watch and pulling on his boots. "Soda, let's go," he yelled over his shoulder. "Bus is leavin'."

"Yeah, just have to grab my bag." I was turning to go when he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

"What?" I asked.

"Everything's okay, for today, right? You don't have anything else you need to talk to me about?" He sincerely looked worried.

"No," I laughed. "Nothing. Everything's good. I swear."

"So my name isn't going to come up in any sort of bad or stressful way at your appointment today?"

"No. And I wasn't really hiding anything or afraid to talk to you about. I just wasn't really even sure what I was upset about until Dr. Lee helped me figure it out."

He sized me up for a minute, deciding if I was lying or not. I guess I passed muster, finally.

"Okay," he slapped me on the back and stood up. "Good. Meet you in the truck."

He dropped Pony and Soda off first, and as he dropped me Coach was actually waiting outside, saying he had a few things to get done before the students arrived. I played with Laura outside for a while, but she was fussier than usual, and didn't want to go down for a nap or take a bottle. Being with her out in the yard, I once again was aware of the hammering in the distance. I'd totally forgotten to mention to Darry that I thought I'd heard him the day before, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone: walk Laura in the hopes that she'd fall asleep and go check out Darry's work site. Coach had suggested walking Laura many times but I never quite felt comfortable with it, even though the neighborhood was totally safe. But knowing that my destination was wherever Darry was made it feel right.

I left a note for Coach, saying I was heading out in the direction of the hammering, changed Laura's diaper, and headed into the garage to find the carriage.

Laura seemed shocked as I put her into it – this was certainly new for both of us.

"Walk?" she asked. "'Cowt walk?" It was the first real smile I'd seen on her face all day.

"That's right. We're going for a walk." She seemed thrilled but didn't have much time to enjoy it - she was dead asleep before I even got to the end of the block.

I hadn't really explored the neighborhood much, and I found myself studying the yards and looking at the plants, still wondering if there was a way to make our yard more grass and less weeds. I tried to peek into the houses, seeing what the insides looked like. I meandered around, turning at cross streets, trying to follow the noise as best I could.

At some point it seemed that I'd crossed over into a more wealthy neighborhood. The houses got bigger and the lawns more spacious. It was on the roof of one of these homes where I finally spied Darry. Laura seemed unfazed by the noise of the hammering, and still slept soundly in the carriage as I stopped in front of the house.

I had never really seen Darry work before, and I was sort of awed. There were three other guys working with him. He was clearly in charge, and it was obvious that he knew exactly what he was doing. I watched as he showed one of the other guys how to shingle around the chimney. I watched for a good twenty minutes before he finally looked up from his work and noticed me.

"Scout?" he yelled down as he shaded his eyes from the sun. "That you?"

"Hey," I waved. "I thought I could hear your voice, so I decided to follow the noise and come see what you do all day."

"Hang on a second. I'll be right down." He headed down toward the ladder, stopping on the way to talk to a guy who was rolling some sort of paper out on a bare part of the roof. I could barely look as he approached the edge of the roof, fearing him tripping and falling – but he easily turned and stepped onto the ladder. I pushed Laura – still out like a light – up the front walk to the base of the ladder just as Darry stepped down.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. She didn't want to nap and I swore I'd been hearing you since yesterday, so I decided to take her for a walk. Coach says it's the best way to get her to sleep when she doesn't want to."

"Well, I guess he was right," Darry remarked, glancing down at the carriage. I adjusted the top part to shield her from the sun.

"I don't mean to bother you – I mean, I know you're working – you mind if I watch for awhile?"

"You want to watch me roofing a house?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've never really seen what you do before. Actually, I think it's kind of interesting."

He looked at me as though I'd just grown another head.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'll go, if you want…"

"No, I don't care. You can stay, but won't your coach wonder…"

"I left a note," I interrupted him. "He knows where I am. Plus, maybe it's just better to let Laura sleep here rather than move her again."

"Okay. Don't expect me to want to come watch you babysittin' any time soon, though." I laughed.

"I won't."

In a flash, he was back up the ladder and up on the roof again. After watching him for a while longer, he approached the guy he hadn't yet talked to, who was shingling the very top of the ridge. I was shocked to recognize the voice as that of Tim Shepard. I mean; I'd known that Tim was working and helping him out but it was a shock to realize that, in this realm anyway, Darry was actually the leader of the guys.

Tim was so cemented in my mind as always being a leader and never taking direction from anyone – seeing him talking with Darry as an equal and maybe even a superior was nothing if not strange. It made sense – Darry clearly knew more about what they were doing than Tim, but still, it pointed out the leadership qualities that my brother had always possessed. He had always been a leader, within the family, but right then I saw the real potential for him running a business in that one interaction with someone as cocky and confident as Tim. He didn't talk down to him, and, in return, I could hear respect in Tim's voice.

I felt like I could have swelled up like a peacock with pride. And felt even better about the fact that we'd decided to make Darry go back to school. With a degree and an established business, Darry would have a bright future. There was no way any one of us was going to let him get off track, now that I'd pointed out how I felt about it and Pony and Soda'd both agreed.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a horn. I noticed that all three of the other guys on the roof flinched at the sound, but not Darry. I turned to see Coach pulling up in his car. Laura didn't even stir. I watched as he pulled over and got out, walking up to where I sat.

"Finally took my advice about the walk, huh?"

"Yeah, she was out practically before I left the driveway."

"Told you – the carriage is like nap magic."

"Well, you were definitely right."

"So, looks like you found your brother," he looked up and I turned to see Darry coming down the last few steps of the ladder.

"She found me, all right," he agreed, shaking Coach's hand and offering a hello. "Hard to be inconspicuous when you're hammering all day."

"I bet it is," Coach agreed. "Looks like you got some nice work here though, Darry. Pretty nice part of town."

"Can't complain," he agreed, "and that's in no small part thanks to you and your neighbors. Word of mouth seems to mean quite a lot around here."

"My pleasure," Coach said. "I've no problem recommending hard workers."

"Well, your house is next on the list," Darry said. "Should be there early next week. Just waiting on a few materials."

"Great… Hey, so… I've got to get back home and make a few calls – you want me to drive Scout home or is she going to stay here with you?"

Darry looked surprised, and I was caught off guard. He was going to have to drive me and Soda to our appointment in another hour anyway, though, so I spoke up.

"I'll stay." I knew how Darry hated Coach having to drive me anyway.

"That's fine," he agreed. "I'm only going to be here another hour or so anyway."

"You sure?" Coach asked.

"Positive. Seems Scout here's all of a sudden interested in roofing anyway. No better time to learn but the present, right?" Darry laughed.

"Sounds good. I'm sure she'll make an excellent roofer someday." We all laughed as he turned the carriage around and headed back to his car.

"See you tomorrow, Scout," he called over his shoulder as I heard Laura start to protest from the carriage.

"Bye," I called, as Laura's protest grew into full-fledged screams as he lifted her out of the carriage into the car. I was actually going to miss her. I only had two more days of babysitting.

"So, you wanna go up?" Darry asked, and my head spun back around.

"What?"

"You want to come up on the roof? You said you wanted to watch. Come up, and I'll show you what I really do."

I was shocked.

"You'd let me go up there? What if I fall?" I hated to admit it, but I was scared. And shocked he'd even offer to let me put myself in danger like that.

"Jesus, Scout. I mean, come up tied off. Are you crazy? There's no way in hell I'd let you up there without a rope."

"Why don't you tie off then?" I asked.

"I do, on steep or really high jobs. Once you get used to it it's no different than walking up or down a hill, really. You're just a little more careful."

"A little more careful?" He knew I worried about him falling.

"Okay, a lot more careful. C'mon Scout. We've been through this. I don't take any risks, and I ain't takin' one with you now, either. C'mon up. It's a great view of downtown, actually. And it isn't too hot, which is nice. There's actually a decent breeze up there."

"So… if you tie me… I can't fall?" I didn't want to chicken out – I really didn't – but I was pretty nervous.

"No way you can fall. I'll double tie you off on the chimney. And cleat the rope."

"Promise?"

"You know I would never let you up there if it wasn't totally safe."

I did know that, but it still looked pretty high up. I didn't want to look like a baby in front of Tim though.

"Okay."

He went up first and hooked up the rope to the chimney, then came back down to tie the rope around me, through the beltloops in my pants, twice. He tested it to make sure it was tight enough and then motioned to the ladder.

"Okay - Go ahead."

"I have to go first?"

"It's safer that way. You can't fall backward – I'll be behind you."

"What if I make us both fall?" I could just see myself causing both Darry and I to fall to our deaths.

He laughed.

"You wouldn't make me fall, I'd catch you. I know you've climbed a ladder before – this is no different. You're safe. But like I said - if you don't want to, you don't have to." He was sincere.

"No, it's okay. You'll be right behind me?"

"Right behind you. And I won't let you fall."

"Okay." I took a deep breath and started climbing the ladder, trying not to think about how high I was getting or how the whole ladder shook with every step Darry took. About five steps from where the ladder met the roof, I started shaking. I wasn't scared of heights, per se – but I sure was afraid of falling.

"It's okay. You're almost there." Darry's voice was encouraging but I could hardly breathe.

"How do you do this every day?" I practically whimpered.

"Mind over matter, baby," he answered. "It's what I do – and what Dad did sometimes, too – to keep our family together."

That was all it took. Knowing that Darry bit the bullet and climbed that ladder every day, I gritted my teeth and scrambled up the last few rungs onto the roof on my hands and knees. I looked up to see Tim Shepard staring down at me, laughing.

"Nice work, kid," he remarked. "No way I'd ever get Angel up here." I had to smile – Angela was way tougher than I would ever me. But then again, I was on a roof. Tim had the other end of the rope that was tied to me and had tightened it as I came up, so I wasn't left with more than five or six feet of slack.

"Well, seein' as you're up here - Stand up, enjoy the view," Tim said. I shakily put the weight back on my feet and stood.

Darry was behind me, his hand on my back, and he led me up to the peak of the roof, an area that was already shingled. It was much easier to get a good footing on the shingled part, and I relaxed a bit and looked out. The view of the city was breathtaking, and behind it the horizon seemed a million miles away.

"Oh my gosh."

"Nice, huh?" he asked. "Just another perk of this already glamorous job." He laughed at his own joke.

"It is pretty amazing."

"Alright, well, I got forty five more minutes til we gotta go, so you can sit and enjoy it, okay? You're safe – I mean it – there's no way you could fall."

"I know." Seeing how securely I was tied in, I believed him at that point.

Seeing the view had relaxed me and made me forget how high up I was. And once I sat down, right on the peak of the roof, I felt fine.

I looked out over the landscape for awhile, feeling like I was practically up in the clouds, but eventually my gaze returned to Darry and Tim and the work they were doing.

After only a few minutes of watching Darry with the shingles, I could see why he was getting more jobs than other guys, and how he could do the work of two men in the same amount of time. He never missed with the hammer, and he had a sheet of shingles nailed in what seemed like just seconds. Along with that, he always had his eye on Tim and his guys and was on top of everything, catching their mistakes before they had time to even make them. He'd call out to correct them, still in that authoritative but not demeaning voice. The guys may have been tough-as-nails Shepard gang members, but they never once took offense at Darry correcting them, from what I saw.

Finally Darry hooked his hammer back into his belt and walked up to where I sat.

"Time to go, little lady." He offered me a hand but standing up made me nervous again, and I sat back down.

"You can't fall," Darry laughed. "You're tied off." I looked and saw Tim with the end of the rope again, standing at the chimney, ready to loosen it as I went down the ladder.

"Can't I just scoot?" I really didn't want to stand up. Doing it looking up hadn't been that hard, but doing it looking down seemed much harder.

"Scoot?"

"Yeah, like, just slide down on my butt."

"Whatever you want," Darry shook his head, though, and started down to the ladder.

I slid down the rook on my bottom, praying I didn't rip my pants and have to go to Dr. Lee with a hole in them. Reaching the ladder, I turned, dangling my foot to find the top rung. Darry, already a few rungs below, grabbed it and guided it to where it belonged.

"Thanks," I said, starting to climb down. "Did I rip my pants by sliding like that?"

He laughed, and investigated.

"Not that I can see."

"Okay, good." Coming down the ladder had been much easier than going up, and in seconds we were both on the lawn. He untied the rope from my waist and yelled a thanks up to Tim.

"No problem. See you tomorrow," Tim yelled back, and the rope disappeared back up onto the roof. Darry and I walked over to the truck.

He opened the door for me and I hopped up and in. "Sorry I was kind of chicken about the ladder. Being up there was great, though."

He laughed and closed the door. Seconds later, opening up the driver's side door, he responded.

"You're no chicken, Scout. Both of your brothers never made it even three quarters of the way up the ladder before changing their minds."

I stared at him, smiling despite myself.

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. They've been invited up onto lower roofs more than once. Never once has either of them came up and sat like you did." He started the truck and pulled away from the curb.

I couldn't stop smiling.

"Don't tease them, though, okay?" Darry asked. "Everyone has their fears, right? Snakes, and spiders…"

"I won't."

"I'm proud of you, though," he said, "They just don't need to know that we're the most fearless in the family."

"Yeah, okay," I laughed, as we pulled in to the DX. Soda was ready and came right out. I saw Steve waiting on a customer and he looked up to meet my eye. I wasn't scared, and I looked back. He tipped his hat at me, and the gesture made me wonder what I would even talk about at Dr. Lee's. Everything in my life just seemed right again.

"Hey guys," Soda greeted us, climbing in and shoving me into the middle. "What's going on? How was your morning?" He had a million times more energy than he had that morning.

"Fine."

"Good."

We answered at the same time.

"How was babysitting?" Soda asked.

"It was okay. I took her for a walk, over to where Darry was working."

"Oh yeah? How was that?"

"It was good. I liked seeing what he does. Plus the house is practically a mansion."

"You're gonna have a sore neck," he joked "from so much looking up."

"She came up," Darry said.

"What?"

"She came up on the roof. Stayed for an hour."

Soda looked at me, then back at Darry.

"She was tied off, right?"

"Jesus, Soda, you know I won't even let you come up without tying off – of course she was."

"You went up?" he looked back at me. "You weren't scared?"

"A little. But it was really nice up there. A good view, and a breeze."

Soda just shook his head, and Darry chuckled.

"You know, Soda, you and Pony talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, Scout's pretty brave."

"Hey, you get to say stuff like that and you tell me I can't rub it in?" I protested, as we pulled into the driveway of the clinic.

"Know what, Scout?" Soda answered, sliding out the door and pulling me out behind him, "I've never had any doubt about how tough you are. I think it's Pony's ego we need to be lookin' out for way more than yours."

"Maybe," I agreed, though I wasn't sure if at times it wasn't actually Soda with the lowest self-esteem. In any case, it was nice to be heading in to see Dr. Lee with none of the fear and apprehension I'd felt the last time. Soda seemed carefree and happy as well.

Darry walked in with us, and checked us in with the receptionist.

"I'll just wait this time, okay?" he asked. "I have a book in the truck." I shrugged. I didn't care. Soda didn't mind either.

"So remember, guys – this is really to help you figure stuff out – hell, it got Scout to talk to me about something that was bothering her, and I think that was good for all of us – so be honest, okay? About everything, even Friday."

Friday. I had to think for a minute, but then I remembered. On Friday, I was going to court again. Me, Soda, Sandy, and Two-Bit, about the car accident. Court, where people judged you when they had no idea who you really were, and determined where you should go with no consideration of where you wanted to be. Court - where any judge could just decide that I didn't belong with my brothers, for any reason the judge decided – or no reason at all, really.

And all of a sudden things didn't seem so perfect anymore.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You all must be dying of shock. Two updates in one week. I think my muse may be returning. I know these past two chapters have been sort of slow, but... if I can manage to keep writing despite the fact that I go back to work tomorrow the next few chapters should be more action packed. Court, and - a vacation! As always I appreciate all of you who stick with me despite my sporadic updating and love and am grateful for your reviews. ~sama