A/N: Wow, final chapter. This story has been a lot of fun to write, even though it started off as just being a one-shot. I realized the other day that I forgot to take it off of "complete" when I started to continue writing it. Opps. :p oh well, too late now I guess. Sorry this has taken so long. I've been busy with some other stuff and just haven't had the energy to finish it. But here it is! :)
I hope everyone enjoys this final chapter!
XXX
"Thank you, Mia." Mrs. Walton said as I walked with her and her husband to the door. "All Easton ever does is praise you. We're so thankful to have finally found someone who can reach him." I smiled as I leaned against the door frame to the small house Dally, Johnny and I were living in, and that I worked out of as the Walton's stood out on the porch.
"I'm just glad I was able to help." I said. "It's always rewarding to get through to kids who need the help."
"Yes, well. We'll definitely be continuing with his counseling sessions until you feel that he is okay without them." Mr. Walton said. "Thank you again, Mia."
"No problem. I'll see y'all later." I waved as they backed out of the driveway and started down the street. I was about to step back into the house when another car pulled up to the curb and Johnny stepped out. He waved as the driver honked the horn and continued down the street.
"Hiya, Mia." He said as he jogged up the steps of the porch and followed me into the house.
"Hey. How was your day?" I asked as he dropped his books on the table before making a dash for the fridge.
"It was good." He said as he took out the milk container and drank straight from it. I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything. "We started to do some stuff about how to help kids with reading problems. I got some work to do before supper. I'll see you later." He dashed up the stairs without another word, and I smiled. Nothing made me happier than seeing him so enthusiastic about his life.
After Johnny had woken up in the hospital after his surgery, we had a talk – him, Dally, and me – and we came to the conclusion that he wasn't going back to live with his parents, even though he was going to be able to walk again. We told him about telling the doctor that he was our adoptive son, and I'd seen a light in his eyes at the thought. So the next day I'd gone down to the only adoptive agency in town and talked to a lady about it. She'd been very understanding of the situation, but said it was going to be hard for us to get custody of him because we weren't 18 yet, and we weren't married. So instead of legally adopting him, we just moved him out of his house, and he'd started to stay with Darry.
The hard part had been the court date. I'd nearly worried myself sick with the thought that they would put him in jail, and it took Dally forever to calm me down. The worrying had been for nothing anyway, the judge let the charges drop on account that it was self-defense. Darry also got full custody of Ponyboy and Soda, but for a long time they had a social worker coming by the house once a month to check on them, which made it hard to have Johnny living there.
We also found out who had given the hospital the money for the surgery. It had been the parents of the kids he and Ponyboy had saved in the church fire. They'd been so upset that the guy who saved their kids was dying that they put together as much money as they could and made the effort to save him. We met them the day after the surgery, and I'd told them how thankful I was that they'd been willing to do that, and they'd all smiled and said that it was worth it. They even gave us some money to get a start on paying for the physical therapy he was going to need. For months they did fundraisers to help us pay for it until he didn't need the therapy, and I was still so thankful because we wouldn't have been able to do it without them.
Now, 9 years later, Johnny was better than he'd ever been. He was going to a local college to become some kind of teacher that helped kids who were a little slower to understand what they were learning. He'd said that he didn't want kids to have to go through what he did in school. I was so proud of him for it – him and Dally truthfully.
After everything that happened, Dally straightened out completely – almost anyway. He found a job and didn't end up in jail half as much as he did before the boys ran off, and it was like he became a whole new person. At first it was really strange, he started bringing home chocolate and movies and was always suggesting going out for the night. It took me awhile to get used to it, but I soon found that I enjoyed all the attention.
He had gotten a job helping Darry with roofing houses. He was happy with it – more happy than I'd seen him with anything that involved hard work. I was beyond proud of him. Seeing him do something honest was still hard to get a hold on sometimes, but it was a wonderful change.
As for myself, I also went back to school for a little bit and decided I wanted to be a counselor for troubled teens. I figured I had enough experience from my own life to be able to help kids figure out ways to get out of whatever they were doing. So far I was doing pretty well for myself, I even had some counselors recommending parents to send their kids to me when they weren't having any luck.
Growing up, I'd hated counselors. I always felt like they got all their knowledge out of a book and had no personal experience to be able to relate themselves to the kids they were trying to help.
"Whatever you're cooking smells really good." I jumped and spun around to see Dally standing in the doorway to the kitchen, grinning.
"You scared me half to death!" I said as I turned back around and continued to cut at the vegetables in front of me. I heard him laugh a little behind me before I felt arms around my waist and his head resting on my shoulder.
"I had a great day, thanks. How was yours?" I smiled as I set the knife back down and turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking. How was your day?" Dally shook his head but released me from his grip to throw his jacket over the back of a chair. I rolled my eyes and reached out to grab it and put it away in the closet.
"Pretty good. We're almost done this job, and I guess there's another one already lined up for us." I smiled as I walked back into the kitchen and finished chopping everything up before putting water on the stove to boil for rice. "By the way," He spun me back around and kissed me before pulling back with a smile. "Happy anniversary." I grinned and wrapped my arms around his neck.
We stood there for a moment before Dally pulled away and headed for the stairs.
"I'm taking you out for dinner tonight, so get dressed up." I was about to say that I already had dinner ready, but he had disappeared before I could say a word, so I just shook my head and continued to make supper for Johnny and leftovers for the next night.
"We'll be back in a few hours, Johnny." I called up the stairs as I pulled on my coat. His head poked out of his room and he looked down the stairs at me.
"Alright. Where are you going to be?" I shrugged as Dally came into view at the top of the stairs. He ruffled Johnny's hair as he pass, pushing his own hair back out of his face.
"It's a surprise, Johnnycake." He said as he met me at the bottom and wrapped an arm around my waist. "She doesn't know a thing." I rolled my eyes, because Dally knew how badly I hated not knowing.
"Oh, OK. Have fun, guys." Johnny's head disappeared back into his room and I heard the door close as Dally and I walked to the door.
"He's so into his work." I said with a smile as I pulled on my shoes. Dally nodded and opened the door for me before we walked to the car, my arm linked through his as we arrived and he opened my door.
"You're such a gentleman." I said with a smile when he was in.
"Only for you, baby." He said as he pulled the car out of the driveway and we headed for town.
"Wow, Dally." I said as we stepped into the lavish restaurant. It was new, I'd seen the ad in the paper the month before, but I never thought I would see the inside of it. "When did you book this?" It was one of those restaurants that you needed to make a reservation for.
"A couple weeks ago." Dally said with a smile as we followed a waiter to a back table that seemed to be secluded from the rest of the place. "I knew I wanted to do something special tonight. 10 years is a long time to be dating." I smiled back at him as he sat down across from me.
"It definitely has been a long time." I said as I looked over the menu. "Did you actually think we would make it this far?" Dally smirked, something he didn't do that often anymore.
"I figured we'd be dead by this point, so no." I giggled as a waiter came over and asked what we wanted to drink.
"I'll have a beer." Dally said, and I was about to say the same when I remembered something important.
"I'll have a water, please." I said and made sure to keep my eyes on my menu to keep from seeing Dally's confused face. I was saving the news for later tonight, but I knew I'd break down and tell him if I looked at his face now. I 'd been keeping the news quiet for a week now.
"Is something wrong, Mia?" I bit my lip and looked over the menu at Dally, who had narrowed his eyes at me in question. I gave him a small smile, trying hard not to break down and spill the news.
"Nothing." I said, hoping I didn't sound like I was hiding something. "I just thought that someone should be sober enough to drive home." Dally didn't look convinced, but he let it go as the waiter came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order.
"So..." I started after we'd given our orders to the waiter and we were left alone. "Favorite moment of this year. What's yours?" This had become a tradition of ours since Johnny was in the hospital. Every anniversary we listed off a bunch things that had made the past year good. It was our way of seeing the positive in our lives after all the bad that had been happening in them since we were kids.
Dally rested his arms on the table and looked to be thinking hard.
"I don't know." He said after awhile. "It's been a good year. I liked our weekend trip to that cottage over the summer. That was pretty cool." I smiled and looked down at the table. It had been a good year, and it was going to get better once I told him my big news. "What's your favorite moment?" I thought for a moment, trying to come up with my favorite moment of the past year.
"I think it was our drive back to New York." I couldn't help but smile at the memory. "Brought back some good thoughts." Dally nodded, but I knew he was also thinking about the bad memories that came with the trip. I was a mixed emotions thing, but I was glad we took it. "I loved driving up the coast and hanging out on the beach. You realize that was our first trip out of Tulsa since we first got here?" Dally nodded, seemingly distracted by something else. I was about to ask what had his attention when the waiter came with our food.
"Enjoy your dinner." He said, and walked away to get Dally another beer. Once the waiter was gone, I turned back to Dally.
"Are you feeling OK?" I asked. The question seemed to catch him off guard because he jolted in his seat a bit and blinked at me a few times before giving me a smile.
"Everything's fine. I'll tell you later." I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he could possibly be hiding, but I let it drop as I started to eat.
It was after dinner that music came from a set of speakers a little ways off to the side of us and people started to get up to dance. We'd just finished eating, and Dally stood up, offering me his hand.
"Want to dance?" He asked with a smile, knowing I wasn't going to say no. I smiled and took his hand, allowing him to lead me to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped mind around his neck as we moved smoothly to the music.
"We've been together a long time, haven't we?" The questioned startled me, and I lifted my head off Dally's shoulder where it had dropped to look at him. He had a calm look on his face, his eyes as blue as the ocean.
"Together together? Or just together?" I asked.
"Just together, I guess."
"Yea. 26 years could be counted as a long time I guess." He chuckled and leaned down to kiss me, though he didn't have to lean far since I was wearing a pair of white high heels that I saved for special occasions.
"I want 26 years to last forever." He said softly, and my eyes widened. He smiled. "I haven't told you how beautiful you look tonight." I smiled, though suspicion sat in my stomach.
"It's the same dress I always wear." I said, glancing down at the only dress I owned. It was knee length and an off-white color. It was tight to about my waist before it flared out a bit. I had seen it one day when Evie and I went shopping and loved it.
"And you look more beautiful in it every time I see you wear it." Dally said and it was than that I noticed how shaky this hands seemed to be as they rested at the small of my back.
"Dally, are you sure you're OK?" I asked again. "We can go home if you aren't feeling well." He shook his head and suddenly seemed to be avoiding eye contact.
"Naw, it's fine. I just..." He trailed off and took a deep breath. "I just can't believe how lucky I've been to have you." He looked at me with a smile and kissed my forehead. "I don't think I would have made it through all those years without you beside me." He stopped dancing and stood there in front of me for a moment before he dropped to one knee, pulling a small box from his pocket. My hands flew to my mouth, and the music stopped. I starred down at Dally, who was looking up at me with crystal blue eyes, full of more love than I'd ever seen coming from him.
"And I don't think I'd make it through the rest of my life without you being mine forever." He said and opened the box to show me a simple gold ring with a single diamond implanted into the top of it. "Will you marry me, Mia?" I was nodding before he finished his sentence, and fighting back the tears as he stood back up to slide the ring onto my finger. I smiled at him before he wrapped me up tight in his arms and we stood there, in the middle of the dance floor, hugging each other tightly. I heard people clapping all around us, but I was so focused on us and our own little world we put ourselves in that I barely noticed.
When Dally pulled away, I saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes, and the wetness of tears on my own face. Dally smiled as he wiped them away and kissed me.
"I love you, Mia." He said and I smiled as we walked out of the crowd on the dance floor and made our way back to our table.
"I love you, too, Dally." I said, and thought about my own news. Now was as good a time as any. "I have something to tell you as well." He looked at me the same way he had when I ordered the water. "It's nothing bad, I promise. Especially now." I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face, and the whole talk I'd planned to say before telling him the news flew out of my head. "I'm pregnant!" Dally starred at me in shock, and for a moment I started to worry that the news wasn't as exciting for him as it was for me.
He suddenly stood up and walked over to me, pulling me up out of my chair and wrapping me up tightly in a hug, and I felt relief flood through me.
"Are you sure? Have you been to a doctor?" He asked as he pulled away, but stood there holding tight to my hands. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure. I went to the doctor's office last week. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I thought it'd be nice to tell you tonight. Make the night special. Now it's made it extra special." I held up my hand to look at the engagement ring, smiling like crazy as I starred at it for a moment. "Dally it's so beautiful!" He smiled and kissed my cheek.
"Not as beautiful as you." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the cliché, but smiled anyway. "Lets get home. It's getting late, and you need sleep." I shook my head, thinking that this was going to be a long 9 months if he planned to be this protective the whole time. But the thought made me smile.
"Alright." I said, and Dally called the waiter over to get our check.
After we paid, we walked outside to see stars shining brightly, and I watched as a shooting star crossed over our heads. I smiled and closed my eyes to make a wish. But I couldn't think about anything that I wanted. I had everything I could ever want for the rest of my life, I didn't need anything else to make me happy.
As we came to the car, I realized how lucky I was. Dally was always telling me how lucky he was to have me and to have Johnny alive and the gang doing so well. But I'd never thought about the fact that I was just as lucky to have all those things as well. I'd never told him about my fear of him dying that night we almost lost Johnny. The thought still brought tears to my eyes when it came to my mind, and sometimes I still thought that if something happened to Johnny, Dally wouldn't be able to take it.
Our lives are full of decisions that change the course of where we are going in life. It's scary sometimes to think about how drastically one moment's decision can change your life forever.
XXX
It's a miracle! I've finally finished! :)
I hope everyone has enjoyed this story. Huge thanks to everyone for reading/reviewing/following this. I know it's taken a long time to get to this point, and I'm so thankful for the people who wanted me to continue this, it's been a lot of fun.
Sadly though, this will probably be my last chapter story. :( I've just gotten to the point where I'm doing so many other things at the moment that I feel I don't have time. I probably won't be posting a lot of anything anymore really. Thanks to everyone who has been reading my stories in general. It's been so much fun, and I wish I'd gotten into Fanfiction sooner than I did.
I will write one last story though if you guys want me to. If anyone wants to read about Mia and Dally getting married, I'll try to write a story for that.
So final reviews would be so wonderful! :)
~Stay Gold!