Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I walk to the store the next afternoon with Baby in her stroller, Ponyboy walking beside me, and Darry's words in my head.

"Guys, we're moving."

I'm not sure if Soda and Ponyboy like the idea. I do though. He explained to us that it had several bedrooms, bathrooms, a basement, an attic, and a large kitchen and living room. He said we'd go look at it today.

"Hey, Pony. What do you think about moving?" I ask.

"I don't know. That house has so many memories, but we could use the space."

"We really could. You know what would be cool too?"

"What?" he asks.

"If the gang could live there with us. Or they could crash there any time they wanted. It's got five bedrooms plus some couches, and we could put an extra bed in the basement."

"That's not a bad idea, JT!"

"Hey, what does Soda think?" I ask.

"Well, he's in if everyone else is. He don't care if it means what's best for us."

"That's good."

"Yeah... Man, it'd be nice if Johnny lived with us too. I mean, he don't need all that trouble at home. He needs somewhere better."

"I know," I agree. "We'll probably talk about it soon."

We walk in silence for a moment just enjoying the beautiful day. I begin thinking about what Soda said as he was thinking up wild scenarios for why Darry was on the phone last night.

A dream vacation to the beach... I've honestly never been. I think it would be real fun to.

"I want to travel one day, Ponyboy," I tell him. "I wanna go to the beach with you and Baby one day. We could go as a family. It would be fun."

"I'll get you there one day. I don't know when or how, but I will. I promise," he says.

I walk into the store and grab all the things we need while Ponyboy pushed Baby around outside. I trade him the bag for the stroller, and we begin heading back to the house.

"Ponyboy," I begin cautiously, "how come you didn't run out on me when we figured out I was pregnant?"

"Well, I know I've always been shy about it and all, but it was because I love you."

"Well it really means a lot. If that happened to me back home, everyone would have run out on me..."

"Aw don't talk like that, honey. You've got us now. Don't worry about everything," he says. I give him a weak smile.

"Thanks, Ponyboy. You sure are the best."

"You know, I've always been funny around girls. I could never talk to them! I guess 'cause I was scared to offend them or something."

"Trust me. It takes a little more to offend me than you think. Is that why me and you were always kinda shy around each other?" I ask.

"I guess so."

"Bababa!" Baby rambles. She begins making needless noise. I thought getting her out of the house would've been good. I guess it is since she's babbling on so much.

"You know, she's gonna be just like you," he says. "I can tell."

"Oh really? How so?"

"Just look at her! She's so adventurous and sometimes a little too noisy."

I begin to say something but close my mouth and agree. "True. I can be loud. How else do you think I can get someone's attention so well?"

"Well you got mine. That's for sure," he says. I nudge him.

"Anyway," he continues. "She's thoughtful too. Sometimes she'll look at her toys and just laugh. I don't know what goes on in that little mind of hers, but it's different."

"Yeah. You're right. But she has your eyes."

"They look better on her than me." I laugh.

"Well duh! Look whose daughter she is! Miss Jane Taylor Thompson's fabulous little girl," I answer dramatically.

"You might wanna change your name."

"What do you mean?" I ask serious now.

"Well-"

"Hey, grease!" a chillingly deep voice yells. We spin around to find a group of socs.

Ponyboy swears under his breath. He shields Baby and I behind him, dropping the bag he was holding.

"We ain't looking for any trouble," he says sternly.

"Oh no, no, no. We're just looking for a little fun. That's all, pal," the soc says.

"JT, run. Take Baby and run," he tells me quietly. I begin to hastily and shakily take her out of the stroller. She whines a little, but I shush her as a couple socs with blades out walk towards me. I freeze.

"Well, well. What do we got here?" one says close to my ear. His cold blade grazes against my cheek. I cling to Baby tighter, making her a little more uncomfortable.

"Leave her alone, man! Let her go! Do what you want to me, but leave them out of it!" Ponyboy says angrily.

"No!" the first one says. They grab Ponyboy and force him to his knees, positioning him with his head held back and a blade held to his throat. The two socs hold me by my shoulders. I try to hide Baby's eyes. This would scare her more than it is me.

"You got yourself a nice looking girl," the soc continues.

"Get away from her," Pony growls.

The soc moves the blanket away to see Baby's face. "This your kid? She looks just like her mother..."

"Get the hell away from them!"

"Maybe you'd want one of mine one day, sweetheart," he says to me as he winks.

"Not even in your dreams," I retort with a disgusted tone. He chuckles and plays with the knife a little.

There's a dead silence. The only sound is Baby crying from fear. She's trembling just as much as I am. I swallow hard.

"You sure got a big mouth for a small girl," the soc comments. "I think we're gonna take him up on that offer about doing what we wanted. I think I'll slice them to ribbons and make you watch." He inches closer to my face and away from Ponyboy. I smell alcohol on his breath. "Or maybe we'll start with you."

"Hell no you won't!"

Dally comes charging in and slams a board on the soc. I duck just in time as it hits the other two. Then everyone's in on the fight. I'm trying to get out when someone grabs my arm.

Johnny!" I say desperately. He grabs my free hand and guides me out of the fight. I hold tightly onto Baby. I begin crying. Johnny stands and tries to calm me down. It's not enough.

After the socs start leaving, Soda runs to me. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No I'm fine. Baby's pretty shook up though," I answer. Soda nods and runs back to the others. I turn to Johnny. "Thank you," I tell him.

"Oh it's alright. Ain't nothing really." He shrugs. I smile at him. "Here I'll take Baby from you." He takes her in his arms and bounces her, saying, "It's Uncle Johnny."

I walk over to Ponyboy as he rubs his shoulder. He hugs me when he sees me. "Are y'all alright?" I nod. "Good. Stupid socs..." He lets me go. "You'd think they'd let it go already. It's been years now."

"Well Pony, some things take longer to change than you think," Darry says. He sighs.

"Let's go home. We got things to do," he says, grabbing the grocery bag he was previously carrying.

"Bet that was fun, huh?" Two-Bit asks as he pushes Baby's stroller alongside us.

"Yeah, fun," Dally says sarcastically.

"Wait! Who's with Tucker?!" I ask.

"Oh yeah. While you were gone, Steve kinda got his foot run over," Soda explains. "So he's there at the house."

"Thank goodness! I was about to kill you, Dallas Winston, if you had left him there alone," I tell him.

"Well I didn't!"

"Johnny, she getting heavy yet?" Ponyboy asks. Johnny shakes his head.

"Ah-ee!" Baby says. I laugh.

"I think she's trying to say your name."

"She'll get it one day," Johnny says.

We all get to the house and prepare a little birthday party for Tucker. I make a chocolate cake big enough for everyone.

Dally is the most excited. He's smiling and laughing more than usual. To be honest, I think Tucker has made him realize that he has feelings for things he never thought he did. He sees things a little better now. This has been so good for him.

We sing happy birthday to Tucker. He just laughs to no end. I cut up the cake and give him a piece. As soon as he's done staring at it, his curiosity gets the best of him. He shoves his hand in it and holds it up.

"You like that, huh?" Dally asks him. Tucker holds out his hand to him. Dallas pretends the bite his fingers. Tucker giggles and eats it himself. I can't help but be fascinated by the two of them.

"So when are y'all moving?" Steve asks. We finally told them, but they weren't devastated since the house is just down the road. We also explained how they can crash there whenever they wanted. They thought it was a cool idea.

"In a couple days," Darry says. "Some movers are gonna come help get some stuff."

"I'm sure gonna miss this house," Soda says a little sadly.

"Yeah, me too. At least we'll have a new house though. We'll make some new memories and stuff like that," Ponyboy says.

"At least it ain't far," Two-Bit says.

"Yeah. You could've moved to the west side of town, get nicer things, and lived the good life," Dally adds.

"Y'all know we wouldn't do that to you. Ever," Darry says.

"You're kinda like the greaser socs though. What with a bigger house and all," Johnny says. Everyone begins laughing a little. Then we can't stop laughing at all. What he said was funny but kinda true.

Everyone cleans up and then goes their separate ways. I notice that it's still pretty early in the evening. What are we gonna do for the next few hours?

I go sit on the front porch swing. I notice that Ponyboy's already there. I smile and cuddle up to him. He sits still and stares out at nothing.

"What're you thinking about?" I ask.

"You think I'm weak?"

"No. Why?"

"Well... I just couldn't defend you and Baby like I thought I could. I screwed up," he says.

"How could you have screwed up? We were outnumbered without blades. I thought mine was in my back pocket, but it wasn't. I stopped carrying it when I had Baby. I didn't think I'd- Never mind. Continue."

He smiles. "It's funny when you ramble." I don't say anything back. We sit in silence. I sigh heavily as thoughts swirl around in my head.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asks.

"I wanna go somewhere with just you and Baby. I wanna go to the beach and just be a family. You know?"

"I don't know what it's gonna take to get us there, but I'll get us there. If it means driving Darry's pickup, borrowing one, or something, I'll do it. It would be really nice to go as a complete family."

"Complete family? What do you mean?" I ask.

"JT, you know I love you, right?"

"Yeah."

"I love you more than anything, really," he continues.

"Okay..."

"And I never got to finish explaining why you should change your name."

"Oh yeah! Tell me, please," I say excitedly. He smiles and looks down.

"I ain't really prepared or anything, but-"

"Hey, y'all c'mon in here! Tucker's trying to walk!" Soda says as he halfway steps out the door.

"I guess we'll have to talk later, babe." He kisses me quickly and pulls me up to go inside.

We sit on the couch and watch Tucker try to walk to Dallas. You can tell that it's genuine smile he's proudly wearing.

Tucker stands a little wobbly and quickly falls on his bottom. He tries again and again until he finally takes a couple steps and lands in Dally's arms. He scoops him up and smiles.

"That's my little guy!" Dally says.

"Dal, I'm real proud of you," I tell him.

"Thanks! I couldn't have done it by myself."

"That's for sure," Ponyboy says. Dally rolls his eyes at him.

"Y'all helped me a lot. Thanks."

I watch Tucker pull on tufts of Dally's hair. Dally smiles. I can just see how much he's beginning to love Tucker.

"Happy first birthday, you little hood," Dallas says jokingly but somewhat meaning it.

It's amazing to see how far we've come. It all started with me getting jumped by a bunch of drunk socs. Now here we are with a new addition to the family and an unexpected arrival of Tucker.

"Me and JT are gonna go for a walk. Do y'all think you can watch Baby for a little while?" Ponyboy asks.

"Sure little brother," Darry says. Soda laughs to himself.

"He ain't so little anymore," he says.

"C'mon, JT," Pony says, grabbing my hand. We begin walking down the road going towards the lot and the park.

"What did you wanna walk for?" I ask. He sighs.

"Hopefully I'll get to tell you without any interruptions. But anyway..."

"What's on your mind? You seem really nervous or something."

"I think you should change your name because I love you so much, and our family wouldn't be complete unless I ask you something." He gets down on one knee and takes my hand in his. Ponyboy looks up at me with those innocent, sparkling green eyes. I can already feel the waterworks coming.

"Jane Taylor," he says, "will you marry me?"

All I can do is nod and hug him. He smiles widely and embraces me. It must look picture perfect- a proposal in the presence of a beautiful sunset. But who cares?

"It wasn't how I wanted to ask you, but I don't care anymore. I had to tell you. You know, we could get married next week if you want. Any time. I know it's last second and all, but-" I cut him off with a good long kiss. He smiles when I pull away.

"It's fine. We'll talk about the dates later. Okay?" I ask. "Right now, I think I need a little time with my soon-to-be husband." He laughs quietly.

"This is why I love you," he says as he leans in for another kiss. I smile and wrap my arms around his neck.

Eventually we go back home. Soda explains that he put Baby to bed since she was yawning like crazy. I thank him, and we go to bed ourselves. I lie next to Ponyboy, and he doesn't stop staring at me. I finally ask him what he's doing.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" I ask.

"I can't stop looking at my future wife. It's insane."

"Well, life sure has its way of doing that."

"You're telling me," he says.

"You know, I can get a dress in no time. I'm sure the shop has one somewhere. Ms. Hazel could fix it up for me. Invitations wouldn't be too hard since there's not a whole lot of people to invite."

"What about your mother? Would you invite her?" he asks. I sigh.

"I can't. She probably wouldn't come. Maybe she can. I don't know. I'll have to talk to her soon. I'm sure she'd love you though."

"I'd hope so. I mean, I wouldn't want her to hate me."

"Well if she loved me, she would love who I do. Or at least accept them," I say.

"So what about two weeks? We can get settled in the house first, and then we can have a quick wedding."

"I like that," I tell him.

"I do too. As long as I get to marry you. That's all I'm worried about. Oh and I'll find you the best ring I can. Don't worry about it."

"Pony, if it gets expensive, don't. I don't want you to spend all the money on me. I'm happy with what I got."

"Babe, I-"

"Nope. I'm happy with what I got." He sighs.

"Fine." He taps his fingers a few times. "It's weird huh? We've been going together for a little over a year, and now we're getting married."

"Yeah. And we met because I got jumped." He laughs quietly.

"I wish it wasn't like that. I wish we could've met a better way."

"Well, we might not have a great start, but I know we'll have a great middle and end," I tell him.

"You're so thoughtful. I'm gonna get some sleep."

"Okay. Goodnight," I whisper. "I love you."

"I love you too."

•••

• Ponyboy's POV •

I wake up to the sound of Baby whimpering. I groggily open my eyes.

"Mmm... Why won't she sleep?" JT mumbles. She starts to get out of bed.

"Babe, I'll get it." She lies back down.

"Thanks, Pony."

Baby starts crying louder. She stands in her crib and reaches for me.

"Shhh, Baby. It's okay. Daddy's here," I whisper. "You're gonna wake momma up." She sniffles a couple times. I scoop her up. She continues to cry louder and louder.

"Mamama," she babbles. I sigh.

"C'mon, Baby. Momma's trying to sleep." She doesn't let up on crying. I give up and place her by JT and lie down beside her. Baby immediately stops crying. JT quietly laughs.

"Thanks for trying, honey," she says.

"She wouldn't stop crying."

"I heard her."

"Oh yeah," I say with a laugh.

JT and I turn to face Baby. I put my arm around both of them. She smiles with her closed eyes. I smile before closing my eyes.

My daughter. My future wife. My family.

And it's all mine.