Songs to listen to while reading:

Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran

Speechless by Dan and Shay

Perfect by Ed Sheeran

September 15, 1977

I can't help but smile at myself in the mirror. I never really thought of myself as ugly or anything, but I also never really cared about my appearance. I always thought girls who wore makeup and dresses were silly until I got older and realized dresses were great lazy outfits.

Except for that day. That day I was in a white dress. It was long and slimming and not poofy like a lot of girls like it; the sleeves were lacy and pretty and stopped right above my elbows. Not my usual style, but I loved it all the same. It was actually Tasha who'd picked it out.

I felt beautiful, almost like a princess.

"Sodapop's gonna bawl when he sees you," Evie giggled as she stood behind me, doing my hair. Cathy had picked out a style in a wedding magazine where the bride had a flower tiara and her hair was braided up around it.

"You're absolutely gorgeous and I'm already bawling," said Claire. "I can't believe you're getting married."

I grinned over at her.

"I never understood why girls were always so giddy on their wedding day. But I get it."

"Oh, man, I was so nervous on my day," Cathy said.

"You never showed it," said Tasha. "I think your mother freaked out more than you did."

Cathy smirked. "My mother freaks out over everything."

There was a knock on the door. "Everyone dressed?"

"Come in, Dar," Tasha called. Darry walked in and he was holding baby Darrell. We'd all gotten into the habit of just calling him Baby, as it was a lot easier to differentiate between Darrells. He seemed to be a lot calmer than he was at Ponyboy's wedding, which I figured he would be. Anything regarding Ponyboy, Darry was pretty apt to freak out.

I was surprised, however, that Darry wasn't looking more nervous than he appeared to be.

"Wow, Candy Cane," he said, a small smile spreading across his stubbly face. "You look absolutely beautiful."

"Thanks, Darry," I replied. Tasha took the baby from Darry and gave him a big smooch on his chubby little cheek.

"Hi, pumpkin. Don't you look handsome! Did Daddy do your hair?"

Darry smiled proudly at his son. There was another knock at the door.

"Unless you're Sodapop, come in!" Evie called.

The door opened and Two-Bit walked in. He was holding Tucker and Angel both and Mikey was right at his legs as usual.

"Aw, we've got all the babes but one," I said. "Where's my other daughter?"

"She's down with Sodapop," Two said, handing Angel to me. She sat on my lap and grinned brightly up at me. She was such a good baby. She hardly ever cried and even when she did, it was mostly little irritated noises. She was a very easy baby.

"Hi, sweetie. You look so precious in your outfit."

"We're about ready to start," Darry said, turning back to me.

"We're just finishing up last minute details."

"I'm sure if you went down in a t-shirt and jeans, he'd be just as excited to marry you, kid," Two-Bit said, making us all laugh.

"Yeah, I'm sure he would be," I giggled, blushing slightly.

Finally, Evie finished my hair and we all prepared to go down. Two-Bit took the kids and everyone but Darry and I prepared to start the ceremony. Claire was my maid of honor, all the other girls being my bridesmaids. Robin was my flower girl. She'd been so honored when I'd asked her.

And Darry was perhaps the most excited, as I'd asked him to walk me down the aisle. Since my dad was gone, Darry was probably the next best thing. I'd always seen him as an older brother. I had asked Greg first, but that was when he'd suggested Darry do it. So I asked Darry and Darry almost cried.

Now here we were, about to all walk down the aisle.

Darry helped me into the kitchen. I was using crutches now, the kind that fastens around your wrists. Even after all the times that Everfield had told me I'd never be able to properly walk again, here I was. I couldn't walk without the crutches, but I was still mobile nonetheless. At least I didn't have to be in a wheelchair anymore. Of course, there were times where it was hard to stay on my feet for long and I got tired very easily and I still couldn't go to work, I was just happy that I could at least walk around my own house with little issues.

I heard the music start up outside and the bridesmaids and groomsmen all started out, pair by pair.

"You ready, kiddo?" Darry asked as the last couple left the kitchen and started down the aisle through the backyard.

"Yes," I managed to spit out, suddenly nervous.

"It's okay. You're gonna do fine." Darry kissed my knuckles lightly and gave me a reassuring smile. In a quick motion, I threw my arms around Darrell Curtis, Jr.

"I love you Darry. Thanks for always being there for me."

"Hey, I did it for my kid brothers. I'm always gonna do it for my kid sister."

I managed a grin. "Too bad I'm not a little kid anymore."

Darry smiled and we both turned to the door. "Let's go, Candy Cane."

Together, Darry and I walked out the kitchen door, down the steps, and down the aisle toward the archway, which the guys had all helped to build. I'd picked out the flowers: sunflowers and red roses and orange marigolds; all fall colors to perfectly accentuate the theme of the wedding. The girls were all dressed in burnt orange dresses and they all held rose bouquets. I decided against taking one, as it would be hard to hold what with the crutches and all.

Instead, Claire had decorated my crutches with flowers, the same orange marigolds that adorned the archway.

Our wedding was small. Half the guests were the wedding party. But Anne and Sarah-- Two-Bit's mom and younger sister-- attended, as did Jenna, who Claire was still dating, and Sofia, a nice girl that Greg had started dating at the end of his freshman year. Now, he and Claire were sophomores. They had just two and a half years left of high school before they graduated. A few other people attended, like Jesse from the shop and a few other guys that Sodapop worked with. One of Sodapop and Steve's platoon mates had come, and a few other friends we'd gathered over the years.

As I walked down the aisle toward Sodapop, all I could see was him. No one else in the world mattered at that moment besides him. No one else seemed to even exist but him. The sunshine shone down on him, making him look golden. He was always golden: a golden heart, a golden soul.

He was already starting to cry, but he was doing a good job of keeping himself composed. Darry let go of my arm and lingered there for a moment, just watching to make sure I got to Sodapop okay on my own. I did. Darry took his place behind Ponyboy, who stood behind Soda.

Steve wasn't the best man. Instead, we'd asked him to officiate our wedding which, in hindsight, sounds a little ridiculous, but Sodapop and I weren't all that religious and we wanted this wedding to be everything that the gang was: family. Even with some random friends outside of the original Curtis gang, this wedding was mostly family.

The whole ceremony, I didn't hear a word of what Steve said. All I could focus on was Sodapop's warm brown eyes staring directly into mine.

When I tuned in, Steve was saying, "Sodapop Patrick Curtis, do you take Candice Roxanne Marshall to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Sodapop choked back a sob and said, "I do."

Steve turned to me. "Candice Roxanne Marshall, do you take Sodapop Patrick Curtis to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

All I could do was break out into a wide smile. I was so blind to everything else, I hadn't even noticed I had tears running down my cheeks.

"I do," I managed to say.

"With the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. Sodapop, you may now kiss your--"

Sodapop didn't even wait for Steve to finish. He scooped me up into his arms bridal style and planted a hard, passionate kiss right on my mouth. I dropped the crutches and threw my arms around him while everyone clapped, Steve screaming and hollering the loudest.

My life was finally perfect.

May 30, 1979

Two Years Later

I swore you couldn't fit more Curtises into a single auditorium. Sodapop, Robin, Angel, and I-- as well as the rest of the family, all took up nearly a whole row of seats.

"When are they coming up?" Robin asked impatiently from her seat between Sodapop and me.

"Any minute now, honey," Soda said, taking her hand in his. "They've just go to get done with the rest of the I names before they get to the J names."

The J's started right after Sodapop finished his sentence. It wasn't before long when their names were called.

"Claire Brianne Jensen," the principal called and Claire, with her long, brunette hair, came walking across the stage in her cap and gown. Her tall, slender frame moved gracefully like she was floating on air. The whole family stood up and whooped and hollered for her. She turned toward us and smiled before continuing across the stage and disappearing again.

"Gregory Owen Jensen." Greg came bounding out, looking tall and buff even under his gown, a result from being a lineman in football. We all whooped and hollered for him as well and we received the same victorious smirk from him that we'd gotten from Claire.

Greg disappeared after Claire and, the rest of the ceremony, we didn't really pay attention to anyone else, except for when Jenna's name was called and when Sofia's name was called a few names after hers.

After the ceremony finally ended, we all met up with Greg and Claire to congratulate them and take pictures.

I couldn't have been more proud of my brother and sister. Claire had been accepted at the Chicago Institute of Art through her good grades and a really impressive scholarship.

Greg was staying in Oklahoma and attending the University of Tulsa, the same college I'd gone to get my GED all those years ago. He'd gotten a scholarship from playing football and had amazing grades. They'd both almost been valedictorian, but they'd been beat out by a kid who had just a slightly better GPA than them. But I didn't care. My brother and sister were succeeding in life, just like how I'd always hoped they would.

With them in college, the house was about to be a lot quieter.

Claire and Jenna's relationship was still in full swing and was still mostly a secret. They had mutually decided to put the relationship on hold while Claire was going to be in Chicago and Jenna was off to New York to attend at Julliard. They were still close friends, but I could see that it broke Claire's heart to have to break up with Jenna. Greg had told me he had plans on proposing to Sofia, but not for a few years as they were both focusing on college. Sofia had been accepted at the University of Tulsa, as well, and they were both going to be studying the same field. Greg wanted to be a children's counselor for kids who don't have good home lives while Sofia was studying to be a children's counselor but for kids who were autistic.

As for Soda and me, we were doing just fine with life.

Soda had just opened up his own car shop with Steve and they were making great business. I was still out of work, but I was a stay at home mom. Aside from that, I was back at writing and it felt good. I had just recently finished that same fictional piece I'd been working on a few years before-- the same one that I had scrapped-- and it was doing well. It was fictional, but it related a lot to me, mostly about my time as a greaser.

My life up until this point had been rocky. I repressed most of my childhood as it had been a bad one. Through my teens, I was a mom to my siblings. As a young adult, I was on my own and struggling. Now, I was happy, content with life, and I had an amazing husband, two successful siblings, and two beautiful daughters. Oh, and did I mention we had another one on the way?

So, I'm not really sure how to end this. My husband said I should write down everything that had really impacted my life in the last few years.

So I did. 

And that's the end! I hoped you all enjoyed reading and I just want to say thank you so much for your support through this whole journey. It saddens me to be ending Candice's story, but I'm so happy you all liked it and read it. I love you all so much. xJ