Sodapop and I turned back to rejoin our friends at the table. They'd all gone silent and were looking at us quizzically. I made my best fake smile as we sat down.

"Everything alright?" Darry asked cautiously.

"Great," I said. Sodapop sent them a somewhat convincing lopsided grin. The others, save for Ponyboy and Steve, seemed to accept that, whatever happened, was settled and done with. But Ponyboy had been the one to open the door and Steve knew us better than the back of his own hand.

I darted my gaze over to Hannah and she was looking at me, her head slightly tilted to one side and her eyebrows scrunched together like she was trying to read something far away.

I mouthed a quick, 'later', before turning back to the group. Two-Bit was anxious to pick the conversation back up again, immediately starting with an anecdote about some funny thing he and I had done at some point. I laughed along for the time being, but this whole thing with Sandy and that little girl possibly being Sodapop's was eating at my mind. It made my gut wrench and I couldn't help but yank my hand away when Soda tried to hold it. I felt his gaze on me and it lingered for a few seconds.

The overall atmosphere had shifted into something indescribably uncomfortable and I became distracted the whole rest of the time the gang was over.

I became antsy after a while of just sitting and pretending to listen and actively ignoring my boyfriend, so I excused myself and walked over to start on the mountain of dishes in the sink.

"Let me help with that," said Tasha. I sent her a friendly smile and we washed the dishes in silence.

One after one, the couples all took their turns in leaving. Darry ended up dragging Tasha away before we could finish all the dishes as they had a bunch of errands to run still. Finally, Steve and Evie were the only ones left.

"Go wait in the car babe, I'll be out in a few minutes."

"'Kay." She sent Steve a reassuring smile, then smiled at me and then at Sodapop. "'Bye, you guys. Thanks for breakfast!" She headed out the door, her black ponytail swishing behind her. Steve waited a few minutes before rounding on the both of us.

"Alright, Jack and Diane, what the hell is up with you two? Who came to the door earlier?"

I looked to Sodapop, who said nothing, then turned back to the skillet I was scrubbing.

"An answer would be nice." Still, neither of us said anything. Sodapop lit up a cigarette in the middle of the dining room, which he knew I absolutely hated, but I didn't even have the energy to yell at him for it.

"Goddammit!" Steve shouted, slamming his hand down on the table and scaring me. I dropped the skillet and it nearly fell on my left foot.

"Jesus H. Christ, Steve!" Sodapop shouted. "What do you want? A fuckin' diary? A news broadcast?"

"For God's sakes, Sodapop. Y'all are my best friends. We've been close since we were in diapers. I know when something's up. We're family, aren't we? Now, y'all might be able to kid everyone else, but I'm no fool. Who was at the door?"

I was silent, but Soda spilled everything: Sandy being back in town, the possibility of that little girl being his, everything. By the time Soda got done updating him, he was on his third cigarette and Steve kept running his hands through his hair anxiously. Within the last few years, mostly due to him being in the army, he'd ditched the hair grease. I remembered his hair always being in complicated swirls and now it was short and slightly gelled. I don't know why, but all I could think about was how much he'd changed, how much Sodapop had changed. We'd all changed.

I heaved a sigh as I sat down at the table across from Soda. I glanced at the carton of cigarettes before finally caving. It was my first cigarette in years since I'd found out I was pregnant with Sam. I have to admit, it burned as I smoked it. I could feel all the saliva building up and all I wanted to do was spit. With shaking hands, I removed the cigarette from my mouth. I stared down at my hand, the one with the burn scars from the fire all those years ago.

"So what's the next move?" Steve asked and I looked up at him.

"I'm gonna get that DNA test done," said Soda, finishing off his cigarette and cashing the butt in the ashtray. "I have to know. I mean, what if she is my kid? I mean, I have no desire to be with Sandy. I've got Candy and I'm not leaving her. But, if that is my daughter, I owe it to her to be a dad. For all I know, she's never had one. And I know what it's like to not have a parent."

Soda saying that broke my heart. I knew what it was like, too. I had a mom, but she was hardly around until her last few months alive. And then I had my dad for a few years before he passed, too. I've never really had a steady family. I was always the parent. The closest thing to family I had, besides my brother and sister, were a bunch of guys I'd grown up with. And I guess I turned out okay. But I know I would have turned out a lot better had I had parents.

Maybe Sandy was being genuine. Maybe she really wasn't trying to take Soda from me and just wanted her little girl to have a daddy.

"Candice?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up to see both guys staring at me expectantly.

"What?"

"Would you be okay with that?"

"I'm sorry. I was spacing."

"I...I want to get a DNA test done," Soda said. "I wanna see if what Sandy is saying is true. If it is, then I wanna be there for my kid. I'm not going back to her. I can't. I love you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. But I want your okay first. I want you to be okay with me being a dad... if I am a dad."

I nodded. "I want to know, too," I said.

He gave me a little smile. "I'm glad."

"Well, do you guys think you can work this out now? Or do I need to get a marriage counselor license?" said Steve and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Just go before Evie thinks you moved in."

"Maybe I should. Y'all are crazy."

"You're the craziest of us all, buddy," Soda said before giving him a playful shove.

"Okay, I'm really gonna go now."

"Thanks, Steve," I said. He waved to us, then headed out.

"I'm glad you're being supportive," Soda commented, turning to look at me.

"I just got to thinking about how I had no parents growing up and how you lost your parents and if I was that little girl, I'd want to know who my dad is."

Soda placed his hand on top of mine. "We're going to figure this out."

'''

"I'm so excited to decorate my own room," Claire said, plopping her one duffel bag down on her bed. "I think the walls should be green." She let out a loud gasp and turned to me. "Can I get a shag carpet?"

"Oh my god," I groaned.

"What? It's so in! And it looks good!"

"If that's what you think."

"I'm sorry, I'm just excited. I've never had my own room."

I walked in and sat down on her bed. "I know. But you do now. And if you wanna decorate it in posters of John Lennon, I'll help you."

"More like posters of Jim Morrison."

I smiled at my younger sister. "Whatever you like."

My stomach churned and I let out another groan.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know. I haven't felt very good the past few days. I've hardly eaten."

"Are you sick?"

"No. It's just like... every time I eat, it just doesn't sit right."

"Food poisoning? Or maybe you've got some kind of food allergy?"

"I don't know. I've never had problems with anything. I've always been a little sensitive to milk, but I don't drink it anyway. Maybe it's just my period coming up or something." Claire shrugged.

"Where's Soda?"

"He's at the jail."

She raised her eyebrows. "Jail?"

"Oh," I laughed. "I mean, he's not in jail. He's getting a DNA test done."

"I thought they do that at hospitals."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I've never had to get one done."

"Well, why's he getting a DNA test done?"

"It's a long story. Basically, his ex-girlfriend from years ago came by last week and claimed her daughter to be his."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. I was kinda mad at first, but... I'm not now."

"That's good."

"So, what do you want for dinner? I'm not really hungry for anything."

"Pizza?"

"Sure, we can order some. Go ask Greg what he wants. I'm gonna go start laundry. Soda should be home soon and I'll order it then."

"Okay."

I left her room and went into the bathroom to start a load of laundry. Once it was all in the washer, I went out into the living room where the twins were watching The Brady Bunch. They were both dressed in lazy clothes and were arguing over the remote.

"Hey, knock it off," I said.

"Tell Greg to give me the remote."

"Tell Claire to pick something better to watch."

I rolled my eyes.

"You guys, I swear."

I left them to their own devices while I disappeared into my bedroom to put on my comfy clothes as well.

By the time Soda got home, it was going on six.

"Hey, you want pizza?" I asked him as he walked in the door.

"I love that I come home to that," he laughed.

"Did you find out?" I wrapped my arms around his waist.

He shook his head, leaned down, and kissed my forehead. "Don't find out for another two weeks. They'll send us the results. In the meantime, what are we going to do about an extra room if she is mine?"

"What about the office? I don't use it as much as I intended. We have room in the bedroom to move the desk in there. No big deal."

Sodapop shrugged. "Okay. Now, I heard something about pizza."

I smiled and I went over to where the phone was hanging up on the wall. "I'll call it in."

After dinner, the four of us got comfortable on the couch and started watching a movie. I was nearly asleep when my stomach lurched really bad and I felt the bile rise up in my throat.

"Shit," I said. I threw the blanket off me and rushed to the bathroom. After slamming the door shut, I threw myself over the toilet and vomited everything up.

Knocking sounded at the door, but I couldn't reply. Sodapop pushed the door open and stepped inside. He squatted down behind me and pulled my hair back.

"You okay, babydoll?"

"I don't know," I said, breathing heavily. I wiped the corner of my mouth, then closed the toilet lid and flushed. Soda helped me up and I brushed my teeth.

"You've been throwing up for two days straight."

"I know. I don't know what it is."

"Are you sick?"

"No. I mean, I don't have a fever or anything." I leaned against the counter, pulling my hair back into a messy ponytail.

"What else could it be?"

There was only one thing I could think of, but I knew there was a chance it couldn't be it.

"What if I'm pregnant?" I asked him.

Soda was quiet. "But--"

"I know it's a very slight chance. But I don't know what else it could be."

"Do you wanna go to the doctor?"

"I think I should regardless. I haven't eaten in two days. I just throw it all up."

"I'll go with you," he said.

I ran my hands over my face. "God, what are we gonna do?"

"Hey, we've got the room and we're financially stable."

"But we're not married. We haven't even been together a year."

"At least we're adults and not a couple teenagers. We can figure this out."

Soda pulled me into him and I wrapped my arms around his torso. His heart was beating fast in his chest.

"We should get married."

"Hey, we don't need to just because you might be pregnant..."

"No. Even if I'm not, I want to marry you. I know we haven't been together long, but we've known each other our whole lives and I don't wanna be with anyone else. I'm so in love with you, Soda."

"Are you serious?"

I nodded, looking up at him. "I'm so serious."

"Hang on."

Soda left the bathroom and ran into the bedroom. I followed him in and closed the door behind me as he rummaged through his bedside table.

"What are you doing?"

Soda found what he was looking for and ran back over to me. He stood mere inches away and looked down at me with the biggest shit-eating grin I've ever seen.

"I want to show you just how in love with you I am," he said. He held out a small box and got down on one knee. He opened the little box. Inside was a small ring. It was a simple band. Nothing too extravagant, but it was so beautiful. It had one blue stone in the middle: a sapphire, my birthstone. "I've always known you were special to me, but it wasn't until recently that I realized you were my whole world. My own angel. You're such a wonderful person. You've gone through so much and I want to be there for you. I want to grow old with you. I want to wake up every day and see you laying beside me. I'm so, so in love with you, Candy. I know I'm one to fall fast and hard, but you're the one I wanna spend my life with.

"Will..." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Candice, will you marry me?"

Of all the times to propose, it had to be after I just threw up. Torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry, I sunk to the floor, nodding my head and trying my hardest not to do both.

"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you." Soda, now crying, too, pulled me into him. We cried into each other. Once we got ahold of ourselves, I pulled away from him and he slipped the ring onto my finger.

"Maybe we are going too fast, but I don't care anymore."

I laughed and I pulled Sodapop into me to kiss him.

"I love you, Soda."

'''

I'M SCREAMING it finally happened!!!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a month! I hope this chapter made up for it <3 xj