The gang helped out with the names, but the one that Pony picked out was "Emma Michelle", suggested by both Steve and Darry. He jotted the name down on a slip of paper, like instructed.

"Emma Michelle Curtis. It sounds good." Ponyboy said aloud to himself, staring at the paper. He then looked over at the baby, who was on his and Soda's bed playing with her little feet. "How do you like your new name?" He cooed, getting up on the bed and flopping down beside her. She looked over at him and babbled.

He grinned and picked her up, holding her closely as he carried her out to the kitchen.

"Hopefully the first night won't be so rough..."

"Yeah, but you know how to handle her, right?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, I do. If she cries, it's either cuz she's fussy, hungry, or needs a changin', right?"

"Right." Darry answered, strolling into the kitchen and getting out a chocolate cake from the fridge. "Alright, who wants some? I got a feelin' it's gonna go bad in a couple'a days, so might as well eat it today."

Ponyboy set Emma down in her little swing in the living room, turning it on and going back to the kitchen. "I'll take a piece or two."

"Me too." Soda answered.

By the time they were done clearing the kitchen, it was about 8:37 PM, and Pony had put Emma in her crib. He went to go lay down when he heard a slight whine, and he turned around only to see her wide awake.

"C'mon, please don't tell me ya wanna sleep with me the first night..."

She whined more and raised her arms up in a little 'pick me up' signal. He sighed in exhaustion and picked her back up into his arms.

"Fine, but only for tonight. Daddy didn't spend hours on this room just for you not to sleep in it." He grumbled tiredly, taking her to his room.

And with that, they both fell asleep.

Emma awoke in the middle of the night, waking Ponyboy up as well. He scooped her into his arms and walked out to her room, sitting in the rocking chair and attempting to rock her back to sleep. She still cried, however, so Pony got up out of the chair and went out to the kitchen, making her a bottle.

That seemed to work because she drank it pretty quickly.

Ponyboy burped her, and went back into the room, hoping she'd fall back to sleep... but nope, she was restless.

"Come on, go to sleep or else Daddy's gonna put ya back in the crib." He threatened groggily as Emma kicked her little feet against the back of his head, wanting him to play with her. She whined and whined and whined until, finally, Pony scooped her up and went back into her—technically Sodapop's—room, placing her in the crib.

Emma didn't want to sleep; she sat back up and grabbed the bars of the crib, making a face as if she was going to cry.

"I warned ya, Em. M'sorry, but you wouldn't go back to sleep." He started to walk towards the door.

The baby cried out for him and reached out her arms. Ponyboy turned back and sighed, out of pity more than anything else. Giving in one last time, he walked over and picked her back up, smoothing out her little hair.

"You really are a handful already, ain'tcha?" She cooed as if to say 'yeah, I am', and he couldn't help but laugh a bit and place a kiss on her forehead.

He carried her back to his and Soda's room, and they both fell asleep once again. This time, however, there were no more wake-up calls for the remainder of the evening.