(Yes, I do realize how cliché this part is... 🍩 judge because it's important to the story)

Elizabeth's POV:

"Bye, Elizabeth, I'm goin' to school," Ponyboy whispers in my ear. I jump up, and notice a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Have a good day, Pone," I say, getting up out of bed. Man, why did he have to wake me? I was having a good dream, I'm awake really early on a Monday morning when I don't have to be, and in general, I just feel sick. Very sick. I feel something rising in the back of my throat, and run into the bathroom. That's when I realize: I'm late...

"Oh no..." I whisper, wiping my face.
As soon as I feel a little bit better, I get dressed and run out to the drug store to buy a pregnancy test. Maybe I'm just overreacting, though. Maybe I have the flu or something. Maybe I'm hallucinating. All I know is that this can't be real.

No, This can't be happening... At all. At least not for a while. Darry and I can't raise a kid now, we're already struggling enough because of Pony and Soda... As of this time, we just barely make it by, so how is it going to be with another mouth to feed?

"Find everything you need, miss?" A store clerk asks, breaking me out of my thoughts. I look down.

"Oh... Yeah," I say quietly. He tells me the total and I hand him the money, then sprint home. As soon as I get there, I take it. But for some reason, I decide not to look at the results. I want to wait for my husband to find out about such a big thing. As nervous as I am, as scared as I am that raising two teenagers and a baby, when Darry and I are practically just teenagers ourselves, I'm sort of excited. I've always loved kids.

Maybe we can make it work, I think as I go back into Ponyboy's room. I wouldn't want to wake Darry, he's been working so much lately that I thought I'd let him sleep a bit longer than usual. He has a later shift today.

I drift off to sleep again thinking about how much I want this to happen, even if it will be hard. I know I can take a challenge....

••••••

Elizabeth?" I hear a voice from behind me say, waking me up.

"Elizabeth, what are you doing in Ponyboy's room?" The same person asks me. I blink a few times before looking to see who it is.

"Oh, morning Dar," I say yawning. He sits next to me on the bed and puts an arm around my waist, kissing my cheek.

"Morning, beautiful," He says, smiling.

"You're in a good mood. Did Soda come home while I was sleeping?" I ask. Immediately, Darry's face falls.

"What's wrong, honey? He didn't?" I ask, sort of worried. I thought he would have figured something out by now. I know he doesn't want to get sent to a boys home.

"I.... I kinda just hoped that that was a dream and that he and Pony are happy and in school right now," He says quietly. I give him a sad smile.

"He'll come back. Don't worry," I say for the third time since yesterday. I still don't believe it.

"I just can't believe he didn't even talk to me before dropping out! That's going to affect him for the rest of his life!" He yells angrily. I put a hand on his shoulder. When Darry gets mad, he gets really mad. He'll yell and scream now, and be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

"Calm down," I plead in a whisper. He takes a deep breath, and lies down on the bed, with his legs over the edge. He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me down next to me.

"I love you," He whispers in my ear. After hearing it so many times since we started dating, I still blush.

"I love you more," I respond. Finally, Darry smiles.

We lay there for a while, just enjoying each other's company when he says that he has to get ready for work.

"Are you sure?" I ask him, sadly. I love the moments I get to spend alone with him, like right now. This is one of the ones I never want to end. He nods.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," He says. I give him a puppy dog face and remind him that he should stay and wait for Soda to come home. He fake glares, then kisses me.

"Man, if you only knew how hard it was to say no to that face..." He says, his voice trailing off at the end.

"So that means you'll stay with me?" I ask, smiling again. He just sighs.

"Elizabeth, I would love to, but I have to go to work," He says, now annoyed. That's when I get annoyed, too.

"Darry, what's more important to you, your brother, or work?" I ask, trying to sound calm. Again, he sighs.

"That's not fair, you know you know the answer to that one. Of course Soda is, but staying isn't going to help anything. You'll be here if he gets home," He says.

"Ugh!" I exclaim. "Why is work always most important to you?" I ask him. I didn't mean for it to come out as rude as it did, but I couldn't stop it. Darry just stares for a moment.

"What?" He demands after a moment I don't say anything. All I can think is "Oh gosh... This fight again?" The work fight that we have all the time? He's working himself practically to the grave with three different jobs! Full time roofing and part time as a waiter in two different places.

"Elizabeth, did you really just say that? Because we need money, and the only way to get money is to work. Although you wouldn't know that... Being a Soc and all, that's probably something you've never had to worry about," He says. My eyes brim with tears, but at the same time I'm filled with anger.

"If I could have chosen when I was younger, I would have been a Greaser. Being a Soc isn't all it's cracked up to be. Your parents are always working, and that's not fun," I explain.

"I had to watch my brother all the time. Especially after my dad died," My voice softens, and I look him in the eye. Saying that wasn't the best idea...

"You wanna talk about watching your brothers?! You wanna talk about your father dying?" He yells.

"Yeah well, my father died. So did my mother. I had to get custody of my brothers so they didn't go to a boys home. Maybe you didn't get to go out shopping with your little girlfriends every night, but I'm raising two kids now, something you'll probably never do..." His voice trails off, and I just stare at my husband, speechless.

"I... I'm sorry," I whisper to him. And I really am. I didn't think about what I was saying. And who says I'll never raise a kid? I'm helping with Pony and Soda, right? I could have a baby, right? Now might be a good time to tell him about the test I took this morning...

"Hey Darry?" I ask after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?" He asks. He sounds calmer then before, putting me at ease.

"What would you say if I told you that I wanted a kid of my own?" I ask him, trying to ease into my point, and to say it as gently as possible.

"I would say 'Yeah, me too. But not right now. We couldn't afford one.'" Not the answer I wanted to hear, at all.

"Well... What would you say if I told you I think I'm pregnant?" I ask him. His face changes, to some emotion I can't even read. Happy? Scared? Angry? I honestly have no idea anymore...

"That's funny, Elizabeth, but I'm not in the mood for this. I told you, I have to get to work," He says, getting up.

"No.... Seriously," I pry, grabbing his hand. He sits back down.

"Did you take a test yet?" He asks, finally understanding that this isn't a test. This is real life, and some things in life you just can't control.

"Yeah," I say, nodding.

"But I haven't looked at it." I say, getting it out of my pocket.

"I wanted us to look together."

We both look down at the test...

Positive........................

Darry's POV:

This has to be a joke, right? This can't happen now...

"This... This is great," Elizabeth says, tears streaming down her face. I can't tell if they're happy or sad. Maybe they're both. Happy that we're going to have a little kid running around the house, one of our own, but sad that we're not going to be able to give him the best life. Either way, I reach over and hug her.

"You ok?" I ask her. She shakes her head.

"Not at all," She admits. I don't say anything, just embrace her tighter, and kiss her.

"We'll get through this," I say. She lays her head in the crook of my shoulder. We have our moment, but to much regret, I have to end it quickly.

"I'm sorry, honey, but I have to go now. I really do. I would stay if I could, though," I whisper in her ear, giving her one last hug.

"Fine," I all she says. She lets me go, and lifts up her head, wiping the tears away herself.

"I'm not even mad anymore," She says as I walk out of the room.

"Just disappointed..."

••••••

I finally get home from work at around 10:30 at night. Elizabeth is sitting on the couch, talking to Soda. Ponyboy is sitting in my armchair, reading a book, oblivious to the world.

"I'm home!" I announce.

"Darry!" Soda says, running up to me like a little kid. He hugs me.

"Man, I missed you so much. I never should have gone. I'm real sorry," He says. And as much as I want to accept his apology and tell him it's fine, I can't. There's something in this world called tough love, and that's exactly what he's getting now.

"Sorry isn't an excuse for stupidity," I tell him. Stupid line, yeah, but it's true.

"I know... I told you, though, I shouldn't have gone," He says. If he thinks he's getting off easily this time, he's a mile past wrong.

"Yeah, but you still did. And you also worried Elizabeth, Pony and I half to death. You're getting punished, buddy, and there's no getting out of it," I tell him. He doesn't look mad, or angry at all. He just looks... regretful.

"So what's my punishment?" He asks, his voice the quietest I've ever heard him.

"You're grounded until-" I start to say, but Elizabeth cuts him off.

"Darry, he apologized. And he knows not to do anything like it ever again, so why punish him?" She asks.

"Because he dropped OUT of school without even telling me!" I yell at her.

"So? He made a mistake. He doesn't deserve to be punished for it," She says. And now I'm angry. So angry I can't believe I'm not screaming. Who is she to tell me how to discipline Soda?

"You have no right to make that decision, Elizabeth," I tell her. Now she gets mad.

"Then I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back," She say. I'm left speechless by her words. This can't be happening. She can't really be leaving, right? And while she's carrying my child?

For a moment I'm worried if those are the last words I'll ever get to hear from her when her beautiful voice rings out,
"I'll go get my stuff." But this time, it didn't sound so beautiful...

A/N: You guys should be so proud of this long chapter because I wrote it at 11:15 at night and while babysitting. She told me I could sleep on her couch, but no. I'm up writing, just for you amazing people. It took me until 1:30 in the morning.
Anyways...
Credit to alexisissorandom for the pregnancy idea! She's been asking for that. And I'm sorry about the cliffhanger AGAIN, but I'm already starting to write the next chapter...