reckless 【 the outsiders 】

twenty-five

ALTERNATE ENDING

"I ain't a fan of little boys. We grow up to teenagers and we're just horny and mean. I know, I still am one."

"Yeah, I know too, I dated one. Horny and mean he sure was."

Corie Eloise Winston.

Dallas rested his head on the bed beside Leigh and couldn't stop thinking about it. He had a kid. A baby girl. A baby girl with the person he planned on spending the rest of his life with. Leigh was surprised, for some reason. She never thought she'd be where she was right at that moment with who she was with. She was thinking about everything left to come.

After almost two days, Leigh was allowed to go home. She was ecstatic and Dallas was in awe of how happy his girl was when she was holding their daughter. Leigh was ready, even for the stress and the things she was scared of. She was more ready then she thought she would be.

Corie hadn't cried the whole ride home, probably because Leigh held her during the drive instead of putting her in the car seat. Once they got home and Leigh put her in the crib, Corie wouldn't stop crying.

"You can't keep pickin' her up, she's gotta learn to soothe herself or whatever," Dallas told her.

"Oh shut up, she's two days old, some attention ain't hurtin' anybody."

The first few weeks were hard, then Leigh started working again. After that three months of maternity leave, it was even harder for Leigh to have to leave Corie every day. Johnny had gotten a job but since he worked night shifts he offered to take care of Corie for the hours where Dal and Leigh were both at work. Sometimes Ponyboy would take her too, on weekends. They made it a little easier for both of them.

❁

"Mama Mama Mama! I wanna play with the baby." Corie, who was now three years old, asked, coming up to Leigh and holding out her arms as her mother focused on cooking.

"What baby, Corie?" Leigh questioned with a giggle, glancing down at the little girl at her side.

"Baby in your tummy."

Dallas heard from the bathroom where he'd just gotten out of the shower and chuckled at the girl, "Ain't no baby in there. What are you talkin' about stinker?" He joked, picking the girl up and spinning her around, throwing her into a fit of hearty laughter.

"Yeah there is!" The girl said, still laughing as he sat her back down.

"Why don't we go play with your friend next door instead of the imaginary baby in my tummy?" Leigh suggested, redirecting her attention and getting her excitement somewhere else.

"What's for breakfast, Leigh?"

"Oh I made bacon, eggs, oatmeal, and there's strawberries."

"Sounds good, babe," he said with a smile and sitting at the table. Leigh brought him his food and sat a small plate down for Corie, who climbed into her chair. Leigh sat across from Dallas and barely had anything on her own plate. "Why ain't you hungry?"

"I don't know, I ain't been feeling too hot lately. I've been a little nauseous."

Dally gave her a look and she chuckled nervously. She had really hoped Corie was wrong but Leigh actually had been feeling very different lately.