Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All rights go to S.E. Hinton.

A/N: Yes, I know this story is off season, but inspiration struck and I wanted to write this. Tell me what you guys think! I hope you like it!

Sodapop tossed and turned in his bed, thrashing around underneath his heavy blanket. Christmas was tomorrow and he was way too excited to sleep. Soda loved Christmas. He loved listening to the Christmas music, wrapping presents, having snowball fights with his friends, and eating cookies and milk. According to Soda, his Mom made the best cookies in the whole world. She put just the right amount of every ingredient in them to make them taste sublime.

With a sigh, he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He quietly swung his legs over the edge of his bed and hopped out of it. Soda carefully tip-toed to the other side of the bedroom. He made sure not to step on the squeaky floorboard and wake his parents up. He heard them wrapping presents all night and heard them get to bed later than usual.

"Hey Pone, you awake?" Soda started poking Ponyboy in the nose. Pony mumbled something incoherently in his sleep and pulled the blanket higher. "Pony, wake up!" Soda ordered, shaking his little brother hard on the shoulder.

"Soda?" Pony whispered, now a little more aware of his surroundings. "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Soda shrugged his shoulders.

"Why did you wake me up Soda?" Pony asked. He blinked his sleepy eyes a few times.

"Christmas is tomorrow Pone! Did you forget?" Soda broke out into a big light-up-the-room smile.

"I didn't forget Soda. I'm just tired," Pony laid back down in his bed and pulled his blanket over him. "If you go to sleep Soda Christmas will come faster," He mumbled before falling back asleep.

Soda sighed and reluctantly walked back to his bed. He closed his eyes and tried his absolute hardest to fall asleep. He was unsuccessful. There was no way he was going to bed tonight. Thoughts of presents under the Christmas tree danced around in his head. He knew he wouldn't get much, but he was still too excited to sleep.

Soda sat back up and exited his bed. He didn't want to bother Pony again. His little brother was tired and needed his sleep. After all, Sodapop was a big boy and needed to protect and care for his baby brother.

Soda crossed the hallway. Darry's door was open and he could hear his light snoring. He must've been worn out from that big snowball fight they had this afternoon. Darry always tried his best at every physical thing he did. All that football he's been playing has really given him some good muscles.

Instead, he opened up the door to his parent's room. His Mom and Dad were curled up in bed, looking exhausted. Soda felt a little guilty waking them up, but he couldn't sleep and didn't know what else to do.

"Mommy? You awake?" Soda shook his mother gently on the shoulder. She had no reaction at all. She must've been real tired if she didn't wake up. She was a light sleeper.

Soda moved onto his dad. "Daddy wake up," He commanded. His dad stirred abit before waking up.

"Pepsi-Cola?" Mr. Curtis looked confused. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep Daddy. I tried. Really I did, but I couldn't sleep," Soda confessed. "Can we open presents now?" Soda tugged on his dad's arms with a big smile on his face.

Mr. Curtis smiled tiredly at his son's excitement. "Not right now. It's the middle of the night."

Soda leaned against his parent's bed. "But I can't sleep Daddy!" he complained.

Mr. Curtis rubbed his eyes a bit. "I'll tell you what," He started. "How about you sleep here, and we'll wake up extra early for presents."

"Okay." Soda agreed. His dad helped pull him up into the bed. Soda climbed over his dad and laid down in the middle of his two parents.

"Get some sleep Pepsi," Mr. Curtis mumbled before falling back asleep.

Soda rested his head down in the pillow. Maybe Pony was right. The sooner he fell asleep, the sooner he could open presents. He yawned and pulled the blanket up to his chest. He was more tired than he thought. He felt his eyelids began to droop and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunlight seeped through the curtains and illuminated Soda's face. He blinked open his eyes a few times and observed his surroundings. He forgot for a second that he fell asleep in his parent's bed and not his own. A reminder crashed over him like wave. It was Christmas! Soda had almost forgotten.

"Mommy, Daddy!" Soda shouted. "Wake up!"

Mrs. Curtis sat up slowly. "How did you get in our bed honey?" She looked awful surprised to see him.

"Daddy let me sleep here." Soda answered. "C'mon Mommy, we gotta go open up presents!" He pulled on his Mom's arm, trying to drag her out of bed.

"Easy honey, easy." Mrs. Curtis released her arm from Soda arm and glanced at the clock on her bedroom wall. "Soda, its 6:30 in the morning."

Soda seemed unfazed by her comment. "So? C'mon Mommy let's go! Daddy promised if I went to bed, we could wake up extra early for presents!"

Mrs. Curtis smiled and ruffled her son's hair. She just couldn't say no to his cute little face. "Alright, honey you win. Go wake up you're brothers. Be nice please." Soda dashed out of the room before his mom could finish her sentence.

"Ponyboy?" Soda entered his bedroom quietly. Pony was curled up in a ball under all his blankets and he was clutching his favorite stuffed dog. Soda felt a little guilty for waking him up, but Christmas presents were under the tree, and he wanted to open them.

"Ponyboy! Come on, let's go open up presents!" Soda yelled.

"What do you want Soda?" Pony mumbled drowsily. He stretched in his bed and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Mommy said we can open up presents now!"

Pony's big green eyes flickered with excitement. "Really?"

"Yeah, c'mon let's go wake up Darry!" Soda took his little brother by the hand and led him to Darry's room.

"How should we wake him up?" Pony asked, peering into Darry's room. There was nothing special about his room, but Pony found it magical. Pony found it so cool that Darry had his own room and didn't have to share with anybody. On the other hand, Pony kind of liked sharing a room with Soda. He loved Soda so much he didn't mind rooming with him.

"I got an idea," Soda blurted. "When I count to three, you and me run into his room and jump on top of him!" He jumped a little with excitement.

Pony giggled at the thought of jumping on top of Darry. "Alright, let's go!"

The brother's raced into Darry's room and pounced on him. Darry bolted straight out of his bed and popped his eyes open. On a normal day, he would've gotten mad that his brother's had woken him up at 6:30 in the morning, but today was Christmas. He could make an exception for that. Besides, his mom would be mad if he was being grumpy on Christmas morning.

Darry pulled his hands out from under his blanket and began mercilessly tickling his brothers.

"S-stop, s-stop guys!" Pony yelled out between laughs. Out of the brothers, he was the most ticklish.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis stood in the threshold of Darry's room. Mr. Curtis wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and laughed at all his son's crazy antics. Darry had Sodapop pinned down on his bed and was tickling him madly. Soda struggled to break free from Darry's strong grip, but he was unsuccessful. Pony climbed on top of Darry's back and tried pulling him off of Soda. Darry pulled Ponyboy off his back and threw him down next to Soda. He tickled them both aggressively. Darry's finger started cramping up and he collapsed next to his two brothers. Soda and Pony clutched their aching stomachs and fell on top of Darry.

"Boys, do you want to open presents?" Mr. Curtis interrupted. Their eyes grew large and they hurried into the living tree.

"Wow!" They said simultaneously. They had never seen so many beautifully wrapped presents underneath the Christmas tree before. Each present had a pretty bow on top and was adorned in lavish wrappings.

"It's magical," Ponyboy whispered. Mr. Curtis heard him and scooped him up. He adjusted his son in his arms and kissed the top of his head. Mr. Curtis knew there weren't many presents under the tree. He wished his sons could have much more, but this was all he could afford. As long as he could keep his sons and wife happy, he was a happy man.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This one's for you, Pone." Soda handed his brother a small present that was hidden underneath all the other big ones.

Pony tore off the paper carefully. Unlike his brothers, Pony liked to unwrap his presents slow and prudently. He tossed the paper aside, revealing a new box of crayons.

"Thank you Mommy!" Pony hurried over to his two parents and hugged them. "It was just what I wanted. My blue and yellow are broken from my other box. It's hard to draw a pretty sky without blue and yellow."

"I'm glad you're happy son." Mr. Curtis ruffled Pony's hair. "Go open up some more."

Pony nodded and headed back by the Christmas tree next to Soda. Soda was sitting all around his toys, looking at them with a huge grin on his face. He had received a toy car set, a car sticker book, a horse figurine, a picture book about horses, and a poster of a horse for his wall. Soda had already opened up all five of his presents, while Pony still had two more.

Pony chose the biggest one out of all his remaining presents and carefully tore the paper back. He held in his hand the new book he's been wanting. He saw it in the window of the bookstore and begged his mother to have it. He was thrilled to finally receive it.

Pony finished unwrapping the rest of his presents and joined Darry and Soda on the couch.

"Whatcha got there Pone?" Soda asked, helping pull his little brother onto the couch.

"I got a coloring book, crayons, a book, a puzzle set, and a block set," Pony answered.

"How 'bout you Dare?" Soda questioned.

Darry pointed over to the big pile of sports equipment scattered amongst the floor. "I got a new baseball, a new bat, a baseball mitt, football shoulder pads, and this." Darry hopped off the couch and showed his brothers his new football. "Be careful guys. This is the best football I've ever gotten."

Soda ran his fingers along the seam of the football. "It's awful nice Darry," He said in low voice. He wasn't sure why he was talking so quietly, but it seemed to fit the mood.

"Boys!" Mrs. Curtis called from the kitchen. "Time for breakfast!"

You didn't have to tell these boys twice. They hurried into the kitchen and took their seats at the kitchen table. The aroma smelled wonderful. The powerful scent of bacon and eggs overwhelmed the boys.

"Mommy I'm hungry!" Soda whined. Mrs. Curtis smiled and continued flipping her pancakes. She tossed the last one on the plate and set it down on the table. Darry grabbed on eagerly.

"Hey, I wanted that one!" Soda complained.

"Get another one," Darry said around a mouthful of food.

Mr. Curtis came up behind his sons and scared them. The boys jumped in unison.

"Daddy!" Ponyboy said. "You scared me!"

Mr. Curtis chuckled and grabbed himself a pancake off the plate. He took a seat next to Darry, while Mrs. Curtis served the rest of the breakfast. She served bacon, eggs, and toast in addition to the pancakes. All the boys, including Mr. Curtis, dived right in.

Mrs. Curtis laughed at the way Sodapop had syrup leaking out of the corners of his mouth. That'll be a pain to wash off later. She thought to herself. She joined all her boys at the table and sighed contently. She might not have much in life, but the way she saw all her boys laughing and joking around made everything worthwhile. Just seeing her boy's smile made her day better. This truly was one Christmas to remember.

A/N: Did you enjoy it? I was thinking about adding a few more chapters. Reviews would be great! Thanks!