Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights go to S.E. Hinton.

A/N: I have another story that I was working on so this chapter is shorter than the other two. Be on the lookout for my next story which I will be posting on Friday! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! Reviews would be amazing!

Darry swallowed the last of his hot chocolate and set his empty mug down on the coffee table in front of him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned back on the couch. He was feeling quite satisfied, until an overwhelming thought rushed over him. He still hasn't given his parents their Christmas gift yet!

A few before days before Christmas, Darry, Soda and Ponyboy had gotten together to try and figure out what they could give their parents for Christmas. Their parents were hard workers and they thought it would be a nice idea to give them something homemade. It was a long discussion that spawned several arguments between the brothers, but they finally agreed on one idea: they were going to draw a big picture of their family to give to their parents.

Pony was the one who was most involved in the project. He was always drawing and coloring in his coloring books. He was paying very close attention to every small detail in the picture. He had to make sure his Mom's hair was the perfect shade of gold and his Dad's eyes were the brightest shade of blue.

Sodapop wasn't really too interested in the coloring project. He wanted to make sure his parents would receive a nice gift on Christmas, but drawing wasn't really his thing. He tried sitting down and helping his brothers color and draw, but he couldn't sit still long enough to make decent progress on the project. On occasion, he would help color his Mom's hair or his Dad's shirt or something small like that, but that was only because we felt guilty that Darry and Ponyboy were doing all the work and he wasn't really doing anything to help them.

Darry was enjoying drawing the portrait for the most part, but he still found it tedious. Pony kept telling him that he wasn't paying enough attention to the little details. Darry thought he was doing a pretty good job. He didn't need an annoying little four year old brother to tell him what he was doing wrong. Darry thought he was supposed to be telling Pony what to do and not the other way around.

As much as he didn't like what Pony was doing, he could understand where he was coming from. All the brothers wanted their parents to enjoy this family portrait and appreciate all the time and effort they put into making it look special. Their parents worked hard and deserved a thoughtful gift to open on Christmas.

They finished the large drawing just the day before Christmas Eve. Darry was glad they finished it early, so they weren't scrambling at the last minute to get it done. Darry was all about doing things efficiently and on time.

A loud wrestling match between Soda and Steve brought Darry out of his thoughts. It was getting pretty late and he wanted to give his parents their present before it got too late.

"Soda!" Darry barked. Soda tried to wriggle himself out of Steve's strong grip, but was unsuccessful. Steve was pretty strong for his age. Soda finally managed to slide out from Steve when he wasn't paying attention, and hurried over to Darry.

"Whatcha want Dare? " Soda asked, slightly out of breath from his brawl with Steve.

"We gotta give our gift to Mom and Dad," Darry whispered.

Soda's eyes grew large and he went to go pass the message onto Ponyboy. They both moved over to where Darry was sitting on the couch.

"Can we do it now Darry?" Pony was bouncing around Darry and tugging hard on his arm. "We worked so hard on it! I don't think I can wait any longer! "

"Calm down, Pone," Darry said. "Let's wait until Two-Bit, Steve, Dally and Johnny leave." Darry made sure to raise his voice a little bit so their friends would get the message and give them some time alone with their parents. It's not that Darry was kicking his friends out, but he just thought it would be better if his friends weren't there when they gave the portrait to their parents. It was more of a family moment and Darry didn't need his rowdy friends around to spoil it.

Two-Bit seemed the first to get the message that the Curtis family wanted to be alone. "Hey guys," Two-Bit interrupted Dally and Steve's wrestling match. Dally was clearly winning, pissing off Steve greatly. "I think we better leave now."

Steve and Dally took the hint too and stopped their wrestling match. Johnny stood behind them and waited for them to leave so he could follow them out.

"Hey Soda, tell your parents we're gonna leave now," Steve said, while pulling on his winter coat. It was still slightly damp from when he was pelted earlier with wet snowballs.

Dally finished pulling on his thin leather jacket and waved a half-hearted goodbye to the brothers. He exited the Curtis household and let the door slam behind.

"Bye Ponyboy," Johnny whispered so quietly Pony could barely understand his friend. Johnny hurried out to meet Dally on the porch before they left together.

"Bye Mr. Curtis! Thanks Mrs. Curtis!" Two-Bit hollered so loud you could've heard him over in the Soc's territory.

"Oh you're leaving Keith?" Mrs. Curtis poked her head out from the kitchen. "Tell your mother and sister I said Merry Christmas."

"Will do Mrs. C." Two-Bit shrugged his coat on. "And you can call me Two-Bit."

Mr. Curtis chuckled from where he was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table and Mrs. Curtis rolled her eyes jokingly and continued to wash the dishes and mugs from the boys' snack.

After Two-Bit left, Soda approached his mother sweetly. "Mommy, can you Daddy sit down on the couch please?" He asked in the most mature voice he could muster.

"Of course honey." Mrs. Curtis ruffled Sodapop's blonde hair affectionately. She glanced over at her husband and smiled at him. Mrs. Curtis knew what was coming. She didn't know what her boys were doing in Darry's room for the past few days, but she knew they were making something for her and her husband for Christmas. She could hear the banter and noise coming from behind the locked door and figured they must've been making a Christmas present for her and her husband to open.

The boys scurried down the hall while Mr. and Mrs. Curtis took their seats in the family room. Darry, Soda and Pony returned holding a large poster board that was sloppily wrapped in last year's old Christmas wrapping paper scraps.

"Sorry about the look of it," Darry said apologetically. "We ain't the best wrappers."

"Aren't. Please use correct grammar Darry." Mrs. Curtis was always getting on her sons' case about using the correct grammar.

"Go ahead and open it Mommy and Daddy!" Pony said with a large grin on his face.

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis exchanged glances and tore the paper aside. Mr. Curtis held up the drawing on his lap to let his wife get a better view on the drawing.

"Oh my word," Mrs. Curtis whispered.

"We're sorry if you don't like it Mommy." Soda said sadly.

"Oh no, honey. It's not that," Mrs. Curtis explained. "I love it." Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over. "Thank you so much boys. This is absolutely perfect." Her voice was wavering slightly due to the tears.

Darry, Soda, and Pony smiled equally large smiles. They were so proud that all their hard work had paid off. They jumped on the couch and tackled their parents in a huge hug.

"I'm glad you liked it Mommy," Pony whispered. "Merry Christmas."