The Power of Love

January 30, 1978

January 30, 1978

"What does that say, KJ?" I heard Keith say from the living room.

There was a temporary silence from the living room until I heard KJ speak up a moment later. "Keith Mathews, Junior," he said slowly, making sure to sound out each word.

"Good! That's your name, but we all call you KJ for short, since my name is Keith, too."

"We have the same name, Daddy?"

"Kinda. Mommy's and Daddy's can name their kid's after them if they want to. Mostly, that happens with little boys like you, and not with little girls like Sky. But it can get confusing if we were both Keith Mathews, so since I was named that first, we put Junior after yours. And said it doesn't get confusing, we call you KJ for short."

"Cause Keith starts with a K and Junior starts with a J?" KJ tried to clarify.

"That's right, good job," Keith encouraged.

I smiled to myself as I walked out from the kitchen in the direction of Sky's bedroom. When I walked in, she was on the floor playing with the dollhouse that Keith had built for her. She looked up when I walked in, smiled, and got up from her spot on the floor. I squatted down to the floor as she ran toward me as fast as she physically could, making it easier for her as she jumped into my arms and tried to wrap her tiny arms around my neck. I hugged her tight against my torso, swinging her back and forth a bit, which made her start to giggle.

"Hi, Mama," Sky said with a smile.

"Hi, baby girl," I smiled back, "What're you up to?"

Sky released me and ran back over to her dolls. She picked up two of the store bought dolls then came back over to me. "Playing with dolls."

This was one of the harder parts about having a daughter for me. When I was growing up, I didn't play with dolls a lot, unless it was at school. Even then, that wasn't a lot, either. I could never really get into the activity of playing with dolls, ever in my entire life- and it probably didn't help that I was around more guys than girls when I was a kid. I always tried my best when Sky asked me to play with her dolls with her, and she seemed to have a good time when we did, so that's a good thing. To me, as long as she was happy and was enjoying it, that's all that mattered.

I sat down with her on the floor of her room and began to play with her. This continued for about five minutes until Keith knocked on the door and stood in the doorway. "We need to head over to the hospital," he announced, not looking nervous at all.

Not knowing the situation, I of course felt panic begin to rise in me. "What's wrong?" I asked nervously.

"No, nothin's wrong, calm down. But Darry just called- Cherry and Ponyboy are at the hospital."

"Is she havin' the baby?"

"Yes she is."

Ponyboy and Cherry had gotten married just a little around a year ago. A few months after they were married, they had a dinner at their house, saying they had an announcement to make. That night, they told us all that she was pregnant with their first child. We had all congratulated the two on their announcement on them becoming parents, then kept teasing the two on how they didn't waste any time on starting their family together. They both had cheeks as red as her hair the entire night from what we had said.

The four of us all left the house a little while after the phone call. Keith and I took KJ and Sky with us- obviously- and gently set them in them in the backseat of the car. We all drove off to the hospital in a period of fifteen minutes. Once we got there, the two of us grabbed the two quickly from the backseat of the car, then rushed into the hospital. We asked the nurse at the front desk what room "Sherri Curtis" was in, then rushed up to the room number she told us.