Chapter Text
“Gooood morning, family!” a voice was heard throughout the Curtis household as the front door banged open.
It was barely seven in the morning, and everyone was still in bed. Only about half of them were actually asleep, but the ones who weren’t were doing a good job pretending. That is, until Two-Bit stopped by. As soon as the enthusiastic greeting left his mouth, the sounds of little feet racing on the hardwood floors echoed throughout the house. Soda and Steve appeared and tackled the other boy to the ground in a hug.
“Happy birthday!!” they shouted.
As the three boys wrestled, more of the family started to make their appearances. Dally immediately jumped into the scuffle, delighted at the opportunity to mess around with them so early in the morning. Darry and a still half-asleep Pony and Johnny hung back, the younger boys holding onto their big brother as they watched the chaos. They all had huge smiles on their faces. So did Mr. and Mrs. Curtis as they finally (reluctantly) left the relative quiet of their bedroom to see their boys.
Birthdays were always a special occasion in the Curtis home, even back when it was just Darry. This one was no exception. After all, Two-Bit was only going to turn eight once in his life. So once the four giggling troublemakers had been separated, it was time to get started on his birthday breakfast. Mrs. Curtis asked what he wanted, and the boy thought hard, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Pancakes with lots of chocolate chips! And chocolate milk, a whole big glass of it, and chocolate cake, and chocolate chip cookies, and regular chocolate! Oh, and the pancakes with lots an’ lots of syrup and whipped cream!” Two-Bit requested with a huge grin.
Mrs. Curtis sighed heavily. She knew that much sugar was bound to get the boys bouncing off the walls, even more than usual. But she couldn’t say no to the pleading look on all seven boys’ faces. Reluctantly she nodded. All the boys cheered, far too loudly for so early in the morning. They knew this was going to be the best day ever. It got even better when Mr. Curtis said they could watch tv before breakfast. They all stampeded into the living room and immediately started fighting over who got to sit where.
Two-Bit, claiming birthday privileges, sat himself right down in Mr. Curtis’s giant armchair, winking at the other boys as he made himself comfortable. They only pouted for a few seconds before clamoring for the couch. Darry won, seeing as he was the oldest and the biggest, and he had Pony and Johnny snuggled against his sides. Dally, Soda, and Steve were relegated to the floor, pushing and shoving each other to get the remote. But Darry snatched it away from them and handed it to Two-Bit, who of course went straight to Mickey Mouse. They watched in silence for a total of one and a half minutes before the chaos started up again.
“Dally’s touching me!” Soda whined, even though Dally wasn’t even sitting next to him.
“I am not! You’re just being a baby,” Dally shot back before leaning over to punch Soda in the arm.
That made the younger boy whine louder, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Two-Bit groaned dramatically and threw a pillow at the two of them. Both turned to glare at him, Dally ready to start a fight right then and there.
“No fighting on my birthday. And I’m older than you so you have to listen to me,” Two-Bit ordered.
“You can’t actually do that, you know. You aren’t in charge,” Darry pointed out. His comment gained him a pillow to the face as well.
Before the fighting could escalate to something a little more physical, they got called to the dining room. Breakfast was ready. They all ran to their usual seats. Eyes grew wide as they looked at all the food spread out on the table. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs, crispy fried potatoes, syrup, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and even cookies. Large glasses of chocolate milk sat at each table spot. It wasn’t exactly what Two-Bit had requested, but it looked damn good regardless.
“Birthday breakfast!!” Two-Bit cheered as he loaded his plate with as much food as possible.
He covered the entire meal in so much whipped cream and syrup that it was nearly impossible to see the food underneath. Pony watched him curiously, deciding that looked like a good idea and copying him, complete with a theatrical groan of delight at the first bite. The others acted similar, faces sticky and covered in crumbs in only a few seconds. Even Darry, who always tried to act more grown-up than his brothers, had syrup dripping down his chin as he shoveled a large piece of pancake in his mouth. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis chuckled in amusement at their antics. This was going to be a long day.
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear dumbassssss! Happy birthday to you!” Steve crowed after breakfast was finished and the table was being cleared.
His choice of words had Darry smacking him on the back of the head, but Two-Bit was cackling. So were all the others, except Pony who just looked confused. Even Mr. and Mrs. Curtis couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces. They knew it was going to be a good day. Hopefully the boys would behave themselves.
Eventually the table was cleared, the dishes were washed, Mr. Curtis left for work, and all seven boys had been scrubbed clean and dressed. Two-Bit, Soda, and Steve were jumping up and down on the living room couch, chanting for cake. They knew they wouldn’t get cake until after lunch, but they didn’t care, they wanted it anyway. They were hyped up on too much sugar from breakfast, hence the bouncing off the walls and shouting. It was starting to get on everyone else’s nerves. Darry had retreated to his room, and Dally, Pony, and Johnny were in the backyard. Mrs. Curtis looked about ready to tear her hair out.
“Boys, off the couch please,” she requested calmly.
“Cake!!” came the shouted reply.
The three boys burst into giggles as they spoke at the same time, and they started shoving each other around. Mrs. Curtis knew she had to put a stop to it as Steve wobbled and nearly fell straight off the couch. She glared at them, arms crossed over her chest.
“If you don’t get down from there and stop pushing each other, you won’t be getting any cake. I’d gladly give it to the others, clearly they can handle the sugar better than you three.”
“No! Aw, c’mon Mom Number Two, we’re only playing. Don’t take our cake away!” Two-Bit immediately protested. “We’ll be good, I promise.”
Soda and Steve nodded solemnly in agreement. The idea of getting their cake privileges taken away was a serious one, something they never wanted to happen. So, the three of them reluctantly climbed down from the couch.
“Sorry Mom,” Soda mumbled, looking ashamed. He always felt bad when he got too wild, even though it wasn’t something he could ever control. It was just a part of who he was.
“It’s okay, honey. Why don’t you boys go play outside and burn off some of that energy? Then maybe we can have an early lunch and do cake and presents after that,” Mrs. Curtis suggested with a smile.
The promise of cake later was all it took for them to take off running towards the back door. They tripped over themselves in their haste, tumbling down the back stairs and onto the grass in a heap. Almost immediately they started rolling around and wrestling. Two-Bit had Soda in a headlock, laughing as he messed up the younger boy’s hair. Steve was trying to free his best friend but was so far unsuccessful. Dally, Pony, and Johnny were drawn to the clamour, watching in delight. Well, Dally was delighted, shouting out encouragements and cackling. Pony and Johnny looked a little more concerned, but they were still smiling. They were used to this kind of behaviour from their brothers.
Unable to stand by and watch any longer, Dally launched himself into the pile, latching onto Steve and pulling him away from Two-Bit. Steve retaliated with a jab to the ribs. Soda then tried to bite Dally for laying a hand on Steve but was blocked by Two-Bit nearly kicking him in the face. The four of them were all red-faced and breathless. They were all grinning from ear to ear.
“The hell is going on here?”
Darry stood at the top of the stairs with his hands on his hips, looking exactly like a ten-year-old version of his dad. He watched the pile of boys rolling around on the ground with an exasperated expression on his face. Even still, he was smiling. There was no way he could be mad at his little brothers just because they were being kids. Boys will be boys, that’s what his mom always said when they got too rowdy. Besides, he’d been that way once upon a time; running around and playing without a care in the world.
Pony ran over to him, carefully avoiding the chaos. He gently tugged on Darry’s shirt until the older boy picked him up.
“They’re fighting,” Pony whispered in Darry’s ear, completely serious.
There was a hint of worry on his face, but it went away when Darry kissed him on the forehead and promised he’d deal with it. Putting down his little brother, the boy strolled over to the four wrestlers. He grabbed Two-Bit by the back of his t-shirt and pulled him off of Steve. The birthday boy immediately protested, trying to jump back into the fight. When Darry turned to grab Dally, Two-Bit launched a counterattack and jumped on Darry’s back, pushing him to the ground. Not at all surprised, Darry fought back, rolling over and pinning Two-Bit down. Soda and Steve tried to yank him off but were unsuccessful. Dally joined their efforts, trying to free Two-Bit from Darry’s clutches.
The wrestling ended a few minutes later, with Soda sitting on Darry’s chest and Steve and Dally holding down his legs. Two-Bit had given up on planning revenge, it was too exhausting, so he was absently poking Darry with a stick while watching Pony and Johnny’s enthusiastic reenactment of the fight. He was feeling damn good. This was probably his favourite birthday he’d had yet. Even with his mom having to work, he loved spending time at the Curtis’s. Running around with his brothers, stuffing his mouth full of cake, getting loads of presents, whatever they would do that evening, that’s what he liked best. He always felt better when he was at the Curtis home.
“Boys! Lunchtime!” Mrs. Curtis called, and all seven boys raced inside.
Mrs. Curtis sighed when she saw the disheveled state of her kids, but nothing could hide her fond smile. Ordering them to wash up before eating, she set out lunch. It wasn’t much, just some bologna sandwiches and pieces of fruit, along with large cups of water. This way they wouldn’t whine about getting too full for cake. Not that that would ever happen, when it came to cake their stomachs were all bottomless pits. Even Pony, who had never been a big eater, could devour an astounding amount of cake in one sitting.
“Hey that’s not cake!” Two-Bit pointed out as the boys came back to the table.
“You’re right, it’s not. You’ll get cake after, but only if you eat all your lunch first,” Mrs. Curtis answered, before narrowing her eyes at Soda, who was trying to sneak his fruit onto Darry’s plate, “And I mean really eat it, Sodapop Curtis. No pawning it off to your brothers.”
Eventually they all settled in and ate, but not after Mrs. Curtis had to administer several warnings to nearly the entire table. Thankfully the threat of not getting any cake was enough to shut them all up and get them to behave. There was nearly a food fight, but one look from Mrs. Curtis had Dally putting down the slice of bread. Soon the plates were cleared and the chant for cake started up.
“Cake! Cake! Cake!” they demanded. Even Johnny, the angel of the group, was banging his fork on the table and chanting.
Mrs. Curtis slowly carried out the cake, and the boys all cheered loudly. She gently placed it in front of Two-Bit, ordering them to keep their hands away from the cake while she quickly went to grab her camera. However, upon returning to the dining room, she could see that several of the boys had chocolate frosting on their hands and faces. Of course they hadn’t listened.
“Okay, say cheese!” she said, pointing the camera at the grinning boys who were crowded around the cake.
Just before she snapped the photo, hands were reaching out and pushing Two-Bit’s face into the cake. Oh Lord, these boys. Two-Bit was thankfully not upset, laughing loudly and wiping frosting out of his eyes, before jumping from his chair and starting to chase the others around the dining room. He easily grabbed Pony around the waist, smearing chocolate over the little boy’s clothes and face, then doing the exact same to Johnny. It was a bit more difficult to get the others, but eventually ever single one of them was covered in chocolate frosting. In their hair, on their faces, their hands, their clothes. Everywhere. They were definitely going to need a bath (or three) later that night. But they were all giggling and licking the frosting away and so, so happy.
Finally, Mrs. Curtis was able to get them all settled at the table with plates of cake. She didn’t bother to clean them up, knowing they were going to get messy already. Sure enough, Soda and Steve decided it was better to eat the cake with their hands instead of forks, and the others were quick to copy them. The cake was gone in minutes, the boys all able to eat far more than they should have. The sugar rush they were bound to have was enough to make Mrs. Curtis regret every decision she had ever made.
Somehow she got them all cleaned up and herded back into the living room. Two-Bit, Soda, and Steve went back to jumping on the couch and shouting, and Dally and Pony were throwing pillows at them to try and knock them down. Darry had given up trying to get them to stop and was instead encouraging Johnny to throw a couple pillows too. Once Soda had been hit and fallen from the couch, Mrs. Curtis knew she had to intervene.
“Boys, settle down. It’s time to open presents.”
“Presents!!” Two-Bit cheered loudly.
There was a small pile of wrapped boxes tucked into one corner of the living room, clearly meant for him. As soon as Mrs. Curtis pulled them off the couch, he sat down in front of the boxes. Present time was definitely the second-best part of birthdays, at least in Two-Bit’s opinion it was. Without even checking to make sure it was okay to start, he tore off the wrapping paper of the nearest box. He pulled open the box and gasped at what was inside.
It was a jacket, the black leather soft and cracked from years of use. This wasn’t any jacket, however. Two-Bit had seen it before, hanging in the back of his mom’s closet. The feel of the leather under his fingers was so familiar, after years of him admiring it when his mom had left for work. It had belonged to his dad before he died. He pulled it on; it was a bit big, and the sleeves fell over his hands, but Two-Bit didn’t care. It was perfect.
“That gift is from your mom. She told us to give it to you, she feels horrible she has to work today,” Mrs. Curtis explained softly, heart aching as she noticed the tears gathering in the young boy’s eyes.
Two-Bit didn’t care about the other gifts anymore, the jacket was all he needed. Now he finally had something to remember his dad. He sniffled and hastily wiped his eyes before the others could see that he was crying. He was so grateful to his mom for gifting the jacket to him. It really made his birthday even better than it already was. Eventually he did open the rest of the gifts, they were all cool, but nothing beat the jacket. He refused to take it off despite the oppressive summer heat.
Mrs. Curtis had to take the boys to the park after a bit, they were getting far too rowdy to stay home. They needed the wide-open spaces to run around and burn off steam. As soon as she opened the front door, Soda and Steve took off, racing each other down the street towards the park. Mrs. Curtis didn’t even bother to call them back; they’d been to the park thousands of times and would be fine. Darry ran after them, Pony on his back. Dally looked like he wanted to as well, but he had Johnny by the hand and refused to let go. Two-Bit hung back, surprisingly, and Mrs. Curtis paused to pull him into a tight hug.
“You having a good birthday, kiddo?” she asked, kissing the top of his head.
“Best birthday ever!” he declared with a grin.
Mrs. Curtis watched with a smile as he ran off to join his brothers with an enthusiastic shout. She shook her head fondly as he chased Darry (and Pony) down the sidewalk. It was hard sometimes, being a mother to so many boys, especially those boys. But every difficult moment was worth it to see them grow up happy and healthy and, most importantly, safe. She wouldn’t give it up for anything. This was her family, and nothing was ever going to change that.