A/N: So I've been really into writing lately (which I haven't had for a while), especially for Newsies! So I came up with this AU and I'm really excited about it! Not quite sure if I should make this a few chapters or a longer fic? Let me know! :)

"Hannah, could you give Adelaide her bottle, please?" Katherine Plumber said, burping one baby as she fed one another bite of pureed carrots and tried to keep another entertained.

"Sure thing, Kathy!" Hannah, the newest and youngest employee at Pulitzer Daycare in Santa Fe, New Mexico, replied perkily to her coworker. Hannah didn't really understand what multi-tasking was, and that was a very necessary trait to have if you work in the infant room. She wasn't awful, but Katherine definitely did not prefer her to be working in the infant room with her.

Katherine had been the lead in the infant room for two years now. At 24, she had gotten her bachelor in early childhood education, gotten a decent paying job along with one on the side, and yet she has still been single for a little over a year. Katherine was one of those women that had always wanted to be a mom and a wife when she got older and really wanted nothing else. Diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome when she was just seventeen, she never thought of that has her reality anymore, just her dream. She hadn't been asked out for a little over a year and was starting to seriously doubt the possibility of not only being a mother, but even a wife.

"Jenna's dad will be picking her up any minute now…can you get me that onesie she spit up on today? I want to give it to him so he can take it home and wash it." Katherine asked Hannah, placing one baby on a blanket on the floor as she bounced another on her hip.

"Yeah. Where should I put it?" She asked, ignoring little Joshua as he cried from the high chair, the Cheerios out of his reach. Katherine huffed; trying to control her anger towards her coworker as she gently moved some Cheerios towards his little hands. As if right on cue, Little Jenna Kelly's father walked through the door to the infant room, a car seat in one hand and a diaper bag in the other.

"Hi, Mr. Kelly." Katherine said with a smile, walking over to the single father. Jack Kelly had just recently enrolled his daughter in daycare and still wasn't quite used to it yet, having it only been barely a week. He was rather nervous about putting his daughter in the care of strangers at first, but Katherine was very well prepared and reassured him many times that little Jenna would be in good hands. And she was, he could tell. "Jenna took a two hour nap today, so I hope she sleeps for you tonight." Katherine smiled, gently handing the four-month-old to her father.

"So do I." He joked as he kissed his daughter's forehead softly, bending down to place her in her car seat. "And please, call me Jack. None of this formal stuff, Katherine." He smiled at Katherine for a moment before turning his attention back to buckling his daughter into her car seat.

"Alright, Jack." Katherine said with a matching smile, suddenly remembering the dirty onesie. "Oh, and Jenna spit up on her onesie today…" She began, taking the onesie from Hannah and handing it to Jack who was now standing up, his daughter secure in her car seat. "I thought you'd like to wash it or something." She said, handing it to him.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah I noticed her spare outfit." He chuckled. "Figured there was a mishap."

"There always is in this room. So we'll see you at seven tomorrow?" She double-checked.

"Yep, same time as always. You two have a good day." He smiled as he waved to both the adults in the room and turned to leave the infant room.

"You, too, Jack." Katherine waved back, enjoying hearing herself say his first name instead of 'Mr. Kelly'.

The next evening…

"You go ahead and get home, Hannah." Katherine said, rocking Jenna in the chair. "Jenna is the last one here and her dad will be here soon enough. I can handle just this sweet little one."

"You sure?" Hannah asked, looking up at the clock, reading 5:15 PM. Katherine simply nodded, smiling down at the infant with drooping eyelids in her arms. "Okay. Have a nice weekend, Kathy."

"You, too." Katherine said nonchalantly, the little brown eyes looking into her similar ones. Katherine rocked Jenna for a while, getting her to sleep just as her father walked through the door. "Oh, Jack. I'm sorry I just rocked her to sleep." Katherine frowned in a hushed tone, careful not to wake Jenna just yet.

Jack waved his hand coolly. "It's nothing, Katherine. If you hadn't gotten her to sleep just now she would've fallen asleep on the ride home." He said, smiling down at his little girl fast asleep in her arms." Wow…it's real weird to see her asleep in someone else's arms." He chuckled, tugging at his construction vest, still dirty from work.

"What about her mother?" Katherine asked, instantly regretting what she had said. "Oh geez, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking. That's not something for me to ask about, I'm sorry." She said, mentally cursing her big mouth.

"No, I get it. I'd wonder, too." Jack said, sadness in his blue eyes. "She's got her eyes." He bent down and got out Jenna's pacifier in case she woke up and let Katherine gently place her in the car seat. Jenna stirred a little and Jack placed the pacifier in her little mouth instantly hushing her. "She uh…she left us. We were married and she stayed around for Jenna's birth but never really wanted kids. She cheated on me and left me for her boss." He chuckled bitterly at the memory of Oscar Delancy taking his wife, Sarah from him so easily. "Jenna was three weeks old when she was well enough to pack up and move in with him…letting me know she wouldn't be coming back by placing the stacks of divorce papers on my nightstand. I guess she'd been thinking about divorcing me for a while."

"Oh my God…Jack, that's terrible. I'm so sorry. You and Jenna didn't deserve that." Katherine said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Maybe it was inappropriate, but she didn't care. She felt awful from the little family and wanted to try and show it some way.

"Thanks." He said, the corner of his lips turning up a little. "That means a lot. You know I really feel safe when you watch her. You treat her like she's your own."

"Well I won't lie; she's a beautiful little girl and one of my favorites in the room." She smiled at the sleeping infant buckled in the car seat. "I'd be happy to take her home with me any day."

"Might take you up on that." Jack joked, picking up the car seat by the handle before smiling at Katherine one last time. "You have a good weekend, Katherine. See you Monday. Thanks for all you do. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, of course, Jack. Anything I can do to help." Katherine smiled, her heart warming at his words. "See you Monday."

As she watched the single father leave, his little sleeping baby in tow, Katherine realized something she hadn't thought of in a long time-love.