So, this is sort of a request from brighteyes421. They requested some Jatherine or Jatherine making the newsies Christmas a good one and I ended up writing something completely different, lol. Sorry about that.
So, I hope you guys enjoy! And I hope you're all having a good Holiday season!
Please Enjoy!
It was all so new. Jack still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. Christmas, that is. A holiday that just used to mean a day off from working was now a day that his brand new wife stressed about for months and continuously tried to convince him was her favorite day of the year. He didn't truly understand it. But for her, he supposed he should try.
"Jack, do you have the gifts?"
"Yes, dear."
"Did you grab our coats?"
"Yes, darlin'."
"Jack, did you wrap the necklace for my mother?"
"Yes, love."
"Jack, did you-"
"Yes, Katherine."
"Jack you didn't let me finish..." she whined as she hastily clipped her earrings on and looked around for the necklace she'd been planning on wearing. Jack just sighed and shook his head with a weary smile, grabbing the jewelry from the bathroom counter and standing behind her, gently setting his hands on her hips, silently telling her to stop moving, before he carefully clipped the beautiful, thin, golden chain at the back of her neck.
"Darlin', slow down..." Jack whispered, bending down to press a slow kiss to his wife's shoulder. "I's got everythin' we need, I swears it. Now, would ya calm down?"
"It's Christmas, Jack!" The way she said it was exasperated. What was supposed to be a joyous statement was said so tensely that Jack didn't quite know what to do with it.
"So you've said, darlin'..." he nodded, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "Ain't that supposed ta mean you's happy?" He was truly confused as he looked up at her whole she tried to get her makeup just right. "Ya ain't supposed ta be so worked up..." he muttered, brushing some of her hair away from her face.
With a small, tight smile, Katherine Kelly nodded her head. "Sweetheart... I know Christmas is still a bit new for you, but this is the first time we're spending it with my family and-"
"And the boys," Jack added. It was true. Last year, they'd only been engaged. Jack spend Christmas with his boys and Katherine with her family, and they'd spent the night together. The year before they'd had Christmas two days before hand because it was so important to Katherine that they spend a day together. For him, Christmas had always been a day to rest and let his brothers lay around and do nothing for a day. They'd huddle together for warmth and that would be that. He didn't expect tonight to be too different.
"And the boys..." Katherine corrected herself, turning around in her husbands arms and and tipping her head back, giving him an invitation to give her a peck on the lips. "But my parents..."
"Hate my guts?"
Okay, that was only mostly true. Surprisingly enough, Joe had actually started to warm up to Jack, if only a little bit. That did not mean, however, that Joe was happy in the slightest about Jack and Katherine being married. In fact, he hated that. He hated their small, cramped apartment downtown, he hated that they both had to have full time jobs, he hated that their wedding had a bunch of newsies at it and he hated that he didn't think Jack would be a suitable father. But, Jack supposed, he didn't mind his daughter's husband working for him. Those cartoons certainly did get a lot of reactions.
"My parents do not hate your guts!" Katherine insisted, though a smile was pulling at her lips. She sighed and took his hands in her own. "Look... it's just that Christmas is supposed to be perfect and I just want this to go as well as it can and-"
"Hey, it'll be okay, sweetheart. I promise. I won't debate with Joe n' I'll be nice ta yer sister n' everything will be j'st fine," Jack tried to assure, pressing another kiss to the woman's forehead. But Katherine snorted.
"It's not *you* and my sister that I'm worried about..." she muttered under her breath. Katherine and her sister hadn't gotten along for years. And her sister definitely did not like the fact that Katherine had married Jack. It wasn't that she didn't like Jack, but she did not respect Katherine's choice to work rather than marry rich and never work a day in her life.
"Well, either way, I'm sure it'll be okay, n' if you's keep stressin' about it then we's gonna be late n' the sooner we go, the sooner we can see the boys." He hadn't seen them in a week. After growing up with no one but his brothers who were loud and crazy and amazing, he wasn't used to the quiet all the time.
Katherine shook her head and gave a little laugh. "Okay, Mr. Kelly, let's go..." she sighed, letting one of their hands stay intertwined as they gathered their belongings and began to make their way to the door.
In all honesty, Jack wasn't quite sure what he expected. He'd never had a real Christmas, at least according to Katherine, but the giant tree in main room of the Pulitzer mansion caught him off guard and the maids and servants decorating it perfectly made him even more nervous. It wasn't that he hadn't gone there. He'd been to the mansion plenty of times, but the fact that he had been at a lower social status than the servants around this house still made him a little anxious.
"Ah Dear Katherine! You made it!"
"Of course, Mother! I've missed you!"
Jack smiled as he slipped through the door, hesitantly letting a maid take the bags he held in his arms. Arms full of gifts for people he was still in shock that he was supposed to talk to or have dinner with. But as soon as his arms were free, he was pulled into a tense embrace. "And Jack! It's so nice to see you again!"
"Same ta you, Mrs. Pulitzer..." Jack felt so out of place, even more than usual.
"Oh, Jack, how many time do I have to tell you?" the woman asked, hitting him a bit with the back of her hand. "Call me Ester," she insisted with a tight smile. It had always been clear to Jack that it was fake. She wanted to like him, but with his background, he supposed he was lucky with the false politeness he got. So with a nod, Jack pulled away and stepped further towards Katherine, reaching over to slip his fingers through hers, partially for some comfort or support and partially to show these people that he loved this woman and was not going anywhere.
"Where are Father and Rose?" Katherine asked. Quite honestly, Jack would be okay with not finding out. This was fine. He could deal with this, despite the anxiety spiked in him.
"They're just in the other room, dear," Ester stated, gesturing further into the home. Jack almost rolled his eyes at the vague statement. The other room could mean thousands of different places. They lived in a mansion, for God sake. However, Katherine seemed to know exactly where she was talking about and she hesitantly lead Jack right to it. And immediately upon slipping through a grand opening into a different room, that Jack still didn't know his way around, Katherine was greeted and Jack was left standing awkwardly, waiting for someone to harshly acknowledge him with a firm handshake.
"Kathy! I thought you'd never make it!"
"We're not that late, Rosie..." Katherine sighed.
"We?" The way in which Rose would insult Jack was never the same. Sometimes she'd do it directly, other times discreetly, this time she just pretended to forget all together. "Oh! I'm afraid I forgot that your husband trails behind you like your butler," she sighed, as if she actually believed herself. Jack clenched his jaw and kept himself from rolling his eyes. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have to hold himself back from a fight.
"Oh don't listen to her, Jack... thank you for coming along."
To say Jack was shocked to hear the genuine kindness coming from a man he'd once rallied against was beyond an understatement. It was odd, after all they'd been through, that out of Katherine's immediate family, the one Jack got along with the best was the man that had despised him and tried to ruin him once. But, Jack supposed, at least the feelings had been mutual. "Thanks for havin' me, Joe," Jack smirked, reaching out for the old man's hand. Pulitzer nodded and shook his hand before wrapping an arm around his youngest daughter, pulling her away from a now agitated Katherine and guiding them all to the table.
"Well, you two must be starving! Care for some breakfast?"
And to the table they went. Jack mostly being dragged by Katherine who said something about needing food right at that moment or she'd quite possibly die. She knew how much Jack hated sitting at that table. It was huge and beautiful and proper. At the Newsboy's Lodge, they didn't have a table. In fact, they rarely ever actually had food.
Their plates were already prepared for them, leaving them with more food than Jack used to have in a day and plenty more to spare on the table in front of them. It was unnatural for him. He'd grown up being taught by the boys who'd raised him that he needed to be grateful for everything he got. He wasn't used to just sitting down and eating. He'd been taught to thank God, or anyone that they believed in, for the food he was given, before digging into it. And as he hesitated, knowing Katherine's family didn't do such things, he felt a hand slip into his own. Looking up with wide eyes at his wife, she just smiled and leaned closer to him.
"Go ahead, love... don't mind them..." she whispered into his ear. A smile crossed over his lips and he nodded, leaning even closer to her so his lips were hidden from the view of her family.
Closing his eyes, Jack took a deep breath and started to whisper his prayer into his wife's ear, feeling her smile widen at the feeling of his breath on her ear. "Dear God..." he began, shaking his head as he thought about all he had and how there was no way he deserved it. "Thank ya for this food on this table and the water that goes with it. Thank ya for another year that we's got to spend alive and healthy. Thank ya for this beautiful woman that I get to spend the rest a' my life with and thank ya for her fam'ly that loves her enough to let me in..." at this she laughed and felt him press a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you for all that we's got an' all that you's gonna give us. Amen..."
As they pulled apart, Katherine pressed a quick kiss to his lips as they turned back to their food. Katherine ignored the odd looks her family gave her, simply beginning to devour everything on her plate, much to the horror of her mother who'd never seen her eat anything so vigorously. Jack, however, felt his heart skip a beat at the annoyed glare he was getting from his wife's younger sister. Pulitzer gave him an odd, questioning look, but when he saw Katherine shake her head, he just shrugged and went back to his meal. Rose, however, didn't drop the subject so easily.
"What on earth was that?"
With a mouthful of eggs, Katherine glared at her sister. "What? Have you never prayed before?"
"Katherine where are your manners?" her mother scolded, as if the woman was still a child. Katherine did not apologize, just continued to eat, but she did grab Jack's hand from beneath the table, calming him just a bit.
"Not over dinner," Rose stated with a roll of her eyes.
"Look, I know you don' like that I grew up with nothin' but I's gonna be grateful f'r every meal I get," Jack tried to explain. These people didn't understand. He didn't know why. All they had to do was look outside and see the kids out trembling in the cold, begging rich folks for a nickel so they could have a slice of bread.
"Jack, please don't raise your voice at my daughter-"
"Mother!" Katherine argued, shocked that her mother was actually going to defend her spoiled rotten kid sister. "Jack and I pray before every meal. I told him to today too because it's okay to be thankful for food! And God! I'm so thankful for food!"
With that she dove back in. If Jack was being honest, he was a little bit concerned. His wife hadn't really ever had quite the appetite. He rest a hand on her back, playing with her hair a little bit, trying to get her to calm down. He could feel the stress radiating off of her still. "Slow down, sweetheart. Don't choke..." he warned.
"Katherine, pace yourself, please..." her father warned, speaking for the first time since the argument started. He didn't seem at all shocked by this behavior which, oddly enough, gave Jack a little peace that she would be fine. And then, looking up at Jack, he nodded. "Rose, if Jack enjoys praying before meals, that's his business. Now let it be." And that was that.
The rest of the meal was less tense. Pulitzer kept the peace by diverting the conversation and just flat out telling his youngest daughter to drop subjects. She did. Mostly. But Jack could handle a little debate. And he never offended anyone without apologizing immediately.
The entire meal ended up being okay. Katherine ate twice what she usually did, about three times as fast and Rose silently judged her for it. Ester continuously asked Katherine when the last time she'd eaten was, causing Jack to almost leave the table at one point. But for the most part all was well, until the end of the meal, when Jack caught himself trying to sneak extra rolls into his pockets.
Force of habit, he supposed.
"So, you too will be spending the day with us, correct?"
Before Jack could even speak up, Katherine was stepping up for him. "Actually Mother, me and Jack are spending tonight with his family." The man had to hold himself back when Rose snorted. If she told him one more time that he didn't have a family he'd have to soak her.
"But, Katherine-" Ester began to persuade. She always did. Katherine just shook her head.
"We're going to see Jack's brothers and that's that."
Jack wished the world would just open up swallow him whole. He didn't like the bitterness this family held towards him. He gave their daughter everything he could with everything he had. He loved her more than life. But they didn't seem to care.
"You'd rather spend Christmas in a cold, wooden apartment with boys that you don't know, than spend it with your own family?"
"What about my family?" It was hard to keep calm. It was hard to hold his tongue when they talked about his past and his family whilst he was standing right there. "Those kids didn't chose ta not have homes or ta be beggin' for pennies on the street. They was all I had for a long time n' they are the kindest n' most grateful kids you'll eva' meet in your life. You're welcome ta join us, if ya want." The offer surprised even him but he didn't take it back.
As they moved into the living room, Jack stuck to Katherine's side. He should be fine. He was a twenty year old man. He shouldn't still be intimidated by these people. "I think that's an excellent idea!" Katherine grinned, squeezing Jack's hand as they sat down on the couch.
When she cuddled up next to him, Jack leaned down to her. "Are you alright, darlin'?"
"I'm fine, sweetheart!" she assured, though Jack wasn't quite convinced. "Let's do gifts before anyone else starts arguing."
Jack agreed. The servants brought back in the bag that contained the gifts for these three people. Katherine had picked them out. They'd split their money to cover the costs of all of it. But they'd done pretty nicely.
"Ace, are you sure you're okay?" The fact that she was ignoring it made Jack extra anxious. She never hid things from him. Ever. She told him everything and then proceeded to tell him how her parents never actually listened to her.
With a pointed look that told him to drop it, Jack sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as the maids handed out the gifts. He tried to ignore their meaningless chatter, instead focusing on how his wife's hair smelled. The only way he could describe it was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, just like the rest of her.
Though, as he tried to get lost in his own thoughts, he heard his name being called quietly and gently. When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to find a brown package being handed to him. He was thoroughly prepared to hand it to Katherine before he looked at the name neatly written on it.
For Jack...
"Ya didn't need ta get me nothin'..." he muttered, a small smile playing at his lips. He never got gifts, unless they were from Katherine. Before that, he hadn't been given a gift since before he'd been a newsie. As much as his boys loved him and as much as he loved them, they didn't have that kind of money. They barely scraped by for food and a place to sleep. Presents were few and far in between.
"Nonsense, Mr. Kelly," Pulitzer nodded. "Go ahead, open it..."
Jack grinned and did so without argument. He gently tore away the brown paper that concealed what had been handed to him. Katherine watched him as everyone else tore into their own gifts. She watched his eyes light up and his smile widen as he found a box full of brand new art supplies just begging to be used. And beneath it all, a single brand new canvas.
"Thank you so much!" Jack laughed, a real, full joy filling up his chest.
"Do me a favor, Jack..." Pulitzer smiled as he watched his daughter scoot even closer to her husband. It was like he was seeing it for the first time; how hopelessly in love they were. "Wait to use that canvas for something incredible."
With a confused look at the old man who Jack used to be so terrified of, he smiled and nodded. "Will do, Joe..." he promised with a grin.
"So I've been meaning to ask... what is it that you boys do on Christmas?" It was odd, the sudden kindness this man was showing to some kids that he used to call street rats time and time again. But Jack didn't mind it.
He was thankful for what he was given.
A laugh escaped Jack as he shook his head. "We's normally j'st sleep. 'Specially the littles. Christmas is normally our only day off n' we's lucky if the kids ain't sick by then."
The young man hadn't even been looking up as he was saying it. Christmas was never easy for the boys. He could remember several Christmases where he was up trying to scrounge together some soup for a child coughing and screaming because he hurt so bad and he couldn't get warm or he was too hot. He didn't like it. He wished it wasn't like that.
"So you don't do gifts?"
"Father, why does it matter?" Rose asked, clearly annoyed. Jack wondered how Rose and Katherine were even related sometimes. One of them was so selfless and kind whole the other thought the sun was specially made just for her.
"I'm simply asking a question, dearest," Joe shrugged.
"Uhm... no... we didn't... we didn't have that kinda money..."
"I'd like to go over there with you."
This had to be some kind of dream. Jack did not understand what was happening. Joe didn't like him. Well, he was warming up to him, at least, so Jack had thought. He didn't like the fact that Jack married his eldest daughter. He didn't like their apartment. He didn't like that they both worked. It didn't make sense.
"Joseph, maybe we should discuss-"
"Ester, I'd like to go over there," the man repeated, standing to his feet with a smile. "Please, Mr. Kelly... lead the way..."
And so Jack did. He held Katherine close to him the whole way and he lead his once arch enemy back to his childhood home, leaving behind two woman who didn't understand that the world was cruel to some and kind to others. "Mr. Pulitzer, welcome ta the Lodge," he nodded, opening the door and stepping inside, his arm around his wife's shoulder.
"Specs!" Katherine called out upon walking inside. The boy she'd seen was one of the three kids down there. She ran up and jumped into the boy's arms.
"Ace!" he cried happily, lifting her up off of the ground. And spinning her around. The second her feet hit the ground she found herself inside someone else's arms. Or two someone else's.
"Hi, Racer! Hi Albert!"
"Ace, we missed you!" Albert shouted.
"Geez boys, nothin' f'r ol' Jack? Ya know, the one who lived with ya f'r twelve years?" Jack teased, rushing up and squeezing his boys tightly. He'd missed them, even though it hadn't truly been that long since he'd seen them. The reaction was almost immediate. Jack ended up on the ground with three teenagers on top of him. He could feel then trembling a little from the cold, so he just held them all tighter. "Hey fellas! How's it goin'?"
"We missed you, Jack!" Race admitted, holding tightly to the older boy. A laugh bubbled up in Jack's chest as he nodded.
"I missed you boys too..."
"Everyone else is still upstairs... some of 'em are still sleepin'," Specs explained, trying to get up only to be pulled back down by the former leader of the borough.
Katherine grinned and began walking up the stairs, leaving her husband piled beneath a few boys, smiling like mad at her father before returning with about fifteen other kids that only squealed with happiness and joined in the pile on the ground.
"Hiya, boys!" Jack grinned holding them all as tightly as he could. "Alright alright, that's enough, we got guests!" he laughed eventually, shooing all of the kids to their feet as he pushed himself up off of the floor. "Boys, you all remember ol' Joe..."
Most of the room went a little quiet at that, not that Joe or Jack were really surprised. Some of the littles took to hiding behind their big brothers who were shocked to see the man standing in such a low class place. "Don't worry, boys... he just wanted ta wish ya all a Merry Christmas, right Pulitzer?"
"Of course," the old man smiled, taking in the old shack once again. "I hope you boys are all enjoying your day off..." It was heartbreaking to see how cold they all were. Thin blankets were draped around all of their shoulders at an attempt to keep them warm. It didn't seem to be working. No one was brave enough to speak. Jack didn't know what to say to diffuse the tension and Katherine just gave him an awkward shrug before her father began speaking again. "Do you boys have a telephone?"
They did. One. Kloppman paid for it, the old man used it sometimes. With a gesture over to it, Pulitzer smiled and took the thing in his hands, calling his own home. "Yes, this is Mister Pulitzer..." he began, in a quiet; gentle tone. "Please bring all the food prepared down to the Newsboys Lodging house. Quickly."
"Oh thank God," Katherine muttered, a hand going up to her stomach, a sign she was once again hungry.
"Love, are you sure you're okay?" Jack asked quietly. But he never got an answer.
"Food?" a younger boy asked, somewhat confused.
"Joe ya really don't have to-" Jack began, but the man cut him off, gesturing for the younger man to follow him as he began walking outside. Jack looked to his girl for some kind of an explanation, but she just smiled at him and nodded. And so Jack went.
"Alright, Joe... what's goin' on? Ya ain't neva' been this nice ta me..." The snow was light and beautiful on Christmas. That didn't make Jack want to stand out in it while he could be inside with his brothers, starting a fire for them or tucking them in with all the blankets they could afford.
"Jack, it's recently been brought to my attention that no matter how much we disliked each other a few years ago, you're now family. And the way I treated you then must change at one point or another." Still, Jack was confused. "I'm only trying to make up for past mistakes. These kids are cold and hungry, and it's Christmas. I'm not going to let them starve tonight," the man explained, waiting for the carriage to arrive with all the goods his household could possibly bring over. And Jack was left staring at him, dumbfounded and more grateful than he'd ever been in his life when suddenly it hit him. Suddenly it all made sense.
A slow, tearful grin spread across Jack's face as a laugh bubbled up inside him. "Oh my God..." he muttered. "Ace!" he cried at his father-in-laws laugh, rushing back inside as fast as he possibly could to rush up to his girl and sweep her off of her feet. "Ace! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Father! You weren't supposed to tell him!" Katherine scolded, though she was smiling as he clutched onto her husband tightly.
"Darlin'... oh my God..."
"Jack? What's wrong?" one of the littles asked catching the tears in Jack's eyes.
"Nothin'! Nothing's wrong! Everythin's perfect! Everythin's gonna be perfect!"
And it was. Well, maybe not perfect. But it was as close as it could be.
That Christmas, Jack celebrated another great year with the people he loved and a new found happiness and excitement growing inside him. That Christmas, he watched his boys stuff themselves with all the food they could from a man who would've never given them the time of day before. The Christmas, they celebrated the day that Jack would become a father, a day that was coming up quick and happy.
That Christmas wasn't perfect. But it was one of the best in Jack's life.
"Merry Christmas, Joe!" Jack called as the old man tried to slip out of the room, unnoticed.
With a smile and a nod, Joe waved. "Merry Christmas, Jack..."
I just thought this was cute. I hope you all enjoyed it!
As always, thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya fansies!