Title: Out of the Snow
Author: Josiahgirl
Rating: PG
Summary: Two little boys lost and alone find a new home with some unexpected people.
Disclaimer: Chris, Andy, Emma and any other unfamiliar characters are mine. The familiar characters belong to Disney and I swear I am not making anything off this or any of my other stories. Please don't sue me all you would get would be a bunch of books that cost way to much and a computer that runs way too slow.

AN: This a sequel/prequel to my Another Fine Day arc. It's about how Bait and Jolly were found by the newsies and how they got their names. Please Read and Review

Christopher and Andrew sat on the floor of the only home they had ever known. Emma was out at work and had left them by themselves yet again. There was very little food and even less to do to entertain themselves. Emma was their mother, they knew that she knew that but she insisted that they call her Emma.

Everyone in the building thought they were siblings, that Emma was this brave little girl who had raised her two baby brothers from infancy, but Andy and Chris knew the truth. Emma was their mother, she had given birth to them when she was 14 and now at 20 was hiding that fact from the world. Her current boyfriend, Manly was passed out on the only bed in the room. Neither boy dared even try to wake him because that would mean getting slapped around by him, then by Emma when ever she got in.

Both boys were use to the squalor they lived in, they had known nothing else in their short lives. They also knew that Manly wouldn't be around much longer. Emma was already showing the signs that she was bored of him. All too soon he would be kicked out and Emma would bring in a new boyfriend.

Her story would change with each man. Sometimes it was her mother who had died in childbirth, leaving Emma with two babies to raise. Other times "mum and da" had been killed in a unfortunate trolley accident just months before and now Emma was left with her two young brothers to raise all on her own. None of the boyfriends ever questioned her story, the boys would just go along with it knowing that it really didn't matter and that soon the man would be gone and Emma would be moving to her next victim.

Chris and Andy weren't what would be called good-looking children. They were rarely clean, their hair always hung in their eyes. Emma cut it once every two months to prevent them from looking like little girls but always said that as soon as they were old enough they would be out of her life forever. Both boys wondered when this would be, they both actually were looking forward to it.

Neither boy spoke much, speaking was a bad idea when anyone was asleep in the room, so they both sat quiet as possible till Emma got home, then they would eat what was left from her dinner with Manly then curl up together like little kittens and fall asleep. They listened intently for Emma's footfalls on the stairs, they would be a warning. Either they would stay out in the open or they would hide under the table to avoid anything that might fly during a fight.

* Stomp Stomp Stomp * Emma didn't sound all too happy. Andy and Chris exchanged a look before diving for the relative protection of the table. The door flew open as Emma entered the room, "Manly Get out now. I don't care where you go or who you go with just get out now." She went over and threw the man out of the bed.

"Woman what do youse mean coming in here and disturbing my rest?" Manly rose up towering over Emma then began the daily fight. Manly and Emma would yell at each other, until Manly got tired and began to slap her around. Emma would then begin to fight back or if she was up to it pull one or both of the boys out from under the table and let Manly beat on them. It was a cycle that neither boy wanted to repeat.

Chris saw a means of escape and pulled on Andy's arm to get his attention. Emma had left the door open, the door mustn't have latched when she slammed it close. Even though neither boy said anything, by silent agreement they watched for their chance to escape. It never came. Manly was fed up with yelling at Emma and took the parcel she had held out and left slamming the door behind him.

Emma still had a lot of fight left in her and began looking for a way to release it. She knelt down till she could see under the table and peered at the two cowering boys. "There you are, now come out here so we can play." Her voice sounded menacing and neither boy moved. Her face hardened and steel entered her words. "I said to come out, and I meant now. You have been bad boys for hiding like this and you must be punished."

She reached in and grabbed Andy by the ankle, dragging him out from under the table. She rained multiple slaps and hits down on his little body, which he took with a stoic silence. Both Andy and Chris knew she would hurt them worse if they made noise and made the neighbors mad. She soon tired of her abuse of Andy and moved on to Chris. Neither boy was spared her anger at them for "ruining her life" was just too great.

Finally spent Emma left both of her sons on the floor and went around making herself a meal from the last of the food. She barely glanced at them, the boys carefully picked themselves up but made no notice of their newly acquired bruises. Emma finished off the rest of the food, saying that since they had been fighting when she was making it they were both going to bed. Neither boy even tried to correct her that only meant more beatings. They both headed for the corner that constituted their bed and curled up, holding on to the only steady thing in either of their lives each other.