-drumroll- This is, offfffiiiicciiiaalllly the most exciting chapter of Kitty in Brooklyn yet! My heart was literally racing as I wrote it. Long awaited and extreamly exciting, I assure you, you will NOT be dissappointed.

PLEASE be sure you've read chapters 8 & 9, as they were uploaded very quickly and one after another. I would hate for you to have accidently skipped over them.

Disclaimer: I do not own newsies. I also do not own Bear. Bear is owned by smiley94, and I have had permission to use him. :) Kitty is mine, all other OCs are mine, and most importantly, this fic is mine.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy chapter 10!

I had been a newsie for a week now. Thankfully, most of the boys had started warming up to me now. I guess they figured if Spot, who was practically related to Rosie, could accept me, they should be able to as well. Bottom seemed to be the only one who's opinion about me couldn't be swayed. His sister, Butter, had been Rosie's best friend. Therefore, he was the only one who was as close with Rosie as Spot had been. Bottom was just more stubborn. He probably felt a sense of superiority, simply because he spoke more proper English than the other newsies. I, personally, didn't find it particularly impressive.

All that week, I sold with Spot as I did the first day. He taught me new tactics, but I was best at making up sob stories, like I had done with the women on their outing. Improving the truth was better for bringing in big crowds at a time, but I was not as good at it. By the end of the week, I was up to selling fifty papers, instead of the twenty I had started with. Spot still sold his hundred long before me each time, though.

I also started counting down to my birthday by making tiny notches in my bedside table. At first I was afraid the time would go by slowly, which it did at first, but I found when I had something else to look forward to, the wait for my birthday wouldn't be nearly as bad.

I had the items in the shop window to look forward to. I figured out that the objects in the window changed every two days. The second day of selling, the items were still the same. The brushes, the ribbons, and the diamond jewelry. On the third day, though, the inventory had changed. Pretty jade combs replaced the pearl brushes, there were sapphire bracelets in place of the diamonds, and different styles of ribbons took the place of the old ones. I would admire the stock for two days and wait impatiently for the items to change again. Waiting for the store to change what was in the window made the time waiting for my birthday go remarkably fast.

At last, the day arrived on a Sunday. I was thankful for this, since Sunday was the ideal vacation day. Hopefully, that would allow more guests to come. When I woke up that morning, I didn't hesitate to jump out of bed (I was on the bottom bunk today, so it wasn't nearly as dangerous of a task). I ran to the washroom and pulled on one of my new shirts, a jade colored plaid one, and actually succeeded at working most of the tangles from my hair. My cheeks were more pink than they usually were, as well. I figured it was from excitement, or if I was lucky, a perk of turning sixteen. I did all this before Spot came in to wake me up, but I met him on his way to do so in the hall.

"Next time you'se decide to get up on yer own, tell me first." He said with a yawn. "Save me a decent amount of time. Happy birthday, by the way."

In about an hour, the boys were ready and up and about. Only Bottom and a few other boys went off to sell, but I figured this was because they didn't want to stick around and celebrate a whole day of me. Nothing had to be set up, really, but the cards were taken off the shelves and placed on the tables, like the one Spot had stood on to make his announcement on the very first day of my arrival. We only had as much food as we ever had, but Bear, Spot's top bird, brought back a message from Jack that if they had dinner leftovers, they would be brought over. Along with that message, Bear reported that the party from Manhattan would consist of Jack, Race, Mush, and Tumbler, the smallest newsie who had take a liking to me. I was very impressed with how professionally Bear handled his job. Much more impressed than I was with Bottom's lack of accent.

"So, Spot, I guess I get to see your bell in more action today, huh?" I said while we sat on the couch, waiting for things to get started. He nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so, huh? Speakin' of party, I got you'se a birthday gift. It's in me pocket somewhere…" He said, and pulled something out of his front pocket. "It ain't wrapped, but I figured ya wouldn't care."

He handed me his gift and I saw that it was a simple red ribbon. Not much to it-no lace or shiny decals, but it was shiny and a beautiful color.

"I know you like lookin' in that window and I saw those ribbons there. I got this off that bag of bread the nuns gave us the other day. It ain't much, but I thought it was nice." He said.

'It is Spot. It's beautiful. Thank you." I said, and tied it into my hair. Hopefully, it made my hair look somewhat more decent than it had been.

After I had it positioned in my hair nicely, the small ring of the silver bell sounded.

"Just on time, like Bear said. Best bird I've ever known…" Spot said, as he went to get the door. Instead of the four newsies that were said to be coming, however, only Jack and Race stood in the doorway.

"Tumbler and Mush are right behind us. On our way over here, we saw this girl. She was kinda out of it, just singin' to herself. Looked pretty melancholy, very lost, and obviously homeless. Not too many girls like that 'round Brooklyn nowadays. Tumbler saw her and couldn't leave her behind and Mush stayed with him to get her. Figured she'd like someplace to stay for a while. Thought Kitty could use some company maybe." Jack explained. "Oh, look, they're comin' here now."

I heard someone humming outside. I didn't recognize the tune, or at least I didn't think I did, but it sounded vaguely familiar. I thought nothing of it and put on a smile to greet Tumbler, Mush, and my surprise guest.

Surprise guest was an understatement, I instantly knew, when the three came to the door.

"Charlotte." I muttered to myself as my smile faded and shock took over. "Charlotte…"

Spot: Lord, that was epic.

Me: I know. I know. You wanna tell the nice people what their job is, now?

Spot: takes out script Please...review. Or I...will...soak ya. The end.

Me: You heard the man!