Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies. It belongs to Disney.

After a lot of planning, soul searching, and researching Piper had come to a decision. It wasn't one that she could make on her own since it would also affect Les. It wasn't a decision to be taken lightly. She felt that she was up to the challenge and that everything would work out in the end. She hadn't told Les what she had decided and she was nervous about how he would react.

She waited for him at the train depot with bated breath. He had only been home once since starting school two months ago and his letters had tapered off after a few weeks. She hadn't talked to him on the phone in almost a week so she was lucky to have him home if only for the weekend of his birthday.

The train pulled into the station and Les was the first person off. He dropped his bags at Piper's feet before lifting her off the ground. She chuckled with a small smile. He pressed his forehead to hers and his eyes bore into hers taking her breath away. He kissed her lightly before placing on her on the ground. She stayed in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I have missed you so much," he murmured.

"I've missed you too."

"What have I missed? What's going on?"

"Natalie is starting to show and your mother has determined that she's having a boy. My students are starting to adjust and I think I'm really making a difference with them."

"That is important," he said with a nod.

"I've been spending every weekend at the boarding house. You can meet them this weekend if you want. You don't have to sit in on the lesson; Mush usually doesn't."

He nodded in agreement, noticing that there was something that she wasn't telling him. He would give her until Sunday to tell him and then he would confront her. He didn't want to ruin the weekend by arguing with her.

They were quiet as they waited for a carriage to take them to David and Emmaleigh's. The ride was short and Esther met them at the door. She hugged Les tightly while Piper shed her coat and put it on the rack. She saw Sarah and the girls out of the corner of her eye waiting for their turns to greet Les. She slipped out of the room quietly and made her way to the kitchen where Emmaleigh was preparing dinner. Natalie sat at the table with her head in her hands.

"She says that I can't help, she doesn't need it," Natalie said with a bored sigh.

"I'm only making soup. Even you can make that," Emmaleigh said, tossing Natalie a teasing wink.

"You shouldn't be on your feet all the time anyway. It's bad for your back," Piper said in concern.

"You sound like your brother," Natalie answered, scrunching her nose in irritation.

Sarah and Esther came in followed by Anna and Susan. The girls sat on either side of Natalie patting her stomach lightly and talking to the baby. Natalie lavished in the attention and the baby kicked, making the girls squeal with delight.

"Mommy, we want a baby brother," Anna said to Sarah.

"Well, if God sees it in him to bless us with a boy than you will, but for now I'm very happy with the two of you," Sarah said sentimentally.

"You should start trying again. Anna was two when you got pregnant with Susan," Esther said.

"Susan won't be two for another eight months Mom. I'm not in any rush, neither is Jack," Sarah said with a small smile.

The talk of babies was laid to rest while Emmaleigh finished dinner. Sarah called the men into the dinner and when dinner was through Esther went to the pantry. She came out with a cake already lit and everyone sang Happy Birthday to Les.

Les opened the few presents that were handed to him and soon Skittery, Natalie, Piper, Sarah and her family were ready to leave. Les stopped Piper just before she walked out the door behind Natalie and Skittery.

"What time do you want me to come over tomorrow?"

"I usually go over in the afternoon; most of them work in the morning. So come over around two."

"Is something wrong?"

"I just have a lot on my mind. You don't need to worry, if something were wrong I would tell you," she promised.

He nodded before brushing her hair over her shoulder. He kissed her lightly while Skittery tried to hail them a carriage. Piper pulled away, giving Les an encouraging smile before walking down the stairs to meet her brother and sister. She would talk to Esther before she made a final decision or talked to Les. Having her perspective would help since she had been through the process before.

XXXX

Les opened Piper's door instead of knocking, something very few people could get away with. Piper could be heard in her bedroom so Les went to the kitchen to get a glass of water once he had let her know that he was there. Piper came into the room smoothing her apron of her dress down. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling him to her as he finished his drink. She placed her head on his shoulder and he kissed her temple. It was simple and sweet and they were content to take in the quiet.

He pulled his arm from around her waist, taking her hand before pulling her out of the room. The walk to the boarding house was quiet and Emmanuel let them inside. The younger boys surrounded Piper, talking excitedly. She calmed them down before answering the questions one at a time.

She introduced them to Les and then the line of questioning turned to him. Did he miss his family when he was at college? Was there any way that he could be talked out of marrying Piper so that one of them could? Piper noticed that Charlotte held back, not sure what to make of the situation. After a ten minutes Mush broke them up and reminded them that Piper was there to teach them not be interrogated.

Les followed Mush into the kitchen and some of the older boys followed behind them. Piper was able to draw the kid's attention away from her and Les easily once they were upstairs. They breezed through lesson and she gave them their independent work to on. Charlotte worked independently while the boys worked in groups.

At the end of the hour she collected their work and gave them their assignments for the week. The boys scattered in different directions but Charlotte walked over to Piper. This was the first time that Charlotte had sought her out first.

"Can I help you Charlotte?"

"Mr. Myers told me that you lived here when you were younger."

"That's right, I was a little older than you," she admitted.

"You have a brother?"

"His name is Jason. He raised me until I was twelve."

"Then what happened?"

"Les' parents became my guardians."

"They adopted you?"

"No, they didn't feel that was the right decision."

"But you lived with them and you got to go to school?"

"Yes," Piper said with a polite smile.

Charlotte nodded in understanding and Piper knelt down to her level.

"Would you like to live with me?"

Charlotte's eyes widened before welling up with tears. Her bottom lip trembled and she caught it between her teeth to squelch the problem. Piper put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"You don't have to be scared."

"You would adopt me?"

"If you would like," Piper said politely.

Charlotte nodded quickly as she swiped at her eyes. Piper smiled gently before brushing the girl's hair behind her ear.

"It's going to be a little while before you can come home with me. There are a lot of things that need to be taken care of. Papers to file, meetings with child services but when the time comes I would love to have you live with me and Les."

"My parents weren't around a lot," she said in shame.

"My mother died when I was five and my father was an alcoholic who wasn't around either," Piper admitted.

Charlotte nodded sympathetically but could not meet Piper's eyes. Piper knew that she needed to tell Les, but she didn't know how to bring it up. She opened the door and called for him, being honest and upfront would be best. Les came to stand at the door and Piper took Charlotte's hand to lead her over to him. She knelt down to Charlotte's level once more, putting her other hand on Charlotte's shoulder.

"Charlotte, this is Les. You didn't have a chance to meet him downstairs. Les, this Charlotte, she wants me to adopt her. I want you to know that I haven't started the process yet, but I hope that I have your support."

"You're marrying him?" Charlotte asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes, I am," Piper said looking up at him with a smile.

Les looked between them taking in what Piper had said. He should have known that something like this would happen. He wasn't upset, just taken by surprise.

"Les, are you alright?" Piper asked, bringing him back to the present.

"I'm fine. If you think that this is what's best than I support the decision."

"I have something else to say," Charlotte said.

"Go ahead," Piper encouraged her.

"I won't let this happen unless you take Emmanuel in too," she said, her chin jutting out in determination.

"Let's work on you for right now. Maybe after everything settles we can talk Les into adding another," Piper said soothingly.

Charlotte looked up at Les, gauging his reaction to what had been said. He showed no trace of panic or worry. She nodded in agreement before Piper stood. There was a lot that needed to be done. It was going to be a while before Charlotte came to live with Piper but Piper couldn't wait. She couldn't wait to tell Esther what was going on, she was going to be so proud of Les and Piper for what they were doing.