1915

"Josie, dinner's ready!" Rose called to the teen. "Coming, Aunt Rose!" Joselyn May Kelly called back, adding the finishing touches to her painting. She brushed her curly brown hair behind her ear and stepped back to look at her painting. She sighed. It wasn't as good as her dad's, but it'd have to do for now.

"We're here!" a familiar voice called as Josie heard the door opening. It took her a second to recognize it, but once she did, she lit up and shouted, "Uncle Specs!" She ran to the living room and nearly knocked her 'uncle' over in a hug. "Hey there Josie! What're you doing here?" Specs asked, hugging the thirteen year old.

"Mom and Dad are visiting one of Mom's cousins, so I'm staying with Aunt Rose and Uncle Davey until they get back. They get back tomorrow night," Josie explained, letting go.

"What, I don't get a hug?" Crutchie asked, limping in after Specs. Josie gasped and hugged her favorite uncle. "How're you doing, Josie?" Crutchie grinned, hugging the girl with his free arm. "Pretty good," she said cheerfully, letting go.

"Is that paint, Josie?" another voice asked, making her turn. She grinned again, hugging Race before saying, "Yeah, it's paint." They separated and Rose poked her head in to the living room before saying, "The food's getting cold."

They walked in and Crutchie kindly said, "Smells wonderful, Rose." Rose smiled happily and said, "Thanks, Crutchie. Davey should be home any minute, guys."

"Rose?"

"Or now." Rose chuckled and called to her husband, "In the kitchen, Davey!" The tall dark-haired man walked in, smiling at his friends and wife. "Hey guys," he smiled. He gave Josie a hug and she hugged her godfather.

"How was work, Dave?" Crutchie asked. "Yeah, being a English teacher must be pretty exciting, right?" Race grinned, chuckling.

Davey rolled his eyes. He was used to their jokes about his job by now and some of them he even laughed at with them. "Work was fine, thanks for asking Crutchie. Josie, I grabbed that book you were wanting," he added, handing the teenager a good-sized book. She lit up at the sight of the book and reluctantly set it down to help Rose set the food out.

"What book you readin', Josie?" Specs asked as they all sat down. "It's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. One of my favorites. Where'd you get it, Uncle Davey?" she asked, instantly picking it up once she sat down, dark brown eyes scanning the pages.

"One of my colleagues was giving it away," Davey explained, making Josie finally tear her eyes off the book in shock. "Who on earth would give this away? I mean, not that I'm complaining, I'm glad I have it, but what kind of goof would get rid of this?" she questioned in shock, making the adults chuckle.

"Guess someone that didn't like it as much as you do," Crutchie shrugged, making Josie nod then put her nose back in the novel.

"Didja see there was another woman's protest few days ago?" Race asked, stuffing some food in his mouth. "Yeah, didn't they arrest a few of them?" Specs asked. "Yeah, I heard 'bout that. I think a fight broke out or somethin'," Crutchie added.

"You and Katherine going to join the next one, Rose?" Race asked. "Shh, not with Josie right here," she hissed. "She's not listening, she's glued to her book," Davey said.

But Josie was listening and she was listening intently.

Rose glanced at the teenager before saying, "I don't know. Katherine's been trying to talk me into it, but I haven't decided on anything."

"If you do, can I come?" Josie asked, looking up. "Told you she was listening," Rose mumbled, nudging her husband. "Do you think your parents'll let you go, Josie?" Specs asked. She shrugged. "You guys had a strike, Dad wouldn't mind if I helped out, right? A strike isn't much different from a protest," she pointed out, making the boys chuckle.

"Don't know. That's a question you'll have to ask him," Crutchie said.

"Josie, how's school going?" Rose asked, trying to divert the was still young, and Rose had heard stories of what happened at the Newsies strike. She just didn't want to see the younger girl get hurt.

"Eh, it's school," Josie shrugged, burying her nose back in the book. She finished eating and, after getting permission from Rose and Davey, she went back to her room and tried to finish the painting.

But her mind kept going back to that protest that the women were doing. Imagine if she got to help. Would her dad be proud?

'I bet he would be! I could be like him and the other newsies!' she thought, grinning. She giggled and did a little happy dance. After school tomorrow, she would go to the square and join the protest.

She couldn't wait to see her dad's reaction!


The next morning, Rose woke the young girl up for school and Josie could hardly pay attention in her classes out of excitement.

When she (finally) got out, she told her friends bye and took off. When she reached the area where they'd been protesting, she didn't see anyone at first, so she sat on the sidewalk and waited patiently.

But soon, women began gathering in the area, raising their signs and shouting things. Josie jumped up, grinning. She ran over and tried to blend in and for a while it worked. Until a woman noticed the teenager.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" she asked, making Josie freeze. "Um, um, I wanted-wanted to join you guys," Josie squeaked.

"This isn't a place for kids. It can get dangerous," the woman advised. As if on cue, they heard a whistle blow. At first the women didn't go anywhere, but as the policemen on horse gathered around them, it got crazy. The women began pushing and shoving to get out of the way. As Josie tried to escape the madness, she got knocked over.

The women were in too big of a hurry to pay her any attention and there were too many people running past for her to try and get up. She heard her name being shouted but couldn't look up to see who it was.

Soon she felt two hands grab her, pull her up and out of the crowd. "What were you doing in there?!" Finch shouted over the noise.

"I-I-," she stuttered but didn't know how to explain herself. Finch sighed and said, "You gotta bruise on your forehead. C'mon, let's get back to your place."

She followed her uncle to her apartment and by the time they reached it, her head was throbbing. Finch knocked on the door and after a minute, it flew open. "Finch! Josie! Oh thank God!" Katherine gasped. She pulled them both into a tight hug before pulling them inside.

"Jack, Finch and Josie just got here. Go tell Davey and Rose we found her!" Katherine called. Jack ran out from the hallway and hugged his daughter, kissing the top of her head. "Where've you been, young lady?! Do you know how worried we've been?" Jack scolded.

Then Katherine noticed Josie's injuries. "Josie, what happened, sweetie?" she asked. Tears filled Josie's eyes as she looked at her parents. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to be- I just wanted to be like Dad and all my uncles," she cried, embarrassed and sore.

Katherine, Jack, and Finch looked at each other. "I'll go tell Davey and Rose you guys found her. You stay with Josie," Finch said.

"Thanks Finch," Jack said as Katherine guided her daughter to the couch. Finch nodded and left. "Honey, what do you mean you wanted to be like your dad and uncles?" Katherine asked gently.

"Aunt Rose, Uncle Davey, Uncle Crutchie, Uncle Specs, and Uncle Race were talking about how the women were having protests and I remembered when you guys had the strike, so I thought that- that if I helped with it then Dad would be proud of me and I'd-I'd be like you guys," Josie explained, ashamed and upset. Her head was down with her eyes focused on her hands as Katherine and Jack looked at each other again.

"Josie, look at me," Jack said, making Josie slowly raise her eyes to look at her father. "Josie. I'm already proud of you. Want to know why? Because you're a creative, smart, and independent young woman. Just like your mother," Jack smiled, taking his daughter and wife's hands, making both of them smile.

"Really? Thanks, Dad," Josie smiled and hugged her dad. "And, honey? Don't join any more protests," Katherine added and Josie sat back down.

"I won't. Believe me, that was enough for the rest of my life," Josie laughed, making Katherine and Jack laugh as well.

After Davey and Rose came to make sure Josie was alright, they had a family dinner together. And Josie realized she didn't have to be apart of some protest to make her dad happy, she just had to be herself.


A/N: Hey y'all! I hope you like this! Josie's character was really fun to develop. The future thing is only for this chapter, but if you'd like to see more of teen Josie, I'd be happy to write it! I'd love some feedback! Also, I know there weren't really any women's protests until later on, but it worked with the storyline so just ignore it. Originally this was going to be a oneshot about a Josie and a boy she had a crush on and Jack having to 'test him' but this worked better.

The next chapter will be a Christmas special and I'd love it if you guys could give me some ideas for it cause I'm going insane trying to to come up with something for it. TTFN!