Disclaimer: This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction. All of the characters referenced here belong to Disney and not to me.


Chapter 2: The Exchange (Part 1)

That weekend, all of the newsies who were in town gathered at the Kellys' rental apartment, which Katherine had decked out with as many decorations as she could find in her father's basement. Red and green Christmas lights were strung around the living room, tinsel adorned the kitchen island (where a sumptuous spread of food had been laid out), and in front of the window sat a modestly-sized Christmas tree adorned with brightly-colored ornaments. Jack had cued up a playlist of holiday tunes, and the cheerful music floated through the apartment along with the wafting smell of hot apple cider.

In the center of the living room area sat a large coffee table piled high with oddly-shaped presents.

"That round one there's got me stumped," Romeo muttered to Albert as they sat on the couches eyeing the various items. "Can't think of a single thing that shape and size, and it's killin' me not to have a clue!"

Albert shrugged. He didn't have high hopes for this gift exchange, but he did think the item he'd brought to trade was rather funny, and he wondered who would end up with it. He'd purposefully packaged it in an ambiguously-shaped box so that it wouldn't be too obvious what it was right off the bat, but he probably should have put some kind of note on it saying that the package shouldn't be handled too roughly.

Race plopped down on the couch beside them, nearly sloshing his mug of cider on Romeo. "Hey fellas," he said brightly. "You stakin' your claims already on which one of these treasures is gonna be yours?"

"I'm trying to figure out what that round one is," Romeo answered, pointing to the package.

Race eyed it indifferently. "I dunno," he said. "That boxy one over there, though - the one wrapped in the striped paper - that seems like the real deal to me."

"I brought that one," Jojo said, coming over to join them. "And I can tell you it's definitely the real deal - a classic, if you know what I mean." He grinned. "I've actually got my sights set on Katherine's gift - Jack told me she raided Pulitzer's basement. I figure it's gotta be somethin' interestin' if it's from the old man's cellar."

"How do ya know which one's Katherine's?" Romeo asked.

"Intuition," Jojo said proudly, tapping the side of his head. "I was the first one here after the Jacobs brothers, so there was only four gifts out at that point. I figured Davey and Les's are the ones with matchin' wrappin' paper, so I only had to figure out which one was Jack's and which one was Katherine's. Pretty sure Jack's is the one in the Santa gift bag - ya see those paint smudges on the side? So that leaves the Rudolph gift bag as Katherine's."

Romeo sighed. "Sure wish I had gotten here earlier," he remarked.

"Punctuality's got its benefits." Jojo shrugged, looking up as Specs and Les joined him on the couch. "Any predictions on which of these mystery items is gonna be the big winner?" Jojo asked the newcomers.

Specs considered the pile thoughtfully, but shook his head. "I just hope mine doesn't get lost in the shuffle," he remarked. "I should've wrapped it in somethin' bigger."

"You's always losin' things, ain'tcha?" Race remarked. "Shoes, white elephant gifts - " He ducked as Specs lobbed a throw pillow in his direction.

"Well, my money is on the round one in the middle," Romeo broke in, bringing the conversation back to Jojo's original question. "I'm dyin' to know what it is."

"Oooh, that's the one I brought!" Les exclaimed. "And it's a really cool gift, too! It's - "

"Les!" Davey suddenly appeared at his brother's side, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, his older brother alarm having obviously been tripped. "You can't tell anyone what you brought. That'll ruin the game."

"But Romeo's dying to know!" Les protested.

"I'm pretty sure he'll be able to survive a little longer," Davey remarked, pulling up a chair next to the couch and sitting down with a mug of coffee in hand. "Everyone's finished eating, so Jack will probably get the gift exchange started soon."

Sure enough, Jack's booming voice was heard almost as soon as Davey had finished speaking.

"Hope you fellas all had enough to eat," he said jovially. "If you get hungry, help yourselves to more, but we's gonna get to the part of the night you've all been waitin' for - our first ever holiday white elephant gift exchange!"

Enthusiastic cheers and applause met his declaration as he made his way over to the living room area, while the rest of the newsies who hadn't already seated themselves filled in around the coffee table. Once everyone had found a spot, Jack continued with his instructions.

"Well, we got quite the collection here, I see," he remarked, surveying the large pile. "Sure hope you bummers is ready to go treasure huntin.'" He gave Katherine a little nod, and she began walking around the room with a bowl containing little folded-up slips of paper. "Now Kath is comin' around so you can draw your number - this'll tell us the order we'll go in. When it's your turn, you get to go pick a gift from the pile and open it, or you can steal another fella's gift if you'd rather have what he's got. Three steals maximum per gift, which means if you's the third one to swipe it, it's yours." He looked at Davey. "Am I forgettin' anything important, Dave?"

"If you're the first person to go, you'll get an opportunity to steal at the end of the exchange if you'd like," Davey said, "since you wouldn't have had that chance at the beginning. Oh," he added, "and once you touch a gift, you have to take it. No shaking or peeking and then moving on to something different."

Jack nodded. "And whatever you unwrap, you take home - no leavin' your prizes behind." Katherine, by this time, had made her way around the room, and everyone had their number. "All right," Jack said. "Take a look at those papers, and let's see who's up first!"

There was a moment of excited rustling, then Les exclaimed, "I've got number one!"

"Nice, kid!" Jack congratulated him. "You got the best pick of the lot." He swept his arm grandly over the pile of presents. "What'll it be?"

Les rose from his seat and gave the presents a scrutinizing look, walking part-way around the mound to examine his options. Finally, he selected a small snowflake-patterned gift bag, then walked back to his seat with it.

"Interestin' strategy," Race commented. "I woulda thought a kid like you woulda gone for the biggest present in the pile, not the smallest."

"I'm under strict orders from David not to bring home anything larger than a loaf of bread," Les explained solemnly. "He said we don't need any more junk than we already have."

Everyone turned to look at Davey, who had the decency to appear at least a little embarrassed. "It's true," he mumbled. "But in my defense, we do have way more junk than we need."

"Geez, Dave," Race rolled his eyes. "Can't you let the kid live a little?"

"It's okay," Les piped up. "David promised that he'd take me to get ice cream if I followed his directions, so I think it's a fair tradeoff." He began pulling the tissue paper out of the bag. Inside was a small envelope, which Les eagerly opened to find a pair of one-time day passes to the local zoo.

"Thank you...whoever brought this," the younger boy said politely, looking around the circle.

Specs raised his hand. "It was me," he said. "Those passes come with my annual membership - figured someone else might enjoy them."

"All right," Jack said. So we got two day passes to the zoo in the mix. Who's next?"

"Me," Finch answered. He selected the present closest to him, which was a box wrapped in green paper with a Christmas tree motif.

"This one's mine," Romeo whispered gleefully, elbowing Race in the arm. "I can't wait to see the look on Finchy's face when he finds out what it is."

Finch finished unwrapping the package and nearly dropped a set of - "Picture frames?" - that hadn't been secured together before being wrapped. They slid into a heap on his lap upside down (thankfully, none fell to the floor), and he had to gather them into an orderly stack before he could flip them over.

"Well, guess I could always use another…" Finch trailed off as he turned over the frames, his eyes widening in disbelief. He turned to Romeo. "Romeo…" he said tersely, "tell me you did not just give me a set of your old prom photo frames - "

"Lucky you," Romeo smirked.

" - with the photos still in them!" Finch finished, holding up one of the frames and jabbing his finger at it.

Mush pulled the item from Finch's grasp. "Hey!" he exclaimed, looking at the picture, "You don't clean up too bad, Romeo!" He checked the date on the frame - "what was this - your freshman year?"

Romeo nodded proudly. "Charmed a senior girl into goin' with me," he beamed.

"How exactly do you expect me to use these?" Finch sputtered, gesturing animatedly at the remaining frames in his lap.

"Real simple, Finchy," Race quipped. "You pry open the little metal hooks on the far side, take out the back piece, slide the photo in, and - " He dodged another throw pillow, grinning.

"Can't you just use 'em like normal photo frames?" Romeo asked.

"With phrases like "My Lovey-Dovey Baby" etched on them?!" Finch groused.

Romeo shrugged innocently. "I thought it was kinda cute."

"All right," Jack broke in. "I did say you could bring whatever stuff you had lyin' around, so I guess that includes this kinda...stuff." He shot an apologetic glance at Finch. "Sorry, Finchy," he muttered. "Okay, fellas - who's next? Number three?"

"That's me," Specs answered. He got up from his seat and peered at the pile of presents for a moment before selecting the Santa gift bag.

"Specs has chosen wisely," Jack intoned theatrically. "This one's gonna be a crowd-pleaser, I guarantee." The bespectacled newsie pulled the tissue paper out of the gift bag, reached in, and pulled out…a foam dart gun.

A chorus of oohs and ahhs was heard all around the room. Jack had spoken truly (since this gift was, in fact, his contribution). "What'd I tell you?" he asked, beaming proudly.

"Lemme see that!" Race demanded, motioning for the package. "Is that the Ultra Annihilator XL with with optional motorized release and high capacity drum?"

"It don't sound like you really need a closer look, Racer," Albert quipped. Race ignored him.

Specs handed the package over. "What I really wanna know is what this dart gun was doin' in Pulitzer's basement," he said curiously, glancing at Jack.

Jack, in turn, looked at Katherine. "Father has a lot of interests," she shrugged. "Apparently foam dart weaponry is one of them."

"The old man just got a lot cooler in my mind," Race said reverently, examining the Ultra Annihilator XL. "This thing can launch over two dozen darts up to a length of a hundred feet!"

"All right, well you can steal it if you wanna drool over it more," Jack said, tugging the dart gun from Race's grasp and returning the item to Specs. "Let's keep movin' - who's up next?"

"It's me," Jojo said slowly, sounding unhappy. He trained his eyes on the pile of presents, then looked longingly in the direction of the dart gun. "I can't decide what I want to do," he mourned. "That dart gun sure is lookin' sweet, but I had my eye set on somethin' else...I ain't sure if it's better to go with somethin' sure, or to take a risk."

"Well, you got five seconds to figure it out," Jack said impatiently. "We's only on number four, so we gotta speed things up."

"Ahhhh!" Jojo exclaimed, "The pressure's killin' me!" He squeezed his eyes shut, thought for a second, then held out his arm in Spec's direction. "All right," he said, "I'm stealin' - hand over the dart gun, Specs."

Specs surrendered the item reluctantly, then selected another package from the pile, this one tastefully wrapped in red kraft paper with a snowflake-shaped paper tag on top. "I ain't sure who brought this one," he said, untying the ribbon, "but I gotta give you props for the fancy wrappin.'"

"Wait 'till you see what's inside," Henry remarked from his perch on one of the barstools in front of the kitchen island. Unlike the rest of the newsies, he'd chosen to stay in close proximity to the food in keeping with what Race called Henry's "grazing" habits.

Specs unwrapped the package and held it up for all to see. "Didja make this, Henry?" he asked, turning around to look at the other newsie.

Henry nodded. "Yup - that's one pound of homemade fudge, the best recipe to come out of my test kitchen. It's dark chocolate, so I'd suggest Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot if you's lookin' for a good pairin' - for those of us who's of legal age, of course," he amended hastily, looking at Les and a few of the younger newsies.

"Okay, so we's got a couple of hot items up for grabs now," Jack said, beginning to sound more excited. "Number five, let's go."

"Meeee!" Romeo sang out, jumping up from the couch and springing over to the pile, where he immediately selected the round package he'd had his eye on from the beginning. "Ooh," he said, as he felt the item through the paper wrapping. "Squishy."

"It's - " Les began, before Davey silenced him with a look. Romeo didn't even catch the exchange, so engrossed was he in tearing through the paper.

Out of the wrappings emerged a circular shaped pillow in a bright yellow color. Romeo gasped, then immediately hugged the pillow to his chest. "I love it!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Katherine asked, sounding both interested and amused.

"It's a kissing emoji pillow!" Les exclaimed, happy to finally be able to let the secret out. "I won't tell you where I got it, or which one of my many admirers gave it to me, but all I'll say is that I've got a few more like it at home, so I thought I could probably spare one."

"You knew," Romeo sniffled, sounding touched. "And pillows are my favorite thing, too - I've always gotta have at least three or four." He patted the emoji pillow fondly, wiping away a tear. "There's definitely going to be a spot on my bed for you, new friend. You'll feel right at home."

"All right, so we got zoo tickets, photo frames, a dart gun, fudge, and a smiley face pillow on the table," Jack said briskly, beginning to get just an inkling of why Davey had been hesitant to allow the boys to bring "found" items to the gift exchange. "Let's see what else we got." He looked around the group. "Who's next?"

"I got number six," Crutchie said, getting to his feet, "and I am gonna relieve Jojo of his dart gun." He reached over and swiped the item from Jojo, who looked a little disappointed, but not completely crushed.

"That's steal number two for the dart gun," Jack reminded everyone. "What'll it be, Jojo?"

"Well, guess I'll take a chance on the gift I originally wanted," Jojo said, plucking the Rudolph bag from the pile. He gave Katherine a look. "Was I right in guessin' you brought this one, Kath?" he asked. "Somethin' else from Pulitzer's basement?"

The reporter nodded. "You've got some great intuition," she replied. "You're right - it's mine. I hope you'll like it - I don't think it'll be as much of a crowd-pleaser as Jack's was."

"Are. You. Kidding?!" Jojo exclaimed giddily, pulling a handful of items from the bag. "This is even better than a dart gun!"

"What'ja get?" Race asked curiously, craning his neck to look.

"Only a handful of the best bacon paraphernalia a newsie could ever ask for!" Jojo beamed. "Bacon-scented air-fresheners, bacon-flavored floss, bacon-shaped adhesive bandages, a pair of "I Heart Bacon" party shades - "

"And there's a pound of honey barbecue bacon in the fridge that goes with all that," Katherine added, delighted at Jojo's pleased reaction.

Jack shot her a suspicious look. "Hey...you supplemented your gift, didn'tcha?" he accused. "There's no way Pulitzer had a pound of bacon down in his basement along with all that other stuff. You broke the rules!"

"I told you I found my gift in Father's basement, and I did!" Katherine retorted. "I never lied." Jack frowned, giving her a look that said he didn't believe her. "I...didn't tell you everything - " she amended finally.

"Oh, if you weren't my wife I'd be callin' you out for cheatin' right now," Jack growled, shaking his head.

"Jack, it was one pound of bacon at the grocery store. One pound!" Katherine threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "How does one pound of bacon hurt anything?"

"You broke the rules!" Jack reiterated.

"So that I could be a little more generous with my gift!" Katherine shot back defensively. "Look at Jojo!" She motioned to the newsie, who had already donned the "I Heart Bacon" party shades. He gave Jack a little wave and a smile. "Look at how happy he is!" Katherine continued. "Are you really going to begrudge me the joy of making one of your newsies happy, all for some silly rule?"

Jack seemed to deflate a bit. "Guess you have a point," he admitted gruffly. "But you's settin' a bad example for the boys with all of this rule-bendin.'"

Katherine leaned over to give him a pacifying kiss on the cheek. "Just overlook it this time, all right, Jack?" she suggested. "I promise I'll be more observant of the guidelines next year - Davey-level observant, even."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Davey muttered (but no one bothered to answer him).

"All right," Jack conceded, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Guess that's as good as I can hope for." He gave her a half-grin. "I ain't gonna try to stop that big heart of yours, Kath - probably couldn't, even if I tried."

He turned to the newsies. "Sorry fellas," he said apologetically. "Let's keep this thing goin' - we got at least two happy bummers so far," he motioned to Romeo and Jojo.

"And we're about to have one more!" Katherine declared, raising her slip of paper. "I'm number seven, and I'm going to steal Henry's homemade fudge. We've actually got a bottle of Merlot here at the apartment, and I've been trying to figure out what to pair it with." She walked over to Specs, who surrendered the fudge reluctantly, then made her way triumphantly back to her seat.

"Well, looks like you's up again, Specs," Jack said, feeling a little sorry for the bespectacled newsie who just couldn't seem to hold on to any of the gifts he selected.

"Guess I might as well open something else," Specs shrugged, resigned to the fact that he probably wouldn't get to keep whatever he opened up next, and getting more and more indifferent to the proceedings as time went on. He picked up a bag that had a snowman on it and took it over to his seat on the couch. More tissue paper was wadded up and set on the ground by his feet, and Specs reached into the gift bag to reveal…

"The ugly Christmas sweater of all ugly Christmas sweaters!" Albert exclaimed, as Specs held it up.

"Hey!" Crutchie snapped. "You don't gotta be insultin'!"

"You don't think it's ugly?" Albert challenged.

"It's got poi-sonality." Crutchie gave the other newsie a condescending look. "A bum like you couldn't pull it off, but I bet'cha a nickel someone else here could!"

"It's got a Tyrannosaurus Rex wearing a Santa hat and a string of Christmas lights on it," Albert scoffed.

"And the lights light up!" Crutchie giggled gleefully, a smile spreading like butter across his face. "Flip the little switch under the collar, Specs!" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Woah…" Albert was stunned as the sweater began twinkling. "That takes horrendous to a whole new level."

"Okay, I think we've discussed the merits of the sweater enough," Jack said, once again stepping in to keep things on track. "Let's take a stretchin' break for five minutes - all this sittin's makin' Finch antsy, I can tell. Grab some more snacks, refill those drinks of yours, and then we'll circle up again in five for the second half. All right, boys? Go!"


A/N: If you've participated in white elephant gift exchanges before, can you identify with any of the newsies and their respective situations? Are you Specs, the one everyone steals from? Or Katherine, the rule-bender? Or maybe Race or Albert, giving running commentary on everyone else's gifts? Most of the time I end up being Finch, the one who draws the dud gift early on and gets stuck with it…and I've participated in a LOT of white elephants (though I've never gotten someone's old prom photo frames). I probably should start implementing Davey's "nothing bigger than a loaf of bread" rule. :)

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought.