I don't own Home Alone

A/N: Hello CrimsonCommander688! Thank you for your review! I definitely have something in mind in regards to Harry, but that will be a future story arc.

Enjoy!

The interesting thing about working at a diner was that there would always be new faces coming in and out during brunch. At times, there would regular customers coming during the brunch hours. Marv felt fortunate for those due to the tips that they would leave. Even though it was not enough, he had his ways of making sure that he got the sum that he wanted. It may have been loose change, but he lived by his philosophy that 'every little bit helps.'

Now that the brunch hour was over, he was helping the rest of the staff clean up the place before they settled for their fifteen-minute break. He felt tired but he realized that it was something that he should expect each day that he worked here. "Here's some more dishes," the young brunette waitress, by the name of Natalie, said as she placed them on the counter.

How much did these people eat? Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Marv was about to grab the whole stack of plates and place them in the sink. However, that action didn't go unnoticed from Tom, which resulted into a slightly long lecture of plates breaking and how he would have to pay for it, and not wanting to take it out of Marv's paycheck. Thus far, Marv had only broken a couple, mostly due to his inelegant way but he felt that he had made some progress.

Over at the main room, the waitresses had finished with cleaning the floors and they sat down for their break. Amy was busy at the cash register, counting how much money they had made during the brunch hour. A sum in the hundreds was not bad, but she didn't know why she had that intuition that they had made a little more. She had recounted the amount three more times to ensure that she hadn't miscounted and wound up with the same result. Well, three times was the truth. She closed the cash register and joined her coworkers at the booth. "What are we talking about ladies?"

Anne held a silver case of cigarettes towards her, and Amy declined with a shake of her head. She had given up smoking a long time ago, but the aroma of the tobacco was enough to tempt her.

"Tom is going to kill us if he sees this," Amy pointed out to Anne.

"Ahh," Anne said with a wave of her hand, "what Tommy doesn't know won't hurt him. Always trying to act like a tough guy. Anyways, our girl Natalie here has decided to embark on her education."

Amy turned her eyes over to the young waitress who replied to her with a smile. "Why that's amazing, honey! What are you studying?"

"Theater," Natalie answered as she took a small drag of her cigarette and blew a plume into the atmosphere, "it's only a matter of time when both of youse will see me on the big screen."

That was quite the ambitious journey to get there and lots of competition. However, Amy knew that it wasn't her right to oppose her coworker's future. "However, it works for you," she responded to her, "just don't forget about us when you get to Hollywood."

Anne responded with a 'hmph' as she took another drag of her cigarette. She turned her eyes over to the window and saw two young kids walking past the window and heading towards the door. "Damn," she said as she stubbed out the cigarette on the ashtray. "Get this smoke out," she said as she got up to her feet and waved her hand in the air to get rid of the tobacco smell.

As Natalie and Anne got the customers situated at a booth, far away from the smoke, Amy headed into the kitchen. "Need some help?" she asked as she saw Marv hunched over at the sink.

"Nah," Marv replied with a shake of his head, "I'm almost done anyway."

"Don't forget to take your fifteen," Amy said to him, "we just go some customers in, but Anne and Natalie will take care of them."

After setting out the last of the dishes to dry, Marv wiped his hands clean on a towel and then faced Amy. "I think I'll go on that break now. I'm gonna go for a walk a little bit. I need a change of environment."

"Can I join?" Amy asked him, "I still have ten minutes of my break left."

"Of course," Marv said to her. It was better to have some company rather than spending it by himself.

All bundled up and out in the streets, Marv and Amy took a walk around the neighborhood. The streets weren't as busy at this part of town, so it made crossing the street a little easier. As they walked, Marv looked around at the tall buildings that signified New York. It was just as mesmerizing as it was six years ago when he was here with Harry. Tall buildings, great architecture, many people. It was great!

As for Amy, she had busied herself with some window shopping. Each store that they passed, she stopped and looked at the items that were on display, all of them Christmas decorations. In one store there were little Christmas trees, in the other there were home decorations that were carved out of wood, and the other store, well that one specialized in selling crystals, which was something that she couldn't afford for the moment. "Oh," she said as she stopped by a window and looked at what was on display.

Marv looked over his shoulder and stopped. "What's the matter?" he asked as he walked over to the window and joined her.

However, it wasn't what was on display. There was a flyer advertising a Christmas concert that was going to happen right next to the Plaza Hotel. "Would you look at that," Amy said as she pointed over to the flyer. "It's happening on the 24th."

Marv squinted at the words on the flyer. Not only was it a concert but it was going to be hosted by two famous celebrities. "Sounds pretty interesting," Marv said to her. "Do you wanna go?"

"Only if we get enough money by then for two tickets," Amy said to him as she looked at the price of it.

"Why do we need tickets in the first place?" Marv asked, "it's at a park! The place should be free!"

"I know," Amy agreed with a nod of her head, "everything must be commercial for Christmas. Just let the people enjoy it. It's about giving, not taking."

If Marv's memory was correct, he thought back at a conversation that he had with Harry back in Chicago.

Harry expressed his hatred for Christmas that morning, saying that "people become too cynical, too jaded…moral decay of contemporary society." Marv had no idea what he had meant by that, but after seeing all those presents in the houses that they had raided, and the fact that no one was going to use those presents due to lack of interest, it made Marv slightly understand what he had meant by that. Now Amy was going on her own thoughts of what Christmas should be, though the only difference was that she appreciated the holiday more than Harry.

Passing the store, Amy and Marv came upon a person that was dressed like Santa who was ringing a bell asking for donations. Amy reached inside her purse and pulled out a couple of bills and placed them inside the bin. Last time Marv had passed by these, he had reached inside and stolen some change. He looked back at the bin, with that temptation to steal all the money that was in there.

"Want to donate?" the person dressed as Santa asked him.

Marv looked back at the bin. "I think she took care of it," he said and hurried after Amy before that temptation caused him to grab the whole bin in front of Santa and run away with it. "What have you always wanted for Christmas?" Marv broke the silence between them.

"A family," Amy answered him without thinking deeply upon that question. "You?"

She didn't give him a chance to ask. "At this point, I don't really know. Just to be out of jail, I guess. Don't you have any relatives?" he asked, going back on her response.

"I have a sister," Amy replied to him, "she calls occasionally, but she has her own family to take care of."

"When you say family, you mean…you wanted kids?" Marv asked her.

Amy knew that this was an innocent question coming out of him. He was just curious to know a part of her which was only relevant to her and Harry. "Yeah," Amy answered her, "I've always wanted children."

There was a mere silence between them. "Well…what happened?" Marv asked her.

Amy mashed her lips together and looked down at the pavement. Slowly, she raised her eyes at Marv and a small smile came upon her lips. "I think that's a story for another time," she said to him, seeing that they had reached the proximity of the diner. As they passed by the window, it was lunch hour, and man, was it busy! "Time to face the music," Amy chuckled as she opened the door and entered inside with Marv.

God this is going to be a lot of dishes and cleaning! Marv thought himself as he noticed that every single booth was filled with people, and some booths that had four customers in each other them. Yes, it was indeed time to face the music...with a lot of soap.