Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 17

JACK'S POV:

"Merry christmas!" Race shouts. The boys cheer, their faces bright. The building is freezing, but none of us feel it. The presents sit under the tree, hastily wrapped in newspaper and butcher paper. The tree is one we picked up off the street, but it's perfect. It's decorated with ornaments made out of buttons and bottle caps. The tree is lit by some candles nearby, the scent of the wax flowing through the air along with the pine.

The boys are clustered around the room. Some are chatting, some are playing cards. Katharine and Alex are sitting together talking about the last suffrage meeting they went to. The two of them talk non-stop now. It's nice to see them getting along so well.

What's left of the food sits on the table. Davey brought some of his mom's meatloaf, Katharine brought some of the fancy food from her house, Alex came with a batch of cookies, and the rest of us managed to scrounge up some sodas and snacks. It's not the nicest feast, but it's pretty damn good for a bunch of newsies.

"Hey, Les! Come over here! We need ya to place the star on top of the tree!" Finch shouts. Les runs over, a big smile on his face. Finch hands him the star, which is actually just a rusty piece of metal. He hoists Les onto his shoulders and holds him up as he places the star on the tree. "Looks perfect!" Alex shouts out.

"Presents time!" Specs yells. Everybody hurries to gather around the tree. "Les, you go first. You're the youngest." Albert hands him a small box and Les opens it. "My very own newsboy hat!" He proudly puts it on and it falls over his eyes. "Ah, you'll grow into it." Jojo says, slapping him gently on the back.

Little by little, gifts are exchanged. Crutchie gives everyone a pair of gloves that Alex helped him sew. They're a little lumpy and a little threadbare, but they're the best pair of gloves I have ever owned. Spot got Race a nice silver kazoo and Race got Spot a pair of brass knuckles. All of us pitched in to get Davey a brand new book from the book store. He started reading it immediately.

I got a new set of paint brushes, with real wooden handles. It's perfect timing too, my old brushes were pretty much destroyed. Katharine receives one of those new fountain pens. It even has a silver tip. I saw some of the shops selling them on 11th.

Everyone is playing with their new gifts, exchanging thank yous and hugs. The energy in this room is tangible. Everyone's hearts are glowing. "Hey Alex. Come up to the roof with me, I have something to give you." I whisper. Alex and I grab our coats and climb up the fire escape, leaving the noise of the party below.

The night air is cold and our breath freezes into white clouds. I can hear cars and people moving below, the street lights tiny below us, like a reflection of the stars above us. The moon is almost full and it looks down on us. We sit on the edge of the roof, feet dangling over. It would be scary if we didn't know that we had someone there to catch us if we fell.

"I know you don't celebrate christmas, but I got you something anyway." I reach into my pocket and pull out a small cardboard box. I hand it to her and she slowly opens it, tucking the box into the lid. Her mouth goes wide as she pulls out the necklace. "It's the soda cap from our first date. I wanted to save it for something special."

"Jack..." her voice is soft. She puts it on, gently holding the cap. "It's beautiful. Thank you." She wraps me in a hug, giving me a long kiss.

"We should probably go back inside before they wonder where we went." Alex says. I nod. We climb down together, coming back in through the window. It looks like no one noticed we were gone. They're all still clustered around the tree.

"Oh! Look!" Jojo crows, pointing to the space above the window. I look up and see a thing of mistletoe hanging from the frame. "That wasn't there before." Alex mumbles. "Your welcome." Katharine winks, crossing her arms. "C'mon, you hafta kiss! It's the rules!" Mike shouts. I roll my eyes but I turn towards Alex.

She stands on her tip toes and we kiss. Everyone cheers and wolf whistles. I pull away and grab Alex's hand, leading her over to the group. We join them around the tree. Alex leans her head on my shoulder and I wrap my arm around her.

I feel safe here, surrounded by my family. It's odd and mismatched, but it's the only family I could ever want. We're definitely not perfect, we argue and fight. But in the end we always make up and get along. We know that we would fight for each other, that when one of us needs help we'll be there. And that's the only thing that really defines family.