Jackine one-shots

Rag tag Kelly puppies

Katherine Kelly was a sucker for taking in and looking after strays. This was a well known fact. She'd married Jack Kelly and practically adopted all of the newsies as her own. She didn't even try to deny this.

So, when she saw the small litter of puppies she knew there was no way she was going to leave them freezing in the stinking streets of New York.

"Well hello there sweeties." She whispered, kneeling down, not caring about the fact that her skirt woulda get dirty. She took off her coat and herded the small puppies in there.

There were four, two girls and two boys. She couldn't tell what breed, beneath the dirt and mud caked on their fur she had no way of knowing.

"Now, I'm going to take you home. And me and Jack will find somewhere for you to stay. Or you can stay with us." She whispered, gently picking her coat up by the sleeves and creating a sort of pouch for them.

She shuddered as she began to walk home, the snow becoming heavier and the wind picking up speed. She ran up the steps to her apartment block, almost flying up the three flights of stairs before banging on the door.

She heard the puppies begin to cry and whimper in the folders of her coat and she reached on hand to stroke them. "Jack'll be here soon to let us in." She said, letting out a breath of belief as Jack opened the door for her.

Jack stood there wide eyed when he saw his wife, dripping wet with melted snow and her coat a bundle in her arms. "Jesus Ace? What the hells is youse doin?" He asked, gesturing for her to get inside.

"I was walking home from work." She explained, gesturing for him to follow her into the bathroom. She set her coat down in the bathroom and let the puppies, as weak as they were, tumble out. "And I found them."

Jack laughed, wrapping his arms around her soggy form from behind. "Only youse would take them home." Jack said with a smile, pecking her cheek from behind. He knew how much Katherine enjoyed looking after strays.

"Can we keep them?" Katherine asked, looking down as the puppies began to whimper, from hunger or from cold she didn't know. She turned in his arms and kissed him gently.

Jack sighed, resting his forehead against hers. "Let's clean them up first, and then wes'll see." He said, shucking off his waistcoat and rolling up his sleeves.

Katherine grinned, rolling up her own sleeves and kneeling down, beginning to run some water in the bath. She made sure not to fill up too much, lest she drown the puppies.

"Should wes just use ya normal soap?" He asked, reaching behind him and grabbing the soap.

"I would assume so, yeah." She said, cupping some water in her hands and gently dripping it over the puppies. She began to scrub gently at their fur, revealing some of the colour.

Two of the puppies were brown and white, the other two were black and white.

"Theys cute." Jack said, squirting some soap onto his hand and beginning to try and clean one of the male puppies. He picked him up out of the bath and set him in his lap, feeling the puppy shiver. "And cold."

Katherine laughed, cleaning off the other three puppies. "Can we please keep them?" She whispered, crossing her legs and picked the puppies up and placing all three in her lap.

Jack looked over at the puppies who were all squirming around in Katherine's lap. He chuckled as they all curled into balls and fell asleep on top of each other, their brother moving to join them. "Youse ain't gonna be movin for a while."

Katherine smiled, leaning against his chest. "So? Can we keep them?" She whispered, kissing him gently. She started gently stroking them as Jack pondered his answer.

"Will youse leave me if I say no?" He asked jokingly, nudging her shoulder.

"Oh yes definitely." Katherine said with a straight face, but her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Then yes, we can keep them." Jack said, kissing her again. He picked one of the puppies up, grinning as it squirmed in his arms.

"Oh no, let her sleep." Katherine said, gently taking the puppy and placing her back in her lap. She laid down, resting her head in Jack's lap and laughing as the puppies crawled further up her chest.

Jack smiled, running his hands over her hair. "What should we name them?" He asked, looking over the sleeping puppies.

"Hmmm. This is Wendy." Katherine said, pointing to the brown and white girl. "And this is is Dottie." She said, stroking the black and white girl's fur.

"Can I name the boys?" He asked, reaching over and stroking the puppies. He laughed as Katherine nodded, "Ok, this," He said, picking up the brown and white boy, "Is Teddy."

Katherine smiled, "And who's this?" She asked, stroking the black and white boy.

"This is Rex." Jack said, taking a couple of the puppies and setting them down on the floor. "Theys need food."

Katherine nodded, sitting up and making sure the puppies were following them before walking into the kitchen. "And we should get them a collar of some sort."

Jack nodded, opening their cupboards and grabbed two cans of tuna. He opened them and poured them in a bowl, placing it on the floor and letting the puppies eat.

"We're never going to be able to do anything alone now." Katherine said with a laugh as they walked over to their sofa. She sat down and leant against Jack as he sat down with her.

"I know, I know." Jack said, kissing her temple and wrapping his arms around her. He closed his eyes as Katherine did the same.

She looked up as the puppies started to whimper and bark, their sharp cries ringing through the apartment. She bent down and picked them up, letting them settle on the sofa.

Jack laughed, he loved it when Katherine took in strays, she was such a caring person. "Youse really enjoy lookin after strays." He said, rubbing his hand up and down her arm.

"Hmm, yes, especially puppies. They remind me of you." Katherine said, tilting his head to face her and kissing him. She smiled and ran her hands over the puppies fur, lulling them to sleep.

"Youse is gonna start getting a reputation of lookin after strays." He said, kissing her hair as Teddy crawled to the other side of the sofa and curled up, shoving his little nose under the pillow.

"When they're as cute as you. I really don't mind." Katherine said with a smirk, bringing him down to kiss him.

"Oh, was that an attempt at flattery?" Jack whispered against her lips, smiling warmly.

"Not even an attempt." She said, making sure none of the puppies were resting on her legs before curling up tighter against him. She rested her head against his chest and smiled, pressing herself against him.

Jack laughed and kissed the top of her head. "I love you Ace. And our little rag tag Kelly puppies."

Katherine chuckled, "So collectively they're called rag tag Kelly puppies?" She said with a grin, kissing him again. "But I love you too Jack. And the rag tag Kelly puppies."