Davey had asked Jack to babysit for Les. Or, to be more specific, Davey had mentioned to that he needed a babysitter for Les and Jack had insisted until he finally gave in and said yes. Apparently, the Jacobs' parents were out of town for their anniversary and Davey was meeting with a friend (though Jack secretly thought he was actually just going to the library for a break). Les had always been fond of Jack when they were selling together, and Jack had always been good with kids, so he figured that this would be a good opportunity to prove to Davey that he could In fact be responsible when he wanted to, and to get to know the kid a little better. Once he got to the Jacobs home, however, he realized that he was in way over his head. The door opened and he was met by Davey, who immediately started to tell him all the things he had to do before he could get a word out.
"Les has to be in bed by 9:00, no exceptions, he's already eaten so you don't have to worry about that. Don't let him have any sugar, he's already had dessert as well, he'll probably try to tell you that he hasn't but don't believe him. There's a phone in the living room with a note next to it with Katherine's number if you need help, and instructions on how to use it." Jack raised an eyebrow at the insinuation that he didn't know how to use a phone, even if they hadn't been around for all that long yet. "You got all that?"
"'Hi Jack, how are you doing on this nice evening?'" Jack mocked him. "Oh gee, I'm just fine Dave, thanks for asking." Davey rolled his eyes.
"Were you listening to anything I just told you?"
"Yeah, I heard it all, relax. Not like I'm gonna ruin the kid while you're gone."
"Yeah, well, we'll see how it goes." Jack scoffed. "Les, Jack's here!" Davey yelled to his younger brother before turning back to Jack. "Good luck."
oOo
About an hour later, Jack was doing what could be best described as internally freaking out. So, he'd always been good with kids, yes, but he wasn't that great at the discipline part. At the Lodging House with the boys, he just had to enforce the rules that he'd known about since he himself was a little boy. He'd never had to do anything like this with Les before, because Davey was always there to do that. He'd been annoyed by Davey's over-preparing him, but now he wished he'd prepared him a little more. What time had he said Les was supposed to be in bed? Was there a rule about not letting Les run around the house and yelling at the top of his lungs while pretending to be a cowboy wrangling imaginary cows with a rope he'd gotten from who-knows where and occasionally begging Jack to join in, as he was currently doing? The newsies were wild, yes, but by the time Jack was in charge they were old enough to be responsible for themselves, and Les was only ten. So, Jack decided it was time to call Katherine for help, as Davey had suggested, though it was a huge blow to his pride. He walked over to the phone and dialed Katherine's number, while pointedly ignoring the instructions on how to use the common device. It rang for a few moments before Katherine picked up.
"Davey?"
"No, uh, it's me, actually."
"Jack? Why are you... who is that screaming in the background?"
"That's Les. I'm watching him right now and... I kinda need some help."
"What are you talking about? The Great Jack Kelly never needs help with anything, from anyone." He glared at the phone even though he knew she couldn't see it.
"Just come over here."
"Hmmm. I don't know, I'm really busy right now..." He knew what she was doing. Ever since they'd gotten together, she'd been forcing him to make his manners more of a top priority than he ever would if he was with anyone but her. He sighed.
"Please?"
"Much better. I'll be right over."
oOO
When Katherine opened the door to the Jacobs house, she was met with the sight of Les running around waving a piece of rope in the air, and Jack sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Les skidded to a stop when he saw her.
"Hey Kath! Do you wanna play cowboys with me? Jack won't do it even though I thought he would since he always talked about wanting to go out there where the cowboys are, but I don't think he's feeling too good right now." He rambled, and Jack let out a muffled scoff from behind his hands, sounding very stressed even just in that small sound. He looked up and gave her a pleading look.
"What on earth is going on here?" Katherine asked, looking around. There were several pieces of furniture overturned, thankfully nothing broken, and that was just one room of the house.
"Jack's been letting me stay up late." Les explained, at which Jack stared at him in confusion, having very obviously not known he'd been letting the young boy stay up late. "Davey won't be home until late, he said has was going to hang out with some friends, but I know he's really at the library because he doesn't have any friends at school."
"Les... When is your usual bed time?"
"9:00." Katherine looked at her watch.
"Jack! He was supposed to be asleep 45 minutes ago."
"I didn't know that!"
"No one told you?"
"They probably did but I didn't pay attention." Jack sounded more weary than cocky, which worried Katherine a little, but she just shook her head.
"Les, come on, let's get you to bed."
"But I don't -" The ten year old tried to protest but she gave him a look.
"I said, let's get you to bed."
"Fine." He gave a disappointed sigh before following her to his bedroom. Jack waited a few minutes, before following them. He peered through the doorway to see Katherine reading a chapter of one of Les's books, and the boy was listening attentively. As Jack watched, he couldn't help but think that Katherine would make a good mother someday. She was reading in such a gentle tone, unless the plot starting picking up, in which case she made it sound like the most exciting thing in the world. He decided right then that if he ever had kids, he only wanted it to do it with Katherine. It was an odd thought, he realized, but it was true.
"What are you smiling about?" Katherine walked up to him, breaking him free of his thoughts as she shut the door softly behind her. He noticed then that he'd been smiling.
"I love you" That was his only response, and she just rolled her eyes and kissed him.
