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The littles always woke up early on Christmas day. They woke up the older kids, excited for the festivities the older kids had told them all about. Jack and Crutchie slept inside during the colder months, since they’d probably freeze to death if they didn’t. So at quarter past six, he was awake, a collection of littles jumping up and down around his feet.
“Hey, try not to wake everyone else up,” Jack said in a hushed voice, ruffling the hair of the kids around him. He didn’t mind being woken by them, after all, it was him who had told most of the stories.
The best thing about Christmas day was that it made the snow that would cover the ground for months exciting. It became all about snowball fights, and playing around in the snow, rather than something that would limit how far they could go. It was hard to walk in the snow, especially when it got deeper, which made it so much harder to sell.
But for a few days, the whole of the lodging house was filled with excitement, because it was Christmas, and that was the best time of the year.
Each year, they all tried to get a present for each person. Some people spent money, and others were more inclined to steal, and it was usually a mess, but it made them all happy.
The kids went out looking to see how many christmas trees they could see, it was a challenge, and some of them were very competitive. They would arrive back at the end of the day, screaming numbers at Jack. Race inevitably won, despite saying he wasn’t going to play every year.
“I got you a card Jackie,” Blue said, handing over a badly folded piece of paper.
“Woah, thank you Blue, who taught you to do all these letters?” Jack asked, giving the five year old a tight hug.
“Specs,” Blue said, little hand squeezing Jack tightly, “he helped all a us!”
The other littles then produced more badly folder pieces of paper, all with their best words inside. They had all done little drawings, most of which were christmas trees.
“Wow, thank you guys, tha’s so kind of youse all,” Jack smiled, his heart feeling warm as he gave all of the littles big hugs. He made a mental note to thank Specs later, wondering when they had found the time to do all this.
Race was up a few minutes later, there to give Jack a hand with getting the littles all ready. Jack thought Race was probably the reason they were all so excited, as the younger encouraged the excitement of everyone he spoke to. It wasn’t long before everyone was awake, thanks to the littles getting considerably louder. That was okay though, as even the oldest kids were seemingly just as excited as the youngest.
“Can I come sellin’ wif youse Race?” Romeo asked, as they approached the distribution gates.
“Course Ro, I’s was thinkin’ bout stayin’ in ‘hattan today anyway, since it’s Christmas an’ all,” Race said, allowing the younger to bounce up and down while holding his arm.
Romeo was his little brother, and Race was pretty sure he would do anything for the kid. Still Race was pretty reluctant to take Romeo over the Brooklyn bridge, but anything in Manhattan, Race would do for his little brother.
“Yay!” Romeo cheered, “thank ya Racer.”
Not everyone was feeling the Christmas spirit though. Jack had seen a few people looking at them with distaste as they travelled towards distribution. That might have been because they were a rowdy bunch, being louder than usual as all the littles were so excited.
Jack understood that some people didn’t enjoy Christmas, same way he hated his birthday. It was the way it was sometimes, people had bad memories with specific events, and being around people who reminded you of said events made you feel bitter.
Taking hold of Blue’s hand, since the kid had asked to sell with him today, Jack made his way out into the street, hoping to spread a little joy today.
*
“I’s seen five Jackie,” one of the kids shouted, Jack wasn’t quite sure who. Once again, they all decided to tell him all at the same time, not wanting to miss out on the win.
“Ya knew I can’t hear youse if youse is all shoutin’” Jack said, hoping to get them all to calm down a little bit. It was too loud, and he knew a few of them often felt scared and uneasy when it got like that.
The littles quietened down a bit, as Jack persuaded them all to sit down, it would be so much easier to find out who won if he could hear everyone.
“Bells, youse first, hows many did ya see?”
The chaos was controlled, and everyone under the age of fifteen seemed excited to share the scores. It was one of Jack’s favourite parts, because for that day, everyone seemed just a little bit more excited to sell.
Unsurprisingly, Race won, walking in an hour later only to announce he’d seen thirty Christmas trees. Having trekked over to Brooklyn to see Spot in the afternoon, he’d seen more than most. That got the attention off Jack for a little while, as most of them seemed more interested in pummeling Race, than they did about anything else he could say.
They always got a special dinner at Christmas, Mister Kloppman cooked them an absolute feast, which always went down a treat. Most of the kids had never seen so much food, and were so excited to sit and eat. That was the first that day all the kids were quiet, all so absorbed with eating the food.
After that came the exchange of presents. It was a little chaotic, as kids shouted each other's names, forcing presents in their hands. Jack ended up with some new paint brushes, and other drawing materials, which he was very happy to receive. Everyone ended up with a gift, all saying thank you to each other. Part of the joy was not knowing who brought what (or stole in a few of their cases) but the best bit, was seeing everyone so happy. It was hard being a newsie, but for at least one day a year everyone seemed to be feeling good.
The evening was spent playing cards, and enjoying each other’s company. The excitement would wear off soon enough, and they would all be back to having petty arguments, and dragging themselves out of bed, but for now they could enjoy themselves.
Jack allowed the littles to stay up for a little longer that evening, so they were all tired when it became time to force them into bed.
“Come on Bells, youse is fallin’ asleep,” Race said softly, picking the four year old up, and carrying her to bed.
Jack was convincing Hats, Cam, and Jay they wanted to go to bed, while resting Blue on his hip. Despite being absolutely exhausted, the littles wanted to stay up a little longer with all the bigger kids.
“No come on, or youse’ll all be too tired tomorrow, I ain’t gonna let youse sleep in,” Jack said, ignoring the impressive puppy dog eyes Blue was giving him.
“But Jack,” Hats protested, folding his arms.
“No buts, up ya go, we’s can have fun again tomorrow,” Jack said, trying to push the pair towards the stairs. They were a stubborn bunch, but Jack guessed they all were. They had to be, or they wouldn’t make it through the day.
Specs laughed slightly from where he was sat persuading a half asleep Romeo he wanted to go to bed. Smalls was looking equally tired beside him, but she was waiting for him to go up.
Bed time was probably Specs’ favourite time of the day. He enjoyed getting all the littles ready, and making up stories to tell them, and getting the biggest hugs from the tired kids. It was one of the best parts of his day. The morning routine was far less appealing, since he hated waking up so much, but at night, all the littles were sleepy and cute, and it was funny to watch Jack corralling them up the stairs.
“Go on Romeo, I’s sure Racer has a special Christmas story ta tell youse,” he persuaded, ruffling Smalls’ hair. A little longer and he reckoned neither of them would make it up stairs.
This seemed to excite Romeo, and he dragged himself upstairs, worn out after his long day.
It fell quiet after all the littles were asleep, the older kids having quiet conversations, and looking very content. Jack couldn’t help but smile at them all curled up with one another, pleased that they all had a good day. It wasn’t much, but it was enough, and seeing his kids all happy was the highlight for him. He had seen them all through so many bad days, it made such a difference to have a good one.
“Merry Christmas Crutchie,” Jack said softly as he climbed up to his bunk. He was exhausted, and couldn’t wait to go to sleep.
“Merry Christmas Jack,” Crutchie whispered, “Merry Christmas everyone,” he said a little louder, smiling to himself as he settled down to sleep. Today had been a good day.