35 - The Newest Newsie

                                    

                                          
Jack held his son. He was so perfect. Katherine slept beside him having been exhausted from the birth. They were now in one of the spare bedrooms of the house as Katherines bed was partly destroyed during the birth and no one has had time to clean everything. Mr Pulitzer had gone back to the office and Edith was entertaining Lucille trying to distract her from the new baby in the other room. Katherine and Jack had wanted to have a few hours for just the two of them with their newborn son. Edward began to cry which woke Katherine from her one hour nap. "Hey Ace. Little Ed is probably hungry." 
                          
"Yeah." She took him into her arms and began to feed him. "There you go Eddie." She said without really thinking.
                          
"Eddie. That's a cute nickname." He said softly.
                          
"Yeah. I just kinda said it without thinking. But I like it. And he's a hungry little one." Once he finished feeding Katherine buttoned her shirt up again. "I've never been so happy Jack. I have you, I have my parents and I have little Eddie here now. Everything is exactly as I want it to be. And in 9 months we will be getting married. And then I will have the same last name as my best friend and my son." Jack smiled and kissed her. They hadn't actually kissed since she gave birth. He held her close as he could, knowing she couldn't hold him as she had their son in her arms. When they pulled back their foreheads rested together and looked down at their son. 
                          
"Our perfect family." 
                          
"Our perfect life." Katherine said back. There was then a knock on the door. "Come in." She said smiling. 
                          
"Hey dear, how are you feeling?" Edith said.
                          
"Much better, thanks mother. I feel more rested and just really happy. If Lu wants to come meet him she can. I know how excited she was for him to be born." 
                          
"Yeah. She wants to see you." Edith and Lucille walked in and the little girl climbed into the bed with her big sister. 
                          
"Hey Lu. This is little Edward. But we're calling him Eddie as a nickname, just like how you call me Kathy, and I call you Lu." 
                          
"Hey Eddie, I'm your auntie Lu. I'm still a little girl myself, but I love you so much. I hope your mother and father let you come see us often." 
                          
"We will be over all the time." Katherine smiled. "Do you want to hold him?" She asked.
                          
"Can I?" She said holding her arms out like her big sister did. Katherine placed the baby in her arms and smiled. "He's so small."
                          
"Yeah. He's only a few hours old. But he will begin to grow quite quickly." She said running her fingers though her sisters hair. 
                          
"I love him." Lucille smiled. "He's so perfect."
                          
"He really is." Jack smiled. After a while lucille gave the baby to his mother so Edith could hold him. 
                          
"You two have a special little boy. Look after him, and he will be a great kid."
                          
"Of course mother. I will care for him with all the power I have. I love him so much. He's my little boy. No. He's our little boy." She said smiling at Jack. 
                          
"Our Eddie. Can the boys come over and meet the newest newsie?" Jack asked. 
                          
"Of course." Edith smiled. I'll go send someone out to the lodge to tell them." She passed Edward back to Katherine who passed him to Jack. Edith then left with Lucille, who wanted to go do some colouring. Half an hour later they heard the boys all running up the stairs. Jack went to the door and opened it.
                          
"Okay boys. You'll all get a chance to come in so calm down. But to make it easier you're going to come in in groups. Clara, Davey, Les and Crutchie, you guys are first." The four went in with Jack leaving the other in the corridor. 
                          
"Hey Kath, congratulations to you both, how are you doing?" Clara said walking to her side. 
                          
"I'm doing great. Meet Edward. Our baby boy." 
                          
"You had a son." Davey smiled, this made the gift they all chipped in to buy even better. 
                          
"Yeah. Our own little newsie." He smiled. Katherine smiled down at him.
                          
"So you guys want to each take a turn at holding him. The others we will just let them have a look because we don't want to scare the poor kid." Katherine asked.
                          
"Yes please!" Les said first.
                          
"Okay, come sit then monkey." She said before handing him Eddie. 
                          
"He's so handsome." He chuckled. "Katherine, who was the pretty girl doing colouring in the living room? The door was open as we walked past so I saw her."
                          
"That's my little sister Lucille. But she's a little too young for you buddy. She's only 7, you just turned 11." 
                          
"But Jack said to tell people I was 7." He said innocently. "She's so pretty my heart skipped a beat when I saw her."
                          
"That's when selling papes only." Jack warned. "When it comes to love you don't don't lie about your age. And I doubt Mr Pulitzer would be best pleased if both his daughters married newsies." 
                          
"But newsies are the most handsome men." Katherine smiled kissing him quickly. "Wouldn't you agree Clara." She chuckled as she saw Davey's arm around her waist. 
                          
"They sure are." She smiled up at Davey. "But Katherine's right Les, she's too young. You gotta find yourself a girl your own age." 
                          
"Fine." He sighed. He handed the baby over to Clara who smiled as the little baby opened his eyes for her. 
                          
"He's definitely got your eyes Kath. Such a beautiful hazel colour." Katherine didn't respond. Not having to watch her baby for a few moments allowed her to drop to sleep. 
                          
"Someone's tired." Davey chuckled.
                          
"I mean she's had a busy day. Gave birth to this monster, and for a baby he's quite big." Jack said defending his sleeping fiancé. "But I know what you mean. I'm tired and I didn't even push a baby out of me." Jack said softly. Next Davey held the baby and Clara stood right beside him. 
                          
"Maybe one day we can have a little one of our own." She whispered.
                          
"Yeah." He smiled as he looked up at her. Next was Crutchie who obviously had to sit down to hold him. Once he was done Jack held his son again and the other boys were all let in. They were surprisingly calm and all took a turn going to Jack and taking a look at the kid in his arms. He got loads of congratulations and after everyone had a chance to see the baby Katherine ended up waking up. 
                          
"Woah, the room is much busier now." She said leaning against Jack. 
                          
"Yeah. They've all met their little nephew." She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder as she gazed into Eddie's eyes as he gazed at her. 
                          
"Jack, Katherine. All the boys helped chip in to get Edward a little gift from us all." Davey said as he walked over to them with a small box. He handed it to Katherine who opened it as Jack was busy holding Eddie. 
                          
"You guys. It's amazing." She said tearing up. "J. They got him a baby newsie cap." She carefully placed it on his little head. It was quite big on him but it would be perfect for when he was a toddler. Eddie didn't mind the cap for a whole 30 seconds before he began fussing about. "It's perfect." She said taking it off her son and he immediately calmed down again. "We will treasure this forever." She smiled. "And I'm sure when he's a tiny bit older he will enjoy wearing it." 
                          
"I agree." Jack smiled. The rest of the afternoon was spent all talking about the baby and random things before all the boys went home, and Katherine and Jack prepared for their first night as parents.