Hiii!!!! :)

I'm back!! :)

Yeah. That took awhile.

I've just been sooo busy, with sooo few ideas.

Well. That's over now.

Here's some fluff! :)

Enjoy! :)

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On December 25th, 1916, the house of Mush, Jack, David, Race, and Spot, is alive with merriment and joy.

Their lives have been full of busy and mundane moments, but that's not today.

Today is a day for them to stop working and spend time with their family, this little family of five they have.

Mush is the first one to wake up, and starts cooking breakfast as soon as he gets up.

Jack joins him in the kitchen, wanting to let David sleep a little longer, and wanting to surprise him with breakfast in bed.

Race wakes up to Spot's face right above him, smiling down on him. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

Race smiles. Instead of responding, he lifts his head up slightly to kiss Spot. He closes his eyes and enjoys the gentle kiss. Spot does too.

David wakes up on his own, and makes his way to the kitchen, much to Jack's disappointment.

"I wanted to surprise you with Christmas breakfast in bed," Jack complains.

David pecks him on the cheek. "Seeing you in the kitchen is surprise enough."

Jack lets out an indignant noise. David chuckles and wraps his arms around Jack from behind. Jack decides that this is better.

Finally, Race and Spot come into the kitchen too.

"What's that saying about how too many cooks in a kitchen makes it too crowded?" Mush asks, an amused/slightly annoyed smile tugging at his lips. "Because that's what's going on right now."

"Can't having too many people in any room make it crowded? Why does it have to be just cooks?"

"Never mind, then."

Spot notices mistletoe hanging from the ceiling above him. He smiles. "Darling, look up."

Race does, and he smiles too. Then he smirks. "Well, you know the rules." He immediately turns to kiss Spot.

"Come on, right in front of us?" Jack asks, trying to sound exasperated, but is still smiling happily.

They ignore him.

"If you two were there, you would have done the same exact thing," Mush points out.

"Okay, that might be true," Jack admits.

"Who says I need mistletoe to kiss you?" David counters.

"I-I-I-" Jack sputters.

David chuckles with amusement and then kisses him.

Mush clutches his chest. "This is just too cute for me!" He smiles broadly at the four of them, who are all too enraptured in kissing their lover to pay attention to anything else in the world.

But he does need some space in the kitchen.

"Alright." He starts shooing them up. "I only have a few hours to get everything ready for our guests to arrive."

"Oh, I forgot they were coming," Race comments.

Spot lets out a little pfft. "Of course you did."

"To be fair, I didn't wake up that long ago. You haven't given me enough time to wake up yet."

"Okay, you might be right."

"You can be all lovey dovey in the living room, but I need space and time to prepare for the 10 of us," Mush says.

"Okay," they all respond good naturedly, and leave Mush alone.

They've been planning this for some time now. Dave Simmons, Sardinia Frank, Kid Griffo, Chick Tucker, and Big Jack O'Brien are all coming over today. Since the two years when they met, they've kept in touch and met regularly. They've all been busy recently, so it will be nice to have everyone in one place again.

They just hope that it's because Mush is worried about making the place look nice when they come over that he wants them out of the kitchen, rather than him having his heart hurt since he no longer has what they have. It's been three years since Kid Blink passed away, and Mush still thinks about him every day. They don't want to make it any harder for him as they know it already is.

They remember all those years ago when Kid Blink gave a toast at their dinner at the newsies' lodging house. That was seventeen years ago.

Jack can't believe he's twice the age he was when the strike happened. So much has happened since then.

And so much has happened in the two years since the four of them moved in with Mush. Jack and David got together, Race and Spot got together. They have their routine and living situation down. They all work in their different places, then they come home, and spend time together as a family. They're all so, so happy here.

True, the world is still unsafe. They can't show affection in public. There's a war going on on the other side of the world. Daily hardships, constant hardships; big things, and little things. But they stick together, and they know it's all going to be alright.

And, together, they can hope that the future will be better.

They get ready for their five friends to come over. They try telling Mush that he doesn't need to worry as much about lunch as he will about dinner, but he insists that he needs to make sure that it's a perfect Christmas lunch and a perfect Christmas dinner. They don't argue with him. They all love his cooking.

In the time while waiting for the five to arrive, with nothing else to do, Spot and Race lie on the couch, cuddling with a blanket. Race drifting off to sleep as Spot plays with his hair gently. 

Jack and David are outside, taking a walk to get some form of exercise in, talking about everything and nothing.

And Mush ... is actually busy wrapping presents instead of cooking. He finished awhile ago. He just has some last minute gifts to finish before they have company over and they all exchange presents. Claiming that he wants a perfect Christmas lunch was the perfect excuse to keep everyone out of the kitchen. And ... it also gives him some privacy to reread old letters that Kid Blink wrote, some dated in 1899, reminiscing old times to himself.

Soon enough, company arrives, and the merriment begins. They'll have a great time today, together.

Because all they need in this world is each other.

When he gets the chance, Mush looks out the window by himself, smiling up at the sky. He knows Kid Blink is smiling down at them.

No matter how tonight unfolds, or tomorrow, or whatever the future holds, they'll face it together. When they're together, they'll be able to do anything.

For now, though, they simply enjoy a quiet, happy Christmas Day.

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There's a short little fluffy midlogue for you.

Yes, I am in fact calling it a midlogue.

I am definitely going to revise this haha.

I barely made it to 1000 words. I knew that if I kept writing, I wouldn't stop haha.

Was this the best thing I've ever written? Probably not. But it's better than how I thought it was.

So. This marks halfway through the story. Halfway between 1914 and 1918. Okay, maybe not precisely halfway dates-wise, but close enough. This is the in between moment. The eye of the storm. Because, like any storm, there's turmoil in every which direction except the middle.

This is the chapter in the eye of the storm before we go back into turmoil.

I hope you enjoyed it.

I hope you take a look at the cover for this story (and for all my stories). I put a lot of effort into it. It can tell you details about what has happened ... and to take a guess at what will happen.

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times. 

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who hopes that some day they have something like what Jack, David, Race, Spot, and Mush have)