Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies.

One Year Later

After a long winter, a stress filled spring and a very hectic summer, fall and holiday season it was time to celebrate the twins first birthday. Piper had been so wrapped up in other things that Valentine's Day had crept up on her. She doubted that she would be able to make it home since both Olivia and Emmanuel were both in school and adjusting nicely. Olivia had started the sixth grade that fall while Emmanuel had barely been ready for the eighth grade. After several months of burning the midnight oil Piper felt that he had finaly caught up with the rest of his class. Les spent alot of his time at school or the library so that he could study without interuption. The only time that Piper had with him was on the weekends.

Piper hadn't been prepared for all that she would be giving up when they moved to Syracuse. There hadn't been a single opening at the school that the kids went to so she spent her days cleaning, knitting and waiting for the kids and Les to get home.

To make things worse she had been feeling under the weather for the past several days and Les had finally convinced her to go to the doctor. She had an appointment the morning of Valentine's Day and she was rushing to get both teenagers off to school. She shifted nervously in her seat as she waited for her name to be called. After waiting nearly an hour she was led back to the examination room.

The nurse was pleasant as she engaged Piper in conversation but all Piper wanted was to find out what was wrong with her and get out of there. The doctor came in after a few minutes and asked her a few questions about her health. He wanted to run some tests before giving her a diagnosis.

Piper waited for nearly an hour in the doctors private office after her last test had been done. He sat across from her writing something in a file.

"I'm going to recomend you to a woman's doctor. They have an opening tomorrow morning and one in the afternoon," he explained.

"What time in the morning and afternoon?" she questioned in concern.

"Nine and noon."

"I'll take the noon appointment. Nine is too early."

"I'll make sure that they know you're coming. In the meantime, I'm writing you a prescription," he explained holding a piece of paper out to her.

It was a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Her eyes met his quickly and he smiled warmly at her.

"Congratulations Ms. Jacobs; you're going to be a mother," he said, still smiling.

Piper exhaled nervously before coughing. She nodded her thanks while gathering her things. She left the doctor's office in a daze. She and Les weren't ready to take care of a baby. They had planned to wait to have kids until Olivia and Emmanuel were gone so that they could devote their time and attention to Olivia and Emmanuel.

Olivia and Emmanuel came home for lunch but it barely regestired to Piper. She was still in a fog when Les came home that night. It was the first night in weeks that he hadn't gone to the library and he planned on sending the kids out for dinner to the restaurant across the street. He knew something wasn't right as soon as he got home.

Piper was in their room while the kids did their homework at the kitchen table. Les helped them before going to check on her. She sat on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped in her lap with her head bowed.

"Piper, what's going on?" he asked, making his presence known.

"Sit down," she said with a sigh.

"Did something happen at the doctor's?"

"Mmhmm," she said with a nod.

"Well then out with it, come on," he pleaded.

"I'm gonna have a baby," she said with a nervous chuckle, her scared eyes meeting his.

"Jesus, I thought you were gonna tell me that you're dying. Don't do that!" he admonished.

A bubble of laughter leaped from her throat and she fell against him. He wrapped his arms around her as Olivia and Emmanuel watched from the door. Things were rapidly changing, so fast that it was hard to keep up sometimes. A baby was just the thing to slow everything down and make them focus on something other than themselves.

XXXX

Skittery and Natalie had decided to celebrate the twins birthday by themselves. The twins weren't old enough to remember anything that happened so they thought that something small and low key would be better.

Natalie had taken to motherhood easily while it had taken Skittery nearly a month to learn the babies routine. They hadn't started sleeping through the night until two months ago. For the first ten months it had been like clock work; John would wake up and either Skittery or Natalie would get him settled down and as soon as they had drifted off Genevieve would wake up and the other would take care of her. They had been lucky to get two hours of sleep each night. Skittery was glad that it was all behind them.

Esther, Sarah, and Emmaleigh had come by with presents and a cake that Skittery and Natalie could give to the twins. It had been a very laid back day for all of them. There was a light knock on the door after dinner and Natalie went to answer it while Skittery got the babies ready for bed. He was coming out of the bedroom when Natalie came back in the apartment.

"Piper's on the phone for you," she announced.

He walked down the main hall and cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear before acknowledging her.

"Pippa?"

"Hey big brother," she said endearingly.

"You couldn't have Nat wish the twins happy birthday for you?" he asked teasingly.

"I did, but I have something that I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

"You're going to be an uncle, I found out this morning."

"Really?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah. I go back tormorrow to find out when I'm due but I had some test done this morning. Are you suprised?"

"Uh, yeah," he said with a laugh.

"Tell Nat for me?"

"Sure."

"We'll come down this weekend," she promised.

They talked for a few minutes before he walked back into the apartment with a shocked, bemused, dazed expression.

"What's with you?" Natalie asked creduously.

"Piper's gonna have a baby," he said in disbelief.

Natalie made a noise of happiness before clapping her hands excitedly. She had hoped that Piper would have a baby but she hadn't planned on it happening so soon. The baby would come before their second anniversary came around, like it had happened for her and Skittery. She was happy for Piper and Les, even if Skittery was scared for his sister.

XXXX

If Mush had looked back over the last year he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't lived it. The lodging house was doing well and the boys who lived there had the option of taking the classes that Sarah had taken over when Piper left. His relationship with Armourie had been a whirlwind romance. They had started dating at the begining of last year and by July they were married. They hadn't talked about having children yet but they were so busy that they barely had any time for themselves.

Sarah had been a saint. She had found out that she was pregnant a month before Piper left and she had taught the boys up until the day she gave birth to Jack Junior a few weeks ago. She had found a retired teacher through Piper who was willing to fill in for her for a few more weeks.

Mortin Delancey had been arrested for getting into a bar room brawl on New Years Day and people had come forward about all the wrongs he had done and he was setenced to the Refuge until he turned twenty-one in three years.

Everyone had grown older and changed their ways of thinking. They were all tested and proved that they were stronger than they thought. Everyone needed reassurance sometimes. It all came down to who you choose to love and the people that you let in. They were the people who would never let you down.

AN: I am so sorry that it took me so long to finish this story. I honestly didn't plan on it taking me two years to write it. I never thought that I would finish it at times because I walked away from it twice because of personal issues. Thank you for being so patient and I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this. God bless.