"But Ace-."

"No buts. Jack, I'll only be gone for a day. I think you two can survive until then."

"I've never watched her by myself that long before! What if somethin' goes wrong? What if she swallows somethin'? What if she chokes on her food? What if-?"

"You can call me if something goes wrong. Or ask Davey or Crutchie. Why don't you call some of the boys to come over and help if you're that worried?"

"Cause the Lodging House doesn't have a phone and Davey left for college last week," Jack answered, holding Josie on his hip as they watched wife frantically run around the apartment.

Katherine had to go on a business trip for a day. Something about an event for the newspaper. Once she'd told Jack he'd be staying home with their four year old by himself, he began freaking out.

"Then take her over to the Lodging House. I'm sure the boys would love having her around, plus Josie rarely ever gets to see her uncles," Katherine said, putting a notebook and pen in her suitcase. It was true, with all the working the boys and both of her parents did, Josie rarely spent time with her uncles.

"But Ace-."

"Jack, you'll be fine, I promise!" an exasperated Katherine said, standing and turning towards her husband with a tired smile. But when she saw the fear in his eyes, her smile slowly disappeared.

"What is it?" she asked, walking towards him.

"Ace, I-." He sighed and looked away from Katherine. "My old man was never around and my ma died when I was young. I've never-." He sighed again and looked at the ground. "I've never had to do this by myself before. What if I screw it up? I don't-I don't know how to do it by myself, I've always had you here to help me."

Katherine lifted his chin with her hand and pecked his lips.

"Jack, it's not like I'm leaving forever. I'll only be gone for 24 hours, ok? And you're great dad! Josie adores you. Plus, you've practically raised those newsboys at the Lodge. That's almost like being a parent, and you did that by yourself! And look at how they turned out? They're all amazingly loyal to each other, and even though they might be a little crazy sometimes, they turned out perfect! You can do this, I believe in you. And if you're that nervous about it, just spend the night at the Lodging House. I'm sure Crutchie and the boys would be more than happy to help you."

Jack grinned from ear to ear and gave Katherine a kiss. "Eww!" Josie complained, burying her face in her father's shoulder. Her parents laughed.

Katherine finished packing and Jack took her to the train station before going back to their apartment.

"Well Josie, what should we do first?" Jack asked, setting the little girl down as he locked the door behind him.

"Let's play dollies!" Josie ran off to her room and came back her favorite toy, a doll that Albert and Henry had 'found' for her. Jack had tried not to ask too many questions when the boys showed up with the gift and just prayed they hadn't done anything illegal.

Jack grinned at his daughter and after playing with her for a while, decided to go ahead and go to the Lodging House. She'd fallen and hit her head on the ground, and even though they both knew she was fine, he decided it'd be best to just go to the Lodging House.

"Boys?" Jack asked, knocking on the door before entering.

"INCOMING!"

Jack covered his daughter's head and just barely ducked out of the way as a pair of shoes came flying his way and down the stairs behind him. He turned and watched the shoes tumble down the stairs before turning back towards his boys.

"What the heck was that about?" he asked, setting Josie down. She laughed wildly at all the commotion and ran over to Crutchie, who began talking to her about her dress.

"Uhh, Henry stole Buttons shoes then it turned into a game of Keep-Away," Race explained from atop one of the bunks.

Jack nodded and Romeo ran over to him, nearly tripping over Elmer. "Jack! Jack! Guess what happened today?" the younger boy asked excitedly.

"What?" Jack asked with a chuckle.

"I got a date!" Romeo announced.

As Romeo rambled to Jack about his upcoming date, Josie ran from her conversation with Crutchie over to Race, who quickly scooped her up onto the bunk. "Hey kid! How's it goin'?" he asked, smiling.

"We have sleepover!" Josie announced happily.

"Oh are you now? You and your daddy are going to sleep here tonight?" Race asked. Josie nodded quickly and said, "Mommy went on trip so Daddy and me spend night here!"

Race looked up at Jack for confirmation with a raised eyebrow. Jack, who'd heard most of that conversation, said, "Ace had to go on a business thing and I'm worried about being home with her by myself. Could we stay here for the night?"

"Of course, Cowboy!" Specs grinned. Race put his niece on his back and climbed down from the bunk.

Jack grinned and said, "Thanks fellas."

As the night continued, the boys began getting a little crazier by the second, and soon Josie was as wild as they were.

They were in the middle of an intense game of hide-and-seek. Jack was the captain of the hiding team and Race was captain of the seeking team. Josie was on Race's team after it decided she was too hyper to be quiet enough to hide.

"Uncle Wace, let's go upstairs," Josie 'whispered'.

Race nodded and he set her down and followed her up the stairs. They crept around the upstairs room, searching for any hiding boys. Josie was checking one of the closets and Race was checking the bathroom when he heard, "Gotcha!"

He turned as Josie screamed with delight as Romeo popped out from the closet and began tickling her. Race grinned and noticed Mush scooting further under a bed. With a growing mischievous grin, he crept over to Josie and put his fingers to his lips, making the two hush.

He pointed under the bed and whispered, "Josie go get Uncle Mush."

Josie smiled widely and ran over to her uncle under the bed. As she was running, her foot got caught on her dress and she fell. Her arm hit the nightstand that was right next to her and she landed on the ground.

"Uh oh," Race mumbled, smile fading.

Josie looked at her scraped arm and began crying. "Rome, go find Jack," Race ordered. Mush slid out from under the bed and began trying console the four year old, but she was too focused on her bleeding arm. Mush scooped the small girl up in his arms and they brought her downstairs.

Rome had found Jack and was trying frantically explain what happened. Josie saw her father and cried, "Daddy!"

He took her from Mush and whispered, "Shh, shh, honey, it's ok. It's ok Josie, its ok."

"Finch, go get a wet rag from the kitchen. Crutch, go grab some bandages from the first aid kit. Finch, can you get her some water while you're in there?" Jack ordered. The boys nodded and went to do their separate tasks.

Josie buried her head in Jack's chest and he sat on the closest bed. He sat Josie on his lap so she was facing him and he wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Hey, Josie, it's ok. It's ok, I promise," he said quietly.

"It-it-it hurts," Josie sobbed.

"I know it does, but you're going to be ok. Hey want to hear a story?" Jack asked. Josie sniffled and nodded.

Finch and Crutchie came back and Jack started washing off Josie's wound as he began his story.

The boys quickly recognized it as the story of the strike, but Josie was so into the story, that she didn't even notice her father wrapping her arm gently as possible. By the time he was finished, Josie was perfectly fine and sleeping soundly on the bed.

"That was quick thinking, Cowboy," Romeo whispered Jack covered Josie with the thin blanket.

Jack smiled and said, "She loves stories."

"Jack, you're a pretty great dad. You know that, right?" Crutchie whispered with grin.

Jack smiled at the compliment and said, "Thanks."

"Thanks for helping me tonight boys," Jack said, "I'm sure Josie had the time of her life tonight."

"No problem, Jack," Race said with a soft smile. "We are a family after all, and family sticks together."

A/N: Well, that's it. I think this one if my favorite chapter. It's hard to believe this is the end of this story. Thank you to all of my readers. I wouldn't be able to do this story without all of your comments, favorites, and just reading it. Thank you for being patient with me when I would take FOREVER to post and thank you for sticking around when I did post again.

Another Newsies story is in the works right now, but it might be some time before I publish it. Keep a look out for that one. It may or may not be centered around our favorite cigar smoking Italian. ;)

Thanks again everyone. Till next time. TTFN!