To Be a Newsie

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Crutchie and Alice Sleeping in a Fort...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Crutchie and Alice Sleeping in a Fort...

Crutchie sat on his bed, attempting to ignore his friends since he couldn't run from them. He had (stupidly) asked them to help him get ready for his date with Alice, and they were insisting he wear a onesie. He had planned on taking her out to dinner, and so obviously he needed to wear something other than a onesie. He reached for his phone to text Alice, as he was supposed to pick her up at 7:00 and it was now 6:50, and went into a panic; his phone wasn't on the bed with him.

Daisy had taken it, though Crutchie didn't know this. She had run down to the basement with it and, after guessing Crutchie's pure password of 5555, had called Alice to tell her that Crutchie wanted to show her a fort and have a movie date at the house instead. Alice had giggled at the young girl's antics before agreeing.

That was why Crutchie was greeted with Alice giggling at the bottom of the stairs when he tumbled down the stairs with his flamingo onesie halfway on, nothing but a white tank top covering his torso. Blushing, he grabbed his crutch from the floor next to him and used it to help himself up off the floor. Before he could say anything to Alice, however, he was interrupted.

"FIIINCH! Wanna go on a date?" Daisy asked, looking up at the somewhat short Filipino newsboy.

"Wh-whAt?" His voice cracked as he stuttered, not wanting to understand what the young girl had asked him.

"Well Daddy and Poppa do it. And Aunt Sarah and Auntie Kath do it. And Auntie Kenny and Uncle Race and Uncle Albert and Uncle Spot do it. And Uncle Mush and Uncle Blink do it. And now Uncle Crutchie and Alice do it and I wanna do it too!" she explained. Jack sighed at how cute and precious his daughter was.

"Sure," Finch sighed, not having a reason to say no. Daisy giggled and dragged Finch away to go plan their "date" to the toy store.

Meanwhile, Crutchie continued to fight off his brothers as they attempted to fully put the onesie on him. David had made tea and had started a lovely conversation with Alice about the weather, though they were often interrupted by the battle that was happening in the foyer.

"CRUTCHIE JUST GIVE UP AND WEAR THE STUPID ONESIE!" Race screeched as he tried to secure the flamingo feet to Crutchie's own.

"Lovely weather we're having this week," David tried to divert the girl's attention. Alice nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's very beautiful," she added. David smiled at her, loving her willingness to ignore the chaos.

"CRUTCHIE YOU AREN'T ALLOWED IN THE FORT WITHOUT A ONESIE!" Les screamed as he jumped onto the crippled boy's back. Luckily Crutchie was expecting it and was able to hold Les's weight without toppling over.

"I saw this fabulous scarf in the store the other day and I just HAD to buy it. Who cares what the other guys think, it was MAGNIFICENT!" David explained as he showed off his new scarf to Alice.

"I SWEAR TO GOD CRUTCHIE IF YOU DON'T PUT ON THE FUCKING ONESIE I WILL RIP YOUR STUFFED ANIMAL COLLECTION TO SHREDS!" Albert threatened. Crutchie gasped.

"You wouldn't dARE!" He shouted, mildly afraid and mostly in shock at the threat.

"GEE, I DUNNO. WHY DON'T YOU ASK MR. TWIDDLE BOTTOMS!" Albert yelled, bringing up the memory of the year before when he had ripped apart Crutchie's favorite stuffed rabbit.

"Crutchie.. I'll wear a onesie too." Alice's remark caused the chaos to stop. Crutchie pulled the flamingo onesie the rest of the way on while Kenny went upstairs and retrieved an owl onesie for Alice to wear. The couple made their way down to the fort and laid down in the middle of it, starting the pile of Disney movies that Daisy had left out for them. During the middle of The Lion King, Crutchie nervously wrapped an arm around the girl. Alice snuggled into his chest, and soon the two were fast asleep.

Not long later, Daisy made her way to the basement, seeing as the door was unlocked because Crutchie (bless his heart) is incredibly forgetful. She quietly crawled her way through the fort and to the sleeping couple, thankful that she was already wearing a onesie and therefore didn't have to worry about breaking the rules. Upon seeing Crutchie's sleeping form, she huffed in frustration before shaking him violently. He gasped as he sat up, very much startled but ultimately relieved when he realized it was just Daisy.

"Uncle Crutchie, can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked him innocently.

"Daisy, don't you have your own bed you can sleep in?" He tiredly asked, highly confused.

"Yeah, but my bed has monsters under it. And everyone's doors are locked. Even Finch's! Can you believe it?"

"No, I can't believe it!" Crutchie figured complying and pleasing the girl was probably his best bet at getting back to sleep, and decided to just go with it. "Of course you can sleep down here with us."

Daisy grinned at the boy before snuggling herself in between him and Alice, waking up the older girl in the process. Alice rolled over and grabbed her phone, shooting a text to her dad to tell him she was staying the night before putting her head back down on Crutchie's chest. They started The Little Mermaid and ended up watching the movie what felt like 100 times -- and you better believe Crutchie sang 'Under the Sea' every single time. Eventually, all three of them fell asleep again -- Daisy because she's a child, Alice because she's incapable of pulling all-nighters, and Crutchie because he actually felt comfortable enough to do so easily.

Ever conscious of everything, Kenny slipped down into the basement and laid a blanket over them before stopping the movie.

Because Kenny Kelly, Master of Doing Things While People are Asleep™, loved to take care of her boys.

A/N: At the time of writing this one, it's May 18 (2019, for anyone who cares). Quick update:

- Mean Girls was AMAZING. Shamelessly stared at Ben the entire time. I didn't get to stagedoor bc we needed to get back home (it was a Sunday, we live like 5 hours from NYC) but next time he's in a show I'm seeing it & we're stagedooring.

- Super excited for West Side Story and getting to see so many former Newsies on the big screen (again, since I saw Newsies Live in theaters lol)

- Cannot wait for June bc even though my brother graduates it means I get a few months free (but I'm super scared for senior year so that'll be stressful)

So yeah that's all I got, hopefully this goes up fairly soon lol - AB

A/N 2: Wow, it's April 10, 2020 and I'm just now posting this. Oops. Uh.. expect more very very soon I promise. Stay safe and healthy and socially distant, everyone. - AB