Light of My Life: A Newsies Soulmate College AU

Chapter 10

~ Time Skip ~

Almost immediately after finals, Davey had to go home to spend Hannukah with his family, and I had to go back to the lodging house to spend Christmas with the rest of the newsies. I'd hardly had time to go back home to see Tip, and I'd heard from Jack that she missed me terribly. Everyone had piled into Medda's minivan, crowding the vehicle to the point that we probably had at least three people too many according to traffic laws.

"Hey, Medda?" Specs asked from beside me.

"Yes, sugar?" Medda responded, giving Specs a questioning look from the rearview mirror.

"How's Smudge been doing with everyone back at home?" Specs inquired, nervously wringing his hands together. Specs was Smudge's older brother and impulse control. After I'd left the lodging house for college, Smudge was left in charge during the day because he was the oldest newsie in the house.

"Well..." Medda started hesitantly.

"Did he set off the fire alarm again?" I facepalmed as everyone got the same vivid flashback of the lodging house filling with smoke after Smudge somehow lit a wet dishrag on fire while doing dishes. Henry inhaled sharply and Romeo tensed up at the mention of flames. Crutchie was quick with a comforting hand on both of their shoulders.

"No, he's actually stepped up a lot!" Medda smiled, looking rather pleased. "The house isn't spotless, but it's whole. We'll say that."

Shortly after, we arrived at the lodging house. As I was retrieving my backpack from the trunk, I looked over to the window to see Smudge eagerly peeking out from between the curtains. I cautiously opened the door, only to be side-tackled and knocked to the floor by Smudge and a flood of the younger house residents.

"SHINER!" Smudge shouted happily. Elbowing me squarely in the diaphragm, he sprung up from off of me and took my hand, attempting to pull me and my heavy backpack up off the ground.

"Easy there, tiger!" Jack picked up Smudge and hauled him over his shoulders while I got myself back on my feet. "Where's my hello?"

"Couri! Maddie!" Tip, Finch's six-year-old little sister with platinum blonde hair and dark blue eyes set in a pale complexion, tugged on our hands. She was so excited, she could barely speak. "Jack said you have someones now!" She burst out, eyes expectantly locked on our faces.

"Someones?" Couri questioned.

"Yeah! Your shiny boys! Jack said you found your shiny boys!" Tip bounced up and down, clasping her hands together.

"Do you mean our soulmates?" I picked up Tip, throwing her up in the air, much to her delight as she nodded and laughed.

Couri and I simultaneously gave each other a smirk and looked at Jack, who was also getting swarmed by little ones. When he noticed our stares, he threw his hands up in surrender. "Oh c'mon! She forced it outta me!"

David's POV:

As soon as I stepped through the door of my family's apartment, I was engulfed by my mother's arms. "Meyer, he's home!" My mother shouted. My dad emerged from the living room, smiling from ear to ear.

"Les! Sarah! Your brother's here!" He called up the stairs of the house. Seconds later, my little brother Les slid down the banister of the stairs and landed on the ground, barrelling straight into my legs.

"Hey, Les!" I dropped my backpack to greet him.

"DAVEY!" My sister exclaimed, launching herself into my arms. After our little reunion, my mother scurried back into the kitchen, where the smell of latkes emanated from, wafting throughout the house. My dad retreated to his study until dinner, leaving Sarah, Les, and I to return to our rooms upstairs. As I climbed the stairs, I realized that nobody in this house knew about Maddie yet. I'll announce it at dinner tonight. I decided, ascending the rest of the steps and opening the door to my bedroom.

Dinner couldn't come soon enough. "You seem abnormally happy," Sarah stated, passing a plate to Les.

"I have very good reason to be." I countered.

"And that's is?" My mother interjected curiously.

"I found my soulmate!" I beamed. The table buzzed with conversation.

"I'm gonna have a sister-in-law!" Les cried, punching the air excitedly.

"And we'll have a daughter-in-law!" Dad clapped me on the back.

"Tell us all about her!" Sarah exclaimed. "I want to know everything!"

"Well, we met back in October, and-" I started.

"October?!" She shouted exasperatedly. "You've known my future sister-in-law for two whole months already and you didn't tell me? We're gonna have a LOT of lost time to make up for when you bring her home." She stabbed her fork into a latke, shaking her head.