Tiny bright spots of sparkling snow reflected the muted sunlight in the grey December outdoors, nestling themselves rather thickly in the dark brown waves of Melanie Connoy’s medium-length hair as she tugged on the evergreen garland smearing thick sticky sap across her palms.

“Yuck,” she commented good-naturedly, sniffing at the clear goo gumming up her fingertips. She rubbed her thumb against the stuff and then dropped the pine bough in the small pile of snow in front of the Bay Ridge newsies’ lodging house.

“Yuck?” inquired the cheerful voice of Tiptoe McAllister as she stepped out of the brick building, brown-haired Little Bit Powell trailing behind her.

“Ooh!” exclaimed the nine-year-old as she caught sight of the coniferous needles at Melanie’s feet. She reached down and plucked one slim green spike, crumbling it in her fingers and then sniffing the piney residue. “Mmm,” she commented happily, holding her hand up. “Smell.”

Tiptoe bent over, her light brown hair falling loosely over her shoulders as she inhaled delicately. “Mmm!” she exclaimed, smiling brightly at Little Bit. “That smells wonderful!”

Laughing, Melanie extended her hands. “I’m covered in sticky, yummy-smelling stuff,” she laughed. “Don’t go grabbing onto these branches unless you, too, want to be stickier than anything!”

“Ick,” commented Tiptoe.

“Ick?” asked Leapfrog Kristo, poking his brown-haired head out the door. “Oh, look, dead branches.”

“Be quiet, you!” Melanie scolded playfully. “Want to be helpful? Bring me a chair.”

“‘Bring me a chair,’” he mocked, shooting her a grin before disappearing into the boarding house. He reemerged with a solidly-built wooden chair clutched in his hands, which he half tossed down the stairs to the eighteen-year-old. “I only do it ‘cause I have a servile nature,” he explained, darting his eyes to each of the three girls. “Not ‘cause I ac’shully wanna help.”

“Thanks, buddy,” snickered the elder girl, rolling her blue eyes as she set up the chair beside the door and lifted one of the boughs, beginning to fasten it with her pocketful of tacks to the lintel above the walnut of the entryway.

"Anytime, Mel!" Leapfrog walked back into the lodging house and sat on the couch. He sighed. "What's Christmas ever been for me but a cold night and an unloved feeling? And now it's a time for wrapping a present and unopened letters? This is a little confusing..."

Picking up the letter from his mother, he scanned it for some time, after putting it down. He slid his gift to Mel under the tree, and took a pencil. He started to write:
Dear Mom,
It's not all that bad up in New York for Christmas, at least not as bad as it had been. Sure, it is plenty colder than Santa Fe, but I have this warm feeling all the time. It's pretty hard to explain, but this is the first time it happened. I'd love to come visit you for Christmas, but I have to say (please don't take this the wrong way, Mom. I love you a lot, too), that most of my family is here at the lodging house. Have a merry (and suprisingly warm), Christmas.
Love,
Jed

With that, Leapfrog placed it in an envelope and sat thinking for a minute.

Smudge bounded down the old stairs, skipping a few at a time. He fixed the mistletoe that hung by a string on his hat. He smiled as he saw Leapfrog.

"Hey there Frog."

"Hey Smudge." Frog glanced over at him.

"What's this?" Smudge asked, gesturing to the envelope Leapfrog had.

"Just a letter," he answered. "What is with that thing?" he asked, questioning the mistletoe attached to Smudge's hat.

"My mistletoe?" Smudge smiled and brought his hand up to it. "You don't like it? It helps me get girls it kiss me. Don't you know how the tradition goes? Get caught under the mistletoe and you get kissed."

"I know how it goes." Leapfrog laughed slightly.

Smudge grinned as he sat down on the couch. "Maybe I'll find some girl with it too."

"I doubt it."

"Why do you say that?" Smudge asked turning around slightly to look at him.

"Because a girl would take one look at you and run off," the young boy grinned, laughing. Smudge swatted at him with his hand, grinning at the joke that was made.

"You're just jealous." Smudge told him and took his hat off, looking at the mistletoe. "I already hung some up on the front door and to the entrance of the kitchen."

"Has anyone even kissed you yet?"

"Why of course!" Smudge lied, running his hand through his brown hair.

"How many?" Leapfrog looked at the older boy.

Smudge looked at him, thinking a nice number. "Ten."

"Ten times?" Leapfrog rolled his eyes. "You wish."

"Jealousy. Just plain jealousy." Smudge told him, knowing Leapfrog was right. He would never admit to it though.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Leapfrog nodded a bit. "That's it." he answered him sarcastically

Smudge placed the mistletoe hat back on top of his dark brown hair and grinned at the younger boy. He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned around towards the kitchen soon finding that he was being kissed and one cold hand touched the side of his face.

Charity pulled back from the kiss and smiled, her face red from the cold. A surprised look sat on Smudge's face and the girl laughed slightly to herself then looked up a little and pointed to his hat. "Mistletoe," she said simply then went to the doorway where Melanie and Tiptoe were.

Smudge smiled as she went off then looked at Leapfrog and smirked. "Eleven times."

Charity glanced back at Smudge for a second before leaning against the wall and looking over at Melanie. "Are you still making cookies for Christmas?" It sounded slightly childish but she didn't seem to care. Christmas, like every other holiday-birthdays included-had always been treated just like every other day of the year where she grew up at. It was nice to be able to celebrate it for once.

"Of course!" The dark-haired girl exclaimed stepping down off the chair. She pulled the chair further inside then stopped and laughed a little when she caught site of what was going on outside. Charity raised her eyebrow then looked out the door to see what she was laughing at. The blonde girl just smiled and shook her head when she noticed Little Bit making a pile of snow balls in front of the lodging house.

Empire made his way slowly home after a tiring day at the track. Head lowered he wasn't paying to much attention to the surrounding area. A burst of cold air his head, he touched his hair and looked at his hands to reveal snow in them. Glancing up with a slight confused face he saw Little Bit smiling and giggling. Empire laughed gathering up some snow and making a lightly packed snowball.

"Oh, was that funny?" he grinned. Little Bit nodded a smile still on her face. Empire smirked and tossed the snowball, making it miss her by a few inches. Little Bit rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hip.

"You know, you don't have to be all nice about it and miss me on purpose." she said matter-of-factly. Empire raised his eyebrows, and scooped her up in his arms and brought her over to a drift and dropped her into it. Laughing wildly Little Bit tripped him, making him fall face first into the snow. He sat up sputtering and laughing. He beckoned to Charity who he saw looking out the window and prepared a snowball for her entrance to the outside.

"What?" she asked smiling, her face still pink from the cold air. Empire let a snowball fly hitting her arm.

"Empire!" she shrieked grabbing a handful of snow and packing it. She launched one at him hitting him in the cheek. Little Bit laughed and threw one at him to. Empire laughed falling back.

"Some one help me!" he yelled as he saw a shadow of an approaching character.

Gears smiled evilly as she approached a fallen Empire. Snowballs in both her hands she grinned at him once more.

“That wasn’t to nice Empire.” and with that Gears dropped the snowball on Empire hitting him in the chest and neck.

“Darn it missed I was aiming fer yer face.” Gears said as she took a step back from empire who was quickly picking himself up off the ground.

Charity smiled at the two and launched snowballs hitting both Empire and Gears.

“Hey!” Gears yelled as she brushed the snow off her jacket. “Who did that?”

Empire grinned and pointed in Little Bits direction. “She did.”

“I did not!” Little Bit yelled putting her hands on her hips, Gears didn’t seem to hear her though.

“Oh..ok she wants a war…” Gears bent down to pick up some more snow. Empire took just that moment to shove a handful of snow down the back of Gears’ shirt. Gears shot up and started to jump around trying to get the snow out of the back of her shirt. “CCCOOOLLLLDDDD!!!! Cold ! Empire! You rat! I’ll get you back! I will! After I get the snow out of my shirt!” Gears ran toward the house still trying to shake the snow out of her shirt.

Empire watched her leave with a smile. “I was in a war with her first!” having said that Empire returned his attention to Little Bit, who had taken refuge behind a mound of snow. Charity, having been forgotten was preparing another snowball smiling to herself.

Henry Brewster rounded the corner of the lodging house blindly. As always, his mind was on other things (like the heaven he met at the bar the night before...). He almost never socialized with his fellow lodgers;he was still a bit angry because he had to be there, and rejected it. It was one thing to go out bar-hopping.That didn't prove his sister right. But if he actually got to enjoying himself in his current situation...

"SMACK!" He was pelted in the side with a snowball, jolting him out of his reverie.

"What the hell!" He hollered, brushing himself off. He turned to see where it came from. He was faced by a grinning Charity. She just laughed. He couldn't help but grin a little, too. He quickly formed a snowball of is own, and threw it at her, skimming her leg. She grinned even more.

"Who taught you to throw? Your mother?" She teased him. He made another, poising to strike.

"As a matter of fact," he biffed it, "Yes." It was a decent throw, striking her hip. Her eyes widened.

"Hey!" She laughed. He grinned, shook his head and continued to walk towards the doors. "Smudge!" He heard her call, as he climbed the first step. "Are you gonna let 'im get away with that?" she joked. He turned sharply to see what was going on. Smudge grinned. Next thing Henry saw was a streak of cold white heading straight towards his nose. He grabbed for the doorhandle, opened it up quick as a flash, and ducked inside, just as the projectile splattered against the door. He breathed a sigh of relief, laughing to himself, and took a seat on the sofa.

Penny had been walking home from "The Shamrock", the Irish pub that was down on Lincoln Street. Her wavy, copper locks hung about her shoulders, somewhat hidden beneath the heather gray cap on her head.

As she was rounding the corner heading back towards the Bay Ridge Lodging House she got hit dead in the side of face by something wet and extremely cold. She shakes off the remains of a snowball from her hair and face and looks over with an icy glare to see who the attacker had been.

Standing on the corner her fiance, Ransom and Frog stood laughing. "It looked like ya needed to cool off a bit," Frog said between fits of laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face..." He couldn't even finish his sentence before bursting out again.

Penny took off her cap and dusted it off before putting it back on. She then bent over and began to form a snowball in her hands. "Oh shit," Frog said as he picked himself off the ground, where he had been laughing. "I think shes finally lost it..." Frog began to back up as Penny walked foward towards them tossing the snowball back and forth from one hand to the other.

Ransom looked at Frog, a grin on his face. Frog suddenly caught onto his drift and smiled back at him. "Charge!" Frog yelled at the top of his lungs. Penny screamed with laughter as they both tackled her onto the snow covered street.

Ransom got up off of her, still laughing. He loved Penny more then life and he enjoyed seeing her so happy. He watched his soon to be wife and the mother of his unborn child giggling in the snow with Leapfrog and smiled.

He backed up to the lodging house, being careful not to get in the way of the on going snowball fight between some of the lodgers outside. He was cold enough as it was and the last thing he wanted was a chunk of snow down his shirt like he had seen happen to poor Gears.

The strawberry-blonde boy instantly began to get warm as he stepped into the lobby. 'Thanks God for that fireplace,' he thought to himself. He glanced around and smiled a hello to Melanie, Tiptoe and Henry. Henry didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence and Tiptoe merely smiled shyly back.

"Hello Ransom." Melanie smiled, wiping her hands on the side's of her skirt. "Where's Penny?" She asked since it was somewhat rare for him to be seen without the copper haired seventeen-year-old.

"Out playing in the snow," Ransom replied with a grin. "Got a bit too cold for me," he added taking a seat close to the fire.

Tiptoe laughed lightly. "It is cold," she spoke up. "I don't think I could stay out there too long," she smiled.

"That's what I told her," Ransom smiled.

"I hope she doesn't get sick." Tiptoe tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Oh, I'm sure she won't." Melanie smiled at the quiet sixteen year old.

Tiptoe nodded a bit. "You're right," she smiled and glanced at Henry. She smiled slightly and looked at Melanie. "Do you need any help with making cookies? I don't helping at all."

Melanie smiled at the sixteen year old. "It's fine, I have it handled. Thank you though."

Tiptoe smiled and nodded, always looking for some way to help out if it was needed. She loved the Christmas season, for everyone seemed happier and nicer, for the most part. She got up to sit next to the window. She smiled at everyone playing in the snow. They seemed so happy, like they did not have a care in the world, which in turn, made her happy. They deserved to have a few days of fun. She let out a small, happy sigh as she smiled.