June 13, 1900

Doing his best not to make any noise, Finch climbed out of bed and pulled on his boots and tied them as best as he could. One of the laces had broken nearly in half almost three months before and he'd been making do since then. Quietly, he headed towards the window. Most of the boys were already sleeping, and the few that were still awake were pretending they weren't. Finch carefully climbed out the window onto the fire escape. He shivered as he stepped into the cool night air. Climbing the ladder up to the roof, he looked to the clock tower illuminated by the full moon. It only read 11:29, but Finch didn't mind waiting. He enjoyed being outside in the cool night air. The lodging house was stuffy and crowded, and reminded Finch of the worst parts of his life. He loved being a newsie, even though he only made pennies a day and worked in awful weather. He'd found a family, and things had only gotten better since last summer. Finch sat enjoying the night air and the calm silence of the rooftop when he heard a noise from over by the ladder from the fire escape. He turned and saw Henry's head pop up. "Hey, what's up?" Finch asked as Henry walked over to where he was sitting.

"Eh, couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come up here, get a bit o' fresh air, ya know?" Henry replied. "What are you doin' up here?"

"Same as you," Finch replied, untruthfully. He glanced back at the clock tower. 11:37. He sighed and continued sitting in silence with Henry. Only a few minutes had gone by when the boys heard another sound from the fire escape, this time manifesting itself as Mike and Ike.

"Oh, hey," Mike said, who seemed surprised to already see two boys sitting on the rooftop. "What're you doin' up here?"

"What're you doin'?" countered Finch.

"We was arguin', woke up Romeo n' Specs n' Race, n' they told us to come up here," Ike shrugged as the twins sat down with Henry and Finch.

Finch didn't say anything as he tried to ignore the other three boys sitting with him. He supposed he wouldn't be alone after all tonight, and, with his luck, would probably be joined by a few more boys before he was done. Sure enough, as he saw the clock turn to 11:43, Romeo and Race popped up from the fire escape. Romeo opened his mouth to say something, but Finch interrupted him. "Couldn't sleep? It's fine, us too. Come sit." Race and Romeo obliged, sitting together just behind Finch and Henry. Hardly two minutes had gone by when Crutchie appeared with Smalls right behind. Not a word was exchanged amongst the newsies as they sat down on the rooftop. With another glance back at the clock, which now read 11:51, Finch realized there was no getting rid of the boys and they'd all be together the one time Finch wanted to be alone. He was so annoyed that as JoJo, Buttons, Albert, Elmer, and Sniper climbed up on the rooftop, he didn't even register that none of them had stayed at the lodging house that night and how strange it was that they should be there. Dejectedly, he looked at the time - 11:55 - and stood up. "Well, I'm tired. Night, fellas." He started back towards the fire escape, but before he had taken two steps, he felt someone grab his leg.

"Why are you leavin'? We can't celebrate without you," Henry said as he let go of Finch.

"Yeah," said Tommy Boy as he climbed up the ladder. "I's only just got here!"

"What're you's fellas even talkin' 'bout?" Finch sighed. "Look, I's tired, and we gotta work tomorrow-"

"We gotta work ever'day," Buttons cut in. "Look, Race, jus'- you tell 'im."

Finch looked at all the boys gathered there. "Tell me what? You's gotta problem or some'n?"

Race glanced at the other boys gathered there before nodding at JoJo and Albert. They each produced a small, lumpy package, which they handed to Finch. "We's here for your birthday, kid," Race said. "It's not everyday ya turn sixteen, and you's had enough lonely birthdays. Hell, most a' us have had most a' our birthdays alone with nothin' special about it. We don't want that to happen no more, not to our brotha's, so we's startin' with you."

Finch couldn't help smiling at the boys before turning to the packages in his hands. Everyone nodded and leaned in in anticipation. Finch opened the first package, which contained two pieces of penny candy. He gasped, almost dropping both packages. Having enough money to buy food and board was easier since the strike, but wasting a whole penny on candy was ridiculous. Most of the boys only dreamed about having a piece, let alone two. Finch was so shocked he almost forgot about the other package until Romeo tapped it lightly. Wrapping the candy back up and handing it to Romeo, he turned his attention to the other package. Unwrapping it, he saw a brand new shoelace to replace the broken one. "No," he breathed as a solitary tear slipped down his face. "You fellas didn't hafta get me a new shoelace, or candy," Finch said, quietly.

"Yeah we did," Crutchie said. "'Cause you's our brotha', and we's like a fam'ly."

Finch stood and looked at the boys around him. "Thank you," he said. He didn't know what else to say. He just stood and looked at the boys until Albert said, "Look!" Finch turned and saw the clock strike midnight. He turned back to the boys as they smiled at him. "Happy birthday, Finch."