Work Text:
Kit tucked her legs up in front of her and leaned to one side of the chair, idly clutching her camera in her lap. She'd taken plenty of pictures of everyone, eager to capture the holiday memories. The room was warm and festive, with the sound of the radio in the background. She'd just about nodded off, the comforting weight of Christmas dinner sending her to sleep, when a knock on the door startled her awake.
"I wonder who that could be," her mother said, standing to go greet their visitor.
Kit shifted in her chair, making eye contact with Charlie, who raised his eyebrows at her with a smile as she yawned.
"Oh!" Kit heard from the entryway. "Ruth Ann. What a surprise!"
Suddenly, Kit felt wide awake. She scrambled out of her seat, pausing momentarily to make sure her camera was carefully set down on the cushion. "Ruthie!" Kit shouted, running down the hallway to squeeze her friend in a hug. "I didn't know you were coming tonight. We're still on for tomorrow, aren't we?"
Their Day After Christmas tradition of going downtown with their mothers was still going strong after all these years, but now that they were grown themselves, it felt even more precious. Who knew how many more years they would all be able to be in the same place for Christmas?
"Of course we are," Ruthie said. "I wouldn't miss it. I just wanted to visit with everyone tonight as well."
"Come on, then," Kit said, grabbing Ruthie's sleeve to drag her to the living room. "Those cookies look amazing!"
The cookies were well appreciated by everyone. Then, after an hour or two of visiting, Kit's mom and dad excused themselves to bed, and the three children—none of whom were truly children any longer—were left to their own devices.
It was rare for Charlie to be home these days. He'd finally gotten the chance to go to college when Uncle Hendrick had passed away, and he was almost done with his studies now. Kit was glad he was able to follow his dreams, after the Depression had forced him to give them up, but she was also glad that he'd been able to make it home for Christmas this year. The holiday just didn't feel right without him!
"I was talking with Dad earlier," Charlie said, during a break in conversation. "About the war."
Kit took a sharp breath. "Are you going to enlist?" she asked. She'd been scared to ask before, but the question had worried at her anyway. She felt Ruthie grab her hand and squeezed back hard.
"Not yet," he said. "I have one more semester to finish out, and then I'll be graduated. Once I've graduated, I'd like to enlist. I want to help defend the country, and I feel I owe it to the President. Without his work programs, I'm not sure Dad and I would have found jobs. Much less jobs that paid as well as the CCC did."
Kit understood that, but she didn't like to think of her brother so far away, fighting in a war. She'd always enjoyed her dad's old war songs, but she hadn't exactly been around when he'd actually been off fighting.
"We'll all write to you," Ruthie promised. "We'll keep you up to date with everything going on here in Cincinnati!"
"Like Kit's old newspapers?" Charlie joked with a grin.
Kit laughed and threw a pillow at him. "I'm sure I can manage to mock up a paper just for you."
"You're going to stay here, then?" he asked. "Not going to try to become some adventurous lady reporter, following the troops across Europe and the Pacific?"
Kit would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it. Those kinds of opportunities didn't come around everyday, and she wasn't sure she could honestly say she wouldn't jump at the chance if someone offered it to her. But she wasn't naive enough to think that it would be solely an adventure without great dangers involved. And she would have opportunities at home as well! She was lucky enough to be working more regularly at the newspaper, having long graduated from selling stories for the children's column. These days, she was earning a reputation as a hard hitting reporter.
"Gibb won't be going anywhere, but some of the other reporters have enlisted," she explained. "So there will be slack to pick up at the newspaper. There's so much to report on from overseas, of course, but also locally... I was thinking that I could rework some of Aunt Millie's tips for saving money into a column of how to do your part on the home front!"
Canning and gardening would certainly help, but there were other things, like making dandelion green salads and stretching the life of your bed linens, that people might not think about on their own.
"Oh, that sounds like a good idea, Kit! And you know what they're saying," Ruthie added. "If anyone was to attack the U.S., Cincinnati would be a strategic target. Even as far inland as we are, they've got defenses set up in case of an invasion, and there are all sorts of civilian roles that need filled. I know they need nurses; I might volunteer to help that way."
Kit nodded. "If I didn't have my work with the newspaper already, I might try to join the Red Cross Mobile Corps! I like the idea of repairing the cars myself."
Silence fell back over the room. It wasn't as comfortable as it had been; the joy of Christmas had given way for the chill of the uncertain future.
After a few minutes, Charlie sighed and stood up. "Let me walk you home, Ruthie," he said, and he offered her a hand.
Ruthie blushed as she accepted, smiling sweetly as she placed her hand in Charlie's and allowed him to help her up from her seat. Kit hid a smile as she watched. It'd been a little strange when she'd first realized that her best friend liked her big brother, but it only made sense, really. It'd make sense if he liked her back, too. Charlie was wonderful, and Ruthie was the best friend that Kit had ever had, despite the arguments they'd gotten into over the years. Why shouldn't they like each other? They were Kit's favorite people in the world!
And she knew Ruthie had always wanted a bigger, more exciting family; if she married Charlie, then Kit would be her sister! It wasn't like they needed a marriage or anything like that to think of themselves as sisters, of course, but it really would be more convenient if things worked out this way.
"Have a nice walk, you two," Kit said with a grin, and she blithely ignored the looks she got in return. She knew neither of them was truly annoyed with her. And she was genuinely happy for them. These were uncertain times ahead. It was good to have something happy to tease about. "But first"—she lifted up her camera for one last photograph of the night—"look over here!"