[Fic] That Time Papa Brought A Girl Home
Title: Angelique: The Original Version
Author: Me.
Characters/Pairings: England/France, America, Canada, Australia, Seychelles, Spain, Prussia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland.
Rating: PG-13?
Warnings: Arthur's mouth, and me trying to write angst.
Summary: The original version of Angelique's part from Building a Family Part II which was too long and angsty to be a part of that.
Part of this thing:
Ludwig's Family
Ludwig's Family's Drabbles
Feliciano's Family
Im Yong Soo's Family
Alfred's Family
Building a Family, FrUK Style Part I
Building a Family, FrUK Style Part II
Ivan's Family
Francis was sorting through the mail when he came across a letter addressed to him. This in itself wasn’t all that strange; it was his and Arthur’s mail after all. No, what made him stop right there and then to open it was the cursive writing on the envelope. Say what you will about him, Francis was intrigued. Even more so when he read what was inside the letter.
Before he could contemplate more on that, the front door burst open, revealing a beat and angry Arthur.
“Somebody have a fun filled day at work?” Francis smirked, stashing the letter in his back pocket.
“Shut up frog, I’m not in the mood,” he tossed his bag and jacket to the ground and loosened his tie. “Where are the kids?”
“Off exploring somewhere I suppose.”
“And you’re not worried?”
“Mathieu’s with them.”
“Good, I just want to forget about today,” he kicked of his shoes and stomped up stairs. When he was about halfway to the top, he stopped, turned around, and gave Francis that look that promised so many naughty things. “Well aren’t you going to join me?”
His eager stare was all the response Arthur needed before he gave the Frenchman one final smirk and sauntered the rest of the way upstairs.
Francis quickly stashed the letter in a place where he knew Arthur nor the kids would find it and hurried upstairs. He loved it when Arthur topped…
***
“I can’t believe I’m stuck with an unruly brat like you,” the woman said, tugging at her arm, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“No!” she screamed as she tried to pull away. “I dun wanna go with you!!”
“Well it’s not like there’s anyone else around to take care of your ungrateful little ass! Isn’t that right?” she asked the lawyer.
“Um…well…”
“Papa! Papa’s gonna come and take me to his house!”
“Right, of course, that bastard who got my whore of a sister pregnant and then never showed his face again is just going to waltz in here and-”
“Take his daughter away from her Evil Aunt?” Francis finished, leaning against the doorframe, twirling a rose, “Because it’s not like that’s going to happen anytime soon now is it?”
“Papa?” she shyly asked. Truth be told, she had never actually seen her father before, but there was no other reason for this man to be here, and if the lawyer’s disbelieving face and her Aunt’s glare were anything to go by, then there was no one else he could possibly be. “Papa!”
She tried to run to him but was stopped by the vice grip her Aunt had on her arm.
“Let go of my daughter.”
“Oh now she’s your daughter? Where were you in her life when my sister was alive?!”
“It’s very hard to be there for someone when you haven’t been informed of their existence,” he held out the letter, “I was only told about here last week thanks to Monsieur Lawyer’s letter.”
“You…” she turned her anger on the poor lawyer.
“H-he’s the father! He has a right to know…”
“What right?!” She turned back to Francis, “If you did know about Angelique, would you have done the right thing and married my sister? Would you have left him?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation, “but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have been there.”
“Of course you would have! They’d been an excellent afterthought! If you ever got tired of you drunken slut of a husband and all those bastard children you have held up in your house, then my broken sister and her little bastard would be a wonderful vacation.”
The room went deadly silent.
“You can say whatever you want about me,” Francis said after a while, “I’ve lived an interesting life; most of what people say was true at some point, but,” he turned a death glare on her that left her shaken enough to release the girl, “don’t you dare say anything bad about Arthur, never say anything like that about my sons again, and if I ever hear you speak that way about my daughter, I will not be held responsible for what befalls you.”
She gulped and stepped back. Angelique was frozen for a few seconds before rushing forward into her Papa’s waiting embrace.
“Now, Monsieur Lawyer, where do I sign?”
***
Alfred looked down at his plate. “Dad, when’s Papa coming home?”
Arthur’s eyebrow twitched. Matt looked at him with pleading eyes but remained silent while Jake cautiously poked his food with a fork, jumping when it twitched and hissed at him.
“Papa will be home whenever Papa comes home, so pipe down and eat your dinner.”
“…I think we should wait for Papa.”
“Seconded!” Jake shouted. Matt just nodded. Arthur’s eyebrow twitched again.
Suddenly they heard the front door open. The boys jumped out of their seats and rushed towards it with shouts of “Papa!” as they went. Arthur sighed and followed. Francis said he had a surprise for them…
“Who’s that?” he hears Matt quietly ask. The other boys’ screaming stop as Arthur enters the entryway to discover that Francis has brought home a little girl.
“Boys, meet Angelique. She’s your new sister.”
“Hello!” Alfred grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously. “My names Alfred and I’m the oldest!”
“I’m Jake!” Jake pushed Alfred out of the way. “Nice to meet ya mate!”
“Ah…I’m Matthew,” Matt said from behind them.
“New sister?” Arthur asked, “And you were planning on telling me when?”
“Mon cher, surprises are more fun when you don’t know they’re coming.”
“Some warning would have been nice. This house is full of boys I’m not sure we’re ready for a girl…Hello Angelica.” He smiled at her.
“It’s Angelique…”
“Ma cheri, don’t fret. He’s just being English. Isn’t that right Mathieu?” Matt nodded. “Angelique, this is Arthur, your new father.”
“But…Papa is my Papa, and I can only have one Papa…”
…Where had Francis found this girl again?
“Of course!” Alfred laughed, “That’s where there’s Papa,” he pointed at Francis, “and Dad,” he pointed at Arthur. “Jake says he has another Daddy in Australia somewhere…”
“He has three Papas?” Jake nodded. Angelique looked thoughtful for a moment. “But Mama said I only have one Papa and that’s Papa…”
“Boys…” Arthur spoke in what the boys had come to know as the ‘Papa’s Sleeping on the Couch Tonight’ tone. They shuddered at the implications that that tone provided. “Why don’t you take Angelique upstairs and show her around?” Three seconds later left Francis and Arthur alone in the entryway. Arthur immediately turned and walked back into the kitchen, Francis following behind him.
“Are you still upset that I didn’t tell you before hand?” he asked, “I told you I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Arthur made himself some tea and didn’t look up as he asked, “Where did you get her?”
“I don’t see how that-”
“You leave town for business and come back with a kid. I’d like to know where you found her.”
“I could ask the same about Australia-”
“Except I told you exactly what happened. Where. Is. She. From?”
“…Promise you won’t get mad…”
Arthur tapped his foot while waiting for the water to boil as a response.
“At least hear me out, mon cher,” he nodded, so Francis continued, “A few days ago I received a letter from some lawyer. A dear…‘friend’ of mine, Michelle, had recently passed away.”
“Her mother?”
“Yes.”
He slowly stirred his tea, dreading asking the next question but knowing he had to.
“Are you her father?”
“…yes.”
Arthur turned away, clutching his cup in a death grip as he felt his heart break.
“Arthur let me explain. It was before you-”
“We started seeing each other when I was 15! She can’t be any older than Matthew!”
“It was before the marriage at least…”
The teacup started to crack. “We were together before the marriage…”
“If you recall correctly, there was a brief span of several months when you refused to see me-”
“That wasn’t my choice!”
“I know that now…I didn’t really know that then until Gilbert told me…”
“…How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long before you…did you…?”
“…You can’t expect me to remember all of my sexual encounters…”
“I expect you to bloody well remember when they turn into a child!”
“…thedaybefore.”
“I didn’t quite catch that…”
“…the day before…”
CRASH! Francis stared at the broken tea cup on the ground. It was easier than watching Arthur’s heart break right before his eyes.
“Are you telling me the day before you asked me to leave everything behind and run away with you, you were off fucking around with some whore?!?!”
“She wasn’t a whore!”
“Slut then.”
“Look, Arthur, my love that was a very confusing time for me, when we were apart. I wasn’t exactly in a good place…”
“Gilbert said he told my circumstance the week before.”
“And he did, but I still had a lot of things to mull over…if anything you should thank her, because she made me realize that I only really love you.”
He never thought a tea kettle would be quite that hard when it came flying at his head. Perhaps Arthur just had a good arm.
“Bullshit! How many more children are going to crop up out of nowhere? I always thought Matthew had your hair…”
“No, Arthur that is just a coincidence.”
“Oh, I’m sure it is…”
“Just like you and Jake have the exact same eyebrows.”
“That is a coincidence! I’d never even been to Australia before that trip!”
“Arthur, I know, I’m just saying-”
“What? That they aren’t your sons?”
“No…just that we aren’t related by blood. Arthur I think you’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion…”
“Out of…out of proportion! I just found out my husband had a child with some slut the day before he proposed! I think I have every right to be mad as hell and then some!”
“You’re taking everything out of context!”
“Which part? The part about you having a child?! The part about you fucking random sluts when I wasn’t allowed to see you?!”
“…They weren’t random…”
“There was more than one?!”
“Of course there was Arthur! You’d be stupid to think otherwise considering I was drunk most of our time apart anyway.”
“Stupid? Stupid?! …Yes, stupid. I have been stupid…about a lot of things.”
“Arthur, don’t-”
“I thought you loved me, I guess that was pretty stupid of me to think.”
“Arthur…”
“I loved you. I knew all about your reputation…you hung out with Gilbert and Antonio, that should have tipped me off, but I loved you anyway…that was pretty stupid.”
“You could have shown it a little better…” he muttered under his breath before he realized just what he said, and immediately regretted it when that look of complete hopelessness passed of his husband’s face.
He was quick to cover it up with pure rage though. “You…I gave up everything for you…and you just…” Arthur clenched and unclenched his fists a few times and looked around the room for something else to chuck. “Fucking hell...I’m leaving.” He stormed out.
“What…Arthur, you can’t just leave!”
“Well like bloody hell I’m staying here!”
“What about the kids?”
“I’m taking them with me!” he stormed upstairs.
“You can’t do that!”
“You can keep your bastard child!” he shouted from the top of the stairs. Francis scrambled to follow him and reached the top at the same time Arthur threw open the door to the boys’ room.
“Boys, pack your things, we’re leaving!”
Matthew had taken refuge under his bed when he heard Arthur coming. Jake, Alfred, and Angelique were sitting on it.
“Where are we going?” Alfred asked.
“Away. Grab whatever you want and be quick about it!” he snapped. They scrambled to follow his orders.
“Arthur!” Francis shouted when showed up in the doorway, “You’re being unreasonable!”
“Running away with you, that was unreasonable. Tricking myself into thinking this could actually work out, letting you ruin my life that was unreasonable. What is taking you so long?!” he snapped again, causing Jake and Alfred to jump. “Matthew, get out from under there and start packing!”
“No, Arthur, you can’t do this.”
“I bloody well can and will.”
“You will not take my sons from me!”
“Jake is mine. I signed the papers, I paid the fees.”
“…You can take him from my, although I wish you wouldn’t; I love him very much and will be sad to see him go, but you cannot take Matt and Alfred!”
“I can, I will, and I will get a fucking restraining order if I have to in order to keep you away! Boys get to the car!”
“But what about-”
“Now.” The jumped and obeyed. “Matt get out from under there!”
“Alfred!” Francis called, “Get back in here!”
“No! Alfred and Jake, get in the car! Matt, come out and join them!”
Matt shook his head which he held in his hands and started crying. Angelique, who had long since run off into a corner of the room, started crying as well. Alfred remained frozen in the doorway, not sure what to do.
After an intense glare down, Arthur scoffed and walked out of the room, grabbing Alfred as he left.
“Fine. I’ll come back with a court order and get him!”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Arthur ignored him as he dragged Alfred outside to the car where Jake already was and drove to the nearest motel for the night. After making sure the boys were fast asleep, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Hello?” a sleepy voice responded.
“Vash?”
“Arthur? What is it?”
“I…need a p-place to stay for a bit.”
“Just you? What happened?”
“Alfred and Jake are with me…I just…”
“…My parents still want nothing to do with you Arthur…I don’t think you can stay here.”
“Oh…w-well that’s fine. I’m sure I can-”
“Gilbert’s father is out of town, and even if he wasn’t, he’s still upset at your parents. I’m sure Gilbert and Ludwig will have no qualms with you guys staying there for a bit.”
“Th-thank you. We’ll be over tomorrow if it’s alright.”
“It’ll be fine. Are you going to be alright Arthur?”
“Yes, I should be…”
“If you say so…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, see you then.” He hung up the phone, placed it on the nightstand, and finally let himself cry.
***
“I think Alfred’s depressed,” Arthur noted as he watched the boys play in the living room. Or more accurately, watch Ludwig read, Jake fidget around while watching TV and Alfred just sit there.
Gilbert wanted to smack him upside the head. “Of course he’s depressed! The kid hasn’t said a word since he walked through the door and has done nothing but stare off into space! And he’s not the only one…”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re tea’s cold,” Arthur looked down and noticed that was true, “you haven’t even touch it even though I went through the trouble of making it awesome for you.”
“Hm…” he sighed and looked back to the living room.
“Your being here has lowered the awesome level of the house from like a billion to about three, and that’s only because I’m still here.”
“I’m sorry for intruding…”
“You’re not supposed to be sorry! You’re supposed to smirk and be a condescending ass and toss British insults at me. This is why I’ve never fallen in love, it’s so not awesome.”
“Hm,” he agreed.
“What’s that Arthur? Did you say that that’s only because no one could ever love you anyway? Well, Ludwig loves me so-”
“Bruder,” Ludwig said as he walked in the kitchen to get a drink, “you’re arguing with yourself again.”
“Well what else am I supposed to do? I can’t deal with this kind of Arthur…”
“I don’t know much about it, but I’m pretty sure you’re going about it the wrong way.”
“Well if you know so much about it than why don’t you fix Alfred?”
“I just said I didn’t know much about it…”
“Alfred,” Arthur spoke up, “has never been away from Matthew for more than a day before…”
“Is that all? Ludwig, go play with your cousin while I fix Arthur. And I want you to actually play with him, not get lost in your own little world. Got it?”
“But Bruder…”
“Relax. I’ve got an awesome plan that will fix everything. Now run along.”
Ludwig looked at his brother apprehensively, but ran off to do what he was told.
“I don’t need fixing,” Arthur insisted, “I’m perfectly fine. Never been better…”
“Riiight,” Gilbert sighed, “Listen, I’ve known Francis for a long time. To be honest, I never actually expected you guys to last for so long, partly because you’re kinda a jerk and he just doesn’t do the whole relationship thingy,” Arthur shot his cousin a glare, who continued as if he didn’t notice (he didn’t), “but you did somehow. And I know for a fact that he never cheated on you during your marriage, and he actually did stop sleeping around when you two were together.”
“Thanks Gilbert, I feel soooo much better…” Gilbert perked up for a moment thinking the Briton had gotten some of his fire back, but was disappointed when Arthur only sighed and sunk further into his chair. “He ran off and had a daughter…”
“You weren’t together then, it doesn’t count. And if you saw him during the time you were apart, well…it wasn’t pretty.”
“Why are you always on his side?”
“Hey this has been hard on me too. Whenever you two fight I can’t talk to one of my best friends without feeling like I’m turning my back on you.”
“Then why don’t you just-”
“Because we’re family,” Roderich said as he let himself in the backdoor, “and even Gilbert can understand that much.”
“Would you at least knock? This isn’t your house you know!”
“Elizaveta is visiting a friend right now. Rather than disturb her, I’ll just wait here.”
“…You can’t find your own house, can you?”
“I don’t see how that matters,” he helped himself to some of the (now cold) tea Gilbert had painstakingly made and sat down at the table, “Shouldn’t we be trying to cheer Arthur up instead?”
“I don’t need cheering up. I’m perfectly happy…” His cousins stared at him, clearly not believing him.
“C’mon, I know what will cheer you up!” Gilbert shot up, grabbed his arm, and headed for the door, “We’ll hit the town! Get you completely wasted! Paint the world red! It’ll be awesome! Ludwig, you’re in charge!” he shouted as an afterthought.
“Yes, because nothing cheers a person up better than a depressant…I really don’t think Arthur should be drinking now.”
“Stop being a spoil-sport, Specs and come with us,” he said as he grabbed his arm to and dragged his cousins outside. “At the very least, let’s get some fresh air. That house is getting depressing.”
Ludwig peeked out the window after his brother and cousins and sighed. Bruder was always doing reckless things…
***
“Antonio, have you seen my wine?” Francis asked, puzzled, “I swear I had at least ten bottles here last night…”
“You drank nine of them already. And I hid the last one.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken, as I could not have-”
“Yeah, you kinda did.”
“…Well can I-”
“No. No more wine for you. Why do you always do this to yourself when he leaves?”
“Is he gone? I haven’t noticed. I don’t care what or who he does or where his is. He’s a grown man.”
“It’s okay that you miss him…I hoped you two would have gotten past that stage after you had kids and everything.”
Francis stopped moving around the kitchen and tightly gripped the can opener he happened to be holding at the time.
“He can’t express his feelings, he thinks he’s always right even when he’s not, he has one of the most insufferable personalities that I have ever come across, and over all he’s really just a horrible person.”
“But…” Antonio prompted.
“But, I love him. And I miss him, and Alfred, and Jake, who he’ll probably never let me see again.”
“That’s why you need to go to him! Admit your mistake and beg for his forgiveness!”
“Angelique is not a mistake!”
“I’m pretty sure if you don’t plan for something, it’s a mistake. She’s probably the loveliest mistake in the history of mistakes though. And that’s not the point; the point is that you did mess up, big time.”
“He’s the one who overreacted.”
“True, but you know how he gets and he wouldn’t have been able to overreact if you didn’t mess up in the first place.”
“I can’t…he’s too mad. I can’t just go crawling back to him. He might force me to abandon Angelique, and I won’t do that to her again.”
“I don’t know Arthur as well as you do, but he doesn’t seem the type to just leave a child by herself in the big scary world,” Antonio said thoughtfully, “Isn’t that why you have Jake?”
“He probably doesn’t want me back anyway,” Francis sighed as he went back to cooking.
“You know that’s not true.”
“You weren’t there…he was very upset, and you know how emotional he can be.”
“He loves you,” the Spaniard said, as if that solved everything.
“He did…who knows if he still does.” With a final flip, the food in the pan landed on four plates placed out on the counter by the stove. “Angelique! Matthew! Dinner’s ready!”
Angelique hurried downstairs, but the blonde head was missing. “Matt said he doesn’t want to come down yet.”
“Still?” Antonio questioned. “He’s been locked up in his room ever since I got here,” he gasped as it all clicked, “He hates me doesn’t he!? What did I ever do to earn such hatred!?!”
“I’m fairly certain he’s more upset about his brother being gone than about you being here, mon ami.”
“Ah! That would make more sense.”
Angelique smiled at her Papa before grabbing the two plates and heading back upstairs. When she got to Matt’s door, she gently knocked and pushed it open when there was no response. Upon entering the dark room, she saw her new brother lying curled up on his bed, looking out the window, where he had been all week.
“I brought you food,” she said, placing the plate by him on the nightstand. Matt didn’t move. “Papa’s worried about you. Antonio actually thinks you hate him.” Still no response. “I suppose he just can’t see that it’s really me you hate…”
“I don’t hate you,” he said, not turning to face her, “I just…you’ve never had a brother before have you?”
“No, I’m an only child,” she admitted.
“Alfred has always been there for me. Since even before we met Dad and Papa. He’d always protected me and been there when I needed him, and now he’s just…” his voice hitched. He’d started crying. Angelique placed her plate of food down and lay down next to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a while, “It’s my fault your brothers are gone.”
“N-no it’s not. It’s Dad’s and Papa’s. ‘Adults do silly things sometimes. Don’t blame yourself for that.’ Alfred used to say that to me…”
“He sounds like a good brother.” Matt nodded and she tightened her hug. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll come home soon, they all will. You’ll see.”
***
Ludwig had no idea what he was doing. Alfred was the one who usually dragged everyone into playing ridiculous games, and Ludwig was man enough to admit that his imagination could not even compare to his cousin’s. But with Alfred just moping about, there really wasn’t anything he could do about it. Jake wasn’t helping much either.
“I’m telling you, the best way to help him forget is for us to go beat up something,” he insisted. “Trust me, it works every time.”
“We’re not allowed to leave the house without Bruder or Roderich or Vash. And I’m not letting you beat me up.”
“Awesome, it’s no fun if they don’t fight back!” Ludwig glared at him. “I’m just kidding Luddy, I wouldn’t hit you.”
“Alfred,” the blonde asked his cousin, “what do you want to play?”
“…Nothing.”
“Well, what do you want to do?”
“…I wanna go home.”
“I just told you we can’t leave the house.”
“Well why not?!” Alfred turned on his cousin, suddenly very angry, “We were dragged away from our house and brought here without anybody asking! Why should we need your brother or anyone else to go back? It’s not fair!”
“Do you even know where your house is?”
“Of course I do. I could find it easily if I had to,” he punched the nearby wall, causing a small dent. Ludwig was about to criticize him, but thought better of it. “I’ve had it with this. Matt needs me and I wanna see him. I’m going home.”
“You don’t know if he needs you or not,” Ludwig pointed out, “he could be getting along fine without you.”
“How would you feel if Gilbert just suddenly was taken away from you?” Ludwig looked away. True, he did need Gilbert, but his and Matthew’s were completely different situations. Alfred was just acting crazy, and he told him as much.
“No, it’s exactly the same, and if Dad won’t take us back, then I’ll just go myself. You can come too if you want.”
“Why would I want to go to your house?”
“Just offering. Jake, you coming? I won’t make you if you’d rather stay with Dad.”
“And miss out on the adventure? I’m with you mate. Besides, Matt’s my brother too, and I wanna see him.”
“You two…”
“Don’t tell Dad where we went ‘kay?” Alfred added, “Just keep it our secret.”
And there was nothing Ludwig could do or say to stop his cousins for leaving the house, wandering in the dark to who knows where. He hoped the others would get home soon…
***
Gilbert and Arthur came home sometime after ten, completely sober and still very depressed.
“You’ve got it bad if you can’t even enjoy a good beer anymore…” Gilbert sighed as he walked into the dark house and turned on the lights. “Ludwig! We’re back!”
“They’re probably sleeping, don’t wake them up,” Arthur said. The albino scoffed and walked into the living room when he caught a blonde head asleep on the couch.
“Hey Ludwig,” he pushed him awake, “where are your cousins?”
“Hm?” the boy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “They went home.”
Arthur slowly turned to face him. “Wh-what do you mean they went home?”
“They went home.” He repeated and yawned.
“Ludwig…why did you let them…” Gilbert was saying.
“I tried to stop them, but…they went home.”
“That bastard!” Arthur lashed out and hit the wall. It was the first emotion he’d shown since he got there. “It’s not enough that he crushed my heart, but now he’s stolen my kids!”
“Arthur calm down, you don’t know that.”
“I bloody well do know that! Who else could it be!? That bastard, I’ll…” he grabbed his jacket and ran outside.
“Arthur wait!” Gilbert called after him to no avail.
“It’s supposed to rain…” Ludwig was saying, “I was hoping they’d realize it and come back…I’m sorry Bruder…this is my fault.”
“D-don’t say that,” he hugged his brother and held him in his arms, “You did everything you could. It’s not your fault. Arthur will find them eventually, don’t worry…”
Ludwig wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck and squeezed tightly. “You’re…not going to leave, are you?”
“…No, I’ll stay right here and wait for them with you, if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you.”
***
Matt didn’t appreciate the pounding at the door, he was trying to sleep. Some people had no manners, but he went downstairs and answered it anyway, because he did have manners.
“D-Dad…?” It certainly looked like his dad, except angry. Really angry; angrier than he was the last time Matt saw him. The fact that he was soaked only helped make him look more like a demon than a human.
“Matthew!” his expression softened as he scooped the boy into his arms. “Good boy, sweet boy…I’ve missed you…”
“I’ve missed you too…” Matt clung to him and looked out over his shoulders for any sign of his brothers, “Where’s Alfred?”
“That’s what I want to know, where’s your Papa?”
“Upstairs sleeping.”
“FRANCIS!!” he bellowed, causing several things to shake and Antonio to fall of the couch.
“¿Que hora es?” he muttered. “Arthur? What are you doing here…?”
“Quelle heure est il?” Francis muttered as he appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Francis, look! Arthur came back,” Antonio pointed excitedly, failing to read the atmosphere.
“Arthur…what…?”
“Where are they!?” he demanded, “Where are you keeping them?!”
“What are you-”
“Don’t pretend not to know you bloody frog! Where are Alfred and Jake!?!”
“Last time I checked they were with you…did you lose them?”
“Sh-shut up! You took them! You had to have! Or else they’d be…”
“…Arthur, what happened?”
“Damnit!” the Briton turned and fled back out the door into the rain.
“Antonio, watch the kids for a bit,” Francis said as he ran down the stairs, grabbed a coat, shoes, and umbrella, and ran out the door as well.
After running around for a bit, he spotted Arthur leaning against the side of a building, trembling with either tears or cold or both. Francis walked up behind him and covered him with the umbrella, causing him to look up and turn around to face him.
“Francis…”
“Where did you last see them?”
“Gilbert’s house, but that was hours ago…Ludwig was supposed to…but they…” he broke down and started crying in earnest against Francis’s chest.
“I can’t I can’t I can’t lose them! They’re all I have left! I can’t…”
“Calm down, mon cher,” Francis whispered in his ear as he snuck an arm around him, “don’t fret, we’ll find them. They have to be somewhere.”
“But what if…what if…”
“Don’t think like that mon cher. They’ll be fine, you’ll see,” he tightened his arm around the other man, “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find them.”
After a few moments, Arthur stopped sobbing and took a step back, wiping his eyes in the process.
“Th-thank you…” he muttered, “you don’t have to-”
“Alfred and Jake are my sons too. I’m worried about them,” he said as he grabbed Arthur’s hand, “Now let’s go find them.”
Arthur nodded and followed.
***
“We’re lost,” Jake stated.
“We’re not lost. I know exactly where we are.”
“Where are we then?”
“Right here.”
“We’re lost…”
Alfred looked around the unfamiliar street. True he had no idea where here was, but heroes were never lost! He needed to get back to Matt soon, but this really seemed like a much better idea back at Ludwig’s house where it was safe and dry. Oh well. He’d already made his decision and headed out, so there was no going back now. Not that he could have found his way back if he wanted to, but that’s beside the point.
“It’s cold and wet and raining mate,” Jake said shivering, “I wanna see Matt as much as you do, but face it: Ludwig was right and you have no idea where you’re going.”
“Of course I do!” The blonde looked down each of the streets before him before pointing to one at random, “we go this way!”
Jake rolled his eyes before following his brother’s hunch; it’s not like they had a better lead anyway. Instead of finding home however, they found a bunch of older kids. With knives. Sharp, pointy, don’t-touch-those-or-you’ll-lose-a-finger knives.
“Where’d these kids come from?” One of them was saying, “This is our turf ya hear? We ain’t got no time to babysit some snot-nosed brats. Scram!”
Jake grabbed Alfred’s arm and was about to drag him away, but before he could, his brother had to shout, “Yeah, well you smell funny!”
Jake may have grown up around wild animals, but the same logic still applied: don’t pick a fight with them, and they’ll leave you alone. It’s a shame Alfred hadn’t learned that yet.
“Whaddija say punk?!” the guy shouted, advancing towards them menacingly.
“Leave ‘im alone,” one of the other’s said, “he’s just a kid. Don’t know any better, ya know?”
“Kid or not, no one disrespects me, ya hear?! Someone’s got to teach ‘im a lesson!”
“Pft, you’re not so tough,” Alfred said, sticking out his tongue. Jake facepalmed.
“That’s it! You’re dead!” He lunged forward to attack.
“Britannia Kick!” and was unceremoniously kicked into the wall.
Arthur stood in front of him, soaked, eyes wild, mad as hell, and was about to beat this punk half to death before a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Mon cher, it’s fine, you’ve done enough,” Francis said.
“Humph,” Arthur spit in his general direction, “Anyone who rises to the taunts of a five year old isn’t worth it anyway.”
“Dad!”
“Papa!”
Alfred and Jake ran forward and latched themselves to their guardians. The street gang looked from their unconscious leader to the reunited family and was about to attack, but one glare from Arthur sent them scrambling away.
With that dealt with, he turned his attention to his sons.
“You…” he scooped both of them into his arms and held tightly, “I was so worried, so worried…Don’t you ever run away like that again!”
“Sorry Dad…” they said simultaneously, “we won’t do it again.”
“See that you don’t…” he pulled away and wiped his eyes before picking up Jake while Francis had Alfred.
“Now let’s go home,” he said, “all of us.”
***
“You can be such a bastard sometimes.”
“Sorry Gilbert, I was worried.”
“I was worried too! You didn’t have to run out like that!”
“I’m sorry…it was inconsiderate of me.”
“Damn right it was. You owe Ludwig an apology too. It’s not his fault you’re kids are fucking crazy.”
“I’m sorry Ludwig was worried, but my sons are not ‘fucking crazy’ and I take offense to that.”
“No, I guess they’re just the regular crazy, but with Francis as a father I’ll give them ‘till puberty.”
“Not if I can help it…”
“Oh you’re just as bad; don’t deny it. Anyway, so, this does mean you’re officially one big happy family again?”
“Yes, we are. Um…well, th-thank you for, um…”
“No problem cuz, it’s what family does. You all take care you hear?”
“Yes, and you as well. Good-bye Gilbert.” With that, Arthur hung up the phone.
“So,” Francis said as he snuck his arms around his husband, “We still haven’t had make-up sex yet.”
“I’m too tired right now,” Arthur sighed, leaning back into his touch. He’d missed that, “ask again tomorrow.”
“I will hold you to that. And about Angelique…”
“Well we can’t kick her out now can we? Her whore of a mother is already dead.”
“I told you she’s not-”
“Sorry, I meant slut. Anyway, she’s daughter right? Well, that means she’s mine as well.”
“So she can stay?”
“Of course she can stay; this household needs some estrogen anyway.”
Francis kissed along the back of Arthur’s neck. “I love you, you know.”
Arthur picked up one of Francis’s hands and kissed the palm. “Yes, I love you too.”
“We can make this work right?”
“Of course we can, for always and forever.”
A/N: This is why I shouldn't write under the influence of emo. Everything just gets depressing in all the wrong ways. Oh well...
Author: Me.
Characters/Pairings: England/France, America, Canada, Australia, Seychelles, Spain, Prussia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland.
Rating: PG-13?
Warnings: Arthur's mouth, and me trying to write angst.
Summary: The original version of Angelique's part from Building a Family Part II which was too long and angsty to be a part of that.
Part of this thing:
Ludwig's Family
Ludwig's Family's Drabbles
Feliciano's Family
Im Yong Soo's Family
Alfred's Family
Building a Family, FrUK Style Part I
Building a Family, FrUK Style Part II
Ivan's Family
Francis was sorting through the mail when he came across a letter addressed to him. This in itself wasn’t all that strange; it was his and Arthur’s mail after all. No, what made him stop right there and then to open it was the cursive writing on the envelope. Say what you will about him, Francis was intrigued. Even more so when he read what was inside the letter.
Before he could contemplate more on that, the front door burst open, revealing a beat and angry Arthur.
“Somebody have a fun filled day at work?” Francis smirked, stashing the letter in his back pocket.
“Shut up frog, I’m not in the mood,” he tossed his bag and jacket to the ground and loosened his tie. “Where are the kids?”
“Off exploring somewhere I suppose.”
“And you’re not worried?”
“Mathieu’s with them.”
“Good, I just want to forget about today,” he kicked of his shoes and stomped up stairs. When he was about halfway to the top, he stopped, turned around, and gave Francis that look that promised so many naughty things. “Well aren’t you going to join me?”
His eager stare was all the response Arthur needed before he gave the Frenchman one final smirk and sauntered the rest of the way upstairs.
Francis quickly stashed the letter in a place where he knew Arthur nor the kids would find it and hurried upstairs. He loved it when Arthur topped…
***
“I can’t believe I’m stuck with an unruly brat like you,” the woman said, tugging at her arm, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“No!” she screamed as she tried to pull away. “I dun wanna go with you!!”
“Well it’s not like there’s anyone else around to take care of your ungrateful little ass! Isn’t that right?” she asked the lawyer.
“Um…well…”
“Papa! Papa’s gonna come and take me to his house!”
“Right, of course, that bastard who got my whore of a sister pregnant and then never showed his face again is just going to waltz in here and-”
“Take his daughter away from her Evil Aunt?” Francis finished, leaning against the doorframe, twirling a rose, “Because it’s not like that’s going to happen anytime soon now is it?”
“Papa?” she shyly asked. Truth be told, she had never actually seen her father before, but there was no other reason for this man to be here, and if the lawyer’s disbelieving face and her Aunt’s glare were anything to go by, then there was no one else he could possibly be. “Papa!”
She tried to run to him but was stopped by the vice grip her Aunt had on her arm.
“Let go of my daughter.”
“Oh now she’s your daughter? Where were you in her life when my sister was alive?!”
“It’s very hard to be there for someone when you haven’t been informed of their existence,” he held out the letter, “I was only told about here last week thanks to Monsieur Lawyer’s letter.”
“You…” she turned her anger on the poor lawyer.
“H-he’s the father! He has a right to know…”
“What right?!” She turned back to Francis, “If you did know about Angelique, would you have done the right thing and married my sister? Would you have left him?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation, “but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have been there.”
“Of course you would have! They’d been an excellent afterthought! If you ever got tired of you drunken slut of a husband and all those bastard children you have held up in your house, then my broken sister and her little bastard would be a wonderful vacation.”
The room went deadly silent.
“You can say whatever you want about me,” Francis said after a while, “I’ve lived an interesting life; most of what people say was true at some point, but,” he turned a death glare on her that left her shaken enough to release the girl, “don’t you dare say anything bad about Arthur, never say anything like that about my sons again, and if I ever hear you speak that way about my daughter, I will not be held responsible for what befalls you.”
She gulped and stepped back. Angelique was frozen for a few seconds before rushing forward into her Papa’s waiting embrace.
“Now, Monsieur Lawyer, where do I sign?”
***
Alfred looked down at his plate. “Dad, when’s Papa coming home?”
Arthur’s eyebrow twitched. Matt looked at him with pleading eyes but remained silent while Jake cautiously poked his food with a fork, jumping when it twitched and hissed at him.
“Papa will be home whenever Papa comes home, so pipe down and eat your dinner.”
“…I think we should wait for Papa.”
“Seconded!” Jake shouted. Matt just nodded. Arthur’s eyebrow twitched again.
Suddenly they heard the front door open. The boys jumped out of their seats and rushed towards it with shouts of “Papa!” as they went. Arthur sighed and followed. Francis said he had a surprise for them…
“Who’s that?” he hears Matt quietly ask. The other boys’ screaming stop as Arthur enters the entryway to discover that Francis has brought home a little girl.
“Boys, meet Angelique. She’s your new sister.”
“Hello!” Alfred grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously. “My names Alfred and I’m the oldest!”
“I’m Jake!” Jake pushed Alfred out of the way. “Nice to meet ya mate!”
“Ah…I’m Matthew,” Matt said from behind them.
“New sister?” Arthur asked, “And you were planning on telling me when?”
“Mon cher, surprises are more fun when you don’t know they’re coming.”
“Some warning would have been nice. This house is full of boys I’m not sure we’re ready for a girl…Hello Angelica.” He smiled at her.
“It’s Angelique…”
“Ma cheri, don’t fret. He’s just being English. Isn’t that right Mathieu?” Matt nodded. “Angelique, this is Arthur, your new father.”
“But…Papa is my Papa, and I can only have one Papa…”
…Where had Francis found this girl again?
“Of course!” Alfred laughed, “That’s where there’s Papa,” he pointed at Francis, “and Dad,” he pointed at Arthur. “Jake says he has another Daddy in Australia somewhere…”
“He has three Papas?” Jake nodded. Angelique looked thoughtful for a moment. “But Mama said I only have one Papa and that’s Papa…”
“Boys…” Arthur spoke in what the boys had come to know as the ‘Papa’s Sleeping on the Couch Tonight’ tone. They shuddered at the implications that that tone provided. “Why don’t you take Angelique upstairs and show her around?” Three seconds later left Francis and Arthur alone in the entryway. Arthur immediately turned and walked back into the kitchen, Francis following behind him.
“Are you still upset that I didn’t tell you before hand?” he asked, “I told you I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Arthur made himself some tea and didn’t look up as he asked, “Where did you get her?”
“I don’t see how that-”
“You leave town for business and come back with a kid. I’d like to know where you found her.”
“I could ask the same about Australia-”
“Except I told you exactly what happened. Where. Is. She. From?”
“…Promise you won’t get mad…”
Arthur tapped his foot while waiting for the water to boil as a response.
“At least hear me out, mon cher,” he nodded, so Francis continued, “A few days ago I received a letter from some lawyer. A dear…‘friend’ of mine, Michelle, had recently passed away.”
“Her mother?”
“Yes.”
He slowly stirred his tea, dreading asking the next question but knowing he had to.
“Are you her father?”
“…yes.”
Arthur turned away, clutching his cup in a death grip as he felt his heart break.
“Arthur let me explain. It was before you-”
“We started seeing each other when I was 15! She can’t be any older than Matthew!”
“It was before the marriage at least…”
The teacup started to crack. “We were together before the marriage…”
“If you recall correctly, there was a brief span of several months when you refused to see me-”
“That wasn’t my choice!”
“I know that now…I didn’t really know that then until Gilbert told me…”
“…How long?”
“How long what?”
“How long before you…did you…?”
“…You can’t expect me to remember all of my sexual encounters…”
“I expect you to bloody well remember when they turn into a child!”
“…thedaybefore.”
“I didn’t quite catch that…”
“…the day before…”
CRASH! Francis stared at the broken tea cup on the ground. It was easier than watching Arthur’s heart break right before his eyes.
“Are you telling me the day before you asked me to leave everything behind and run away with you, you were off fucking around with some whore?!?!”
“She wasn’t a whore!”
“Slut then.”
“Look, Arthur, my love that was a very confusing time for me, when we were apart. I wasn’t exactly in a good place…”
“Gilbert said he told my circumstance the week before.”
“And he did, but I still had a lot of things to mull over…if anything you should thank her, because she made me realize that I only really love you.”
He never thought a tea kettle would be quite that hard when it came flying at his head. Perhaps Arthur just had a good arm.
“Bullshit! How many more children are going to crop up out of nowhere? I always thought Matthew had your hair…”
“No, Arthur that is just a coincidence.”
“Oh, I’m sure it is…”
“Just like you and Jake have the exact same eyebrows.”
“That is a coincidence! I’d never even been to Australia before that trip!”
“Arthur, I know, I’m just saying-”
“What? That they aren’t your sons?”
“No…just that we aren’t related by blood. Arthur I think you’re blowing this whole thing out of proportion…”
“Out of…out of proportion! I just found out my husband had a child with some slut the day before he proposed! I think I have every right to be mad as hell and then some!”
“You’re taking everything out of context!”
“Which part? The part about you having a child?! The part about you fucking random sluts when I wasn’t allowed to see you?!”
“…They weren’t random…”
“There was more than one?!”
“Of course there was Arthur! You’d be stupid to think otherwise considering I was drunk most of our time apart anyway.”
“Stupid? Stupid?! …Yes, stupid. I have been stupid…about a lot of things.”
“Arthur, don’t-”
“I thought you loved me, I guess that was pretty stupid of me to think.”
“Arthur…”
“I loved you. I knew all about your reputation…you hung out with Gilbert and Antonio, that should have tipped me off, but I loved you anyway…that was pretty stupid.”
“You could have shown it a little better…” he muttered under his breath before he realized just what he said, and immediately regretted it when that look of complete hopelessness passed of his husband’s face.
He was quick to cover it up with pure rage though. “You…I gave up everything for you…and you just…” Arthur clenched and unclenched his fists a few times and looked around the room for something else to chuck. “Fucking hell...I’m leaving.” He stormed out.
“What…Arthur, you can’t just leave!”
“Well like bloody hell I’m staying here!”
“What about the kids?”
“I’m taking them with me!” he stormed upstairs.
“You can’t do that!”
“You can keep your bastard child!” he shouted from the top of the stairs. Francis scrambled to follow him and reached the top at the same time Arthur threw open the door to the boys’ room.
“Boys, pack your things, we’re leaving!”
Matthew had taken refuge under his bed when he heard Arthur coming. Jake, Alfred, and Angelique were sitting on it.
“Where are we going?” Alfred asked.
“Away. Grab whatever you want and be quick about it!” he snapped. They scrambled to follow his orders.
“Arthur!” Francis shouted when showed up in the doorway, “You’re being unreasonable!”
“Running away with you, that was unreasonable. Tricking myself into thinking this could actually work out, letting you ruin my life that was unreasonable. What is taking you so long?!” he snapped again, causing Jake and Alfred to jump. “Matthew, get out from under there and start packing!”
“No, Arthur, you can’t do this.”
“I bloody well can and will.”
“You will not take my sons from me!”
“Jake is mine. I signed the papers, I paid the fees.”
“…You can take him from my, although I wish you wouldn’t; I love him very much and will be sad to see him go, but you cannot take Matt and Alfred!”
“I can, I will, and I will get a fucking restraining order if I have to in order to keep you away! Boys get to the car!”
“But what about-”
“Now.” The jumped and obeyed. “Matt get out from under there!”
“Alfred!” Francis called, “Get back in here!”
“No! Alfred and Jake, get in the car! Matt, come out and join them!”
Matt shook his head which he held in his hands and started crying. Angelique, who had long since run off into a corner of the room, started crying as well. Alfred remained frozen in the doorway, not sure what to do.
After an intense glare down, Arthur scoffed and walked out of the room, grabbing Alfred as he left.
“Fine. I’ll come back with a court order and get him!”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Arthur ignored him as he dragged Alfred outside to the car where Jake already was and drove to the nearest motel for the night. After making sure the boys were fast asleep, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Hello?” a sleepy voice responded.
“Vash?”
“Arthur? What is it?”
“I…need a p-place to stay for a bit.”
“Just you? What happened?”
“Alfred and Jake are with me…I just…”
“…My parents still want nothing to do with you Arthur…I don’t think you can stay here.”
“Oh…w-well that’s fine. I’m sure I can-”
“Gilbert’s father is out of town, and even if he wasn’t, he’s still upset at your parents. I’m sure Gilbert and Ludwig will have no qualms with you guys staying there for a bit.”
“Th-thank you. We’ll be over tomorrow if it’s alright.”
“It’ll be fine. Are you going to be alright Arthur?”
“Yes, I should be…”
“If you say so…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, see you then.” He hung up the phone, placed it on the nightstand, and finally let himself cry.
***
“I think Alfred’s depressed,” Arthur noted as he watched the boys play in the living room. Or more accurately, watch Ludwig read, Jake fidget around while watching TV and Alfred just sit there.
Gilbert wanted to smack him upside the head. “Of course he’s depressed! The kid hasn’t said a word since he walked through the door and has done nothing but stare off into space! And he’s not the only one…”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re tea’s cold,” Arthur looked down and noticed that was true, “you haven’t even touch it even though I went through the trouble of making it awesome for you.”
“Hm…” he sighed and looked back to the living room.
“Your being here has lowered the awesome level of the house from like a billion to about three, and that’s only because I’m still here.”
“I’m sorry for intruding…”
“You’re not supposed to be sorry! You’re supposed to smirk and be a condescending ass and toss British insults at me. This is why I’ve never fallen in love, it’s so not awesome.”
“Hm,” he agreed.
“What’s that Arthur? Did you say that that’s only because no one could ever love you anyway? Well, Ludwig loves me so-”
“Bruder,” Ludwig said as he walked in the kitchen to get a drink, “you’re arguing with yourself again.”
“Well what else am I supposed to do? I can’t deal with this kind of Arthur…”
“I don’t know much about it, but I’m pretty sure you’re going about it the wrong way.”
“Well if you know so much about it than why don’t you fix Alfred?”
“I just said I didn’t know much about it…”
“Alfred,” Arthur spoke up, “has never been away from Matthew for more than a day before…”
“Is that all? Ludwig, go play with your cousin while I fix Arthur. And I want you to actually play with him, not get lost in your own little world. Got it?”
“But Bruder…”
“Relax. I’ve got an awesome plan that will fix everything. Now run along.”
Ludwig looked at his brother apprehensively, but ran off to do what he was told.
“I don’t need fixing,” Arthur insisted, “I’m perfectly fine. Never been better…”
“Riiight,” Gilbert sighed, “Listen, I’ve known Francis for a long time. To be honest, I never actually expected you guys to last for so long, partly because you’re kinda a jerk and he just doesn’t do the whole relationship thingy,” Arthur shot his cousin a glare, who continued as if he didn’t notice (he didn’t), “but you did somehow. And I know for a fact that he never cheated on you during your marriage, and he actually did stop sleeping around when you two were together.”
“Thanks Gilbert, I feel soooo much better…” Gilbert perked up for a moment thinking the Briton had gotten some of his fire back, but was disappointed when Arthur only sighed and sunk further into his chair. “He ran off and had a daughter…”
“You weren’t together then, it doesn’t count. And if you saw him during the time you were apart, well…it wasn’t pretty.”
“Why are you always on his side?”
“Hey this has been hard on me too. Whenever you two fight I can’t talk to one of my best friends without feeling like I’m turning my back on you.”
“Then why don’t you just-”
“Because we’re family,” Roderich said as he let himself in the backdoor, “and even Gilbert can understand that much.”
“Would you at least knock? This isn’t your house you know!”
“Elizaveta is visiting a friend right now. Rather than disturb her, I’ll just wait here.”
“…You can’t find your own house, can you?”
“I don’t see how that matters,” he helped himself to some of the (now cold) tea Gilbert had painstakingly made and sat down at the table, “Shouldn’t we be trying to cheer Arthur up instead?”
“I don’t need cheering up. I’m perfectly happy…” His cousins stared at him, clearly not believing him.
“C’mon, I know what will cheer you up!” Gilbert shot up, grabbed his arm, and headed for the door, “We’ll hit the town! Get you completely wasted! Paint the world red! It’ll be awesome! Ludwig, you’re in charge!” he shouted as an afterthought.
“Yes, because nothing cheers a person up better than a depressant…I really don’t think Arthur should be drinking now.”
“Stop being a spoil-sport, Specs and come with us,” he said as he grabbed his arm to and dragged his cousins outside. “At the very least, let’s get some fresh air. That house is getting depressing.”
Ludwig peeked out the window after his brother and cousins and sighed. Bruder was always doing reckless things…
***
“Antonio, have you seen my wine?” Francis asked, puzzled, “I swear I had at least ten bottles here last night…”
“You drank nine of them already. And I hid the last one.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken, as I could not have-”
“Yeah, you kinda did.”
“…Well can I-”
“No. No more wine for you. Why do you always do this to yourself when he leaves?”
“Is he gone? I haven’t noticed. I don’t care what or who he does or where his is. He’s a grown man.”
“It’s okay that you miss him…I hoped you two would have gotten past that stage after you had kids and everything.”
Francis stopped moving around the kitchen and tightly gripped the can opener he happened to be holding at the time.
“He can’t express his feelings, he thinks he’s always right even when he’s not, he has one of the most insufferable personalities that I have ever come across, and over all he’s really just a horrible person.”
“But…” Antonio prompted.
“But, I love him. And I miss him, and Alfred, and Jake, who he’ll probably never let me see again.”
“That’s why you need to go to him! Admit your mistake and beg for his forgiveness!”
“Angelique is not a mistake!”
“I’m pretty sure if you don’t plan for something, it’s a mistake. She’s probably the loveliest mistake in the history of mistakes though. And that’s not the point; the point is that you did mess up, big time.”
“He’s the one who overreacted.”
“True, but you know how he gets and he wouldn’t have been able to overreact if you didn’t mess up in the first place.”
“I can’t…he’s too mad. I can’t just go crawling back to him. He might force me to abandon Angelique, and I won’t do that to her again.”
“I don’t know Arthur as well as you do, but he doesn’t seem the type to just leave a child by herself in the big scary world,” Antonio said thoughtfully, “Isn’t that why you have Jake?”
“He probably doesn’t want me back anyway,” Francis sighed as he went back to cooking.
“You know that’s not true.”
“You weren’t there…he was very upset, and you know how emotional he can be.”
“He loves you,” the Spaniard said, as if that solved everything.
“He did…who knows if he still does.” With a final flip, the food in the pan landed on four plates placed out on the counter by the stove. “Angelique! Matthew! Dinner’s ready!”
Angelique hurried downstairs, but the blonde head was missing. “Matt said he doesn’t want to come down yet.”
“Still?” Antonio questioned. “He’s been locked up in his room ever since I got here,” he gasped as it all clicked, “He hates me doesn’t he!? What did I ever do to earn such hatred!?!”
“I’m fairly certain he’s more upset about his brother being gone than about you being here, mon ami.”
“Ah! That would make more sense.”
Angelique smiled at her Papa before grabbing the two plates and heading back upstairs. When she got to Matt’s door, she gently knocked and pushed it open when there was no response. Upon entering the dark room, she saw her new brother lying curled up on his bed, looking out the window, where he had been all week.
“I brought you food,” she said, placing the plate by him on the nightstand. Matt didn’t move. “Papa’s worried about you. Antonio actually thinks you hate him.” Still no response. “I suppose he just can’t see that it’s really me you hate…”
“I don’t hate you,” he said, not turning to face her, “I just…you’ve never had a brother before have you?”
“No, I’m an only child,” she admitted.
“Alfred has always been there for me. Since even before we met Dad and Papa. He’d always protected me and been there when I needed him, and now he’s just…” his voice hitched. He’d started crying. Angelique placed her plate of food down and lay down next to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a while, “It’s my fault your brothers are gone.”
“N-no it’s not. It’s Dad’s and Papa’s. ‘Adults do silly things sometimes. Don’t blame yourself for that.’ Alfred used to say that to me…”
“He sounds like a good brother.” Matt nodded and she tightened her hug. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll come home soon, they all will. You’ll see.”
***
Ludwig had no idea what he was doing. Alfred was the one who usually dragged everyone into playing ridiculous games, and Ludwig was man enough to admit that his imagination could not even compare to his cousin’s. But with Alfred just moping about, there really wasn’t anything he could do about it. Jake wasn’t helping much either.
“I’m telling you, the best way to help him forget is for us to go beat up something,” he insisted. “Trust me, it works every time.”
“We’re not allowed to leave the house without Bruder or Roderich or Vash. And I’m not letting you beat me up.”
“Awesome, it’s no fun if they don’t fight back!” Ludwig glared at him. “I’m just kidding Luddy, I wouldn’t hit you.”
“Alfred,” the blonde asked his cousin, “what do you want to play?”
“…Nothing.”
“Well, what do you want to do?”
“…I wanna go home.”
“I just told you we can’t leave the house.”
“Well why not?!” Alfred turned on his cousin, suddenly very angry, “We were dragged away from our house and brought here without anybody asking! Why should we need your brother or anyone else to go back? It’s not fair!”
“Do you even know where your house is?”
“Of course I do. I could find it easily if I had to,” he punched the nearby wall, causing a small dent. Ludwig was about to criticize him, but thought better of it. “I’ve had it with this. Matt needs me and I wanna see him. I’m going home.”
“You don’t know if he needs you or not,” Ludwig pointed out, “he could be getting along fine without you.”
“How would you feel if Gilbert just suddenly was taken away from you?” Ludwig looked away. True, he did need Gilbert, but his and Matthew’s were completely different situations. Alfred was just acting crazy, and he told him as much.
“No, it’s exactly the same, and if Dad won’t take us back, then I’ll just go myself. You can come too if you want.”
“Why would I want to go to your house?”
“Just offering. Jake, you coming? I won’t make you if you’d rather stay with Dad.”
“And miss out on the adventure? I’m with you mate. Besides, Matt’s my brother too, and I wanna see him.”
“You two…”
“Don’t tell Dad where we went ‘kay?” Alfred added, “Just keep it our secret.”
And there was nothing Ludwig could do or say to stop his cousins for leaving the house, wandering in the dark to who knows where. He hoped the others would get home soon…
***
Gilbert and Arthur came home sometime after ten, completely sober and still very depressed.
“You’ve got it bad if you can’t even enjoy a good beer anymore…” Gilbert sighed as he walked into the dark house and turned on the lights. “Ludwig! We’re back!”
“They’re probably sleeping, don’t wake them up,” Arthur said. The albino scoffed and walked into the living room when he caught a blonde head asleep on the couch.
“Hey Ludwig,” he pushed him awake, “where are your cousins?”
“Hm?” the boy rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “They went home.”
Arthur slowly turned to face him. “Wh-what do you mean they went home?”
“They went home.” He repeated and yawned.
“Ludwig…why did you let them…” Gilbert was saying.
“I tried to stop them, but…they went home.”
“That bastard!” Arthur lashed out and hit the wall. It was the first emotion he’d shown since he got there. “It’s not enough that he crushed my heart, but now he’s stolen my kids!”
“Arthur calm down, you don’t know that.”
“I bloody well do know that! Who else could it be!? That bastard, I’ll…” he grabbed his jacket and ran outside.
“Arthur wait!” Gilbert called after him to no avail.
“It’s supposed to rain…” Ludwig was saying, “I was hoping they’d realize it and come back…I’m sorry Bruder…this is my fault.”
“D-don’t say that,” he hugged his brother and held him in his arms, “You did everything you could. It’s not your fault. Arthur will find them eventually, don’t worry…”
Ludwig wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck and squeezed tightly. “You’re…not going to leave, are you?”
“…No, I’ll stay right here and wait for them with you, if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you.”
***
Matt didn’t appreciate the pounding at the door, he was trying to sleep. Some people had no manners, but he went downstairs and answered it anyway, because he did have manners.
“D-Dad…?” It certainly looked like his dad, except angry. Really angry; angrier than he was the last time Matt saw him. The fact that he was soaked only helped make him look more like a demon than a human.
“Matthew!” his expression softened as he scooped the boy into his arms. “Good boy, sweet boy…I’ve missed you…”
“I’ve missed you too…” Matt clung to him and looked out over his shoulders for any sign of his brothers, “Where’s Alfred?”
“That’s what I want to know, where’s your Papa?”
“Upstairs sleeping.”
“FRANCIS!!” he bellowed, causing several things to shake and Antonio to fall of the couch.
“¿Que hora es?” he muttered. “Arthur? What are you doing here…?”
“Quelle heure est il?” Francis muttered as he appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Francis, look! Arthur came back,” Antonio pointed excitedly, failing to read the atmosphere.
“Arthur…what…?”
“Where are they!?” he demanded, “Where are you keeping them?!”
“What are you-”
“Don’t pretend not to know you bloody frog! Where are Alfred and Jake!?!”
“Last time I checked they were with you…did you lose them?”
“Sh-shut up! You took them! You had to have! Or else they’d be…”
“…Arthur, what happened?”
“Damnit!” the Briton turned and fled back out the door into the rain.
“Antonio, watch the kids for a bit,” Francis said as he ran down the stairs, grabbed a coat, shoes, and umbrella, and ran out the door as well.
After running around for a bit, he spotted Arthur leaning against the side of a building, trembling with either tears or cold or both. Francis walked up behind him and covered him with the umbrella, causing him to look up and turn around to face him.
“Francis…”
“Where did you last see them?”
“Gilbert’s house, but that was hours ago…Ludwig was supposed to…but they…” he broke down and started crying in earnest against Francis’s chest.
“I can’t I can’t I can’t lose them! They’re all I have left! I can’t…”
“Calm down, mon cher,” Francis whispered in his ear as he snuck an arm around him, “don’t fret, we’ll find them. They have to be somewhere.”
“But what if…what if…”
“Don’t think like that mon cher. They’ll be fine, you’ll see,” he tightened his arm around the other man, “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find them.”
After a few moments, Arthur stopped sobbing and took a step back, wiping his eyes in the process.
“Th-thank you…” he muttered, “you don’t have to-”
“Alfred and Jake are my sons too. I’m worried about them,” he said as he grabbed Arthur’s hand, “Now let’s go find them.”
Arthur nodded and followed.
***
“We’re lost,” Jake stated.
“We’re not lost. I know exactly where we are.”
“Where are we then?”
“Right here.”
“We’re lost…”
Alfred looked around the unfamiliar street. True he had no idea where here was, but heroes were never lost! He needed to get back to Matt soon, but this really seemed like a much better idea back at Ludwig’s house where it was safe and dry. Oh well. He’d already made his decision and headed out, so there was no going back now. Not that he could have found his way back if he wanted to, but that’s beside the point.
“It’s cold and wet and raining mate,” Jake said shivering, “I wanna see Matt as much as you do, but face it: Ludwig was right and you have no idea where you’re going.”
“Of course I do!” The blonde looked down each of the streets before him before pointing to one at random, “we go this way!”
Jake rolled his eyes before following his brother’s hunch; it’s not like they had a better lead anyway. Instead of finding home however, they found a bunch of older kids. With knives. Sharp, pointy, don’t-touch-those-or-you’ll-lose-a-finger knives.
“Where’d these kids come from?” One of them was saying, “This is our turf ya hear? We ain’t got no time to babysit some snot-nosed brats. Scram!”
Jake grabbed Alfred’s arm and was about to drag him away, but before he could, his brother had to shout, “Yeah, well you smell funny!”
Jake may have grown up around wild animals, but the same logic still applied: don’t pick a fight with them, and they’ll leave you alone. It’s a shame Alfred hadn’t learned that yet.
“Whaddija say punk?!” the guy shouted, advancing towards them menacingly.
“Leave ‘im alone,” one of the other’s said, “he’s just a kid. Don’t know any better, ya know?”
“Kid or not, no one disrespects me, ya hear?! Someone’s got to teach ‘im a lesson!”
“Pft, you’re not so tough,” Alfred said, sticking out his tongue. Jake facepalmed.
“That’s it! You’re dead!” He lunged forward to attack.
“Britannia Kick!” and was unceremoniously kicked into the wall.
Arthur stood in front of him, soaked, eyes wild, mad as hell, and was about to beat this punk half to death before a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
“Mon cher, it’s fine, you’ve done enough,” Francis said.
“Humph,” Arthur spit in his general direction, “Anyone who rises to the taunts of a five year old isn’t worth it anyway.”
“Dad!”
“Papa!”
Alfred and Jake ran forward and latched themselves to their guardians. The street gang looked from their unconscious leader to the reunited family and was about to attack, but one glare from Arthur sent them scrambling away.
With that dealt with, he turned his attention to his sons.
“You…” he scooped both of them into his arms and held tightly, “I was so worried, so worried…Don’t you ever run away like that again!”
“Sorry Dad…” they said simultaneously, “we won’t do it again.”
“See that you don’t…” he pulled away and wiped his eyes before picking up Jake while Francis had Alfred.
“Now let’s go home,” he said, “all of us.”
***
“You can be such a bastard sometimes.”
“Sorry Gilbert, I was worried.”
“I was worried too! You didn’t have to run out like that!”
“I’m sorry…it was inconsiderate of me.”
“Damn right it was. You owe Ludwig an apology too. It’s not his fault you’re kids are fucking crazy.”
“I’m sorry Ludwig was worried, but my sons are not ‘fucking crazy’ and I take offense to that.”
“No, I guess they’re just the regular crazy, but with Francis as a father I’ll give them ‘till puberty.”
“Not if I can help it…”
“Oh you’re just as bad; don’t deny it. Anyway, so, this does mean you’re officially one big happy family again?”
“Yes, we are. Um…well, th-thank you for, um…”
“No problem cuz, it’s what family does. You all take care you hear?”
“Yes, and you as well. Good-bye Gilbert.” With that, Arthur hung up the phone.
“So,” Francis said as he snuck his arms around his husband, “We still haven’t had make-up sex yet.”
“I’m too tired right now,” Arthur sighed, leaning back into his touch. He’d missed that, “ask again tomorrow.”
“I will hold you to that. And about Angelique…”
“Well we can’t kick her out now can we? Her whore of a mother is already dead.”
“I told you she’s not-”
“Sorry, I meant slut. Anyway, she’s daughter right? Well, that means she’s mine as well.”
“So she can stay?”
“Of course she can stay; this household needs some estrogen anyway.”
Francis kissed along the back of Arthur’s neck. “I love you, you know.”
Arthur picked up one of Francis’s hands and kissed the palm. “Yes, I love you too.”
“We can make this work right?”
“Of course we can, for always and forever.”
A/N: This is why I shouldn't write under the influence of emo. Everything just gets depressing in all the wrong ways. Oh well...