The 11th State

The 11th State

"Huh, that's weird. Daddy's not here? Lame~! Hey, you!"

England felt a sharp poke on his shoulder to accompany the annoying voice. With a grumble, he pulled the covers over his head, his brain too caught up in a sleepy haze to really pay attention to what the person was saying.

"Dude, I'm talking to you. Hey! Wake up!"

As the blankets were ripped away and his body exposed to the cool air of the room, England's eyes shot open to glare at the other person. "Ameri-"

Dark blue eyes stared back at him, unabashed, one partially covered by light blonde bangs swept stylishly to one side. Wavy hair fell to her shoulders, cut short for manageability purposes.

England shrieked and scrambled backwards, falling over the side of the bed in his surprise. "Who the bloody hell are you? Where's America?"

"I should be asking you that," retorted the girl. "Who are you and why are you in my daddy's house?" Her eyes narrowed as she got a better look at him and then they widened in awe. "Oh my god! You're England! I can't believe it! Daddy finally got over his nerves and asked you out? Wonderful!"

England stared at her for a moment, wondering what horrible world he'd magicked himself away into. After all, he'd never heard anything about America having kids. Surely the younger nation would have told them about it. But the girl did look a lot like him.

She beamed at him and then suddenly held out her hand. "The name's New York! I'm daddy's eleventh State, though I would've happily been his first if it weren't for politics. So not fair… Delaware brings it up every single time we get together. She's a bitch like that." Despite her words, there was no animosity in her voice. "Oh my god! Ginny's going to be so jealous that I got to meet you first! I should call her!"

"…what?" England asked. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so confused.

New York giggled and sat down on the edge of the bed, her eyes shining with mirth. "I can't believe I'm the first one to meet you. This is too perfect. I say this proves I was meant to be the first! I mean, Florida was the first to meet Spain and Louisiana was the first to meet France. Oh, and Alaska actually lived with Russia for a while, so of course she was the first of us to meet him! And then there's Texas and-"

England held up a hand, calling an end to her rambling. "You can't possibly think I believe you when you say you're the state of New York. I've never heard mention of you or any of the others before now. What kind of joke is America trying to pull?"

"It's not a joke," New York said. "We really are the States. I can't believe he hasn't mentioned us!" She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"This can't be happening…" England mumbled, closing his eyes. "I'm not sitting in America's bedroom talking to one of his states. This is a joke. Or a dream. A nightmare, really. This is ridiculous! I would have heard about you before now if you were real!"

"Guess you haven't met Uncle Mattie's kids either…"

Green eyes snapped back open. "What?"

New York hummed. "I should probably let daddy explain all of this…" She hesitated a moment, scratching the back of her neck as she watched England try to calm down. "You look confused. I guess I can explain a little. Where should I start?"

"Why haven't I heard of you?" England asked, cautiously getting back on the bed and pulling the blankets around him.

New York shrugged. "I dunno. I'm sure you've seen a couple of us. We take turns working as daddy's assistant sometimes. I know Kentucky, Florida, and Alaska have attended world meetings once or twice. Alaska likes going so she can see Russia and Florida goes so she can talk to Spain. Me and some of the other northern States tag along with daddy meets with Uncle Canada. I know Tex and Cali go do damage control and keep daddy from fighting with Mexico." She glanced around the room, smiling at the photograph of America and Canada that was sitting on the desk. Her gaze slid down to one of the drawers, which was sticking out slightly.

England watched as she stood up and walked over to the desk. She pulled open the drawer and hefted out a large, leather-bound binder and carried it back to the bed. She sat down as she opened it up, smiling at the very first page.

"Daddy has us take new pictures every ten years or so and puts together new photo albums. This is the most recent one. The first few pages are individual pictures and they go in order from when we first became States." New York happily tapped her picture and then turned the binder around so England could look.

At the top corner was a picture of a blue-eyed girl with her straight blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. The label under her read "Anna 'Delaware' Jones - December 7, 1787." He spotted New York on the third line with her own label. "Allison 'New York' Jones - July 26, 1788."

His eyes were then drawn to the girl before New York; the last photo on the second row. Like most of the others, her hair was blonde, though it seemed lighter than theirs and fell messily to her shoulders. Most notable were her bright green eyes, which he couldn't help but think were a lot like his own. "Elizabeth 'Virginia' Jones," he read. "June 25, 1788."

"That's Ginny," New York said.

England hummed and flipped the page over. At the top of the next page was one of America's few dark-haired children, a girl with wavy brown hair and green-blue eyes. "Sonya 'Kentucky' Jones - June 1, 1792." At the bottom was a boy who looked disturbingly like France, only with shorter, darker blond hair and eyes a shade of ocean blue. "Jean 'Iowa' Jones - December 28, 1846."

"That's Tex," said New York, pointing to a teenage boy with straight, dark brown hair and very tanned skin. He wore a pair of glasses similar to America's and had light brown eyes. "And Louisiana. Isn't she cute?"

Louisiana looked even more like France. Her long, wavy blonde hair was adorned with ribbons and her eyes were a crystalline blue. Dark circles under her eyes hinted at hard times for the state.

"She's in a wheelchair right now," New York said. "She got hit really hard by a hurricane a few years ago and is having a hard time recovering." She worried her lower lip as she dragged her finger down the page to a pretty Spanish-looking girl. "Florida. She looks a lot like Spain, huh?"

England could only nod in agreement and move on to the next page. A light-haired Wisconsin took his place at the top of the page while dark-haired Wyoming was at the end.

"California," New York said, pointing to the second teenager on the page. He seemed to be a happy State with curly brown hair and intelligent hazel eyes.

"Colorado," she said with a giggle. "We're kind of surprised there aren't two Colorado's. Half of him was French territory and the other half was Mexican." She pointed to a State at the end of the second row with wavy, light brown hair. One of his eyes was light blue and the other was a shade of hazel green.

England turned the page to see the remaining seven of America's children. A small girl with silvery-blonde hair and lavender eyes caught his attention first. "Mariya 'Alaska' Jones - January 3, 1959," he read aloud. "So she's Russia's."

New York nodded. "She looks like a sweetheart, doesn't she? She can be, but don't challenge her to drink. She can out-drink each and every one of us and then go on to challenge Tex, Hawaii, and some of Uncle's provinces to outrageous dares and win each of them. She's crazy. Now this one," she said, tapping the image of a darkly tanned girl with hazel green eyes and wavy, caramel brown hair. A chain of flowers adorned her head. "Leilani 'Hawaii' Jones - August 21, 1959. You gotta watch out for that one too. She doesn't lose her temper too easily, but when she does you really don't want to be around to see it. I think it's because of all of those volcanoes she has."

England frowned when he spotted a photo of someone he didn't expect. "Why is Philippines on here?"

New York rolled her eyes. "'cuz daddy's an idiot. But we do consider Phil part of the family. He's cool to hang with. Guam and Puerto Rico skipped photo day and daddy hasn't caught them at a good time yet, otherwise they'd also be in here. Oh, D.C. is on here too. Back on the first page between Rhode Island and Vermont."

England flipped back to the first page and sure enough there was a small person between the two states who looked very much like a younger America, with darker blue eyes. He couldn't tell whether the capital was male or female, but he supposed it didn't really matter.

"Daddy probably has pictures of Uncle's kids in there too," New York said. "From family get-together's and what-not. I wish I knew where he put the old albums. I'd love to show you baby pictures of the younger states." She sighed and turned the binder around so she could flip through it. "I guess I'll leave that up to daddy. Oh, here's from one of our New Years parties! France, Uncle Canada, and the provinces joined us for that!" She turned it back around so England could see.

England peered at the book closely, having a hard time figuring out where to look first. The photo's seemed to be slapped on in random order, some of them crooked or cut into shapes. It seemed America treated it more like a scrapbook than a photo album. "Bloody hell, did he learn nothing from me?"

New York giggled. She quickly took pity on him and began pointing out different pictures, explaining who was in it and what was going on. "There's France and Louisiana. He couldn't bear to see her in that wheelchair so he spent most of the night carrying her around on his back. You know, France was the one who named her Suzanne. He insisted."

She pointed to photo of a dark-haired young man holding a young girl with hair the same shade. "That's Northwest and Nunavut. They're two of Uncle Canada's territories. The first time Nunavut saw fireworks she was so scared, but now she loves watching them and encourages Tex and New Mexico to light them up. Not that they need it."

England jabbed his finger at a large picture towards the bottom of the page. "What's going on here?"

It was of six girls, all of whom had blonde hair and light colored eyes. They were standing in a circle around a table with several decks of playing cards. One of the short-haired girls with wavy hair was gesturing wildly, while the girl to her left with her hair in a side ponytail was ducking to avoid being smacked. One of the straight-haired girls was wiping away tears of laughter while leaning on a girl with longer wavy hair. The last two - one with straight hair and the other with a ponytail on the opposite side of the other - were reaching to clean up whatever liquid had been spilled on the table.

"Hmm?" New York took one look at the photo and started laughing. "Oh! That was the stupidest thing ever, really. I can't remember whose idea it was. See, we've got a couple pairs of identical twins. There's the Dakota's and the Carolina's and then Newfoundland and Labrador. I think they were having a contest to find the most twinliest twins."

England flinched at her abuse of their shared language.

"Kind of weird how they're all girls. Anyway," New York cleared her throat and turned the page. "Heeey, I'd forgotten they were there! God, that was an awesome New Years." She pointed to a photo of Australia with his arms around New Zealand while Canada and America stood on either side of them. "Hang on, I think Hong Kong was there too…"

She tugged the album back to her and scoured the pictures for any sign of her Asian uncle. Her eyes lit up when she found one of him talking to Pennsylvania, Vermont, and one of Canada's provinces (Ontario). She tapped it excitedly a few times.

"That was the year Uncle Aussie brought his koala and it, Kuma-whatever, and Hong's panda got into daddy's secret stash of alcohol. That was also the year Mexico showed up in the middle of the party with a ton of fireworks for Texas and New Mexico and got into a fight with daddy over something-or-other and it took Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, and cousin Yukon to break them up."

"Why wasn't I invited?" England asked.

"You were," replied New York. "Daddy said something along the lines of you being a crabby old man who'd rather sit at home and crochet instead of going out and having fun."

England scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "That wanker. Lets see if I invite him over anymore."

"Aww, don't be like that," New York said. "You of all people should know he says stuff like that to cover up how hurt he feels. He loves you."

A hue of pink quickly covered England's cheeks as he ducked his head. "H-he does not!"

New York giggled and then looked back down at the album, happily flipping through the pages to find something interesting to show off. So intent on her search, she didn't hear the footsteps or the voice approaching the room.

"…haven't seen her, Anna. Did you check with Lizzy? Or how about D.C.? My little capital can always tell where you guys…are. Found her. Yeah, in my room. Later, Anna."

New York looked up and locked eyes with her daddy. Her lips curved up into a guilty smile as she carefully closed the photo album and got off the bed. "Hi, daddy! I was just leaving!"

America snapped his phone shut and slid it into his back pocket. "Really?"

"Yup!"

"So you weren't hiding from Delaware and Massachusetts again?" America asked, sounding amused.

"Of course not. Why would I want to do a thing like that?" New York responded cheerfully. "I was just looking for you and got a little sidetracked is all. Anna can cool her jets." She paused a moment. "You think Ham would let me chill at his place for a while?"

"I thought you weren't hiding from them."

"I'm not. I'm avoiding them. There's a difference."

America sighed and stepped out of the way of the door. "Go ahead."

New York beamed and skipped forward. She happily planted a kiss on his cheeks. "Thanks, daddy! Bye, England! You should come to a family get-together one of these days!"

England could only manage a short wave before the State was gone.

America awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, uh, I guess you met Allison. She's really something, huh?"

"She is," England agreed. "Tell me, why have you never mentioned her or any of the others? And why is it that France and Russia know about them and yet I do not?"

"Oh…that. Yeah." America stood there for a moment, shifting his weight between feet. After a few long seconds he walked over and took New York's previous spot. "Well, they kind of figured it out on their own. Actually, Alaska was Russia's daughter first. It was a way big deal when she came to live with me. And Spain knew Florida way before I did. France sort of figured out Louisiana, Missouri, and the others without me saying anything."

His fingers trailed over the cover of the photo album. "I did hide them from you at first. I found the first thirteen a couple years before…" Blue eyes flickered up to gauge England's reaction. "My revolution."

England met his eyes, his own clouded with sadness at the mention of that period of history.

"But after that, I wasn't trying to hide them. You just stopped paying attention. I mean, the only time I really got your attention was with that whole mess with Canada. Unintentionally, of course. God, I was a dick back then," America said with a grin. It quickly faded. He was quiet for a minute or so as he flipped open the photo album. "It's not like I haven't tried to tell you about them. I've just never been too sure how. Y'know, if you'd come over during the holidays then you would've met them a long time ago."

"America, you are not blaming me for this," England said.

"Of course not," America said. "I should've just stood up in the middle of a meeting and announced to everyone that I have fifty-plus kids."

"Git. That's not what I meant."

"Maybe if you'd pay more attention. Last meeting Texas and Alaska tagged along as my assistants. Didn't you find that even the least bit weird?"

England frowned, thinking back to the last meeting. "I hadn't noticed, honestly. Was that the one where France stripped down naked, tried to strip me and failed, then danced on the table before Switzerland chased him around with a gun? Or was that the meeting where that one country-what's his name? The one who looks like you."

"Canada," America filled in, sounding vaguely amused.

"Right, Canada. Was it the meeting where he snapped at South Korea for poking him over the course of two hours?"

America shook his head. "Nah, the last meeting was the one where Russia didn't stir up shit for once because he was too busy cuddling Alaska while Greece fell asleep against Japan, who was sort of freaking out in that weird passive way of his, and then you started arguing with France over something. I guess that's why you didn't notice."

He turned his eyes back to the album, flipping past the pictures of the New Years party and heading into the section of January birthdays and then February. He chuckled at a picture of Arizona smashing her piece of cake into Oregon's face while Massachusetts stood back and laughed while holding his cake out of the way.

"You should come by next month for the June birthdays," America said. "We celebrate them all on one weekend. It makes it easier than getting together several times a month." He looked up at England hopefully. "Do you want to?"

England glanced at the photo book and then back to America. "I would like that."

-.-.-.-

End chapter

-.-.-.-

Well, after all the work I've done creating human names for the states and looking up Canada's provinces and territories, I figured I ought to write more than one chapter. I want to write about England meeting the rest of the states, maybe the American Civil War, and a little about Canada and his "kids".

By the way, if any of New York's speech seems not very Northern, it's because I live in the south.

The looks of the states are based largely on who owned the territories of land first.

Yes, I will be using stereotypes.

Also, I'm aware I missed a few U.S. Territories. Guam and Puerto Rico weren't the only ones to skip out on America's photo day. (Dunno why Philippines would've gone along with it. Just for fun, maybe?)

Introduced in this chapter:

New York - Allison Jones - dark blue eyes - wavy blonde hair cut above her shoulders

America named her after himself. She's an enthusiastic girl who spends her time alternating between bickering with Delaware and avoiding her completely. She considers New Hampshire and Virginia to be her best friends and uses their houses as a hide-out. Though happy most of the time, her personality does a 180 when she gets behind the wheel of a car. For that reason, the other states don't let her drive often. Bears scars from 9/11. (And would really rather not talk about that day or her scars.)

Joke State Motto (from funny2(dot)com): You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To An Attorney

Actual State Motto: Excelsior (Ever upward)