Intro:
Alfred F. Jones sometimes couldn't believe how his life had turned out. Ten years ago he probably would have said that he was going to be an astronaut, or a government agent. Never in his dreams would he have imagined himself marrying, settling down, and becoming a parent/foster parent only at the age of 20.
He didn't regret his life one bit though. Each day was filled with adventure and fun, because what else would happen when you were the chosen parent of three rambunctious but insanely adorable kids?
Matthew had been the one to inspire them. You see, one day he had broke the news to his brother that starting the next day, he and his partner Gilbert would be fostering a child. Alfred had been a little shocked. Matthew seemed like maybe the parent type, but Gilbert? He wasn't even under the impression that the albino liked children! So of course he had disapproved of the idea.
However, upon meeting the the little kid that was now a part of Matthew and Gilbert's home, Alfred had felt his heart swell. The child was a little blonde German, which really had made Gilbert happy. He was well mannered and almost too mature for his age, but very cute. Matthew and Gilbert had fallen in love with their new charge, and Alfred had felt a pang of jealously.
Which was why he suggested to Ivan that they should become foster parents.
He remembered that day clearly. As soon as the words had spilled from his mouth, the large Russian man had spit out his vodka and started coughing from shock. "Alfred, you do realize that being foster parents requires a lot of work, time, and patience da?" He had pointed out.
Oh but Alfred was persistent. He could already see it in his mind; He and Ivan being the best doting and loving parents a kid could ever ask for! They would take in all the lonely needy and children and provide them with warm beds and hot meals. It would be just perfect! Little did Alfred know, Ivan had been right. It certainly took a lot of work. it did however, pay off.
Alfred and Ivan had signed up for the same program that Matthew and Gilbert had. Hetalia International Children's Foster Care. It worked slightly different than normal fostering programs. For one, you mostly got children from all around the world. Secondly, they stayed with you a lot longer than normal foster children did. It was almost technically like adopting, except every once in awhile your assigned social worker would check up and make sure that everything was working out.
Alfred and Ivan's assigned Social Worker was Kiku Honda. He was the one who picked out which kids they should care for, and visited every six months. Ivan had been a little concerned at first, mainly financially wise. After all, he himself only worked as an accountant, and Alfred worked as a Middle School gym teacher three days a week. They weren't exactly full with enough cash to care for children. Luckily the program funded more than enough money to care for each and every child.
It was settled, and since that day, Ivan and Alfred were officially foster parents.
Chapter 1: Crazy but worth it
"More juice!"
"What do you say Artie?"
"More juice please?"
"Of course. Here you go kiddo," Alfred said cheerfully, taking Arthur's sippy cup from him and filling it with more apple juice. It was weird, the three year old had a distaste for pretty much everything apple related except for the juice. Hopefully he would outgrow it, because in Alfred's opinion the little guy was really missing out.
"I'm finished with my lunch, please can I be excused?" Francis, another one of their kids, asked from his seat at the table. Alfred did a quick scan of his plate and frowned.
"But you barely touched your mac and cheese dude! Aren't you hungry?"
"Non. I don't like it today!" The little French boy told him. Alfred sighed to himself. Francis was going through a terrible phase currently. He changed his appetite daily. One night he would hate something, then the next day it would be his favorite meal. It was really bothersome sometimes, but Alfred supposed that it was hopefully going to be a quick phase.
"Alright, but you can't have any snacks till dinner." Alfred told him. Francis nodded in agreement before scooting out of his chair and running back out to the living room to the television. The older American shook his head but grabbed Francis's bowl from the table and started scraping it's contents into the trash can.
"Uh-oh! I made a mess!" Arthur spoke up with a slight giggle. Alfred looked back over and almost cursed out loud. Arthur had opened up his juice cup and spilled it all over his lap and the floor. He really wished that he hadn't taught Arthur how to unscrew the lids of things...
"Yup, you sure did make a mess. Here, sit still while I get a towel." He said, running across the kitchen to retrieve the necessary clean up supplies. He took off the child's soaked pants and wiped at his legs, holding them down when Arthur tied to kick him. Alfred's attention was then drawn to the last child in the room, who had been picking at his food quietly.
"At least you're not like these other two crazy kids, right Toris?" He said, smiling at their newest addition, who had only been a part of the family for almost a month. The little Lithuanian smiled a little, and shook his head. Alfred grinned back. At least they were making some progress with the kid.
Toris seemed most comfortable around Alfred. For some reason he was really nervous and uncomfortable around Ivan. Alfred could tell that it hurt his husband a little, but he didn't show it. Alfred assured him that his big size was probably the reason for Toris's nervousness, and that he would warm up for sure. After all, Toris had been a victim of child abuse, so him being so nervous was to be expected.
So yes, Alfred and Ivan were the foster parents of three children. Their first had been Francis; they had gotten him two years ago when he was four, all the way from Paris, France. He was now a healthy six year old, a little bit snobbish at times, but that was probably because Ivan and Alfred had spoiled him so much when he'd first arrived. Apparently his parents had abandoned him, leaving him in the busy Parisian streets to fend for himself.
A year after getting Francis, Kiku had called and asked if they could take in a two year old from London. Of course Alfred and Ivan had agreed, especially after hearing that the tot had been severely neglected by an alcoholic dad and older brothers. That was how Arthur had came into the family. Now he was three, and as creative and mischievous as ever. He had a number of imaginary friends, and loved anything magic related. Francis often teased him about it, but then again the two children were always at each others throats.
Last but not least, Kiku had sent them Toris, only about thirty days earlier. He was by far the most timid child. That concerned Alfred a little bit. He really wanted to try and get the kid out of his shell. After all, Toris was five, and five year olds should be trying to explore the world, and should fear monsters instead of worrying about being hit.
Hitting was certainly a no-no in their household. Ivan and Alfred would never resort to corporal punishments. Well, sometimes Arthur would get a tap on the butt if he tried smacking or attacking Francis, but never a real spanking. Nope, it would only be a time-out, or alone time in the corner for their kids.
Going back to the present, Alfred had now finished cleaning up the spill and finished throwing away the paper towels. He decided that it was okay to leave Arthur in his underwear and shirt for now, rather than try and find a clean pair of pants for him.
"Okay, go play in the den alright?" He instructed, lifting Arthur down from his kitchen booster seat and setting him down on the floor.
"Okay!" Arthur replied, scampering out of the room to go play. Alfred chuckled, and then noticed that Toris had stopped eating. His bowl was more than half empty, which was satisfying.
"You all finished buddy?" He asked.
"Yes," Toris answered quietly.
"Alrighty then, why don't you go play for a little while?" He suggested. Toris nodded and obediently left his spot at the table, going towards the living room where Francis was. Alfred sighed with relief, at least lunch was finished with. Now came the part of wiping the messy table off, and washing the dishes.
Well, at least it was Sunday. Tomorrow he would only have Arthur and Toris home, since Francis went to school. He was the only one who went out of the three children. Arthur was too young for even preschool, and Toris was definitely not ready for kindergarten yet. He was barely comfortable around just them, so there was no way Alfred and Ivan were sticking him in a loud and noisy school. So yes, Francis, their first grader, was the only one who left during the week.
On Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's though, Arthur and Toris attended a nice little private daycare for four hours a day for when Alfred had to work. The place was nice, with only a few kids, so Toris was okay there most of the time luckily. Because after all, at least Alfred only worked three days a week. Ivan worked a full five days a week. Speaking of Ivan, Alfred noticed him pulling into the driveway.
His Russian lover had been out completing the weekly grocery shopping. He and Alfred switched off every week. They would have gone together, but there was just no way that they could bring along the kids without risking the whole grocery store being destroyed. Alfred put on his shoes before going out to help bring in the groceries.
"Hi babe, how was it?" He asked, pecking Ivan on the lips as the Russian opened the trunk full of grocery bags.
"Pretty good. They didn't have Francis's favorite pastries though, so we'll have to pick some up after they restock." Ivan answered. "How are the children?"
"Just fine," Alfred told him. "We need to get a move on with laundry though, cause Arthur spilled apple juice all over his pants."
"Ah, how am I not surprised?" Ivan said with a laugh.
The rest of the afternoon was rather boring, with no catastrophes. Alfred worked on laundry while Ivan watched the kids downstairs. Eventually he got started on dinner. Ivan normally made dinner, since Alfred usually covered breakfast and lunch. Tonight was ham and green bean casserole.
"Wow, this is great Ivan! You got the ham just right." Alfred complimented his husband during dinner.
"I don't like it..." Francis said distastefully, pushing the plate away from him.
"Well you had better start liking it young man, especially if you want ice cream later." Ivan told him, but more light heartedly rather than sternly.
"Besides dude, you liked it when we had it two weeks ago." Alfred pointed out while reaching over to wipe a glob of casserole from Arthur's nose.
"How about four more bites, than you can be done. Does that sound like a deal?" Ivan proposed.
"Oui...deal." Francis said, happily eating his dinner. Honestly, sometimes Alfred wondered just what was going on inside that kid's brain.
"I'm done," Arthur announced proudly, shoving his plate towards Alfred so it could be inspected. The plate bumped into Alfred's glass of milk, but luckily the American managed to catch it before it fell over, so only a few droplets of milk sloshed out from the cup.
"Okay Artie, all clear. Go pick out your jammies, cause when I'm done it's bath time." Alfred told him.
"No bath..." Arthur pouted.
"Yes bath. If you're good then I'll read a long story tonight."
"Yes bath," Arthur agreed, running upstairs to his bedroom to pick out his pajamas. Alfred finished the last of his dinner before heading upstairs to get the tub running.
"Alright, let's begin cleanup," Ivan instructed upon seeing that everyone was finished. "Francis, you wipe down the table, and Toris, you put the milk away please. Thank you boys." He felt a little bad when Toris scrambled to put the milk away as fast as he could.
Once the kitchen was clean, Ivan went upstairs to go get Toris and Francis's pajamas. On the way there he stopped in the kid's bathroom where Arthur was getting his bath. The door was open, and Ivan saw that the floor was soaking wet. Alfred was sitting on the edge of the tub, and he looked just as wet as Arthur was.
"We were having a little splash war..." Alfred said sheepishly when he saw Ivan's look of horror.
"A little splash war?" He commented in disbelief. "Ugh, never mind. Hurry up and get him out though, Francis still needs to shower."
"Aye-Aye" Alfred saluted. Ivan nodded and then went off to finish his original task. When he finished finding their pajamas, he returned to the two older boys.
"Here's your pajamas Francis, go take your shower, Arthur should be out by now. Toris, let's go get ready for bed." He said. Toris obediently followed, but Ivan could sense his anxiousness. Usually Alfred was the one to get Toris ready for bed, but tonight dinner had been a bit late so they were off schedule.
Currently Toris shared a bedroom with Francis, but not for long. They had ordered some kids bedroom furniture that was coming soon. Then they were going to turn Ivan's old study into Toris's new bedroom. It would probably be another week or so though.
"Alright, arms up," Ivan instructed softly. Normally a five year old would be able to dress themselves for the most part, but it was different with Toris. He wasn't exactly helpless, but he did require assistance with many daily things. Ivan and Alfred were working with him though, and teaching him to be more independent. It was a little hard though, Toris was so pitiful, and both adults felt the need to coddle him.
He couldn't help but notice that Toris trembled slightly as he dressed him into his pajamas. Suddenly, just after Toris's pants were put on, someone came running through the open doorway. It was Arthur, clad in only a towel which was slipping off with each step.
"Help, the monsters gonna get me!" Arthur squealed, ducking behind Ivan for cover. Down the hall they could hear growling noises that was obviously Alfred.
"Grawwwwr! The jammie monster has arrived!" Alfred said with an obviously fake growl. Arthur once again squealed and tried running, but to no avail. Alfred caught him, tossing the screaming child over his shoulder. Ivan laughed, and then looked down to the other child.
"Would you like to watch a few minutes of Tv before bed, or are you sleepy?" He asked. Toris looked horrified at having to make a decision, and twisted his hands nervously. Ivan felt a little bad, even though he really didn't have a reason to.
"Sleepy..." The little Lithuanian finally muttered. Ivan had a suspicion that he wasn't exactly sleepy and just wanted to avoid him, but did not voice his thoughts.
"Alright then. Would you like for me to tuck you in?" Ivan offered.
"N-no thank you," Toris answered quietly. Ivan had predicted this, and only nodded.
"Okay then, have a goodnight. I'll tell Alfred to come say goodnight as well." He said, and turned on the night light before leaving the room, making sure to leave the door cracked. He walked down the hall, checking up on Francis before heading towards Arthur's room, where he could hear Alfred finishing up a story.
"Father, I want a night-night!" Arthur demanded when he saw Ivan. The Russian beamed; at least one of his kids appreciated him.
"Alright, I'll give you a night-night!" He said, leaning down to give the three year old a sloppy kiss on one of his baby cheeks, and then pulled up his shirt, giving him the biggest raspberry he could. Arthur's cheeks turned red as he squealed and tried to get away. It didn't help the child at all when Alfred joined in on giving him raspberries. Finally both adults stopped when their youngest looked like he was running out of air.
"Okay, go to sleep little one," Ivan said, placing one more kiss on Arthur's nose, Alfred did so as well, and they both watched as Arthur yawned and pulled his stuffed green rabbit 'Minty' close to his chest.
"Toris went to bed early. I think you should probably go tuck him in. I offered to but..." Ivan trailed off awkwardly. Alfred smiled knowingly.
"Okay dude, I'll do that. Don't worry, he seriously will warm up to you eventually. He was nervous around me too. I'm just home with him more often so he's more used to me." He reassured him.
"I hope you're right..." Ivan grumbled a bit.
"Of course I'm right, when haven't I been?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
"Oh shut up!" Alfred replied, smacking him lightly. "Okay, so I'll see to Toris and why don't you go make sure Francis is all good?"
"Alright," Ivan agreed.
It turned out that Francis was already showered and into his pajamas, finishing up the last of his cartoon.
"Bed time Francis, you have school tomorrow remember?" Ivan said.
"Oui. Can you carry me?" Francis asked.
"How about a piggy back?"
"Yeah!"
Ivan proceeded to piggy back their oldest up to his room. Alfred was still in there with Toris, so they were both able to tuck in Francis. He often was a little difficult to get to bed, but thankfully tonight the French boy was worn out, so he complied easily.
"Whew, I can't believe we got them all tucked in before eight thirty! That's gotta be a new record." Alfred exclaimed once they had made it back to their own bedroom.
"I know, they were surprisingly easy tonight." Ivan agreed, discarding his shirt as he began to change into his own pajamas. Alfred turned on their bedroom TV to the evening news before following Ivan with getting changed.
"I was thinking about taking Artie and Toris to the park tomorrow. The weather's supposed to be nice." Alfred chatted as they both settled back onto the bed. Ivan had an arm around Alfred's shoulder as they both snuggled close under the covers.
"That's a good idea. We only have so long until fall will approach." Ivan agreed.
"Yeah, I can't wait until October. I already have ideas for their costumes...of crap, hold on a sec someone's calling." Alfred said, grabbing his phone from the nightstand. "Oh hey it's Kiku!"
"Kiku dude, what's up?" Alfred answered his phone.
"Hello Alfred-san. I hope I am not calling at a bad time?" The Japanese social worker greeted him.
"Not at all dude. What can I do for you?" Alfred asked.
"Well...I know you've only just gotten Toris, but I was wondering if you and Ivan could possibly take in one more child?"
Eh, hopefully at least some of you guys liked this. You see, I had one of those moments where I was craving little England, but then I also wanted some parental Russia and America, and then I wanted France into the mix, then Lithuania, and so on, which explains why this happened. But you guys probably get these cravings all the time, right? Right!?
And before you all go like, "Kristen, you have other stories to update missy!" just be reassured that I WILL be updating pretty much all my stories soon. I did have some writers block, but now I'm back into the groove of fanfiction.
Some reviews would be nice(: I just want to see if anyone even liked this. I was just writing it for myself, and then my brother was like, what do you have to lose dude, update it! So here you go!