Along Came Arthur

Chapter Three

As Alfred's truck drove smoothly along the highway and eventual smaller roads, Arthur watched the southern Californian scenery pass. He was surprised by the warmth and sunshine of the city, being used to the dampness of England. It was one of the few pleasantries he found in his arrangement. When Alfred directed the truck through the various neighborhoods, Arthur was shocked by the size of the homes. He was too young to understand the wealth and fame that Alfred had accumulated through his line of work and stared in awe at the mansions.

As the truck finally slowed, Arthur was surprised to see that Alfred's home was not quite as large as his neighbor's. He voiced this curiosity to Alfred who merely shrugged.

"I don't need that much space. It's just me, after all."

The home was still quite impressive. It was quite modern, composed of a white washed stucco exterior with several walls of glass. As Arthur's gaze drifted towards the top, he was surprised to see the roof had been replaced by an open patio. When Alfred pulled into the drive, he slowed his truck to a stop and punched in a code into a keypad. Arthur gawked as Alfred's gate swung open and allowed the truck passage. He had never experienced a life like this and was shocked that his American cousin lived this way. Alfred looked at Arthur in the rearview mirror, smiling slightly as he saw the look of amazement on his cousin's face.

"Whelp, here we are. What do ya think?" he asked. Arthur's attention snapped back to cousin. He simply nodded before looking with wonder at the manicured front lawn as the truck slowly pulled up the driveway and into the garage. Alfred shut the truck off and hoped out. He walked around the back of the truck to help Arthur with his door, but stopped and watched as he saw the look of determination on his young cousin's face.

Arthur struggled to push the large, heavy door open, but looked quite pleased with himself when he finished. He gathered his small bag and jumped out of the back seat and onto the ground. He shut the door weakly behind him, scowling slightly as Alfred had to repeat the task for him. Alfred then collected Arthur's large suitcase from the truck bed and unlocked the door leading into the house.

Arthur followed his cousin into the mini mansion. Alfred led him through the laundry room and into the kitchen. The kitchen contained hardwood flooring and white walls. It was laced with dark granite counter tops and spacious cabinets. Stainless steel furniture was spread throughout the room.

"How do you keep the kitchen so clean?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

"I never use it!" Alfred laughed. "I mean I have food and everything, but I don't cook very often. C'mon! I'll show you the rest of the house."

Arthur followed Alfred and quickly learned the layout. His curiosity peeked when he glanced out of the glass wall of the living room and noticed the swimming pool in Alfred's back yard. Alfred smiled, glad to see Arthur showing excitement about something.

"Do you like to swim, Arthur?" he asked.

"I don't know how," he replied, disappointed that he wouldn't be able to use the beautiful pool. He always wanted to learn how to swim but no one ever seemed to have the time to teach him how.

"Don't worry, I can teach you!" Alfred promised excitedly. Arthur positively beamed.

"Do you mean it?!" he cried. Alfred laughed, pleased by the reaction.

"Yeah, dude! How about this weekend when I don't have to worry about work? Do you have a swimming suit?" Arthur's face fell slightly.

"No, I don't. But I can swim in my pants! It's okay! I don't mind!" he replied desperately. Alfred shook his head.

"No, no, no. No worries though! We can go out sometime this week and pick up a suit for ya."

Arthur seemed to follow Alfred around the house with a little more spring in his step after the conversation. Finally, Alfred showed Arthur his room on the second floor and placed his suitcase on the bed. He then rubbed the back of his head uncertainly as Arthur explored the space.

"I wasn't really sure what you would like, so it's a little plain. But we can totally redecorate it if you want! I just didn't know if you would like red or blue or…" Alfred stopped speaking as he noticed Arthur gawk at the room. "Do you like it?"

"It's so big," Arthur breathed. "And the furniture isn't beat up at all. All of my stuff back home belonged to my brothers' at one point. I've never had anything new before." Alfred's smile fell at Arthur's words. He'd never had anything new before? He hadn't taken a moment to consider what kind of environment or financial background Arthur came from. He knew that his aunt wasn't wealthy. She didn't work, and her husband had difficulty holding a job. Alfred shook his head. It didn't matter right now.

"Want me to help you unpack?" he offered. Arthur nodded.

There wasn't much to unpack. Alfred helped Arthur put away his clothes in the closet (Alfred quickly decided that the kid needed a new wardrobe as the clothes were probably older than he was) and his toiletries in the adjoining bathroom. There were a few toys that Arthur carefully put inside of a trunk and some books that Arthur lined against a small bookshelf. Alfred noticed that Arthur organized his collection somehow, but couldn't quite figure out the order. He simply left Arthur to it. He chuckled, however, when he noticed Arthur jump in surprise in the middle of a yawn when his stomach grumbled.

"Ready for dinner?" Alfred asked, storing the now empty suitcase and carry-on bag into Arthur's closet. Arthur nodded eagerly. The two went back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Alfred sat Arthur in one of his bar stools and scanned his refrigerator for anything that he could put together. He found a frozen cheese pizza from California Pizza Kitchen in the freezer.

"Is cheese pizza alright?" Alfred asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I like that." Alfred removed the pizza from the box as he preheated the oven. He then leaned against the island counter to face Arthur while they waited.

"I should probably give you carrots or something, but unfortunately I don't have any rabbit food in the house," Alfred joked. His face fell slightly as he realized he would have to look into the nutritional needs of children. Arthur didn't seem to notice his cousin's sudden thought as he grinned at the fact that he wouldn't be pushed into eating vegetables that night.

When the pizza was finished, the two ate in silence. As Alfred helped himself to his third slice, he noticed that Arthur was still picking at his first. His thoughts flashed briefly to the email exchanges with his aunt.

Arthur is a VERY picky eater, so don't be surprised if he takes a while to eat or if he likes something one day but not the next.

"How's the pizza?" Alfred asked. Arthur looked up from his plate.

"'S good, but I'm sleepy," he replied. Alfred ah'd in understanding. He looked over to the clock on his oven and noticed it was 6:45. He did some quick addition in his head and realized that Arthur was up much past his bed time back in England.

"I bet you're tired. It's almost one in the morning back in England. I guess all the excitement of today kept you going until now." Alfred collected their plates and threw them in the sink to clean later before walking Arthur back up to his room.

"Do you need help getting ready for bed or anything?" Alfred asked, unsure of what to do. Arthur shook his head as he shuffled through his clothes to find his pajamas. He suddenly stopped and looked at Alfred.

"Will you tuck me in when I'm ready?" he asked uncertainly. Alfred nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! For sure, dude. I'll just go back and clean the kitchen while you get ready. Just give me a shout over the railing when you're done." Arthur nodded and Alfred shut the door behind him. He went back down to the kitchen, rinsed off the dishes and put them in the dish washer, and wiped down the counters. Just as he finished, he was surprised to hear the sound of small feet descending the stairs. He supposed Arthur wasn't quite comfortable enough to be shouting in Alfred's home yet. Alfred planned to change that.

"I'm ready," Arthur said as he entered the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. He dawned an oversized, white t-shirt and baggy, navy pajama pants.

"Alright. Let's go!" Alfred said, following Arthur back to his room. Arthur hurried over to his bed and climbed under the covers. Alfred stopped for a moment, not quite sure how to tuck Arthur in. He awkwardly shoved the comforter and sheets underneath the mattress. Arthur furrowed his brows in confusion.

"That's not, um, that's not what my mother does," he stated. Alfred stopped immediately, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, um, what does your mom do?" Arthur shrugged.

"She hands me my uni 'cause I usually forget it on the floor and then she sings me a song or reads me a story." Alfred brightened. He could do that!

"Alright! Where's your uni? The toy chest?" he asked. Arthur nodded sluggishly, his head heavy with exhaustion. Alfred shuffled through a few of the toys in the chest before spotting the white unicorn. He closed the trunk behind him and handed the plushie over to Arthur.

"Thanks," Arthur mumbled. "I can't sleep without uni." Alfred looked over the small book collection on Arthur's shelf.

"Which story do you want me to read?" he asked. He didn't receive a response. Confused, he looked over at Arthur.

His cousin had fallen asleep. Alfred smiled fondly as he quietly walked over to the bed. The stresses of the day had finally caught up to Arthur, and Alfred gently pulled up the sheets and comforter on Arthur's bed to cover the small boy's shoulders. Arthur had his unicorn tucked securely in his right arm and underneath his chin. Alfred felt an overwhelming sense of love for his cousin as he noticed the calm and content look on his sleeping face. The boy was simply adorable, and in that moment Alfred swore that he would do anything to keep his cousin happy. He placed his hand softly on Arthur's head and brushed his bangs from his face before placing a gentle kiss to his temple. He then quietly left the room, still dazed by the sudden feeling of brotherhood.

And here's the third chapter! Sorry about the wait! I'm hoping to get the fourth chapter out much sooner. But in other news...

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION:

I recently published a book! If anyone's interested in checking it out, just type in amazon's url and copy and paste the addition below to the end. The book is titled Cacophony and is available on Amazon.

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Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! I appreciate so much!