"Lukas." I small voice called to me. "Wake up." My body was being shook by tiny hands.

With my jolting up, I cause Emil to jump as well. "I'm sorry Emil." I yawned as I rubbed my eyes in the palms of my hands. "What are you doing up this early?" I asked patting the couch next to me.

"Your clock was going off." Emil said pulling himself into the seat.

Upon hearing this, my eyes widened as I sprinted from my position to my room. Like the five year old said, my alarm was beeping relentlessly. Turning it off, I quickly changed into some clean clothes, brushed through my hair, and tore through my old dresser as I looked for something for Emil to wear.

Pulling out a pair of jeans and a white shirt with some cartoon character on it, I went back out to the living room to find Emil doodling on a piece of paper. "What are you drawing Em?" I asked sitting back down next to him.

"Its of you, Martha, and me." He replied, keeping all his attention on the crayon drawing in front of him. Looking over his shoulder, I noticed two other figures next to Martha, as I guessed it to be.

"Who are those two?" I asked pointing at the one with, what looked like glasses.

My brother put down the green he was using for the grass and picking up a blue one. Pointing at the same one I did with his free hand, he answered. "That's Berwald. He seems scary at first, but he's really nice." Next he pointed to the other one with wild looking hair. "This one is Mathias. He's really load and it sometimes hurts my ears." Emil's nose wrinkled as he spoke. "They're Martha's grandsons and come over when I'm there. Berwald helps me with my homework."

At his last sentence, I could feel my chest hurt a bit. Pushing the feeling down, I patted the boy's head. "That's nice of him." All I got back was a small hum in conformation. "Put it in your backpack and you can show Martha when you see her later today, but right now you need to get dressed for school."

Doing as I said, the toddler put up his things and came over to stand in front of me with his arms lifted straight in the air. I let out a soft chuckle as I pulled his shirt from yesterday over his head and replaced it with the clean one. When I reached to undo his pants he pushed my hands away. "I can do it." Emil said as he started fumbling with the button. He was so concentrated on what he was doing, that his tongue started to peek out between his lips. "There!" My brother said, proud of himself.

"Impressive." I said as I helped him take his pants off without falling and into the new pair. "Have you been working on this trick long?" I asked pulling him on to my lap and pulling out a tiny pair of socks.

"Alfred showed me how to do it. He says it drives his brother crazy when he and Mathew do it and run around without them." Emil giggled at his story as I got his feet into the socks.

Alfred and Mathew were some of Arthur's brothers, the only twins. Arthur always complained about having to watch them whenever his parents wanted a night away from the battlefield they called a house. I don't blame them. If I had five kids and a baby running around my place, I'd want to get away as well.

"Well it's a good thing that I can easily keep an eye on you." I said reaching for his light-up shoes.

Emil cocked his head to the side and watched me as I tied the laces. "Big brother?" He asked in a quiet voice. "Can you teach me how to tie my shoes this weekend? Mama started showing me before she went away." At his words I stopped.

He hadn't brought up our mother since he had been living with me, but I could tell in the way he asked that how much he missed her. Looking up to meet his purple gaze, I saw tears starting to well up. Pulling him into a tight hug, I rocked him soothingly as he started to sob. "Sure Emil. Anything you want." I whispered softly in his ear. "Anything." We sat there like that until my brother calmed down.

After making a quick bowl of cereal, learning that we were almost out of EVERYTHING in the fridge, and being able to scrounge up a cup of coffee for me, thank God, I got Emil in his jacket. I herded him to the side of the trailer and unlocked my bike. "You're taking your bike today?" He asked excitedly.

"Yup. We're running pretty late today and I need to get groceries, so I'll need it." Walking it and Emil to the street, I brought down the kickstand and steadied it as I hoisted Emil into the front basket. This was one of his favorite parts of whenever I took my bike. Speeding down the street, the icey wind whipped at our faces. Emil covered his with his hands to try and lessen the stinging. Getting him to school at record time, I quickly nudged him off to class before his teacher could come out and scold me for my brother being late, again.

With how my day was going so far, it was not a surprise that I ended up being ten minutes late to my other job at a coffee house. Feliks was sitting there looking through some fashion magazine while waiting for the morning rush. "You're late again Lukas." He said, never once looking up from his reading. I walked past him, not in the mood to be patronized by the cross dressing blond. "You're lucky Roderich didn't come in today."

I let out a sigh as I tied my apron on. Roderich was the owner of the small coffee shop. He was always a cheap skate and would always try to find ways to save money, even though he looked pretty fancy. If he had known I was late, he would have blown a gasket. Sadly, I can't afford for him to find out since I was already on thin ice with him.

"Are you doing okay Lukas?" Feliks asked as I slouched over the counter. "You seem kind of moody, and I mean like, not your usual kind of bad mood."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better and want to tell you all my whoas." I replied sarcastically.

He finally looked up at me, giving me a dirty look. "I'm, like, just trying to help, but if Mr. Bad Temper is going to snap at me, I have better things to do." The blond snapped and went back to his 'reading'. How people can get so absorbed in that mind-numbing garbage is beyond me.

"Fine by me." I whispered under my breath as I took my post at one of the registers just as our boss came in.

Roderich stopped in confusion when he saw me. "Oh, what a surprise to see you here and it looks like on time for once." My eyes narrowed at that. It's not like he's in here that often to know. "Well, I was just going to call you and tell you not to come in."

This sparked my attention. "What do you mean Mr. Edelstein?" I asked straightening up. "Was I supposed to have the day off?"

"You could say that." He said looking at some papers in his hand as he walked to the counter. "I was looking over some paperwork and it seems that you've clocked in late 20 times last month and already three times this month." I could feel sweat start to form on the back of my neck. Please tell me he's not about to do what I think he is. "As you know I don't like my employees not being punctual…" Feliks had his full attention on the conversation, his green eyes as big as dinner plates. "That is why I have to let you go."

My world froze and all I could do was think of how much I relied on my two jobs. How was I going to pay all my bills? What would I do if I couldn't financially support Emil? Would social services end up finding out and taking him away? I don't know what I'd do without him. Without thinking I ended up blurting out, "Mr. Edelstein you can't!"

"E-excuse me." Roderich seemed taken back.

"Please sir! You don't know how much I need this job!" I begged shamelessly.

"If that was truly the case, than you would have been here on time more often. Don't you think." He replied composing himself. "Now if you would, show yourself out."

In pure shock, I threw off my apron and marched out the door, gathered my bike, and rode off before the tear in the back of my eyes could find their way forward. I decided to still go shopping to help take my mind off this recent disaster, besides I still had to be able to feed Emil no matter what.

Taking longer than usual, not only was I able to get the shopping done, but I also picked up a few applications from the book store and grocery store it's self. Hopefully they would have some openings I could fill. Dropping everything off at the trailer, I rode to Martha's even though it was still a bit early for me to pick Emil up. Letting my bike fall in front of her house, I strolled up to the door and knocked.

"Oh, don't treat me like I'm old Mathias! I can still answer my own door!" I hear what sounded like a swat and a man laughing. "Now go do your homework!" Martha scolded on the other end. "Lukas? What a surprise. You're early today." She remarked as she fixed her hair. "Come in out of the cold while I get Emil's stuff." Pulling me in, she took my jacket and shooed me to the kitchen. "Help yourself to some cookies!" Martha yelled from the hall.

Stepping into the kitchen, I noticed two tall men, maybe around my age, hunched over some textbooks. Well, one was while the other was leaned over him poking with a hug grin on his face. "Come on Ber! I need those notes!" The one with wild hair shouted, prodding 'Ber' with his pencil.

"No." He said with a deep voice as he pushed up his glasses. "Take your own notes." His voice was thick with an odd accent.

The wild haired boy then turned to me. "Hey! You must be Emil's brother Lukas, right?" He asked jumping up from the table. "I'm Mathias!" He stuck out his hand. "Martha's favorite grandson." Mathias said smirking at Ber, who ignored him.

Taking his hand, I gave it a firm shake, but not a firm as his. "Yeah. Nice to meet you."

Mathias' grin grew wider. "Like wise. That boring lump over there is my cousin Berwald." He said nodding towards the bespectacled one, who just nodded as he did equations.

I was about to say something when Emil came bolting in and wrapped his arms around my legs. "Lukas! You're here early!" He shouted with a huge smile on his face. Let a warm smile cross my own face, I knelt down and wrapped him in a hug.

"Yeah, and I was thinking about making us some pasta tonight." His face light up even more.

"Really?! We get to eat at home tonight?" I nodded. "Yay!" He exclaimed and started running around the kitchen.

"How many cookies has he had?" I asked watching the energetic kid run around.

Mathias let out a laugh. "Probably around ten, but we lost count." I rolled my eyes, hoping that he would wear himself out by the time we got home.

"No more cookies Emil." I said picking him up and holding him to my chest. Pouting, he tried to get me to cave in to which I just shook my head. "Now, say your good-byes so we can leave. I'm sure Martha would like to have her house back." I set Emil down and he went over to Mathias and gave him a hug.

"See you around sport." He leaned down to whisper in my brother's ear. "Don't worry. Next time I see you I'll bring ice cream." He smirked patting his white hair. Next was Berwald who just picked him up and kissed him on the head before putting him back down to continue studying.

"Lukas, you know you and Emil never bother me. Besides, I will never get my house back with these two hanging around." Martha's comment earned her an air kiss from Mathias and a small chuckle(?) from Berwald.

I let Emil give Martha a big hug before I went in for my own. "Thanks again. I'll bring you my payment Monday when I drop Emil off." I said putting on Emil's and my jacket before taking his bag.

"Of course, no rush. Now you better head out before it ends up getting too cold." Martha waved us off after handing me some of the left over cookies. Walking the toddler to my bike, I set it back up and helped him into the basket. The ride home was filled with five-year old chatter about school and his time with Martha's family.

"And Alfred said his mom said I could spend the night tomorrow. Can I please?" Emil begged as I unlocked the front door.

"Are you sure you'll want to stay the whole night? It'll be your first time away for a whole night."

Emil seemed to maul it all over. "Yes, I'm sure. They have video games that Alfred said are super fun." He replied hopping up on the couch as I started dinner. "He also said we could make a fort in the living room and eat lots of snacks!" I couldn't help but chuckle at that. If there was one way to Emil's heart, it was snacks.

"Alright. I'll call Arthur tomorrow and see what he has to say." Arthur's parents had quite a few kids and with him being one of the oldest, he tended to watch over them when they decided to get away from all the screaming mouths.

After making some simple spaghetti, Emil and I spent the rest on the night drawing and telling stories till he ended up falling asleep on the coffee table. Taking him to the bedroom, I changed his clothes and tucked him in before I called Arthur to confirm Emil's sleepover. When I got that out of the way, and almost losing the hearing in on of my ears, I started of the applications till I found myself joining Emil in dreamland.

A/N: Since I've been in bed the last two days, I decided to make another chapter to this story. :) Reviews are appreciated.

queenly: Thank you for the review! I hope you like this chapter!

Izumi17: Thank you so much! ^^