【i don't own hetalia; all rights reserved to Hidekaz Himaruya】
「*」ー chapter one: adoption day
Um… hi. My name is Peter, and I'm twelve years old. I've lived in Cheshire, England for nine years; from when I was three, to now. I'm an orphan. They say I'm not going to get adopted because I'm too old now, that people go after the younger kids. I suppose that's true. But I'm still looking for a perfect family; hopefully, it'll happen soon…
a・not so・perfect ・family
"Berwald! I think the orphanage is that way!" A cute, Finnish man said. He pulled his Swedish lover as fast as the Swede would allow. The Finnish boy pouted. Berwald sighed, and followed his Finnish lover.
"Ber! There it is!" He said, pointing rapidly at the large building. The Swede adjusted the scarf that was around his neck, and the small excited rambling leaving his Finnish lover's mouth made Berwald smile underneath the scarf.
"C'lm down, Tino. I know it's not that cold c'mpared to Lukas's place, but c'lm down," Berwald advised his lover. "The people are lookin' at you like you're a m'dman."
Tino pouted again. "Berwald, we've been wanting a kid for over two years! We finally get the time to come down here to give it a look, so we are going now!" Tino argued. Berwald rolled his eyes, and silently followed his lover to the large building.
Tino was bursting with excitement. He and Berwald had wanted a child they got married—which was two years ago. Of course, since they were both male, they couldn't have kids... So the best alternative was to look around in Europe for a child that they thought would be perfect.
Tino ran to the front of the orphanage, and was about to knock when Berwald just swung the door open. "Ber! That's not nice! What if—"
"Ah, hello! My name is Arthur. Welcome to the World Stars Orphanage. Today is adoption day, so please feel free to look around and see a kid you like!" Arthur said. Tino frowned slightly. He's making it sound like the kids are items at an auction rather than a child living in an orphanage. Of course, being the usually cheerful man he is, he covered the frown with another sweet smile and nodded.
"I'm Tino, and this is Berwald. Do you have any Scandinavian kids?" Tino asked. Of course, he lived in Sweden. It was most natural he would want a child that could learn the language faster. The Brit shook his head. Arthur licked his chapped lips, and tapped his chin.
"Oliver, you bloody git! Get back here and stop acting like me!" yelled a voice. It sounded rather angry, and startled Tino. A blonde man with bright blonde hair and crisp green eyes frowned at the strawberry-blonde.
"Artie, why do you always ruin my fun?" Oliver whined. His bright blue-pink eyes sparkled, and the real Arthur rolled his bright green eyes.
"Excuse me, that was my cousin Oliver. I'm Arthur, and welcome to the World Stars Orphanage. We have kids from almost everywhere. Oliver was lying. While we have no kids from the Nordic region, we have a dog. Cute little thing—but a bit mischevious. My friend brought him from the Åland Islands. If you want to take a look, I have some profiles on the kids. Any preferences?" Arthur explained. Tino tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I guess we'll take a look at the dog. And kids... preferably older than three, younger than thirteen," Tino said. His light blue eyes sparkled. He was extremely excited. Berwald nodded. Arthur frowned lightly.
"You don't want a baby?" Arthur clarified.
"Nope. A bit too much work…" Tino admitted softly. Arthur nodded, and grabbed some files. Berwald and Tino looked through them, until a certain one caught his eye.
"Hm, look at this one, T'no," Berwald said, grabbing the file of a boy with light caramel hair—not brown but not blonde, and crystal clear blue eyes. Tino's eyes scanned the page quickly. "He's cute, like you," Berwald said, softly touching Tino's cheek. Tino blushed softly, and then read his name aloud.
"Peter. Hm, sounds nice. He's twelve? That's a bit old to live in an orphanage! Can we see him?" Tino blurted out. Arthur raised an extremely thick eyebrow, but nodded anyway. Oliver ran back with a small fluff in his hands.
"I heard Mr. Cutie and Mr. Scary wanted to see the dog? Here it is! It's only a few months old... hey! Would you like some cupcakes? I have some freshly made ones~! It's my duty as a host to only show the best skills in baking~!" Oliver said, grinning slightly. Arthur scowled at his younger cousin. Oliver liked to flaunt his baking skills, while Arthur preferred to keep quiet about his own cooking skills...
"Ohyaaa! So cute! Can I pet it!" Tino asked eagerly. Oliver gingerly handed the dog to Tino, and Tino petted it a tad bit possessively. Berwald sent out a tiny smile, but then cleared his throat.
"So... P'ter?"
"That little brat?" Oliver said, astonished. He was quite aware of how mischievous the younger British boy was, and he was honestly surprised someone wanted to see him. No one had in nine years; Oliver was one to put others down. He couldn't help it. However, Tino nodded slightly. Oliver broke into a grin, and clapped his hands together in a perky way.
"Well the brat is that way~! Peter is rather sensitive, so please bear with him," Oliver said, a tad bit contradictory to the beginning of his sentence. The two Nordic lovers exchanged a quick look, but followed the strawberry-blonde to wherever they were headed.
The small dog in the Finnish boy's arms started fussing, making him giggle. Berwald saw Tino's adorable little laugh, and felt a small, dorky smile make its way to his own lips. The Brit looked around the hall they were in quickly, before quickly opening one of the doors. A cupcake flew out, almost hitting Berwald in the face, missing by about a centimeter.
"Oh, hey, British Jerk-of-Jerks!" a younger voice shouted. Oliver giggled, and then popped his head back to look at the Fin and Swede. Oliver locked eyes with Tino, before gesturing inside the room.
"This way, poppets. The little brat is probably excited. Or depressed. Probably both~!" Oliver sang. Berwald raised an eyebrow, but the Brit was already gone. Tino sighed, and then also popped his head past the door. Berwald, however, walked straight inside. The young British boy looked up; a look of disbelief, surprise, and doubt rolled onto his face for two seconds, before he replaced with a smile.
A broken smile.
"Hello! My name is Peter! The little kids are that way—"
"No, no. K'd, we're here f'r you." Berwald said. He pushed his glasses back up in place, and Tino leaned forward, extending out his arm.
"My name is Tino, and this is Berwald," Tino introduced. "We're here because we want to adopt you." Tino said the words rather slowly—as if to stop the child from becoming too excited. Of course; that didn't stop Peter. No one has ever said that to him before… it was always; 'What about that little one?' or even 'He's too old...' Peter didn't know you had to be a certain age to be adopted!
"R-Really! You're here to adopt me?" Peter asked. He was surprised. For the past nine years of his twelve-year-old life, people had just passed by him. He remembered when he was seven, how the five year old Turkish kid got adopted, how a few years before that those Italian kids got adopted... It was finally his turn. His blue eyes sparkled.
Tears brimmed in his eyes.
"Mama? Papa? I love you! Y-You guys are going to be the perfect family!" Peter said, burying his face in Tino's stomach.
This gesture surprised the Fin and the Brit alike. Peter was surprised because of how soft and chubby his new mama was. He was not going to deny the fact he liked it. He liked the softness of the tummy, because then he could use it as a pillow. Peter may be twelve; but he lacked attention. He craved it. He needed attention, and that was due to the fact he never got it.
"Thank you, Mama, Papa…"
Tino smiled softly, and so did Berwald. Tino's eyes also began to water slightly, before he lifted the young British boy in his arms. Peter was smiling, crying, and laughing all at once. His face was a mess of tears, but this caused him to smile wider.
"P'ter, we're going to live in Sw'den. It's our home. You might have to learn Swedish—"
Tino laughed. "Berwald, did you forget we live next to a school that has teachers that teach in English? He'll be able to go to school there!" This caused the Swede to blush a little bit. Tino blinked the small tears that were forming in his eyes. He remembered what people often said about his eyes; how they were brown in the dark, violet in the shade, and blue in normal sunlight. This never bothered the Fin, however—he liked having eyes like that.
He also liked Berwald's eyes; a soft blue-green. Sometimes the green was more evident than the blue, or they were mixed perfectly with each other. They were the eyes he had fallen in love with. Tino and Berwald—with Peter in between the two—made their way back to Oliver and Arthur. Arthur was talking to another man with long, blonde hair.
"Mr. Cutie~! The paperwork is over here!" Oliver called. He was holding a platter of fresh cupcakes. The sweet aroma caught in Peter's nose.
"Mama, can I have a cupcake?" Peter asked, wiping his eyes and nose clean from moisture. Tino; although he preferred male pronouns, was surprisingly okay with being called mama. And so quickly, as well. Tino would have thought it would take at least a month for Peter to call them Mama and Papa... Tino could not deny that he liked it. He liked being called mama. It meant he was someone to rely on.
"Just ask nicely." Tino advised.
Peter could only agree. "Hey, British Jerk-of-Jerks! May I please have a cupcake?" Peter asked the Brit. Oliver giggled softly at the British boy.
"Oh, Peter~! Of course you can! Thank you for asking nicely, poppet!" Oliver sang, handing the boy a vanilla cupcake. Oliver smiled, and ran towards his older cousin. Peter; surprised he actually got a cupcake, and then he eagerly took a bite out of the treat. This caused Tino to smile, and then he tugged at the Swede's arm.
Berwald followed the Brit, to start filling out the paperwork to adopt Peter. Tino however; stayed with his new child. Peter had never smiled so much in a long time, and it made him realize how lonely he had been all of this time. He realized he had never really had friends.
"Mama, will I make friends?" Peter asked Tino. This caused the Fin to be a bit surprised; he wasn't at all expecting that. Tino could never be sure, anyway. It all depended on Peter-if he wanted to have friends or not.
"Peter, of course. It might be hard, but I'm sure you'll make some," Tino reassured him. This made Peter grin even more, and he skipped to where Arthur was talking with the other man.
"Hey, British King of Jerks! Are you done talking with your husband?" Peter shouted to Arthur. This caused the man who was talking to Arthur to smirk slightly at the little boy, and for Arthur to explode in a crimson red.
"You bloody idiot! Francis and I aren't married—" Arthur hissed, his red face contrasting with his green days. However; his rage was quickly ignored when two new people stood in the doorway of the orphanage.
"Well, you two argue like an old married couple, so..." chuckled a familiar voice. Peter perked his head up, before locking eyes with his favorite American.
"Alfie! It's been so long since you last visited! What happened?" Peter asked the American. Alfred smiled, and gestured to the second person in the doorway.
"I was in Tokyo with Kiku! We went to his place… Don't you remember? We got married last month…?" Alfred said. The Asian; whom Tino assumed to Japanese, since they had come from his place in Tokyo. He could be wrong, of course; but it was the easiest thing to assume, but also the most accurate.
"Hey Alfie! This is my mama!" Peter said, burying his face in the Fin's soft stomach. Alfred grinned.
"Really? Congrats, bro!" Alfred said, high-fiving the Brit. Kiku turned to Tino, while Alfred continued talking with Peter. Peter seemed very happy and at home with Alfred.
"Hello. My name is Kiku. I am very pleased to meet you," the Japanese man introduced himself, and he bowed down slightly. Tino smiled warmly.
"Moi—my name is Tino, and likewise."
Honestly, the paperwork took a lot longer than expected. Berwald and Tino had taken it upon themselves to have most of their information ready—but it still took awhile. Although Berwald seemed to have a nice amount of patience on him; he really didn't. He was even more impatient than Tino. Berwald just had a straight face, and Tino didn't.
"Hey, T'no... How are ya?" Berwald asked as Tino walked into the room where Berwald had walked into with Oliver earlier. Since Alfred was still with Peter, Tino snuggled his head on the top on Berwald's.
"I love you, Ber," Tino whispered into Berwald's hair.
"I love ya too, T'no."