If Time Is Money

Spain leaves to sail to the new world a lot—too often by Romano's standards. He would often ask his boss why he had to leave him by himself so often and for so long. He often got the response "Time is money. Lo siento, Romano, but the longer I spend there, the more money I get. Time is money." With this thought in mind and a want to spend more time with the only one who had ever seemed to truly care for him, he asked to set up an allowance system. Spain agreed, thinking it would be a good way to help teach the tiny, foul mouthed Italian some responsibility, unaware of the little one's ulterior motive.

A silver coin a week for chores. He was still a little kid, so that was a lot to him. He didn't really need to spend money on much anyway, Spain just thought it was for cute little bragging rights or maybe to buy some candy whenever Belgium took him to the market. But there was another condition too: Romano had to be on his best behavior in order for Boss to pay him. It annoyed him, but he was determined.

He saved up for three months, doing every chore he had to the best of his ability, only eating three or so tomatoes a day, and never being rude. He had twelve silver coins now, the equivalent of three gold pieces, and he could only hope that it was enough.

That night, Spain had come home, tired and bruised from another long trip across the ocean, one that had lasted a month (Belgium had been in charge of paying Romano while he was away). Now all he wanted to do was curl up on his sofa and sleep. Romano hadn't greeted him at the door, which was quite strange, but he figured that the boy was probably just finishing up a couple chores so he could have his allowance. He wasn't.

The small Italian was finding his nicest dress (since those were all he had) and gathered all of his coins into a small bag. He quietly exited his room and entered the living room just in time to see his Spanish caretaker's eyes fall shut. Before the man could fall asleep, the boy rushed over to him and tugged on his shirt. A green eye popped open to look at him. The other followed its lead right after.

"Roma? What is it?" The little boy shuffled his feet nervously and held out the bag before his anxiety seemed to vanish and he looked Spain dead in the eye.

"Boss, if time is money, is this enough to buy some time to spend with you?" The Spaniard looked at the boy surprised for a moment before he began to feel guilty.

"Roma, I—"

"It's not enough, is it?" The boy looked down at his feet, tears beginning to form in his doe eyes. "I need to save up some more before you can spend time with me don't I…" The tears began to fall and the sight broke Spain's heart. He felt horrible. Had he really neglected his wonderful Roma so much the boy thought he had to pay him just so they could spend time together?

"Shh, Roma…" He sat up and picked the boy up, holding him to his chest. "Shh… Roma, you don't have to pay me to spend time with you, and I'm so sorry I gave you that idea. Is that why you wanted an allowance?" The Italian nodded as he sniffled into the man's chest. "Oh, lo siento, mi Romanito. It's my fault. I've been so occupied with my other colonies so I could make money to take care of you that I actually forgot to take care of you! Lo siento, it won't happen again. Y por favor, if you ever want to spend some time with Boss, just tell me so." The little boy sniffled cutely a few more times before he looked up at his caretaker.

"Then, what do I do with this money…?" The green eyed man smiled down at him and hugged him closer.

"Well, how about this: I'll take you to the market and you can buy whatever candy you want, and then we'll spend some time out in the tomate fields together. How does that sound?" The Italian smiled before he headbutted Spain in the stomach.

"Ow, Roma, what was that for? Ayaiyai, Dios mio, that smarts…"

"That was for all the weeks I wasted not being able to do that."