Victoria- Rhode Island

Mia- Oklahoma
Diego- New Mexico

Ella- Arizona
Alexa- California

Destiny- Texas

When D.C. had called about Alaska, Victoria had been ready to cry. Oklahoma was just old enough to travel to her house and stay with Texas and Arkansas and her other neighbors for longer periods of time. New Mexico and Arizona had also been old enough to take the trip with Texas when she had come to pick up Oklahoma. California or Nevada would be bringing the two of them back at the end of the month, Oklahoma would still be coming back up for the summer.

Hawaii, when D.C. had called, was in her sling around Victoria's chest. She'd finally quieted down enough for Victoria's attention to be dragged over to the phone on the wall. Victoria picked up, her voice a little weary.

"The Jones', Victoria speaking."

"Hey Tori! It's Alfred."

"Vicky, Alfred."

"Oh right, sorry."

"It's okay. What do you need?"

There's a small period of silence. "Uh...I'm shipping out to the Territory of Alaska tomorrow. Their governor contacted me; we've got a territory out there."

"Oh?" She knew where this was going. It always started like this.

"Yeah uh, he doesn't know what to do with her, so I said I'd pick her up."

Victoria hummed to herself. More and more female territories and states were appearing. It was nice, at least. She knew how to raise little girls. "The usual arrangement, then?"

D.C. didn't say anything for a while. Victoria stopped really listening and instead was analyzing the best place to put the old bassinet that she'd put away once the twins, Arizona and New Mexico, had grown out of them. Another baby meant that she'd get a little less sleep, especially because the time zone the baby lived in was later than hers. The new baby, at least, would be only four or more hours behind so it wasn't that big of a stretch.

D.C. sighed heavily. "I don't- I don't think it's fair for you. I could ask Alexa if you'd like."

Victoria rolled her eyes. D.C. had been asking her to raise the rest of the states ever since she'd done so well with the old colonies. Sam had helped for the most part, but now they were just getting back on their feet from the war and they weren't ever a big fan of children to begin with. Besides, it's only four children. She's dealt with worse before. California, however, had not and besides, she was still a young state. Victoria was not young and she knew how the world worked.

"Alexa has enough to worry about. Adding a baby isn't going to help with anything. She'd just be calling me night and day about the poor child anyway. I'll take the kid. Diego and Ella are going to be with Mia and Destiny for a month or so. Hawaii doesn't really do much and it'll be good for the baby to have a month to get used to the change of scenery before everything gets a little chaotic."

"Vicky~" D.C. said, almost whining. "You've raised forty-seven states."

"Forty-six, Hawaii is still a territory."

"But Vicky-"

"No buts, Alfred. You worry about international affairs, I'll worry about internal affairs with the states. That's how we work, yes?"

D.C. was never happy that she chose to shoot herself down like that and his grumblings through the receiver of the phone explicitly showed that. Then, after a moment of silence, he sighed loudly.

"Are you a hundred percent sure?"

No. "Yes."

"Okay, I'm going to pick her up. I still have to pack."

Please don't do this to me again. "Don't forget long johns."

D.C. laughed. "Yes, mom."

I wanted to be something more than this. "Now go along, sonny. You've got a long trip up north."

"I'll try to be quick about it, okay?"

You promised I'd be something more. "Don't lose any fingers. I hear it's only suitable for the northern states, Mr. Used-to-be-the-Colony-of-Virginia-and-District-of-Columbia."

"Pssh, I'll be fine. I'm a nation."

I was going to be one too. "I know. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The call ended and Victoria put the phone back. She'd have to put Hawaii down so that she could get the basinet out of the attic. Then she'd have to think of something to make for dinner.

Alaska was small. Very very small and too cold. D.C. was dwarfing her as he cradled her gently in the door of Victoria's house. Hawaii was gurgling on Victoria's shoulder when she opened the door.

D.C. smiled softly at Victoria as she let him in. Victoria closed the door as best she could before turning to face her brother and new sister.

D.C. ignored the baby in his arms. "How's Hawaii doing?"

Victoria shifted Hawaii so that D.C. could see her face. "She's been trying to crawl whenever I set her down. She's only really managed to catch her arms under herself."

Hawaii reached for Victoria's face, hooking her grubby fingers in Victoria's mouth. Hawaii pulled down. She gurgled happily in tune with D.C. "Mama! Mama!"

Victoria took Hawaii's hand gently and removed it from her face. "She's also beginning to talk."

D.C. looked enthralled and he leaned down to see the little girl. "Can you say 'daddy'? Can you do that? Say daddy."

Victoria's eyes flickered to the ceiling. "D.C., please. Don't encourage her. We are not her parents."

There was no response to that, and quite honestly, Victoria did not want any answer in any form from D.C. She, instead, turned to place Hawaii on the ground so that she could finish up dinner.

"There's a bassinet in the other room if Alaska's still asleep," she said softly as she handed Hawaii a chewing toy. D.C. doesn't really respond to that as well, but she saw him move away to the next room from the corner of her eye.

D.C. insisted on staying until the twins arrived. It made Victoria's life a little easier. There was another person to get up in the middle of the night to feed the girls. She didn't need to cater to Hawaii's need for constant entertainment.

Alaska was still too cold and she didn't seem to respond to any verbal noise, just touch or motion. When prodded over dinner, D.C. admitted that the group that had found the little territory had done so after a snowstorm and they believed that her hearing had been damaged.

Most of the time Alaska was snuggled up in Victoria's sling, where Hawaii could sometimes be cajoled into. Alaska seemed to like it a lot and Victoria was concerned about the temperature the little girl was always at. She existed at an average temperature for a human, but she was always freezing when Victoria went to pick her up. Alaska'd warm up after a while, but only if she were pressed against Victoria's chest.

One such morning, when Victoria was just holding Alaska in the kitchen, D.C. burst into the room with Hawaii.

"Tori! Tori! Tori! Look at this! Look what she can do!"

"Vicky."

"Right, sorry." D.C. set Hawaii on the countertop, holding her up so that she bounced on her pudgy legs. "Look."

Victoria watched, expecting D.C. to remove his hands and show her how Hawaii could walk. Instead, he only grinned at Hawaii until the little girl gurgled and bounced rather aggressively before reaching for him.

"Makuakane," she said and then shoved her hand in her mouth. Automatically, Victoria reached out and tugged the hand out of her mouth and grimaced at the slobber. D.C. ignored it and held the toddler above his head, excited beyond all measure that she had ever seen him.

"Isn't that so~ cute~, Rhode?"

Victoria rubbed her head and turned away. At least Rhode was better than Tori. "Isn't she supposed to be learning English?"

D.C. stopped in his fawning over the little girl. Victoria could feel his eyes boring into her back. "What do you mean?"

Victoria refused to look at him or Alaska. "Well, she's our territory, yes? The United States is an English speaking nation."

"We don't have an official language."

She was not going to get upset. She was not going to have another argument with D.C. and have him ignore her for a few decades. But she couldn't resist saying one little sentence. "And what are we forcing the Indians to learn. Why does anyone who wishes to be considered a citizen have to speak English? And male, for that matter."

She had turned around and D.C. was holding Hawaii close to his side and frowning at Victoria. "I can't control our national government any more than you can control your regional government. You know that."

Victoria sighed through her nose. She then walked over to the door and opened it. "I'm going to the park. Alaska needs to be calmed down."

D.C. didn't argue that Alaska wasn't crying.

Victoria always liked clam chowder and, no matter what Owen said, hers was the best variant of his famous dish. Besides, Alaska always liked soup. She could cool off Hawaii's before she gave it to her.

She peeked into the living room where the two were sleeping side-by-side. She'd give it a few more minutes, just until the chowder cooked, until she woke them. She was beginning to treasure her early mornings alone.

The pot of chowder was simmering deliciously on the stove. Victoria was cutting some bread to serve with the soup when the ugliest, foulest, most heart-breaking noise resounded from the other room. Startled, Victoria almost cut herself, but it wasn't until another tortured scream and a wailing cry that she jolted into action.

Hawaii was waving her arms and screaming at the top of her lungs, tears already streaming down her face. Alaska was trying to scoot away from Hawaii, but she was crying just as hard.

Victoria froze and stared at the two. Which one first?

Alaska was closer.

The toddler calmed down the minute Victoria picked her up in her arms. She pressed her face into Victoria's neck and curled her arms loosely around, seeking comfort.

Victoria held Alaska close for a few seconds before Hawaii's screams reached a fever pitch. She set Alaska down and signed messily for her to go play.

Alaska looked up to the crouching New England state with her brown eyes filled with tears. With two fingers, she drew a circle in front of her face and then bent her pointer finger multiple times

"Hawaii will be okay," Victoria said, smiling even though in her head reasons why and what were chasing after each other. Hawaii's screams increased in torture and she was forced to turn away from the Deaf state and deal with her other sister.

She gathered Hawaii in her arms. "Hawaii, what's-"

Hawaii screamed louder and wrenched her left side away from Victoria's caring hands. Victoria froze and tried to avoid the area as she eased Hawaii's dress shirt off.

She almost screamed.

Red blistering skin made up the entire left side of Hawaii from her armpit to the base of her ribs. The skin was turning pink around the hideous...burn- it had to be a burn...it looked just like California's burn from the San Francisco fire. But why did Hawaii have a burn?

Cold water. She needed cold water. A bath. Hawaii needed a nice cold bath.

Careful of the burn, Victoria carried the toddler up to the washroom and ran the coldest bath she could. Half of her though she was crazy; it's December and she's running a cold bath. The other half said, "Shut up. I have to get her to stop crying."

Hawaii didn't stop when Victoria set her in the water. Her legs still flailed and banged against the walls and floors of the tub. Victoria's arms were soaked and she cradled the toddler in the water, just enough so that the burn was submerged.

The bath was obviously just making things worse, but Victoria kept her in the water for a little while before picking her back up and drying her off and not focusing on how bad the burn was getting.

She cradled the little girl to her, hands kept far away from her left side. As she raced through the house and to the front door, the landline began its shrill scream. She turned around abruptly and snatched the phone. "Alfred?" she asked, her voice edging on hysteria.

There was a timid silence and she knew immediately that it couldn't be D.C. "Is this Victoria Jones?" a soft feminine voice asked. "This is Rebecca Wilson."

"Oh...yes yes this is Victoria."

There was another pause as Victoria contemplated if she could just hang up on her neighbor because Hawaii was still screaming. "Is everything okay, Ms. Jones?"

Half of Victoria wanted to say yes, everything was fine. The other half glanced to the living room where Alaska was staring despondently at Victoria and the obviously still screaming Hawaii even if Alaska couldn't hear her. "No. No it's not. I need help."

Rebecca seemed a little taken aback at that, but how could Victoria tell? "I'll be over shortly."

"Thank you," Victoria said, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She hung up and held Hawaii closer to herself as she waited for Rebecca to approach the door. She hummed the national anthem, rocking back and forth slowly. Hawaii seemed to relax, even if marginally.

Rebecca had been Victoria's neighbor for years. Victoria knew what she thought of her; she knew what they whispered behind her back when she appeared with infants and wasn't even married. But Rebecca was a nurse, had been since she was Victoria's physical age, and she's had three children. She was the neighborhood guru on babies and even if she thinks she doesn't agree with Victoria Jones' life choices, a screaming baby and a distraught 'mother' took precedent over petty disagreements.

When the door opened, Victoria immediately stopped her humming and unconsciously held Hawaii a little tighter. Alaska, who had been staring at her anxious guardian, pushed herself to her feet and toddled over to the couch, where she fell against the side and used it to hold herself up. Rebecca entered and looked a little taken aback at the sight that greeted her; a harried 'mother', one screaming baby, one toddler, and a pot of burning clam chowder.

"What seems to be the problem?" she yelled over Hawaii's screams.

Helplessly, and for a moment forgetting that Rebecca didn't know who she was, Victoria showed Rebecca the burn on Hawaii's side. Rebecca's eyes analyzed it quickly and held out her hands for the baby.

Gratefully, Victoria handed over her sister.

"Where's your first aid kit?" the woman asked as she began to bounce the baby. "Have you already submerged the burn?"

"Yes I did," Victoria said as she walked over to the tearing up Alaska, who was staring levelly at Rebecca even as tears fell down her face. Victoria picked her up and returned to Rebecca. "Follow me," she said, rubbing Alaska's back.

"What's wrong with that one?' Rebecca asked.

Victoria shook her head. "I hope nothing. I think it's just reactionary."

Rebecca did not say anything to that and once Victoria showed her the bandages, she got to work bandaging Hawaii's side. Alaska tugged on Victoria's hair gently, the way she did when she wanted to talk to her.

Victoria set her down in the hallway and squatted in front of her. "Yes?" she signed.

"Who is that?"

"Her name is Rebecca. She is helping Hawaii."

"Why?"

Victoria blinked and wiped Alaska's tears away. "Hawaii's hurt."

"Why?"

Victoria pulled Alaska closer to herself, holding her tight. She released her. She held a flat hand to her forehead and pulled it away before turning her palm to face Alaska. "I don't know."

Alaska held up a finger and then made a 'c' shape with her hand and repeated the question sign.

"I don't know," she signed again and then pulled the girl closer to herself. Why wasn't D.C. calling? What was wrong? Why Hawaii of out of all forty-nine of them?

"Ms. Jones?" Rebecca asked loudly over Hawaii's invigorated screams. "She won't calm down."

Victoria stood up, Alaska in her arms, and swept over to the countertop that Rebecca had turned into an impromptu exam table. She set Alaska down next to Hawaii. Hawaii, while still crying, was lying weakly, arms having given up the fight, legs splayed to the sides. Alaska reached over and her hands hovered over Hawaii, most likely wanting to talk to her sister, but knowing that Hawaii wouldn't be able to understand or respond.

"The sound of a mother's heartbeat helps to calm down children," Rebecca said from where she stood by the doorway. Victoria looked up and frowned at her. The way she said it, it almost seemed as though Rebecca was angry at Victoria or disgusted.

Ignoring the tone, Victoria said loftily as she traced a finger down Hawaii's face, "Well, she doesn't have a mother, so that option's out."

There was no response from Rebecca and Victoria looked up to ask what she had expected when she finally understood. Rebecca was a citizen. Victoria was a top-secret government embodiment of the area Rebecca grew up in. In Rebecca's world, everyone had a mother and a nineteen year old with children was disgusting and terrible. Victoria didn't live in that world.

Rebecca had her head tilted to the side as she appraised the three of them. "Are you not her mother?"

Victoria wanted to laugh. She wanted to snort. She wanted to cry tears of laughter. She wanted her sides to split she was laughing so hard. But she couldn't. Because Hawaii was still screaming and she still didn't know what was going on. "No. This is my sister."

"Your sister," Rebecca muttered lowly. "What happened to your mother?"

Well blunt not-quite-honesty was always the best policy. "My father chased her out of the house."

"My lord," Rebecca said softly. Then after a not quite silent silence. "What happened to your father?"

"Drunk off his ass," Victoria said, picking up Hawaii and cradling her to her heart. She had been Hawaii's only caretaker for her entire life, so her heartbeat should be somewhat calming.

Rebecca looked like she was going to faint and she held a hand up to the doorway. "Does he live here with you?"

"No. It's just me and these two."

"Is your father's name Alfred?"

"No that's my...twin brother. He comes by occasionally. He was here-" Victoria stopped herself. The last time D.C. had been here was in 1912 and that was about thirty years ago. "But he always calls when the girls are upset. He almost has a sixth sense for that sort of thing. He actually hasn't called and I'm worried."

Rebecca did not say anything for a while and only watched Victoria as she rocked Hawaii. Hawaii's cries of terror and pain started to diminish.

"Maybe you should go sit in the living room?" Rebecca said, going over to pick up Alaska. Alaska glared hotly at Rebecca, eyes almost bulging out. She shook her head and signed over and over again, "Rhode Island."

Rebecca frowned at the little girl and then looked to Victoria. "What is she doing?"

Victoria, who had been halfway out of the door, turned back and rolled her eyes. Alaska was stubborn. Yikes, she should have known this was going to happen. "She wants me to carry her. One second," Victoria said, tapped Alaska's shoulder. She pointed to Rebecca and, with one hand still holding Hawaii, moved the other hand in a bumpy path.

Alaska shook her head and held out a hand. Her ring finger and littlest finger were curled in towards her palm. She moved her pointer finger and middle finger to her thumb.

Hawaii was still crying, but she reached a hand up to curl into Victoria's hair. Victoria did not have time to argue with Alaska right now. She signed 'yes' a little too aggressively and then turned to Rebecca. "You can carry her now. Though I would put her down when we get to the living room."

"Is she deaf?" Rebecca asked gently with an undertone of pity.

Victoria did not want her pity. She did not want her sister to be thought of as the little kid that would never be able to hear and couldn't speak because she had never heard words sounded out. She did not want herself to be appraised by the other mothers as a poor sister who dealt with two babies, one that couldn't even hear, at once. She did not want Alaska to have to go through life with the whispers that she could never be able to hear behind her back. She did not want a translator to always have to hang around her if she became a state and met her governor, most likely one that could hear.

She didn't want any of that for Alaska.

But it was just the way things were.

"Yes, she is Deaf," she said. Her shoulders twitched at the soft sigh of sympathy from Rebecca as they left the bathroom and instead focused on Hawaii.

Victoria woke up to the phone ringing shrilly. She was alone in the rocking chair, a blanket thrown over her lap and a distinctly Hawaii shaped mass missing from her arms. She flung the blanket off in a panic and rushed blindly to the nursery. They were both in their bassinets; Hawaii was sniffling, but not crying as badly as before. Alaska was sound asleep.

Victoria jumped as the phone rang out again and she booked it to kitchen and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Is this Ms. Rhode Island?"

It was Alfred's secretary. Why the hell was she calling her? "Um...yes."

"Very good Ms. Rhode Island." Congratulating me on knowing my own name, Victoria thought. "I am Derick Buchholz; I am Mr. America's secretary."

"I'm sorry Derick, but do you know what time it is?" Victoria snapped. "And I have been around longer than you have and I fucking know who you are. D.C. won't stop talking about you."

There was a period of silence through the phone as Victoria silently fumed and the man searched for words to respond with. "I am not familiar with a Mr. D-"

"Oh for the love of- America. Mr. Fucking. America. That's who I was talking about. Now do you know what time it is. I just fell asleep and now you're calling me just now? Do you have any idea what I went through today?"

Derick was quiet for a few moments. "I understand you are stressed, but I have a note from Mr. America to call you when I got in in the morning."

"Then why are you calling in the middle of the night?"

Derick was silent again and if D.C.'s secretary was going to be this fazed by simple questions, then he'd better get a new one. "Ms. Rhode Island, it's only seven in the morning."

Victoria glared at the phone as he continued to elaborate that D.C. had said she was normally awake at this time and he was sorry for waking her and he hadn't meant to. "You apologize too much. What's the message?"

"Pearl Harbor was attacked yesterday afternoon. Or morning in Hawaii. He wants-"

"Who attacked us?" Victoria asked, her voice shrill.

Derick, Victoria was learning, was a man who did not like to be interrupted. "The Japanese Imperial Navy. Mr. America would like to know how Hawaii is doing."

"Fuck you," Victoria snapped. "Tell D.C. that he can call me when he gets his ass into his office."

She slammed the phone into the cradle and stormed away.

When D.C. had come to pick up Hawaii and Alaska, Victoria had been ready to cry. The two of them were just old enough to stay in their respective states. The two of them were older than any of the other states had been when they were allowed to leave. Alaska would be alone in the North, with just D.C. visiting occasionally. Hawaii would be isolated in the West. The two of them would go to Texas for the Independence Day celebrations and Christmas in whichever state would be hosting it.

Hawaii, when D.C. arrived, was hanging off of Victoria. She had been wailing about not ever ever ever being able to see Victoria. When D.C. had knocked on the door, Victoria signed for an half-amused half-exasperated Alaska to get the door.

"Who's there?" she signed, peeking through the mail slot.

"Hey Kira! It's Alfred."

Knowing that D.C. didn't sign it out to her, Victoria called from her position with Hawaii on her waist, "American Sign Language, Alfred."

"Oh right, sorry."

"Don't tell me, tell Kira."

There's a small period of silence. "Uh...the train's leaving soon. So uh...Maya..."

"No," Hawaii said burying her head in Victoria's stomach.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Maya, let go. I'll see you at Christmas."

Hawaii whined under her breath and held her closer. "But Honolulu is so far away~ I'll never see any of you again."

No one said anything for a while. Victoria rubbed Hawaii's back. What she said was true. Honolulu was very far away from Sacramento, and even farther from Providence. Alaska hadn't shown any of the same apprehension that Hawaii had been. Then again, Hawaii would still wake up, even two decades after, screaming in pain from the dormant wounds on her side. She was still wary of her side and tried her best to keep it hidden and discreet.

D.C. sighed heavily. "Maya, sweetie, you know you'll be able to see us again."

Victoria rolled her eyes. Here came the sweet talk. It always went like this. Someone would start crying and then D.C.'s southern drawl would kick in and he'd coo to them. Sam and Victoria were the only ones that it didn't work on.

"Alfred, don't you think I've been telling her just that for the past week? She won't listen to any rational thinking. She's just been hanging off of me night and day. I leave to go to the market, she starts screaming and crying and me leaving her. She isn't even excited to go back home."

"To a home I don't remember," Hawaii muttered into Victoria's stomach.

"Aw come on, Maya. The Islands are so cool. You'll never be bored, I promise. You won't even notice we're not there."

Victoria stared incredulously at D.C. as Hawaii clung tighter and wailed louder. "Perfect. The best response ever. Thank you for your help, Alfred. Go talk to Alaska."

"But Vicky~"

"No buts, Alfred. You worry about Kira, I'll worry about Maya. That's how we work, yes? Divide and conquer."

D.C. grinned at her and nodded. He turned to Alaska and started up a conversation about her state and what cool things were there for her to spend her free-time exploring. Victoria pulled Hawaii's arms off of her and knelt down so that she was face-to-face with her.

"Maya." She wouldn't look at her. "Maya~"

"What?" she sniffled.

"Don't cry. I'm not going anywhere."

Maya peeked up at her. "Are you sure?"

Not really. "Yes."

"I-I'll still be able to see you, right?"

You are so cute. "And you can even call me. More than half of the states didn't have that luxury."

Hawaii laughed through her tears. She wiped them away. "I know."

I'm going to miss you. "Oh, come on. Don't frown so much, honey. You're the sunshine state."

"No I'm not. That's Bryan."

You should have been. "Oh that's right. You're the Aloe state."

"Aloha, Vicky."

It's going to be lonely in my little corner of the world. "Hello to you too."

Hawaii laughed harder and she reached up to wipe her eyes clear of her tears, equally from sadness and laughter.

I'll miss both of you so much. "Now, go on. You three have a train to catch."

"Are you going to be okay, Vicky?"

Not really. "Don't worry about me. I'm old. I know how to handle myself."

"Oh, well if you're sure."

I'm not really. "Go on. I'll see you at Christmas. And you better know all about your culture."

Eventually the three of them left, Victoria waving to them as they headed off to the train station. Once the cab turned the corner, she stepped back into her house, shutting the door. She'd have to bring their mattresses up to the attic and stack the frames. Then she'd have to think of something to make for dinner.

Rhode Island and Hawaii are in my multi chapter story "Remember Me When the Rainbow Falls"

Alaska (and the rest of the states) will show up in "Have You Forgotten?" that will be posted next Friday