'Hey Bela, I'm just going to cut to the chase, I want you to raise Alecs. Sure I can always have West or one of Skirtman's bros take care of our little brat, but I don't want him to end up like them: Strict, boring, and unawesome. Yeah I know that they would do a great job raising him too but I know that you'll raise him to be who he wants to be. You'll raise him with good morals, he'll be himself, you'll always accept him, and you'll give him the chance to become a somebody. You'll give him everything we never had. I am begging you Bela, please, please raise Alecs. I know this is selfish, but right now I ask as a mother, not a friend. We're sorry that we left like this, that we burdened you. We'll see eachother again someday. I'll miss you. You'll be a great mutti. Tell my baby I love him. Thank you'

Natalia read through the letter, taking note of every little detail. The way the letters were smudged with tear stains, the untidy and quickly scrawled words, the crossed out sentences, the slight rips in the paper where Maria had written too hard. She inhaled a deep breath before exhaling out, trying to calm herself. Two of her only friends had been taken away by the horrible thing called death, leaving her with their three year old child. Her eyes trailed off her table to the sleeping red-headed child on the couch.

Unruly red hair, mischievous green eyes, a loud child, so much like his parents. She tapped her nails on the table for awhile before calling Emil. "Hej Bela." The Icelandic man's voice was strained and cracked a bit when he answered. He was taking this worse than her, well, he was more open about it, she didn't dare shed a tear. "Privyet Emil, you know how I said I didn't want to raise Alecs." He made a slight noise in the back of his throat and answered. "Ja, what about it?"

"I change my mind, I will be his new guardian. I just wanted to put your mind at ease."

Emil sighed in relief. "Thank you Bela, but do you really want to? I know that you are busy at times an-" She cut him off. "If I didn't want to then I wouldn't agree to this. Besides, this is the only time Maria's ever begged. But Emil, if it ever seems as though I am not doing a good job raising him or if I somehow become unable to care for him, then please take him away." He agreed to this and they both said their goodbyes.

That night Natalia spent her time re-reading the letter and setting up a room for the toddler. She picked him up and walked over to the bed she had set up. Setting him down and turning on the night-light. Natalia left the room and sat down at the kitchen table, holding her head in her hands. "God help me." Her hands shook slightly, it was a nerve-wrecking day: Suddenly losing two of your only friends, becoming the guardian to their child, dealing with the angry relatives. She closed her eyes and her thoughts were broken by the sound of Alecs' crying. Dashing down the hall and quickly opening the door, she sighed in relief, he wasn't hurt. "What's wrong?"

Alecs looked up at her and uttered out one word. "Mutti?" She frowned and sat next to Alecs. "Your mutti isn't here." He frowned and clutched the blankets tightly. "Papa?" A shake of the head from her was all it took to cause him to start screaming for his parents. Natalia picked him up and rocked him back and forth. "Shh, hush little one, don't cry, today has already been filled with too many tears." He clutched her shirt and buried his face into her shoulder. "You sad too?" She sighed and held him close. "Da, I am sad too."

They sat like that for the rest of the night, Alecs soon falling asleep, clutching her shirt and Natalia holding him close, her chest acheing from the tragic events that occured that day.

The next morning Natalia awoke to the sound of her doorbell ringing. She groaned and stood up, still holding Alecs. She made her way to the front door and opened it. Emil and Lukas stood infront of her, holding boxes. "You forgot some of Alecs' things at the house." The sleep-deprived blonde nodded and motioned for them to come in. "Just set it in the room on the right. Emil make me some coffee." Natalia set Alecs down and held her head in one hand. "Here." Lukas handed her a cup of coffee and felt a bit of sympathy for her. "How are you feeling?" She took it gratefully and sipped it. "Tired, can one of you please watch him while I go and fill out some papers?" Emil nodded and gave her a pat on the back. "I'll watch him Bela, come on don't stress too much." Her grip on the cup loosened and she took a deep breath. "I'll try."

After she left to go sign the papers to become Alecs' legal guardian she came home to a screaming child. Of course, leave the boy with Emil, what a brilliant idea Natalia. She picked up Alecs and glared at Emil. "Last time I ask you to baby sit." The house was a mess, Natalia calmed down the child and gave him a stern look. "Who did this, hm?" Alecs looked away and crossed his arms defiantly. "Alecs Kirkland, I am talking to you, who made this mess?" He frowned and looked around before pointing at Emil. "Emmy." She raised an eyebrow at this. "I don't think Emil was the only one, did you help make this mess?" Alecs shook under her gaze and nodded. "Good, I don't like liars." Natalia looked at Emil. "Clean this up." She set Alecs down and pointed at Emil. "Go help Emil clean up." The redhead frowned and shook his head. "No!" She crossed her arms and raised a brow at this. "No?" He shrunk away from her and ran over to Emil, hurrying to help clean up. "That's what I thought."

Once the house was clean and Emil gone, Natalia began to make dinner. "Bela?" She looked down at him then went back to cooking. "Hm?" Alecs was sitting on the floor, playing with a train set. "Why mutti and papa no come back?" He looked up and tugged at her skirt. "I was a bad boy?" Natalia stirred the stew and put the lid over the pot before answering him. "Nyet, you were a good boy, they're just irresponsible idiots." She bent down next to him and gave him a pat on the head. "But that doesn't mean they loved you any less." He nodded and continued to play with his train. The stew boiled over and the lid fell off with a clatter. "Shit!" She hissed and hurried to turn off the flame.

Dinner went without much commotion, Natalia ate in silence whilst Alecs played with his food and and made dramatic noises. Once they finished eating she gave him a bath and tucked him into bed before turning to finish cleaning up. "Bela!" She stopped and looked at him. "Da?" Alecs sat up and looked at his closet. "Boogeyman." Natalia shook her head with a sigh. "There is no such thing as the boogeyman." He continued to give her a look that basically told her to just do it. She sighed in frustration and opened the door. "Hey boogeyman, listen here, you mess with my boy and you'll regret it. You don't scare me in the least, you got that?" No response. Natalia looked at the little boy. "There, no monsters are going to bother you, ever. Know why?" He clutches his stuffed bird that looks a lot like Gilbird. "Because you're scarier than monsters?" She nodded and shut the door. "Mm-hm, now go to bed." Alecs frowned and crossed his arms. "I want a story."

"What? A story?" He nodded. "I won't go to bed until you tell me one." Natalia rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Fine, but go to bed after this." She cleared her throat and began the story. "This story is called 'Little red riding hood.' It begins when a little girl is sent off to the woods to give her sick grandmother some food and wine..." As the story continued she could see his eyelids closing until he was finally asleep. She sighed and fixed the blanket to cover him. "Good night Alecs." When she came out to the kitchen, the table was cleared away and the dishes done. "What?" She quickly grabbed a knife and looked around, soon relaxing when she saw it was just Lukas.

He earned a sharp punch to the back of his head and she glared down at him. "How the hell did you get in Bondevik?" Lukas rubbed the back of his head and held up the key she had given Emil. "Came to see how you were holding up." She frowned. "I'm doing f-"

"Bela?"

She hurried to Alecs' room, bending down next to his bed. "Yes?" He held out his arms, motioning for her to pick him up. Natalia complied and rocked him back and forth softly. Soon he was back to sleep. "You okay?" She looked back and sighed. "To a certain extent I suppose." Lukas frowned and crossed his arms. "I'm going to help you." Natalia raised an eyebrow at this. "You? Help me? My god, is it christmas?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious Arlovskaya, you're going to need help raising him and I don't see you winning any mommy of the year awards." She sat down and frowned at him. "Why do you want to help me? We aren't exactly on the friendliest terms." Lukas pointed at Alecs. "I don't want to see you screw this kid up and I went through this too. I raised Emil all alone, it's not fun and it's really stressful. You have a kid to look after and you don't have anyone to go to do you? Natalia you're too full of pride to go to his uncles or Emil for help."

"Da, I am, but what makes you think that I'll accept your proposition?" He shrugged. "You're proud, not stupid. You'll accept help when it comes your way." She sighed. "Unfortunately, you have a point. I...I accept your help." Lukas nodded and held out his arms. "Give him to me, you go to bed." Natalia waved him off. "I'm fine." He shook his head and insisted. "If you accept my help then give me the boy. You haven't slept for three days." The tired blonde sighed and handed him Alecs. "Fine, good night. There's a guest room down the hall from my room, sleep there for tonight."

The moment she laid down on her bed she was asleep, the stress, the fatigue, the sudden events all taking over and taking away all the energy she had left. It was scary how one accident could change their lives so much, taking away two of her friends and leaving a child orphaned. She was glad that Lukas had offered to help, she was scared of screwing up, it was even worse since she was alone. Hopefully Alecs' will grow up the way his parents would've wanted him to.