"This is your fault."

"How is this my fault."

"Because you're the one who was determined to do things alone, spouting off that nonsense, 'I'm an independent woman and I don't need no man to help me raise a child.' And look where it's got you! On my doorstep in the middle of the night."

"Nine o'clock isn't really the middle of the night—"

"That's beside the point! Here you are, failing horribly on your first day as an 'independent single mother'."

"Not failing."

"This damn thing won't stop screaming!"

"Just like its father."

Arthur looked at her as if he were seriously considering murder. In his arms he bounced a crying, animatronic baby given to them by their Home Economics class. Of course, Amelia had pressured the teacher into letting her go in alone on what was usually a paired assignment. Someone had to stand up for all the single moms out there, and Amelia thought it would make the simulation more realistic than having a class full of 'parents' who all stayed together.

The teacher more or less laughed in her face. To make matters worse, Amelia had piddled around until everyone had paired up.

Everyone except for Arthur Kirkland that is.

Because no one wanted to pair up with him.

Not because Arthur was a horrible asshole or anything—okay, he could sometimes be an ass, or so she had heard. Amelia hadn't talked much to him at all. But she'd heard all sorts of things from Francis, Gilbert, Lovino, Antonio, Michelle and their other classmates. Mostly that Arthur was perpetually grumpy, nagged incessantly, was clumsy and forgetful, consorted with the devil, and cooked things that dogs wouldn't even touch.

Strangely, Amelia heard some better impressions from Kiku, Ludwig, and of all people, Lukas. Kiku wasn't that surprising. He would be hard pressed to admit out loud that he disliked anybody. Ludwig might have been more surprising, since he was a pretty hard guy to please. But Lukas?

Lukas always looked at the world like he was half seeing it, which gave him this air of mystery (Amelia liked to believe that he was seeing spirits or silently hexing the whole student body). But he was intelligent, could be quite scathing to people with the name of Mathias, and his little brother Emil constantly disowned him for being too worrisome and affectionate. The idea of Lukas being affectionate to anyone was like stepping into the Twilight Zone.

Where was she going with this again? Oh yeah, Lukas didn't seem to mind Arthur, even said he was "dependable" at one point. With the way he gave a wispy smile when he said it, Amelia didn't know whether that was a compliment or an insult.

The point was, if Amelia really had to be partnered with someone, Arthur would probably be her last choice. If the bad rumors were true about him, he didn't have the qualities you would want in a parent.

So after they were assigned together, Amelia turned to Arthur, practically wrote off his participation entirely, and claimed that she would parent the fake child all on her own.

And here she was.

Parenting all on her own.

On Arthur's doorstep at nine o'clock on a Friday night.

"How did you even find where I live? I never told you . . ." Arthur said. As put-out as he was about her showing up, he held the crying baby in his arms, bouncing it slightly like he knew what he was doing. Amelia didn't care if he did or not at this point. That child had killed her soul.

Amelia shrugged as she looked at the nearby hedge bushes nonchalantly. "Francis told me."

"Of course that bastard did," Arthur huffed. He glanced down at the baby when its crying switch decided to turn off. They both relaxed, but Arthur didn't for long. He straightened up and leveled a hard stare at Amelia. "I hope this has given you some perspective."

"Yeah, I never want to have kids now."

"Amelia," he said, emphasizing her name harshly. "If we want to pass this assignment, we'll need to work together. Being a parent means knowing when to leave your stubborn pride at the door for the sake of your child."

Amelia's mouth hung open. She honestly never expected Arthur to sound so serious about this stupid assignment. Or to berate her with a life lesson. How dare he?

Before she could open her mouth to protest, Arthur curtailed her. "And before you deny any wrong doing, take a look at where you're standing. If you really could have done this alone, then you wouldn't have come to me."

"I should have went to Gilbert," Amelia muttered, hating that Arthur was right. Realistically, she could have gone to Francis or Antonio too. They liked to play the "big brother" type and she could get them to do about anything if she batted her eyes at them. It just would have been more practical to go to Gilbert since he lived down the road from her house.

And yet she was here . . . getting scolded by Arthur Kirkland.

Shoulda woulda coulda.

Arthur scoffed. "As if that idiot knows anything about raising a child. I feel sorry for Kiku getting paired with him. Besides, he's not your partner. I am."

Amelia raised a brow, scanning Arthur up and down. "And you do? Know how to parent I mean?"

Arthur smirked. Which was kind of confusing because Amelia hadn't seen him look like this before, or have him look at her like this, and it was weird because it made his green eyes illuminate under the porch light in a way that Amelia might call sexy. But she wouldn't, because this was Arthur she was talking to. Frumpy, problematic Arthur Kirkland.

"I got this one to calm down, didn't I?" he asked, nodding his head towards the bundle of joy in his arms.

"Mm. Maybe," Amelia answered noncommittally. She hated the fact that he was able to shut it up and she couldn't.

"Now then. We're going to do this right, and together. And we can't do that if you go back home and I'm here. So you're staying here."

"Wait, what?"

"Think of it as an extended sleep over. With a baby."

Amelia waved her hands in the universal STOP motion. This was going too fast. Arthur couldn't seriously be suggesting this.

"You want me to sleep over at your house for tonight?"

He looked at her like she was dumb. "No, for the entire weekend of course."

An entire weekend? With Arthur Kirkland?

"We barely even know each other," Amelia protested.

"And yet we have a child together."

"A fake child! And why do we have to stay at your house? We could go to mine." That sounded a lot better than going into Arthur's house. Who knew what waited in there?

"Because you're the one who started this mess, and I'm ending it. You're staying here and that's final." Leaving no room for argument, Arthur spun on his heel and swept into the darkness of his home.

Amelia stood on the porch step, baffled and beside herself.

"But I have work tomorrow," she said weakly to no one.

She could leave right now. Get in her car and go. Just to spite him.

Eventually, Amelia groaned and went inside. Arthur's spooky house or no, she wasn't just going to let him kidnap their child.

Even if the child was hell-spawn.

Hey, s'up?

Hope you liked it. I had a lot of fun writing this. I've seen USUK stories before involving them getting paired for this sort of parenting assignment, but I've never seen Amelia involved. Don't get me wrong, I love Alfred to death, but Amelia is feisty, and I like her paired with Arthur but I don't see much of that, so here ya go.

There will be more to come whenever I have time to edit the next part. Until then, review? Pretty please? :D