Hey all glad to see you're checking out this new story. A heads up to anyone who hasn't read Lost Canada, the beginning of this story will make more sense if you go and read it. Also a note for the readers anything written in italics, this will be anything spoken by Matthew or when Alfred is speaking to Matthew is intended to be a root native American language. I know its a bit of a cop out but I can't find a translator and there is a lot of dialogue in that language that the story needs so uh, yeah. Enjoy.

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After making sure that the child was fed and healthy Alfred went and told him how they had two names.

"I have a second name? What is it?"

"It's... Matthew, Matthew Williams."

"And what's your other name?"

"It's Alfred F. Jones."

Matthew nods in acceptance, the multiple names was confusing to him but he trusted this older person who said he was his brother.

"Alright, why don't you go ahead and rest up. I should probably clean this place up a little since we may need to be here for a few days." Alfred is already rolling up his sleeves to get to work when he notices Matthew just staring at him. "What is it little guy?"

"Where?"

"Oh." It dawns on him that Matthew doesn't know this house at all so he needs to show him where to stay while he cleans. "Hmm well why don't I show you your room first then. I probably need to knock dust out of the bed anyway." Quickly he scoops up the little child and is carrying him upstairs to the master bedroom, Kumajirou following behind them. When they get there Alfred opens the door and peeks in, just as he thought, just as dusty as the rest of the place. He could even almost see the dust on the bedspread. Setting his brother down he carefully folds up the top layer on it and goes over to the window. Opening it he holds the blanket out the window and gives it a few good shakes. Once satisfied that it is dust free he sets it back on the bed before grabbing the pillows and doing the same with them. The bed now thoroughly dusted Alfred remakes it and picks Matthew up to tuck him into the bed. Kumajirou hops up next to his master and curls up.

"Alright, you rest up and once I finish cleaning downstairs we'll go shopping for clothes and some toys for you, ok?"

"Alright brother."

Matthew falls asleep quickly and Alfred gets to work. It takes him several hours to clean the house. He starts in the kitchen, tossing out the rotten contents of the fridge and cabinets before scrubbing and mopping the rest of it. Satisfied he moves onto the next room and dusts and vacuums. He continues like this until the whole downstairs is dust free. Satisfied with how the main living space of the house looks he heads upstairs to get Matthew up. First thing he'll need to do is get his brother some clothes.

"Mattie?" He peeks into the room he had left his brother in to find him curled up with Kumajirou and sleeping soundly. The sight causes Alfred to pause and smile softly. His brother was so sweet and innocent like this and trusting enough not to be frightened of him or really anything so far. That thought led to a frown forming on Alfred's face. What if one of the other nations saw how vulnerable Matthew was like this and decided to try an take him and control him. It wasn't unheard of for nations to do that to one another, that was in fact how many wars started or colonies were formed. He couldn't let the others know about Matthew, at least not until he was older looking. That now being decided he would need to inform Matthew's government and his own of this development and he let out a sigh realizing he wouldn't be the one to actually raise Matthew. His government would probably find a nanny or someone to look after him. At least he would be able to visit. Still he could get things started by getting the boy clothes and some toys to get him started with.

"Alright kiddo, time to get up. We need to get you some better clothes and some toys." Smiling Alfred hurries over to the bed and scoops the small boy out of the covers to give him a playful raspberry. Matthew awakens, squealing, at the play-fullness of his brother. "We are going to get you some new clothes and some toys to play with, then we can grab some food on our way back home. Sound good?"

"New clothes?" Matthew still sounds sleepy despite the energy with which he woke up. He lays his head on Alfred's shoulder and Alfred just smiles before the two head out to get what Matthew will need.

When they arrive at the store Alfred takes Matthew right to the section with clothes for infants and toddlers and draws looks from several of the young women working there. Matthew is clinging tightly to Alfred, not liking being surrounded by so many people.

"Oh, would you look at that."

"He's so adorable."

"Do you think he's single?"

Alfred heard a few of the comments and that last one caught his attention and had him smiling sheepishly while trying to act as if he hadn't heard what was said. He was able to gather that those around him thought he was there with his son. Alfred managed to find a few outfits that seemed to fit Matthew and went to check out.

"Is this all you need sir?"

"Yeah, thanks."

The girl checking out his purchases smiles at him.

"So where's his mother, I'm surprised she didn't come with you to get these."

Alfred smiles lightly at the girl. "No clue, our mom skipped out on us so its just me and my little bro here." He knew it wasn't entirely the truth but how do you explain to someone that you never had a mom. Better to just make them think you'd been abandoned by a wayward parent.

"Oh, that is so terrible. Poor little guy must miss his mommy terribly. You're a wonderful big brother for taking such good care of him."

Alfred gives a sheepish smirk before paying for the clothes and making his way out of the store. He hadn't been expecting all the flirting to come from carrying around his brother like this. Not like it mattered, he wasn't going to get into anything with any humans.

Their next stop was the toy store, because Alfred just knew Matthew would want some toys to keep him occupied, regardless of how things turned out. As Alfred was getting Matthew out of the car he heard a throat clear behind him and turned to look over his shoulder at a mother with two young children, one appearing 5, the other 7.

"Young man I hope that you're planning to get a child's seat installed in your back seat while you're here. Its dangerous for your little one not to have one."

Alfred blinks at her in confusion.

"A child's seat?"

The woman frowns, "Yes. It is a seat specially designed for small children like your son there. I'm surprised his mother even let you take him out without having one."

"Uh, well, sorry I didn't know. I only just got custody of my little brother this morning. He doesn't even have any proper clothes so, I guess thanks for letting me know about the child's seat thing. I'll be sure to get one while we're here."

The woman seems a bit shocked at his response but nods and says 'you're welcome' before leading her children into the store. Alfred meanwhile lets out a sigh. He hadn't thought about things like that. And now that he did he realized Matthew's own bed may be a tad dangerous for him as small as he was. Even if he had Kumajirou there to keep him from rolling around too much he could still tumble out of bed or have trouble getting into the bed. Another thing to add to the list. Fortunately most of those things they should be able to get at this store. It was a toy store but it also had more than just toys.

Gathering Matthew into his arms he heads in and grabs a cart, setting Matthew into the seat built into it and leading him around the store. They managed to find the appropriate child's seat for Alfred's car. They also found Matthew a few trucks and some action figures that he seemed to rather enjoy. Alfred found a set of toy soldiers that brought back fond memories of his childhood with Arthur and set them in the cart along with a globe puzzle and some simple children's books. He knew he would need to teach Matthew English or someone would, since Alfred was fairly certain that Harper would assign someone to teach Matthew everything he needed to know. After going through the whole store Alfred was surprised to find they did not have beds, which meant making one last stop before heading home. That determined he made his way to check out and paid for everything before taking them to the car and installing the car seat. Once that was done he buckled Matthew into it and handed him one of the toys they had gotten him before loading the rest into the back seat and getting in himself.

Letting out a sigh Alfred looks over to his brother, now dressed in a little jean short jumper with a red striped shirt, toddler sneakers in red on his feet and playing with the action figure for some random cartoon character. He seemed rather happy and Alfred couldn't help the smile that formed when wide violet eyes turned to him with a smile.

"Where are we going next brother?"

"We are going to get you a bed more suited to your size so you won't need help getting in and out of it on your own."

"Ok."

Once the two had made it to a furniture store Alfred let Matthew have nearly free reign to find a bed he liked. There were a few times he had to tell his brother the bed he'd chosen was too big for him or point out something wrong with one. Eventually though Matthew settled on a nice wooden frame bed set low to the ground with a slight lip to it to prevent Matthew from rolling out. It was a little large for just the little nation but Alfred figured Kumajirou would be taking up some of the space. They bought the bed and arranged to have it and a mattress delivered the next day. That would give Alfred time to take Matthew's king sized bed and put it into storage until he was big enough to use it.

Their last stop was the grocery store, where Alfred bought plenty of good food for himself and his brother. He also stocked up on maple syrup knowing Matthew would love the stuff. When the shopping was done they headed home and Alfred quickly made up a small snack for Matthew before heading to his brother's study to call the Canadian Prime minister with the news of what had happened. It was the one thing he was looking forward to the least.

"Hello. This is Alfred Jones. I'd like to speak with Harper."

"Harper. Yes, thank you for your condolences. I'd be more than willing to help with things, but before you go and ask me to take his place. I have some news you may find strange but helpful. I found, not his replacement but I don't know. It's Matthew but he's just a baby. It's like he was reborn or something."

"He only seems to speak our native languages, like when we first came to exist. Not really it's something like a root native language. Uh, well I sort of thought you, no I don't mind. So you want me to take him in and raise him until he is old enough to take his duties as a nation back. How long do you expect that to take? I don't mind doing it, its just I thought you wouldn't want someone more or less having control over him like that. Of course I wouldn't hurt him he's my brother. I was going to wait until he was older, er looking at least, before letting the others know he was back. So when I have him go to meetings and tell the others about him is when I'll stop filling in for him then. I understand, it's a good idea. I'll take good care of him Harper, so don't fret. Bye then."

Alfred hung up the phone. Harper was now one of his most favorite people of all time. He had been concerned about many of the same things Alfred was but he also seemed to realize that it was best for Matthew to be raised by another nation rather than a human. Until Matthew was old enough to tell the world he was back Alfred would fill in for him at world meetings and in nation duties for the Canadian government. Now it was just a matter of waiting for Matthew to grow up and be ready.

It didn't take Alfred long to realize he was going to be spending a lot of time traveling between Matthew's house and his own on business and he figured he'd be taking Matthew with him so he called the furniture store to order a duplicate of the bed they had gotten Matthew and have it shipped to his home in DC. Even if they would be traveling chances were it would be months spent in each home before they had to go back to the other. Which meant they would essentially need duplicates of everything. Alfred also called his own boss and explained the situation to him. He seemed rather understanding of the situation and agreed that whatever Alfred needed he only had to ask for.

It took Alfred a few weeks to get everything worked out, time in which the two brothers spent at Matthew's house. When things had been sorted Alfred was reminded they had a world meeting happening and he would need to figure out what to do with Matthew. He couldn't leave him with a human babysitter for so long, Matthew didn't speak enough, if any, English so he wouldn't be able to communicate with the person at all. Which meant he'd have to take him to the meeting. He figured with Kumajirou to keep him company he could leave Matthew in his hotel room for the duration of the meeting. He'd just have to do his best to make the meetings as quick as possible in order to leave his brother alone for the least amount of time.

The two arrived at the hotel early and Alfred got them checked in. He had brought along some of the toys he had bought Matthew as well as some snack items so Matthew would be able to snack on something while Alfred was in the meetings. That first night in the hotel Alfred went over his presentation while Matthew played on the floor beside him. When Matthew began to doze off Alfred set down his work and picked the sleepy child up.

"Alright sleepyhead, time for bed."

"Mmm, alright. Are you going to bed too brother?"

Alfred thought for a moment before smiling at his brother. "Sure, why not?"

He tucked Matthew in and then got himself ready for bed before curling up beside Matthew, wrapping him in a safe embrace as the two brothers dozed off.

The next morning Alfred groggily forced himself from the bed and made himself get ready for the meeting.

"Brother? Where are you going?"

"I have a meeting I have to go to. Don't worry I won't be gone long. Just stay in the room and play with your toys. Kumajirou will stay with you and keep you company."

Matthew seemed to pout slightly hearing this but Alfred just chuckled and bent over to tousle his hair playfully.

"I promise I won't be long. Just behave and I'll be sure to order you some pancakes for dinner ok?"

"Ok."

Alfred smiled and straightened before heading out the door while ordering Kumajirou to keep Matthew safe. He then quickly made his way down to the meeting and took his seat. He was almost late though due to wanting to leave Matthew alone for as little as possible. His tardiness was seen as normal however by the other nations.

Once the meeting began however many of the nations began darting quick glances at the serious and actually quiet American. When it came his turn to talk they starred for a moment after he finished when he had simply gone through his speech with all seriousness and made not a single silly or sarcastic comment. Not long after that some of the nations began to quarrel, as was how these meetings usually went. Only this time, instead of joining in the fray America stood up and called the rest to order, shocking Germany who was preparing to do the same. Due to America's seriousness in the meeting the whole thing actually went rather smoothly and ended early. Happily Alfred began packing up his notes before heading to the door. He was stopped by England though and frowned slightly at the delay.

"Who are you and what have you done with America?"

Alfred took the time to blink at Arthur for thinking something was wrong with him, then frowned when he saw the serious set of his jaw.

"Aww, come on Iggy, can't I be serious and focused for once?"

"There is nothing wrong with how you were acting, but that is not how you act. You never behave yourself, especially during meetings."

"Yeah, well today I just wanted to get this whole thing over with. So if you'll excuse me I need to get going."

Alfred pushed past Arthur and was quickly making his way up to his room in the hotel, he knew Arthur was following him and worried his lip thinking of some way to get rid of the other nation. When they reached his door he turned on his heel and looked down at the shorter nation.

"Arthur, is there a reason you are following me? I haven't done anything. I even behaved for the meeting."

Arthur seems to scowl, but looks to be struggling with a reason for following the blue-eyed nation to his hotel room. Just as he opened his mouth to say something both nations heard a soft thump come from the room behind Alfred followed by soft cries and sobs. Arthur watches as Alfred's eyes widen and he seems to curse before turning abruptly and opening his room's door. Alfred bolts into the room, not caring that the door is still open and Arthur is following him in, his only focus the small blonde child that looks to have fallen off the bed. Alfred was holding the child, cradling it to him and shushing it as it cried into his shoulder. Eventually the sobs ceased and Alfred turns to see Arthur staring at him in shock.

"Please close the door Arthur. I don't want anyone else seeing him. Please."

Arthur numbly closes the door before turning back to Alfred for an explanation.

"It's Matthew."

"Matthew's dead Alfred..."

"I know, but Kumajirou found his, his replacement or something."

"Then why aren't you telling the others?"

"Because look at him. Do you know how many of them would try and hurt him or take advantage of him like this? I'll tell them when he's older, but for now I just can't. The Canadian government agrees with me and has asked me to take care of him until he is old enough to get back into his duties."

Arthur is silent for a moment. "You can't just leave him alone in your hotel room during meetings though. What if he hurt himself again?"

"He has Kumajirou up here with him."

"A bear. Oh, that's wonderful, what can a bear the same size as him do? You need someone to watch him. I'm surprised you brought him with you at all. Couldn't you find a babysitter?"

"I could have but there is a slight problem..."

"A problem?"

"Yeah, Mattie doesn't speak English, yet, he only speaks our native language and I'm currently the only person that can understand him. I couldn't leave him with a babysitter because if something were to happen I'd be the only one that could understand what he said."

"Ah, I see... That is a problem."

The two nations stand across the room from one another in silence for a moment before Arthur breaks it.

"Still you need an adult to look after him while you're in meetings. I would do it but nearly every meeting you go to I am also required at. What we need is someone we can trust who doesn't have to go to any meetings."

In the silence between them you could hear the gears turning in Alfred's head as he processed this. Then suddenly he had an idea.

"I know who we can get. He's someone we can trust and he doesn't go to any meetings at all, even though he always comes to these things."

"Who?"

"Gilbert. He's really good with kids. He raised his brother remember?"

"Prussia? Are you insane, you can't entrust Matthew to that drunkard ex-nation."

"He's not that bad. He helped me out with training in the past and he did raise Germany."

Arthur looked like he wanted to protest but that last bit of information wasn't something easily argued against.

"Alright. I'll agree to it, but only because I doubt anything I say will have any weight in your decision."

"Great." Alfred nearly shoves the now sleeping Matthew into Arthur's arms. "I'm going to go get him so I can explain the situation to him. Could you stay and watch Mattie for me while I'm gone? Thanks. Be back soon."

And with that Alfred was out the door and searching for the former Kingdom of Prussia.

It didn't take Alfred long to find Gilbert. The man was, as usual, making a big fuss around his brother and Italy with France and Spain standing nearby to egg him on. When Alfred got to the area where they were all standing around he drew their attention to himself.

"Yo, Prussia. How you been doing lately?"

"Hey America! Nice to see you. I heard you were actually serious during today's meeting is that true?"

"Heh, yeah, well. Things have been a bit rough with me having to take over for Canada, but I'm dealing."

The air around the group grew rather solemn at Alfred's admission and France gently set a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"I am very sorry for your loss Amerique. 'E did not deserve what fate delivered 'im."

"Yeah, I know but I doubt he'd want us all to be crying over him and stuff. He'd want us to remember him. Uh anyway, Prussia I was wondering if we could talk about something in private."

"Huh, yeah, sure." Gilbert waved bye to the others as he followed Alfred back up to his room, not saying anything about what he wanted to discuss having drawn the conclusion that he may be asking for help with all the paperwork running two nations may require. Normally Gilbert wouldn't volunteer for extra work but Matthew had been his friend and Gilbert knew Alfred had to be missing him greatly. So he wouldn't mind helping the kid out with the extra work.

Alfred stopped outside his hotel room and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before turning to Gilbert. "Hey Gilbert, even if you don't decide to help me out with this, please don't tell anyone. Especially not the other nations. I don't want this to cause any problems.'

"Don't worry, I won't say anything. Everyone needs help occasionally. Even the great 'Hero'."

Alfred smirks slightly at Gilbert's joking and opens the door to his room.

"I'm back Arthur and I brought Gilbert with me."

"Brother."

There was an 'oof' and a thud followed by pounding feet before a small blonde child was latching himself to Alfred's legs and looking up at him with wide violet eyes.

"Where did you go? I was scared and the big man over there has scary eyebrows."

Alfred has to fight to hold in a chuckle at how Matthew referred to Arthur. "Its ok Matthew I'm back now. And you shouldn't be so rude to Arthur He was looking after you while I got another friend who will keep you safe while I'm busy with meetings."

Alfred looked back at Gilbert to find him staring slack jawed at Matthew. Then looked back to see Arthur rubbing his gut where it seems Matthew had hit him in a move to escape him.

"You ok Arthur?"

"Oh, I'm just dandy. Not like the little bloke kicked me in the gut, no not at all."

Alfred winced hearing that. "Sorry. I guess I should have woken him up before I left so he'd know who you were."

"America?"

Alfred turns back to Gilbert and sees him swaying slightly. Concerned that he may faint Alfred quickly grabs his elbow and guides him to sit on the bed before scooping Matthew up and resting him on his hip.

"I know what you want to ask and yeah, this is Matthew. Canada got reborn. I need help looking after him during meetings. And as you may have noticed he doesn't really speak English very well so I can't just get a human babysitter. I was hoping I could get you to watch him while we have meetings and keep the others from finding out about him till he's older."

They are interrupted by Matthew pulling on Alfred's shirt to get his attention.

"Brother, stop talking like that I can't understand you or the other two at all." He pouts as he says this and Alfred can't help but to smile just a little at the expression.

"I'm sorry Matthew, big brother will try to keep it short. I just have to explain some things to Gilbert here so he can keep you company while I'm in meetings. He may not speak the same tongue but at least he won't let you fall off the bed anymore."

"Ok, I guess that's ok. But put me down so I can play with Kumajirou."

"Sure thing."

Alfred set Matthew down and the tot runs off to find Kumajirou on the other side of the bed. The two begin to play as the adults look on.

"Damn. He really doesn't speak English does he?"

"Not a word of it. Which I realize will be a problem but I just need you to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Kumajirou can somewhat act as a translator between the two of you for simple things, but that's why I couldn't have a human babysitter. They'd freak over a talking bear."

Gilbert sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "So I just have to keep an eye on him during meetings then?"

"Pretty much."

"You know if you get busy you can feel free to call me up to help out with him anytime. Even if it isn't during a meeting. It's got to get really busy taking care of two nations instead of just your own."

Alfred blinks and turns to Gilbert. "Thanks man. I'm sure I'll be taking you up on that offer."

The two work out a few details, with Alfred offering some form of repayment to Gilbert even though he said he didn't really need anything. He still accepted the offer of free drinks for every day he babysits. Arthur throws in his own offer of help, which is readily accepted, before both Gilbert and Arthur take their leave. Alfred calls room service for dinner and makes sure they bring up pancakes for Matthew who is ecstatic for the treat. Alfred also explains to Matthew how Gilbert is going to be staying with him the next day while he is away for the meeting. Matthew doesn't seem exactly happy about it but Alfred tells him to behave and when they got home he'd get Matthew a surprise. Excited for the surprise Matthew agrees to behave for Gilbert.

The next morning Gilbert shows up like he promised and takes over watching the tiny nation. Right after Alfred leaves the two just stare at one another before Matthew speaks.

"Why is your hair so white and your eyes so red? Are you an old man or a demon?" He goes on asking more questions and Gilbert just watches him curiously trying to figure out what he's going on about.

"Hey slow down kid. I don't understand a word you're saying."

Matthew stops talking and pouts, finally realizing the other didn't understand a word he said. After a moment of awkward silence Matthew relaxes his pout and pats the seat beside him on the bed. Gilbert realizes he is being invited to sit down and does so turning to Matthew. Matthew meanwhile stands up where he was sitting on the bed and moves to stand closer to Gilbert his hands reaching out to examine the white hair on the other's head. Gilbert realizes what the toddler is doing and smiles slightly as he ducks his head so Matthew can have better access.

"Hair." Gilbert points to his hair when he says the word.

"Haer?"

"Hair."

"Hair." Gilbert gives Matthew a big smile when he gets the word right and Matthew bounces slightly and claps his hands. With a new game to play the two spend the next several hours with Matthew pointing at things and Gilbert saying what it is in English. Matthew then repeats the word until he says it right and then finds another object to point to. By the time Alfred returns from that day's meeting Gilbert and Matthew have curled up together on the bed, tired from their game. Kumajirou is wrapped around Matthew like a giant teddy bear while Gilbert is sprawled out over the bed. Matthew too is sprawled out with his head and a shoulder pillowed by Gilbert's stomach, one arm wrapped around Kumajirou. Alfred couldn't help but smile at the scene and quickly snapped a picture of it for his phone. Even if he was never going to show it to anyone it was a perfectly cute picture and he couldn't help but want it for his own sake.

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I hope you all liked this and find it as cute as I do. Sorry if you guys were expecting me to continue with the crossover aspect that was in the prequel but I can't really see that branch of the story having much to tell beyond what's been told. Anyway please review.