Early one morning, Alfred had waken up a while before Arthur. He decided to wake his father by jumping on his chest. "Artie! Artie, someone is at the door! What if it's the ghost from last night?"
Arthur groaned, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Damn it, are you trying to kill me? You're gonna crush my ribs if you keep doing that every morning."
"You're awake!" Alfred cheered, oblivious to Arthur's anger. "Go scare away the ghost!"
Ignoring him, Arthur nudged him away and headed down the stairs. He was instantly greeted by a familiar French woman flicking him on the nose. "Shame on you! I've been knocking on the door for twenty minutes. Have you been sleeping in again?" Marianne scolded, stepping into the house.
Alfred rushed over to her and clung to her leg. "Hi Marianne! I thought you were a ghost!"
Annoyed, Arthur turned away from both of them and flopped onto the couch. "First I get woken up with an attempted ribcage-breaking and now a flick to the nose!" he whined.
"That's what you get for sleeping in! Anyway, I came over to make pancakes. Alfie has been begging me to make them all week, hasn't he?" She turned to Alfred and lifted him into her arms, nuzzling his hair. "You thought I was a ghost? You're so silly, Alfie~" she cooed.
Arthur grumbled and lay on the couch, closing his eyes again. "Jeez, someone might as well throw me out a window to top this morning off. Sorry. I was up until two AM trying to get a certain little kid to go to sleep and shut up about ghosts!"
Marianne giggled, ruffling Arthur's hair in an almost mocking way. "You're a good daddy, but such a pushover sometimes." was all she said before carrying Alfred to the kitchen.
"Don't touch me." Arthur groaned as he curled up into a pathetic ball.
A little while later, Alfred rushed over to Arthur and tugged on his shirt. "Breakfast is ready, Artie!" he squealed. He frowned at seeing no response to this. "Wake up!" Alfred repeated, shaking him and pulling on his hair. "You sleep at night, silly! Not in the morning!"
Arthur cried as his hair was pulled, shoving him away from the couch. "God damn it, my own child is abusing me! But just because he's a child, no one does anything! Fuck!"
Alfred fell backward and instantly burst into tears. "Artie, don't swear! I hate you!" he whimpered as he ran out of the room. Arthur groaned, banging his head against the wall. "Fuck. Fuck me. Fuck." he repeated.
"Arthur? What just happened?" Marianne asked. She reached out and stopped his head from hitting the wall again. "I heard you shouting, and then Alfred ran to me crying..."
"The kid pulled my hair, I yelled at him, I accidentally hurt him, he hates me, and fuck I just want to shoot myself." Arthur nudged her away and banged his head on the wall again.
It took Marianne a moment to understand what had just come out of Arthur's mouth. "...Aw, he just doesn't realize how rough he can be, hun." she said, her voice calm and not seeming to mock him for once. "You're a great father. Everyone's kids cry no matter how good they are. He's still small and he's still learning; sometimes being harsh will help him remember that something isn't right to do."
Arthur groaned and rolled over. "Ha. Right. Of course. You're just saying that! My own kid hates me and I'm a shitty father and I deserve it. You wouldn't understand. You're nice to everyone. You can take care of a kid. You can get someone to take you seriously. You're attractive.
"Don't be silly. He still loves you. I know this because in about five minutes, he's going to forget you ever yelled at him. That's how kids are." Marianne paused, chuckling and resting a hand on his shoulder. "A-aww, did you just call me attractive? You're not bad looking yourself, you charming little dork!"
Arthur scoffed. "Come on, you don't have to humor me. Even girls flirt with you. Guys don't flirt with me! Fuck, nobody flirts with me."
Marianne sighed. "Or maybe you're just too dull to notice when someone is flirting with you. I mean, do I have to write 'I think you're hot' across my chest and shove my tits in your face or something?" Marianne sat down next to him, resting her elbows on the arm rest. "I'll do it if you want me to~"
Arthur's face suddenly turned red. "I-I dunno, I mean, tits are pretty nice pillows and I only got like three hours of sleep last night..." he shrugged, grinning a little. "And I'm actually quite aware of when people are flirting with me, thank you. 'Dork' kind of takes away from the compliment, though. Just 'charming' would'be been good enough for me. 'Prince Charming' is even better." he snickered.
"Alright then, 'Prince Charming.' Mind if I give your kid some breakfast before it gets cold?" Marianne purred, sitting up and reaching for Arthur's hand.
"Please do. He was begging me for a snack last night and I told him he'd have a nice breakfast if he waited until then." Arthur ignored the hand, laying back down and rolling onto his stomach.
"Going back to sleep, you lazy old fart?" Marianne chuckled, draping a blanket over his shoulders. He only grunted in response.
Arthur woke a few hours later, noticing that Alfred was sleeping next to him. Marianne was on the floor near the couch, absentmindedly playing a game on her phone. "You're finally up. I was just about to leave."
"Good thing I woke up. I don't think I'm ready to take care of this demon right now." Arthur joked, carefully moving from the couch while making sure not to wake Alfred.
"As soon as he finished eating, he ran straight to the living room and curled up to you. He even said, 'I love you Daddy' before falling asleep. I told you he'd still love you."
Arthur couldn't hold back his smile. "That's... sweet."
Out of nowhere, Marianne grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him on the lips; Arthur's eyes flew open with shock, staying that way until their lips parted again. "You weren't expecting that were you, hm~?"
"Why... did you kiss me?"
"Because I think you're adorable." Marianne kissed him again and pulled him up to his feet. "So.. what do you think? Would you like to be my boyfriend?" She asked childishly, pinching his cheek.
Arthur raised an eyebrow again. "For how long, an hour? When do you plan on dumping me?" he questioned, brushing himself off and starting to head up to the bathroom to brush his messy hair.
"Stop assuming I'm just mocking you! I honestly like you, Arthur, and I have for quite a while."
"If you say so," he replied, standing in front of the mirror and brushing his hair out. "That's what every single one of them has said. That's how I wound up with Al. She didn't want him."
"What will I have to do to prove that I love you? I've been your friend since we were kids, and I've never hesitated to help you with Alfred. I won't even ask you to have sex; you let me know whenever you're ready." Marianne hugged him from behind, nuzzling the back of his neck.
Arthur sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'm just not ready for another relationship yet. I'm always stressed out and panicked and tired and I don't want to have to bring other people down. I'll raise Alfred and then maybe once he's old enough to do things for himself I'll actually have time to put into a relationship without being stressed all the time."
"It's not like much will change... We spend a lot of time together anyway. We'll just have a different label for our relationship, and the occasional kiss wouldn't be frowned upon." Marianne sighed, giving him a hug from behind. "I don't want to seem pushy, though. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I should be the one apologizing. It probably doesn't feel good to just be brushed off like this all the time, but I don't know how to react otherwise. I can't react otherwise. I used to be so gullible and even more of a pushover than I am now, and I let girls walk all over me for a 'little kiss here and there'. So sorry I'm hurting your feelings, but I'm just not boyfriend material."
"That's okay... I'm sorry so many women have treated you that way. You truly don't deserve it..." Marianne hesitantly pulled away from him, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "I guess I should be going home soon. M-my brother is probably wondering where I am..."
He sighed, leaning against the counter. "God damn it, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you cry, and I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. I'm sorry I'm always dumping all this on you. I don't have enough money or time to go to a therapist to tell someone about everything and I don't know how I would begin to explain it to Alfred. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say, and I don't know what to do. I'm sorry."
"No, shhh..." Marianne hugged him again, burying her face into his shoulder. "It's okay. You're going through so much lately, and I shouldn't make you feel guilty for not wanting me." She forced back her tears and slowly pulled away again. "I'm sorry. I'm being so immature..." She stopped herself from saying any more, and quickly left the room.
"No, Marianne-" He watched her hurry out, but for some reason he didn't chase her. Arthur slammed his fist onto the counter. "Damn it!" he shouted, gripping both sides of the medicine cabinet and smashing his head into the glass. He rammed his knee into the cabinets below the sink, ignoring the sharp pain. The only person he could ever count on... He had broken her heart and thrown her away. Now he really was alone. The only reason he didn't throw himself out the window at that point was because he couldn't begin to imagine how Alfred would react.
Alfred peeked into the bathroom, his eyes watery and wide with shock. "Artie, what are you doing...?" he whimpered, running over to him.
Arthur sighed shakily, resting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said flatly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Artie... Are you hurting yourself because of me? I promise I won't pull your hair anymore... I'll be good from now on!" Alfred sobbed and hugged him shakily. "I'll be good, Artie..."
Arthur picked him up and cradled him in his arms. "No, sweetheart... None of this is your fault. None of it. It's not because you pulled my hair, and it's not because you aren't good sometimes. I just made a big mistake. A really big one. Did you see Miss Marianne run out of the house?"
"She went outside... T-the front door..." Alfred sniffled.
Arthur nodded, sitting on the floor and holding him close. "I'm so sorry I'm not a better father to you, love. I'm sorry I get mad at you and I'm sorry I'm always so mean. I just haven't felt great at all lately."
"You're mean sometimes, but I love you. Mommy is meaner than you because she left us, and I hate her. But I love you, daddy. You're my most favorite dad in the world..." Alfred kissed him on the cheek and rested his head on his shoulder.
Arthur held him close, tears stinging in his eyes. "I'm glad you do. I'm so sorry that I'm mean. I have a lot of things wrong with me. I'll try not to be so mean all the time. Can you do Daddy a favor, Alfred?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you go get me the notepad and a pen?"
"Mmhmm!" Alfred crawled away from him and skipped to the other room, returning with a notepad and a pen. "What are you gonna draw?"
"I'm not drawing anything. We're going to write a poem for Marianne."
Carrying Alfred in his arms, Arthur was now standing in front of Marianne's door. "Go ahead and knock." he said. Alfred grinned cheerfully and knocked on the door. "Is she home?"
"I sure hope so..."
A few anxious moments went by before the door opened. "Oh, hi...!" Marianne said, her voice sounding almost pained. "I'm.. sorry for running away like I did. Hello there, Alfie!" She gave the child a kiss on the cheek.
"Look... Alfred picked some flowers for you." Arthur gave a handful of dandelions to her. "And we wrote a poem together."
Holding the two gifts in her hands, Marianne gave them both a hug. "Gosh, you guys are so sweet...! Come in, I'll go put these flowers in some water." She rushed to the kitchen and placed the slightly damaged 'flowers' into a tall glass of water. She then turned to the rather short poem. /'Well, let's see what they wrote...'/
"Marianne smells like a zillion shiny flowers
And she's pretty like the grass after spring showers
She's really nice and more magic than a fairy
When she sings, she sounds more beautiful than a canary
She's the nicest lady who'd be a great mom
She's caring, sweet, gentle and calm"
"Arthur, can you come in here?"
"Coming!" Arthur rushed into the kitchen rather quickly, as if he'd been waiting right next to the doorway.
"Thank you." was all Marianne said before pulling him into a hug. "Thank you so much. I... I'm so sorry for making you feel guilty. None of this is your fault-"
"No, don't blame yourself for this! And.. don't ever think that I don't want to be with you. It's just... I didn't know if I'd be able to make you happy. You deserve better. I'm sorry." Arthur said, his voice shaky and just above a whisper. "But I am so thankful for everything you've done for me. I don't know where me or Alfred would be if you hadn't been there for us." Before Marianne could speak again, he pressed his lips to hers. It lasted for a few moments, and when it parted they were both smiling warmly. "I love you."
"S-so.. little Alfie thinks I'd be a good mommy, huh?" she purred.
"He really likes you. His mother treated him horribly in the very short time he knew her, so it's nice for him to have a woman in his life he can trust."
"Then I'll make sure I won't disappoint either of you." Smiling, Marianne kissed him again.