The sun was setting just as Finland put away the last plate from dinner. Giving a happy sigh that his work was finished, he turned towards the clock to glance at the time. Eight o'clock. Time for a certain nation to be in bed.
Wiping his hands on a towel, Finland entered to living room to find his son, Sealand, furiously playing a video game. He chuckled at the boy and how his tongue stuck out slightly when he concentrated to hard.
"Alright mister, I think it's time you thought about getting ready for bed."
Sealand spared his guardian with a quick glance over his shoulder and continued to blast space aliens. "Nah. It's okay."
Annoyed, Finland walked briskly to the nation laying on his stomach and snatched the gaming control from his hands, pausing the game.
"Hey!"
"I said, get ready for bed." He placed the control on top of the tv and patted the blonde on the head. "Hop to it, kullanmuru."
Grumbling, Sealand reluctantly got up and headed for his bedroom, but halfway there, spun around with a hopeful expression, asked, "Since dad's gone, we should have a sleep over!"
Cleaning up the living room, Finland looked at his son puzzled. Sweden had gone off to visit Denmark. Both Norway and Finland had thought it would be good for the two men to try and rebuild their friendship. So every other Friday, the men would alternate visiting one another and go do something. Sweden wouldn't be home until the next day so Finland and Sealand had to manage by themselves. "A sleep over? With who? Isn't it a little too late to be inviting people over?"
"No," the twelve year old said, returning to the living room. "I meant just me and you! We could build a fort out of the couch and and make cookies or something and stay up real late watching movies! It would be super fun!"
Finland considered this. "I don't know…" But when was the last time he had a 'mommy' and Sealand time? And besides, what could it hurt? It would be a lot of fun. "Alright," he agreed, causing the little boy to cheer. "But, no scary movies and not too much junk food, alright?"
"Yep!" He ran over to his 'mom' and gave him a big hug. "Thank you! This is going to be so much fun!" Turning to run off to his room, he called over his shoulder, "I'll get into my pajamas and you start getting the cookies ready."
Chuckling to himself as he tossed a couple pillows back onto the couch. Sealand was so energetic that sometimes it was hard for the young man to keep up with the kid. By the end of most days, Finland was tired out and ready for a break while Sealand was still ready to go and resistant to resting.
Kicking away a set of Mary Jane shoes, he walked off towards the kitchen to prepare the baking of some traditional Finnish cookies.

Sealand returned a few minutes later, wearing some sail boat pj's. He was greeted by a pleasant warmth and the sound of his 'mom' chopping almonds into small chunks. His smile broadened when he saw that everything was ready for cookie making.
As he took another step into the room, he realized that Finland still hadn't noticed him. An idea formed in his head. Quietly, he snuck up behind the oblivious man and then grabbed him on his sides where he was ticklish and yelled, "Gotcha!"
Finland let out a startled 'meep' and dropped the knife in his hand. He spun around and glared at the youth who smiled up at him, eyes laughing.
"God, Sealand! Are you trying to kill me?"
That dampened the boy's enthusiasm. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
Sighing, Finland placed his hands on his hips, trying hard to stay angry but lost control and let a grin slip onto his face. "It's alright," he said bending down to hug the little nation, making them both smile. "Now, ready to make some almond cookie sticks?"
"I am but you're not."
"What?"
"Well," Sealand pointed out," you're not in your pajamas."
"Oh," the older blonde said. "I guess I'll go change then. When I get back we'll start."
"No. It's okay," the boy assured, stepping towards the ingredients. "I'll get things started while you go get dressed."
Finland stared at the boy in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Yep. I've made these loads of times." Well, that wasn't really true. He had made them once with Sweden and Finland but they weren't that hard to make.
Unsure, Finland nodded and headed off to his room, afraid of what he'd come back to.
He dressed quickly but he wasn't fast enough. When the older nation returned, he was caught dead in his tracks. In the short time he had been gone, Sealand had managed to cover most of the counter and some of the floor with flour, butter seemed to be slathered onto every spoon and bowl and almonds where scattered on every open surface.
Sheepishly, Sealand turned around, his face red, and gave a small wave.
"These are harder than I thought."

Finland nibbled on the last of the almond cookies, satisfied at how they turned out. Looking out from their fort at the clock, he discovered it was twelve o'clock. The movie they had been watching had just come to an end and he had a feeling that their activities where coming to an end.
Stifling a yawn he turned to Sealand. "Honey, you ready to-"He looked down to find his sound fast asleep, drooling slightly and snuggled up to Hanatamago who was snoring.
The sight of the sleeping boy just melted the Finish man's heart. He couldn't resist the urge to reach out and stroke his soft, blonde hair, brushing it away from his forehead. He was so cute when he was sleeping.
Turning the TV off and getting up to return all the plates to the sink and turning off the lights, Finland crawled under the make shift pile of blankets and made sure to wrap Sealand in one as well. He brought the sleeping nation close to him and resumed his petting, feeling his eyes slowly grow heavy.
Suddenly, Sealand turned around in his sleep and wrapped his petite arms around Finland's middle, pressing the side of his face into his chest and muttered, "I love you mommy."
Finland found him catching his breath as something welled up inside him. Just hearing those four small words was enough to almost bring him to tears. That sentence was what made chasing after Sealand and cleaning up after him day after day worth it. It was all he needed to carry on the next day.
Placing a kiss on the top of his sweet head, Finland smiled and whispered, "I love you too." And then drifted off to sleep, with the words ringing in his ears and the feel of Sealand's heart next to his, beating in unison.