AN: Oh my. I started another one. I wonder if I'll be capable of writing two different fics at once. I think this will be my main focus, though, so an update should come at least once a week. I hope. We'll see.

This takes place in London, but as I am not from London or anywhere in Europe, for that matter, there will definitely be differences in how things go there. I'll keep in things I know and I've tried researching some things, but it will be difficult for me to keep everything identical, so please bear with me. But if you have advice or anything useful, please feel free to mention it in a review or something. Anyway, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters I have used. I wouldn't have to post this here if I owned it, now would I?

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"Arfur! Arfur!"

"Alfwed! Alfwed!" Arthur repeated in a mocking tone. Alfred pouted and jumped up onto the couch, situating himself next to Arthur. The sofa was still slightly larger than he was, as he was a bit small for his age, so Alfred made it abundantly clear that it was not an obstacle for a big kid such as himself.

It had been three months since Arthur took the two-year-old into his care. His business partner, Allistor, and his wife had gone on a business trip to the south of France, doubling as a second honeymoon. On the way, the plane had a major malfunction whilst flying over the English Channel and went down. There were no survivors.

Arthur could still remember the day he heard of his best friend's death. He and Allistor had been very close friends, so he had known Alfred very well since his birth. Allistor's lawyers had needed a place to put Alfred fast. Allistor had no close relatives, and his wife was an only child with parents incapable of raising a toddler. Arthur, without having to think, offered to take the boy in.

The first few weeks living with Alfred had been horrid. He was still too young to explain exactly what had happened, but he attempted the best he could at dumbing it down while at their funeral. While he accepted it rather quickly, he was obviously confused about what death was. He cried often, calling for his mother. His attempts at comfort often made things worse. Arthur clearly didn't have a woman's touch, and as a single man, he didn't have many options. So he brought in a foreign nanny named Elizabeta, which was too hard for Alfred to pronounce, so he called her Lizzie. She came during the day when Arthur was at work or if he was away on business.

He glanced down at the toddler, curled up against his right side, completely focused on the television, which was playing some Saturday afternoon cartoon. Alfred looked just like his mother. He shared her complexion, her hair color, nearly everything. The only resemblance to his father was their mirrored eye color.

"Arfur!"

Only then did Arthur notice that Alfred was returning his own gaze. He looked up at him with his ever-present corny grin. Arthur gave him a half smile in return and put his arm around him, turning his attention toward the television. Alfred did the same.

Fifteen minutes later, Arthur noticed the breathing against his chest had slowed down considerably. He peeked down and noticed that those child-like, blue eyes were now closed, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. He smiled down at him. The boy looked so fragile and innocent, and even more so in his sleep.

Arthur lifted the small boy gently, trying not to wake him, and carried him over his shoulder to his room, which was only the guest room with a crib and a toddler bed replacing where the spare bed once was. Arthur had tried having him sleep in the toddler bed, but Alfred had too much trouble adjusting, so he had the crib brought in and placed next to the toddler bed for when he was ready.

Despite his efforts, on the way to his room, Alfred stirred, mumbling, "Arfur?"

Arthur patted his back gently and whispered, "Go back to sleep, Alfred." It didn't take much more than that to convince him. But once he attempted to lay him down, he noticed that Alfred was not about to let go of his neck.

Feeling affectionate, Arthur sighed and took the boy to his own room, laying down along side Alfred and stroking his hair, soothing him back into his deep sleep. But it didn't take long for Arthur to drift off with him.

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Arthur awoke after what felt like only a few minutes to the sound of whimpering and discernible shaking. Alfred had tear streaks running down his face and was trembling rather violently. Arthur's immediate reaction was that he was hurt, but he quickly came to realize that he was still asleep and that he was merely having a nightmare.

Softly, Arthur nudged Alfred in an effort to wake him. After a few attempts, Alfred's eyes flew open and darted around a bit before landing on Arthur. He then proceeded to tear up, bottom lip quivering, and grab a hold of Arthur's shirt, burying his face into his chest, sobbing quietly.

Arthur petted his hair as he soothingly whispered, "Shhh, Alfred, it's all right. Everything is okay. I'm right here, don't worry. You're okay. Shhh." This was not the first time he had been woken up by Alfred's hushed crying, although usually through the baby monitor.

Alfred refused to loosen his grip on Arthur's shirt as he continued to cry. Arthur kissed his forehead and brought him close, curling around his small form. Recalling his old childhood lullabies, he began to hum "Hush, Little Baby" while rocking the boy in his lap.

After repeating the song three and a half times, Alfred eventually settled down and went back to sleep. Arthur felt terrible, knowing there wasn't much he could do for the child, but he did what he could. It was working for him now, but what would happen in the future? How would he answer his questions? It worried him, thinking about what he would have to tell the boy in the future. But, looking down at his calm face, he decided to push those worries out of his mind for the time being and to take everything as it came.

Arthur wiped the stray tears off of Alfred's baby-soft cheeks with his thumb, kissed his forehead one final time, and went back to sleep.

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AN: Well, this is a pretty short chapter to start out with. I mostly just wanted to get the sad back story out of the way before I could move onto the wacky hijinx. But, I will warn everyone now, I am a sucker for sad stories, so be ready for a lot of obstacles for poor Arthur as Alfred grows. But, for now, we'll keep Alfred small and cute.

(Also, Allistor is Scotland, just an FYI to anyone that didn't know! Also, Elizabeta is Hungary. Just making sure everyone is clear, since I'm using human names.)

Leave a review if you enjoyed it! Especially if you have any advice!