"What?" Alfred asked after a moment of shock.
"I'm sorry that I'm asking you so suddenly. You see, I just cannot find any other parents that are willing to foster him."
"Oh...um dude, we kind of already got our hands full with these three. Seriously, we're still getting used to having Toris around." Alfred reminded him. Ivan opened his mouth probably to ask what was going on, but Alfred shushed him.
"I do understand Alfred-san. At least let me tell you a little bit about the child though? He's five years old, and from Poland." Kiku told him.
"Five years old, huh? That's the same age as Toris." Alfred mused aloud.
"Yes well, he really needs a family. His names Feliks by the way. His parents died when he was two, so his uncle cared for him. His uncle was murdered though, I'm not sure of all the details but it was bad. The child witnessed the whole thing...and he had no other family." Kiku explained to him.
"Oh god, that's horrible. Look Kiku, as much as I would love to, I'll have to talk things over with Ivan. I mean, life is already busy enough as it is." Alfred said, rubbing the back of his neck a little guiltily.
"Of course, please feel free to think it over. It would be great to give me an answer soon though, because we need to make arrangements for the boy."
"I understand. I'll call back tomorrow night with an answer, okay dude?" Alfred said, before saying goodbye and hanging up. He then turned to Ivan, who had been waiting patiently. Just by listening to Alfred's side of the conversation, Ivan was able to guess what the phone call was about.
"Kiku wants us to take in a new child already?" He asked.
"Yeah dude...a five year old from Poland," Alfred replied, and then proceeded to explain the rest of what Kiku had said to Ivan. When he was finished, Ivan was silent for a moment.
"Alfred, do you really think that we'll be able to handle fostering another child? Arthur and Francis are a lot to handle themselves, and we still need to work with Toris a lot." Ivan pointed out.
"I know dude...but I think we should at least consider it. Just think, there's a little boy out there who needs lots of love and support."
"Alfred, there are many orphaned children who need homes. We cannot say yes to every one of them." Ivan said. "But I do agree, we can consider it."
They left the conversation at that, deciding to make a decision tomorrow night.
The next day, Alfred was up before six. This really wasn't anything new though. Arthur was a very early riser, and the first thing he did when he woke up was run and make sure his parents were up.
"Francis, leave Arthur's cereal alone!" He scolded upon seeing the six year old ripping up pieces of napkin and dropping them into Arthur's breakfast. Arthur didn't really seem to care though, using his hands to dig into his breakfast and eat the napkin pieces.
Ivan had left for work a few minutes ago, which left Alfred to feed them, and also get Francis on the bus in time. Two out of three times they missed the bus though, because Francis took a lot of time choosing his clothes each day. It was sort of a hassle; he'd try on all sorts of things and them put them in the hamper, despite them being clean.
"Chocolate?" Arthur requested.
"No chocolate," Alfred answered him. "It's too early to get you hyped up on sugar."
"Yes chocolate." Arthur insisted.
"Later," Alfred told him firmly. "Toris, how would you like it if I took you and Artie to the park later?"
"Okay," Toris agreed.
"Yeah, park!" Arthur shouted, flinging his spoon in the air and splattering cheerios all over the table.
"What have I told you about flinging stuff Art?"
This was basically how the rest of breakfast went. Alfred began packing Francis's lunch while the first grader went to go get dressed. Toris was a good boy and brought his bowl to the sink before leaving the room as well, probably to go sit on the couch or something. Alfred always told Toris that he could turn on the TV, but he never touched it.
"Père, which shirt should I wear? The blue or the purple?" Francis asked once Alfred had walked into the bedroom to make sure that he was getting dressed. There were at least three pairs of pants discarded on the floor, and even more shirts. Alfred grinned at his son's words. To Francis, he was Père and Ivan was Papa.
"The blue one dude. Now come on and hurry up, the bus will be here soon."
"Oui, I will." Francis replied.
It turned out that Francis's idea of hurrying up meant taking thirty minutes. It was now seven thirty, the exact time in which the bus normally showed up. Alfred cursed to himself, quickly grabbing Francis's backpack.
"You two be good, I'm taking Francis to the bus." He told Toris and Arthur, who were still in their pajamas sitting on the couch. Francis followed Alfred out the front door. Luckily just as they reached the end of the driveway, the familiar yellow bus arrived.
"Be good, okay kiddo?" Alfred said, kissing the top of his boy's silky locks.
"Oui, I will!" Francis answered, before climbing onto the bus. Alfred waved before going back inside. Arthur had apparently turned on the TV, and he and Toris were watching some little kids show. Arthur was watching the screen intently, thumb in his mouth. Ivan wanted to break Arthur of the habit, but Alfred thought it was adorable.
Suddenly Alfred's phone vibrated. He opened it and saw that it was a message, notifying him that Toris had a doctor's appointment in less than an hour. Alfred groaned, how on earth could he have forgotten? And why didn't ivan remind him this morning!? Dammit, the doctor's office was a thirty minute drive, and both boys weren't even dressed yet.
"Okay buds, we gotta get Toris to the doctors today for a follow up appointment. Toris, let's give you a quick bath before we go, okay?"
Twenty minutes later they were finally all situated in the car. Toris was bathed and dressed neatly, but Alfred decided to let Arthur stay in his pajamas for the trip. After all, it wasn't like the doctor's office was a very formal place. Dr. Elizaveta Héderváry, or Elizaveta for short, was a pediatrician that they had been visiting ever since Alfred and Ivan had became foster parents. It was required that each kid needed a physical at least every six months. Since Toris was new though, and still recovering from former injuries, he needed to see the doc every two weeks.
"We're sick?" Arthur asked for the third time after Alfred had told him that they were going to the doctors.
"No Artie, we aren't sick. Toris just needs to check up from the doctor." Alfred explained once again. "And please stop kicking my seat little dude."
"Are they going to give me a shot?" Toris questioned, remembering the last time he had gone to see the doctor. It had turned out that he had been behind on a lot of immunizations, so his first visit to Doctor Elizaveta hadn't gone very well.
"I'm not sure bud," Alfred answered honestly. "But probably not, since they pretty much got you up to date last visit."
That seemed to have calmed down the little Lithuanian considerably, so it wasn't too difficult to get either boy out of the car. The waiting room wasn't very crowded, so Alfred was able to go up to the check in window right away. He was given some papers to fill out.
"Look Toris, there's a bunch of toys to play with over there. Or you could go with Arthur to look at the fish tank over there. I think I see one that looks like Nemo!" Alfred told him excitedly.
"Nemo!" Arthur squealed. "Come on, let's go see Nemo!"
With that, Arthur grabbed one of the older boy's hands and dragged him over towards the fish tank across the other side of the waiting room. Alfred grinned from his seat before going back to the paperwork. Honestly, why did doctor's offices always have to make you fill out so much paperwork? He'd just done a bunch of Toris's paperwork two weeks ago and already they had more?
"Toris?" A nurse called ten minutes later. Alfred stood up, using one arm to pick up Arthur, and the other one to take Toris's hand as they followed the nurse down the hall and into an examination room, letting them know that the doctor would be with them in a moment. It was quiet for a moment, Alfred sitting down with Arthur on his lap, and Toris sitting down next to him.
"Daddy, can I have juice?" Arthur broke the silence.
"Sure thing Artie," Alfred replied, reaching into his coat pocket to retrieve Arthur's half full sippy cup before handing it to him. Not long after that, the door opened and Dr. Elizaveta came in.
"Hello, hows everyone doing today?" She asked, smiling at the family. Alfred gave her his usual grin.
"Were all doing great Liz, how about yourself? You're looking as lovely as ever I see," Alfred said with a wink. The Hungarian giggled.
"Oh Alfred, you never fail to amuse me. Now how about we focus on our patient. How are you feeling today Toris?" She asked.
"Good," Toris told her.
"That's good then. How about you hop up on the examination table for me sweetie?"
As Toris did so, Alfred was caught off guard by Arthur jumping off of his lap and running over to attempt climbing up on the table as well.
"Hello Arthur honey. I don't think you need a checkup today." Elizaveta told him in amusement.
"I want a sticker too!" Arthur told her, beaming. Oh, that was right. Whenever one of the kids visited a doctor, they were able to pick out any sticker they wanted from a large bin at the front desk on their way out.
"If you're a good boy and come sit on my lap, then you can have a sticker too, right doc?" Alfred asked.
"Of course!" Elizaveta said, and so Arthur hurried back to his daddy. Meanwhile, Elizaveta lifted up the Lithuanian's shirt and began examining the many scars, some of which were not totally healed yet.
"Hmmm," She murmured. "It looks like these are healing up nicely. Just keep giving him the antibiotics for another week or so. And Toris, make sure you try to eat as much as you can of your meals, okay? I would like it if you could gain a few more pounds."
"We can do that, right Toris?" Alfred agreed.
"Right," Toris said. The concluded the visit, and on the way out Arthur and Toris each got a sticker. Arthur's was a Harry Potter one, and Toris's was a dinosaur one. Arthur had also requested an extra sticker for one of his fairy friends.
Alfred also kept his promise and took them to the park. Their playtime was cut short though, because it started to rain, so instead of the park Alfred decided to get them some lunch at McDonald's and then hopefully put Arthur down for a nap. That was getting a little harder to do, but if Arthur didn't get a nap then he would grow cranky.
When they got back home, Toris wanted a nap too, so Alfred set them both up on the couch with blankets and pillows. Finally once the house was quiet, Alfred allowed his thoughts to be drawn to the conversation he'd had with Kiku last night. Could they possibly take in one more child? Well, he thought that they managed these three pretty well. Also, maybe Toris would benefit from having someone his age around, especially when he started school.
His thoughts began to drift to when they had first gotten Francis. They had been so scared, it was actually pretty hilarious to think about now. They had each been more nervous about having Francis rather than Francis was about coming to live with them. They had then found out that it really wasn't too difficult taking care of a child. It was a little easy because Francis had been four, so he already knew how to use the potty, and the difference between right and wrong (most of the time).
Then when Kiku had asked if they could take in a two year old, the panic had began all over again, especially since Arthur was a lot younger than Francis. But as soon as Kiku had introduced them to the wild little toddler, both parents had fallen in love with him. The only difficult part was toilet training, which they had to teach Arthur.
Then by the time they were asked to take in Toris, Alfred and Ivan were much more confident with their parenting skills. However, the case was also different with Toris, because he had been abused. Arthur was too young to remember being neglected, and Francis had been abandoned but never hit. Toris was more...fragile you could say. They had to be very careful, and especially not joke, because he always took them seriously.
Each child had a special place in their hearts though. Francis was their oldest artistic child who already knew how to cook most simple meals. Toris was their newest middle aged sensitive child who was still so hesitant and scared. Arthur was the youngest, their little baby boy who wanted to be a magical wizard pirate when he grew up. Now possibly, there would another little one added into the mix.
Well...what did they have to lose?
The more Alfred thought about it, the more he decided that maybe another child would work out. After all, the program funded all the costs, and Alfred was sure that he and Ivan would have enough love to provide to the little guy. That settled it then, when Ivan came home he was going to have a talk with him about it.
The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly in Alfred's opinion. The bus dropped Francis back off at home at one o'clock, since kindergarteners and first graders always got out one hour earlier than the older kids. Alfred entertained them all with a movie to watch. These were the times when he worshiped Disney to be able to have the power to entrance children with their movies.
Not long after the movie, Ivan arrived home. Alfred didn't have time to discuss the new child with him though, because Ivan was busy with dinner, and he himself had to break up one of Francis and Arthur's fights. Honestly, he hoped that one day those two would be able to get along. They were both at fault too, because Arthur provoked Francis just as much as the other way around. Soon they all sat down to dinner.
"I don't like cheese today," Francis said, indicating to his plate of lasagna. Honestly though, Alfred and Ivan saw it coming as usual.
"Francis, cheese is one of your favorite foods." Alfred pointed out.
"Not today it isn't," He disagreed.
"Well you are still going to eat it," Ivan informed him.
"I can eat too!" Arthur added, stabbing his fork into the meal and taking a bite that was much too large.
"Artie, you don't take big bites! Do you want to choke?" Alfred scolded him.
"Yeesh" Arthur said, the words sounding funny coming form his full mouth.
"Spit it out," Ivan said a little sternly, holding his napkin under the three year old's mouth. Arthur spit out the large amount of cheese and noodle, along with a good amount of spit.
"Ew, he's so yucky!" Francis exclaimed distastefully.
"He's just a baby Francis," Alfred defended their youngest.
"I'm not a baby!" Arthur argued.
"You can be a big boy when you learn to take small bites." Ivan informed him.
"Okay..." Arthur said, and took the smallest bite imaginable. "Now I'm a big boy!"
"But you're still yucky," Francis added.
"I am NOT YUCKY!" Arthur shouted, pounding a fist on the table. "You're yucky!"
"Okay okay...there's only one way to test this theory," Alfred said, standing up from his seat. He first walked over towards Arthur, placing a wet kiss on his cheek.
"Hmmm...nope, Arthur's not yucky. He tastes like sauce and cottage cheese...yummy! Now let's see about Francis." Alfred then did the same thing to the French boy, causing him to giggle. "Nope, Francis tastes yummy too. Okay, you were both wrong."
"What 'bout Toris?" Arthur asked. The whole family paused, watching as Toris froze in his place, looking very uncomfortable because of the fact that Arthur had just drawn him into the discussion. Alfred did not stay frozen for long though, and grinned.
"I dunno Artie, let's find out," He said, and then placed a big kiss on Toris's cheek as well. It was quite funny, because the little guy looked stunned. "No, he's not yucky either! Now how about we finish our supper?"
They did so, and Ivan happily watched his family. Francis began telling them about a new project he was doing at school, Arthur was still focusing on taking small bites, and Toris was eating his own dinner with a slight smile on his face. Ivan began to really appreciate Alfred for suggesting becoming foster parents in the first place. If they hadn't, how on earth would their lives be now? Probably very boring. The more Ivan thought about it, the more he was okay with having a new pair of little feet in the house. He would have to talk with Alfred after dinner.
"...And so then Pinocchio had finally gotten his wish and turned into a little boy, so they lived happily ever after." Alfred finished reading the story to Arthur and Toris, who were each sitting on one of his knees. "Okay, bedtime Arthur. Toris, you can go play for a few minutes if you want."
Toris nodded and went to leave the room, bumping into Ivan on the way.
"Oops, careful little one." Ivan murmured, his heart sinking when Toris quickly straightened himself and practically fled from the room.
"I need to talk to you after we tuck Arthur in," Ivan said.
"Oh good, I need to talk to you too," Alfred replied as he finished settling Arthur down. After that, both parents proceeded to give their baby his night time kisses and tickles before turning on the night light and leaving the room to go talk. As soon as they got to their bedroom and closed the door, they both started talking at once.
"I was thinking about what Kiku said-"
"I've been giving much thought about a new foster child-"
There was a silence, and then Alfred spoke up again.
"Dude, I wanna foster Feliks!" He blurted out, preparing himself for Ivan's argument. Surprisingly though, Ivan instead smiled.
"Da. I agree." Ivan said. It took a moment for Alfred to process what he had just said.
"Wait, what? You mean you agree?" He asked.
"Well, yes. I just think that we'll be able to handle it. I mean, one more couldn't hurt, right?" Ivan said with a chuckle.
"Exactly dude! So...should I call Kiku then?"
"Yes, right away. I'll get the children to bed."
a/n: Please review! I really wanna know what you guys think!
Also, a huge thank you to:
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Thank you so much! I always look forward to your reviews, they never fail to make me giggle(:
Nisakeehl: Same here, I love stories like this! I'm really glad you like it!
KiyoMeow1305: Yay, I'm glad you think so! I love writing cute things!
A Shoulder to Lean on: Thank you, I'm wicked glad you enjoyed it! I'll definitely keep updating so long as I know people like it :D
Peter Kirkland: Wohoo, thank you so much! I'm so unbelievably happy now that I know people are liking this!(:
ps, The next chapter may take a few days because now I'm really going to get to work on my other stuff too. Probably Alternate Universe: Before and After will be updated, and also Look Towards Tomorrow! By the way, this story will not exactly focus on one character in particular. I do hope you guys are okay with some Poland/Lithuania friendship though(: