Hello readers! Once again we did not hit the review mark, but because I don't want you guys to be left hanging longer than necessary I'm gonna sit happy with the 13 this time around… What happened to my other 5 readers, there were 18 last time… Haha, never mind that, I love my reviewing readers too much to make them wait during the summer. Thank you everyone who continue to review. I want to keep getting your feedback on the fic as it continues. Also, as summer has begun, I have a bit more time to write so expect new chapters sooner.

That's all. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Oh special thanks to Meirin (who I can't reply to privately) for noticing a slight grammatical issue. I love the critique!


CHAPTER 8

December 27, 2010

10:17am

The scent of bacon was a surprising smell to the 49th state as Andrei sluggishly sat up in bed. Rubbing his eyes, the preteen blinked away the weight of sleep on his eyelids with a yawn before stretching and drinking in his surroundings. It took a moment to register his mother's bedroom, the familiar dark blue sheets and the large American flag framed over the bed's dark oak headboard only meant that he had spent the night in his mother's room. There seemed no sign of America, however, though the scent of frying breakfast foods seemed to give her location away pretty quickly.

Alaska slipped out of bed and padded into the carpeted hallway, following the smell of bacon and eggs. As he headed in direction of the kitchen, descending the stairs slowly as his groggy-brain took its time to fully wake up, the smells were joined by the sounds of a sizzling pan and his mother's voice, currently in mid-conversation. Appearing around the corner, Andrei had to stop and take in the sight of America cooking breakfast, something Emily was rarely found doing. Normally it was fend for yourself when it came to breakfast, that or they went out to ihop. If she didn't need to, Emily did not take the time to actually put breakfast together, especially if only one her kids was in the house.

"If you're picking up Nicholas from the airport, I don't think it'll be much more of a hassle if you'd pick him up too, hun." Emily spoke into the wireless phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear, keeping her hands free to butter the toast she was serving. "Nick's coming in at ten isn't he? Could you just wait an extra hour before the flight from Edwards comes in? Besides, he's not going to get very far before the MPs realize there's a "non-american" on base unless you're there to get him clearance."

Andrei cocked his head to the side in curiosity only to yawn soon after. America turned around at the sound, smiling, "Oh, good morning sunshine, come in and grab a plate, breakfast will be done in a sec." The blonde nation paused as she listened to the next part of her conversation, "No, I wasn't talking to you, Virginia. Your little brother's finally up. Yes, he's still here."

His mother handing him a plate from her place at the kitchen counter, Emily winked at her son before throwing some newly buttered toast on the dish. Glancing down then back up again, Alaska looked at the food thoughtfully, "You actually made breakfast, mom."

"Yeah, yeah, hell's frozen over, I know." Emily jokingly answered him. As his mother continued to speak to one of the older thirteen, the state helped himself to the eggs and bacon that had already been served. Alaska sat down to eat but took the opportunity to listen in on his mother's affairs.

"Well if I hadn't have known you'd be heading to the Norfolk airport, I wouldn't have asked. Sheesh, can't you just listen to your mother for once without sounding like California?" America went silent before chuckling, "Don't like being compared to him, do you? Then stop making a big deal about things just because your mom's actually asking a favor."

Finishing the rest of the bacon, the United States took up some breakfast for herself and sat down beside her son after pouring him a glass of milk and some coffee for herself. She crossed her legs as she continued to speak, "Virginia, I just need you to pick him up and take him over. Shoot, it ain't gonna kill ya'." It took a few moments, but it seemed like the 10th state finally obliged. "Thank you, hun. By your sudden enthusiasm, I'm surprised you're this easily peeved when it has nothing to do with your own old man. Speaking of which, I do hope you called him to wish him happy holidays. Better have or I'm calling Wes if you're lying."

While Andrei chewed softly to himself, he felt more curious at his mother's dialogue with his older sister, Virginia Jones. By the sound of the talk, it seemed that his mother was expecting a guest, though his sibling didn't seem the least bit happy to being asked to pick the visitor up. What's more, the visitor, a foreigner no less, was landing within one of the nation's many military bases, into which all 50 states had unlimited clearance. The boy was surprised at best, especially because Virginia was known to be the most obedient of the thirteen, living so close to their mother. Even when the older state tried to be difficult, Emily knew how to get Wesley Vincent Charles Jones, her West Virginian son, to get practically anything out of his older sister. With it being apparent that Virginia was going to be at the airport to pick up New York anyway, Andrei personally felt like she really had no excuse not to listen to their parent nation.

Emily hung up as soon as she exchanged good byes with her daughter. Sighing, she placed the phone down and glanced at Alaska, silently eating his breakfast in the calm, indifferent manner he was notorious for. His cerulean gaze meeting hers, the preteen state swallowed and took a gulp of milk before greeting his mother, "Morning, mom."

"Morning to you too, kiddo. Look's like you finally decided to join the world of the living. How'd you sleep?"

He didn't really have to think about his reply. "Good. Sorry for sleeping in your bed."

Consuming her own meal, Emily ruffled her son's hair only making the bed-head even worse. "S'ok. You slept in my stomach for about 8 months, can't say I can complain having my own kid sleeping in my bed." She laughed, "Though you make sure to thank your Uncle for enlightening you to sleep, hm?"

The boy paled at the thought, "Oh shoot. I did fall asleep. What happened?"

"Well, he must've been covering one of the less interesting parts of this story of ours, and sleep must have caught you before you realized it."

Alaska shook his head, "No, not that. I mean the story. What happened? When did I fall asleep? I mean… I remember him saying stuff about his Prime Minister not wanting him to get involved… but then…"

"You fell asleep."

Nodding, the state turned red in embarrassment. "Oops."

The American mother gave her son a gentle grin and placed her hand under his chin so that he could face her, "And this is why, I don't let you kids deal with other countries by yourself. You end up hanging up on the Russian Federation and falling asleep while listening to Canada. Oh well, don't sweat it, kiddo. Your uncle forgives you. It was late, and we had woken up at 4 in the morning to make sure your siblings got to the airport on time."

"Did I miss a lot… of the story I mean." Andrei asked slowly, trying to wrap his mind around what he last remembered.

Continuing to eat, the nation was quiet. She allowed herself time to finish the entire plate without much of a wait on her child's part. "No. Pretty much our bosses were being jerks and Mattie ended up persuading them to let me marry England instead. Took me a few days to accept the idea, but your Uncle, thank god, kept Eisenhower from being all 'I'm vetoing the state because you can't be a domestic housewife'. So I got a few extra days before getting ready for the wedding. You're siblings, once they heard who I was going to be tying the knot with, were NOT happy. That's pretty much it in a nutshell."

Leaning back in his chair, the boy contemplated on his mother's words for a few moments before looking at the phone his mother had placed on the table. He motioned at it almost innocently, "Is someone coming to visit?"

Emily flashed her blinding smile in the state's direction and gave him a playful wink. She didn't give him a straight answer making Alaska even more curious. "Maybe…" For a moment the two stared at each other, as if daring the other to try to push for more before America reached out and wiped a bit of toast from her child's cheek.

"Argh, Mom!" Calling out, Andrei tried to pull away, only to be further anchored down by America's inhuman strength. She giggled as she rubbed his face of the breakfast in a motherly fashion. Alaska shook his head, whining, "Mom… let… go!"

She released him calmly, smiling as if she had done nothing wrong. Blue orbs trailing her son as he ran the back of his hand across his face and shot her a failed glare, Emily softly laughed. Silence took over again.

"Mom," Alaska finally began again, "So… uh, what happened next?" His face looking down, he glanced up almost bashfully.

"Well, a lot did, kiddo." Emily replied simply. It wasn't until she paused when her son noticed her hesitance. For the passed few instances, America seemed a lot less open, which only told the northern state one thing, his parent nation wasn't in the mood to go on. The female nation had a tendency to slip in and out of conditions of openness. Whatever had just come to mind must have brought her to close up to her youngest son's disappointment. Something was distracting Emily, and even if Andrei wasn't one of the closest of her children, it was notoriously evident that his mom's mind was on something else.

It only further stirred the young state's curiosity, "Is something wrong, mom?" The grin that gentled on his mother's face in his direction made him self-consciously redden. "Uh… If you're busy or something… or if you don't want to tell me any more… I'm ok with that… I guess."

A hand on his head, made him stop. Emily shook her head, "No, no. I promised you I'd tell you everything, didn't I? Does your mother lie, Andrei?"

"No."

"Good." The young superpower ran a hand through her hair before continuing, "Ok, let's try this on for size, huh? I got some things at work to sort out today and some errands to run. Before I keep going, can I get this stuff done, baby?"

He felt his heart sink at this, but Alaska had no choice but to accept Emily's words. There were sacrifices that the states had to swallow with such a powerful mother. Most likely America had to talk to the boss about Iraq or Afghanistan, or if not, some other international or domestic issue. Sighing, Andrei nodded his head, but didn't meet Emily's eyes.

The apologetic gaze Emily returned went unnoticed by the state as she stood from the table and left the room to grab her bag and prepare for exiting the house into the frigid cold. She was quick to return however, and in one sudden motion she dropped a large pile of books upon the kitchen table with a thud.

Andrei practically jumped out of his skin, eyes growing several sizes as he looked at the books in front of him in awe. Before long, Emily swiftly came to explain.

"I hate to do this to you, especially during your vacation, but I need you to do me a favor." Placing a hand on the books the country had put on the surface, she winked, "Get the hang of your old man's language."

"What?"

"Russian, eskimo. Remember when I was talking to your dad last night? Well, according to him, he won't be speaking a lick of English to you during your trip. He says, you're learning Russian one way or another, and if you have to get accidently kidnapped by human traffickers before you do, he's willing to do it… damn commie… I mean jerk." The blood had drained from the state's face at the thought. Swallowing, the boy grabbed one of the books and gingerly fingered through the pages. The Cyrillic alphabet swimming around in Alaska's poor disoriented mind, Andrei begged his mom with his eyes. She only placed her hands on her hips, "Come on, Andrei. It's not going to be that hard. All you need to know is, "Hello", "Good bye", "Please and Thank You", "Where's the bathroom?" and "Please, don't kill me or my mom'll nuke Moscow."

Giggling, the woman ruffled her son's silver locks as he poured over the text in continued confusion. She gave a quick peck on the cheek before heading for the door, leaving with a maternal, "Lock the door after I leave, Alaska. Удачи! I think that means 'Good Luck,'-heck I don't remember."

Obediently, the state began to do as his mother told him, slightly overwhelmed but a little fearful about his mother's warning. What if his father did exactly what his mother said he'd do? What if he did get lost in the middle of Russia and no one knew how to speak English? The thought was alarming to say the least, only further inspiring the preteen to put even more into studying, though not even a state could learn a language overnight. Minutes passed Alaska only getting further confused by the foreign language.

By the point Alaska was ready to throw in the towel, the phone was quick to interrupt his moment of despair. Watching the telephone ring for a second, the state pulled himself from the table and to the wall phone in silence. He glanced at the first and only book he had looked through with a sigh. Andrei brought the phone to his ear, greeting politely, "Hello, Jones residence."

"America?" An accented voice came over the line. "Wait, did I call Canada again by mistake? Oh dear, I apologize, Ca-"

"No, this is Alaska." Even if he wasn't exactly his favorite uncle, Andrei couldn't help but feel slightly exasperated at the sound of the Englishman on the other line. "Hello, Mr. England."

There was a moment of silence as if the older nation couldn't quite believe who he was hearing. "Alaska, well hello my good boy. Merry Christmas. What are you doing at Emi- you're mother's?"

With another look at the difficult Russian textbooks on the table, the boy plainly answered, "Learning how to speak in Russian" He stopped, only to quickly add, "Merry Christmas, sir."

"Ah…" It wasn't like England was going to understand the answer he received, but the Island nation feigned comprehension to keep the conversation going. "Well… uh… good luck with that, I guess… Eh… Why exactly are you learning to speak in that language, Alaska?"

It wasn't extremely difficult to sense that of all things, the United Kingdom wasn't the least bit comfortable speaking with the states of his ex-colony, not many countries actually were. It was a rule of the thumb not to interact too openly with any of Emily's many children or face some dire consequences. Even if he had fathered a majority of the first thirteen, Arthur knew that messing with the states had resulted in the Revolution, and since then had rarely, if ever, brought them up when speaking to their superpower of a mother. The only interesting thing to Andrei, of course, was the fact that the Brit hadn't made it apparent he had no idea where Alaska was, which was most likely the case. Emily might have been pretty lousy with maps of anything other than the US, but it wasn't like any of the other countries could tell her where South Dakota was.

"So I won't get kidnapped when I go visit my dad." Andrei evenly replied. "Do you want to speak to mom?"

Sensing the relief of the other nation over the phone, Andrei smiled to himself as England went on, "Yes please. Is she available?"

"No." It was another tradition specifically between the fifty states to be relatively unhelpful when speaking to another country. There was a big rule about being polite with other countries, especially to their mother's allies, but many of the states, Alaska included, preferred to deflect any international advances. She just got too involved sometimes, and it was a task for the family to try to restrain the famous "watchdog" of the world. Alaska wasn't even the worst, if Mason Boston Jones had answered England, the older state would have burst into a string of curses incomprehensible to even his siblings. "Sorry, she left and hasn't come back yet."

"Oh, I see."

The silence that followed only made Alaska realize that he could turn this phone call into something useful. Besides, why would he have to learn Russian now if he had a few more months before he could go visit his father anyway? "Hey, Mr. England?" Mr. England was really supposed to be Uncle England, but even then some states preferred to call him Grandpa just to piss him off. "Did you really marry my mother in 1958?"

The question only quickly surprised the country, and if Alaska could see the man's face he knew it would have gone red in an instant, "What! N-No, of course not! I would never- I mean- You did say 1958, did you not? Wait- Well, there was this- Hold on, why are you even asking?"

"Because Mom told me she had to marry you before I was born."

"Uh… Hmm… I wouldn't actually say that is a false piece of information." England returned with a matter-of-fact tone. The nation had been caught off guard, but knowing how easy it was to get answers about Emily out of the Brit Alaska took a second to get the man saying more.

"So, you said yes, right? Was it a big wedding?"

" 'Big'? I wouldn't exactly say it was a large event. We didn't even start the damn ceremony because that Russia got in the damn way!" Notorious for his story-telling the Brit clicked his tongue, "First, that mother of yours thinks it's completely fine getting married out of the blue, as if it's really that easy. She gives us a month to prepare and then after working my backside off to organize everything for the event, that bloody Soviet decides that it'll be oh-so easy to start wide-spread pandemonium by dropping in unannounced and going on about how he never received an invitation."

Interest gnawing at the state's insides, Alaska noticed how widely he was grinning. The story was getting good. His mom and northern uncle had left off at the best part. "Wait, how'd my dad find out about mom and you! Did he know about me?"

"Hmph, by the time he was tried to get his ass run over, he seemed to know everything."

"How?"

England took in a breath and began to explain, quite fervently at that. It seemed that the story had actually hit a cord, maybe because it resulted in him losing the opportunity to get back together with America or maybe it meant allowing America to place herself in a situation way to gutsy for his taste. Nevertheless he continued with his rant, "I really think it was that bloody frog's fault. As I do recall, Canada brought this up with France around the time Emily was working out the details with me. France told Spain, of course knowing Spain's loud trap of his, he let it slip to Romano, that is South Italy by the way, then this was spread to Feliciano, and as Italy and Germany weren't contacting each other much around the time, he passed it through Hungary then Austria who ended up telling Germany. Germany told his brother, you might know him as East Germany, but most of us just call him Prussia, it's a long story why, lad. Unfortunately, this was the 1950s, before the Iron Curtain, mind you, but once Prussia had it, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, AND Belarus were all aware that your mother was having the Soviet Union's child during the bloody Cold War!"

Alaska listened on, as the nation stopped to catch his breath. International gossip spread like the plague, but Andrei was surprised that the news of his existence had been passed on so rapidly. He almost felt proud.

"So what happened when my dad crashed the wedding?" The state further queried. "Weren't you guys really freaked out about it?"

"Truthfully Alaska, we were terrified." The emotion died behind the Brit's words, bringing back the solemnity back into the event, "When Russia appeared he went straight for your mother. It seemed, at the time, that he was going to kill her."

The state felt like a candle inside him had abruptly been blown out. His previous excitement was gone, the image of his an almost peaceful meeting between his mother and father scribbled upon only to be replaced by a scene of his father attempting to murder Emily pregnant with him or not. Shaking his head, almost in denial, Alaska had to know more, "And-?"

There was a sigh over the other line, as the Englishman contemplated whether or not to go on. "Are you confident that you actually want to hear this Alaska? Why would you want to know?"

"Well, mom's been telling me the story about the time before I born. She said she lived with my dad for a little bit when she was pregnant."

"Hmph, more like she was forced to stay with that lunatic or face him threatening her child's life." The statement continued to make Andrei's blood grow cold. He felt sick, regretting ever asking the question. Emily's 49th state remained quiet trying to get over such an explanation. Glancing in the direction of the Russian textbooks on the dining table, the boy shook his head. He had to get more detail. This couldn't be the whole story.

"Um… Mr. England… Sir…" Taking a deep breath, Alaska chose his words wisely, "…could you elaborate on what happened? Why would he do that? Did he really not want me to exist?"

This time it was Arthur's turn to pause, going over the consequences of his words. When he finally spoke, his tone was authoritative as if he was legitimizing his reason for speaking, "Well, knowing how your mother seems to love skewing history in her favor, I assume you must think Russia was a complete bastard, don't you?" He didn't give Andrei time to react, "Back then, even today, that man has always been a rather complex individual. I doubt your mother would actually admit this, but it wasn't difficult to tell that beyond his unorthodox way of asking your mother to live with him, Russia did it for your sake as well as your mother's."

"Oh." Alaska didn't quite understand what the United Kingdom was actually hinting at, but by the next few words, it only too clear.

"Truth be told, lad. Both your father and your mother knew you were a liability. That's why your mother was required to marry me in any case Russia's superiors ordered an attack on the United States in her condition. That is also why your father desired to place the woman under his care so his superiors couldn't have a say on what he did with his… to simplify the term… 'wife'. Your mother chose to do as the Soviet Union wanted not only to protect you, but also to keep an eye on him. As that saying goes, 'Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.' I must confess, I thought she had gone insane to consider putting herself through what she did; however, looking back, perhaps…" The Brit paused as if hesitant to admit it, "…America did know what she was doing."

August 3, 1958

Beads of sweat slid down Arthur Kirkland's face as he watched the scene from the phone booth, impatiently waiting for the line to connect. He tried to calm his breathing, to look like he was in control, to ignore the pain of his shattered leg, even if he knew oh so well that he had no ability to stop the Communist nation from acting out their worst fears.

"Scotland Yard," He urgently spoke into the phone. His voice came out strong over the line, despite the lie he invented on the spot to avoid a difficult explanation to the authorities later. "This is Sir Arthur Kirkland of the Royal Guard requiring immediate assistance on the crossing of Alm and Hickory Lane. We have come across the existence of a Soviet spy and have him cornered. He is armed and currently holding an American diplomatic aid hostage. We need back up fast."

The Englishman's eyes flew through the clear glass of the phone booth. He restrained his desire to panic not over fear but worry for the female America, who stood meters away. Waiting for further instruction from his police force, England couldn't help but hiss, "America, you bloody idiot. Don't you dare do anything stupid!"

His reaction was delayed at best, concentrating on the encounter in front of him. With the Soviet Union currently smiling down upon Emily in the most innocent of fashions, he heard his ex-colony growl, "You fucking soviet! Were you trying to get us killed?"

It was really a stupid question, one that Arthur knew the answer to even before the Russian casually reacted as if he was giving the time of day, "Perhaps. Your obnoxious voice tells me things didn't go as plan, da?" Violet eyes falling upon the woman, the Englishman cursed at the sight of the communist's hungry gaze. For a moment, Arthur's heart skipped a beat at the realization that Ivan's stare had lingered upon the American's still flat middle with an air of subtle interest.

Sliding out of the booth, the Brit hissed, "Oh… no." He turned to Canada who stood by the wreckage of the vehicle they had been taking to the Church. The younger nation watched the scene with wide eyes, from behind the car, hands, hidden from the communist's view holding on to a shotgun the nation had had in the car. Matthew's hands were white, but the man was frozen in place while his sister faced off the only other superpower in the world at that time.

"What are you doing on British territory, Red? You thinking of making Great Britain 'one with you too'?" Instantaneous anger burned in the smaller woman's body, Emily's form tense, her chest held up in a confident stance. There was no way one could tell she had spent the previous night sick to her stomach, doubled over the toilet due to a mix of air and morning sickness.

Her fellow nation chuckled, his shoulders vibrating with the waves of his laughter, "Already jumping to conclusions, I see? You are very predictable, Amerika." Whether or not the communist's unusual calmness did anything to deter Emily was difficult to perceive, but with a slight glance in Arthur's direction, America was already showing signs that she wanted to get out of the current situation and fast. "I might be here for England, but I would've made sure you weren't around to get in my way."

Russia took a step towards her, causing Emily to quickly make a motion for her gun. There was a loud click, but in that moment, instead of drawing her own weapon, Emily was met with her opponent's own pistol aimed at her chest. Ivan's expression had yet to change. America dropped her hands, from their place feeling for the gun that wasn't there, she gave the man a deadly look. Clicking his tongue, the soviet sighed and approached the frozen democracy, smile only growing, "Are you unarmed, capitalist piglet? Someone is getting very sure of herself." Emily pulled back as best she could without making it evident she was attempting to flee, but Russian quickly shadowed her. Pistol still trained on her heart, Ivan reached out for her face.

A shotgun blast filled the air, stopping the nation's motions and making both America and Russia look to its source. The Soviet Union raised an eyebrow, gaze falling upon the male North American twin, holding his own weapon in his hands meters away.

There came seconds of silence, the Canadian and Russian exchanging a long cold look at each other, as if daring the other to act out again. With the gun still aimed at his sister, Canada couldn't do much but fire warning shots to force the communist to back away. Arthur cursed under his breath, pulling out his own handgun and trailing it upon Russia. The man was outnumbered. Russia had to have been insane to continue on like this, but following the calm before the storm, Ivan proved just how crazy he truly was.

Narrowing his eyes, but keeping the grin on his face, Russia called out in tone reminiscent of a mad man, "Is this a threat?" The tall cold superpower turned on the two, "Is it?"

For a normal woman, this moment of distraction was the perfect opportunity for Emily to escape… but to a girl like America, she wasn't going to back down and retreat. Instead, she was in front of the lumbering Russian grabbing him by the trademark scarf and pulling down, "Oh no you don't!" She snarled, "This is! You keep them out of this, or you will regret it."

Her allies reacted in an instant, "Emily, what the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up!" The expectant woman snapped back at her companions, keeping her eyes centered on the Russian's own. As if she was attempting to control a wild animal, Emily held the man tightly by the length of loose cloth Ivan was fond of wearing wherever he went. Despite being pregnant, Emily gave nothing away. No sign of discomfort, no sign of fear, just pure willingness to fight the nation right there and then. If Arthur hadn't known any better, he would have never realized that she was lying through her teeth and gambling her life and the life of her unborn child. Attention returning to Ivan, she spoke evenly to him, "I'm asking you again, Soviet. Why are you here?"

Unfortunately, as England could see through Emily's threat so could Ivan, the Russian hiding whatever he was thinking. He was close enough to have a clear shot of Emily now, his face almost even with hers. The Soviet Union sighed, the smirk leaving his face for a millisecond as he raised his arm and placed the nuzzle of his pistol against Emily's stomach. "Guess… suka*."

December 27, 2010

1:05pm

The silence of the other line made Arthur uncomfortable. He hadn't been sure whether or not he made the right choice to actually tell the boy what he wanted. The United Kingdom swallowed, pausing the account for his sake. "Uh… Alaska… Um…"

If he could've seen the state at that moment, the nation would've quickly regretted the decision just as Andrei was regretting ever asking his mother's older companion for more information. The boy was beyond stunned, despite hearing similar stories about how rather erratic Russia had been during the Cold War. It was just that never, never had he expected that his father had really gone so far as to attempt to kill him.

"Alaska… are… are you alright?" England bit his bottom lip. Was the boy even on the other line anymore? The nation released a breath, already fearful for Emily's reaction to him having told her child the less glamorous moments of the Cold War. "Alaska… is your mother…?"

Andrei blinked, pulling out of his trance of contemplation. Did he really want to hear more? Was this what his mother was going to tell him? What about this story was so different from the history books, the bedtime tales of Emily's heroic struggles of an insane communist enemy? What had he, himself, been expecting to hear from America? Had the period of time Emily lived his father been violent? Questions swam through the boy's head, making him dizzy. He was hesitant to ask for more. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear any more. "Mom's… still not here… sorry." The state spoke in a whisper, the shock refusing to go away.

England understood he had gone too far. "I… apologize, Alaska. Maybe this might have been a bit too much…" The older nation; however, wasn't done. He had a different view on the situation than Emily, "Your mother must not cover such topics with you, but this is history, lad. It really never is very easy to hear."

Alaska ran a hand through his platinum locks, thinking about his father and ticket to Moscow. After all Emily had told him, things were still looking a lot darker than what his parent nation was getting him to believe. Russia might not have been communist anymore, but he had been a man Emily, the leading superpower of the modern world, had feared. He had spent years of his life alongside his brothers and sisters believing that nothing could scare their mom. Aside from the first thirteen, the remaining thirty-seven states had grown up with Emily as the only true power in the world having governed them. They knew nothing else and they had really believed that events such as the Cold War were really just useless arguments over ideology.

The preteen felt the blunt of his isolation and the Pro-American bubble Emily raised him in, slowly deflating as he heard more and more. In a few months he'd be meeting not only his father, but a man who had seen his country rise and fall again and again. Russia had hated America once. It was all too clear to Andrei then. And no matter how you looked at it, Ivan could still hate the woman who had beaten him in the bloodless war.

The sound of Emily's Escalade pulling up the drive-way pulled the state out of his thoughts. Realizing that he had yet to learn anything in Russian, the boy panicked. "I-I have to go, Mr. England. Uh, thanks for telling me this. Could you please not tell my mom, I heard this?"

"Of-of course." For the first time, the nation gave a gentle laugh. Old empire or not, England was still a rather tolerant man, "I, personally, wouldn't want her to know I told you this either, my boy… so you're secret's safe with me."

"Thanks, sir." Andrei happily replied, relief filling his system. He heard the Escalade's door slam and his mother's footsteps.

Moving to hang up the phone, Alaska heard the country speak again, "Alaska, wait, has your mother returned yet?"

"Oh… uh-" The boy's reaction came too late, the door swinging open to reveal his parent nation taking in several bags of groceries.

Scanning the room, from the pile of language books seemingly untouched on the table, from the absence of her state, Emily caught sight of her son and raised an eyebrow. "Yo, Andrei, who you talking to, hun?"

When Andrei spoke, he hid a lie within a truth, "It's Mr. England. He just called. He wants to speak to you."

Emily gave no sign of seeing through the lie, smiling, "Oh yeah? Well, let me talk to 'im. Go out and take in the rest of the groceries, could you? We can continue with that story of yours as soon as we finish unloading."

The state obediently handed over the phone before hurrying away, averting his gaze from his mother as he passed. Sliding on his boots and walking out into the snow, he sighed as he turned to the car.

He sighed, watching his breath come out in small clouds, "I don't think I want to hear anymore."


*suka: "Bitch" in Russian

Uh-oh. What'll happen next? You all will just have to sit tight until sometime next month. It seems that Alaska is coming across some difficult truths here and being a bit sneaky. Can the state survive a story that isn't as bright and happy as his mother wants it to be? Who knows? Well, I don't have much else to say. Next chapter is in the works as we speak, please review that is all I ask.

Thank you all so much.

Preview:

He was coming to the United States to meet the 49th state, the child he had sired during the Cold War. The idea of having a son was such an abstract notion that the ex-communist was having difficulty thinking. Being a man who had spent the second half of the twentieth century forcing other nations to live under his care, the actual knowledge that he had a child all his own was nerve-wracking. This time he hadn't asked for it. This time he was the one caught off guard. This time he was at the mercy of the woman he had called an enemy those many decades aside from the fact that she was the mother of said offspring. Just the realization that America was even letting him see the boy was making him sick with worry. Russia had never been known for being a child-friendly nation.