Greetings readers. Hope you all are still ready for some more. I have more chapters in the works so hopefully you'll be enjoying another addition to this fic of mine soon. Please continue reviewing so I can keep uploading. I had a terrible writer's block when writing this chapter, but reading your in depth reviews inspires me every time.

Not much more to say here except forgive the way I butcher state accents. I promise I will revert to normal dialogue for later chapters.

That's all enjoy.

Chapter 10:

December 29, 2010

10:30am

Alaska couldn't help but notice that something was off with his mother. As distant as the northwestern state was, even the youngest son of the United States could tell that something was amiss within the Virginia home. It wasn't as if America was acting extremely unusual, but the superpower seemed to be preoccupied and strangely obsessive over rather domestic duties that the nation normally had her human counterparts do. He wasn't a state to make his thoughts known, yet as he gazed at his mother seated at her desk clicking away at her keyboard and scanning the three computer screens while she worked, the curiosity and slight concern was beginning to swell within the boy.

It had really started when his mother had begun to clean the house the day before. Since the day he had spoken with England, Andrei had kept silent on the story topic, noticing his mother's odd behavior. She hadn't brought it up either, seemingly worried about the guest scheduled to come by. In its place was a day locked up in his room studying his father nation's language while hearing the sound of a rather frantic America vacuuming and cleaning the entire estate without much help aside from the occasional calls to Tony, who had reappeared shortly after the house had gotten less crowded. By the time Emily had allowed Andrei to leave his end of the house, the home was spotless and Tony had disappeared again, but his mother was still fidgety and hadn't stopped being in such a state since.

A day later, Emily seemed quite a bit calmer, but the tenseness in her shoulders had yet to disappear. Attention concentrated on her work, the parent nation did not notice her son staring at her so inquisitively, trying to silently find the source of his mother's sudden preoccupation. Whatever it was, Andrei had a good feeling it was a very important international issue, or his mother would not have shown her panicky side the previous morning.

"Mom." Alaska's interest to know about his mother's affairs had become too strong, forcing him to break the stillness of the room. The sound of typing came to a stop, his mother's azure eyes rising to meet his for a few moments.

"Hm?"

With her gaze on him, Andrei hesitated, rethinking his approach to the subject. "Uh… are you… busy?"

The look that remained on his form screamed, 'What do you think?' But before Emily could voice such a thought, Alaska kept on, "I… uh… I was wondering… well… I've been studying since yesterday…"

"Umm hmmm." Expectantly, America leaned back crossing her arms. It was evident Alaska had interrupted something, but with a parent like Emily, it was difficult to predict the consequences to his actions. "What is it, Andrei?"

"Uh…" The 49th state swallowed and felt himself blushing, hating the abrupt wave of embarrassment flowing through him. Compared to other states, Alaska rarely forced his desires on his mother especially being one of the youngest of her children. Most of the time he was ignored, something he could relate with his Canadian uncle quite well; however when he did receive his mother's full blown attention it was almost intimidating. "I…Could we continue… with what happened… before my birth? Uh… please?"

The reaction he received was neither that of anger or glee. Emily placed her hands behind her head and replied, "Sure, I've been wondering when you'd ask again, but you were busy learning dad's language, huh? Just ask me in Russian and then we'll start."

Surprise hitting him, the boy felt his eyes widen before he could find his own response, "What? But mom, I've only been studying for the last day and half."

"And you're a state, which makes it ten times easier to learn a language than the average human." Returning to her work, the superpower looked over the three screens with a mix of boredom and distaste. "Come on kiddo, let me hear it."

Embarrassment turning to preteen rebelliousness, Andrei scowled, "Oh come on, mom. That's too hard." Wracking his brain for the right words, the language failed to compute. While turning through the English-Russian dictionary in his lap, Alaska sighed, trying to find the correct method to do as his mother asked.

"You get it yet?" America pushed, a teasing smile forming on her face as she kept working. She finished reviewing the Federal Reserve's report on the debt ceiling with an impatient sigh, which her son interpreted as directed to him.

"I'm finding it, I'm finding it."

"I don't have all day, Eskimo." Emily joked, before frowning at the disclosure of loans she owed China.

"Hold on!" Andrei stopped and closed the book, putting together his findings. He didn't like how it sounded, "Mom, what's the point, it's not like you're going to me understand anyway."

Exiting all of the open financial reports the nation had on her screens, Emily glanced up at her child again. For a moment she looked close to agreeing, but what came out was a sentence in Russian instead, "Really? Try me.*" Her smile merely widening to add an element of smugness to her expression, the mother added, "You don't expect me to have gone four decades arguing with your Pop without learning what he was whispering under his breath, did you? Stop complaining, it's not like you were the one who was so elegantly thrown among a bunch of Soviet states (at the time) and told to Learn. Well, maybe you were kinda there, but I was the one learning, you were there for the ride."

The nation finally pulled herself up from her chair, stretching her muscles that hadn't moved for a couple of hours. Her eyes fell on the clock at her desk before she left her end of the room for her son's. "Trust me, Andrei. You have to realize how lucky you are to have not been stuck with your father for six freaking months during the Cold War, learning Russian. You're dad was a jerk."

The comment did not bode well with the boy, who frowned deeply. With what he now knew his father seemed more than just as jerk, less of a monster, but much more than a simple jerk. With a deep breath the state finally forced himself to speak, "Mother, can you tell me the story, please?"

It was as easy as that. As soon as those words left his lips, Emily threw herself onto the small couch in her office and pulled her son close to her, "That's my Russian-American baby. Ok, now where were we?"

"You…" Andrei had to sigh, pushing away the negativity that had come with the last account a day before, "…made it to London."

Nodding, Emily squeezed Alaska, "Exactly…"

August 3, 1958

"Hey, are you done in there? We're late."

"Will you shut up, Matt? I just got off the phone with Eisen-asshole. Damn it, whose idea was it to make me wear the dress?"

Sighing, the Northern country rolled his eyes, standing calmly outside the small bathroom of the jet. They had just landed and due to some technical difficulties, had arrived about ten minutes late. Adding another 15 minutes to the time was Emily's call stateside, which, from her evident irritability, had not gone well. "Arthur thought it was fitting. You know how he is."

" 'Fitting my ass.'" Canada caught his sister hiss through the lavatory doors, the sounds her struggling into the simple white summer dress easily audible through the barrier. "First Eisenhower and now Arthur, you guys are damn idiots."

Releasing another breath, Matthew chuckled and glanced back at the closed door. "I'm hurt, Em. What've I done to you?"

"Sorry Matt, not talking about you."

"Thanks sis." The northern twin allowed silence to take his place, continuing to wait for his sister to leave the area of the plane. After a few minutes and the lingering absence of America, Canada spoke again, "Jesus, Emily. Arthur's gonna give us hell if we're any later. He's already waiting at the car. You get into that dress yet, or have you gotten too fat for it already."

The lavatory door swinging open, Emily glared at her brother. "I take that back, you've just made it onto the 'Idiot Men' list as well." She had slipped easily into the simple gown enough, but as she moved she grimaced. "I'm not fat, Canada. I've been throwing up everything I've attempted to eat for the last three weeks. Damn England got my bust size wrong again. My boobs are killing me."

Her brother reddening in the face, Canada shook his head, "Well that's just lovely to hear." He glanced behind him to the two human escorts who had been "listening in". "Are you aiming to scar them for life or is it just that kind of day for you?"

The deadly glare that the Canadian received was an appropriate response, to which he placed a gentle hand on the small of Emily's back. Matthew guided his sister to the opposite end of the jet, helping her, without making it obvious, exit the plane smoothly. He paused turning toward the Canadian and American escorts with a gentle smile. Though the expression was genuine so were the words. "I know this may not be following 'orders' but England came by personally to pick us up. He advises you two take a cab to the Church on your own."

Surprise hitting the two humans, Steven stepped forward, "B-but sir-"

"Please don't start Wilkins. You and Troy just go ahead and meet us there… unless you want to spend the next half an hour in a car with a bitching pregnant superpower." Only a nation like Canada could speak so simply on such a subject without showing any emotion other than complete contentment. The gentle nation gave nothing away when stating a fact that in some ways could have been considered a threat as well. When he didn't receive an answer, Matthew nodded, "Good, see you soon, eh?"

Strolling to the car, Matthew found Emily standing beside her ex-colonizer in mid-conversation. Arthur Kirkland was dressed in a simple, yet formal suit, accented by the dark green vest he wore under the suit jacket to match his eyes. Of course, aside from how gentlemanly the Brit's appearance was, he was no different, already annoyed by Emily's less than content nature. His presence had not done much to change her mood.

"… I was asking you about your dress, and 'Ok' is all you can give me?" England queried, tapping the top of the car in an impatient fashion. He didn't turn to acknowledge Canada's presence, predictable when the old Empire's full attention was on his female ex-colony.

Emily rolled her eyes like a rebellious teenager. She held herself loosely around the middle, more out of habit than anything, as she replied, "Well, So—rr—y." Pulling out the word she only made England more standoffish. "What do you want me to do? Jump up and down and scream for joy over a dress?"

"It's the least you could do after what I'm doing for you." Arthur firmly retorted. Despite the close relations between the two countries, Emily and Arthur were prone to getting into the occasional argument, though with the female nation's current temperament, the day was going to get worse before it got better. "And it was a bloody compliment. A 'thank you' would have sufficed. I believe I taught you manners at one point."

The United States crossed her arms, only to grimace in discomfort. She dropped her hands, "Yeah, thanks… for making a dress… that's trying to strangle me. I grew a pair of breasts centuries ago, you square."

Arthur bristled at the comment only to be held back by the approaching Canada. Matthew sighed, "Don't stress her out, Arthur. She had her ear chewed out by her boss already."

"And now this dress is killing my tits." America added, looking at her chest, "Can we go now?"

It took a moment, but the Englishmen finally sighed and nodded. He wasn't that ignorant not to have noticed that Emily was a bit more irritable than usual. As normal as their spats were, Emily rarely snapped back like this, choosing rather to return each of his words with light-hearted excuses lined with a bit of her trade-mark stubbornness. The way Emily fell into the backseat of the car instead of insist on sitting shotgun was enough to deflate the older nation's anger. America had enough on her plate already.

Canada was quick to climb in beside her, leaving England to get into the driver's seat and start the car. The trip towards the church started off without another peep from Emily, who spent her time watching the passing scenery turn into the streets of London. The three allowed silence to fill the car.

A yawn broke the calm within the vehicle, bringing Canada's attention away from the window for a moment and to the United States beside him. He hadn't quite noticed it before, but under the make-up Emily had been forced to wear for the occasion, signs of exhaustion were evident on the young superpower's face. Exhaustion, coupled with the fact that America had not eaten that morning for the sake of avoiding the chance of vomiting all over her groom later that day, weighed heavily on Canada's mind. "How long did you sleep last night, Emily?"

Raising her eyes to look at her brother, America shrugged.

Matthew frowned and firmly demanded, "How long, Emily?"

For a second Arthur turned around to the siblings he had practically raised, worry hidden behind the skeptical look in his eyes. He glanced back at the road, waiting for the female nation to answer. When none came he echoed the concern, "America, don't tell me you haven't been sleeping properly?"

Instead of a reply to the question, Emily licked her lips and leaned back in her chair. The words that came out of her mouth were far from what they wanted, "Hey, how long does it take to fly from Germany to Italy? Would it be easier to just drive there?"

"Em…" Canada released a long breath. "I asked you a question. Did you sleep at all during the flight?"

"If I can get this whole marriage deal over with, maybe I can get a flight tomorrow morning, or even better later tonight. That'll give me a day in Germany, maybe two if Ludwig needs anything… and then Italy by the third day. I'd most likely want a few more days there so I can talk to Feliciano and Romano separately, or better yet-"

"Emily, answer the damn question!" England barked making the two involuntarily jump. The way the woman listed her plans was getting on the island nation's nerves for more reasons than one. For one thing, Emily was waving this wedding off as if it was nothing, for another, she was already planning to add just another 800 things onto her to-do list, and England hadn't even inquired upon her current condition, carrying the child of the Soviet Union. Of course, Arthur wasn't going to admit it to her, but he couldn't help but feel stressed about the whole situation. She was the current superpower of the world, having surpassed him in military strength during the last world war, but knowing full well what it was like to be on top, the British Empire feared for her safety. Emily was going to be the target for many now that she was in power, though the USSR was currently the worst threat. What's more was that by marrying her, Arthur had put his own nation at risk. If Ivan found out about the child and that Great Britain was to be the stand-in father, there would be dire consequences for not only Emily, but himself as well.

It would be an open alliance against a common enemy. And as the Soviet Union already felt cornered, it wouldn't be long before the Russian decided to fight back. England was closer geographically than the United States.

"Don't tell me what to do." Emily obstinately returned, but answered anyway, "I… don't know… Maybe twenty minutes here and there."

Matthew's eyes grew in side, before he ran a hand down his face in frustration. "Jesus Christ, are you serious? Em, I told you-"

"I know what you told me, Mattie, I know." America overcame him simply. She gave him a smile, the first one of the day, in confidence. "Look at the bright side, I am so ready for those meetings."

The car came to an abrupt stop, the North American twins slipping forward and almost colliding with the back of the front seat. England gazed back angrily, but his look gentled as he explained, "Red light." Green eyes centering upon Emily's, he opened his mouth speak. "Emily, Matthew's right. I understand how busy your schedule's been; however, it is imperative that you take care of yourself in your current state. You can't get caught in a difficult position too exhausted to do anything about it, now do you?"

"Ah shit." The reaction was abrupt, gaining a stunned look in return. Suddenly reaching down under her skirt, Emily frowned.

Canada turned away at the sight and a wave of red came across England's face, forcing him to look to the road again in embarrassment. "Wh-What the bloody hell are you doing, America?"

For a moment, no response came to his query, the other country fiddling under the skirt of the white sun dress with an expression of extreme concentration. Something under her dress made a clicking noise before the woman finally straightened up and pulled what looked like an empty holster of a gun from its folds. America hissed and threw the holster aside with a growl. "I just had to change into this dress, didn't I? See what you did, now I left my gun back on the jet."

"Why are you blaming me?" England gasped and drove forward, "You're in my capital, NATO territory, you ungrateful git. You don't need that gun."

She slouched in her chair with a heavy sigh, "It doesn't hurt to be ready for anything."

"Yeah, says Ms. Paranoid here." Violet eyes meeting the woman's azure gaze, Matthew sarcastically kept on, "Look at me, I'm the United States of America and my gun's my freaking security blanket."

"What are you trying to say, America? Are you saying that I am unable to defend myself? Don't think of yourself so highly. You're not the only bloody power in this world just because you can build some ungodly bomb that can obliterate the entire human race!"

The reference of nuclear weapons hit a nerve within the American woman. Emily roared back, "Who ever said that! I didn't. I've had that Colt** since forever and I bring it everywhere. Besides it's not like you're the one having fucking Russia breathing down your goddamn neck all the fucking time! Do you want to face the Red, cuz go ahead be my guest. Pull all the stops, ol' British Empire-!"

"Um… ok… th-that's enough…" Canada's voice was calm, catching sight of his sister's last wall of emotional defense crumbling to the ground. He took her hand, "Emily-"

She roughly pulled away from him. Like most women, you couldn't stop a girl from expressing herself. "Face Russia in all your British Glory, keep Germany and Japan on track, it's all fine by me! I've been raring for a vacation right about now. You take over, Arthur, go ahead. That'll give me time to have Alaska and actually spend some time raising my kids, instead of running back and forth between Asia and Europe trying to put all the damn pieces back together."

"Well, we never asked you to get involved!" England barked in return, glancing at her as he continued to drive.

"Really? Last time I remembered, you were the one on your knees begging me to give you aid to keep Ludwig off your back three decades ago. If it wasn't for me, you know you wouldn't have won the war."

"We were bloody fine without you!" Came the retort, "If it weren't for the fact that my people and I had to go through hell before you slipped into the conflict… late as usual, you'd have never had the chance to play hero, America. The only time you do care is when things get personal. You jumped in because of your interests-"

"-like everyone else! Like every single one of you idiots who pressured Ludwig so bad he turned into some fucking psychopath!"

Matthew grabbed Emily around the shoulders, "Emily you need to stop. Stop, Emily." He looked to the Englishman currently speeding down the road enraged. "Arthur, you two need to calm down. This isn't helping her."

" 'Helping' me? God, this is the fucking reason why I didn't want to get fucking married, especially with this asshole." Emily growled, trying to move away from her twin who didn't release her, "Damn it Canada, let me go… This is the reason I went independent." Her eyes falling upon the English nation's form, she tauntingly stressed the word.

Canada rolled his eyes, forcing his sister to look at her, ignoring England's chosen curses from the driver's seat, "Enough, Emily. That's enough! We get your point, ok? You're overwhelmed, we know that. Just calm down, this isn't good for the baby."

The look he received from the woman was a mix of disgust and incredulousness. She shook her head. America wasn't done, "And you…" Emily opened her mouth, but before she continued she released a sigh. A good sign? Matthew wasn't sure, "You act as if this is my first pregnancy… This is like, what, my forty-ninth kid? I'm fine… so just stop worrying about me." In her eyes, the fire that burned was beginning to weaken, true exhaustion taking its place.

"We're not talking about your pregnancy, America-"

"Drive, England." The American snapped, the flame burning again. As soon as Arthur returned to the road, the energy started to drain once more.

Her brother nodded, "I know, Em, but Arthur's right, we're not concerned about how you'll deal with this pregnancy. It's just-"

"What? Is it because I'm going against big bad Russia?" This time, America spoke flatly. She fell back against the seat of the car, placing her hand to her head before fully covering her face with her arms. America was pulling inward, rebuilding the defenses that had fallen due to job-related stress. She fell silent, only breaking it to mumble, "Shit, I hate you all..."

The awkward calm that follows after a fight finally filled the vehicle with silence. After a few minutes, England tentatively glanced back at the young woman, undergoing the common stresses of being a superpower. She wasn't used to it, not yet. It would take her another decade of space races for her to get accustomed to the pressure from all sides. No one had expected that America could've pulled herself up so quickly after the war, but there she was, the nation now balancing the power of the world, just as he had done a century before. Running a hand down his face, Arthur blushed in his guilt. The argument had been unnecessary.

They were about to come to the church, where England's boss had insisted they officially get married. He turned back again and caught sight of Matthew looking over his sister's quiet body.

"Is something the matter, Matthew?" The older nation gently asked.

Violet gaze traveling over the female nation, Canada looked between the folds of her arms, noticing her even breaths. "No… I think she fell asleep. That spat of yours actually drained her out, eh?" The Canadian smiled at Emily's sleeping form before looking to the Englishman whose attention was on the two for the moment.

Matthew's eyes grew wide, suddenly focusing on the road, "ENGLAND, WATCH OUT!"

Spinning around, Arthure was barely fast enough to yank the wheel in one direction, forcing the car to go right onto the path of the oncoming Buick.

The impact ripped the three nations out of their seats as the car was slammed into the opposite curve where another vehicle was parked, sandwiching their car between the Buick and parked vehicle.

By the time Canada regained his composure, he was seeing red, blood dripping from a painful gash across the forehead, where he had gone sailing into the door. He groaned, finding Arthur hissing with his leg caught in the crushed sides of the car. In an instant their eyes flew to the end of the car that had luckily been on the opposite side of the impact, where Emily was currently attempting to force the door on her side to open. She looked shaken, but not hurt, more of her attention on getting out of the vehicle. "That fucking son of bitch!"

With a growl, America finally lost all patience, leaning back and kicking off the entire door with her infamous strength. Seeing her beginning to stumble out, her legs almost giving out from below her as she climbed from the wreck, she didn't hear her brother scream her name as he caught sight of the man she was so fervently trying to reach. "Emily, no!"

December 29, 2010

12:15pm

Several decades later, it wasn't difficult to know the answer to that panicked question on America's wellbeing; however, by the expression on her child's face, it almost looked like Andrei was expecting to hear that his mother had died in the accident or had been violently hurt. Emily paused, smiling at her son's wide eyes and slightly open mouth. The mother giggled and shook her head, "You ok there, Eskimo?"

As adorable as her son looked awestruck by the story at hand, he reached a whole different level of cuteness when he cried out, "Mom, don't stop, keep going! What happened? What did Uncle Matt see?"

Emily clicked her tongue, impressed by the boy's interest. She felt tempted to continue, but she had made a silent promise to stop at a certain part of the story until Russia had arrived to do his part as well. For the time being, Emily knew that she would be able to tell her side of the tale, but the car accident in London was the turning point, for not only herself, but also Ivan as well. Instead of continuing, Alaska found his mother glancing up at the clock in the room and pout, "Well…"

"Well?" Leaning forward, Andrei was dying to hear more, anything more about the car crash his mother had gotten into when she had been pregnant with him years before. He wasn't sure whether the event he had heard from England was what she had been leading up so he had to know. This was the first time America had ever spoken about getting into a car accident and it only made the state's curiosity grow. "Mom, why'd you crash?"

His mother played with his hair a little and suddenly slowed her pace, "Because… Because your Uncle was going to run somebody over, baby, that's why."

"Who was it?"

"Uh-" The woman chuckled softly to herself, her eyes darting around the room with discomfort. America was beating around the bush. "You… you can say it was somebody I wasn't actually thrilled to see."

The answer wasn't what the boy was expecting. Brows furrowing, Alaska felt his shoulders slump, "Mom! Who? Was it the Soviet Union?"

His mother perked up, but didn't reply to his guess. Releasing a deep breath, America finally conceded, "Man, I was hoping not to get to this part so soon." The pleading orbs of blue that fell upon her face were hard to ignore. She really had to stop spoiling her children, "Oh, all right, it was-"

Before she could further explain the sound of the doorbell interrupted the parent nation. The change in her face was instant, bringing Emily to her feet, "Speak of the devil, just what I wanted to hear. Hold on a sec, kiddo, I have to get this." With that said, she was out of the room before Alaska could react, forcing the boy to scramble after his mother in protest.

Andrei trailed after his mom out and towards the front door. He couldn't help but feel a little peeved about his mother failing to finish any specific part she had started. Sighing, he dared to make an oath to himself. He wasn't going to let his mom get interrupted again. He was going to get his answers even if he had to beg. "Oh, come on! Mom just tell me!" Not getting a reply, the state persisted, "You always stop at the really good parts. Why can't you just finish up the story for once? Who did England nearly run over?"

"That's Uncle Iggy to you, Mister. Be patient, Andrei, geez." Finally, arriving at the entryway of the house, America opened the door with gusto revealing two of his siblings, members of the older thirteen. "Virginia, Nicholas, long time no see."

Virginia and New York were the self proclaimed ring leaders of the fifty states. Being one of the closest children to Mama America, emotionally, Virginia Abigail Richmond Jones, was the naturally obedient one as well as the most protective of her mother's kids. She was a tomboy, and proud of it, having been able to keep up with her male siblings better than most of her sisters. It was a way the state could blow off some steam, especially since the whole Civil War fiasco Virginia had gotten caught up with. "Hey Mama, I got yer, uh, friend here, happy?" Blue-eyed like all America's other children, the only telltale sign of Virginia's paternal descent was her dirty blonde hair, inherited from England, cropped in a pixie cut so it was easy to deal with. She gave Emily a quick hug and strolled right in, ruffling Alaska's hair as she walked by, "Heya kiddo, yuh still here? Ain't you a big Mamma's boy."

Following her was the tall and slim Nicholas Adam Albany Jones. He was notorious for being an all out New Yorker, accent and all, which came with his strange need to do everything as if he was in a hurry. The state practically lived on Wall Street, unless it was baseball season. Appearing almost standoffish, Nick gave off an air of superiority around the other 49. Where Virginia was Mamma's girl, New York was Emily's ace and the most internationally recognized state of the union. He dealt with other nations on a regular basis when his mother was unavailable, and if it wasn't for the bull tattoo on his shoulder blade and the dark scar that trailed from his temple to his jaw from a 'recent' terrorist attack, one would think New York was the 'perfect' son. "Ma, has tings? Dat guy's back ada car." Other than his height, reminiscent to a certain tall European***, much of his appearance was traced back to his mother's side of the family, from his darkening skin, making him more and more like California due to his varied demographics, and light brown hair, to bright cerulean gaze. Giving his mother a quick peck on the cheek, he too entered the house, playing with his younger brother's hair in the common casual greeting Andrei seemed to always get, before leaving for the kitchen like his older sister had done before, "Has it goin, Al?" Of course, good old New York was too quick to actually receive a decent reply, already gone before Alaska could answer.

Lost, Alaska couldn't help but look up as his mother, "Mom, why are they-"

Turning to his mother, he found that Emily had disappeared from view, only catching sight of her already a few feet away, running out into the snow covered driveway in nothing more than a t-shirt and sweatpants. Alarmed at his mother's sudden act, Andrei followed the superpower around the family's large Escalade, "Mom, where are you going?"

He came to a screeching stop at the edge of the driveway, eyes catching up with America in mid-greeting. Barefoot and thinly clad for a December morning, Emily looked like a fool going from one foot to the other, hands tucked under her arms, as she said hello to her guest, who was currently pulling his suitcases from the trunk of Virginia's car. His mother's face was lost in the brightness of her smile, and in an instant the woman went from experienced mother to naïve nation, "You finally made it! Did those two treat you alright?"

Andrei felt his body stiffen as he watched the stranger straighten from his spot by the trunk. Scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and sighing into the winter air, the Russian Federation responded simply, "They were manageable. Rather protective of their mother as usual." The Russian raised an eyebrow, noticing his host's appearance. "Amerika, why are you not wearing shoes?"

The smaller country laughed, "Well, when I saw Virginia and Nick come in without you I got worried that they bailed out on picking you up." Russia chuckled at this comment, giving Andrei's mother a polite smile the boy had never seen before in the small set of pictures Emily had allowed him to see of his father. The state was frozen in his place, a mix of both apprehension and awe filling his system. Unfortunately, any idea of making a run for it was dashed by America looking in his direction. The grin she gave Ivan softening at the sight of her youngest son. "Hey look who came to visit? Come here and say hello, Alaska."

He didn't know what made him obey his parent's call. Maybe it was the fact that it was America who was speaking, obligating him to get closer, or maybe it was the fact that he saw the taller man beside her stiffen as well, slowly turning to gaze at the distant boy. By the time the words had even registered, Emily had grabbed him by the wrist and was pulling him towards the 'guest'. Now standing barely a foot away from the towering figure of the parent he had never met, Andrei didn't know what to think or say.

He just stared.

And Ivan stared back.

Emily released a deep breath and broke the silence, beginning to lose feeling in her toes. She leaned down and whispered into her son's ear, "This is the guy we nearly ran over." Pushing him forward she coaxed him on, "Where are your manners, baby? Say hello to your father."

*: America can't speak very many languages fluently, mainly English and Spanish, but she does know how to understand a number of languages due to her background of being the melting pot of the world. She has the language ability of most second-generation hyphenated Americans where they can comprehend what is internationally being spoken, but will butcher languages when given a chance.

**: She is talking about a Basic Army Colt that was first distributed during the Old Western days and were constantly updated with the army, or so my research tells me. Yes, America does bring it everywhere, so leaving it some place does make her a bit antsy.

***: New York's father was the Netherlands, his name, Nicholas Adams, is reminiscent to the days when he was known as New Amsterdam or New Netherlands. Under British rule, the first thirteen states actually had Kirkland as a Surname, such as Nicholas Albany Jones Kirkland, but after the revolution the thirteen all changed their names. In Nick's case, he became Nicholas Adams Albany Jones. The first thirteen are the only states who do not have a name with connection to their fathers, unlike Andrei who has the patronymic name, Ivanovich added to his name (Thanks to MyPrettyRussianFlower for that info).

If you have any other questions about my story please don't be afraid to ask. I will try to answer them the best I can.

Preview of the next chapter:

It was already a bad sign when his dad didn't react, forcing America to mutter a rather audible, "Ivan, say something," while actually giving the fellow country a dissatisfied glare.

For a second, Russia flinched, snapping out of the trance he had fallen into at the sight of the child. Andrei was just so tall, so much more 'grown-up' than he could have imagined. Despite the occasional picture Emily gave him of 'their' son, Ivan was too stunned to believe that here was the boy he sired, nearly as tall as his mother and yet sporting the awkward body of a preteen. America had been right, Andrei did look a lot like him, aside from having blue eyes. From the boy's platinum locks to his potential height and built, if the Alaska was allowed to fully develop like that of his siblings, the state would end up being an American Russia.

"You… you have your mother's eyes…uh" Choking on the statement, Ivan felt his face heat up, pulling his scarf tighter around his face, to keep the reddening of his cheeks hidden.

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