"Oh, there you are Elizaveta."

Sadiq glanced at his daughter, while holding a tray of scones. Elizaveta just got home from band practice, and the sun was already setting when she arrived. "Can you help me with this? I'm preparing a welcoming party for Arthur."

The brunette held the tray with her hands, a confused expression on her face as she asked, "Uh, seriously, Dad.. Scones? You prepared scones for a welcoming party?"

The Turk can't help but chuckle, as he placed the porcelain plates on the dining table. "Yes, are there any problems with that?", he asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. The brunette gave him an uneasy smile as she spoke. "Nothing.. It's just that you prepared something different.. I mean, something you don't usually cook.."

Sadiq chuckled at her response. "I heard that Arthur is from England, correct? Since this is a welcoming party, I just want him to feel right at home here at our house.. Remember the Hungarian sausages I prepared for your welcoming party?"

The brunette smiled as she took a seat. "Yes.. I remember it quite well.", and sadness filled her emerald eyes as the memories occupied her thoughts.

Sadiq bobbed his head when he heard the sound of footsteps from the hallway, and saw that Heracles was about to head towards the front door. He called out to him. "Heracles!"

The Greek glanced at his father, his eyes half-closed, and was obviously irritated when he caught sight of the food on the dining table. "I'm going out, so I won't be able to eat dinner with you and your friend.", and before the Turk could even speak, he was silenced by his son's slamming of the front door. Sadiq sighed.

"I thought Heracles' rebellious phase is already over.. What is happening with him, seriously.."

The brunette gave him a nervous chuckle as Sadiq took a seat. "I am also confused as to why abi would act that way..", and as she looked around, she noticed that something or someone is missing. "Baba, where's Gupta?"

Sadiq stared at her blankly as he realized that he hadn't seen Gupta ever since he got home from shopping earlier. "You mean.. Gupta isn't in his room?"

The two were about to stand and find Gupta when all of a sudden, they heard the front door clicked open. "We're home!", the little kid exclaimed, as he walked towards the dining room, one hand still holding the Brit's. Arthur had a smile on his face as he walked into the room, and bobbed his head to one side when he saw the food on the table.

"Is there a special celebration going on?", he asked, as Sadiq and Elizaveta stared at the two who were holding hands. Sadiq smiled as he commented, "I see you two are quite close now.", and continued, "Where did you two go? I was almost worried earlier.."

Gupta looked at his father with his brown chocolate eyes as he spoke. "Enişte accompanied me to the park today.", he answered nonchalantly, and the two cringed at the term the little kid just used to refer to the Brit. "Eniste?", the Turk repeated, and laughed as a blush crept on Elizaveta's cheeks. She turned to look at the little kid, one hand on his shoulder as she spoke. "He's not your eniste, okay, Gupta? So stop calling him that."

The little kid frowned. Arthur had a confused expression on his face since he didn't understood what the word just meant. Then, all of a sudden, Gupta pulled the Brit's hand and clasped it together with Elizaveta's. "But.. he said to me earlier that he was going to marry you, abla.", he spoke, as he looked at the brunette, chocolate brown eyes on her.

Two pairs of emerald eyes stared as their faces turned into a brighter shade of red. "M-Marry you?!", the two exclaimed, as they quickly pulled their hands away from each other. Elizaveta stared at him with bewildered eyes, and the Brit kept on stuttering as he tried to explain. "No, I d-didn't tell him that! It's just a complete misunderstanding..", and the brunette stood up, still staring, as she walked towards another seat, farther away from the Brit. Arthur sighed. "You look silly, Ms. Hedervary.", he commented, as he took the seat near him. Sadiq chuckled and the little kid can't help but chuckle too, it had been a long time since the house had been so lively like this, they thought. "Okay, okay!", the Turk exclaimed as he clapped his hands to get their attention. He looked at Arthur and grinned, "Welcome to the family, Arthur! This is a welcoming party just for you."

The Brit smiled. An overwhelming feeling came over him as he tried to not choke on his words. "Thank you..", and he grabbed a scone, eating it a bit too quickly as he tried to stop his eyes from tearing up.

They started to eat the food, and the room was filled with awkward silence. They kept on waiting for someone to start the conversation, to keep the celebration going.

Curiosity then filled the Brit's eyes as he suddenly called the Turk's attention. "Umm. Mr. Annan?"

Sadiq glanced at him, while holding a half-eaten scone in one hand. "Yes, Arthur?", and he took another bite from the pastry as he continued, "And please, do skip the formalities, and just call me baba, okay?"

"Umm. Okay..", the Brit nodded, as he tried to pronounce correctly the new word he just learned. "B.. Baba?"

It sounded weird and unnatural, he thought.

From the corner of his eyes, he can see the brunette trying to suppress a laugh. Beside the brunette sat the little kid, Gupta, who was busy with his own food and wasn't really listening to the conversation. Arthur coughed twice before he spoke. "As I was saying.. Umm..", he glanced at the Turk, a bit embarrassed as he continued, "..it's not as if I'm not grateful or anything that you let me stay here.. Really, I feel very grateful.. But.. Umm.."

Sadiq glanced at him, already knowing what the Brit was going to say. "I thought you didn't have a place to stay?", he asked, while holding a teacup on one hand. Did he just read my mind?, Arthur thought as he tried to ask another question to the Turk.

"How.. How come you knew I didn't have a place to stay..?"

The Turk looked at him, a bit surprised. "Huh? I thought Gerhart told you about my place? He didn't tell you? He just called me earlier, telling me to take care of you."

"G-Gerhart? You mean, you're friends with that wanker?", he asked, quickly placing a hand over his own mouth as he realized that he just said a profane word. Arthur was used to cursing and profanity, really, but then he thought that cursing while eating, and especially while staying in a place that is not his own are considered ill manners. He tried to rephrase his question, "So.. You mean, you're friends with that CEO?"

The Turk answered, completely ignoring the curse part, "Ah, yes. We're friends, colleagues."

Arthur continued to nibble on his scone, an evil aura surrounding him as he cursed the CEO in his thoughts.

After forcing me to go to that damn school, giving me limited funds to live on, closing my condo, and now.. He didn't even tell me about his friend's house! Damn him. Damn that CEO..

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Elizaveta spoke. "I was just thinking, how come that you are going back to school? And a low profile school at that. Why not choose a better school? And also, why don't you have a place to stay? With your job, I'm sure you can find some place better.."

Arthur felt as if a piece of scone was stuck in his throat. Why does this woman have a lot of questions?

He glanced at the brunette who was waiting for her answer.

Should I tell her? Should I tell them-Oh, bloody hell, don't look at me like that!

Arthur bit his lower lip, as he hesitated to answer her question. Elizaveta tapped her fingers on the table, getting impatient as she waited for his answer. "Ah, whatever. I guess you don't want to tell us..", and she grabbed another scone, and nibbled on it.

The Brit heaved a sigh of relief.

At least she didn't nag me about it, and that's good..


A few hours after the welcoming party, Sadiq had already shown Arthur his own room, and the stuff that he gets to use while he is staying there. Arthur laid himself down on the bed, his face on the soft pillow, as he tried to distract himself with his own thoughts. He stretched his arms out wide, a feeling of incompleteness creeping on him. What is missing?, he thought as he clenched and unclenched his own hands, his mind suddenly remembering that feeling, even though faint, when the brunette was in his arms, her hair the scent of those of apples and cinnamon, and the touch of her milky white skin on his neck. He missed it, he thought, but then shook his head in denial as he started to realize what he was just thinking.

Me and my silly thoughts..

He kept his mind busy until sleep overwhelmed his senses.


The sound of footsteps from the front door made the Turk turn his head. Apparently, he was drinking a cup of coffee while doing some work on the dining table, when his son just arrived. "So, did you have fun while you were out?", he asked, as he turned his attention back to his own work. The Greek stopped on his tracks, his hand on the railing of the stairs as he looked back to his own father. "Yeah, I guess. Just went over the Nordics' house, ate pasta.."

"Well, that's good."

Silence. Heracles just stood there, staring at the Turk who was busy on his work. "Aren't you going back to your own room?", Sadiq asked, as he sipped on a cup of coffee, his eyes on his paperwork.

"Aren't you angry? Don't you feel like hitting me on the head or anything?", the Greek asked as he walked towards the dining table, grabbing a seat next to the Turk. Sadiq glanced at him, then back to his papers. "No, I'm not angry. I am quite used to that sort of behavior of yours."

Silence. Heracles looked away, now staring at the moon from the dining room windows. "Yes, you are quite used to this behavior of mine.,", and he chuckled as he continued, "It's been years, huh?"

The Turk glanced again at him, curiosity in his eyes as he asked, "Now I wonder why you seem to dislike Arthur..", and placed the cup of coffee back on the table. His son's eyebrows furrowed as he answered, "I don't know. It just.. happened. Whenever I see his face, I feel irritated.. Like I want to punch him in the face."

"But that is what you told me when you first met Roderich."

Heracles glanced back at his father, a slight shock on his features. "Is.. Is that so? Well..", he turned to look at the moon again, his eyes reflecting the moon's faint glow. "As much as I love my sister, I'd rather let Roderich have her than that Britboy—"

Sadiq yawned, pretending not to hear what his son just said. "Okay, I guess it's time to go to bed. It's already 12 AM, and you still have class tomorrow, and I have more work tomorrow.. You can go ahead, while I first clean up this mess."

Heracles smiled a bit. At least I'm off the hook, he thought as he climbed up the stairs, feeling sleepy himself.


A/N: Yeah, I know. This chapter is a bit lame, many grammatical errors,a bit rushed and yeah. I'm kinda busy with orchestra and dance practice, and I'm running out of inspiration.. Ahaha. So yeah.

Eniste – Turkish word for "brother in law"

Baba – Turkish word for "father"