Parents

Arthur felt quite nervous upon waking up the next morning and walking outside with the pack. Alfred grinned widely and chattered mindlessly about how 'his parents would love Arthur' and 'oh shit, my mom's going to murder me'. The pack transformed into wolves, minus Alfred and Amelia. Even Akane managed it, but Nicole nudged him to turn back and he instead climbed onto Kiku's back and gripped his father's fur tightly. Akane wouldn't be able to run fast or long enough. Alfred turned into, not a horse this time, but a centaur. Arthur stared and Alfred chuckled.

"It's so that you can hang on instead of carrying Amelia. It's a long ride." He took his daughter up from Arthur then and Arthur climbed onto his back, hugging his chest.

"This is strange." He stated, feeling embarrassed and baffled at the strangeness of it all. He was on a horse, but he was hugging a human (Hetalian?) male chest. Gilbert, next to him, snorted with laughter and Alfred took off, leading his pack. He hadn't been kidding when he had said that it was going to be a long ride. It felt like they were travelling for many, many miles. Above them the atmosphere of the sky changed colours. The scenery around them did as well. Instead of the tall forests and plains Arthur was used to, the ground became somewhat rocky and appeared more mountainous. The rest of the pack transformed them into either horses or –in the twins' cases- birds. The children often took rests on the adults' shoulders or backs.

After what felt like an hour Alfred slowed to a stop as did the rest of the pack. They were by a river. Arthur climbed off with a groan and resisted the urge to fall to his knees, instead leaning against a rock. It was hard on his nether regions to ride so far and for so long on horse. He knew that he would feel sore tomorrow. He sat down and Alfred changed back to hand him Amelia as the others went to the water.

"What's wrong?" He asked with a small frown. Arthur looked away and didn't answer. Alfred scanned him over and noticed that when Arthur's legs twitched closer together the man winced. Alfred felt a lewd grin spread across his face. "You hurting down here?" He asked, teasingly running his hand up Arthur's inner thigh and Arthur's legs snapped shut with a glare. But that only trapped Alfred's hand right where he wanted it.

"Stop it." Arthur hissed. "Our pack's right there and I have our daughter!"

Alfred wiggled his fingers and caused Arthur's breath to hitch as his mate leaned in close to kiss his cheek. "Aw, you don't want me to make you feel better?"

"No! Now stop it!" Arthur tried to push Alfred's hand away without actually opening his legs but failed at it. "I don't want you to help me!" But Alfred knew Arthur was lying. He was enjoying it. What a perv. Alfred thought cheerfully.

"Mate-scent!" Gilbert called and looked over at the group as the others did as well. "Something naughty's going on with the pack leader and his mate!"

"What do you mean, vati?" Zack asked, not understanding.

"Shut up, you twat!" Arthur shouted at him and kicked Alfred away, blushing furiously as he climbed to his feet to go sit in the river. It was cold and cooled him off quickly. Amelia looked at him innocently, unaware of what had occurred between her parents. "Don't ever grow up to be like your father." Arthur murmured to her, giving her an 'Eskimo's kiss'. Amelia gurgled happily and giggled.

"Hey! I heard that!" Alfred yelled at him from where he was picking himself up from the ground where Arthur had kicked him. Arthur kissed his daughter's forehead and hummed, ignoring his mate.

After a few more minutes of rest they left again. Matthew informed him that that had been the halfway stop. They would be there in another hour. Arthur resisted groaning. He was going to feel terrible after that day. He glared slightly at the back of Alfred's head. "I can see that your sex drive is back." He muttered just loud enough for his mate to hear.

"Yup!" Alfred agreed easily. Arthur glared feeling embarrassed for his stupid mate. But inside he felt a little pleased. It had been a long time since the two of them had mated.


Alfred's parents lived near the beach, apparently. The ocean was a deep purple-blue and the Starlight struck the waves and temporarily blinded Arthur. He climbed off of Alfred and took his daughter, holding her close in his anxiety. Alfred and the others changed back. "I'll go find them!" Matthew announced and ran off, appearing excited.

"Nervous about meeting the parents?" Gilbert asked.

"Maybe a bit." Arthur admitted.

"Well it can't go any worse than it did for Gilbert." Nicole said, with a giggle. Arthur raised an eyebrow in confusion and was about to ask what she meant when a loud, "Alfred F. Jones!" was shouted angrily. They all jumped in the air and for once Amelia didn't burst into tears at a shout. She looked too petrified. Alfred looked that way along with her. Arthur turned to see three people approach. One was Matthew, looking a little nervous himself, and then there were two obviously older people. They appeared to be Arthur's age. One was Alfred's height and had light brown hair and blue eyes similar to Alfred's. Arthur could tell that it was their father. The last person was dark-skinned and had long black hair that half covered her chest and extended to her waist. They looked like they were of Native American decent, which startled Arthur. There weren't many Hetalians he had seen with darker skin. It was this person who had yelled at Alfred.

"How dare you take so long to come visit!" Alfred's mother said. Arthur felt that there was something strange about her but couldn't place it yet. "It's been months! I thought I told you after you came home after years of being away to visit more often!"

Alfred rubbed the back of his head as Gilbert and Nicole stifled snickers and Kiku covered his mouth, appearing amused. "Sorry, mom. I kinda got caught up in a lot of stuff."

"What kind of stuff would stop you from visiting us?" She demanded. Alfred grabbed a hold of Arthur and bodily moved him in between the family members, startling his mate's mother.

"Mom, this is my mate Arthur and our daughter Amelia." Alfred grinned, wrapping his arms around Arthur's waist and resting his chin on Arthur's shoulder to look at his parents. His mother and father seemed stunned. Arthur shifted Amelia so that she was partially lying on his shoulder and held her with one arm while he held out his hand to his parents-in-law.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Arthur Kirkland." Arthur hoped desperately that he was understandable. He knew that he at least said the latter sentence in correct Hetalian at least.

The parents looked slightly confused as they looked at each other and then at Arthur and then at the child in Arthur's arms. Amelia lifted her head to glance at her grandparents behind her before giving up and waving her arms at Alfred. Alfred took her from Arthur's arms and nuzzled her a little. The parents took the chance to look Arthur fully over, walking around him. Arthur flushed and tensed at the scrutiny.

"You're a human?" Alfred's father spoke for the first time.

"Yes." Arthur replied.

"You're the one who broke our Alfred's heart by not coming here sooner?" Alfred's mother demanded, crossing her arms. Arthur didn't understand and looked to his friends for a translation. Nicole was practically on the ground, hunched over in suppressed laughter. She seemed to be enjoying Arthur's pain. Alfred turned red at whatever his mother said.

"Mom, stop it! He didn't break my heart! If anything it was the other way around!" He told her.

"But he's the one who stayed." She replied, looking annoyed.

"Lay off, man. It doesn't matter because he's here now and look! We have a child!" Arthur was completely lost on the conversation and cursed his lack of language skills. This was why he lived in countries that spoke English. Alfred held out Amelia to his parents and his father took her. The two crowded in on their granddaughter and the little girl giggled.

"She's adorable!" Alfred's mother announced and scooped the girl up to cuddle her.

"You had her with Arthur already?" The father asked.

"Yeah, during my first heat too!" Alfred laughed. "I think humans are a lot more fertile than we are!"

"So you're the mother?"

"Well, I gave birth, but Artie's definitely the mother." Alfred laughed and Nicole couldn't hold it in any longer as she and Gilbert collapsed in a fit of giggles and Kiku and Matthew chuckled together.

"What am I missing?" Arthur asked desperately, not understanding the fast dialogue.

"Not much. They love our daughter." Alfred said and kissed his mate's forehead. He secretly shot a wink at his friends.

"It's nice to meet you, Arthur." Alfred's father finally grasped Arthur's hand and shook it. "My name is Keyon."

Arthur was relieved to finally understand something. "And I'm Susanoo." Alfred's mother said and placed Amelia into Alfred's arms before pulling Arthur into a hug. Arthur bit back a squeak as he realized just what was off about Alfred's mother. She was a male. He hadn't even noticed, having become too used to seeing others naked that he didn't even bother to look at bodies any longer. He felt ridiculous for not noticing earlier.

The time went by easily after that. Arthur discovered exactly why Gilbert's "meeting with the parents went bad" as he had made the mistake of calling Susanoo a girl because of his long hair and promptly pissed off Matthew's mom. Susanoo still didn't like Gilbert very much at all, but he adored each one of the grandchildren, coddling them and spinning each around. Arthur saw where Alfred got his hyperactivity from. Matthew seemed to inherit his father's attitude more. Arthur preferred Keyon. He didn't speak all that much, but he seemed extremely kind.

Later on they were joined by the rest of Susanoo's pack (he was the leader, apparently). They consisted of Nicole's mother (who was actually a male as well), Gilbert's father, and the Italian twins' grandfather. Arthur was shocked to find out that the young man who –because Arthur for the life or him couldn't pronounce his name- was called Rome turned out to be actually very elderly. He was nearly twice Alfred's age and Gilbert's father (named Germania. Arthur had a feeling that everyone here had strange names) was very nearly as old. But they both didn't look older than their late twenties. Eternal youth, Arthur mused, must certainly exist here. Although they weren't officially mates, Rome and Germania appeared to be almost dating, although Germania denied it.

There was a sixth person as well, a young blonde girl who appeared to be about fifteen. Everyone of Alfred's pack was surprised. "Who's this?" Nicole asked, happy to see another girl. The girl had short boy-cropped blonde hair with blue eyes and seemed shy but had a strong attitude, Arthur could sense.

"This is Jeanne." Rome said, wrapping his arms around her. The girl blushed and escaped his hold, appearing slightly annoyed. "I found her wandering without a pack and decided to chat her up because she's a pretty young girl and she said her parents died so I asked her to join our pack and she said yes!" Alfred translated for Arthur to understand and Arthur gave him a thankful look.

Gilbert laughed. "Isn't she young to be hanging out with a bunch of old people?" He was struck on the back of the head by his father. "OW! Vati!" He whined. Zack and Roger snickered and Gilbert glared at them.

"I appreciate them allowing me to join them." Jeanne said sincerely. "I was so unsure of what to do by myself." Arthur felt charmed by her but reluctant to like her, for whatever reason. Perhaps it was her personality. He couldn't quite place it but he didn't push it.


The next day was also spent with the parents as Arthur and the children got to know them more. Arthur was happy to be accepted, although Susanoo seemed to hold a certain displeasure towards him. He couldn't understand what it was about, though. He looked to Alfred for help.

Alfred shrugged. "My mom's weird. He just is like that." Arthur brushed it off but he wondered if he had done something to offend his mother-in-law.

"Alfred, I've been meaning to ask, but shouldn't Amelia be crawling more than how she is?" Keyon asked at some point during lunch on the third day of being there. The pack had separated so that they were sitting with their respective parents and grandparents with Gilbert and Matthew eating with Germania and the grandchildren and Kiku and Nicole sitting with Akane, Rome, Nicole's mother, and Jeanne.

"You think so too?" Alfred said, setting his burger down. "I was thinking about that…"

"What?" Arthur asked, not understanding.

"Dad thinks that Amelia should be crawling more too." Alfred told him and they looked at Amelia who was lying on her tummy playing with a butterfly on her hand. The butterfly landed on her nose after she rolled onto her back and she squealed joyfully.

Arthur frowned and placed his cup down to turn to kneel. "Amelia." He called. The little girl looked at him. She recognized her name and little things that were obviously advanced for a normal human child. She knew what to play with and how not to go into deep water without help of an adult. "Come here." He told her, motioning her towards him. Amelia stared and turned to wiggle towards him but Alfred climbed to his feet and picked her up to place her on her hands and knees.

"Go to mommy." He told her in Hetalian. Amelia watched him, not understanding. Alfred pointed at Arthur. "Mommy." He said and grinned encouragingly. Amelia looked down at the ground and struggled a little to stay on her hands and knees but looked determined. She moved forward some, but fell. She whined when Alfred tried to help her up and did it herself, appearing even more determined. Arthur smiled at his daughter's efforts, proud of her stubbornness. The little girl, after two more falls, finally made it and Arthur pulled her into his arms and cheered for her. Alfred and the grandparents joined in, congratulating the girl and kissing her on the head. The girl looked happy at all of the attention.

"Now let's see her transform!" Susanoo said.

Alfred looked at her in surprise. "She can't."

"What do you mean?" His mother asked, surprised.

"Well, she hasn't tried. Isn't she a little young?"

"How old is she?"

"A little over three weeks now."

"That's plenty of time. You should start practicing with her. She should at least be able to change a body part." His mother nodded. Alfred told Arthur what they had talked about.

"Do you want to try?" Arthur asked Alfred.

"Sure?" He shrugged and Arthur placed Amelia on the ground. Alfred attracted her attention. "Copy daddy." He instructed once. He repeated it one more time before slowly morphing into a wolf. Amelia stared. Alfred waited a minute and then slowly turned back into a human. "Copy…daddy." He repeated and transformed back into a wolf, this time waiting.

Amelia sat up on her bottom and stared at him while Arthur and the grandparents watched her. After a moment her eyes scrunched up in concentration. Arthur was surprised by this, not thinking that she would actually understand Alfred. She waved her arms in frustration and whined slightly before Arthur saw the beginnings of ears and a tail poke out from her body.

"That's it!" Arthur encouraged. "Go on, darling." Amelia huffed a little before finally a tail about half the length of her body formed and wolf ears poked out of the top of her head. She appeared to keep trying but eventually gave up and pouted. Arthur cooed and took her into his arms anyway. "That's perfect, Amelia!" He kissed her cheek as Alfred nuzzled his head against the two of them.

"She's so smart!" Susanoo congratulated. "I didn't think she could grow a full tail!" Amelia's tail flicked and she looked fascinated with it. She giggled as it brushed against her legs and bottom and squealed happily. Arthur chuckled with her.

"Alright, watch daddy." He told her and turned her back to face Alfred. "Copy daddy." He said and Amelia watched as Alfred slowly changed back to normal. This time she didn't need to study long and scrunched her eyes up in concentration. Alfred amusedly thought she looked like she was trying to poop. After five minutes of waiting and no change the girl stopped and whimpered, looking sad at her failure. Alfred and his parents frowned. Arthur comforted her. "It's alright, darling. It's your first try." But then he caught Alfred and his parents murmuring to each other. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Alfred looked slightly disturbed. "…Well…turning back to normal is a lot easier than turning into something else…" He said hesitantly. Arthur's fear spiked.

"What are you saying?"

"Amelia, watch daddy." Alfred ignored his mate and turned first into a wolf quickly and then slowly changed back. "Copy daddy." Amelia tried and another five minutes passed. She failed again. Alfred was distressed now. "Mattie!" He called and Arthur's heart rate skyrocketed in fear. Was there something wrong with his daughter? The rest of the two packs rushed over.

"What's wrong?" Matthew asked.

"Amelia can't change back to normal!" Alfred told him. Amelia began whimpering, afraid of why her mommy and daddy were acting strangely. Matthew picked the child up and looked her over, touching her body in a couple places and checking her eyes and such. Zack tapped his leg.

"Will she be alright?" He asked in worry.

"She looks completely healthy." Matthew said. "But she should automatically change back to normal…" He sounded nervous.

"What's wrong with her?" Arthur demanded, standing.

"She's normal!" Matthew insisted.

"Obviously she's not! She can't change back!"

Amelia burst into tears now, wailing at her mother's yelling. "Calm down, Artie!" Alfred said and took his daughter to comfort. "You're scaring her!"

"She's scaring me!" Arthur said, fear coursing through him. "What's wrong with my daughter?" He demanded.

"Nothing is!" Matthew insisted again.

"Maybe," Kiku spoke up amongst the loud speak and they quieted down to hear him. Amelia was back to sniffling and whimpering, "this may be caused by her blood only being half Hetalian." He suggested.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked.

"I mean, maybe Arthur's human blood has hindered her ability to transform."

"So what do you think, then? Do you think she won't be able to change back?" Alfred asked as Gilbert and Matthew translated for the other adults who didn't understand English.

"Yes, but it's just an idea. She's still young so there's a chance that will change."

Arthur and Alfred looked at Amelia with her brown hair, bright blue eyes, wolf ears, and wolf tail. Would she be stuck with the animal parts? Arthur feared for her future. He kissed her cheek and promised himself that he would make sure that she would have a good future no matter what.