Ch. 37: Alfred's Second Phone Call

"Cheri, wake up. It's time for dinner," Francis said to his daughter.

"Alright," she said slowly opening her eyes. She stood up and walked downstairs, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She sat quietly throughout dinner.

As she took her last few bites, Francis sighed. "Tell me what's wrong. You aren't you. You seem sad," he said setting his fork down and looking at her. "Don't even try to lie to me."

"I'm upset about moving," she said honestly.

"Why? It's for your own good," he said.

"I know... But, I'll- I made many friends and I don't want to leave them..."

"We can visit every so often. Or when we have enough money to travel."

"I wonder how mom is thinking of the situation..." Maddie said quietly.

"Cheri, I think about what Joan thinks all the time. Will she agree with what I'm doing? Will she disagree? I'll never know. But for now, I assume she will, okay? It's for the better that we move. I love you, Maddie," he said kissing her forehead.

"I love you, too, Papa," she said softly. Then the phone rang. Francis stood up and answered it.

"Hello?... Oh, hello... Yeah, she is... Okay, here she is." He handed the phone to Maddie.

"Hello?" she asked holding it to her ear.

"Hey, Maddie," Alfred said.

"Hi."

"I just woke up and saw your letter." Now that he said it, he did have a husky-ish voice. "Thanks for giving me my work."

"It's nothing, really."

"No, seriously. Thanks. It means a lot. Most of the people at Hetalia High don't like me."

"Oh..."

"...Yeah... Anyway, sorry I was asleep. Doc gave me some medicine and it knocked me out for a while. I was hoping to be awake before you came but it turns out I was... Four hours late. Yeah, it's about eight thirty."

"It's okay."

"That's good."

"So, what phone are you using?"

"Oh yeah! It's mom's. By the way, she said hi."

"Hi, Ms. Alfred's mom... Unless she's married again."

"I don't see a ring on her finger... Oh yeah. That reminds me..."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, just thinkin' out loud. Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Alright. Anywho, Doc said I should be out spick and span tomorrow mornin'. I was wondering if you'd go out with me to see like a movie or whatever Saturday? Then we can eat out 'cuz dad is still an awful cook." Arthur's voice could be heard yelling at Alfred about how he 'can cook just fine'.

"Sounds like a plan." She smiled even though he couldn't see it.

"Sweet..." They stayed quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying being on the phone with each other. Maddie always felt safer when talking with Alfred.

"I was thinking..." Alfred trailed off.

"Yeah?" Maddie asked.

"Huh? Oh, thinking out loud again. Sorry."

"It's fine." They fell silent again- Maddie in her thoughts and Alfred in his. Movement could be heard on Alfred's side of the line.

"Hey, I gotta go. Doc hasta do some last minute tests or whatever to make sure I am fully recovered enough to head home tomorrow," Alfred said.

"Oh, okay," Maddie replied, sounding a little sad.

"I'm sorry. I'll call back once I'm done."

"No, it's fine. You need your rest, and I need to pa... Get my homework done. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. See ya. Bye."

"Bye." They hung up. Maddie paled. She about spilt that she was going to pack. Hopefully Alfred wouldn't question it...

Hello, hello! Happy Tuesday! So, yeah. As usual, we hoped you enjoyed it! Since I can't think of what else to say, until next time, peace! ~Love-Peace-Anime

Cardfighter By Heart: That's good! I was worried you wouldn't have. And we'll see ;) Thanks for reviewing!

CatForKitKatz: Pasta is always good :) *returns thumbs up* Awesome! Thank you for the review!

Aurora Chen: Ahh, I get it now. I don't know, honestly. But you can't be too sure about the future, I guess. Well, Francis said that they will be out by that date, plus he already said he was looking around. Even though I've moved from house to house a few times, I never really got it down how it goes out, you know? So not all of my information is always correct. But thanks for pointing it out! Now that I reread it over, I suppose it could be considered incorrect grammar. Sorry about that. I usually reread my work a handful of times before uploading it. I guess I skipped that. In some parts of the fandom, they say Madeline's "Kuma" is Ko. Ko is, like Kuma, a polar bear/teddy bear, but I thought a cat would work bette. But now that I think about it, I might go back and change her to a teddy bear. I'm trying to add Ko in more often because she kinda plays a role in some parts, you know? Did that clear up your questions? Anywho, thanks for reviewing!

BloodStained-BallGowns: Doesn't all cats know something they shouldn't? If my cat COULD talk, she'd probably have a mouth of a sailor towards me because she hates me for no reason. It's my sister who treats her bad, not me! I know we look alike but seriously! Aha. Anywho, Thanks for your review!