I do not own Hetalia okay? But seeing how you guys seem to really like this one so far, I will update sooner on it. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
Ivan headed to his sister to talk to her about everything that was going on. While Alfred had complained his brother wouldn't tell others what was on his mind like he should, Ivan knew his sister was much the same way. "Big sister, would you mind talking with me about something? I need your help with it."
"Sure" Katyusha replied as Ivan led her to the patio on the back porch to overlook the land. Because their house was in the middle of nowhere, they had a fair sized spot of land where Ivan liked to keep a garden in and Alfred would take him on walks in the woods until they got bored or lost enough. "How is the soil here? If we are in the area I should like to start a garden here. That is if Matvey and I don't have a house by spring."
"About that..." Ivan began.
"Stop that foolishness right now." Katyusha said turning for shy older sister to stern matronly figure. " You heard Fredka, what happened to him could have happened to anyone. I chose to get a job to help on my own accord. He did not make me. He is looking hard where we live but is not having a lot of luck. Hopefully his luck will change here, in fact I have a feeling it will. And if I am going to get the full benefits of living in this house and being able to save money more than if we lived elsewhere, I would appreciate if you would kindly back off Matvey." Ivan stood aback at his sister. That was an attitude he'd have expected more out of Natalya. Sensing this, she spoke up again. "Look little brother, I get why you're upset. You know what I had given up to give you and Natalya all you had. You guys never had as much as I wanted you to have but you got into college and are making great progress. I could never have asked for better. When Matvey married me you assumed he could give me the better life you think I deserve. Well he did and I say still is. So back off him. Be supportive or you'll see your sister like the Baba Yaga in those assassin movies that Fredka likes so much."
"Those John Wick movies? But they messed it up." Ivan said as Katyusha rolled her eyes.
"Must I lay it out plainly for you? Just think how Wick felt when those mobsters killed his dog his dearly departed wife left him. I do not take kindly to anyone who crosses those I love." Katyusha said. "Anyone." She added looking at Ivan. "So that aside, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well I was wanting to do something romantic for Fredka on Christmas but didn't have any ideas." Ivan asked with a slight blush. "And while his Papa claims to know so much about the subject, I trust your advice on the matter more sis."
"And he can be a creep sometimes. I try not to say to much to him for Matvey's sake." Katyusha said. "Just what are you thinking? I mean you know how family oriented Fredka and you are. I mean he was the one who arranged most everything on the family getting together for this."
"You are right about that." Ivan nodded.
"You usually are too Vanya." Katyusha said.
"Well I have been reconsidering that after how Alfred's fathers acted today." Ivan sighed.
"You must be tired." Katyusha smiled at he younger brother. "Think about it in a few days and if you still need my help, let me know."
"You're going to be a good mother." Ivan said as he headed back to the bedroom.
"I had plenty of practice with you and Natalya as teenagers. If I can handle you two, I can handle anything." A loud snore was heard from the couch where Matthew was looking at something on his phone. "I think Fredka is already asleep and should not be moved." Ivan nodded and headed off to sleep himself. Seeing her brother head off to sleep and hopefully have some peace for the rest of the day, she then sat on Matthew's lap and looked at him. "What seems so interesting my maple leaf?"
"Local news station has some openings. Al will take me in Monday and hopefully we won't have to live with them too long." Matthew said.
"You get a good job there, I want to get a house. A place we can call our own. One where I can actually have a decent sized garden more than a few pots on the porch." Katyusha smiled. "I'm also going to have to quit my job at the farm supply store now."
"Yeah for what you'd be making and have to drive." Matthew said as he looked down. "Don't worry I had a nice talk with Vanya and he won't give you a hard time anymore."
"Thanks Katy." Matthew said.
"Besides, I would be married to the cutest anchor ever." She giggled.
"I don't think that's the job I'd get but I appreciate the compliment." He said as he kissed Katyusha deeply. Alfred let out a snore sounding like he was waking up, causing the couple to look over and then laugh.
The next day Francis and Arthur said their goodbyes and headed back to their home in the city, much to Ivan's relief. "I hope to god they know how to act around Christmas."
"You know them, I think they get off on fighting." Alfred said. He then looked to Matthew and Katyusha who were going to pack some of their important things and move some of their other things into storage until they got a place of their own. "Mattie, still have your hockey stick from high school?"
"And college." Matthew smirked. "I did get a hockey scholarship after all."
"Yeah that, well if they act up like that at Christmas, you can use that on them. This is your house too and it's disrespectful to do so on a day like that." Alfred sighed. Matthew smiled. "That's the spirit bro, now let's get you settled. We'll follow you guys so we don't get lost." Letting Matthew take the lead was part of Alfred's attempts to boost his brother's self confidence. He had a lot to be proud of that he seemed to have forgotten. He graduated with honors. Made Dean's List in college all four years while on the hockey team, knowing how hard student athletes had to work. But at the same time, he seemed to constantly be in his brother's shadow which sometimes made it hard for him to see what he could and could not do.
As they drove to Matthew's house, Alfred turned to Ivan and wondered aloud, "You think Mattie sees himself in constant competition with me?"
"I hope he does not." Ivan said. "You two may look a lot like but you are very different people. Not saying it is bad, but he is his own."
"You're not bad mouthing him as much as you were before." Alfred noted.
"Well, I had a rather...pleasant..." Ivan said as he looked for the right word, "conversation with Katyusha about that."
"Oh yeah?" Alfred asked.
"Let's just say that I do not want to see her upset if I give Matthew a hard time..." He shuddered. Alfred laughed and Ivan looked at him with a dark glare, causing Alfred to fall silent. "I guess because she took care of Natalya and I as teenagers, putting her own future on hold I want her to be taken care of when she marries."
"Katy's stronger than you give her credit for. That's why she's a motherly as she is at times. If she didn't have that, then I would worry. But right now all of us, Katy, me and you Vanya need to help Matt get his confidence back. He's great when he has it but he loses it easily and I know what he can do." Alfred said as they pulled into the driveway of Matthew's apartment and they headed inside. Alfred grabbed Matthew's hand and ran into the bedroom where he looked at his brother's wardrobe.
"Just what are you doing?" He asked as Alfred began throwing clothes into separate piles.
"I want to see more of Matt on Ice Matthew than disappointed. You're better than that bro and you need to show it." He turned to see his brother standing there confused with a denim jacket, blue jeans and a red t shirt on. "And seriously, I hope you don't have more of those Canadian Tuxedos man. Double denim is such a a fashion faux pas."
"Like you would know that." Matthew said pushing Alfred into his closet with a laugh. "I've seen how you dress on the fourth of July."
"Hey! It's my birthday then and I will dress how I please!" Alfred pouted.
"Yeah and your husband was embarrassed by how you look like what happens when Uncle Sam goes to the beach with disregard for firework safety." Matthew smirked.
"Shut up." Alfred said as he threw a shoe at him.
"You first." He teased as their brotherly taunting was heard in the living room where Katyusha was sorting through the books on the shelves that she wanted at the house and the ones she was putting into storage. Looking down at the sofa, she smiled.
"What is is bol'shaya sistra?" Ivan asked.
"Nothing. It's just nice to hear Matvey with some spirit again." She noted as she placed the books in the box and headed to the corner that had her sewing and knitting supplies in it. "Haven't had much time to do this since I got that job. But I will now. That is if I don't transfer to the store near your house."
"Nyet sistra" Ivan said. "Retail stores are notorious for treating their employees poorly. Fredka had one at WalMart when we first got together but before his internship became full time paid employment. They had put him in the sporting goods department and I cannot tell you how many times he came home ranting about what the customers did to him, the complaints, the unreasonable requests, and all he had to smile and take the abuse when he wanted to strangle them. Many deserved it. And his managers were of no help."
"Really?" Katyusha said. Because she needed jobs that paid a somewhat livable wage when she was taking care of Ivan and Natalya and had limited education herself, she often got jobs in warehouses or on cleaning crews or in a nursing home's cafeteria. They paid well enough to live on but not much more. She often went without to make sure that Ivan and Natalya had what they needed.
"Really." Ivan said. "I had not seen him more frustrated in my life, even when we were rivals that supposedly hated each other. When his internship went full time, Fredka cursed out the manager who had kept giving him bad hours, making him put up with unreasonable customers and so on. That's why he's banned from the WalMart near his father's house."
"And you are worried that would happen to me?" Katyusha said.
"Da" Ivan nodded. "Only difference is you don't say when you are hurting. A coworker of mine said his wife lost their baby when she was working in a place like that because they would not work with her on things she needed. I don't want to see that happen to you and Matvey."
"Oh Vanya." Katyusha said with a smile as she hugged her younger brother. "You are so caring and protective. We are forever in your debt."
"You are not." Ivan said. "This is what family does for each other."
"You take that back Al!" was heard from across the house and Matthew ran after Alfred with his hockey stick.
"Never." Alfred said sticking his tongue out at Matthew.
"And you married that?" Ivan and Katyusha said to each other, commenting on their spouse's childish behavior before laying down on the couch laughing.
Sorting out what was to go where and for what purpose with occasional playful taunts and challenges coming from one party to another dragged on into the night. Eventually Katyusha and Matthew had everything they needed sorted as night fell and Matthew called for a few pizzas. "It's getting late and I guess because we were messing around more than we should, we didn't finish the task."
"Guess not..."Alfred laughed. "Want to go home and come back tomorrow?"
"Nah." Matthew said. "We have to get the big stuff we're saving into storage and I will need help with that from you two, so why don't you stay the night? The couch folds out. I mean we don't have a place as big as your guys but..."
"Don't feel bad about that." Ivan said. "If our jobs weren't set up like they are, we'd have to live closer to the city and we would have a place this size. Honestly that was just luck. Although I could live in a cardboard box as long as Fredka was with me."
"I do ask that you two do not get carnal on the couch." Matthew teased. "A romantic overnight usually is not at your brother's house on his couch."
"Shuddup." Alfred said throwing a pillow at his brother who threw it right back.
The pizza came and they spent the rest of the night exchanging stories of each other's spouses' childhood at their expense. Katyusha shared the story of when Ivan was a child while their Great-Uncle was still alive and raising them.
"You see Vanya is not good at making friends, hardly was." Katyusha said as she noticed Ivan blush and bury his face in his scarf. "He was about 9 when we had first come from Russia so naturally, with that he had a rough time in school. No one picked on him because of his size but also they didn't want to play with him. So our Chudovyy dyadʹko figured he could use a pet. So he gets a hamster that Vanya could call his own. He loved it so much and 3 days later it got out and was never found again and Vanya was so upset. He felt like he was rejected by the hamster. We had tried to explain to him that this happened with hamsters sometime but he was so sad. It was like seeing a big little teddy bear start to cry. " With this Alfred smiled at Ivan as if he was going to laugh at him.
"Did you have to bring that up sis?" Ivan said as his face grew red.
"Well how about this Ivan?" Matthew said sipping his soda. "Our Papa had a big fluffy long haired white cat when we were younger. It loved everyone in the family." He saw Alfred now grow red with the same embarrassment. "Except Al. This cat hated him. He would take dumps in Al's shoes. And of course Al never ever, ever checked so he'd step in cat poop. Hissed at him any time he went by and when it was his turn to change and clean the cat box, that cat would stand by watch and take a large dump in the clean box. It never did that with me, Dad or Papa."
"I hated that cat..." Alfred said, memories of getting up for middle school and finding cat poop in his shoes after he put on his socks flooding back as Ivan started to laugh. "Laugh it up Vanya..."
"You're so cute when you get pouty." Ivan said as Alfred sulked. "I love you."
"I love you too." Alfred said rolling his eyes. "That's why I didn't hit you for laughing at me. Anyone else I would have beat to the ground."
With this Alfred told the story of Matthew using maple syrup instead of hair gel one day when he was late for class and how everything sticked to his head and their Papa took him to an expensive salon to get his hair straightened out and Ivan told of a time when Katyusha tried to make a pizza but forgot to turn the oven on and after a few hours of wondering why it wasn't baking, she noticed it was not on and then she forgot about it and it burned. "Still tasted better than Arthur's cooking though sis." Ivan said, noticing that Katyusha was getting teary eyed at that.
"Yeah Katy, that seemed like a typical dinner for us growing up when Dad tried to cook. Like I said, that man could set a bowl of cereal on fire." Alfred said.
"I say that too." Matt replied.
"Well it's the truth isn't it?" Ivan replied.
"Yes." Matthew and Alfred said at the same time.
"So you both can use the saying." Ivan said as he looked at his watch. "It's getting late and if we start bright and early tomorrow, we can have this all sorted out and taken care of."
"Yeah and I don't want you looking worn out on that interview Monday Matt." Alfred said. "You'll blow them away."
"Thanks for the confidence bro." Matthew said as he helped Katyusha up and led her to their bedroom. Once they were out of earshot, Ivan pulled out the sofa and looked at Alfred.
"Matvey has an interview already?" He asked.
"Well channel 8 news has a ton of openings in various departments apparently and they're having open interviews. I figured it is worth a shot. What's the worst that can happen? Besides, they're not likely to hire him on the spot so he's still going to look at the school job too. I have faith that next Thanksgiving will be at their new house with the new baby and Mattie with a good job." Alfred said.
"I love your optimism." Ivan smiled and left the conversation there with a kiss on Alfred's lips. Ivan knew the job market for people with Matthew's degree was tough and suspected it might take longer where they lived than here. But money was an issue and if they had a roof over their heads, it would be easier on Katyusha at this time.
"I don't have it without a good reason." Alfred said as he kissed Ivan back. "I will just make sure this time he doesn't use maple syrup for hair gel."
"You're a very caring brother Fredka." Ivan smiled.
"Someone's got to have his back." Alfred smiled as he held onto Ivan on the lumpy pull out mattress. "And you are so protective of Katy." Alfred took a breath as he had the idea for awhile but didn't know how Ivan would respond to the idea. "You'd make a great dad."
"Chto vy imeyete v vidu?" Ivan asked in so much surprise it came out in Russian.
"What I mean is I was thinking we should adopt one of these days." Alfred said. "What do you think?"
Ivan paused. Late at night wasn't the time to have the discussion but he would be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind a few times since Katyusha said she was pregnant. "I think we should discuss it more when we aren't moving our siblings into our house." He noticed Alfred's face fall. "But I have thought a little about it and yes, you'd make a good dad yourself too. You can at least keep up with a child."
"You could too." Alfred said as he kissed Ivan on the cheek. "We'll talk about it later." He sighed as they fell asleep.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. This is very slice of life-ish so like I said before I am not having tons of smut or violence. I don't really have much to say on this one right now so remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
otherrealmwriter
aka
Realm.