Okay if you need a disclaimer, please see the other 36 chapters. I think by now you should have the idea that I do not own Hetalia, okay? I would like to thank all who have read this story, commented, faved and so on. It means just so much to me that you like it enough to do so. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
"So why did you book this place to stay?" Arthur said as he laid back on the bed, tired from having to clean up after the party that he and his husband's friends threw for their sons growing families. Normally cleaning up after a party was not something that would bother him too much but with Natalya barking orders at all 4 of the older men, it was rather tiresome. Deciding that while it was only an hour back home, he was rather tired and Francis had promised to handle the arrangements. Only thing was, it was the old run down bed and breakfast he was still planning to buy. Thinking this way Arthur could actually see the property and the potential it had like he did. He had not given up on the idea, but between the excitement of Alfred and Matthew's growing families, and his initial concern of Arthur's well being, he had sort of forgot about it. And in the time that went by, this would just give Francis more leverage to talk about the price. That was something that made Arthur put his foot down and say no to the idea in the first place.
"Just to see what we could do with it." Francis teased.
"Well there's no one around, this place is practically abandoned." Arthur commented. "I know how we have frequently gotten in trouble at hotels for being rather..."
"Loud in bed. No need to beat around the bush with me my love, I was there with you every time." Francis said. "And now I wasn't thinking of that tonight but things might change..."
"But seriously Francis, this television looks only slightly younger than the boys. It reminds me of the ones we gave them when they were 12 years old. And the man at the front desk was rather rude." Arthur said. "So I doubt a change of ownership alone will solve anything. I mean it might as the owners,"
"As in us..." Francis said as Arthur dismissed him.
"The owners could fire the man and then bring on someone who actually knows what they are doing." Arthur stated as he sat down on the bed. "However, that costs money and your budget you would have would not likely be good enough to make up for the fact that this place has sure to have gotten a rather sour reputation over the past few years if it is all you say it is."
"We can fix all that." Francis said.
"Possibly but hopes and dreams do not pay the bills. We have our own retirements to think about too. And as wonderful as it may be to be closer to the boys and our grandchildren, what if this fails and we put all we saved into it? I could not ask either of the boys to help us out then. They would have little to no room for us. Most businesses fail in the first year and that is without rebuilding the image, which would need to be done. That costs money. Lots of it." Arthur said. "Is there anyone you could find to enter a partnership with?"
"Why I have already done so with you, and I never knew you wanted to make our marriage open..."Francis teased.
"NOT LIKE THAT YOU FROG!" Arthur said. "In business terms. Although that reminds me of Professor Zwingli. He's a professor in the finance and legal departments and he says that marriage is nothing but business partnerships under the guise of love. He's not very friendly though. Came on in the past few years and he doesn't look hardly much older than the boys..."
"Well you do have a point...about the business thing, not the marriage thing." Francis said.
"Although when we married, I was the one better off..." Arthur smirked.
"Oh poo!" Francis waved his hand. "But I may be able to talk Antonio and Gilbert into this idea as well..."
"God running a business with them..." Arthur sighed.
"Gilbert is good at things like that, look at the station that Mathieu works for, he is the manager after all. And Antonio..."
"He only has instant coffee most of the time. He's so spacey if he had a cafe that's what he'd have." Arthur sighed.
"He is making a good business online with his tshirts." Francis said as he took off his clothes and laid in bed, motioning for Arthur to join him.
"The various 'Why don't you shut up?' ones?" Arthur sighed laying next to Francis
"Precisely." Francis nodded.
"Well I will talk with Professor Zwingli on Monday to see if he would like to get involved. Which that will require all my eloquence and negotiation skills. He often likes to work by himself." Arthur sighed as he jumped up at where he felt Francis's hands go. "Francis!"
"We are away from home, and this is a bed and breakfast. I do hope you are not so tired as to not indulge me..." He said pulling Arthur close kissing him.
The following Saturday was the first day of practice of the season for Alfred's baseball team, to which, it being the weekend, Nikita and Dmitri were spending it with Alfred and Ivan. After hearing that Alfred was going to baseball practice, Nikita insisted she come along, which Alfred had agreed, only reluctantly. Ivan sighed and let her and then said he would take Dmitri to the mall and the local animal shelter as he had been talking about getting a cat and hoped to find one there. Once Alfred got back, they were going to go use the gift card that Matthew had given them to get the paint to repaint the guest rooms for the twins. Nikita said she had wanted a bright pink room with a big mural of a baseball diamond on one of the walls and Dmitri wanted a jungle green room with a dinosaur on it. He had books upon books and toy dinosaurs at his room at Sherrie and Tom's house. Now, Alfred was sitting at the dugout, waiting for his turn up to bat, with Nikita looking around amazed at how fast the ball was being thrown. "Hey porkchop, your turn! Let's see how rusty you got since last season."
"Fu-orget you Allen." Alfred said as he remembered Nikita was there. Now is not the time to tell Allen to go fuck himself for several "I am as good as I ever was."
"Heard you broke your leg last winter snowboarding. Sure that thing has healed up by now?" Allen teased.
"It's fine!" Nikita spoke up. "And Daddy's going to hit it right out of the park!"
Allen looked over and saw the young girl with reddish brown hair in twin braids and a baseball cap with a sunflower on it that Ivan had given her before they had left for practice. "Got some spunk there doll, you must be the little Nikita that I heard a lot about from your daddy." Allen said, turning from antagonistic jerk to a responsible adult figure.
"Yeah I'm Nikita and you're teasing Daddy too much." She pouted as Allen ruffled her hat and she swat him away.
"I take it you really like baseball if you're here cheering your daddy on." Allen smiled. He knew that she must be very attached to Alfred from how she was talking to him.
"Yeah." Nikita smiled proudly. "I am going to be the best player ever. I will even score more home runs than any other player ever. I want to be in the Majors!"
"Well with your spirit kid, you might just make it. Do you know how to play?" Allen said. At this Nikita blushed and looked away.
"Maybe a little...I mean I have a whiffle bat back home that I play with but Ms. Sherrie and Mr. Tom don't let me play in the house and my brother Dmitri doesn't like playing with me too much. He just acts like the sandbox is a dinosaur dig..." Nikita said looking at the ground and spinning her foot in the dirt in shame.
"The adoption isn't quite final, Sherrie and Tom are their foster parents and until everything is finalized, they have to spend the nights there, but they are allowed over during the weekend days." Alfred explained.
"Ah." Allen nodded. "I understand perfectly. Wish they could speed that up huh?" Alfred nodded. "Well I am the little league coach and there's a tee ball league that will be starting soon. How old are you young lady?"
"Three!" Nikita jumped up. "But on September 17th I will be 4 15 minutes before Dmitri will be!"
"So you're just old enough." Allen smirked. "Say can you do us a favor?"
"Sure." She smiled.
"I seem to be very tired today, so does your daddy." Alfred played along. "We need someone to bring us bats when it comes time to practice. Can you do that for us?"
"Sure!" Nikita smiled.
"And as for you Porkchop, let's let this little girl get some time in with her daddy. You're up to pitch first." Allen said as he threw the glove and baseball at him. "Be nice. She's 3 after all. It's not September yet." Allen then handed Nikita a small bat and showed her how to hold it properly.
"Like this?" She asked holding the smaller bat on her shoulder with hands one on top of the other on the tape at the bottom.
"Yep." Allen said. "Now see how I swing the bat?" He slowly swung it for Nikita to imitate. "Great." He then got behind her and motioned to Alfred. "Okay Porkchop, remember you're pitching to your daughter, not trying to strike out the Georgeville Goons."
"I think I know that Allen..."Alfred said.
"Throw it Porkchop." Nikita said as Allen looked at her sternly.
"That's your daddy, call him Dad, Daddy, whatever but that nickname is what I call him." Allen corrected.
"Sorry." Nikita looked ashamed. "Pitch it please Daddy?"
"Better." Allen smiled along with Alfred. At this, Alfred looked like he was going to pitch a fast ball but at the last second, tossed it lightly underhanded so that Nikita could hit it. Using the swing she had practiced she hit the ball.
"OH MY GOSH!" She said as she looked at the ball.
"You have to get to first before your daddy gets the ball." Allen said as Alfred walked over slowly and Nikita ran quickly to first. Once she hit first Alfred picked up the ball.
"Oh poo you're safe." He pouted fakely.
"I did it!" She panted. This was a proper adult sized baseball diamond so she would get worn out heading back after making it to first.
"Have a Coke little slugger." Allen said tossing her a small bottle. "Don't worry I have them of all sizes on me. Sometimes you don't want a big one. Besides," He said tossing a large bottle to Alfred. "I am surprised you haven't given this little one a big bottle yet."
"I am not that neglectful as a parent." Alfred said. "No more soda today Nikky." Alfred said. "That's a treat for being a great player and listening to Mr. Allen."
"Okay." Nikita said.
"And I am not a total bastard. I mean I am a literal one but that's another story." Allen sighed. "I can handle kids well."
"Yeah." Alfred admitted. "I guess I can trust you being Nikita's tee ball coach."
"And I can trust you to pay my increased rate of 105 bucks a kid." Allen said.
"Hey! This is a nonprofit league!" Alfred said.
"Yeah and I need some dough to do the job." Allen smirked.
"You're lucky I care more about Nikita's happiness than my pride..." Alfred sighed.
Meanwhile, Ivan took Dmitri to the mall so they could look at supplies for the cat they were going to get. Both twins seemed to really like cats and Ivan and Alfred thought that it would be nice for the family to have a pet and it would be something that they could take care of while the twins were at their foster parents. God, it may be 3 more weeks until all is made official but I can hardly wait. He thought as Dmitri held his hand as they had walked through the mall. He was not as rambunctious as his sister but he still had a lot of energy being so young. "Papa! Can we go to the toy store?"
"Maybe on the way back. We are here to get pet supplies." Ivan smiled, but looking up at him, Dmitri knew that his papa was being serious. "If you are good I will get you a pretzel. They are very delicious." He said pointing to the pretzel stand.
"Cinnamon sugar?" Dmitri asked.
"Yes." Ivan said, but you must be on your best behavior." At this Dmitri huffed up, stood up straight and looked forward, careful to keep in step with Ivan.
"Slow down Papa, I'm not as big as you yet, even though I have been eating all my veggies, even the yucky Brussels sprouts..." Dmitri said as they came up to the pet store.
"That is okay. You will be eventually." Ivan smiled as he picked up Dmitri and set him on his shoulders. "It just takes time. I was not always this big myself."
"You weren't?" Dmitri asked surprised.
"Nyet, which means No in Russian" Ivan added knowing that Dmitri would be confused. "I am sure your Aunt Katyusha, or Aunt Katy as your dad calls her, has some pictures from that time. I was small like you, and even had some bullies try to pick on me."
"No one would pick on you Papa." Dmitri said in disbelief.
"They did." Ivan nodded. "One time someone even chased me across a frozen lake. They fell in being careless."
"Good." Dmitri smiled. "No one should be mean to my papa!" Ivan smiled at the young boy's sense of justice, even if it was most basic. "Ooooooooooh! Can we go in that store? Please?" He pointed to a store that sold natural wonders, fossils, rocks, all sorts of things. "It has a dinosaur skull on it."
Ivan looked at the display and then back up to Dmitri. "You like dinosaurs?"
"Yeah! I like to take my toy dinosaurs and bury them in the sandbox back at Ms. Sherrie and Mr. Tom's house and then dig them up. That's what I want to be when I grow up. A dinosaur scientist!" Dmitri said as Ivan scooped him up and placed him beside him.
"Well, we can go in here. But you must be very careful. Look with your eyes, not with your hands. These items are very breakable." Ivan instructed as Dmitri nodded holding his hand and putting the other in his pocket.
"Mustn't touch..." He told himself as they walked through the store, ooohing and ahhhing at the various natural wonders that were for sale. Ivan smiled as he looked at his watch. We must hurry if we will get everything we need before Alfred and Nikita get home...
"We need to get going to the pet store. If we are to bring a cat home, they need supplies." Ivan said.
"Awww, do we have to leave? I want to keep looking at this..." He said motioning to the T Rex skull at the counter behind the glass.
"Yes we do my little one, but next weekend, we may be able to go to a museum full of fossilized skeletons." Ivan said.
"Dinosaur?" Dmitri asked.
"Maybe, now come along." Ivan said as Dmitri ran after him. At the pet store, he placed Dmitri in the children's seat in the cart and headed in. "Do you remember what the cat will need?"
"Food and water!" Dmitri said.
"Good." Ivan smiled as they walked to the cat food aisle and he picked up a large bag.
"That looks heavy. Is one cat going to need that?" Dmitri looked on curiously.
"If we buy them big bags like this, we do not have to get food for a while." Ivan explained. "Where will we put the food and the water? We cannot put it on the floor or make the cat get it itself."
"In a bowl!" Dmitri said as further down the isle there were displays of bowls until he found one that was red and blue with paw prints on it. "What about that one Papa?"
"You think the kitty will like it?" Ivan smiled.
"Yeah! It's red and blue! And there's kitty prints and a kitty face so the kitty will know it is for them." Dmitri said.
"Okay, so we have food, we have a place to put the food and the water, remember what I told you about cats, how they use the potty?" Ivan asked. "I can't seem to remember..." he added playing dumb for his son's amusement.
"They use a litter box!" Dmitri said.
"Da, that means yes." Ivan said. "Now remember what we talked about before your sister went to baseball practice with your dad. We will help clean the box but you two must help us feed the cats. When you get older, we may ask you to do more. Cats cannot take care of themselves, they need help."
"I know." Dmitri said.
"And you will get in trouble if you do not do so." Ivan added.
"I will. I don't like trouble." Dmitri pouted as they finished getting the supplies they needed and after the pretzel reward, loaded the supplies into the car and headed back home where Nikita and Alfred were waiting for them. Once all the supplies were put up, and the litter box set out, Alfred and Ivan headed to the animal shelter where they had agreed to pick out a cat from. The clerk took the family back to where the cats were kept and showed them around. Nikita and Dmitri looked at all of the cats, and begged desperately for all the cats to come home with them.
As the twins looked around, Alfred asked, "All these cats are fixed right?" He asked, remembering what happened with a cat his papa had brought home wanting to breed Persian long haired cats. It drove his dad mad when the male had started to musk all over the place.
"Of course sir." The clerk smiled. "If the cat is not already spayed or neutered by the time they are surrendered here, we make sure of it."
"Found one!" Nikita and Dmitri both said at the same time, although in front of different kennels.
"Now now..."Ivan began as Dmitri ran up and showed him a big grey fluffy cat with long hair and a peculiar nose.
"Daddy!" Nikita said as she took Alfred over to the other kennel. "This one has a cool brown fluff around it's neck. And he's chonky."
"Chonky?" Ivan asked.
"So is this guy..." Dmitri said as he pointed to the name.
"Koshka?" Ivan read. "Who names a cat 'kitty'? And what do they mean by chonky?"
"It's also the name of a gun in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. And chonky is a term people use to describe a fat cat sometimes." Alfred said. "So there's that too..." Ivan sighed as Alfred turned back to the yellowish white cat with the brown fur around its neck. "Hero..." Alfred read the name. "Interesting..."
"Can we please?" Nikita and Dmitri begged of their fathers.
"One moment please malen'kiye" Ivan said as he took Alfred in the corner. "What do we do Fredka, I mean we can't deny them both..."
"You're in love with Koshka too huh?" Alfred said quietly as Ivan nodded. "And I can't turn down Hero over there... He's just so fluffy and you don't see fur like that..." Alfred thought about it a moment. "Why not adopt both? The kids will still have to help and they are both neutered so they won't spray everywhere and sure they may need to get used to each other a little while but I think they'll be happy to be out of a cat jail."
Ivan paused and thought. "You may be right." Alfred smiled. "But I don't want to seem like I am spoiling the children..."
"You're not. At least I don't think so...and they both have to help take care of them, and with two cats one can't leave all the burden on the other so easily." Alfred said.
"I guess. Go ahead." Ivan sighed. "We may need to get another litter box and dish, as I read it is good to have one for each cat, but we have at least one to start with."
"Oh we have some extra supplies you can buy out front to help the animal shelter." The clerk smiled. "You can adopt both Koshka and Hero and get the extra supplies here that will help the shelter."
"Pweeeeze..." Nikita and Dmitri said simultaneously.
"Okay. I think we will do that." Alfred said as the twins cheered.
"Good," The clerk smiled. "You can fill out the paper work while your husband and children bond with the cats in our play room." She said as she took both Koshka and Hero and took them to the room where Ivan sat with the twins, watching them play with the cats.
"Be gentle..." he reminded as he watched the cats get to know each other and the children roll some toys by them and twirl some toys to get the cats familiar with them.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Yeah this part is full of twin fluff but I can't help myself. Anyway, I don't have much to say here honestly so now it's the usual remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
otherrealmwriter
aka
Realm.