I do not own Hetalia okay? I really don't have much to say to start this chapter other than the usual, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
"Oh rise and shine..." Francis said as he shook Arthur awake. "You made some plans with me..."
"Bloody hell..." Arthur said as he placed his hand on his head. "Do you know how early it is?"
"Yes." Francis said as he took a set of clothes from the dresser and threw them at Arthur. "You promised to go shopping with me today. We have grandchildren you want to shop in person for..."
"Ugggghhhh..." Arthur laid back. "What was I thinking?" He sighed as Francis dropped a pair of pants on his face. "Just how are you so cheery about this?"
"Oh it's mon amor with me, not our sons who got suffocated in the perfume department or locked me out of the car when they finished early." Francis said.
"I begin to see why they are so objectionable to your ideas..." Arthur groaned as he sat up "This hour is positively unnatural..." He sighed.
"Remember you are doing it for the grandchildren." Francis said.
"They are the only reason I have." Arthur said. "Give me a few minutes." He looked up and saw Francis already dressed and hair meticulously put together. "How you get so excited for this, I will never know."
"Because it's part of the holiday hustle and bustle I always love." Francis said.
"But it's not like when the boys were young where if you had wanted to get the latest toy you had to partake in this madness. Nikita doesn't know what she wants, and Alfred told me they would handle what Dimitri said he wanted." Arthur explained.
"Well think of it like this, from what I have been told and seen, Nikita is a sporty little princess and Dimitri is very inquisitive and found something he loves to learn about with all his heart." Francis said as Arthur finished getting dressed.
"Dinosaurs." Arthur noted.
"Well, there's some specials on lego sets." Francis said throwing an ad for a toy store at Arthur.
"Hmmmm... there's even sets that are just the blocks themselves...nothing too specific..." He noted as he placed the ad down and adjusted his sweater. "And the price is fair..."
"More than fair. Lego brand items are expensive from what I had seen." Francis pointed out.
"Well let's get this started..." Arthur said as he headed to the kitchen and made a cup of tea and grabbed a scone. He then quickly put his coat on, followed by Francis who was hastily putting his coat, scarf and beret on. "And bloody hell, why do you always get someone to drive you for this then move with no motivation, come on."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Francis said as he got in the car. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because I know now what to get the twins and saw a few things for Charlotte as well and I will be damned if I cannot get them for the grandchildren." Arthur said as he began to back out of the driveway.
"Oh, so the caffeine must be kicking in..." Francis smirked.
"Piss off." Arthur sighed. "I am not going to be the grandpa that gives stupid gifts on Christmas."
"Are you trying to buy your grandchildren's love?" Francis teased.
"Of course not!" Arthur laughed. "It just reminds me of when the boys were young and the Christmas season then. Nothing like a child's smile when you made the Santa magic happen."
"Awwwwww, that is so sweet." Francis smiled as he kissed Arthur on the cheek.
"We're here." Arthur said. "And in decent time. The line actually is shorter than I expected."
"That is because there is a good sale over at the Old Navy, most people will go there." Francis said. "But I have better desires for my Christmas gifts than Old Navy."
"You'd be more likely to be run over by a lady and her children..." Arthur said. "Like last year."
"No, someone cut the line in front of me and smacked me with her purse for pointing it out." Francis corrected. "But that will not happen this year."
"Well my first stop is the toy store." Arthur said as he pulled out the ad and a pen. "I have circled what I want to get for everyone. I also noticed these cute little Hatching eggs, there's ones with cute little animals and a dinosaur one. This Lego friends set for Nikita, and the Jurassic Park set for Dimitri. And they will build their minds with it as well." Arthur stated.
"Bonne chance" Francis said as Arthur headed to the toy store just as it opened. Grabbing a cart, he noticed the lego isle and grabbed the kits he had intended for Nikita and Dimitri. These children are going to love these things... He thought with a satisfied smirk. "Now the hatching eggs..." He said as he headed over to where the display was, only to find it horribly crowded. "Oh bloody hell..." He said as he shoved a few people out of the way to get to the eggs. "MINE!" He yelled as he dove and slid a pink egg and black and red dinosaur egg into the cart.
"Like hell they're yours." An angry woman said as she stared at him.
"Bollocks." Arthur said as he put them in the cart "These are for my grandchildren. You can find your own elsewhere."
"Oh no you didn't!" She said as she started to run after Arthur.
"If I have these paid for, they are mine fair, square and legal." He said with determination running to the first open cashier. Come on, you used to be quite the runner yourself. You were the one who raised Alfred after all...He thought as he headed to the register. "Here...I...am...please...let...me...pay for these..."Arthur panted as the adrenaline subsided.
"Okay..." The clerk said as he pulled the purchases out of the cart.
"Bugger all." Arthur said as he smacked himself on the forehead. "I forgot something for Charlotte..." He looked around and saw that the woman who wanted the hatching eggs glaring at him evilly.
"Sir?" The clerk asked.
"Just ring these out. I'll be shopping again." Arthur decided. "Charlotte is an infant anyway, so whatever I get her, won't matter as much as it would to the twins."
"Okay, that will be 123.45 dollars." He smiled.
"Here." Arthur paid and grabbed the bags, heading to the door, thinking he was now free, only to find the woman who had challenged his claim for the eggs standing at the doorway.
"Give me those eggs." She growled.
"No. They are paid for. They are Arthur Kirkland's to do with as he pleases." He smirked as he was pushing the door open, and the woman swung at him, causing his face to hit the glass.
"Do you want to throw down?" He asked as he turned and smacked her with the bags and then kicked her back.
"Oh it is on now!" She said as she turned around and threw a basket nearby at him.
"You think you can take me?" Arthur taunted in a Queensbury boxing stance.
"Break it up you two!" The manager said. "Mam, this man got the items first. It is first come first served. And sir, please leave. Your transaction is finished and I request that you do not come back for the rest of the holiday season."
"Fine." Arthur said as he put up two fingers in satisfaction knowing that the woman who was wanting to fight him would not know what he meant and headed back to the car, where Francis was placing some bags into the vehicle himself.
"Mon dieu!" He yelled "What happened to you?" He asked worried seeing a growing black mark under his eye.
"Nothing." Arthur lied. "Some hag wanted the toys I got for the twins. A dispute happened and I'm banned from the toy store till the new year."
"You really are Alfred's father..." Francis said. "Sure the boys are not genetically ours but there is the whole nature and nurture debate."
"I see why Alfred would rather shop online now." Arthur said.
The next day, Ivan woke up to Alfred having already awaken and headed downstairs to find him at the kitchen with his phone, looking over at the twins who were eating their cereal with a smile, already dressed. "I see you are already up and dressed..." He said.
"Yeah." Alfred said as he look a big bite of a microwave breakfast sandwich. "Been up already... have to research stuff and well, these two little scamps got up and they wanted some cereal." He then looked at the outfits that they were wearing. Nikita was wearing a striped pink and green shirt with a baseball on it with flowery print leggings and mismatched socks where Dimitri was wearing a dark blue sweater, bright yellow shorts and sunflower socks.
"Did the children dress themselves?" Ivan said as he went to the cabinet to make himself a cup of tea and something to eat for breakfast.
"Yes!" Nikita smiled.
"You and Daddy said we'd go to the mall and see Santa today! And Daddy wanted to tell us more about this Dead Morris guy but he said you would know more about him." Dimitri smiled as he took a big bite of his cereal.
"Yeah, I was looking for something to tell them, along with helping Santa make his lists..." Alfred said as Ivan nodded, knowing what he meant with that. "Everything I found wasn't quite good enough for me. So I was wondering if you could do it, seeing as Ded Moroz is from Russia."
"Hmmmmm..." Ivan nodded as he took the last breakfast sandwich from the box and placed it in the microwave. He thought back to what his great uncle did with them. He had taught them the stories and they had honestly spent more on the New Year's celebration than the Christmas like most of their neighbors did because of it, despite many of the traditions being similar. "Well, Ded Moroz travels the world giving good girls and boys presents under the tree on New Year's Eve along with his granddaughter Snegurochka. They also make sure that Baba Yaga does not steal them." he said smiling over at the twins who seemed enthralled with the story.
"So he's like Santa and gives gifts?" Nikita asked.
"Da." Ivan nodded. He spoke bits and pieces around the twins and provided translations as he and Alfred had agreed that it would be good for them to learn Russian as well. "However if you are bad, they may not give you any special presents or they would let Baba Yaga take them. You don't want that, do you?"
"No." The twins shuddered in fear.
"Can we see Dead Morris when we go see Santa today?" Nikita asked. "I want to make sure he knows what I want."
"You don't know what you want?" Alfred asked.
"Not uh." Nikita said. "I want this." She had pulled the toy store ad up and showed Alfred. "Hatchimals Fuzzy Pink Kitty!" She had drawn circles around it and attempted to do a few stars and wrote "I want dis" nearby. I think Dad said he got her something like that...have to check if this is the same one...
"Well you will have to tell Santa that." Alfred smiled ruffling her hair. "And sadly because Ded Moroz lives in Russia and is busy helping with the children there, he can't come to the mall but Santa and Ded Moroz talk a lot. So he'll hear from Santa what you want and they will talk about what to get you."
"Nicely told." Ivan smiled. "But we must get you changed."
"Why?" Nikita pouted.
"Because you want to look nice for Santa, don't you?" Alfred said as he picked up Nikita. "I'll help you pick something out."
"Same here." Ivan sighed as he picked up Dimitri. "It's much too cold out for shorts."
"But how will people see the sunflower socks?" Dimitri asked Ivan.
"Well, I guess they might not, but it is still too cold for shorts. You don't want to get sick?" He asked him back.
"I guess not." Dimitri sighed.
After a quick change of clothes so that the twins looked a little more organized, they headed to the mall to start the holiday season and any shopping that would need to be done. Alfred walked in followed by Ivan with the twins to a world of wonder. In the past few weeks, it had been slowly turned from a normal shopping center. Giant ornaments hung from the ceiling as with holly hung from the walls and each store decorated for the season. "Calm down!" Ivan yelled as the twins laughed beside him.
"You're not going to be on Santa's nice list." Dimitri added.
"Yeah. Or Dead Morris would let Baba Yaga steal your gifts, right Papa?" Nikita said as she looked up at Ivan.
"Something like that." Ivan said, delighted she had listened to his story. "Now, do you want to see the toy store or tell Santa what you want?"
"SANTA!" The twins said.
"Okay, we will head that way." Ivan said as Alfred looked at the mall directory.
"Okay he's just outside the food court and there's an Auntie Anne's stand nearby." Alfred smiled.
"Can I get a pretzel?" Nikita said. "Cinnamon sugar?"
"You and Dimitri can share one." Ivan sighed. "If you behave."
"Will do." Nikita said with a determined look on her face.
They walked up to a display with a line starting to form. The normally central section with a high skylight was redone to have a few reindeer floating from the ceiling, filled with fake snow covered fir trees and fake snow, a large snowglobe with a snowman inside of it and Santa sitting in front of a cozy cabin front with a large red and gold throne. They got in line as directed by a few workers dressed as elves and waited their turn. Dimitri looked around at the reindeer overhead while Nikita kept jumping up and down, trying to stay in place. "Calm down, we'll be there soon enough." Alfred assured her. "You want to get a picture too?"
"yes!" She smiled.
"I was about to ask you the same thing Fredka." Ivan said.
"Well I was meaning to ask you, but I guess we have to now." Alfred laughed as a voice said, "Next!"
"You're up guys!" Alfred smiled as Nikita and Dimitri ran to the mall Santa and sat on his lap. "Something seems familiar about that Santa..."
"What do you mean?" Ivan asked as he heard the 'Ho ho ho' with a slight Finnish accent. "I suspect this Santa may be from Finland knowing the accent."
"I know, it sounds like that one medic when I broke my leg at the ski resort last year." Alfred said.
"Could be. Slap a beard on him and one could get away with it I suppose..." Ivan mused.
"Ho ho ho!" Santa said with his jovial accent. "Who may you two good little children be? What are your names?"
"I'm Nikita!" Nikita said.
"And I'm Dimitri!"
"And they are our Daddy and Papa!" Nikita smiled.
"Oh that's nice." Santa said as Alfred and Ivan waved. "So have you two been good this year?"
"Yes Santa sir." Nikita said.
"And you Dimitri?" Santa asked.
"Yes I have!" He smiled.
"So, what do you want for Christmas?" Santa asked looking from Dimitri and to Nikita.
"I want a Jurassic Park Capture and Crush truck complete with raptor!" Dimtiri said. "I want some gummi bears, some warm scarves like Papa and the Jurassic World Power wheels Jeep!" Dimitri said as Santa smiled. "I have been very very good. Miss Michelle says so!"
"Well, that is very good. I will see what I can do." Santa said.
"Tell Dead Morris too!" Nikita said. "Papa said he would stop by on New Year's Eve and leave a gift like they did for him as a kid."
"I will." Santa said. "But you must tell me what you want. "I want a Lego Disney Princess set, a new bat for when tee ball starts up in the spring that Mr. Allen will think so cool, a Hatchimals Fuzzy Pink Kitty and a Barbie supermarket! And some pink ear muffs!"
"Well I will talk with Ded Moroz and tell him what you asked for and we will deterime what to give you when." Santa smiled. "Here you go for now." he pulled out two candy canes and gave them to the twins.
"Can we take our picture with Daddy and Papa?" Dimitri asked as Nikita had already opened the wrapper and started sucking on the candy cane.
"If you want to." Santa said. "Daddy, Papa," He said as Ivan and Alfred came over and stood on either side of the Mall Santa. "Okay, happy family on the count of three. One! Two! Three!" he directed as one of the elves took the picture. "You can pick it up at the end of the gateway at the stand there." Santa pointed out.
"Come on." Alfred said, "I'll take you to get a pretzel while Papa gets some pictures. I am sure Katy and Dad and Papa would want one."
"And one for Aunt Natalya and Uncle Toris!" Dimtri said.
"Do not worry little ones..." Ivan said "I will make sure that everyone gets one that would want one. Now stay with Daddy and get your pretzels."
"Will do!" The twins saluted as they headed to the line and Alfred got everyone a cinnamon sugar pretzel and a strawberry lemonade.
Ivan paid for the photos and looked at them with a smile. It was their first Christmas as a family and he felt a warmth in his heart. So much had changed for him and Alfred since this time last year. Once the twins were out of sight, it seemed that it was time for Santa to go to lunch and he noticed that the Santa took off his beard just outside the view of the children. Well that will amuse Fredka greatly, that was the paramedic from the ski resort. Must have needed some extra money over the holidays but he may have really liked Christmas, I know some of the stories from Finland and he did know about Ded Moroz, so I imagine that tradition would be talked about there. He smiled as he took the pictures and sat next to Alfred who handed him a pretzel of his own. "To start our fun day at the mall." Alfred said as Ivan nodded.
"You were right," He whispered in Alfred's ear. "Santa is played by that paramedic who treated your leg last year."
"Knew it." Alfred smirked.
Translation guide
(obtained via Google Translate)
Bonne chance-French-Good luck
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't have much else to say with this one, so remember to read, well you just did and to review. Ciao for now,
otherrealmwriter
aka
Realm.