If I'm planning a last-minute slumber party, there are a few things I knew damn well Arthur didn't have. That's when my friend, the mini mart, would come in handy. But there is no way in hell I'm going to be able to pull this off on my own. As much as I know Francis would be more than happy to help, he'd run with it and go overboard. I wasn't having that. Instead, I asked for help from the best last-minute party planner I knew. And with it being at Arthur's house, it could be on Arthur's dime, too, right?

"Alright, sweetheart," I took my partner in crime's hand, "Where should we start?"

"Definitely junk food!" Alfred declared, "If it's a slumber party and you don't have an obscene amount of junk food, you're totally doing it wrong, dude."

"Absolutely," I agreed, grabbing gallons and gallons of ice cream.

"I like your spirit!" his eyes grew wider with every tub I put in the cart, "Speaking of spirits...It is a party. Maybe we should grab some alcohol while we're here."

"Alfred," I knew what he was trying to do, "You're too young. I'm not scoring for you."

"Aww..." Alfred begged, "Come on, Terra. I thought you were a cool mom."

"I am a cool mom," I confirmed, not budging, "I'm so cool that I don't want my nineteen-year-old son to poison his liver."

"Fine," he pouted, "Can't say I didn't try. Now, how much time do we have?"

"About a couple hours," I checked my watch.

"We got plenty of time!" Alfred chimed, "But question!"

"Go ahead, sweetie."

"Are we doing any cooking?" he wondered, "Because Artie's kitchen is locked up tighter than Ft. Knox. I think Francis has that key."

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Should we?"

"I mean," Alfred pointed out, "We do have Francis at our disposal."

"Kiku can cook like a dream, too. And Feliciano...My god. If that boy gets anything from Rome..."

"So," he asked, "What do we do?"

I thought it over for a minute or two. In one room, we're going to have the finest of cuisines to ever exist...and Britain (Sorry, Arthur. Britannia couldn't cook either. She started fires. And a lot of them.). We'd be stupid not to utilize them all to their full potential to create something universally delicious, "Order pizza?"

"Hell yeah!" Alfred sang out, "Pizza's the perfect food! Other than a good cheeseburger, but that's here nor there."

"We should be getting back to Arthur's house," I stared down the heaping cart in front of us, "I think we have plenty."

"Good call."

The two of us got everything loaded up and hightailed it back to Arthur's house. There was no way either one of us was going to bring this monstrosity of snacks inside. That's why Arthur had servants around the house, right? And Alfred brought a few from his house, so we had that going for us. I couldn't wait for tonight. This was going to be fun.

"Welcome back, Terra," Francis greeted us at the door, kissing my cheek. But then, he backed off, "Or...should I say...Mama?"

"You can still call me Terra, Francis," I giggled, "It's ok. I promise."

"All this time," he smiled, "You've been calling me Papa when you're so much older than I am...Why?"

"It made you so happy," I melted, "I couldn't take that away from you. Not to mention, it'd reveal too much about me. And none of you were ready for that bombshell yet. Chances are, you would've written me off and thought I was nuts."

"I don't know," Alfred wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "If we wouldn't have seen Kiku so cozy with you...And I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around that."

"We all are," Francis agreed.

"Hold on," Arthur came back, glaring a hole through the cutie on my shoulders, "Alfred...Where's your brother?"

"Oh, shit..." Alfred's face fell. He looked down at me, "Did we forget Mattie at the store?"

"I'm in here!" a meek, gentle voice came from the living room, "You didn't even take me with you!"

"Hi, Mattie," I sat on the back of the couch, kissing his soft, blonde curls. I wanted to keep him. In a perfect world, I'd take him back with me, but that meant taking him away from this. And I couldn't do that.

"Dammit, Arthur!" Alfred freaked, "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry," Mattie apologized, "I didn't mean to make you worry, but it's nice to see you care."

"Of course I do," Alfred jumped the couch, plopping down next to his brother, "But you're a sneaky one."

"Oh..."

"Mattie, no," I stopped him, "You don't need to apologize for anything. You're fine."

"Ok." I swear to God. One smile from this angel was enough to light up the whole world. I love him.

"So," Francis joined us, "Are we all ready for tonight?"

"Just about," I nodded, "Do we decorate? Should we bother decorating?"

"It's just like the world meetings, cheri," he assured.

"Without all the pain in the ass formalities," Alfred added, "All killer, no filler!"

"Is there anything else you need?" Arthur offered, "Or are my credit cards already maxed enough?"

"No," I shook my head, "Everything's taken care of. And we didn't max your credit cards."

"It's not you I'm worried about, darling..."

"Hey!" Alfred whined, "I don't max your credit cards! You don't sugar daddy me around!"

"Oh, I've seen your debt," Arthur took a heavy sip from his tea. Which by the sounds of things, it's PIPING hot today, "If I were sugar daddying you around, Alfred, do you know how much of a mess I'd have to clean up? No, thanks."

"Alright, boys," I settled them before hands were thrown, "Put your dicks away. We have bigger fish here. And there is no goddamn way I'm doing this on my own. Let's go!"

Francis, Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur jumped up to their feet and started heading to the ballroom. Arthur's fancy. Of course he has a ballroom. However, I doubt that it gets used much. If it does, it's likely because Francis batted his eyelashes at him. For the rest of the afternoon, my boys got everything put together while I stood upstairs in the closet, picking out my pajamas for the night.

Francis had been putting me in silk since the day I got here. In all honesty, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't too big on silk. Sure, it felt nice and I wasn't going to complain when I was stark ass naked. But I moved around a lot in my sleep and how I didn't slide out of bed will forever baffle me. I wasn't feeling the daintier things that Francis liked to put me in. While they were downstairs, sorting out the final details for the night and some of the others filtered in, I snuck across the hall into Arthur's bedroom. He and I were relatively the same size. Although, he was taller than I was. Perfect. That meant a pair of flannel pajama bottoms would hang looser on me. Yay!

Sure enough, like a beacon from home shined down on them, a pair of dark green plaid flannel bottoms stared me in the eye. I grabbed them and a black t-shirt and got redressed. Not that this dress hasn't been comfortable. It's just that I'm done being that for the day. And I want to be this now. Such a simple transition. I'm good enough, right? I did one last look in the mirror and pulled a few pieces of hair out of my face. There. Perfect. Now, I'm almost regretting Francis cutting it. Regardless, I think I'll be alright.

As soon as I walked in, all the countries that were at the meeting sat around in Arthur's ballroom. They're all so cute in their own special way. I know I said I wanted to take Mattie home with me, but if there was a way to take them all, I wouldn't think twice. Everyone under one roof…Can't say I ever got to do this with my kids. At least I had their descendants here. Every single one of them. For the most part.

"Sorry we're late," Berwald walked in with a shadow behind him, "Someone was too indecisive."

"Terra!" his shadow jumped into my arms, "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Peter," I hugged him tight, "That's why I invited you in the first place."

"Hey," Peter chirped, "You know my name."

"Of course I do," I kissed his cheek, "I know everyone's name in here. In one way or another, sweetheart, you all came from me."

"You're me mum?!" Peter's eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"That's right," I remembered, "You weren't at the world meeting. Yeah. In a way. You came from Arthur, did you not? Hence why your last name is Kirkland?"

"Yeah."

"Arthur came from Britannia," I explained, "Who came from me."

"So, that would make you my great grandma!"

Wow…In my time down here, I've never felt so old than I did right now…

"No, Peter," I shut my eyes, "Go find somewhere to sit."

"Ok." It's not like he knew what he was saying. In a way, he was right. I was. But at the same time, I want to forget he ever said it.

"So," I kicked my feet up, "I guess we can leave this to an open forum. I'm sure you all have questions."

"Where have you been all this time?" Arthur kicked things off, "Why are you just now here?"

"One question at a time," I settled him, "But I have a very cushy place up there. I've been living in the vastness for space since the dawn of time. It's quite comfortable. It's just been Time and me. My Cronos…"

"Cronos comes from my country's myth," Hercules, who I had yet to see since I've been here, chimed in, "He's the God of Time."

"There's also a myth that he ate his babies," I pointed out, "Clearly, he didn't. Do you know who started that rumor?"

"No."

"I miss him," I sighed out, "It's been so long since I got to see him. He's always busy. He never could stand still."

"Is he our father?" Ivan asked.

"No," I shook my head, "He's the father of the ancient nations. And eventually, the ancient nations would father most of you. At least you never asked me if I got around…Francis…"

"How was I supposed to know you'd be our mother?" Francis defended himself, "I'm sorry!"

"You also asked me how old I was," I reminded him, "Would you like to know my weight, too?"

"No," he kept a rather tight lip after that.

"I'm only screwing with you, Francis," I laid my head on his shoulder, "I'm a little over four and a half billion years old. My weight is going to be a secret I take to the grave. As for why I'm here. Let's just say you all needed me in your lives in one way or another. For me to solve all your problem would be exhausting, but not totally undoable. Just not right now. For now, I just want to see my babies. My babies who I haven't seen in so long. And I'm glad that you're all here."

"We're glad to be here, cheri," Francis draped an arm around me.

"Hey, Mattie," I waved a finger to him, "Come here."

"Ok," Matthew sat in front of me, already half asleep. Aww…He's so cute. I wrapped my arms around him and he sunk into my embrace. I…love him. Softly, I started petting his head, suddenly having a beautiful flashback to having one of my babies in my lap. And a little sob escaped my throat, "Terra…? Are you ok?"

I held him a little closer, "Of course, Germania. I'm ok."

"Germania?" Ludwig perked up.

"Is she talking about old man Germania?" Gilbert followed suit.

"I'm sorry," I shook it off, "When Germania was young, I used to sit with him like this all the time. He and I were close. Every night before Cronos and I would put them all to bed, Germania would always find me, curl up in my lap…He'd usually be the first one asleep."

"You're sure we're talking about the same guy?" Gilbert gave me a look, "Germania. Big, strong, occasionally scary Germania?"

"That's right," I confirmed, twisting a lock of Mattie's hair around my finger, "He was so sweet when he was little. And we kept close as he got older. Then, you and Ludwig came about. You two were adorable when you were babies. So niedlich…"

"That's another thing that had me curious," Antonio wondered, "When we first met, you spoke flawless Spanish to me."

"And when we met," Feliciano added, sitting in Ludwig's lap, "You spoke like Grandpa Rome."

"You've always spoken English to us," Alfred pointed out.

"And when you woke up your first night here," Francis joined in, "You spoke fluent French. How do you know so many languages?"

"She probably invented them," Arthur assumed.

"No," I giggled, "Oh, that's a story. I was at the Tower of Babel."

"That was a real place?" Lovino wondered, his head resting on Antonio's shoulder blade.

"It was a very real place," I confirmed, "Oh, boy…I'm not sure if you should hear that."

"Come on, Terra," Francis insisted, "Whatever it was, I'm sure we've done a lot worse."

"I'll keep it as PG as I can," I hardly remembered much from that night, "Long story short, some of the others and I started splitting the languages up from the mother tongue. And…well…We got so hammered…Once they were all split, we were slurring everything together. One language was getting crossed with another. Some words were getting different roots in different places. And before we all knew it, we had successfully created English."

"How was that English?" Alfred scoffed.

"You wouldn't understand," I told him, "You natively speak it. Anyone who tries to learn English, I pray for them. And apologize. Di and Cronos were going shot for shot and Cronos thought he could drink Di under the table."

"Who's Di?" Arthur asked.

"That wouldn't be Dionysus," Hercules figured, mumbling in his sleep, "Would it?"

"Oh, yeah," I nodded, "Di's a lush. Big time. He's a good guy. He really is. But…When he had a few in him…And when he and Cronos would get into their petty little pissing contests, someone had to pay the price. Little did we know, it'd be for millenniums to come."

"Mama likes to party," Antonio smirked, "Doesn't she?"

"I asked them to stop," I threw my hands up, having Matthew sound asleep in my lap. Lightweight, "But they kept saying they were fine."

"So," Feliciano figured, "Cronos and Dionysus were kind of like Grandpa Rome and Germania?"

"Far from it," I explained, "Cronos and Dionysus were the best of friends. Once in a while, though, their egos would get in the way of things and make messes."

Grrrrrrr…

"That sounds like an idea," Alfred could hear my stomach grumble from a mile away.

"Oh, hell yeah," I agreed, "Alfred, why don't…No. Not you."

"Not me?"

"No," I scanned the crowd of faces, "Lovino. I trust you with my life. Go order pizza for all of us."

"Can do!" Lovino got up from the floor and headed for the nearest phone.

"What about me?" Alfred whined, "I can order pizza, too."

"I love you," I prefaced, "But never send an American to do an Italian's job. Feli, sweetheart, you looked too comfortable to move."

"Grazie, Terra," Feliciano's face lit up, nuzzling itself back in Ludwig's muscle.

"And once Lovino comes back," I decided, sitting Mattie up a little more. He didn't even flinch, "We can put the little ones to bed and proceed to get this party a little less dead. Peter, that means you."

"Aww…"

"Don't worry, honey," I giggled, "I'll probably be putting Mattie to bed, too."

"No way, dude," Alfred wasn't having it, "Mattie can party his face off. He's too much fun."

"I see what you're trying to do," I pointed out, "But I don't think he's got it in him."

"He just needs something to spark a second wind," he figured, "Mattie's not sleeping. Watch this. Ahem…When I make pancakes in the morning, I like to top them with whipped cream and fresh fruit because maple syrup is overrated."

Without missing a beat, Matthew sat straight up.

"YOU SHUT YOUR LYING WHORE MOUTH, ALFRED!"

"MATTHEIU!" Francis gasped. I've never heard this kid so vocal. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think Francis just fainted.

Mattie jumped up from my lap and grabbed his brother by his shirt collar, "TAKE IT BACK, YOU ASSHOLE! TAKE IT BACK!"

Oh, yeah. Francis totally fainted.

"There you are, champ," Alfred beamed, "Alright. Mattie's got a quarter in him. Let's get this party started!"

A/N: This almost didn't happen. I was destroyed this afternoon and lost all ambition, but I powered through! A little bit of excitement and seed planting this chapter. And an amusing anecdote about how language happened. If you thought this week was a barrel of monkeys, just wait until next week when a little bit of liquid courage is added into the mix. Also, one like is one prayer for Francis hearing Mattie call Alfred a whore. And an asshole. But it worked, didn't it? See you next chapter! xx