"Awfwed!" England called out hesitantly, unsure if America would answer back. "Awfwed?"
America had been very busy doing paperwork and phone-calling that day, leaving little England to his own devices in the large house that was his when he was normal. England had explored nearly the entire place, but hadn't found much that he could get his tiny hands on. It seemed his older self had in some way baby-proofed the house.
Now he was in the kitchen on the ground floor, hiding under a table, for he had completely lost track of Alfred. He peered out from the beautifully embroidered table-cloth to see if there was any sign of his caretaker, but there was nothing that would point to him anywhere in sight. He mumbled to himself and turned around to where his stuffed griffin sat neatly next to a table-leg. "Awfwed…."
Meanwhile on the second floor, America was making a very important phone call. Well, important on England's part. He was calling England's close brother, Wales, in hopes of him helping with assessing the situation and maybe finding a way to get England back to normal before the next World Meeting in only a few weeks.
"Hello? Wales on the line. Who is this?" came a thickly accented voice from the other side of the line.
"Hey Wales! It's America; I need you to do a favor for me, would you?" America said cheerfully to the Welshman.
"America? Well, please tell me it isn't one of your stupid plans again, is it?"
"No! It concerns England."
"What happened now?" Wales asked, irritation present in his voice.
"Well, I don't know how it happened, but England got turned into a two year old. I've been taking care of him since I found him almost drowning in the bathtub yesterday."
"W-What? I'm coming over to the house as soon as I can catch a spare moment, expect me by dinner. I must figure out what's going on. I'm contacting North and Scotland as well, for they might be of more help than my amateur magic could be. Good day, America." Click……..
America sighed in relief as he set the phone back on the receiver and turned the office chair around, noticing that England had disappeared. He had told England hours earlier to stay within his sight or in the room, but it must've gone through one ear and passed the other. He mumbled to himself as he set out to find England, hopefully still in one piece…..
After a few minutes of searching the second floor, America had no luck in finding the small, baby Brit that he was taking care of. What would his brothers think if they realized he couldn't properly take care of England? He worried to himself as he went onto the first floor to continue his find.
What he didn't know, was that England was glaring at him from a small hole in the tablecloth that he found and could look into the living room from. "Awfwed." He whispered to himself unhappily.
The tiny child was very upset with America, because he apparently had the notion to not look in the kitchen and find him. He was getting very lonely under there, but wasn't going to come out because it was really warm. His stuffed griffin just stared at him with its small green bead eyes.
America flinched as he heard something…And it sounded like it came from the direction of the kitchen/dining room. Well, that's odd. He thought as he turned around to look. There's nothing in there….Right? Suddenly, the tablecloth shook furiously, nearly making America jump out of his skin. He decided to investigate anyways, in hopes that whatever was under the table wouldn't kill him.
England began to grow cheerful that his movement alerted Alfred nearer, and he began giggle quietly to himself as Alfred got closer. That made Alfred stop again, and then, the America grinned. He had caught on.
America was glad that he had finally found England and that he seemed to be okay. He lifted up the tablecloth to see a giggling England who was now holding his griffin tightly in his chubby hands. "Hey, England! Good to see you again!" America greeted as he picked the baby up off the floor.
"Awfwed! Awfwed! Yay!" England giggled as he grabbed America's shirt and snuggled into it.
"Hope you weren't alone for too long. Now, why don't we grab something to eat from the fridge, hmm? I've got something I have to tell you while we're eating."
While America was fixing food for themselves, England was on the counter nearby, exploring the new surroundings, and that was when he caught interest in something. The telephone.
England stared at the plain green, number-buttoned telephone, and after a moment, began to crawl over to it. Once next to the phone, he turned back to see if Alfred was paying any attention to him, but he was too busy working with the microwave and the stove at the same time.
He slowly brought his hand down on the set of buttons, and was in awe when he heard a small buzz come from the machine. He tapped it again and again, just to hear the noise, when suddenly; a voice came out of it.
"Hello? Why are you calling me America? I already heard the news from Wales and I will be there in about an hour!"
Alfred perked up at the voice, and rushed over to England, answering quickly. "Oh, I'm soooo sorry! England must've been messing with the buttons on the phone and speed-dialed you or something! I'll hang up if you want me to."
"Can England talk any?"
"Not really, he can say simple words and a messy version of my name, and that's about it. Why, you wanted him to talk to you or something, Scotland?"
"No, I needed to find out how severe his condition is, that was all. Now, I need to be able to drive, so I'm off, Good day." Click!
"England, why were you messing with the phone?" America asked the Brit as he lifted him off the counter and into his arms.
"Pwone funny!" England said in his babble-speak, looking up at America with wide eyes.
"Well, I'm glad you found it funny, but you do know you have a phone of your own to play with, right?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, it's in your room, England. I guess you haven't played with it yet though."
England contemplated the thought of having one of his own, and he smiled.
"Okay, England. I made a small breakfast for you, cause I don't want you to get a bad tummyache. How does cheerios sound to you?" America asked as he set a small bowl of the cereal in front of the little nation as he sat in his new high-chair.
England nodded his head as he stuck his hand in the bowl and grabbed a handful of the round cereal and tried unsuccessfully to bring it to his mouth. Instead, it got all over his lap and the highchair, making him very upset. He tried a few more time without success, and soon he was ready to cry. Before the first tears could reach his eyes though, America noticed what was happening and saved him miraculously with a tiny spoon he had been trying to locate.
"Little buddy, sorry about that, I had to find the spoon, silly me! Now open up, shall we?" America chuckled as he brought a spoonful of cheerios up to England's tiny pink lips.
England opened his mouth and let the food come in, and he sampled them slowly, at first trying to make sure they weren't harmful, and them just savoring the taste.
Soon after England ate his tiny meal, he was sitting on the couch in front of the television in the living room, when suddenly the doorbell rang. He was startled by the sound, and hid himself from view behind his stuffed griffin as Alfred went to answer the door.
"Well, I wonder who's here to visit tonight?" America asked himself as he slowly opened to door, revealing none other than Wales, who had gotten there earlier then expected.
"Hello America! I managed to hop off of work much, much earlier than I told you, and I hope that wasn't an inconvenience to you at all! How's England fairing, anyways?" Wales greeted as he politely stepped in the house, taking off his long, brown jacket and hanging it on a nearby rack.
"Oh, he's doing all right, he's in the living room watching something educational and stuff on television." America shrugged, following Wales as he strides into the living room, where England was peeking out from behind his griffin suspiciously at Wales.
"Hey Arthur! My, how small you've gotten since the last time I saw you! Now you can't even drink beer anymore!" the Welshman laughed light-heartedly, seating himself on the couch, scaring the living daylights out of England.
"Awfwed!" England squeaked, turning to the American for help in this predicament.
"England, this is you older brother Wales. He won't hurt you, I promise. And if he does, I'll be sure to kick his ass." America murmured the last part only to England, who's eyes widened.
"What a way to introduce me to my brother, why would I hurt him, hmm?" Wales sneered maliciously at America.
"I've seen him hurt by all kinds of people before, and I would defend him if I had to!"
"Right. Says the boy who broke his very, very fragile heart. Am I right, America? It took him years to recover from what you did to him all those years ago."…
(To Be Continued…..)