Later than I thought, but also longer than I thought, here is chapter five. Introducing the Italian twins. "Salut" is French for hi.
On the day the social worker was to arrive, Francis spent the morning running around the house, nervously cleaning anything he could get his hands on. Arthur finally got him to stop by forcing him to take a shower, and then by telling him to make lunch or else Arthur himself would do it. Francis quickly retreated to the kitchen and stayed there until there was a knock on the door. Francis came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron as Arthur answered the door.
"Hello, I'm looking for Mr. Bonnefoy and Mr. Kirkland?"
"I'm Kirkland," Arthur said. "Please come in." Francis turned to busy himself in the kitchen, suddenly reluctant to meet this person. He occupied himself with little mindless tasks until Arthur showed up in the doorway. "Francis." The taller man jumped.
"Oh, Arthur…haha. I'm such a coward now." He stared down at his hands. Arthur walked over to his husband and wrapped his arms around his waist.
"Francis. We can do this. Everything will be fine. The interview will go spectacular, and then in a few short months we'll have the boys living here with us. Okay?" Francis swallowed and nodded.
"I'm sorry." Arthur leaned up and kissed him.
"Come on, let's get this over with." Arthur took his hand and led him into the living room. The social worker was sitting on one of the couches. The couple sat down on the other one. The woman raised her eyes from her hands, folded in her lap, to look at them. She had dark brown hair in a tight bun and matching dark brown eyes behind wire-framed glasses. One leg was crossed over the other; her suit and shoes matched the color of her hair.
She wasted no time in introducing herself, then she started the interview by asking to see the house. Arthur led her around and pointed out various things like the rooms the boys would be sleeping in, while Francis trailed after nervously. Partway through the tour, the doorbell rang. All three looked in the direction of the door.
"Ah, I'll get it!" Francis said quickly, hurrying away. He opened the door to a very harried Spaniard with an armful of crying Italian child. "Antonio?"
"Ah, Francis! Can you watch the twins por favor? Something happened with Ludwig, I need to go help Gilbert." Francis blinked in surprise.
"Of course, mon ami."
"Ah, gracias!" He handed the crying boy over to Francis. "I will call as soon as I know what's happened!" he called as he ran towards his car. Francis watched him drive away, rocking the Italian in his arms.
"Gosh, shut up, Feli!" Francis looked down to see an angry Romano standing next to him, glaring up at Feliciano.
"Hello, Lovi," Francis said.
"Shut up! Don't call me that!" The boy pushed past Francis and walked into the house. Francis sighed and shut the door, then tried to get Feliciano to stop crying.
"There, there, chéri, it's alright, no need to cry," he cooed.
"I'm worried about Ludwig! Antonio said he was going to the hospital!" Feliciano wailed.
"Ludwig will be fine, Feli, Gilbert is going to take care of him."
"Really?"
"Yes. Now, why don't you go play with your brother, hm?"
"Okay," the small Italian said, wiping his eyes. Francis set him down and Feliciano toddled off towards the kitchen.
"Ahem." Francis jumped and looked towards the staircase, stiffening up as he saw the social worker standing there. She was watching him, a small smile on her face. He tried to escape by running into the kitchen, but she followed. The twins were both munching on tomatoes from the fridge. The social worker walked over and patted Feliciano on the head. "Who's this then?"
"Hi lady! I'm Feli, and this is my big brother Lovi!" Feliciano exclaimed.
"Dang it, Feli, stop telling people that's my name!"
"But you let me and Spain-nii-chan call you that!"
"Shut up! And he is not your big brother!"
"But fratello~!" Francis sighed.
"These are Romano and Feliciano Vargas. My friend Antonio is their babysitter, but he had to drop them off here because our friend Gilbert had an emergency with his little brother," he explained. "I think Antonio had to drive Gilbert to the hospital or something similar."
"Ah, I see," the woman said. They continued talking about the children until she looked at the clock. "Well, it's time for me to go." Francis looked up in surprise. "It's been wonderful meeting you gentlemen, I wish you the best of luck." She shook their hands, smiled, and left. Arthur walked up to Francis, who put his arm around the shorter man and continued to stare in confusion at the door.
"That's it?" Arthur chuckled.
"I told you it was nothing to worry about. Come on, let's go sit with the twins." They walked into the living room and sat on the couch on either side of the Italian children, watching the TV while they waited for Antonio to call. They didn't have to wait long. Francis's cell phone rang and he got up to answer it.
"Salut, Tonio. What's going on?"
"Hola Francis. Ludwig got hit by a car. He's awake now, finally, but he's got amnesia. He remembers Gilbert, but not much besides that." Francis gasped.
"How bad was he…?"
"No broken bones, luckily. He has a few scrapes and a concussion, but other than the amnesia, he's much better off than Gilbert."
"What happened?"
"He grabbed Ludwig to try to get him out of the way of the car and got hit himself, he had to get stitches on his forehead and he fractured his left arm. He won't be able to drive for a while. He's staying the night here with Ludwig. I need to go run some errands, so can Feli and Lovi stay with you for the night?" The Spaniard's voice was strained.
"Of course, mon ami."
"Thank you, Francis. I'll be by to pick them up in the morning, I think. I'll call you if anything changes."
"Adieu, Antonio."
"Adios." Francis hung up and turned to find that the others were watching him.
"Ah…"
"How's Ludwig?" Feli asked. He started tearing up again. Francis sat back down on the couch and pulled the boy onto his lap.
"Ludwig is in the hospital with Gilbert right now."
"Are they hurt?" Arthur asked. Francis nodded.
"Gilbert fractured his arm and had to get stitches in his forehead. Ludwig isn't injured very badly, but he has amnesia."
"What's that?" Feli asked.
"It means he can't remember. Antonio said all that Ludwig can really recall right now is Gilbert."
"Does that mean he forgot about me?" Feli asked, tears running down his face.
"I don't know, cher. Maybe he'll remember when he sees you. We'll just have to wait and see," Francis said.
"Okay," Feli said.
"Hey, what about Spain?" Lovino demanded.
"He has some things he needs to do for Gilbert. He'll come pick you boys up in the morning." Lovino scowled and crossed his arms. Feliciano yawned and rubbed his eyes. He snuggled into Francis's chest. "Looks like it's time for your afternoon nap." Francis stood and carried Feli to the spare bedroom. Lovino hopped down from the couch and followed him. Francis set Feli down on the bed and Lovino climbed up beside him. Francis turned out the light as he shut the door.
"Sleep well, chers."