Alfred (April 4, Wednesday)

I felt like my head was spinning but not in a sickening way. It was one of those rare occasions where I felt really and truly overwhelmed. When I opened my eyes Wednesday morning, I immediately closed them again as yesterday came flooding back. We'd gone to meet Officer Basch after getting DNA tests finished. I'd been hoping that we could go home and relax after that but instead we went to meet some apparent family friend – and his grandsons. Marcus was okay for being so energetic. It took several attempts from four different people before I understood that he was actually an "adopted" grandfather. This meant that he had been really close to the boys' parents – practically a father to their mother. When they'd gotten all the legal stuff finished, Marcus was supposed to be the one to take care of the boys should anything ever happen to them. That's why Lovino and Feliciano – the boys – were living with their "adopted" grandfather now that their parents had passed away.

It had been an interesting story and it kind of hit something inside me. It was some sort of chord that made me sympathize with Lovino and Feliciano at the same time that I suddenly felt extremely grateful for my own odd situation.

Lovino and Feliciano were interesting people too. I kind of liked Feliciano more than his brother because he was happier and more energetic. He seemed easier to talk to as well. Lovino sat on "his side of the room" the entire time and said very little. Arthur and Francis seemed used to it, as well as his family – though I figured that must have come with how long they'd lived with him. To me, he seemed like Matthew only more of a downer. I wasn't sure I could get along with him as well as I got along with my brother though.

Over all, the visit had been rather entertaining and definitely exhausting. It hadn't been until we'd been on our way home that evening that Arthur had explained why we'd even bothered to go over there. It was mostly Marcus's fault, from what I got. He'd wanted to meet us and to introduce us to his grandsons. But Arthur and Francis had also thought it might be a good idea to have us start meeting people so they didn't startle us when the story circulated. I was wary of this at the same time that I was very grateful for it.

It had been weird to go "home" that night and sit down at a dinner table where it wasn't hard to talk. I actually liked to sit there and talk to my parents whereas the Andersons had been boring and the moment I could, I would escape. Here, I hadn't wanted dinner to end because I'd been having so much fun talking to them and being able to goof off a little without getting scolded too bad. I'd learned that Arthur was rather nit-picky about manners but as long as I could display them – as in knew them – he didn't care so much if I disobeyed a few. Dinner last night had made me look forward to every family meal.

This morning, however, I didn't want to get out of bed. I knew there was other stuff we had to do today. There was more legal stuff where we had to go meet with Officer Basch for awhile along with seeing what we could do about school. I'd never thought that picking up on a life we'd been forced to abandon would be so hard. I rolled onto my side and pulled the covers over my head. Suddenly they were being yanked down and Matthew's face appeared in peripheral view. "Wake up, Alfred!" he hissed and I sat up, worried because of the tone in his voice.

"What's wrong?" I asked sleepily. I was also rather grumpy but I was trying to suppress it.

"I'm not sure anything is but..." He suddenly grinned that was a bit much for me. I almost tackled him. "Francis and Arthur are fighting. You should come listen." I made a face, debating whether or not it would be worth it to attack him. Sighing, I got up and followed him down the hall to the spiral stairs.

"Are you serious?" Arthur screamed, frightfully loud. "You couldn't have just... I don't know, not done that?" Francis replied in French, seeming to piss Arthur off more. "Don't start with that, just don't. It was one time and it was partially your fault it burned anyway."

"You just can't cook," Francis sniffed and there was a loud crashing sound after that. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?"

Matthew snickered. "The cupboard..." Arthur replied darkly.

"I didn't see you move..." Francis admitted softly.

"You blinked," Arthur informed him. It was weird but for some reason, I thought of myself and poor Matthew when my time of the month came around. I glanced at Matthew and I could see this reflected in his eyes. Suddenly, this fight wasn't so funny anymore. I frowned. It was something I'd had to deal with since I was thirteen and I'd been too terrified to tell anyone but my brother. The Andersons had never understood why I'd be extra moody once every month. "Francis...I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

I blinked and looked down the stairs. "If I'm not bleeding then I'm sure I'm fine..." he responded but added something in French.

"Great," Arthur said with a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice. "Do the dishes." I was pretty sure that the next word Francis used was a cuss word.

"We should head downstairs, I think..." Matthew whispered and headed down the spiral staircase. I followed him but when he reached the last little bit of the stairs, I pushed him and he tumbled the rest of the way down. "What was that for?" he cried as he sat up stiffly.

I stared down at him and grinned. "Waking me up," I answered as Arthur and Francis wandered in from the hall. "Morning!" I greeted them brightly. They didn't seem to know how to react ― especially after Matthew got to his feet and launched himself at me in revenge for me pushing him down the stairs. We struggled for a minute but I did end up falling the rest of the way down the stairs next and landing heavily on my back. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" I screeched before he could think of anything else to do to me. He smiled and said good morning to Arthur and Francis who still hadn't moved.

"Are you...two okay?" Arthur finally managed to ask.

As I sat up, I rolled my shoulders and tested my neck. "Yup," I responded. "But it's not like I haven't fallen from farther..."

"Are you referring to that time you danced off the stage?" Matthew inquired as he helped me up. I nodded. "Yeah, that was bad. I'm still mad at your ex-partner for just standing there."

I shrugged. "I'll get her back someday."

"Something tells me this isn't out of the ordinary," Francis interjected, sounding amused. Arthur still looked somewhat concerned.

My smile vanished and I said, "Neither was that fight in the kitchen?" That made Arthur blush and Francis to not look so pleased. For a minute, we all just stood there staring at each other.

"I guess there's still a lot we have to learn about each other..." Arthur muttered, and I felt my previous defiance start to leave me. I wasn't up for fighting about much of anything at that moment. It just felt like the day was going to be about as long as yesterday. Something in my parents' faces said the exact same thing. "Well, let's go have breakfast and we'll see what the day is going to look like, okay?" he suggested, his voice pitching oddly to show how tired he really already was.

"Or we could have breakfast and take the day off," I suggested hopefully with a smile. Francis shook his head and I sighed, frowning. "I know."

"Let's just get it all over with in the next few days so we can have the weekend off." Francis proposed and we all wearily agreed. Two days off didn't sound so amazing when I remembered that it was only Wednesday. Still, I figured that in the end, it wasn't such a big deal. We'd only been here a day and a half anyway. Another day of sorting stuff out wasn't really all that bad.

~XxX~

Arthur (April 4, Wednesday)

The day dragged by and I was starting to get impatient. There was so much to do before we could settle down again and carry on with life. I was very thankful to Basch who seemed to have a lot of patience with the situation. I was thankful to Francis who put up with me when I got too stressed. I was thankful to Alfred and Matthew who were both sticking this out, even though they were both obviously sick of it all. I tried to keep this list in my head as I went about my day, but my hormones were making that extremely hard. I constantly felt close to a breakdown and I kept loosing my head around Francis. Even though the fight between my husband and I had attracted our sons' attention this morning, we hadn't gotten around to explaining anything. The thing that worried me now was the knowing look on Alfred's face that turned to an overwhelming despair every time I started fighting with Francis.

By the end of the day, I was frustrated. I felt like we couldn't get anywhere. We'd spent more time than anticipated at the police station and so we didn't bother to go to the school to register the boys. Instead, we decided to take the afternoon off ― despite what had earlier been said.

X x X

"Well, it would make sense," I heard Matthew say from the living room. The kitchen door was propped open again this afternoon. Francis, sipping at his cocoa, was sitting at the table; I stood at the counter and mixed sugar into my tea. But we were both listening now. The boys had wandered into the living room about a half hour ago and I'd thought they might have fallen asleep, they were so quiet. "You should ask him."

"I don't want to," Alfred replied in a rather sulky voice. "It's awkward. And what if I'm wrong?"

It was quiet a moment and then Matthew muttered, "Well, you can't be the only one." As if to change the subject, he said, "Besides that, Kim and David have probably realized that we're not coming back. You worried about that yet?"

I dropped my spoon in the sink and turned, leaning against the counter. "Sort of and, yet, not really. I don't think they'd do anything because they must know they might already be in trouble." Alfred sounded calmer than his brother.

"Maybe not…" Matthew replied softly. That bothered me a little ― that he was frightened by the idea that the Andersons might come back. "You know what I thought of the other day?"

"What?"

"I wonder why the Andersons came all the way to Kansas to kidnap two random kids."

"Maybe they lived somewhere around the community and they moved to Alabama to reduce the risk of getting caught."

"I guess that makes more sense…" For a moment, their silence suggested contentedness. Then Matthew said, "You're unhappy."

I tried to ignore the implications of that. But they weren't lost on me and so I just tried to control my expression while I waited to see if Alfred would respond to that. The seconds ticked by, fraying my already harassed nerves. Finally, Alfred replied in a strained voice, "Not really. I actually like it here a lot. Arthur and Francis are really nice and I think I could adjust to the town." I felt my chest loosen up and my breathing get easier. "I'm just a little confused, is all. There's been a lot to deal with the past few days."

"I know. I'm not so much confused as I am really overwhelmed," Matthew laughed. "When you dragged me along on this adventure, you never told me that this mess would be so complicated!"

"I didn't know!" Alfred replied and fell into a fit of laughter himself. I went to the kitchen door and kicked the wood wedge out of the way; the door swung quietly shut.

I went and sat at the table across from Francis. "Maybe it's a good thing we're taking the afternoon off after all," I muttered, wrapping both hands around my mug and sipping at my tea.

"The days don't ever seem long enough and, yet, they're always too long," Francis replied softly, staring absentmindedly over my head. "I can't wait until all this…" He paused, coming out of his trance so he could struggle to find a fitting word or phrase. "Restarting stuff is taken care of and we can try to settle down again." I nodded and we lapsed into a sort of silence that had me waiting for him to say something. "Do you think they'll adjust as well as Alfred thinks they will?"

Ever since they had shown up, it had been the question on my mind. But it ran deeper. I was afraid none of us would adjust. My biggest fear, however, lied in the results of the DNA tests. I didn't say anything to Francis but I knew it was all on his mind as well. "I don't know, but I hope so," I whispered.

X x X

That night was not good. The stress along with my hormones and exhaustion made it hard to keep my head. Francis took over dinner for me and I tried to catch up on grading. Alfred and Matthew had escaped to the basement where I'd showed them our entertainment system. But the students' work only proved to frustrate me and I hurt too much to sit there for too long. The wonderful effects of being a hermaphrodite… I thought sarcastically, shuffling to the kitchen for some pain relievers. Francis looked at me as I walked in but seemed to recognize the expression on my face and said nothing.

I wandered to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of painkillers. As I turned to get a glass, I noticed what was in the saucepan Francis was using. "What is that?" I inquired, pulling a face.

He sighed. "What does it look like?" he answered. On a normal day, I would have gotten upset and probably stormed off. However, today was not a normal day.

I sighed and tried to rationalize walking way. But I was pissed. "I know very well what it looks like! I asked you to tell me what it was!" I cried, slapping a hand onto the countertop. "You're constantly doing that – making it sound like I'm stupid. You have no respect for me."

Obviously Francis was overly stressed because he rolled his eyes. "Well, it shouldn't faze you as this is the way you've treated me our entire marriage. No respect, sarcastic responses, and always putting the blame on me. If you don't like it, maybe you should fix it."

I could have smacked him. But his words rang too true in my head. I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and got some water before taking a few tablets of the painkiller. Then I turned to him and said, "I try hard not to be that way; you know that. I can't remember all the times we've fought over this. I'm sorry I can't always be perfect like you!" And then I stormed off.

I didn't stop in the living room, where I'd been grading earlier, but instead went upstairs to my bedroom where I slammed the door. I knew how it would go; it was always the same when I was like this. Sometimes, I wished fervently that I could change who I was. Life seemed so much easier for those who didn't have added hormones. Frustrated, I went to my bedside table and grabbed the nearest book. I turned and threw it across the room, satisfied when it hit the door loudly. When I went to grab something else off the bedside table to throw, I caught sight of a picture. It was of Francis and I earlier in our marriage, looking proud as we held one-year-old Alfred and newborn Matthew. All my anger left me. I took the picture and sank down onto my bed.

The photo had gotten me through the last twelve years and every time I got upset with Francis, it had served as a reminder for how truly happy I was in my marriage. No man had ever frustrated me as much as my husband but I'd never found one I loved more. Reminded of this once again, I began to cry. I barely had any energy left. I dropped onto my bed and curled into fetal position, clutching the picture to my chest. Eventually, Francis came upstairs and we both apologized before we headed back downstairs. Before we even reached the door, however, I pulled him close to me and kissed him. As explanation for my random act – as this didn't follow our normal apologizing routine – I simply said, "I love you."

~XxX~

Author's note: So, at this point, you might be wondering what exactly is up with Arthur and Alfred. Or you feel like correcting me on my facts. Doesn't matter. All will be revealed later in the story if you can stick it out until then.

Also, I've been trying to be consistent with my updates but this will probably be the last of that. This is my last prewritten chapter and I'm working on the next. But it'll be slow because I'm also working on a story with my friend, Feliciano Luigina Holmes. So that's taking up some time as well. Hopefully I can keep them a week, maybe two, apart but I'm just warning you now.

Thanks so much to anyone who is reading this or reviewing this; has put this story on their alert or favorite's list. It means a lot and I appreciate it. I hope this story won't disappoint you.

Please review.