Hello lovelies. Yes I do realize that the last chapter kinda ened all sucky. I can rarely end things and have them be...okay...
"Dr. Kirkland, are you alright?" Viktorija asked urgently after she turned to see that the Englishman had blood dripping from his nose. She quickly grabbed a tissue and gave it to him.
"I'm quite alright, thank you," he replied, tilting his head back slightly, "Must the dry air."
The Lithuanian nodded and led Arthur over to the sofa. She held his forearm gingerly as she did so, looking down every so often to assure that nothing was in the way for him to trip on.
After about a minute, Arthur took the tissue away from his nose and smiled inelegantly at Viktorija. "I think the bleeding's stopped. Sorry to have alarmed you, Miss Laurinaté."
She smiled in return, mentally reprimanding herself for overreacting to such a minor injury. She was genuinely concerned for the blonde sitting next to her, but…
"Shall we be going now?" Arthur said, standing up. He offered his hand to the Lithuanian, who flinched a bit before regaining her composure and accepted it, though very cautiously.
The pair walked to the grocery store, where Viktorija was a bit relieved but also wary to have Arthur with her. If she were here by herself, Ivan would surely hone in on her if he saw her, but with Arthur, he might be reluctant to confront her. This also meant that the Englishman might also become the outlet for Ivan's wrath, which made Viktorija highly nervous.
Their conversation to the store was rather thin and trivial, with subjects like the weather. The topic did seem to get more interesting the longer they walked, especially when it turned to how Arthur was liking America so far.
"Well, I haven't really been here long, but it is a bit better than expected," he commented, "I mean, I haven't seen anyone without teeth carrying around a shot gun."
"You don't see too many guns in this part of the city," Viktorija giggled, "Though I do admit, I was expecting something along those lines as well."
"When did you come over from, um, Lithuania, is it?"
"I was born in Lithuania, yes," the brunette said, "I was put into a state run orphanage when I was young."
"Oh," the blonde man rubbed the back of his neck, "Do you mind if I ask why you were put under state care?"
"My biological father was abusive," she replied, looking somewhere across the street, "He…hit me and my mother. Mother took her own life and I was taken into state care after Father had been deemed unfit."
"I'm sorry, Miss Laurinaté, I shouldn't have-"
"That's alright. It's not really news to anyone, really."
The pair walked into the grocery store where Arthur seemed to do everything but hold Viktorija's hand. She tried to attribute this to his never having been here before, but she still smiled every time his arm brushed hers. The Lithuanian realized that she'd be shopping for two very different people for awhile as the blonde filled up his basket with items that varied greatly from what she was getting for her American employer.
"Do you cook often, Dr. Kirkland?" she asked, trying at a lighter attempt for conversation.
"I do, but I'm afraid that I'm not very good at it," he gave a embarrassed smile, "This is something I've just come to realize recently, just before I left London, actually. One of my scones very nearly killed a cat."
Viktorija tried not to laugh, having to turn and walk a little ways down the aisle to grab something else.
"Does Alfred eat a lot of, you know, processed foods?" Arthur inquired.
"Mr. Jones usually only eats at home on his days off, and I usually have the same days off as he does."
"I'll take that as a yes, since I can't really see Alfred using the stove left to his own devices."
"I do know that he can make hamburgers," Viktorija offered. She knew that her boss wasn't exactly intelligent, but he could do some things.
"Well, I suppose that's something," the Englishman mumbled, "Do you like to cook, Miss Laurinaté?"
"Oh, yes," she responded, "I usually make my brothers' lunches. The food at their school is nothing like what we're used to eating, so I usually make them desserts that our mama used to make for us. It's a nice treat for them, or at least I hope so."
"Well, I'm sure they appreciate it greatly. Anything to make them feel more at home," Arthur commented.
"Do you need to get anything else? I'm finished getting everything Mr. Jones needs."
"Yes, I believe I have everything."
They checked out, and Arthur insisted on carrying if not all, then a good majority of the groceries.
"Are you sure you've got all those?" the brunette eyed the bags suspiciously, "I could take one, you don't have to carry all four."
"No, no, I can handle them. I wouldn't be a very good gentleman if I couldn't."
"What is your definition of 'gentleman' exactly, Dr. Kirkland?" Viktorija took one of the bags from him while he struggled to get the door open for her.
"Well, Miss Laurinaté," he said, a bit dissatisfied with her action, "My grandmother always told me that if I wasn't polite to women, that I'd get the business end of her wooden spoon. So I suppose it's just trying my best to be very polite to everyone. Ladies like yourself especially."
"I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a lady…" the brunette blushed and, looking down meekly
"I certainly do."
This reply only made Viktorija blush harder. She tried to think of something to say as her pulse pounded in her ears.
"Um, you asked about when I arrived in America," she offered after clearing her throat.
"Yes, I did. How old were you when you came over?"
"It was three days after my nineteenth birthday. I stayed with a friend of the family before I got a job and an alright apartment. The next summer, my brothers came over to stay. Our parents figured we'd have a better living over here than in Latvia."
"I'm guessing you were adopted eventually," the blonde man was trying to watch the brunette's expressions while walking at the same time.
"Yes, Eduard and I were adopted by a Latvian couple when I was seven and he was five. They already had a son, Raivis. He was three and he took to us as his big sister and brother. I had already gotten used to being a big sister to some of the younger children, and Eduard was one who got particularly attached."
"Is Eduard from Lithuania also?"
"No, he was transferred from an Estonian orphanage when he was two, about a year before I arrived. I'm not sure how he ended up in Lithuania, or why our parents decided to adopt from there, but I'm glad that it all happened. I couldn't imagine not having those two around." Viktorija smiled fondly, remembering the day that her parents had come to get her.
~oOo~
She remembered sitting in the lobby with Eduard while the other children were outside. The two often stayed inside, where Viktorija helped the Estonian boy with his schoolwork. They hadn't even been told that there would be potential parents coming that day, so they were both very surprised when the couple walked in.
"Oh, Juris, aren't they precious?"
The boy and the girl looked up from their place in the middle of the floor. "Hello," the woman said, "What are you're names?"
"I'm Viktorija Laurinaté and this is Eduard Von Bock. Say hello to the nice lady, Eduard."
"T-tere."
It was about at this time when the three-year-old toddled out from behind his fathers legs. He walked unsteadily over to Eduard and grabbed at his glasses. He gurgled curiously.
"Nē, nē Raivis."
The toddler looked back at his parents. He looked to Eduard and patted his face gently. Then he turned to Viktorija and gave her a sloppy kiss on the nose.
"Brālis, māsa." he cooed, planting himself firmly between them.
Eduard and Viktorija looked at each other in confusion. Neither of them spoke Latvian, so they had no idea what the child was saying. It seemed that the parents spoke fluent Lithuanian.
"He's picked you to be his new brother and sister," the father explained, "And I don't think he's changing his mind."
That was the day that the three of them had become nearly inseparable, the Latvian boy insisting on holding his new siblings hands as they went into the office to sign all the papers and even in the car.
~oOo~
"It must be nice to have brothers that appreciate you," Arthur commented, pulling Viktorija out of her reverie, "Alfred's insufferable and Matthew is very capable of taking care of himself. I suppose it wouldn't help that we all grew up in different countries…"
"How did that happened?" the brunette inquired.
"My father…got around, you might say. I wouldn't be surprised if I had more half-brothers or sisters. He met my mother in London, left, and then went to Canada and stuck around for maybe two or three years after the twins were born. He took Alfred with him to America, and left Matthew and their mother in Canada. He would come around every other year to get us all together, because I suppose realizing that he had helped bring three children into the world changed him. He usually took us to a beach somewhere in Spain."
"Well, at least the took the time to see all of you and get you and your brothers together," Viktorija offered.
"I do suppose you're right. I find it pleasant that you're so optimistic," the Englishman said as they arrived back at the apartment building.
The Lithuanian looked down once more as her cheeks began to turn pink.
Translations
Tere {Estonian}- Hello
Nē {Latvian}- No
Brālis {Latvian}- Brother
Māsa {Latvian}- Sister
Hey, this chapter was really long. The longest one I've written so far. I Honestly thought it would never end. So I ended it abruptly. Yeah! Thanks to everyone who's still reading this by the way. I'd like to hear what you guys think, so don't be afraid to bruise my ego a bit. I can take it, I swear! ((Prussia: No she can't.)) Shut up! ((But you said so yourself today that you were a delicate flower-)) I said shut up, OKAY?
...I think I may be schizophrenic.