There was white blanketing the ground outside Alfred's window, and a wide grin formed on the child's face. He jumped out of his bed with glee and bound out of his room in a fast blur. His bare feet thumped quickly against the wooden floor like a drum beat. Alfred's blue eyes shined with joy as he threw a door open and ran into a carpeted bedroom.

Two bundled forms tiredly groaned when Alfred jumped onto their bed. Tiny tanned hands shook the nearest form vigorously. "Mom! Mom! It's Christmas, and it's snowing! C'mon, we need to get up!" the boy insisted eagerly, bouncing up and down.

Alfred's mom sighed and looked up at the boy through violet eyes. "All right, honey," she mumbled sleepily. She turned and poked her husband slightly. "John, it's time to get up."

Alfred's father murmured something unintelligible, and his mother just smiled and shook her head with amusement.

"Go ahead and wake your brother up, Alfred."

Giving a quick nod, Alfred was out of bed again and flying out of the room. He went down the stairs and barely touched a step before moving to the next one. The boy quickly went through the living room into a hallway and practically slammed a door open.

"Mattie, it's Christmas!" Alfred exclaimed with a wide grin.

Matthew groaned and put a pillow over his head, and a white dog lazily raised his head to gaze at Alfred before laying it back down. The blue-eyed Omega pouted and moved over to his brother and energetically shook the other's form. "Maaaaaattie! Come on! You need to get up! We can open presents then go play out in the snow! Come oooon!"

Matthew let out a sigh of irritation. "Fine, Al…" Yawning, the Omega twin slowly got up and rubbed his eyes. "How do you always get up this early, anyway?"

Alfred let out a loud laugh.

"Heroes don't need sleep!"

"It's really big, isn't it?"

Alfred snapped out of his dream-like state suddenly to look at Arthur. An enormous Christmas tree towered above them with unending amounts of ornaments and decorations. The Omega had momentarily stopped his wheelchair in front of the tree, for it reminded him so much of the times he had once spent with his family.

"Y-Yeah…" Alfred muttered, biting his lip slightly. Arthur's bushy eyebrows dipped into a frown.

"Are you all right?" the Alpha asked.

"I'm fine," Alfred replied instantly, removing his nostalgic expression. "Anyway, where's the food you mentioned? I'm hungry."

Arthur's concerned expression lingered for one more moment before he sighed and shook his head. "It's this way."

The two ventured down the hallway until they finally entered a large room with a long table in the center. Almost immediately upon entering, a redheaded Alpha smirked and approached them. "Ah, Artie! I was wondering when you would finally decide to show up!"

Arthur crossed his arms and practically snarled. "I can show up whenever I bloody well please, Alistair."

"Oi, is that anyway to talk to your older brother, Artie?" Alistair chirped, maintaining his wide smirk.

"My name is Arthur, you imbecile!"

"Oh, look! Artie's here!" a new voice exclaimed. Alfred's eyes drifted towards a boy and a girl, both with red hair. The shade of their hair was less intense compared to Alistair's, and the Omega couldn't help but blink in wonder at the Betas. The two newcomers looked almost completely identical!

Arthur was muttering and cursing when the girl ran over in the direction of Alfred. "Oh!" she said with excitement. "You must be the Omega Arthur mentioned! It's nice to meet you! My name is Colleen; I'm Arthur's older sister!"

"I'm Alfred…?" Alfred said slowly, his head spinning from all the talking and sudden approaching of Arthur's siblings.

Yet another person, a Beta, entered the room with a book tucked under his arm — God, how many siblings did Arthur have?! — and blinked his hazel eyes at the group forming around Alfred. Unlike Arthur's other siblings, Alfred noted, this boy shared the Alpha's blond hair.

Arthur almost looked ready to pull his hair out at the sight of this brother. "Oh God, another insane person. I'm going to die."

"Hey!" Alfred said with an offended tone. "I'm perfectly sane!" At least more so than your other siblings, the Omega wanted to add.

"I agree with Alfred!" the unnamed redhead exclaimed. "Dylan, Alistair, Colleen, Alfred, and I are a whole lot more sane than you!"

Arthur snarled with irritation. "Seamus, I'll kill—!"

"Now, now. Everyone, calm down. We don't want to overwhelm our guest, do we?"

Everyone paused at the voice and turned towards it. A female Omega stood in a doorway with an amused, gentle smile and perfect posture. Blond hair with a rough texture fell down the woman's shoulders and ended on her upper back. Alfred felt his lips part slightly in shock at the hazel eyes that stared back with wrinkles in the milky white skin surrounding it. There could be no mistake; this was the Queen of Melendia.

"I apologize, Mother," Arthur said with a glare towards his siblings. "My siblings cannot seem to act like adults."

Alistair snorted. "Says the one who dyed his hair green."

"I was sixteen!" Arthur defended with an angry scowl.

"And you only turned it back to normal after you were eighteen."

"Shut up, you bloody wanker!"

Alfred couldn't help but let out a bout of laughter. "Arthur had green hair? No way!"

Alistair smirked and nodded, making Arthur start murmuring angrily. "He did!" the redhead exclaimed. "Went through this punk phase, he did. He caused trouble wherever he went and vandalized a ton of places! He had all these piercings and was always like 'Screw society!'"

Alfred laughed loudly again. There's no way stuffy old Arthur could be a punk! He was so focused on being a 'gentleman', as he put it. The Alpha was definitely a stickler for the rules, or at least appeared to be.

"Come on, we can exchange stories later!" the Queen exclaimed. The woman extended her hand towards Alfred and shook the Omega's hand with a smile. "My name is Elizabeth; I'm Arthur's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"U-Uh," Alfred stammered due the fact that this was the fucking Queen he was talking to. "Yeah. I'm Alfred. Nice to meet ya."

The Queen smiled then beckoned the group to go sit at the long table with a wave of her hand. "Now, let's eat! We don't want all this food to go to waste, do we?"

It was only then that Alfred took real notice of the food. It made his mouth water and his stomach growl. He hadn't seen food this good since before he was captured!

Alfred started to move towards the table with his wheelchair, but Arthur stopped him by stepping in front of the male. The Alpha pulled a chair out of the way so the Omega could park his wheelchair beside the table, making Alfred frown.

"I could've done that myself."

"You could have," Arthur agreed, "but I decided to help."

Alfred snorted and went beside the table. "I don't need your help. I prefer doing things on my own."

Arthur sighed and grumbled under his breath — causing his siblings to snicker — and sat down beside the Omega. Alfred immediately picked up a fork to eat some of the chicken and closed his eyes in appreciation of the taste. God, this definitely put all the horrible food he had eaten for the four last years to shame.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the action. "It's just chicken, you know."

"This is heaven compared to what I've eaten while I was captured," Alfred merely said. The room went silent at the reply — save for the clinging of Alfred's fork as he ate — and the inhabitants of the room looked unsure of how to respond. This went on for about a minute before the Queen spoke up.

"Well," Elizabeth said, "are you enjoying your stay so far at the castle, Alfred?"

Alfred swallowed and put his fork down for a moment to nod. "Yes. I feel so much better now that I've had a bath!"

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. Just let us know if you need anything, all right?"

"I will, thank you," Alfred replied, grateful for the Queen's kindness.

"It's no problem, dear," Elizabeth said gently before a new man walked into the room. This man had the same red hair and green eyes as many of his children. Alfred could smell the scent of an Alpha upon him as he went beside Elizabeth to kiss her cheek.

"I'm sorry I was late, sweetheart," he apologized as he sat down. "I've had much more paperwork than usual with all the attacks from Rachma."

"I understand, Will," Elizabeth said with a nod.

Will had begun to eat before he noticed Alfred's presence, and he raised an eyebrow. "And who might you be?" the Alpha asked.

Elizabeth answered for Alfred. "This is the Omega Arthur mentioned. His name is Alfred."

"Hello," Alfred said with an awkward smile and wave. God, with those eyebrows, this had to be the King.

"Hello, Alfred," Will greeted. "My name is Will; I'm Arthur's father."

"Nice to meet you," the Omega answered, still feeling a bit awkward.

Seeing that both Alfred and Arthur had nearly finished their food, Elizabeth spoke to her son. "Arthur, dear, why don't you go show Alfred around the castle? After all, he'll be staying for a while."

Arthur nodded. "That's a good idea." He turned his head towards Alfred. "Do you want to go now?"

Alfred looked at his empty plate, almost mourning that all the food was gone, then gave a sigh and a nod. "Let's go."

The two then proceeded to go around the castle with Arthur explaining and naming everything. Alfred almost felt overwhelmed by the size and enormity of it all, and the feeling leaked into his expression. The male could tell that Arthur was amused by this, but he was too in awe to make a comeback. Eventually the males made their way outside to the stables, much to Alfred's delight.

"…And these are the stables," Arthur stated. "I don't really go here as much as I used to."

A grin formed on Alfred's face at the sight of the barn, and he felt a sort of giddiness. The Omega could clearly see through the opened, wooden doors the stalls lined inside the long corridor. He instantly wheeled himself quickly inside to Arthur's surprise and went to a stall where a horse poked its head out. The thoroughbred horse nickered as the Omega gently moved his fingers up and down its forehead.

"So, you're fond of horses, then?" Arthur remarked as he came beside Alfred.

"I lived on a ranch when I was younger," Alfred replied simply. He kept smiling at the horse's dark brown eyes and petting it for a while until he felt Arthur's stare, so the male glanced over at Arthur to see him staring with a bit of surprise at him.

"What are you staring at me for?" the Omega asked, his smile turning into a confused frown.

Arthur blinked and was shaken out of his stupor. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just, you were…"

"I was what?"

"Never mind…" The Alpha turned his gaze onto the horse. "Her name is Gwen, by the way. She's my mother's horse."

"Gwen, huh?" Alfred repeated. He turned his gaze back onto Gwen, and a smile made its way back onto his features. "You're such a sweet and pretty thing, Gwen… I bet you're fast, too." The horse nickered, and Alfred let out a soft laugh.

Alfred remained there for quite a while before he suddenly felt hot. Very hot. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, and his vision swam. The Omega's hands went to his head as the heat steadily grow more intense, and sweat began to drip down his forehead. The male heard Arthur worriedly shouting a question at him and Gwen letting out a wild neigh, but the sound felt far-off. He felt something picking him up and moving at a fast pace, but the dizziness and heat distracted him. Eventually, the male drifted into unconsciousness.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Alfred felt a strange sense of déjà vu upon waking. He heard the continual repeating of beeps, and he laid in an unknown bed. His eyes fluttered open and a white room formed in his vision. He looked down and grimaced at the sight of an IV linked to his arm. He hated IVs.

The blond turned his head around to find a person, and his blue eyes caught the blurred form of a man sitting in a chair.

"Arthur?"

Arthur's head snapped up in attention, and he stood up, walking towards Alfred. "How are you feeling?" the Alpha asked.

"Better… Just tired," Alfred answered. "Can you get…?" Before Alfred finished his sentence, Arthur was already grabbing his glasses and putting them on the Omega. Alfred blinked in surprise. "Uh, thanks…"

The hospital bed dipped as Arthur sat on the edge. "You had a pretty bad hot flash, so I had to take you here."

"A hot flash?" Alfred repeated. "What even causes that? I've never had one before."

"I don't know," the prince replied, shrugging. He stood up again. "I'll go tell the doctor you're awake."

Alfred nodded and watched as Arthur disappeared out the door. Hot flash. So that's what the heat was. For a second, he had thought he had…

"How are you feeling, Mr. Jones?"

Alfred blinked at the doctor before shrugging. "Fine, I guess. Just tired."

"That's normal," the doctor said. He looked at his clipboard and clicked his tongue. "Now, I must say I'm a little baffled by your hot flash. These are normally caused by hormone imbalances, and, well, you do have a hormone imbalance… But I've never seen one to this scale. Theoretically, I would say this could only be caused by an outside influence…" The doctor looked up from his clipboard to gaze at Alfred. "Do you have any idea what this outside influence could be, Mr. Jones?"

Alfred froze, and his skin paled. No. It couldn't be… No. He couldn't tell them about it. He didn't want to. But there wasn't a lie he could tell that would sound credible. God, he didn't want to tell them, but…

"I…" Alfred's voice cracked, and the Omega avoided the doctor's gaze. "I…" God, could he really say it?

Arthur and the doctor stared at him, waiting for an answer.

Alfred took a deep breath.

"I was forcefully induced into heats."