Disclaimer: I don't own it, but probably for the better…

Warning: AU, strong language (in Chibimano's defense, Arthur has a mouth on him too), boy x boy pairings (but not for awhile), and adorableness overload.

I'm not sure what will happen first – Arthur and Antonio killing each other with their bare hands or Lovi and Alfie killing us with cuteness…

We Meet Again

Imagine if you will a beautiful, picturesque park on a warm sunny day. Green grass so soft it tickles the toes of the giggling children scurrying across it barefoot. Sky so blue, it looked like an artist painted it. Puffy white clouds so fluffy, they resembled floating marshmallows lazily drifting across the heavens. Children were laughing, couples were walking hand in hand, and grandparents were growing nostalgic with talks of days long since past. It was a beautiful scene to behold...

And now imagine that with two adult men screaming at each other in the middle of the playground.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here, wanker?!" Arthur shouted, pointing an accusing hand at Antonio. "I thought the park prohibited dogs from entering!"

"Then you better leave before I tell them you're here!" Antonio shot back, unwilling to back down.

"Why you uncouth, inbred tosser!" the Briton grabbed the brunette's collar in one angry fistful. "You haven't changed one bit in 15 bloody years!"

"You either, cabron!" The Spaniard's lips curved into a cruel smile. "Where's all the manners you claim to have?"

"Wasted on you, arsehole," Arthur's eyes narrowed into pools of acid. "Why don't you do us all a favor and piss off before I reintroduce my fist to your face?"

"Before I go, I should do the world a favor and kill the furry demons clamped to your face," Antonio started to tug at his enemy's large eyebrows. "Tell me, did you get these from your mother or is wearing caterpillars some kind of fashion statement in England?"

"Don't you bring my mother into this!" the blonde hissed. "How about I wipe that conniving smirk right off your ugly mug?"

"You go on and try, you limp dick son of a bitch…"

"It would be an improvement, I guarantee you!" Arthur brought his hand back, slowly curling it into a fist. "It's not my fault you're a complete gormless jackass!"

"Daddy, what does "jackass" mean?" Alfred tugged on his father's shirt innocently.

"Oi, tomato jerk," Lovino poked Antonio's free hand. "I'm hungry…"

The argument came to a screeching halt the second both men realized the boys were still standing there. The young, hungry, impressionable boys… Both adults suddenly froze, feeling very awkward.

"I-It's a grown-up word, Alfred!" a flustered Arthur replied. "So don't you ever repeat it, alright?"

"But what is it?" the little blonde was persistent.

"It means—" Lovino felt his uncle's hand fly over his mouth.

"I think it's time to get some lunch, chiquito!" Antonio ignored the child's protests. "Let's go home and have those churros!"

In a flash, both adults dragged their kids in the opposite directions. All they could think about was getting as far away from the other as possible. Lovino ended up biting Antonio because he wanted to share one of his churros with Alfred. His stupid uncle had to go and ruin everything! What if he never saw him again? The blonde in question ended up bawling the entire car ride home because his mean dad didn't let him hug his new friend goodbye. Lovino was so much fun and now he was gone! Why didn't his dad let him hug his friend? Lovi was probably sad now! It wasn't fair!

My Sunshine

Lovino had been angry at his uncle for the rest of the night, refusing to talk or play with him. He even ate his churros in silence. Antonio had given him some space after dinner, feeling another wave of guilt when he checked on him after cleaning the dishes. Lovino had already fallen asleep, curled up on his bed. He was facing the wall, as if he fell asleep trying to distance himself from the older brunette. Antonio felt another pang of guilt when he adjusted the boy's blankets and saw the frown etched into Lovi's typically peaceful sleeping face.

I'm sorry, mi angél… The Spaniard thought glumly. But that man is like poison. I didn't want him to ruin the rest of our day…

The next morning, Lovino stubbornly refused to speak or even look at his caretaker. Despite Antonio's best attempts to get his nephew to smile, the little tsundere barely acknowledged his existence. The guilt had begun eating away at Antonio. He realized that pulling Lovino away from his new friend so suddenly might not have been the best move, but he had no way of fixing his mistake now. All he could do was wait out the Italian's silent treatment and keep smiling for him…Even if it did hurt a little when Lovino didn't return the goodbye hug when he dropped him off at daycare.

Later that afternoon, Antonio made his way through a familiar white door leading to a bright, colorful building. Work had felt longer than usual and he was eager to see his adorable little nephew. Hopefully, Lovino's irritable mood had passed by now. A bell chimed above Antonio, signaling his arrival.

"Welcome to Happy Smiles…" Abel greeted him with a deep-set frown.

"Er, hi, Abel…" Antonio winced. "I'm here to pick up Lovi."

"Oh, good. I never would have guessed," the blonde grunted sarcastically.

"Is he in the Moonbeam room or the Rainbow room?"

"The Sunshine room."

"Eh? Isn't that the baby room?" the Spaniard asked. "Why would Lovino be there?"

"He was being an unholy terror again today," Abel sighed. "I had to put him with Bella to get him to calm the hell down."

"Oh…uh, sorry about that," Antonio apologized, scratching his head. He knew how difficult his nephew could be sometimes. "He really likes Bells, huh?"

"Don't call my sister 'Bells.'"

The brunette took that as his cue to leave. He wandered down the blue and yellow pastel hallway decorated with children's handprints. At the end of the handprint path was a wooden sun decoration hanging from the door. 'Sunshine Room' was printed on it neatly. Antonio knew from working with Bella at the café in high school that it was her handwriting. Knocking softly, the brunette let himself in quietly in case babies were sleeping.

He had been so quiet that Lovino didn't even notice his arrival. The boy was sitting beside Bella, holding a baby in his arms. Bella had her arms around Lovino's just in case, but the five year old had things under control. He was smiling softly at the baby boy, no sign of the previous tantrum he pulled on Abel present. The late afternoon sun shone brightly behind them, illuminating the trio. It was as if they were angels! Antonio internally squealed at the peaceful expression on Lovinito's face. He was such a sweet boy when given the chance! So cuuuuuute…

As if reading his guardian's thoughts, Lovino looked up and immediately frowned.

"It's about time, jerk."

Bella carefully took the baby from him, while Lovino followed her suggestion to gather his things. He shoved a few papers into his red backpack (burying the 'your-kid-was-a-brat-today' note Abel had written for Antonio) and zipped it up, so the green tassels were at the top. Every time he looked at his tomato-like backpack, his tummy rumbled for real tomatoes. The Italian boy turned to ask his uncle what was for dinner, but Antonio was talking to Bella.

"Sorry for Lovi being so difficult today," he apologized to his friend and cooed at the Italian baby Lovino had been holding.

"It's no trouble. It's only natural, given his situation," the pretty blonde waved away his concern. "Lovino's actually been a great helper for me today."

"That's good to hear~!"

"He's become quite attached to Marcello here…" Bella smiled a little sadly. "I think he reminds Lovino of his little brother."

Antonio looked at the baby in his friend's arms. The baby babbled a little, gazing at the Spaniard with big brown, chocolaty eyes. His hair was a little lighter than Feliciano's, but he did bear a strong resemblance to Antonio's youngest nephew. He had a feeling Bella was right…A tug on his shirt pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I'm hungry, 'Tonio!"

"What are you hungry for, mi cielo?" Antonio plucked the boy off the ground and nuzzled him affectionately.

"T-Tomatoes…" Lovino managed to get out. It was hard with his dumb uncle squishing his face like that. "And pizza!"

"You really are too adorable~" Bella pressed a quick kiss on Lovino's chubby little cheek. The tiny Italian responded by blushing bright red and burying his face in the Spaniard's shirt. "I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Bye, Bells!" Antonio waved Lovino's hand for him. A muffled 'ciao' could be heard from his shirt, causing both adults to chuckle.

Antonio shifted the bundle of cuteness in his arms and opened the door to exit the building. From the front desk, Abel watched with little interest. The blonde might feel a little bad if the brat got hurt, but his uncle could go break his nose for all he cared. Antonio made it down the stairs swiftly and safely – he didn't spend six years as a waiter for nothing!

The Spaniard continued carrying his sobrino across the parking lot and over to the car. Lovino still had his head burrowed into Antonio's shirt, but seemed to be in a better mood than this morning. Antonio opened the door to the back seat and gasped dramatically.

"Lovinito! Look at your booster seat!" he exclaimed. "Do you see it?"

"See what, noisy bastard?" the boy turned his head and his bright green eyes widened. "Whoa!"

Perched on the middle of his booster seat was a plastic dish of cherry tomatoes (Antonio didn't trust him to eat regular tomatoes in the car and not make a huge mess). Not wasting another second, Lovino scrambled into the chair and began munching on the tiny fruits. His uncle laughed as he secured the seatbelt strap across the tomato-eating machine.

Antonio knew that no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't change the past. It was impossible to bring Lovino's parents back, but it wasn't impossible to make him smile again. Every time Lovino smiled, Antonio could see traces of his sister smiling through her son. He'd do anything to keep them both smiling.

"This must be the work of the Tomato Fairy!" Antonio told him in a hushed, secretive tone.

"Y-You're right!" Lovino agreed, grinning a little. "Grazie, Tomato Fairy!"

Antonio never told him that he was the one who secretly left tiny tomato surprises around whenever he wanted to raise his nephew's spirits. It was so cute to see how excited he got by such a simple gesture.

Lovino never told him that he knew the Tomato Fairy was about as real as his brother preferring pants over dresses. He'd caught his dumb uncle leaving a tomato the third time he tried to convince him the Tomato Fairy had visited their house at night. Lovino wouldn't admit it, but it was kind of nice that Antonio always surprised him with tomatoes… It was a good system for both of them, why get cut off now?

Stick Figure Art

Arthur walked into his son's room to fetch him for dinner. He had been making a casserole dish while his son played in his room. Half-expecting to see mountains of toys strewn about Alfred's room as if a tornado ripped through, Arthur stood in the doorway baffled. He even took off his reading glasses to make sure they weren't affecting his vision somehow.

Alfred's floor, child-sized desk, and bed were completely covered with papers decorated with a rainbow of colors. The little blonde boy sat in the middle of the floor, hunched over another crayon art creation. Arthur shook his head. He could have sworn he'd only left his son in here for a half hour.

The Hero-in-training still hadn't noticed his father's presence, so the novelist inspected a few of the drawings. Alfred was far from an artist, but each picture had a surprising amount of detail given his short attention span. In almost every picture was a blob of yellow and a blob of brown. Arthur had no idea what to make of that, so he asked his son.

"Alfred, what are these supposed to be?"

"HOLY HAMBURGERS, BATMAN!" the boy jumped several inches into the air like a startled cat. "You scared me, Daddy!"

Arthur sheepishly apologized and repeated his question.

"That's me and Lovi going on an adventure!"

"Lovi and I," his father corrected his speech automatically.

"You're not in that picture, silly! Ooh! Ooh! Lookit this one!" Alfred held up his latest drawing. "It's me and Lovi flying a rocket to the moon! Zooooom!"

"Uh-huh," Arthur leaned against the doorframe as his son continued wandering around, describing each and every last picture.

"Me and Lovi are fighting crime! Hi-yah!" he karate chopped the air. "And then we got cookies! Num, num, num!"

"That's only logical…"

"Here's the scaaaaaary pirates, but we locked them up and took their treasure!"

"Doesn't that make you a pirate?"

"No way!" Alfred laughed.

"But you stole the treasure too."

"Yeah, 'cuz we're the good guys!"

Arthur quickly gave up trying to explain the rules of pirating to his son. It was a lost cause. Alfred had a more pressing matter at hand.

"I don't know which one to give him…" he pouted. The plan had been to give his best picture to Lovino, but now he couldn't settle on on which one that was. Suddenly, the Hero had a bright idea and fetched the buried roll of tape off his little desk. "Yay, I found it~!"

Alfred messily gathered all his papers into a giant pile and began taping them together. When Arthur asked him what in the world he was doing, the tiny blonde explained it was a present for Lovino. He puffed his chest out with pride.

"I'm making a book just like you make books, Daddy!"

Before the boy could make the tape mess worse, Arthur helped him straighten the papers and staple them together. Then, very slowly in Robin's Egg Blue, Alfred wrote his name to the best of his ability. He pouted when he realized he didn't know how to spell Lovino's name, so he drew a big heart instead. It was basically the same thing in his mind.

Alfred proceeded to sprint around the house like a race horse. He was very excited to give his book to Lovi the next time he saw him. Arthur pressed his lips together into a firm line. The Briton wasn't so sure he approved of Alfred constantly talking about that man's child, but he didn't want to spoil the boy's mood, so he kept his thoughts to himself. Knowing his son, Alfred would forget about him in a few days…

…Or not.

Negotiations

In the Kirkland house, every moment of every day was spent discussing what Lovino was doing. When Alfred was brushing his teeth, he asked if Lovi was brushing his. When Alfred was eating lunch, he wondered what Lovi was eating. When Alfred built a block tower, he dedicated it to Lovi, master craftsman. Arthur actually took offense when they played Avengers together and Alfred informed him he "was doing it wrong" and "didn't play like Lovi." Finally, when Alfred was getting tucked into bed, he was very concerned that Lovi needed a kiss and bedtime story from his dad too.

It was enough to drive Arthur mad.

Perhaps that's why Alfred was able to convince him to go back to the park again so easily? As much as Arthur insisted that it was only because they needed some fresh air, a small part of him knew it was really an escape. If he had to listen to one more thing about the little Carriedo spawn, he would rip out his own eyebrows.

On the other side of town, a similar struggle was taking place inside Antonio's apartment.

"I have the rest of the afternoon off, Lovinito!" his uncle exclaimed, having changed out of his work uniform. "Is there anything you want to do today?"

"No…" the boy responded in a distant tone.

"Aw, c'mon! I'm sure there's something you want to play or go do!"

"Well, I wanted to…never mind…it's stupid…" Lovino returned to gazing out the window. "You'll just get mad at me again…"

"Eh? I'd never get mad at you, Lovi~!" he hugged his silly nephew. It was impossible to stay mad at him. He was simply too cute.

"Promise, bastard?" he turned his watery green eyes at Antonio, using a perfect imitation of the Puppy Eyes his brother and Alfred were so good at.

"Si, I promise!"

"I…I wanted to go to the park…"

"...Then we better grab your hat! It's sunny outside today!" Antonio reached for the boy's hat and placed it on his head, drooping it over the brunette's eyes. He didn't want Lovino to associate the park with his last argument with the Eyebrows Demon. It never even crossed his mind that he had been played. "You finish getting ready and I'll pack some juice, okay?"

"Okay!"

For a five year old, Lovino could be surprisingly shrewd.

Avengers, Reassemble!

Both pairs arrived around three o'clock. The boys saw each other and waved, as if they had planned it all along via toddler telepathy. They rushed over, meeting near the sandbox again, big smiles on their faces. Both were happy to see each other after five days of boredom, Alfred being a bit more vocal and huggy about it.

"I'm so happy you're here, Lovi~!" he cheered, nearly tackling the older boy with another hug.

"Y-Yeah," the brunette tried to catch his balance and keep them both from faceplanting into the sand.

Alfred gleefully took out his action figures for them to play with. Taking his friend's hand and guiding him to the sandbox. Lovino accepted the gesture and helped the blonde pull all of the toys out of the star-spangled bag with his free hand.

"Do you always have those with you?" Lovino asked.

"Nope!" he grinned, squeezing the Italian's hand. "I only let special people play with them, hehe! But you're my bestest friend, so it's okay~!"

Lovino felt his face warm up. He'd never had a best friend before. Before this, that was just something the big kids talked about at daycare. Lovino had thought the whole idea was stupid until Alfred said they were best friends. Now, he felt like he could get used to the idea…

Being the mature adults they were, Arthur and Antonio settled for glaring at each other from opposite ends of the park. Arthur sat scowling from the shade of a tree and Antonio frowned from a sunny bench. They almost looked like they were having a telepathic war with each other.

Oh look at the arrogant prat sitting over there. I hope he gets burned to a crisp by the sun.

I see Arthur's hiding in the shadows, where he belongs…Diablo…

Why's he keep looking over here? The sun must have finally fried what was left of his brain.

Stop glaring at me, you English teabag! I can't believe he showed up here again!

There should be laws against letting daft bastards out in public…

Back in the sandbox, the boys were contently playing together, completely oblivious to their caretakers battle of the minds. Alfred had begun chatting as they reinforced their headquarters with wet sand (another trick learned from Lovino). He drifted from topic to topic, until he mentioned family. Alfred informed his friend that he's an only child, but always wanted a brother.

"Hey, Lovi, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"…I have a brother, but I…I don't see him a lot…he lives far away."

Alfred noticed how sad Lovino looked and sprung into action, instinctively hugging away his sorrows.

"Don't worry, I'm the Hero, so I'll make it better!"

"Th-Thanks…" Lovino scrubbed at his eyes and returned the hug this time.

"I know!" Alfred shouted, having the idea of the century. "We can be best friends and brothers so we don't gotta be sad anymore!"

The brunette was confused, trying to figure out how that would even be possible.

"I'll prove it!" the blue-eyed boy beamed, picking up a hammer-wielding action figure. "I'll be Thor since you're Loki!"

"How does that prove it?"

"'Cause Thor and Loki are brothers~!"

"Idiota…" Lovino replied, but couldn't fight the smile lighting up his face.

A/N

I think the hardest thing about this fic is holding back on the Spanish endearments and cute nicknames Antonio calls his adorable little nephew. I seriously look this all over again after editing everything else, just to make sure I didn't add too many.

Also, I know I mentioned 'toddler telepathy' in this chapter, and yes, it was an intentional error. I'm well aware that Lovi and Alfie would technically be considered 'preschoolers' not 'toddlers' given their ages. In this case, 'toddler' sounded better than 'preschooler' and still met the definition of 'not a baby, yet still a little kid' so I went with that. Sorry if that confused anybody.

-Rajikka

Translations

Cabron – Jackass (Sp.)

Tsundere – A type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. (Jp.)

Churros – Cinnamon sugar-coated crack. Okay, not really, but I dare you to eat just one. Some people call them "Spanish Doughnuts" since they're basically a fried dough pastry.

Chiquito – Little boy (Sp.)

Mi cielo – "My sky" or "My heaven" (Sp.)

Sobrino – Nephew (Sp.)

Mi angél - My angel (Sp.)

Grazie – Thanks (It.)

Diablo – Devil (Sp.)

Idiota – Idiot (It.)