((Hey everyone...I'm alive... and I am back! I am so sorry for neglecting this story! Everything over here just got a bit hectic so I wasn't able to write for a while. That and to be honest, I was lazy when I did have the time... Eheh..Sorry... OwO Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!))

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, or any of its characters. I do not own The Parent Trap plot either. Or anything else I missed.

-Alice-

During the plane ride over to California, Amelia's words echoed in my mind repeatedly...

"And you're gonna find out why they broke up..."

Yet, just how would I do that? I was only 14! Not a mastermind at planning and getting information! I knew it would also be a sore topic for him too. So many things could go wrong as well. My mind started drifting off without me as it planned possible random outcomes and events, causing my stomach to do awkward flips. I shook my head to clear it all and let out a small, frustrated sigh. Everything seemed edgy and not in order as I tried thinking.

Right now I honestly didn't want to work on the plan. Meeting Dad felt just too important...and I am sure Amelia would be an understanding sister if I was a bit slack with it all...I hope. I would be getting to it before we switched back...eventually anyway... So, no harm done right? That wouldn't be a nice thing to do on my part though, the guilt would eat at me the entire time I was there. Ugh...

My thoughts started to dwindle down as I noticed outside the window the ground was getting closer and closer. The black pavement shining as the sunlight hit it. Very different from the airport in England. People were even waiting on it meters away as the plane landed. My Dad included. This realization quickly brought back the nerves as I gulped and held onto my locket tightly. I looked away and attempted to distract, and calm myself. The grey stitching on the seat in front of me offered no such thing as I took in deep breaths, trying to keep it together. Maybe it was excitement that I was choking on...

"Are you alright miss?" A voice next to me spoke up, concern laced in their tone, causing me to flinch a little in surprise. I must have forgotten there were other people here. It really was such a small plane anyway. I snapped my eyes to the person who had been sitting next to me on my journey. I took note of their short, light blonde hair, pale skin and pretty eye catching brown doe-eyes. He looked nice and it helped me breath for a few moments as I quickly thought of an answer.

I blinked once before speaking, making sure I sounded like Amelia perfectly. Practice makes perfect after all.

"Um, yes. Just a bit nervous. I haven't been here in a while." A small smile grew on his face at my response and he nodded.

"Understandable." He had a soft, warm kind of voice along with a foreign accent. Pausing a moment before meeting my eyes, he continued. "I would advise thinking about something you like. It might help." He paused again and I let the information sink in.

"Sometimes, when I get nervous I like thinking about Christmas, and the snow. Makes me very happy and away from feeling scared... Or sometimes, I even like thinking about my friends back at home. They have such funny personalities, I can't help but smile!" The grin on his face proved it and I smiled at this before laughing quietly. He put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a small squeeze."I am sure you will be alright! You just have to keep positive!" In a way, he reminded me of Amelia's optimistic way of thinking. Nodding, I was going to thank him for giving me comfort, when the air-pilot announced we had landed.

The worry I had been feeling before seemed to be a bit more dull, and I was relieved. Unbuckling out of my seat, I got my carry-on and stood, trying not to stress or over-think before I met Dad. I followed the nice blonde stranger out of the plane, and wished him a good day before turning my eyes to the crowd of people.

The bright sun was a small annoyance as I looked through squinted eyes at the crowd. I had halted in place and moved a hand to help me see better. It didn't really help the blurry-ness fade, and I wished I was able to use my glasses. Amelia was lucky enough to not lose her contacts (though I blame her that I lost mine), and her eye-sight was good enough that she only needed glasses for reading, so I couldn't wear mine all the time. A small part of me then wondered if Father would question why she wasn't wearing glasses while she was there. We were lucky enough to have the same color frame, but... I think I should give her a call when I'm settled in.

"Hey! Welcome home squirt!"

Time seemed to move slowly as I turned my head to direction the voice was coming from. It was a firm American accented voice that I knew only belonged to Dad. This was it! I was going to meet him! My eyes were last to move to the figure and that's when I saw him. My Dad. He was a very tall man wearing glasses and a grin. He had tan skin, wheat blonde hair with a piece defying gravity, and dazzling blue eyes. Also wearing a brown jacket with a grey shirt underneath, jeans, and cool looking boots, he looked very comfortable and happy.

All the worry left my system and I quickly ran up to him, calling out excitedly as I did so. I stopped a foot before him, looking up and smiling wildly."Dad...Finally..!" He opened his arms in response and I dropped my carry-on to launch myself forward, and into a tight hug. "You little punk! I hope you had a horrible time at that camp, 'cause I don't think you're ever going to go back! I missed you too much!" He said while giving me a good hug and letting me go. I laughed and nodded in response, both of us already walking to get 'my' duffle-bag.

I stayed next to him almost like glue as we got the things, heading to where his car was parked next. He looked at me a couple of times, and I already hoped he didn't notice something was up."What happened to you?" He suddenly questioned, causing me to stumble a bit as we arrived at the car, and putting my happy mood to a halt. "Hm?" I asked, really hoping I was playing it off cool."Somethings changed, Am's." He said, while opening the door and putting the duffle-bag in. After closing it, he turned and looked at me with a small frown. I swallowed nervously as he stared a few moments longer, inwardly flinching as he came up to me and patted my head, a big smile now on his face.

"Have you gotten taller?"

Relieved that I wasn't busted and that he was joking, I went automatically into 'Amelia-mode'. Folding my arms and looking up with a smirk on my lips, I responded in a haughty tone. "Maybe. Why, you getting worried that I might outgrow you, Dad?"

I was already regretting what I said as I saw a glimmer of surprise pass Dad's face. Amelia had once used this tone with me when we were planning everything back at camp, so I must have accidentally picked it up. Standing there for what felt like minutes, but in reality were probably split seconds, I waited for the outcome.

To my surprise he reacted by laughing and patting my head again. "A little bit, kiddo. But even if you do, you're still going to be my little squirt! C'mon, let's go home." The grin I had on earlier resurfaced while I climbed into the car, at ease. This was going to be the best summer ever.

~Later~

I didn't get the nerve to start speaking until 30 minutes into the drive. It seemed the worry had returned full blast, rendering me to silence. Yet somehow I knew if I didn't break the ice, he might think something is up. I waited a few seconds more to finally take the chance, before clearing my throat and speaking.

"So, what's up Dad? How is Feli and everyone?" I kept my attention on him, hoping to get a clear picture stitched into my brain. Also Father once told me that if your attention wasn't on your conversation buddy, they might think you don't care. "Great. Everyone's great too, we just missed you. Eight weeks really is too much. So many things have been happening here." He was occasionally glancing at me, a smile on his face as he talked. I nodded and laughed lightly. "A lot's happened while I was gone at camp too. I feel like a new lady!"

Letting out a chuckle, Dad continued to drive. After glancing at me a couple of times he raised an eyebrow. "What's up? Do I have a bruise I don't know about?" I shook my head and smiled as he made a show of checking his face. "Nah, it's just seeing you for the first time...in so long! I accidentally forgot what you looked like." Forcing a laugh I looked out the window briefly. "Hey, speaking of which thanks for the newsy letters you sent. I'm glad I got you all the personalized stationary you just had to have." I furrowed my eyebrows before quickly catching on to what he was referring to.

"Oh... Yeah, sorry about that. We meant to write, Dad, but we just got so busy with-"

"We?" He was attempting to look at me a little more now, a curious expression plastered on his face. I nodded and smiled. "Mhm, me and my friend. I met this girl at camp and we got really close. Practically like sisters! She was a lovely girl, Dad." I fought not to smirk at how good I was at partially telling the truth. Spending time with Amelia did pay off.

"...'Lovely'? You seem to have gotten proper all of a sudden." My breath hitched and I scolded myself for somehow saying something my sister wouldn't have. Dad didn't seem too affected by it and took a hold of my hand to examine it. "Still biting those nails I see." I let out a surprised gasp. It seemed she was right that he could tell. "Dad! You noticed!" He scoffed at that and gave me a puzzled, but friendly look. "Whaddya mean, 'noticed'? You have been doing that since you got teeth!" I forced myself to keep quiet at this information. She has been doing it for that long?! I think it was time to put a stop to that right away.

I turned my nose up and gave a sharp sigh. "Well, I have decided to stop. It really is a horrid habit, Dad. Really." Since I have been looking at him for the entire conversation, I didn't miss how he furrowed his eyebrows while still smiling. "'Lovely girl'...'Horrid habit'...? Did I accidentally send you to finishing school instead of summer camp? Also, how come you picked up a habit of saying 'Dad' after every sentence?" I looked out the window and cringed. Was I already doing such a bad job at acting?

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was doing that, Dad." I paused before laughing, noticing that I did it again. "Oops... Sorry, Dad." This time we both laughed. I fiddled with my hands in my lap for a few moments before turning back to him. "Do you really want to know why I keep saying Dad? ... The truth?" He glanced at me again, wearing a small smirk. "Because you missed your old man so much?" I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. "Exactly!" I turned to the window in front of me and began to automatically rant.

"It's because in my whole life- I mean for the passed eight weeks...- I was never able to say the word 'Dad'. Never. Not once! And you should know that a Dad is an irreplaceable person in a girl or boys life, so it's important to say that. There is even a day, devoted to celebrating Dad's, right? Just imagine never getting to buy a card for him, or a present. Never even sitting on his lap, or never saying 'Hi Dad', 'What's, up Dad?', 'Bye, Dad'. A babies first word is always something along the lines of 'Dada' right? Then there is 'Dadio', 'Daddy', 'Pops', and 'My old man'..." Gesturing to what he had said earlier, I took a deep breath to spew out more words, when he cut me off.

"Okay..So, let me see if I get this... you miss being able to call me 'Dad'?" Letting a pained smile show, I nodded. "Yeah. I really have, Dad." Taking in another deep breath I looked out the window to notice that we were about to go under a sign reading 'Jones Vineyard and Winery'. I gasped and sat up straighter. "Ohmigosh!" I heard Dad chuckle. "Now your starting to sound like your old self."

As I was lost looking at the new sights around me, I didn't notice we parked until Dad honked the horn, and a golden retriever came racing out. So that was the dog, Aster. He barked and ran up to Dad as he got out of the car, tail wagging happily. A man following the dog slowly came in to view to walk over to my side of the car and open the door. He had dark auburn hair, a curl jutting to the left, with hazel green eyes and tan skin.

I didn't really recognize him until he spoke. "Well look who finally decided to come home." He said with an Italian accent. I almost nodded to myself in confirmation that this was Dad's right hand guy, Lovino Vargas. "Hey, Lovino!" He glanced behind me as I got out before looking back, a small frown on his face. "Did your old man tell you we decided no more camp for you?" I nodded with a grin. "Yeah, he told me."

I was slightly surprised when he tugged me in for a hug. Amelia had told me he wasn't very into personal space being violated. Also that he might have picked on her a couple of times. "It got too quiet around here, Amelia. We couldn't stand it. Nobody blasting music, or playing hide and seek in the vineyards, and nobody getting stuck up on the roof." He snickered at the last part and I wondered if Amelia was just trying to scare me. He seemed to be actually pretty nice. From the hug and friendly greeting anyway.

After Lovino let me go to greet Dad, the screen door to the house opened and a person looking very friendly came out. This was probably Feli. He had light aburn hair, a curl jutting to the right, with honey-amber eyes and tan skin. Glancing over to Lovino then back to Feli, I connected two with two and realized they must be twins. How cool!

Feli spotted me after a few moments and when he did I knew this would be the actual test. He knew Amelia like Ludwig knew me, so I had to do my best job at acting like my sister. "Welcome back che bella! You grew, you lost weight, you look amazing! We missed you, but don't let those two bums talk you out of going back to camp. You're a growing girl and we all need an adventure sometime! Are you hungry? I made hamburgers and some pasta. Why are you so quiet? What's wrong?"

During the whole meeting and time he had been talking, we had gotten my things and teleported to the kitchen where he had set my things down. He was looking at me in curiosity and I felt just a bit overwhelmed at what just happened. I shook my head lightly and smiled. "I'm just so happy to be home!" Feli seemed to accept my answer and I turned to find Dad coming in with Lovino following. "Did I hear something about Hamburgers?"

"It's on the stove. Fratello, Alfred, did you wipe your feet before coming in? I don't want to sweep so soon!" Dad offered a smile while making his burger, but Lovino gave a small glare before going back to do so. Feli grinned and looked back at me before coming and tugging me into another tight hug. "You've changed, Amelia... I can't put my finger on it, but something about you has definitely changed..." I was lost for words at this. "Really? Me?" I moved my eyes away from him to spot Aster coming into the room. "Hey there Aster!"

The pooch sniffed my feet before backing off a bit and barking at me. I nervously laughed, looking as Feli came over and calmed him down. "What's up you silly cagnetto? It's Amelia!" Aster came closer to him before turning back to me, barking again. I put a hand on my hip and waved him off. "It's probably because I still smell like camp, that's all." I quickly then spotted the stairs and went up them, overhearing Feli still speaking to Aster. "What's wrong boy? It's like you didn't even recognize her." The comment made scared me enough to sprint up instead.

When I found her room, I kind of expected it to be messy, only judged by the way Amelia had thrown her stuff in the duffle-bag anyway. But was just as big as my room at home and filled with what girls usually had. Going to the window I peered out to find a fantastic view of the vineyards. "Woah...It's even better than the pictures...!" Hearing footsteps behind me I turned and found Feli with my carry-on. After setting it on the bed next to my duffle-bag he grinned.

"What would you like to do first bambino? Unpack then eat? Or eat then unpack? Or we can just eat while we unpack." I blinked in surprise and risked asking a question. "You mean I can eat in my room?" Feli raised an eyebrow and I inwardly cursed at the mistake. "Sì, I can say it's a definite possibility." Before I could even offer an excuse to cover up my question, Dad peered in, holding a plate with the hamburger he was making.

"Am's, when you're done, come on down. There's someone I want you to meet." I smiled and nodded. "Okay, Dad." He smirked a little before turning and waving. A few moments after he left, what he said clicked in my brain. "Wait, someone he want me to meet?" I had locked eyes with Feli and he looked a bit unimpressed. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" I asked, before a person laughing sounded, catching my attention. I turned back to the window and peered down. There was my Dad, standing on the grass with a stranger. A female stranger. She was a head shorter then him wearing a small crown-like hat on her dark long blonde hair, a elegant dark purple dress on her tan-pale skin, holding a brown purse. She looked like a kind of prissy sophisticated type of lady. She laughed again, and Dad wrapped an arm around her.

Not exactly enjoying what I was seeing, I turned around with a frown to Feli again. "Who's the blonde?" My tone must have been a bit harsher then I thought because he just held up his hands in surrender. "Amelia, it's none of my business how your Papa makes a fool out of himself, understand? He's a big boy, he can do what he wants." I rose an eyebrow before putting a hand on my hip and nodding. "Right. So, who is she?"

"Her name is Francine Bonnefoy. She is a publicist from France who moved to San Francisco. Your Dad hired her at the beginning of summer to do some publicity for the vineyard. But if you ask me, she's done a better job at selling herself than the grapes." I could feel my frown deepen. "What do you mean?"

He sighed in response before sitting on my bed. "Look, you and I know your Dad is no desiderata Bachelor-of-the-month type. So, I wonder what a attraente thing like her sees in a guy who has his shirt-tail hanging out and eats chili out of a cereal bowl. Then I realized, there's a million of reasons why that signora is giggling and they are all sitting in the Napa Valley Community Bank."

I folded my arms at the information, piecing together before actually catching what he was saying. "You mean you don't think she even really likes Dad.." Feli shrugged in response. "What do I know? But I'll tell you one thing. She's got your Dad eating out of the palm of her hand. They ride together, swim together. Even out to dinner every night! Not to mention she treats yours truely how the sisters of Cinderella do. But again, what do I know? You go down for yourself. Don't let me influence you." He gestured to the door before opening my duffle-bag, topic over. I let myself fume a tiny bit at what he told me before going to the bed and helping him.

~Minutes later~

I was in Amelia's dark green bathing-suit with a big t-shirt over it, walking with sandals in hand around the house. Sunglasses were perched on my head and I had to adjust them a bit when I accidentally bumped into a wall. After making sure no walls or corners were around to bump into, I noticed photos were all around. "We were such a cute baby." I whispered to myself after catching sight of baby pictures with Dad. Touching my locket lightly I smiled.

A light laugh interrupted my small moment, making me frown and drop my hand back to my side. It was time to meet this lady.

~A few minutes later~

Since the pool was away from the house, I had a pleasant walk to try and think things through. Usually adults can show true colors when with kids, right? They don't exactly have time to fake a personality when kids ask blunt questions like a machine gun, so I was sure I would be able to crack her easily. Maybe find out what she was doing. Yet, if Dad was there during, it would be harder to complete it.

"There's my little girl! Am's, I want you to meet a friend of mine." Dad called out, making the time to myself end. "Star, this is Francine Bonnefoy." As I walked up to him, he set a hand on my shoulder and gestured to Francine. Now that I was right up near her, I could see she was what I assumed. With light clear blue eyes and makeup, and a pretty shaped face, she totally fit the prissy sophisticated lady thing I came up with earlier. Making sure I wasn't glaring already, I waved at her. "Hi..."

She was smiling sweetly and held out a hand for me to shake. "Bonjour! Wow... I can't believe I am finally meeting the oh-so-famous Amelia! I have been looking forward to this all summer." I let a second passed before taking a hold of her hand and shaking it. I forgotten she was from France. Well...If she decided to let a couple of 'sneaky' words drop in, I'll know what she was saying. Father's lessons would be paying off now at least.

"Really? Well... here I am." I gave her a small smile, and she reacted quickly. "Oh Alfie, she's so mignon!" I widened my eyes and turned my head up to my head, mouthing 'Alfie?' Back at him. I almost quit my act then as he actually blushed in what I hoped was embarrassment.

"The way your Dad talked about you I was expecting to meet a little girl. But you are so grown up!" I could feel myself bristle a bit, still slightly miffed by the pet-name and didn't think of the next words coming out of my mouth. "I turned fourteen already. How old are you?" She blinked in surprise at that and I felt a small pang of guilt when I saw Dad tense a bit. She shook it off in record time before smiling again. "Twenty-six." A bittersweet smile replaced my forced one.

"Only twelve years older than me. How old are you again, Dad?" This time Dad let out a forced laugh and patted my head. "Suddenly she's interested in math... I think I am going to grab another burger and get some champagne to celebrate." I blinked and without missing a beat asked. "What are we celebrating?" Dad froze, but I didn't have time to wonder why when Francine covered for him. "Your home-coming of course!" With my eyes on her, I saw that she looked behind me to Dad. After that I heard his footsteps leave, making me sigh a bit before going to the pool and sitting down at the edge, putting my feet in.

I was enjoying the relief of the cool water when Francine decided to try and spark up a conversation.

"So, how was camp, Amelia? Was it fabulous?" At first, I wanted to give her a dry look at her over-the-top enthusiasm, but instead I did my best to give her n Amelia type answer. "Yes, I loved it actually. All sunny days and cool people."

Francine hummed at this, and started fiddling with her blonde hair.

"...You know, I have never heard a man talk about his daughter the way Alfie does when he talks about you. You two are obviously close." She pipped up, changing the subject. Interesting. Turning back to the pool and rolling my eyes, I nodded. Taking my feet out of the pool I stood up and shed the big t-shirt I was wearing. "We're closer than close. We're all each other have..."

I know my Father would probably scold me for what I was about to do, but I decided that since I had time to try and shoo her away, I would milk it all I wanted. Taking a few steps back I ran to the pool and jumped. Forming quickly into a cannonball, I wished Francine luck if she were ever in England and landed harshly into the cool water.

I could hear her squeal from where I was at underwater and quickly swam up, a card already on my mind that I wanted to play. Sucking in a breath I dramatically swam up to the edge of the pool, noticing she was patting herself dry, an annoyed look on her pretty face. "Oh! Did I splash you on accident Franny?" I forced a nervous look on my face. "Wait..Is it alright if I can call you Franny?" After patting some more spots on her dress and skin she smiled back. "Just a little bit and sure sweetie." An idea visibly popped up in her brain before she met eyes with me, her smile a bit more stronger.

"Hey, guess what? Your Dad took me riding the other day and let me ride your horse. I hope that's okay with you." With the tone she was using, I already could tell she was trying to get into my skin and ahead of me in the game we were playing. Sucky thing for her is that I grew up with Father and Grandpa always fight or pranking each other twenty-four-seven. While they did that, I was sometimes used in my Father's plans, so it was pretty usual for me to come up with a quick idea to get ahead of her again.

"Oh sure! Mystery's used to strange women riding her. Not that your strange or anything... Actually, compared to the others, you seem relatively normal." Letting that sink into her mind, I pushed away from the edge and floated on my back, starting to casually hum a tune from home. It wasn't long before she was near the edge of the pool, looking at me in peeved curiosity. "Others? What others?" I glanced at her before scoffing and swimming to the ladder in the pool. "What others? Puh-leeze." Taking a hold of the bar I turned around and gave her a serious look. "You want the 411?"

She struck a bored, haughty, pose and tilted her head. "The 411?" I nodded and glanced to make sure Dad wasn't coming back anytime soon before continuing. "The 'information'... The lowdown on the other ladies. Can't say I blame you." Switching my tone into a light one, I enjoyed looking at how confused and concerned she looked and kept going on. "I mean... I'd want to know if I was number 28- I mean 29 in a man's life." I tried not to burst into laughter at the priceless look she gave me at the story I was making up. "I'm number 29?!"

I nodded before shrugging. "Well, yeah. But I didn't start counting 'till I was four. Who knows how many there were before then..." Even if I was making this up, I hoped there was almost none other than Father. "And it's always the same routine... Horseback riding through the vineyards... Long romantic dinners... His special reserved wine... Moonlight swims..." I paused a moment to notice she was actually taking into what I was saying. Shrugging again and flashing her a smile, I decided to quote Feli. "But I always say, it's none of my business if a man his age wants to make a fool out of himself. Although, maybe he's changed, and your the real-deal Franny."

At that moment we locked gazes and I forced myself not to smirk at the tension building around us. "Hey, I'm back!" Dad called out, making us both turn to look at him. He smiled and walked over to Francine carrying a wine bottle. "I brought a bottle of my special reserved wine. Did you girls find something to talk about while I was gone?" The guilt suddenly hit me that I was doing this behind Dad's back, so I just forced a smile and sank under water, holding on the ladder to keep me there. While I was there, my thoughts went back to Amelia and Father. I needed to call them sometime...and soon.

((Hope you enjoyed!)

Go ahead and reiview! It makes me super happy to hear your thoughts!

I hope you all have a fantabulous time-zone~!

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-RickyDew