As Arthur sat on a waxed wooden table with his sons waiting for their breakfast to arrive he softly smiled. "I've never been to a restaurant before.." Alfred gawked at the many things around him like the pictures that hung on the walls and the lights that hung above their head being held by just a couple of thin wires, he admired the carpeted floor and pale colored walls causing Arthur to chuckle.

"Have you really not seen a restaurant like this before?" Alfred quickly shook his head. "Nope! We always ate what they made and served over there at the orphanage." Alfred still held his wide happy smile, it was painful to talk about his and his brother's horrible past, but when he realized that he and his brother would no longer suffer his smile grew wider. His heart filled with more happiness each time he looked at his father, happy to know that he and Matthew were lucky enough to be chosen by him.

Arthur smiled, he never got tired of Alfred's hyper behavior he was actually quite relieved, Alfred was acting like a normal seven-year-old should, sure he had gone through a depression phase but Arthur knew he was strong enough to pull through it. Matthew, on the other hand, was beyond terrified, being the youngest he never really understood how to be social to different people other than his brother and his father.

He jumped at any loud noise that occurred in the kitchen and flinched when a person or server would walk by them, Alfred quickly noticed his brother's distress and grabbed his hand from under the table. "It's okay Mattie, we're safe." He flashed his brother a reassuring smile. "O-okay Alfie.." Matthew took a shaky breath to calm himself down. "Do you like it here Matthew?" Arthur asked, wondering what his son thought of finally being somewhere other than their house. "It's a little scary...but I'm happy because I get to eat with daddy."

A small blush crept to Matthew's pale cheeks. "Yeah, thanks for taking us here dad." Alfred's sky blue eyes glittered with happiness, it took all of Arthur's strength to resist the urge of pulling both boys into a tight hug. The server soon arrived with their breakfast and set the plates and drinks down. "Thank you for everything." Arthur handed the female waitress a twenty dollar tip. "No problem monsieur." He noticed her thick French accent before she left.

Arthur was left stunned, memories of Francis flooded in his mind. "Daddy she sounded like papa!" Matthew pointed out with a giggle. "Y-yes she did.." He stuttered. "Um...oh yeah! Dad wh,at is this called?" Alfred quickly changed the subject and poked at the round flaflatbreadth his fork. "It looks like someone squished a really big biscuit." He mumbled in awe.

Arthur chuckled. "It's called a pancake, go ahead and try it." He carefully handed him a butter knife. "It's really good." He said with an eager smile, Alfred gave a confused glare at his pancake and slowly placed a piece in his mouth, his eyes shined with glee. "It's better than what we had at the orphanage." Arthur smiled happily, Matthew was staring at a bottle of brown liquid. "Daddy what is this?" he asked curiously with a slight tilt of his head. "That's called maple syrup, you put it on your pancake so it could be sweeter," Arthur explained to his youngest son.

Matthew nodded and handed the bottle to his brother. "Alfie can you help me pour it on my pancake?" he asked eagerly. "Of course Mattie." Alfred carefully poured the syrup on his brother's pancake and then poured some on his own. Matthew giggled and smiled brightly, it made Alfred's heart flutter with joy finally being able to see his little brother with a happy smile. "It does taste sweeter." Matthew's smile was contagious and soon enough the atmosphere was changed into a bright and bubbly mood.

After they had finished their breakfast Arthur took both boys to the park, Alfred was hesitant at first but eventually began to play on the park sliding down the slides and climbing on the monkey bars, other children grew to like him and played tag with him. Matthew, though, had clung onto Arthur's shirt and hid behind his back. "Don't you want to play Matthew?" Arthur asked in concern.

Matthew shook his head. "I want to stay with daddy...the other kids are scary too." He whispered fearfully. "There's nothing to be afraid of, no one will hurt you," Arthur assured and stroked his son's soft blonde hair. "No way! Is that you eyebrows?" a loud voice called out from behind them causing Matthew to jump in fright. Arthur turned around and met with a familiar pair of ruby red eyes. "Gilbert?" a tall red-eyed albino grinned, a blonde headed child rested in his arms.

"Hiya Arthur!" he greeted happily. "And...umm...who is this little one?" he looked down at Matthew who fearfully cowered away from him. "This is Matthew, my son.." Arthur patted Matthew's back and carefully eased him out. "Introduce yourself, Matthew, It'll be rude if you don't." Matthew looked down while nervously twiddling his thumbs. "H-hello...my name is Matthew.." He squeaked with a blush of embarrassment.

"Hello there little birdie, I'm Gilbert. And this is my little brother Luddy. Come on you introduce yourself too." Gilbert placed his brother on the ground. "Hello...It's nice to meet you." Ludwig mumbled and extended his hand out to him, but before Matthew could reach for his hand Alfred had jumped in between them. "I remember who you are! I saw you once." He looked up at Gilbert.

At first Gi,lbert held a gaze of confusion but he suddenly lit up with recognition filling his features. "Alfred? Don't tell me you're that little toddler I met a year ago!" He chuckled and ruffled his dirty blonde hair. "Look at you now, you're so..um...well you look the same, but you seem happier." Alfred smiled. "It's because I am happier." He pointed out. "Who's he?" he looked at Ludwig who was tightly grasping onto Gilbert's hand. "This is mein Bruder Luddy." He grinned happily.

Alfred stared at Ludwig. "Want to play? It's really fun, you should come too Mattie." He suggested. "U-um no thank you..I'm fine staying here." Matthew stammered.  "Oh..well..okay then." Disappointment filled Alfred's voice, but he immediately lit up. "Then come on Ludwig!" he dragged the quiet boy with him. "Why doesn't the little birdie want to play?" Gilbert asked with a small frown. Matthew ignored his question and stared at the swing set, he spotted a mother pushing her daughter on the swing.

His heart felt like lead in his chest, seeing both of them so happy it hurt him so much. "...mommy..." The silent whisper rolled off his tongue like fire, a word he was never to speak of again. He balled his hands into tight fists. "I want..my mommy.." Gilbert quickly noticed the tension within Matthew and looked at the direction he was staring at. "Hey, Arthur...I think Matthew wants to play on the swings." He turned to Arthur, only to see that he was watching over Alfred.

Gilbert frowned and nudged his shoulder. "Hey did you hear me?" Arthur jumped in surprise. "Ah sorry, what were you saying?" Gilbert sighed. "You know you do have another son right?" he pointed out, anger starting to boil inside of him. "Who?" Arthur asked dumbfounded. "Matthew! Can't you see Matthew needs you too for crying out loud!?" Arthur suddenly felt a pang of guilt at his chest.

By now Matthew was silently sitting on a swing, his legs dangled and swung almost lifelessly. "But...Alfred," Arthur muttered. "I'll watch over Alfred okay?" Gilbert offered. "Right, thank you." Arthur nodded and slowly made his way toward Matthew, guilt still filled his heart. Matthew heard the faint footsteps that approached him and looked up, the sun blocked his view and for a second he saw a quick glimpse of his mother glowing beautifully along with the bright sun.

His father then appeared in front of him. "Daddy?" Arthur smiled. "Would you like me to push you on the swing?" Matthew was taken aback but slowly nodded. "Only if It's not a problem for you." He fidgeted and looked down. Arthur walked behind him slowly lifting the swing and released it causing Matthew to squeak out in surprise. Arthur felt the guilt lift off from his chest, he was able to breathe.

But out of worry he kept his gaze on Alfred who played happily with the other children, Matthew who was smiling looked over his shoulder hoping to meet the happy face of his father but only saw that he was looking at his brother. His smile faded and he was no longer happy. His father only cared about Alfred.

"Daddy, I don't want to play on the swing anymore." He called out. "Can I just talk to your friend?" he looked at the white-hairedn who was already dozing off on the bench. "Of course." Arthur stopped the swing and let Matthew leave. "Thank you.." He mumbled glumly before making his way to the bench. Gilbert looked at Matthew as he sat beside him. "You okay little birdie?" he asked in concern. "Why do you call me birdie? I mean, I just met you.." Matthew obviously dodged the question not wanting to explain himself.

"Well..as soon as I saw you, you reminded me of a little birdie." He blushed in embarrassment. "Oh.." Matthew stammered and twiddled his thumbs. He stared at his brother and his father who joined along with Ludwig, he noticed that both his brother and father held huge smiles on their faces. "I wonder why daddy smiles a lot more with Alfred..why doesn't he smile like that with me?" he hadn't realized he had spoken aloud until a firm hand rested on his shoulder.

He froze and looked up at Gilbert. "I'm sorry.." He apologized. "I just want my daddy to love me as much as he loves Alfred." Gilbert was left stunned that words like those were spoken by such a small child. He released his frail shoulder and gently patted his back. "I'm sure your father loves you just as much as Alfred." He flashed him a grin and called out for his brother who reluctantly ran to him. "Well, I think it's time to go."

"It was nice to meet you little birdie." He hoisted his brother on his shoulders and winked at Matthew before leaving. Soon it was time for himself to go home, Alfred was covered with dirt and grass stains and Arthur had him by the hand. "You're going to need to take a bath, Alfred." He stated with a frown of annoyance. "Sorry, but it was worth it." Alfred giggled.

Arthur scoffed and led him to the car. "Let's just get going before the sun goes down." Alfred looked at his brother who remained silent. "Did you have fun too Mattie?" he asked curiously "..yes, I did." He forced on a small smile and hopped into the car. "But I bet you had more fun." He whispered silently under his breath, fighting back the sting of tears behind his eyes.

At home, Arthur bathed Alfred and made sure he had brushed his teeth before going to bed. He tucked him in and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sweet dreams." He whispered happily before leaving to his own room. Matthew sat at the corner, he wasn't bathed he was still in his old used clothes. He wasn't told to brush his teeth and he wasn't tucked into bed and didn't receive a good night kiss.

To say the least, this was the first time that Arthur had completely forgotten about Matthew and sure enough it wouldn't be the last.