DC stared at the Father's Day cards in front of him sitting upright and proud in the aisle, almost mocking him.

He never had a normal Father's Day before.

Father's Day was never a good holiday in his household and the only one Confederation let him celebrate. Confederation made his children compete with each other over gifts for him for Father's Day, lavishing praise on the winner and punishing the loser.

IDC won every year.

This year was different, this year there was no pressure to compete or to buy fancy gifts, just buy a card and go.

But DC was still unsure if he even should.

Georgia and Kentucky were complicated subjects to DC currently; when Georgia first showed up he was a tired, slightly grumpy man who just wanted his coffee and to be left alone so he could daydream. He occasionally teamed up with Florida, which terrified DC to no end, and was never the smartest tool in the box when it came to policies.

But Georgia was patient with him, he was always there to lend an ear or talk about the tough things. He liked to have his coffee with DC in the mornings, and always had something brewing if it was a tough day. He had a calm voice, and even if he didn't know what DC was talking about he was always available to give advice, no matter how nonsensical it was.

When Kentucky first appeared at the table, all DC thought was his weird relationship with his governor. He seemed quiet, well-put together, and possibly wasn't as rowdy as the other southern states. And while he was quiet, and well-put together, Kentucky barely acted like a southern state, preferring to fix cars then talk of farm life, listen to old school punk music, and race. The only real thing he had in common with the others was his love of football.

But Kentucky liked doing those things with DC which made him question everything. Why did Kentucky like showing DC how to fix the cars he bought, or send him songs he might like, or try and help Texas, Louisiana, and Florida teach him about football? He tried his hardest to help him with his paperwork, and even if he didn't understand it, it was funny and heartwarming watching him try. It was almost like he treated him like....

DC shook his head, no. No he was overthinking this. The fed moved away from the card aisle, but something made him slow his steps, and turn back towards the aisle. He bit his lip and turned around going back to face the cards. Maybe Janet was right, he was in denial at what was in front of him. The issue was, if DC accepted it, would they be happy with just a card? He could hear the voice of his father, mocking a macaroni art work piece he had made for him, tossing it out cruelly and praising IDC's more expensive gift. DC swallowed the bile in his throat and began looking through the cards looking for the best one for the two states. There was no going back now.

Georgia swallowed his coffee and looked down at the bag of burnt...something he held in his hands.

"Well Loui." Georgia said kindly looking up at the peninsula. "Thank you very much."

"I helped!" Florida announced standing next to his boyfriend proudly.

"I love it, you did a good job." Georgia said with a smile. Louisiana and Florida high five and dashed off leaving Georgia to chuckle and shake his head.

"Mornin'." Kentucky yawned walking into the kitchen still wearing his shirt and boxers.

"Did ya stay up all night with your car again?" Georgia teased watching him pour coffee in his mug.

"Shut up, I need to get it race ready." Kentucky pointed out suppressing another yawn.

"I'm telling ya, that things a trap." Georgia pointed out, not bothering to hide the worry in his voice.

"Oh relax, I haven't died yet." Kentucky muttered stirring in the sugar and taking a swig. Before Georgia could respond, something smacked him in the chest and blur ran past the kitchen.

"What in the hell--" Georgia muttered looking down at his hands. A white envelope rested there, with a peach sticker holding down the flap.

"Is this Florida's Father's Day gift to you?" Kentucky asked peering over his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Nah he gave that to me." Georgia announced gesturing behind him at the bag of burnt whatever. He carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the card, opening it in the process.

"Look I'm nacho your average dad." Georgia read.

"Heh. I love it." Kentucky chuckled as Georgia opened the card.

"You're an awesome dad, in queso you didn't know." Georgia read, ignoring the snickering form his boyfriend. "Happy Father's Day, from DC....." The two stood in silence.

"Is that right?" Kentucky gasped, taking the card from his partner.

"Tucky do you know what this means?" Georgia asked.

"Now hold on, we don't want to pressure the boy." Kentucky pointed out.

"True." Georgia muttered, putting a hand through his hair. "But we should say something."

"Lemme have my coffee first." Kentucky teased, making Georgia snicker and lean in to kiss him.

DC glanced up at the door opening and hoped he didn't look as flushed as he did when he saw it was Kentucky and Georgia.

"Morning guys." DC mumbled going back to his work.

"Whatcha working on?" Kentucky asked as they approached his desk.

"Some financial reports. These assholes in Washington are big spenders." DC said with a grin, holding up his papers to Georgia.

"That's....a whole lotta numbers." Georgia muttered feeling overwhelmed just looking at the page.

"Just pretend it's cards." DC teased going back to work. The three sat in comfortable silence before Kentucky spoke up.

"That was a nice card you gave us." Kentucky announced. Instantly DC froze and looked up at the two southern states.

"Was it enough?" DC asked innocently. The two states looked at each other confused.

"Course it was." Georgia said slowly, turning back to the fed. "Why wouldn't have been?"

"Oh well....I..." DC shook his head and smiled. "I'm glad you liked it." A memory of one of the last Father's Days bubbled up in his brain, how his father screamed at him for not doing enough like IDC did and he lost dinner for a week. He couldn't believe Kentucky and Georgia liked the simple card he got them.

"Say, what did you need done on your car?" Kentucky asked.

"I think it said something about the oil pressure." DC said with a shrug.

"Do you know how to check that?" DC shook his head. "Well, c'mon I'll go and teach you."

"Wait the reports..." DC said nervously as Kentucky gently pulled him up.

"C'mon now, I can't have you driving with bad oil." Kentucky pointed out.

"I think Loui and Flo want to play cards later, wanna join in?" Georgia asked as the three walked out.

"Oh I'm terrible though." DC pointed out.

"Alabama ain't playing with us today, it'll just be us four." Georgia said clapping DC on the back. DC smiled back at the two southern states and for the first time, in a long time, when this holiday reared its ugly head again, he felt calm and safe.

"Sure." DC said with a smile as Kentucky quickly jerked him away to head outside.

Maybe he could accept it, maybe he could learn to let them into his heart. Maybe Kentucky and Georgia were the surrogate dads he'd been looking for this entire time.