This is for maxine247 and mother-to-all

I'm combining the request because I felt like they worked very well together.

Maxine's request was Portugal, Belgium, and the fem!empire trio (France, Britain, and Spain as girls) comforting America.

Also found out that they have, like, different names than what the fandom calls them. According to the Hetalia Wiki: Spain's name is Ernesta, France's name is Catherine, and England's name is Olivia (I had a major bruh moment when I saw that England and I shared a name XD)

Mother's was a mute!Alfred oneshot.

All-in-all, I wanted to combine these because I feel like the premise worked well enough!

Enjoy Starlings!

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When the three empires landed on the shores of the New World, they immediately began to clash heads in terms of territory. Ernesta would always try to take more land further north than what the trio had agreed upon. Catherina and Olivia often fought over settled borders and would often have to be pulled apart by their colony leaders. The three were constantly bickering with each other, no matter what.

One fated day, they were fighting loudly in an open plain. The three women yelled so loud that the ground basically shook beneath them. France and England were about to physically fight when Ernesta shushed them. The other two looked offended at the command but noticed that her eyes were fixated on a bush, a trembling bush. The three empires quieted down and cautiously approached the shrub.

"Uh, hello?" Olivia asked as her hand went to touch the plush fern. Suddenly, a head popped out. The three empires yelped in surprise as they saw a small blonde boy, fearfully trembling. The women were shocked to find that he was alone.

"Little one, where iz your family?" Catherine asked softly. The boy shook his head rapidly and cuddled the bunny in his arms tighter.

"Conejito, are you alone?" Ernesta questioned. The boy still was silent. Just as Britain was about to ask, thunder boomed in the distance. This made the small boy yelp and begin to whimper. The three empires knew he needed to be sheltered, so Olivia grabbed him and they ran to their nearest home. Once they were safe from the storm, Catherine checked on their supper. Olivia and Ernesta were trying to get more from the boy, but all they got was that his name was Maska. He never uttered a word to the pair, he only made grunt noises. After feeding Maska Catherine's warm stew, the boy fell asleep in Ernesta's lap.

"Ze boy is mute, ze question is why?" Catherine wondered while she was finishing cleaning the dirty dishes. Olivia went to her bookshelf and flipped through the pages.

"It appears severe trauma is something that leads to this muteness. If we pinpoint his triggers we might be able to help him get over his pain. I will work on bringing him back to Britain,"

"Olivia, he needs a normal name before we take him back to Europe," Ernesta explained.

"Well, 'ow about Alfred? 'e looks like an Alfred," Catherina smiled down at him.

"I like it," Olivia agreed as Spain nodded.

"Maybe we should leave him with mi hermano and Belgium? It would be safer, si? We have targets on our backs from conquering and many people will try to hurt him. No one would think to attack them,"

"Oui, Ernesta is right. Alfred will be a target if we leave 'im with nannies. Portugal and Belgium are ze best choices,"

"So we have come to an agreement. As soon as possible, we set sail for Portugal," Olivia stated.

FIVE MONTHS LATER

Ernesta, Catherina, and Olivia were wearing hooded cloaks as the Spaniard carried a swaddled up Alfred. Upon arriving at her brother's mansion, she slipped passed the gate with the two following close behind. Olivia concealed a sword and Catherina concealed a dagger, making sure they were not followed. Ernesta knocked on the door to the mansion curtly and waited. A minute passed and Belgium opened the door.

"Ernesta?! What are you doing here?!" Belgium squeaked as Ernesta stormed passed Belgium and was followed by Britain and France.

"Lo siento, Belgium. But we could not risk being out in the open for a minute longer," the three empires took off their cloaks and walked to the den, where they found Portugal, Scotland, and Wales drinking scotch.

"Wales, Scotland? What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" Olivia asked surprised.

"Poker night, now why are yee here lass?" Scotland asked as he tapped the ashes from his cigar.

"We need your assistance, hermano," Spain walked to the front of the group with a lumpy, blue blanket in her embrace.

"Of course, Ernesta! Está tudo bem?" Portugal put down his cards and got up quickly. Ernesta sighed deeply and showed the group of men the tiny, sleeping Alfred.

(Is everything ok?)

"He is America, we all agreed to name him Alfred. He had a troubled childhood and does not speak," Ernesta explained. France added on to the statement.

"Oui, 'e suffered trauma zat rendered 'im mute. We 'ave tried to 'elp 'im cope, but 'e still can't speak,"

"Given our conquering agenda, we worry he is in danger if we were to leave him in his homeland. He does not speak and is too timid to disturb anyone. We were hoping you and Belgium could be his caretakers until we eliminate the assassins after us. He is safer with you," Olivia explained. Portugal nodded and took Alfred into his arms, "he fears thunderstorms especially, we think it might connect to why he doesn't speak. He likes chocolate a lot and he enjoys stew. His pet bunny, unfortunately, passed away during the journey over, so he has yet to let go of the stuffed bunny I sewed for him," Olivia finished.

"Hermano, please don't let him get into danger. He means the world to me," Spain kissed Alfred's forehead. France did the same and gave Portugal a thin book.

"In zis book iz all ze recipes 'e likes. If I come back and find a single scratch on 'im, I'll burn you crispy at ze stake. Got it?"

"S-sim," Portugal trembled as the three empires left. Scotland and Wales looked at their nephew and smiled.

"What a wee thing, write us if yee need us!" Scotland yelped and Wales nodded, escorting his brother out. Belgium walked in with a toddler Brazil and Angola, all three worried as they noticed the bundle in Joao's arms.

"Papai? What is wrong?" Brazil asked as his sister played with the seam on her dress.

"Marco, Tana, this is your cousin Alfred. Auntie Ernesta just gave him to be because he will not be safe as she travels. He doesn't speak much, so try to be nice to him, understand children?"

"Sim Papai!" they both yelped as Belgium went to tuck them in. Portugal had a guest room prepared for Alfred and tucked him in, kissing his temple sweetly.

A few months went by and Alfred still did not speak much. But Brazil, Bahrain, and Cape Verde were very playful with him. Alfred always smiled when he played with his cousins but were honestly more like brothers. Angola and Guinea-Bissau were caring sisters who often helped him when it stormed or if he hurt himself while roughhousing. Belgium and Portugal took Alfred a lot of places, but he loved the beach exceedling more than anywhere else. Alfred was making progress! He was making longer grunts and yelps and the group once almost heard a giggle come out of him. The Portuguese colonies protected Alfred a lot, as many other children thought it funny to pick on him.

One incident, in particular, was when Brazil, Belgium, and Alfred were in the market looking at spices. The town square was a bustle with activity and Alfred soon found himself lost in the sea of strangers. He was blindly walking around when he bumped into one of his bullies. The bigger kid got angry and in a fit of rage tore the stuffed rabbit's head from Alfred's hands. The fluff from the inside fell to the cobblestone and Alfred began to tear up. Before the kid could do more, Brazil pushed him down and yelled in Portuguese on how he should be ashamed for picking on a child so much smaller than he was. It caught the attention of most of the square as Marco snatched the head from the boy's hands and knelt by Alfred. Belgium instantly ran to his side and picked him up, whispering comforting melodies in Alfred's ear as Brazil carried the remnants of the stuffed rabbit. Glaring back, Marco began to smile as he saw the bully get scolded by his father and mother.

Portugal once completely lost it at a group of sailors. Since Alfred loved the beach, Portugal took him and Cape Verde sailing often. Any moment he could spare from work was spent with his children. The three boys were tieing up their small boat when four sailors were glaring at Alfred. Portugal finished packing up his things and picked Alfred up, holding Cape Verde's hand. When they passed the four men, Portugal overheard them mumble about how horrendous of a sailor Alfred was. Portugal knelt down and handed Alfred to Cape Verde, telling him to take Alfred home and that he needed to take care of something before returning. Cape Verde obeyed his father and walked away with Alfred while Portugal rolled up his sleeves. Those four men were lucky enough to escape the wrath of protective Uncle Joao.

All in all, the family was happy. Other colonies from the three empires, like India and Monaco, would visit Alfred often. The three empires would write to Alfred and send gifts to all of the children, Olivia even sewed a new bunny toy for Alfred after reading about the marketplace bully incident. Everything was looking fine until one thundering night. Portugal had just tucked Alfred into bed as he poured himself a drink in his den. Scotland was there, as was Northern Ireland. She decided to tag along this time to finally prove to Scotland that girls were just as good at poker. The three began to play when they heard thunder in the distance.

"3...2...1," Belgium counted down as the pattering of Alfred's tiny feet came flying down the hall. The doors busted open and Alfred's barely audible whimpers were quickly stifled by Joao's shoulder.

"Shush, little one. It is ok, I have you," Joao bounced Alfred as the silent boy began to calm. Then, a roar came from outside that startled everyone. Portugal noticed that Alfred clutched him tighter and began to tremble. The window of the den flew open with a powerful gust of wind and another roar echoed. The four adults watched in horror as a beastly long claw hooked onto the windowsill. The monster was ugly and smelt horribly of rotting human flesh. They noticed how the creature had its glowing eyes set on Alfred. When Alfred's blue eyes met the monster, he screamed in terror. His eyes began to tear rapidly and the irises became nearly empty with fear.

"No! Get it away! Get the scary monster away! Murderer! Murderer!" These were the first words the nations ever hear Alfred speak. The beast let out a shrill screech as he lunged for Alfred. Northern Ireland stepped in front and waved her hands, putting a shield around them. Scotland looked at the fireplace and got a sharp piece of bark. He jumped onto the monsters back and stabbed it, killing it. Belgium decided before questioning Alfred he would need to calm down. Going to the kitchen, she made him a nice cup of hot cocoa and cuddled him in a blanket. An hour passed before Alfred calmed enough to speak clearly to them.

"Alfred, did you know that monster?" Northern Ireland asked softly. Alfred nodded but went back to silence.

"Laddie, yee need to tell us. What was he?" Scotland asked as he pet Alfred's head. Alfred gulped and began to tremble.

"Please Alfred, we need you to talk so we can help you correctly," Portugal begged.

"W-Wendigo... He killed mama and... And he killed big sister... he killed everyone... everyone died..." Alfred mumbled, "he ate my human friends... My Roanoke friends..." the four elders halted at the mention of Britain's long lost colony. They all began to soothe him, knowing that even if his speech is broken he still had the possibility to speak.

They found that Alfred loved to sing, so that's how they got him more comfortable with his voice. Angola often times took him to the square to sing for coins, Brazil and him performed before bull fights, and Monaco even sang songs with him in French so he could learn the language. When Olivia, Catherine, and Ernesto returned from their mission they were stunned. The three walked into the long corridor and were greeted by their Alfred holding a cake.

"Welcome home dear mother, mama, and mami!" Alfred squealed in joy when the three embraced him tightly.

Alfred overcame his fear of storms after he began to feel more comfortable with his voice. The family helped him cope with his reoccurring nightmares until Alfred knew how to cope on his own. Eventually he was sent back to the New World to live, where he became a supernatural hunter.

When there's a wendigo perched upon your rooftop? Who ya gunna call?
Alfred Freedom Jones