I was darting around happily trying make sute my house was perfect. A large grin was on my face and their was a spring in my step. My family would be coming over today to spend Thanksgiving with me! While the wait was not actually that long, it felt like an eternity since the last time I'd seen any of them.

In order to spend as much time with each of them as possible I made a list of thing we were gonna do to bond. I had all sorts of things in it. Ice skating, movie watching, some arts and crafts. All sorts of things. I'm super excited.

"Meow." Hero called from the plush chair she has claimed as her own. Her belly was swollen with her unborn offspring. She was due any day now, so I had set up a box for her in my room.

"I'm excited because people are coming over." I said giving her a scratch behind the ear.

"Meow, meow."

"People I like. Like Ivan! And do you know what that means?" I said smiling wider.

"Ppuurr?"

"Lampushka is coming over too!" I spread my arms wide.

She staired at me for a second before quickly standing up. "MEOW! MEOW! MEOW! Ppppuuuuurrrr!" She spun around in a circle a few times in excitement.

"I though you would like that bit of information." I scooped her up and hugged her. "Who knows. He might just be here when the kittens are born."

"Meow." She rubbed her head against mine.

"Alright, I gotta put you down. I still need to get a few things done." I said putting her back down on the plush chair.

I darted around the house putting the final touches on a few things. I heard my phone buzz on the coffee table and dove fore it. While laying on the floor, where I had landed, I opened up the text bubble.

Snowflake: The plane will be landing in thirty minutes. I can't wait to see you.

Me: Okay! I'll be sure to be there on time. I'll be bring my brother and Hero, but don't worry. I'm taking my van. I'll see you on the inside. Love you!

Snowflake: Love you too.

I smiled and put down the phone. Before long my mostly empty house will be filled with people laughing. I'll have music playing in the background. Everything is going to be just perfect.

Well, almost everything. If only th-.

*Creak* Someone opened my front door!

I stopped my chain of thought and picked my head off the  floor. I heard foots steps before hearing the door close. Very familiar footsteps. A big smile crept it's way on my face. I quickly, but quietly, got off the floor, making sure to keep as low as possible. I crept around behind the couch and waited untill their back was turned.

"MATTIE!" I shouted happily as I flew through the air and landed on him. He let out a quiet oof hitting the floor. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his waist, burring my face in the back of his jacket. "I missed you!"

"I noticed." He said with amusement lacing his voice. I giggled and burried deeper. Kuma sat next to us, just watching. "Get off me will you! I gotta put my stuff in my room."

"No! My Mattie!" I pouted and hugged him tighter.

"Do I have to carry you?" He asked with a small laugh and turned around to face me.

"Yes." I said quietly like a small child.

He rolled his eyes, but stood up with me still clinging on to his back like a koala. He had to slowly lean over to pick up his bag so that we wouldn't topple over.

"So, how've you been since we last met?" I asked him as we ascended the stairs.

"Quiet for the most part. Papa France and England called a few times to try to get me to convince you to break up with Ivan. I ignored them obviously. I've been worried about you for the most part. You gave me a right scare the last time we saw each other." He said turning around to face me. Concern was in his deep mauve eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just felt like I couldn't take it any more. All the insults and harassment, it finally became too much. I couldn't handle it." I layed my head on his shoulder and looked down.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I saw them bully you and did nothing about it for years. I'm not free from blame either, I had my own hand in it as well." He said regretfully. He opened the door to the room he favored when staying here. No one has slept in here since he last did.

"No one is free from blame. The only way to make this better is to work at it." I said getting off. "Well, I gotta leave in about five minutes to pick up the Snow Trio. Do you wanna come with, or stay here and relax?"

"I'll come with you." He told me.

"Great! I'll meet you in the car!" I sang and ran down the stairs.

A new burst of excitement flowed through my body as I got ready. Hero picked up on it and was watching me the whole time from her chair. I gave her one final pet as goodbye. She purred an rubbed her face against my palm. I smiled and darted out the door and to the car. I got it, buckled up, and waited. After a few seconds I honked the horn. A cross Canadian poked his head out the door.

"Did you just honk at me?" He asked with a small glare.

I honked the horn again. "I did, now get your but in the car and lets go! I promised I wouldn't be late."

"Whatever. Kumojemjem, stay here." He said pointing inside when the small bear tried following him out. "We'll be back soon."

"Who are you?" He asked in his high piched voice.

"I'm Canada." He sighed and pushed the bear back inside.

"So, you excited for this week?" I asked him when he got in.

"Yes, it's been such a long time since we did something together. I miss it." He told me.

"Same, that's why I made a list of things we're all gonna do this week! Let's make some memories!" I cheered and threw a fist up.

"Okay, calm down." He laughed and patted my shoulder to calm me. "You need to focus on driving, you don't want to crash do you?"

"Sorry, I'm just so excited! For the fist time in years I won't be spending a family holiday alone with my cat. I will actually be with my family this time." A bright smile made it's way to my face.

"Well, I'm glad things are finaly working out for you. You deserve to be happy." He gently nudged my shoulder with his.

"You know, I really am glad that you approved of Ivan. Having your approval means the world to me." I admitted with a small blush.

"Well, I can see how happy he makes you, and, as you said before, that should be enough for me. You're my little brother, and I always want to see you happy and healthy. If being with him ensures both, then I guess I can be okay with it. I still don't like him, I don't know if I ever will either, but I won't stand in your guy's way." He told me with a small smile.

I love my brother very much. In the terms of blood kin he is all that I have left. Growing up he would be there for me as much as he could. It wasn't always easy for eaither of us to stay by each others side. Their were times when we wouldn't see each other for months. Despite that we still stayed very close.

We only started drifting apart when work piled up too high on me. I started missing birthdays and over looking him. I even forgotten all about him for weeks sometimes in my need to get the work done. I ignored him by accident and payed a have price for it. One that scarred me, and he regretted.

But that is now in the past. The both of us are willing to move forward and repair our damaged bond. We both made mistakes, that's part of living. We are now willing to fix those mistakes, that is what makes them mistakes. We are willing to forgive each other, that is what makes us brothers.

"Besides, if he hurts you, I have a valid excuse to kick his ass." He smiled darkly.

I felt a shiver go up my spine and focused on the road. My brother could be very scary when he wanted to be. Traffic was good today despite it being so close to the holiday. We were making good time. We even arrived a little early.

"Okay! Can you reach in the glove box and pull out the white piece of cardboard I have in there?" I asked him as I parked the car.

"This one?" I glanced over and nodded. "Why does it have Snow Trio written on it?"

"That's what I call Vanya and his sisters. Isn't it cute?" I smiled and took the hand made sign.

"Good lord. Rember when you used to be this mini version of Vineland? What in the Hell happend?" He asked amazed.

"I realised I didn't like who I was." I told him honestly. "Now come on, lets go get my boyfriend and co.!" I cheered and ran in.

"Alfred, slow down! We're in public, stop embarrassing me!" He called from behind me as he tried to keep up.

"Never!" I laughed. I stopped by where his planes gate. I was already holding up the sign when Mattie caught up with me. "Hey bro! Finally caught up did you?"

"No thanks to you. How are you always full of energy? I'm serious, how?" He asked with a small glare.

"Coffee. Alright, do you see them anywhere?" I asked looking around the big room.

"Good lord Alfred." He shook his head exsaperated. "Your boyfriend is somewhere in here, calm down. I swear you're like a teenager who got her first boyfriend."

"I am a teenager who just got their first boyfriend. Wait a second." I paused thinking about what he said.

"Hey, there's your boyfriend." He pointed distracting me.

My head snapped to the left. I looked around for a moment before spotting a tall ash blond with two young women. My heart started picking up and a smile broke across my face. I held the sign above my head and started waving it.

"Vanya! Over here!" I shouted gleefully while hopping up and down. This obviously caught the attention of several pass byers.

"Fredka, I see you. Calm down." He said as he tried guiding his sisters through the crowd.

By that point I lost my patients and started fighting the crowed to get to him, my brother right behind me. When I finally got to them I immeadantly pulled Ivan into a hug and kiss. A few claps and whistles could be heard around us, but we didn't let that stop us. After a long moment we broke apart.

"Hey their big guy. I missed you." I said with a big smile.

"I missed you too Fredka." He smiled back.

I turned to the girls and pulled the both of them into a big hug as well. "Kat! Nat! Don't think I forgot about you two."

"Zdrastuyte Alfred. It's good to see you again." The taller sister said while returning th hug full force.

"Yes, it is good to see big brothers lover safe." Natalia said patting my back.

"It's great to see you gals too. Oh, have either of you met my brother?" I asked pulling back. I grabbed Mattie and pulled him over next to me. "This is my twin brother Matthew! He's a little shy."

"Alfred." He said warningly.

"We have met before at world meetings. We haven't had a chance to get to know one another yet." Kat said with a smile.

"Sorry about that. Their was never a real reason to talk to either of you untill now." He said appologeticly.

"It is fine. We can bond over the next week. We'll be one big, happy family." She said with a happy smile.

"Well, we can't do much bonding in an air port unless we plan on stealing one of the planes." I said with a smile.

"Oh, please not again." Mattie said with a frown.

"So lets get this show on the road! Oh, where's Lampushka?" I asked looking around.

"Probably just got off plane. We should go get him." Ivan said point at where the pet drop off is.

"Okay, Mattie, ladies, you three go on ahead. Vanya and I will pick up the bags and cat. We'll see you in a little bit, kay?" I told them. They all nodded and left with Mattie in the lead. "So, what have you been up too lately big guy?"

"Same as always. Paperwork, meetings, occasionally having to kill someone. The usual." He said casually.

"I get ya. I've been doing much of the same. It is a lot of work we need to catch up on." I agreed with a nod.

"How have you been with your issue? Have you relapsed at all?" He asked concerned while looking down at my nongloved arms. I for once didn't have anything on my arms besides my jacket sleeves and a rubber band.

"Once." I admitted and looked away. "I only cut a few lines into my arms. That was about two days after you left. I'm sorry."

"Fredka, do not apologise. I told you before, this is something that is going to need work. It will take a very long time before you completely gaet out of this habit."

"Yea, I guess so. I am trying to do something about it though. I read online that I can use rubber bands to substitute a blade. Any time I feel like cutting I pull on the band instead." I told him as I showed him the rubber bands on my arm.

"I am glad you are trying diffrent methods Fredka." He said pulling me closer and kissing the top of my head.

"Good afternoon sirs. How can I help you?" The man at the counter asked.

"I have cat named Lampushka. He should be here." Ivan said with his signature smile.

"Ah, yes. F-flight 9?" He asked typing into his computer.

"Da."

"T-the pets have j-just been u-unbo-orded. I-I'll have him out in a mo-moment." He studered out nervously.

"How about you go get the bags Vanya, I'll pick up poosky." I said the last word in a baby voice.

"...What did you just call him?"

"Poosky, now go get the bags. I'll meet up with you." I said with a smile and shooed him away. He looked at me weird and walked away.

"Is he your boyfriend?" The man asked now calm.

"Yea. We've been going out for only a month, but we've known each other for years. We were both just too scared to admit our feelings." I said with a small laugh.

"I find it hard that man would be scared of anything." He said looking at where Ivan had disappeared too.

"Well, any one can be scared of any thing, especially if you have something valuable to lose. Both of us were scared of how the other would react because of our not so friendly history." I told him. Another man came by with a cart full of diffrent pets.

"What did you two have to lose then?" He asked as he checked out the tags on each one.

"A lot more then you'll ever know." I told him and grabbed Lampushkas carrier. "Well, have a good day Sam."

"You too sir. Wait, how did you know my name?" He called out to me but I pretended not to hear him.

I walked over to the bag return area and looked around for him. I spotted him on the other side with three bags. One red, one blue, and one white, all stacked up to look like his flag. With a teasing smile I walked up to him and looked at the bags.

"Was that done on purpose, or what?" I asked.

"It was an accident on the colors, but I did stack them like this on purpose." He said. A playful smile made its way on his face.

"Just so you know I spotted that before I saw you." I said picking up the white bag.

"Fredka, I can carry all three." He tried taking the bag back, but I moved it out of his grasp.

"I can carry my own share." I told him and started walking away, leaving him behind.

"You don't have too." He said catching up.

"I know. Now come on. I left Hero home alone. She is ready to give birth any day now, and I'm sure she wants her boyfriend by her side." I told him with a large grin while holding up the carrier.

"How many kittens do you think she'll have?" He asked.

"Don't know. It can be hard to tell. My handlers wife's sister had a cat that gave birth to twelve kittens." I said thoughtfully.

"Aw."

"Nine made it."

"Oh."

"Yea, that happens sometimes, especially with big litters. The mama focuses on the strongest ones to ensure their survival and will abandon the weakest. That's why I'm hoping for a small litter. No more then three." I told him as we got to the car. "Hey, Mattie. Pop the trunk would you?"

"Sure thing." He said reaching around my front seat and pulling the lever. All three of them were in the back with Kat in the middle.

I opened the trunk and put the bag in. After Ivan had put his in I handed him his cat and closed the trunk. It was a little broken so I really had to put a little force into closing it. It was an accident that happened when I sliped on some ice. I then walked to the drivers side.

"Who's ready to go home?" I asked starting the car.

"I am. I left Kumagogo all alone, so he might be in th pantry." Mattie said quietly and I floored it. Everyone whent back into their seats with an oof."Whoa, Alfred calm down. What's wrong?"

"I have a pie in there! It was still cooling when we left, but I didn't want Hero to get it." I said as I got on the highway. "Oh well, it's probably gone by now anyways."

"Sorry bro. I didn't think." He said softly.

"It's fine. It's not like I can't make another." I glanced back at him.

"Fredka. If you do that again, I will take driving from you." Ivan warned me.

"You can't make me." I told him and stuck my toung out.

"Otrod'ye." He glared at me.

"Pridurok." I shot back. He looked at me with a surprised expression. "Yes Vanya, I can play that game too. I spent the week learning Russian."

"You learned Russian in a week?" He asked amazed.

"Well, not all of it. I can somewhat hold a conversation with you, but I don't know anything big and fancy yet." I told him as I pulled off the highway. "Give me a little more time and I should be speaking the language fluently."

"You always did have a nack for learning other languages." Mattie said from the back.

"You never cease to amaze me. I hope you never do." He said softly.

"So, Alfred. What do you have planed for us this week?" Nat asked almost bordly, but that could have just been her tone of voice.

"Well, today I figured we'd just relax. You three just had a long flight, Mattie had a long drive. I doubt any of you really want to be doing anything for the rest of today. Tomarrow I planned for us going to this nice indoor ice rink. The ice is different colors, they play music, and they sell hot beverages. Then we can go walking around town. Let you guys get the feel of the place in case any of you wanna go for a walk or drive somewhere. I don't want any of you getting lost.

"Then for the next day we get to do some arts and crafts. I have all sorts of stuff in my art room you can use! I want us to make something fun as a reminder for this week. The day before Thanksgiving and the day of will be cooking and family time. We will all stay at the house as much as possible. The day after I figured we could just wing it. Then you guys all leave the following day." I said giving them the basic version of my plan.

"Ooh, it sounds like so much fun!" Kat said clapping her hands.

"With a week of only the five of us it should be calm and very relaxing." Mattied said and I frowned.

I turned to look at him. "Well, actually, the thing is-"

"RABBIT!" Natalia cut me off.

I turned back to the road and hit the brakes, but it was too late. I heard a thud and a squeel. I sat their wide eyed for a moment in shock. I didn't move as I stared out the window.

"Oh, no, no,no,no,no!" I said panicked and got out of the car. I rushed around to the front to see the poor thing laying on it's side, bleeding out of one foot. I started crying. "Oh my God! What have I done?" It sneezed. "It's still alive!"

"It's alive?" Canada asked kneeling next to me.

"Yes, poor baby." I cried out and took off my jacket. I scooped it up, being sure to mind its foot, and brought it to the car.

"In the back Alfred. You can't drive right now." Mattie told me as he hoped in the front seat.

I nodded and got in the back seat. Tears were pouring down my face making it impossible for me to see anyways. Kat was crying as well, while Natalia was giving the rabbit an almost pitiful look.

"Alfred, calm down. It was an accident." Vanya tried soothing me from the front seat.

"I took my eyes off the road! This could have been avoided. I'm a horrible person." I said miserably.

"It was an accident. You are not a horrible person. If you were you would have kept driving. You wouldn't have even tried to stop for it. You instead picked it up and are taking it home. You are a good person." He said soothinly. I nodded my head and calmed down a little.

I started petting the poor thing, trying to calm it as well. It was in shock, which is why it was being so calm. I very gently touched around it's leg. It was broken alright. It even punctured the skin, which is why it was bleeding. Other then that the bunny seemed to be fine.

"We're here!" Mattie said parking the car.

In a flash I was out and by the front door. I hurriedly opened it and darted inside. I whent past the stairs and down a hall to the left. Third door on the left was my little veterinarian room. I had always taken care of my animals my self when they were sick or injured. To make sure I stay up to date with all the best practices for treating them I attended college course every five years or so.

I set the little bunny down on one of the tables, turned around, and nearly jumped out of my skin in fright. Behind me stood Natalia with her arms crossed. I hadn't even noticed that she followed me.

"Natalia! I didn't know you followed me. What do you need?" I asked her as u set up my x-ray machine.

"I want to help fix rabbit." She answered and gently pet the rabbit.

"Oh, well, their's not much you can do. Just try to keep it calm so I can take the picture and bandage the poor thing up." I told her as I got the thing in place.

She did as asked and held the rabbit down for me. I was able to take the picture and see just how badly it was injured. Luckily it had a clean break. I cleaned up the wound and the area around it to prevent infection. I was easily able to set the bone and stitch up the broken skin. I even showed her how to bandage him up. The final step was to clean all he dirt and mud off the rest of the rabbit.

"What kind of rabbit is this?" Nat asked as she used a warm wet cloth to clean it up. For some reason she insisted on being the one to clean him.

"It looks like a New Zealand White. They are generally used for meat. This little guy probably escaped some nearby homestead." I told her as I set up a cage for the little guy. "I'm gonna go get changed, I got blood all over my cloths. Just put him in the cage when you are done."

She nodded her head and I walked out. I whent up stairs to where the rooms were and checked on Mattie and Katyusha. Both were settling in to their rooms and would be down in a few minutes. I walked into my room to see that Ivan had already finished unpacking.

"Ah, privot Fredka. How is little rabbit doing?" He asked as I pulled out a new change of cloths.

"Well, the break was clean, thank goodness. It seams to be in shock right now. I left him with Natalia, she seemed to take a liking to him. Now, only time will tell if it survives the night." I informed him before walking into my bathroom.

"You do not have to hide yourself from me. I have already seen all of you." Ivan purred after stopping me from closing the door.

"Yea, well, I don't want you trying anything like last time. My family is here." I said still trying to close the door.

"You liked it."

"My family is here, and it's the middle of the day." I finally pushed him out. I whispered before closing the door. "Maybe latter."

I heard him chuckle through the door and rolled my eyes. I whent to remove my cloths when I noticed two things.
1: my jacket is downstairs.
2: my arms have been exposed this whole time.

"Oh crap." I whispered to my self. I was cleaning the blood off my hands and arms. My cuts were fully disable for all to see. "Hey, Vanya, can you come to the door for a moment?"

"What do you need Fredka?" He asked a moment latter.

"Um, I just realized my arms were exposed. I think your sisters might have saw." I said quietly. Dread started to fill my chest as I continued to dress myself. "Do you mind going and talking to them. If they didn't notice, please don't bring it up, but if they did."

"Don't worry. My sisters are very kind. They will not think less of you for this." He reassured me through the door.

"Thanks big guy. I'll be down in a minute." I said relieved. I really want his sisters to like me. I don't want then to think I'm weak or just using him for emotional support. "Oh, hey! Vanya. Their's something I gotta tell you guys. Vanya?"

I realised he had already left. I sighed and got out. I was now in a long sleeve black t-shirt with the Batman logo on it. I reachrd in a drawer and pulled out a pair of gloves. These were a little shorter then the ones Ivan gave me, but I didn't need any of my longer ones since I have a long sleeve shirt on. I did one final check in the mirror to make sure I didn't have any blood left on me. Satisfied with my reflection I walked down stairs.

Sitting side by side were both Natalia and Katyusha. Ivan sat in a chair nearby, while Mattie stood in the door way between the kitchen and hallway. He had a full view of the situation and was prepared to step in necessary.

"Alfred, dear. We would like to talk to you. Please have a seat." Kat gestured to the couch aross from her's and Nat's. "Do you know what this is about?"

"I can take a guess." I said rubbing my wrists.

"We're not mad at you sweetie. We're just worried. We know how bad a situation like yours can get, and we just want to make sure you'll be okay." She told me gently, being careful to not sound accusatory.

"Don't worry about me, I've got this under control." I told her with a smile. Not a fake one, but a soft real one.

"Are you sure you have situation under control? Many people say that and the next thing we know we see them in bathtub with wrists sliced open." Natalia said rather bluntly, obviously not believing I was in control of my problem. From the corner of my eye I watched both Mattie and Ivan flinch.

"Yes, I'm sure I've gotten every thing undercontrol. I looked up a few ways to help me control myself. Mattie and Vanya have also been helping me a lot." She nodded, but still looked unconvinced.

"We are glad that you are taking an active role to help make yourself better. Just know that you can come talk to either of us if you ever need too." She said with a sweet smile and took my hand in hers. I returned the smile with one of my own. She really is more like a mother then a big sister. "Ivan told us a little bit on why you do this, but he didn't say everything. That is for you to tells us if you so choose."

"And if any one else decides to verbally attack you they will have us to deal with." Natalia said darkly.

"No one messes with my little brother and gets away with it." Mattie said just as darkly.

A dark aurora spread around them, very similar to Ivans. A shiver of fear whent down all our spines. Those two are really a force to be reckon with if either get angry, especially when they're in protection mode. A bigger smile made it self know.

"You guys are great." I laughed.

"You know it." Mattie said with a bright smile of his own. He walked over to me and flopped down next to me. "So, lets sum this afternoon up. You lose your pie to a bear. Hit a rabbit on our way back. Cry like a baby in front of everyone because of it. And you have an intervention."

"Yea, not exactly how I planned our first day going." I said dryly.

"Hey, at least it can't get much worse." He tried cheering me up.

"Well, actually, I've been trying to tell you this all day-" I started but was cut off again.

"Someone is pulling into your drive way." Natalia said peering out the window.

"Alfred, are you expecting someone?" Ivan asked looking out the window as well.

"Yes. The thing is we won't be spending the week as just the five of us. Their are two more joining our little party." I said with a sigh.

"Alfred, please tell me it's not them." Mattie asked while closing his eyes.

"Yea, it's them." I told him. He started swearing under his breath in both English and French.

"Who?" Kat asked confused.

"England and France."

____________________________________
1: 2 part chapter, don't get confused. I'll probably be doing this for several chapters, so be careful. I don't want you thinking you're on day four when you're still on day two.
2: I am so sorry it took me this long to post book 2. I've been sick and work has been exhausting me.
3: Please post some ideas for what you want to see in this book or any up coming books. I love hearing suggestions.
4: Please point out any spelling and gramer mistakes. I will fix them.