FACE Familly fic - FrUk in the background but this is mostly Arthur trying to be a good dad and Francis being the dad that stepped up.
It's quite literally a dark and stormy night, Matthew, being the child of nature that he is wants to go play outside - Alfred is scared and overstimulated and starting to spiral.
--- This started as just a short little Human!AU thing of Arthur comforting tiny Alfred during a thunderstorm and turned into a slight bit of angst of Arthur struggling to explain the idea of his mother's absence in the way that a little kid will understand. Doesn't get too deep, but the implication is there. ---
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Matthew bounced on his heels as he pulled himself up to look out the window, perched on a small stool in him and his brother’s room.
His eyes widened at a new flash of lightning that scattered across the sky.
“Woah! That was a big one!”
A small whine of despair came from nearby. Alfred had pulled his blanket off his bed and was curled up and pressed against the corner of the room.
“It’s cool Alfred! You should see! Its like-”
The inevitable growl of thunder came and Alfred pressed his hands tighter over his ears.
“-Fireworks!” Matthew finished, grinning from ear to ear. “You like fireworks!”
“Fireworks make nice colors and fun explosions… not scary ones.” He mumbled.
Matthew was already staring outside again at the rain, he looked down at the pathway below the house… so much mud, so many possibilities! Mud pies! Mud cakes! Mud sandwiches! Mud Pancakes!
He bounced on his stool again, nearly knocking it over before leaping away from the window.
“I’m gonna go ask dad if I can play outside!” He declared with determination.
Alfred panicked, trying to untangle himself from his blanket. “No!! Mattie you’ll be eletrocutionized!!” He fell over in his struggle, only to shriek again as another crash of thunder hit and curled up again.
Matthew was already padding downstairs, finding his dads in the kitchen finishing putting the dishes away.
“Mon cher! No! Those are the nice plates!” Francis gestured wildly, as if a sin had been committed. “They go over in that cabinet.”
Arthur looked down at the white plate in his hands he was just about to put away. “It looks exactly like the other ones here.”
Francis huffed. “No those are the cheap plates, with the hard corners, that is one of the nice ones with the smooth rounded corners.”
Arthur stared at him. “You’re taking the piss…”
Francis flicked his wrist. “Would you just put it in the other cabinet??”
Arthur rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, but complied and put the plate in the ‘correct’ cabinet.
Matthew came in and tugged on Arthur’s sleeve.
“Dad? May I go outside please?” He asked brightly and of course very politely.
Francis snorted then covered his mouth and pretended to cough.
Arthur stared down with his ‘really son?’ look.
“Matthew, it’s certainly not play weather out there.”
Matthew frowned. “I’ll be careful! Even if Alfred thinks I’ll be ‘electrocutionized’...”
“He’s absolutely right you know-”
“-No he’s not! Cause, I know, it’s ‘electrocuted’, ‘electrocutionized’ isn’t a word!” Matthew argued.
Arthur inhaled deeply and put a hand on Matthew’s head.
“That’s very clever of you Matthew, but what your brother is worried about is correct, even if the word isn’t. You will be electrocuted if you go out there right now. There will be plenty of mud once the storm passes, lad.”
Matthew pouted. “Awww…But Alfred doesn’t want to do anything and it looks fun outside…”
Arthur hummed and frowned.
“How is your brother doing Matthew?” Francis asked, leaning against the counter and raising an eyebrow.
Suddenly the lights flickered and buzzed before going out entirely.
Matthew jumped and let out a mousey squeak for joy… A long, terrified wail came from upstairs.
“...Well that answers that.” Arthur squinted at Francis in the dark and gestured to Matthew. “Would you..?”
“Of course love.” Francis put his hand on Matthew’s shoulder. “How about we go to the big window in the living room and watch all the fun weather from there together, hm?”
“Okay!” Matthew agreed immediately.
Arthur was already lighting a candle and trudging upstairs to his boy’s room. He pushed open the door Matthew hadn’t fully closed, immediately spotting the pile of trembling blankets. He set the candle down on the bureau and crouched down on the floor near his son.
“Alright there son?” He said softly to announce his presence.
Alfred peaked his head out from underneath, eyes wide and wet.
“Dad!”
Arthur knew better by now and had already sat down for the inevitable tackle-hug from his son. Even so he still had the wind slightly knocked out of him. That boy was strong, especially when he was scared and wasn’t thinking about it.
Arthur hugged his son back tightly. Simply holding him for a minute to let him breathe and calm down.
“You’re going to be alright Alfred. You remember that counting trick I taught you?”
Alfred pulled away slightly, looking at his dad with a red face and snotty nose and immediately started babbling as he sniffled and hiccuped.
“I tried that, but then I got so scared I forgot how many numbers I counted, and then I kept getting scared and I kept forgetting and then there was a super loud one and I was scared the house was gonna fall down because it was shaking and then you’d be gone, and papa would be gone and Matthew would be gone and it’d be only me and I’d be alone and then it’d be even louder and and-!”
“Shhh shhh… Alfred, It’s alright… none of that’s happened.” He took his son’s small and slightly chubby face in his hands, trying to still him and make him look at him. “The house won’t fall down, it’s been through thousands of storms and stood strong. I’m still here, yeah?”
Alfred sniffled, obviously for a moment trying to look brave before another clap of thunder sounded and he wrapped his arms around his dad in terror again.
Arthur continued to hush him, rocking back and forth, glancing up at the sky as he did as if trying to will it to stop for his son’s sake.
Alfred eventually calmed down enough so Arthur could move to grab tissues and a damp cloth, wiping away the snot and tears on his face and having him press the cloth to his eyes.
“There you go, see? Isn’t that better?”
Alfred nodded weakly, still flinching when thunder hit, but at least that had calmed as well.
Arthur led him over to his bed, picking up his blanket and putting it back over Alfred before sitting on the bed with him.
“Is Mattie ok? He wanted to go outside…” Alfred mumbled.
“He’s just fine lad, we weren’t going to let him do that.” Arthur reassured him.
Alfred peaked up at him. “And you promise you're not going anywhere neither?”
Arthur almost impulsively corrected him that it was ‘either’ not ‘neither’ but right, not the time.
“Of course not lad, what has you so worried that all of us are going to disappear?” He asked, rubbing his son’s back.
“Mom did… even though she promised…” He muttered.
Arthur stilled, before slowly inhaling and clenching his jaw. “...Ah… well…”
He chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to think.
“The thing is… well… you know… your mother she… she didn’t…” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Alfred really had been so close with his mother, even after several years now Arthur still didn’t know how to explain such a loss to a small child.
“She didn’t… want to leave, but ah… you know, sometimes our… bodies get worn out and our um… spirits have to go on, but you know she’s still here, even if you can’t see her.” Arthur stammered, feeling stupider by the minute as Alfred stared at him.
“...Mom’s a ghost?”
“Er, ah… well, something like that I suppose…” Arthur stammered.
Alfred sat up on his knees suddenly and stared. “But I’ve been using the monster spray to keep ghosts and monsters away!! Am I keeping mom away??!”
“NO! Oh, no, ah, goodness… that spray is ah… for the bad ghosts and monsters. Honestly they might have been… crowding her… had it not been for your help!” Arthur blurted out.
Alfred suddenly jumped up. “Really?!”
“Yes, and don’t stand on the bed please Alfred, sit down… there you go, thank you.”
Alfred sat now directly next to Arthur, dangling his feet over the side of the bed.
“So… mom is still here as a ghost, even though I can’t see her? So she didn’t break her promise?” He asked, kicking his legs.
“Certainly not. She’s a woman of her word after all.” Arthur said very matter of factly. “The people we love stay with us forever.” He wrapped an arm around Alfred’s shoulders and hugged him tightly.
“So… If I stop being able to see you, will you be a ghost and stay too?” He asked curiously.
“Oh certainly, you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried!” Arthur smiled wickedly. “I’ll haunt you so you’ll never forget I’m there!”
Alfred giggled and shoved him. “Noooooo! Don’t haunt me!”
“Too late! It’s been decided. You’re cursed to have your dad haunt you forever.”
—
Arthur shut the door quietly, Alfred finally calmed down enough to sleep, and Francis had brought Matthew up who had finally gotten sleepy while watching the storm. He crept to his and Francis’ room, sighing as they were finally able to get ready for bed.
“He seemed pretty happy in his sleep, you must have done a good job calming him down.” Francis whispered to him as they climbed under the covers.
Arthur adjusted his pillows. “Sure… even if now he thinks his mother is a ghost.”
Francis paused and flipped over in the bed quickly staring at him.
“How did you go from calming his fear of thunder to telling him his mother is a ghost??”
“I panicked…. Seemed to work though, once I assured him his ghost spray only deters bad ghosts.” Arthur turned to face Francis with raised eyebrows. “He’s… still too little to really understand… and I hate the idea of him thinking his mother didn’t love him.”
Francis moved closer to him and pulled him tight. “You’re a good father mon cher.” He hummed.
“Don’t know about that… but I’m… trying.” He huffed, closing his eyes and absentmindedly running his fingers through Francis’ long hair.
Uhhhh. I suck at thinking of pairings because I like too many, so I'll leave pairing choice up to you.. Prompt: Feeding the elephants peanuts at a zoo.
Human AU "Mathieu, mon chaton, mais what are you trying to do now ?" asked Francis as he looked down to his son with a puzzled look on his face. The young boy was standing in front of the Elephant's cage, holding out his arm, a single stand of grass in his hand. He tentatively poked the grass between two bars, and looked expectantly at it. "I'm feedin' the ele'ants, papa!" replied the boy cheerfully, still looking at his hand. Francis smiled fondly at that, but he knew that the boy's idea wouldn't be very successful. Looking around, he saw a small distributing machine filled with peanuts. Giving his son a last look, he quickly walked toward the machine and after having put a coin in it, returned with an handful of peanuts. He knelt close to Matthew and showed the peanuts to him. "Here, those should work better." he said with a smile. Matthew hesitated for a second, but keeping the grass in one hand, he reached with the other to take a few peanuts and passed the small hand through the bars, waiting patiently. And luck must have been with him this day, as it didn't even take a minute that a large elephant was already getting closer. Matthew's eyes widened as the large animal was not even a meter away from him. He stood completely still, a fascinated look on his face as the elephant reached to take a few peanuts from the boy's hand. Once he had finished the elephant simply walked away, but Matthew had a big grin on his face. "He ate in 'y hand, Papa !" said Matthew as he hugged his father. "Oui oui, I saw" laughed Francis, happy that such a simple thing could have amused his son like that.
