Babysitting the Countries

Warmth

        It was far too cold to go outside now! When you woke up this morning you felt four little creatures squirming beside you. Peeling back your blankets you saw the boys huddled close to you. You didn't blame them either, it was freezing in the house! Matthew looked up at you and rubbed his eyes. "Good morning, miss (y/n)," he said sleepily. You smiled in reply. His cuteness was too much for words. When you got out of bed they huddled closer together until they were basically a lump in the middle of your bed. You ran downstairs, glad you decided to wear something warm to sleep. Downstairs you had firewood and lit a fire to keep the room warm. Then, you decided to cook to warm the place up even more. Four boys trotted down the stairs. They were greeted by warmth from the fire. Still, they huddled close together. "Go sit on the couch," you said. For once, they just obeyed. The cold must be getting to them. They never listen the first time they're told, not unless they're in trouble. They all stared blankly ahead, not really looking at anything. They were only focused on the warm. It was horrible. These kids have had to experience cold like this before. With a glance outside you saw that the snow was higher than yesterday. None of it had melted? Not only that, but it was colder than yesterday. Odd.... The children were now separating. Now it was warm enough not to depend on each other's heat. Did one of them read something out of your books? Hopefully they didn't. Bad things happen when you read those books and don't know what your doing, you know that from experience. With a sigh, you remembered how you got here in the first place. It was so hard leaving Arthur behind. The last you saw of him was his pained expression. It was so long ago, but at the same time far in the future. You didn't plan on making that mistake again. Lost in thought, you didn't notice that one of the brothers had wandered off.

~James's POV~
It's freezing in here! And that's a lot coming from me. I'm used to the cold. But this was just ridiculous! I wandered through the icy halls of the house, trying to figure out where Kuma had went. He's gotten bigger than me, but I'm gonna outgrow him soon! The floors were all slippery, like they were frozen from the cold. There were loud steps coming from upstairs. What was Kuma still doing in our room? I walked over to the stairs, almost slipping and falling in the process. The next floor was dark and definitely colder than this floor, but Kuma was upstairs. It shouldn't be too bad. I walked up the stairs and as I did it got colder and colder. Again, I heard the floor creaking and a low growl. Kuma was nearby. It was freezing upstairs, but it didn't bother me. Not much anyway. Not only was it colder, but it was darker. It was difficult to see, and all light switches were out of reach. There were thumping sounds coming from behind me. Before I could turn I was being lifted off the ground. I could feel hot air being blown on me on the back of my neck and it ruffled my hair. Then, I was being carried downstairs. Kuma made sure I didn't hit the stairs and didn't put me down until we hit the bottom step. He didn't put me down gently either. "Hey!" I shouted as I hit the wood floor. Slowly, I stood up and looked around. I could smell that breakfast was ready and ran over to the table.

You looked up when you heard someone run up to the table. James was coming over with Kuma. He must have gone upstairs. You sat down at the table with the children who were all looking down at their bowls. You had given them oatmeal, unsure of what else to give them. That, and it was easier to make than anything else for you at the moment. "Jut eat it," you said to them. "It'll warm you up." Alfred, being Alfred, was the first to taste it. When he didn't screw his face up in disgust the other begin to try it. Slowly, you started to eat too, staring down at the dull, brown table. There was a little design that went around the edge of the table that was carved in. It swirled and crisscrossed and made all sorts of patterns. It looked kind of like....something you've seen before, you just couldn't put your finger on it. Or you didn't want to.... Your thoughts were interrupted by Matthew. "Miss (y/n)." he said. "Where's Kumajiji?" You looked up. Only one bear had come downstairs this time. That meant the other one had to be upstairs. As if he heard Matthew, which he probably did, Kumajiro came over to the table. With a smile Matthew hugged the bear, probably because it was warm. You smiled at them. Sudden;y, you remembered what you had been meaning to ask Alfred this whole time. You looked over at him. He was gazing out the window at the falling snow. You turned your head to look to. The snow outside was piling up. Definetly much quicker than it should be. "Alfred, Allen," you called. The two boy's diverted their gaze to you. You continued to watch the snow as it fell. It was a bit mesmerizing. "Did either one of you read anything from those books upstairs?" you said to them. Shocked, they both looked at each other as if you knew something that you shouldn't. Alfred nodded after a while. "We both did," he said, his voice trembling. He was probably worried about being in trouble. As much as you wanted to punish them, you couldn't. You had done the same thing when Arthur first started teaching you. "You recognized some of the books didn't you?" you asked. The question was for Alfred and he nodded. "I did," he said. "Then you should have known not to touch them, same for you, Allen," you said to them. They both looked down at the table. Of course they thought they were in trouble. They probably never reacted like this around Oliver or Arthur, but here....things were different. You looked at them sadly, then faked a smile. "It's alright," you said to them. They looked up at you in confusion. They weren't in trouble? You turned back to the window. The snow wouldn't be gone for a while. With a sigh, you got up and walked upstairs so you could warm up the second floor.
About 10 minutes after you were done you got a call. You scooped up your phone and let yourself fall back on your bed. A tired sounding voice is on the other end. In the background you can here shouting. You didn't really have a chance to ask what it was, the person was already talking. "(y/n)?" he said. "Yes, Arthur?" you said. He doesn't usually call you while their over unless.... "I'm sorry," he said. He sounded like he was getting more and more annoyed by the second. "But could you take care of Matthew and Alfred for a few days? Oh, and the other two as well."