Homeless (a Hetalia Fanfic, Book Three)

Prologue~

March 21st, 2035

The Williams family is proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Sarah Melina Williams, who arrived into the world yesterday at six pounds and four ounces. She has been pronounced healthy and was brought home after just a day in the hospital.

~~

He tumbled into bed and curled up loosely around a body pillow, releasing a soft sigh. What a rough day... And the night would be just as rough with Sarah waking up in the middle of the night periodically.

'I know I didn't miss this part of having kids' Matthew thought tiredly as his eyes slid closed and he nodded off without even bothering to change into something more comfortable, like sweatpants or pajamas.

~~

"Daddy, make her go away," Evan whined as he was assembling a gigantic hodgepodge of a building made out of various Lego bricks. He was referring to his two-year-old sister, who was ambling over and bugging him.

Matthew looked over and sighed. "Why can't she play with you?"

"The tub says she's too little," Evan pointed out.

"Good point," his father agreed, swooping up his youngest into his arms and taking her into the kitchen, where he started to fix a snack for the younger kids.

Tael slid into the kitchen's smooth floor easily on his socked feet and laughed a bit when he lost traction and fell on his rear. "Hi, Dad!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," Matthew replied with a smile. "All done with the Xbox?"

"I beat the last level!" Tael announced proudly. "But the next game doesn't come out for another month..."

"If you save up your allowance, you'll have enough to get it when it comes out," Matthew reminded him.

"Okay." He picked himself off the floor, opened the fridge, and absentmindedly scratched at his shoulder, where a stray patch of scales was flaking off slowly. When Matthew saw, he told him not to pick at the molting spot and Tael listened when he consciously realized what he was doing. "Oops."

"Where's Milo?" Matthew asked as he cut thin slices of cheddar off the big block and started to make little sticks out of the floppy 'sheets'.

"Outside," Tael answered. "He was throwing the ball for Daisy and Perri, I think."

"Ah, okay. Good, they need a little exercise, anyway." He resumed his task while Sarah waited in her high chair and played with a toy that had been left on the tray.

"Dad... They have a lot of white around their mouths," Tael said softly after he'd shut the refrigerator door without taking anything out.

Matthew paused in his cutting, and then finished up before replying. "Well, they are eight years old now. As old as Tia, actually. Golden Retrievers' life spans are aboot ten or twelve years..."

Tael looked grief-stricken as he looked up at Matthew. "I don't want them to die..."

"They won't die for a while," Tael was promised as he was drawn into a brief hug. "So let's not think aboot it like that, eh? Let's enjoy having them around."

Tael nodded and scurried off to the back door. He could see Milo, eleven years old, pitching a slobber-coated tennis ball across the yard while the blonder Daisy and the dark red Perri raced after it with gusto. Despite the white on their muzzles and their aging joints, both dogs were clearly happy with the exercise.

"Hey, give it here," Milo said to Perri when she came back with the ball in her mouth. She panted and shook her head before prancing away proudly, playing keep-away. "Ah, hey!" He raced after her, but she dodged his advances easily.