Bruder of Mine Ch. 14

The three arrived home, and Germania closed the front door. He was annoyed, and now he would have to prepare dinner for the three. He held the parcels in his hands and walked over to the table setting them down. Gilbert walked around, slightly saddened that he did not get his candy. Ludwig was not really bothered by it and walked over to the floor, sitting down and got to playing with his blocks. The elder nation needed to get some water, and having little Prussia sulking around, he decided to make him work.

"Alright then, if you are going to whine and pout you can do one of two things. You can either help me with the soup, or you can spend the remainder of the day in your bedroom in bed. I am not in the mood, and I have much to do."

Gilbert looked up, standing by the table and looking at all that Vati had brought home. He turned his nose up slightly at the onion. He sighed and then walked next to the nation, leaning against his legs.

"Ugh…I guess I will help Vati…since there is nothing else to do. What do you want?"

Giving him a grim stare, he looked down to the child and saw that he needed kindling for the caldron. This was really the only option and chore that needed to be done. Pointing to the door, he responded.

"Go get some kindling and be quick about it. I need to get this soup on, and then some more chores to be accomplished." The boy looked up and gasped a bit.

"That's Ludie's job, I don't get the kindling, and I thought he already got some, it's not fair Vati!"

"What's not fair is that I have to listen to your persistent whining." He looked down at the boy raising an eyebrow. "Go outside right this minute and do as I say Gilbert!"

Nodding his head, and not wanting to disagree because his Vati was radiating some heated vibes, and Gilbert knew better than to make the nation even more upset. He was most likely still upset that his little brother was foolish and had run away, but this did not mean that he had to take it out on him.

"Okay Vati." Gilbert walked out of the door, and slowly towards the large pile of kindling. He grabbed the basket that was used to collect the sticks, and he took several of the kindling. Humming to himself, the boy collected what he needed, and was about to walk into the house when someone arrived, and they looked to be from the village. Gilbert dropped the basket and ran to the door. "VAAAAAATIIIIII! There is someone here, and it's a stranger, and…and….VATTTTTI!" The child rushed in, opening the door. Germania looked up while chopping the carrots.

"Gilbert…whatever is the meaning of your screaming in the house…have you no recollection of the rules…what is the matter now?"

The boy pointed to the gentleman that stood by the door, he was holding a telegram. Germania looked at him, and seemed slightly embarrassed. He set down the knife he was using and then wiped his hands. Shaking his head at the boy, he then walked over.

"Good evening…I apologize for the behavior of my little one…he does not know his manners apparently. Anyway, what can I do for you good sir?"

"Yes, well…I have a telegram for you Mister Germania. I was to hand deliver it to you so you received it tonight. Please…" He held the telegram out and Willahelm took it. With that, the deliverer's work was done, and he walked away.

Walking back inside, he closed the door, but not before looking down to Prussia.

"Um…excuse me…where is the kindling? Surly because we had a interruption, you would not fulfill your duties." He walked back to the door, held it open and shoed the boy outside. "Get the basket Gil…I need to get this supper prepared, otherwise you do not eat."

Huffing, Gilbert walked outside and grabbed the basket. Walking back inside, he slammed it to the ground and walked back to the table and pulled out a chair. Seeing this whole interaction caused the elder nation to become quite perturbed. He walked over to the table and took the boy by his arm.

"And we'll have none of that tonight. Go to the corner, I am sick of your little attitude." Pushing him to the corner, the boy did not object.

Walking back over to table, he stood against it. Opening the letter, his eyes scanned the words.

Dearest Uncle,
Guten Tag,
Myself and Basch are coming to see you and cousins Gilbert and Ludwig for a couple of days. We are anxious, and hope you are wishing to see us as well. We shall be arriving tomorrow afternoon. And can not wait, it has been a while. See you soon.
Love, Roderich Edelstein

Germania put down the letter, and looked over to both boys. Ludwig was still playing on the floor and Gilbert in the corner, he would not say anything unless the topic was brought up. Shaking his head, now he would have to deal with two other little menaces. Austria was two years older than Prussia, and Switzerland was a year older, so this might be difficult for him to deal with. But the other nations were more well behaved, and Germania never had a problem with them in the past. He walked from the table again, and walked to the door. Picking up the two water buckets, he cleared his throat.

"I will be right back you two. I need to get water for the soup. Ludwig just stay put, and ahem…Gilbert, do not move from that spot at all." He did not hear a response, and hastily walked outside to fetch the water.

He got the water, and walked back inside pouring it into the caldron. He added the sticks, and lit a fire. He added the vegetables and seasoning. He had plucked the feathers of the goose, removed the entrails. Once that was done, he put the goose into the water, and put the cover on. This being done, he walked over to the table, and sat down. Looking over to both children, he called out to them.

"Gilbert…Ludwig, come here please."

Ludwig looked up, and walked over. Gilbert turned around, gulped and walked over to his brother's side. Having both children's attention, he cleared his throat.

"Alright you two. We are having a  couple of guests that are going to be visiting. I received a telegram, it looks like your cousins Roderich and Basch will be staying with us for a couple of days. Doesn't that seem like a good time?" He half smirked at Ludwig, and then turned to Gilbert. Ludwig seemed a little bit more excited than his brother.

"Cousin Roddie Cousin Basch! Yay! I am so excited!" The boy jumped up and down and walked over to Germania's side, and pulled at his sleeve. Patting his head, the nation then stared at his eldest.

"Gilbert…have you anything to say? Aren't you excited?" The boy held back his tongue, but knew that when Vati asked him a question, he had to have a response.

"Ja Vati…I am happy to see stupid cousin Roddie and I mean, okay about Basch." The boy then pulled out a chair, and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest, and pouting to the fullest. Obviously the child was very upset, but nothing could be done, the visitor was going to visit. Leaning forward, Germania stroked the boy's cheek, and gave him a slight frown.

"Gilbert…please don't be like that…both of them are going to visit, and you are going to have a delightful time. Now no more of this tonight alright? I would hate to think you need an attitude adjustment…or do you?"

Prussia backed up in his seat, and nodded his head no, tight lipped. He was not going to get spanked tonight.

"Nein Vati…I am fine." He set his little hands on the table and began tapping them, and then drew concentric circles on the table. The soup would not be finished for a little while, so Germania decided to get some sewing done, as there was always ripped pants, and shirts that needed mending. He walked over to the sewing basket that he kept in the living room, and sat down on the couch, pulling it open, and sitting contently starting. It was nice to get some work done without having a lot of excitement happening.

Gilbert sat at the table seeing as his Bruder and his Vati were both occupied. He stared straight forward, and thought about what was going to happen in the next couple of days. Still tapping at the table, he looked over to the blond nation.

"Vati, can I ask you a question?" Keeping a gruff exterior, his eyes blazed into Vati's. Willahelm looked up while he sewed a shirt of Ludwig's.

"Ja Gilbert…what do you want?" Sewing at a slow pace, the elder nation was relaxed, and looking to the boy, he smiled a soft smile.

"Its just that…um…is cousin Roderich and Basch going to hafta sleep with me and Ludie? It will be very crowded…and I don't like being squished!"

"Gilbert…we are not going to have this discussion right now. When your kin arrives, then we will talk about sleeping arraignments. Now, please…find something to do, otherwise I can have you do some chores." He bit off some of the thread and then looked back to the child. "On second thought, go and collect some eggs now so that we have them for breakfast tomorrow. I would like to get some of the chores done now, that way there will not be much to do tomorrow before your cousins arrive."

Gilbert stared back, and grunted. He did not want to do chores. Sliding down from the chair, he marched over to Germania and put his hands on his hips.

"But…but Vati, I don't want to get the eggs now…that's a morning chore…I…"

"Now Gilbert, you heard what I said. Anything to make it easier before they get here. Go." He went back to sewing, and Gilbert just stood there, but finally got the point that Vati was not going to relent from him getting things done.

He walked out the front door, and walked to the chicken coop. The hens were clucking, and the little chicks peeping. He begrudgingly took the spare eggs and plucked them into the basket, all the while just mumbling to himself about the other nation that would be sharing his home for the next couple of days. He was not really pleased with the idea of sharing. It was bad enough he had to with Ludwig, but because that was his own brother, he had no choice. Filling the basket well enough, he lugged it back towards the house and opened the door. Germania seeing this got up and walked over, taking the basket from the child's hands, and patted him on the head.

"That was very nice. Always glad you can follow an order of mine. Alright then. With that done, I just need to check how the soup is doing. Why don't you go ahead and play with your Bruder for a bit?"

"Okay Vati." The boy did not hesitate and walked over, sitting beside Ludwig, and the two children played quietly.

For another twenty minutes, and a lot of stirring, Germania deemed that the soup was finished, and ladled some out in three bowls. He made sure to put veggies in both children's bowls as he knew Gilbert sometimes skipped around the healthy greens. That being done, he then set the table, and sliced some bread that was on the table. He looked over to the children playing.

"Alright you two…go into the washroom and clean your hands, and then you may both sit down."

The children nodded, and got up, running down the hallway to the washroom. Hearing from down the hall, there was scuffling, and splashing of water. Little mumbles and laughing. When a good five minutes had passed, the two ran down the hallway and arrived at the table. Gilbert pulled his chair out, and sat down. Germania lifted the child up into his chair, and had his bowl of soup in front of him.

"Go ahead and eat Gil…your soup is not going to stay hot forever." He dipped a spoon in and ate some of his soup. Ludwig was struggling in his own way of getting soup, and sad that it was hot. Breathing out a slight sigh, Germania took his own spoon and fed some to the boy, but not without blowing on it, so it was not too hot.

Gilbert dipped into his bowl, and stuck a finger in, trying to only get the meat, not so much the greens. He knew that his Vati knew he was not fond of them, but he had to eat it, otherwise he would not grow up big and strong. He took a piece of the onion and took a tiny piece in his mouth, but not before spitting a little bit of it out.

"Ewwww…Vati…Vati I don't like onions. You know that Vati!" The child set his spoon down, and made a face, as if the tiny piece of onion was the worst thing in the world.

Giving Ludwig another spoonful of the soup, he then looked over to the menace.

"Gilbert, a little onion is not going to hurt you, its perfectly fine. However, if you are not going to eat it, I suggest you not make a huge fuss about it. Just eat around the onion, and have some of the broth and the meat."

"Okay Vati." The child ate some more, and then once he had eaten his fill he sat back, putting his hands on his full little stomach that sloshed around feeling very full. "Ugh, Vati, I think I ate too much soup…can I leave the table now?"

Wiping off the mouth of the younger nation, and pulling him up, the elder nation looked down and nodded.

"Ja Gilbert, just stay where I can see you, and please try to keep quiet. Its getting later in the evening, and small boys need to settle down in a little while okay?"

The boy simply nodded and got down from his chair. He felt very full, and wobbled a bit, till he just sat down on the floor and fell backwards. He spread his arms out on the wooden floor boards and groaned slightly.

"I am soooooo full. I am just going to have to lay here and not move, till I feel empty again."

The boy lay there talking, as Germania sighed and set Ludwig on his feet. He proceeded to clean the bowls off the table, and scrub them in the sink, and then do all the nightly activities. He rolled his eyes and responded to the little nation that was over exaggerating.

"Gilbert  get off of the floor right now. I am not even in the mood to deal with your little games." He just stared down wondering how the child ever became like this.

"Ooooooooh Vati…I am just going to die! The soup is filling my insides and arghhhh…I just died!!!!"

The little nation rolled his head over to the side, and stuck his tongue out so it laid out from the side of his mouth. Even while he was pretending to be dead, he still made moaning sounds and wiggled. Ludwig walked over, slightly scared, and held his Vati's pants.

"Gilbert…if you are dead…then I am finding it very hard to understand why a corpse is making noises and moving at the same time." He held a finger to his temple. It was getting to be that time of the night.

There were no words coming from the child, he just lay there and stayed motionless. Looking down to the smaller one, he spoke up.

"Alright, its bath time…both of you." He walked over to the little boy laying on the floor, and he knelt down. "Hmm…I wonder if little corpses are ticklish?" He jabbed his finger into the side of Prussia and twirled it around. The boy moved slightly, and then a large smile formed on his face. He curled up into a fetal position, and burst out into laughter.

"Ahhhh, Vati noooo…haha, you can't do this…its, it's the worst thing ever…Ahhhh haaaaaa…" The boy twisted and turned as Germania's fingers poked into his ribs, and he had more power over the child, so there was no way Gilbert could get out of this. Ludwig giggled at this.

"Strange how tickles make a little dead boy come back to life. Alright then you…come on, bath time." He composed himself and stood up, smiling down at the little pile of giggles on the floor. Gilbert sat up catching his breath and breathing hard. He got up and wiped tears of laughter out of his eyes.

"Oh man…Vati, you are such a jokester." He walked over to the nation and hugged his leg. Patting him on the head, he did not respond, but lead the two boys down to the washroom.