Can He Stay? Ch. 2

America looked into his big brother's eyes with his big puppy dog eyes. Glancing over to Canada, England had no other choice but to accept this new found child into their lives. He dismissed Francine and then knelt down to the lost boy.

"Hello…my name is Arthur…this is my mansion…and you are welcome to stay with us for as long as you want." He extended a hand out to Canada, but the child just stood staring at him. England bit back his lip, and then looking at America spoke up. "I know what two little boys need right now…how about some biscuits and milk?" He knew he had said the right question because the boy suddenly beamed up at Arthur and smiled.

"Yes! Yes please Mr. England!" The boy was suddenly feeling very welcome. He took Arthur's hand and America took the other one and they three walked inside. Hughes met them at the door, and England took him aside and spoke softly.

"Hughes, please see that this child is washed…thoroughly before they sit down to some nibbles. I need to have a little chat with Young Master Alfred." He cast a wry eye at the boy, who had heard the last bit of the conversation. Motioning the boy, he ran over to his older brother. "Hughes, just take Matthew in the scullery and there are clothes for him in America's room. Come along Alfred."

America took his big brother's hand and walked with him down to towards the study. He was just as surprised though once they arrived in the room and Arthur sat down on the couch. He gave the boy a compassionate look and pulled the boy close to him.

"Little brother…I wanted to apologize earlier…I know I have not been around, and I am going to change that, but what I need from you is to be patient. About your friend…where was he hiding?"

England knew the child would want to protect his friend, but he could not lie to his brother. He shuffled his feet and did not look the man directly into the eyes. England cleared his throat and waited for an answer.

"Um…big brother…he was hiding in the bushes…he came out because I called him. Bunny saw him too…" The kid suddenly got upset. "Oh no! Bunny! He's gone again!" He went to leave when England pulled him closer and hugged him.

"Alfred…bunny is safe and sound. Just calm down. Listen…if little Matthew needs something, you let me know…I am not sure where he ran away from, but we need to help him in any way alright?"

"Okay…" The boy hugged England, and then he stood up. The two walked out of the study and went down to the dining room. When they arrived, Matthew was already sitting at the table. Hughes looked up and bowed. America was seated. Both boys were given a glass of milk and some biscuits. England stood aside and watched. He then looked at the time and saw it was past the time when America should have had his Geography lesson. He supposed it could take place the following day.

Both children ate their cookies and gulped down their milk. Once they were finished England had Hughes clean up the plates, and he was about to suggest something they could all do, when the chimes rang. Sending Hughes to the door, he opened it, and it was Japan. The man had a package in his hands, and was welcomed in. He walked into the dining room and England smiled.

"Ah Honda…so good to see you, come right in!" The man welcomed his comrade and Japan walked over to the table. He smiled at America, but stopped when he saw Canada.

"And who is this little one?"

"Japan, allow me to introduce Canada…his name is Matthew, and he came to us as quite a surprise. But my Alfred has taken a liking to him, and so he will be staying with us indefinitely."

"Nice to meet you Matthew." Japan bowed to the little Master, but the child did not respond. England glared at him.

"Matthew…do not be rude, please say hello to Mr. Japan."

"Um…hi, hi Mr. Honda." Rubbing his hands together and put them in his lap.

"Well I see that you have brought something, and I suppose we can go ahead and discuss some information. Let us retreat into the meeting room." The two went off, and Japan smiled back at the two boys. "Alfred, Matthew…if you would please go on outside, I am sorry…I will be busy, so playing will be outside for the remainder of the day alright?"

"Yes Arthur." The children got down from the table and once again went outside. There were many activities to accomplish.

One of America's favorite games was pirate's treasure. He ran to a familiar spot and sat down. Canada followed him and the two talked.

"Okay…since we have to stay outside, we'll play a fun game. Do you know what pirates are and what treasure is?" He had a terribly excited look upon his face. Canada smiled and then chuckled.

"Yes I know what treasure is…and pirates…they are bad men, they have gold teeth and parrots."

"Yeah! Okay…so I am going to be Bluebeard, and you hafta be Captain Longbottom."

"But I want to be Bluebeard Alfred." The little boy who had not voiced his opinion suddenly became upset at this choice. America who did not want to cause confrontation with his new found friend gave in.

"Okay, you can be Bluebeard…and I will be the Captain. First before we start…we need some treasure that we need to bury. I know I saw some gold in big brother's room, hurry lets go!"

"I spoke to Russia by accident the other day Arthur…the man really does infuriate me sometimes…parts of me feel like he should not exist, but I can not really be like that." Japan lifted his tea cup to his lips and took a large sip.

"Its no doubt, the man is slightly sneaky and he is never going to change but…" England stopped mid sentence as he heard small little footsteps running down the hallway by the door. He stood right up and looked at Japan. "Honda, if you'll excuse me for one moment, I need to check on something." He walked over to the door and opened it, and at that moment America was coming down the hall, he reached out and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt.

"Hey! Big brother…let me go, please!" The little boy wiggled, but England kept a firm grip on him. Canada stood scared straight.

"I thought I told you two that playtime was to be outdoors…why are you two inside, and running non the less?"

"I had to get something in my room Arthur, my uh…my compass. We are playing around the world."

"Well then…have you got it?"

"No, not yet…I need to go and find it." America kept his eyes straight with the elder nation. Matthew could not turn away. They were in fact headed straight to England's study. Alfred knew his brother kept all sorts of trinkets and valuable jewels. They would only borrow the items, and then return them without him knowing.

"Alright then…go on, get what you need, but you must return outside. I am not going to allow this running through the mansion nonsense, you know better than to do that young man. Off with you two, go on now!" He released the boy's clothing, and smiled at the two. Turning back around he walked back into the meeting room, and closed the door.

"That was a close one huh Matt! Come on, we need to get to the treasure." Alfred ripped down the hallway with his friend following closely. Once they arrived to the study, Alfred opened the door and walked in. Matthew was hesitant.

"But…but I thought we were going into your room Alfred? Who's room is this, and are we allowed to be in here?" He cast a glance around the room.

It had a large desk, and a chair seated behind it. A framed picture of England adored the wall behind the chair. Bookshelves housing thousands of titles lined the room, and there was a large leather sofa sitting against the wall. Then, something caught the new little boy's eyes, and he gasped in horror. On the wall, hanging on a hook was a rattan cane. There also lie a pair of slippers on the floor, and something that looked like a scary instrument. Matthew pointed and cried out.

"Alfred…what are those?" America was not paying any attention and was looking for treasure. When Canada persisted one more time, the boy looked up.

"Um…those are big brother's, and I can't talk about those right now. Come on, and help me."

The two looked around the room, and sitting on a table in the far corner of the room was a pewter box. America jumped for joy and ran over to it. He carefully opened the box, and inside was a beautiful gold pocket watch, along with a silver pendant. Alfred swiped both up and proceeded to leave the room.

"Come on Matty…we need to go and bury our treasure before it is dark outside!" He ran down the hall and they were both back outside to their previous surroundings.

The two items were buried and America patted the soil mound and grinned at his friend.

"Arghhhh matey, we have buried our treasure and now…we must capture the prisoners. Come along Bluebeard!" The boys laughed and chased one another. Getting dirty and tired was all part of the fun. Before they knew it, Hughes had come outside to retrieve them, as England and Japan had completed meeting exchanges. The old butler walked up to them and was shocked at the two children's appearances.

"Oh dear me Master Alfred…you are covered head to toe in dirt…and…and Master Matthew, you too? What have you boys been doing?" He put a hand up and shook his head as Alfred went to respond. "No, never mind…I am more than sure your brother will be most displeased with your appearance. Come now, let's get you inside, and I will run a bath."

"I don't want a bath Hughes!" Said the surly little boy. Matthew waited behind and kept his mouth closed.

"No arguing with me young man, you'll be in for the high jump if you carry on with that little attitude, now come this instant!"

America sighed and took the butler's hand, and Canada followed behind. Walking into the mansion, Hughes halted as England came down the hallway with Japan. They were talking, and Japan laughed. Soon conversation ceased and England eye's opened up wide as he saw the two little rascals. He cleared his throat and held himself composed.

"Alfred Jones…what on earth have you gotten into today?" He hid his smirk because after all, he had been a boy once. "You are beyond filthy…have you been digging in the gardens young man?"

"We were being pirates big brother. I was Captain Longbottom, and Canada was Bluebeard. Arghhhh."

"Well, that's very imaginative. Such lovely spirited boys here England." Japan replied with a large smile on his face.

"Yes! We even had buried treasure." Said Matthew. Alfred looked at his friend with a worried look and tried to contain him from saying anything more. Canada continued sharing all and everything. "Yeah, we hid a gold watch and some silver necklace thing, it had a large circle that opened…and it was…" The boy stopped when he saw England's face go stone cold.

"You want to repeat that again Matthew? What did you two acquire that you hid?" He knelt down to the boy and looked him straight in the face. Alfred went to tip toe away, but England halted him. "Do not move. Matthew…tell me again what you acquired?"

Now nervous the boy knew he shouldn't have said anything, and the look on America's face should have stopped him. Rubbing his hands to his side, he choked up slightly and spoke to his elder.

"Um…we ac…acwired? We…acquired a gold watch and a silver necklace…and"

Standing back up, England looked over at Japan. He whispered to his fellow nation and then the man nodded and collected his things. Japan walked over to the front door, gave the children a look of grim promise, and walked out, with the door closing behind him. England then turned to Hughes.

"Hughes…see that these boys are bathed, then dress them for bed, and see that they are brought to my study immediately." England did not even look at the two and turned on a heel. If America didn't know any better, he would have thought that his older brother had steam coming out of his ears.

"Alright then you two…come along, we'll get you two washed up, and then time to face the music." He smiled passionately at America, and Canada. Taking their hands, he walked them to the scullery and a bath was filled. Once they were clean, he put a night shirt on both of them. He combed their hair, and it was like two entirely different looking children. Clean, fresh faced, and innocent looking. "Alright lads, let's go." He walked down the hall, and soon approached England's study door. He rapped on the door, and heard Arthur commence a respond. Hughes opened the door.

"Ah, thank you Hughes…you can be dismissed. Please see about preparing some broth…for afterwards." He nodded at the butler, and the man left in a hasty manner. Once the door was closed, England turned his attention to the boys.

"Where did you two get the watch?" He looked straight at his brother who would have known more about the crime.

"It was in your pewter box of prizes." Alfred said candidly. "And your necklace. We needed them for the treasure."

"You went into my private study? You know better than that Alfred. I know Matthew is new to this, and the rules we have here, but you…I would think you would have known to do this." He informed both boy's sternly. "Not everything in this mansion is to be played with."

"But we didn't play with it Mr. England. We were looking for buried treasure." Exclaimed Canada.

"YOU BURIED MY WATCH AND PENDENT?" England up till this point tried to keep calm, but in all fairness, he should have expected something to have happened to his personal objects. He walked right past the boys and rang a servant bell. Hughes came as quickly as the bell had been rung. Opening the door, he spoke in a unruffled manner. "Hughes…please go out to the garden. You will see a recently dug up mound of earth, there…please retrieve my gold pocket watch, and my antique silver pendant."

"Yes sir, right away sir." Hughes did not even wait to be dismissed, he ran down the hall towards the front door. England turned to both boys, walked over to his desk and took out a implement of extreme scariness. He slapped it down on the desk and looked to America. America had been dealt with the likes of his brother's slapper only once, when he was lost for a whole day. England walked over to the couch, pulled at his britches and sat down. "Come here Alfred."

It took the boy slight nerve to walk over to his brother. He scrunched up the night shirt, and his eyes became wide. He was helped over Arthur's lap, and resting one hand on the small of the child's back, he raised the night gown up. The boy closed his eyes as the leather device raised in the air and came crisply down on his bared backside. The first smack surprised America, but the second one took his breath away, and out came fourth a wave of tears. England gave him five hard licks, and then pulling down the night shirt, let him down.

"Matthew…" Said England as he calmly held out his hand. Even though this child was not his blood, he felt a familiar closeness to him, almost like something was very strange about his likeness to America. There was no mistaking that this child deserved as much punishment as his own kin.

Canada horrified at the treatment of his new found friend, burst into tears. He glanced over at America who was sobbing, and rubbing at his poorly covered backside. The boy was halting himself from impending doom. England spoke up a second time.

"Matthew come here. Alfred took his punishment, now you need to as well. I will not ask you again."

Little Canada clasped both hands over his bottom, and walked to the older nation. England held a hand out, and quietly and without fuss, he bent the child over his knee. He raised the boy's shirt up revealing his small backside. Raising his arm in the air, and the slap of the leather made the boy jolt with surprise. The second smack brought fourth a flood of tears. This made no difference to England who had witnessed this many times with America. He gave the boy five licks, and one extra for the way he had made him wait. Once he was finished, he rubbed the boy's back, and then let him up. America and Canada stood furiously rubbing at their sore backside. England stood up and looked at both of them.

"For being so naughty, you will both eat your supper, and then it is off to bed. I don't want to hear anything different." He walked to the servant bell and both Francine and Hughes walked to the door. He walked to the two house workers. "Francine please see the children down to the kitchen where they may eat, and then it is straight to bed."

"Yes Mr. England." She held out hands, and both boys walked over and held a hand. She walked out of the room, and England watched as they both continued to choke and sob. He shook his head. Hughes smiled.

"Boy's will be boys eh Arthur?" Hughes shook his head and watched an exhausted England put a hand to his head.

"Oh Hughes…"  The man laughed and then was handed a freshly polished pocket watch and silver pendent. "Thank you, you're too good to me."