The Secrets Hidden Within The Dairies Of The Nations

F.A.C.E. Family Photos + Extra Part 2

Michelle and Lucille, as well as Francis and Matthew. The photo was of Francis braiding Lucille's hair while she braided Michelle's hair who was cuddling a sleeping Matthew. Alfred smiled softly at the photo, he rarely got to see this side of the family all together like this and he couldn't but wish he could have been apart of it more. He flipped the photo over and once again saw Francis' handwriting. 

It's so nice to have ma petite soeur, mon petit poisson et mon petit ours all together like this. I simply adore spending time with them, I just wish Arthur had let Alfred and the others come over then we would all be together. 

Gilbert leaned over my shoulder to read along side me and grinned widely at what the Frenchman had written. 

"Frannie is just such a huge sap" He said affectionately causing Alfred to laugh and nod in agreement. 

"Does he have nicknames like that for all of you?" Gilbert asked and Alfred hummed as he put the photo down. 

"Yeah, he's got one for all of the kids" He said causing Gilbert to give him an eager look. 

"What are they?" He asked excitedly causing Alfred to laugh before he answered the excited Prussian. 

"Well I'm his little rabbit, Mattie is his little bear, Michelle is his little fish, Jett is his little Koala, Toby is his little sheep and Leon is his little panda" Alfred explained causing Gilbert to bounce up and down on the bed while he cooed. 

"That's just so cute!" He gushed cheerfully causing Alfred to blush scarlet. In an attempt to distract the Prussian he quickly picked up another photo, this one caused a large grin to appear on the American's face. 

The photo was of himself, Michelle and Jett. They were all at a beach in Hawaii and each of them were holding a surf board with their flags on them. A long time ago it had become tradition for the three of them to go surfing together, they always changed up who's country they would go to each year. He quickly flipped the photo over to see who had written on it, he knew it couldn't have been him because his own copy of this picture was back at his home in one of his many scarp books. The handwriting on the back was Michelle's. 

Alfred and Jett are the best brothers an island girl like me could ask for. Before I had them to go surfing with me I was all on my own and surfing isn't much fun on your own. I tried to teach papa and Matthew but they didn't really take to it like I did. But now I have Alfred and Jett to surf with and I'll never trade that away for the world. 

Alfred smiled softly at this while Gilbert leaned over his shoulder to read the note as well. 

"Do you think Mattie got jealous over this?" He asked and Alfred just shook his head as he placed the photo down. 

"Naw, we may bond over surfing but Michelle and Matthew have a bond that could never be broken" He said warmly causing a smile to appear on the Prussian's face before the two of them continued to look at he photos. 

"Aww Alfie you guys are so cute!" Gilbert gushed once again while he held up a photo, Alfred blushed brightly as he leaned over to see what the picture was. He was a bit started to see it was a photo of himself, Toby, Jett and Matthew when they were younger. They didn't have a lot of photos of the four of them together like this so it was a bit of a surprise find one. 

The photo was taken right after one of their pranks on Arthur, the four of them were covered in mud and grinning ear to ear. Alfred smiled briefly at the picture before he remembered what happened after the photo had been taken and his smile quickly turned into a frown. He reached over and flipped the photo over and just as he thought the story was written on the back, in Toby's handwriting. 

The prank was really fun! I haven't seen Jett laugh so much in a long time, even Alfred and Matthew seemed more happy then usual. For such a simple prank as letting loose a bunch of pigs into dads bedroom it sure did make everyone happy. That is until dad realized what we did, he was not happy. He placed most of the blame on Jett and Alfred, he only briefly scolded me and Matthew. He shouted at Jett and Alfred for hours and forced the two of them to clean the mess up on their own. Afterwards he sent me and Jett back to New Zealand and Australia respectively. On the boat ride I noticed that Jett had a lot of bruises but he just played them off like they were nothing, but I knew better. I can only assume that Alfred has matching bruises. 

Alfred winced at what he read, Toby was way to observant for his own damn good. Gilbert took the photo out of his hand and stared him in the eyes with a very serious expression on his face, which kinda took Alfred by surprise. 

"How often did Arthur hit you guys?" He asked and Alfred winced slightly, he did not want to answer that question.

"Only when we were bad" Alfred explained which only made Gilbert frown even more. 

"And what qualified as "bad" to Arthur?" He asked seriously causing Alfred to wince once again. 

"It doesn't matter anymore, let's just look at more photos" He said quickly as he reached down and grabbed a random photo. He looked down at it and couldn't help but to smile at what he saw. It was of himself, Matthew and Francis. His smile must have distracted Gilbert briefly because he leaned over to see what the photo was. 

It was taken around the time Beauty And The Beats had hit theaters. In the photo Alfred and Matthew were sitting around a table while Francis presented them food, but it looked like the Frenchman had been singing. When Gilbert reached over to flip the photo over there wasn't a note on the back just the beginning lyrics to Be Our Guest written in Francis' handwriting. He turned to give Alfred a confused look which only made the American laugh. 

"After Beauty And The Beast was released we insisted that whenever Francis served us a meal he had to sing Be Our Guest" He explained causing Gilbert to laugh in amusement. 

"I have got to remember that for the next time Francis cooks for me" Gilbert said through his laughter which made Alfred laugh as well. With the Prussian now distracted from the earlier photo the two of them continued to shift through them. 

Alfred looked up when he heard Gilbert let out a startled gasp only to notice that whatever the Prussian was holding wasn't a photo; it was a very old painting. He leaned in closer to see what it was only to gasp as well as he tentatively took the painting out of Gilbert's hands. 

The painting was of his mother.

~To Be Continued~