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“Francis, Arthur, this is my boyfriend, Kiku.” Alfred gestured to the man behind him. He was shorter compared to the rest of them and quite petit. His dark hair was covered by a woven winter hat and his pale skin was flushed. “Kiku, this is Francis and Arthur. My brother should be here any minute.” Alfred looked around the foyer in which they stood for any sign of his brother. “Though I have no idea where he is, honestly.”
The three exchanged pleasantries; Alfred could tell Kiku was extremely nervous and treading lightly. This was his first time meeting Alfred’s family, so it made sense. Alfred had been the same way when he met Kiku’s father, Yao for the first time. He had asked Francis, a longtime family friend, to come and perhaps lighten Arthur’s typical formal mood with strangers, so he hoped it would work.
“I’m pretty sure Mathieu said something about a hockey game at a bar,” Francis chimed.
Alfred rolled his eyes. “He probably forgot about this, to be honest. Sports do that to a person.”
“Like you’re one to talk,” came a voice from the doorway. Moments later, Matthew came into the foyer, his wavy hair ruffled up and his jersey looking as if it was put through the ringer.
Alfred whistled and Matthew glared at him through his violet-colored eyes. “Va te faire foutre.”
Alfred smirked when Francis gasped. “I have no idea what you’re saying, but right back at you baby brother.” He then walked over and hugged his brother. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Same here, Al.”
After they parted, Alfred introduced Kiku to his brother, who seemed to be pleased, yet confused by the brothers’ odd relations. “Nice to finally put a face to the name,” he said.
Once everyone was settled (and by settled, that meant Matthew was properly fussed over by Francis), they all gathered around the dinner table for a meal. Francis offered to do the cooking (yet another reason why Alfred wanted him to come—he didn’t want to subject Kiku to the horror that was Arthur’s cooking).
“So, Kiku, what do you do?” Arthur asked once they were part way through their meal. He was sitting at the head of the table and Kiku obviously sat to the right of his boyfriend who sat across from his father.
Kiku took a brief sip of the vintage wine Francis insisted he try. “I’m actually still on my way to getting my degree in Art History.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow and Alfred could almost hear the pretention in his tone. “Art History?”
“Y-yes, I’m very interested in art.”
Alfred could see that his boyfriend had caught onto Arthur’s tone and that in response, Kiku was getting flustered.
“He actually has an internship at an art gallery in the city. His boss has actually confirmed that they want him once he’s graduated.” Alfred spoke.
Kiku smiled at Alfred as the blond grasped his hand under the table and squeezed.
“You must be very intelligent,” Arthur suggested before taking another bite of food. Alfred watched as Francis’ shoulders sagged in relief and he gave Alfred a small smile as if he were cheering him on. Arthur could be a hard man to please—he always wanted the best for Alfred, but sometimes he went a little overboard. Especially when it came to Alfred’s significant others. That’s why he hadn’t let his family know anything about Kiku until a week ago. The last thing he wanted was for Arthur to ruin his first happy relationship.
“Thank you,” Kiku said.
“Do you have a particular favorite artist?”
“I do. Edouard Manet.”
Francis almost spit out his wine. “My, my, my, Kiku. You have good taste,” he smiled.
Arthur glared over at Francis and looked back at Kiku. “How do you feel about Jon Everett Millais?”
Kiku thought for a brief moment. “I enjoy his earlier works. I don’t mean to offend, but not many British painters stand out to me.”
Alfred could see the look on Arthur’s face change. He could tell he was trying not to take it personal, but, oh, he definitely was.
“Well, isn’t that a shame—“
Francis must have saw the panic looks on both Kiku and Alfred’s faces as he shot up from his chair. “Why don’t we bring out the baby books?” He suggested.
Arthur looked perplexed by his sudden suggestion. “I don’t understand why you would want to do that—“
“Well, we’re all done our meals, might as well wash it down with some wine and a few memories, yes?”
Matthew smirked at his brother before agreeing. “Sounds like a great idea.”
Alfred, meanwhile, was slowly turning red. It was either an offended Arthur or embarrassing childhood stories from the people he grew up with. He had to choose.
“Y-yeah,” Alfred chimed, though he swore his voice cracked.
They had made comfortable in the living room. Kiku was sitting in between Francis and Arthur on the couch and looked extremely uncomfortable. Alfred tried to give him an encouraging smile as he sat next to Arthur and received a weak, nervous one in return.
Francis knew exactly where Arthur kept the baby books and had them all set out on the coffee table before them. He plucked the first one, which held all the moments from when Alfred was born to when he was officially a year old. Talk about overkill. Francis and Arthur were both nuts when it came to keeping pictures of the of Alfred and his brother—that’s right, Francis, like Arthur, was there through the entire adoption progress and birth of both he and his brother.
First they started off with the normal photos: ultrasounds, Alfred’s mother and what his nursery had looked like.
“Gross, I look all slimy. Don’t show him that one.” Alfred said, scrunching up his nose at the picture. It was of him, of course, right after being born. Somehow Arthur had managed to sneak a picture and boy, was it pretty disgusting by Alfred’s standards.
“Come on, Alfred. Childbirth is a miracle.” Arthur sneered at his son. “Look at the little birthmark on his cheek, isn’t it adorable? Makes you wonder what exactly happened?” He joked.
Alfred laughed. “Same here.” He said as he reached over to point at a very punk looking Arthur. “A phase, hm?”
Arthur’s cheeks were dusted with pink. “Next page.”
They continued on. Alfred cringed when he saw the of the picture of his first bath. “Did you guys document everything? Christ. At this point, we’ll be here all night.”
“I’ve got time,” Matthew smirked from his place beside Francis.
“Of course you do,” Alfred retorted.
Alfred was happy to see that Kiku was enjoying himself though and Arthur looked far more mellow than before. He reminded himself to give Francis a thank you gift later.
The most embarrassing photobook was probably the last one. Baby Alfred was extremely excited when he got a baby brother. So, excited, in fact, that he ripped off his clothes. On camera.
“Don’t we have the video for this somewhere?” Matthew asked. Alfred made it a point to glare at him.
“I have it right here, actually.” Francis said, waving the VHS tape around.
“Don’t—“
Arthur turned to face Alfred. “Come on, it’s hilarious! I remember chasing you around that day, trying to get you to put your clothes on, but you wouldn’t listen to me.” He kept bursting into fits of laughter in between his words.
Alfred chewed his bottom lip. It was rare for Arthur to be in such a good mood.
“I would actually really like to see this video,” Kiku chimed. He looked genuinely comfortable and happy, to which Alfred was extremely relieved to see. “Please, Alfred?”
“Fine, fine,” he gave in.
With Alfred’s word, Francis put in the VHS tape into the player and thus began the next ten minutes of Baby Alfred running through the house after ripping his clothes off—then, eventually, his diaper. Alfred’s face was about ten degrees warmer than the rest of his body. He kept shouting at the top his voice. “Hero, hero!” Arthur tried his best to calm him down, but he had Matthew in his arms and Alfred was a speed demon.
At the very end though, Arthur had used his baby brother as leverage, bending down for Alfred to come see him. The (very) naked Alfred looked down at his little brother with wide blue eyes.
“His name is Mattie. Say it after me, Ma-tie.”
“Mah-tee.” He repeated after Arthur. Alfred looked at the camera and pointed to himself. “I Mattie hero.” He looked so proud of himself, standing there in the nude.
The video ended with Francis and Arthur erupting in coos.
Alfred looked over to find Arthur tearing up. “Wasn’t he just the cutest? Now, he’s all grown up with his own life and ready to start his own family.”
Alfred was burning up already and what Arthur’s last statement implied only made him shove his head in his heads.
“He was very cute,” Kiku agreed. His face was red from laughing so hard.
“You’ll take care of him, right?” Arthur said and his voice broke a little. Alfred noticed how slurred his speech was now.
“Yes, of course.” Kiku nodded. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face.
Francis stood up and helped Arthur off the couch. “A little too much wine perhaps?”
“What are you saying? I only had a few glasses.”
“Yeah, at the dinner table.”
“I may have had a few while looking at the pictures and video, what of it?”
“Come on, Arthur. Let’s get you to bed.” Francis and Matthew both helped Arthur up the stairs. Matthew wasn’t really helping per se—he was really just making sure no one broke a hip.
Alfred felt Kiku slide over and closer to him. “So, your family is very nice.”
“And embarrassing.” Alfred was still covering his face with his hands.
Kiku pried them from his face. “Arthur really loves you, you know.”
“I do. He just has a funny way of showing it.”
Kiku chuckled. “That’s not always so bad.” He cupped Alfred’s cheek with his hand. “Thanks, Alfred—for bringing me here. I knew you were completely against it, but you did it for me and with a brave face too.”
“It’s because I love you.” Alfred mumbled before laid his head against Kiku’s chest.
“I love you too, Alfred.”