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When Alfred was younger, he thought he was fine without anyone. After all, he had grown up in an orphanage fending for himself. While he was easily liked by people, and these people would tend to orbit him like satellites, he knew that none of them would stick up for him when push comes to shove.
That all changed when he had met Arthur Kirkland. Arthur was an exchange student from Britain studying at his university, and he just met him at a mixer. Arthur didn't even seem to want to be there at first until someone got him to drink alcohol. From what Alfred had thought to be a one-night stand, they somehow managed to hit it off and they ended up regularly meeting each other.
In their first year of being together, Arthur had invited Alfred to fly to London for a Christmas celebration with his family. It really surprised Alfred since he never thought that Arthur was serious about him. When he told Arthur exactly that, Alfred slapped across the face. It was fair, he thought.
"We've been fucking for six months, Alfred, or are you telling me that you're not serious? You can go ahead and tell me now, and we could stop all of this," Arthur's eyes were welling up with tears.
It wasn't the first time he made someone cry, but for some reason, when he saw Arthur with that expression, he could feel his heart slowly crumble as well. How could he be so stupid?
In his panic, he quickly pulled Arthur into a hug. "I'm sorry. That's... that's not what I meant. Of course, I would love to meet your family," he tried. He didn't know if that apology would suffice. "I just don't know if they'll like me, you know…"
Arthur pried himself off of Alfred's grasp and looked away. "Maybe you should think more of your words before saying it out loud, idiot," Arthur sniffled.
There was a moment where the two of them stood in awkward silence before Arthur spoke again. "I've prepared two roundtrip tickets. You don't have to think too much. Just be yourself. I'm sure they'll love you regardless," Arthur said, finally looking at Alfred. "Just like I do."
It was at that moment that he knew that he really didn't want to lose Arthur. Even if he didn't think too much of it at first, leading to his nonchalant answer. "I love you so much, babe," Alfred said, this time not dropping it offhandedly. To that, Arthur finally smiled again. "I love you too."
When Arthur said something about meeting his family, Alfred expected that he was going to an ancestral house or something. Much to his surprise, the taxi pulled over to an elderly home in the outskirts of London.
"My mother has Alzheimer's disease," Arthur said before Alfred could ask, as he paid for the taxi. "None of my brothers could look after her and since I'm on an exchange program, I can't either," he gave a self-deprecating smile. Arthur always smiled like this, except for the few moments that he was actually very happy.
Alfred was quiet, not knowing what to say, and Arthur had noticed that.
"I'm sure they are taking care of her just fine around here," Arthur said as he reached his hand out to Alfred. "We pay them a lot for it."
Alfred took Arthur's hand and laughed a little. "No, it's not that. It's not…"
It's just that he wondered if his mother who left him in the orphanage was still alive, if she's doing well, or if someone was taking care of her.
"How many siblings do you have?" Alfred asked instead. "You did mention that they'll be here too."
Arthur began walking, still holding Alfred's hand. It was honestly very comforting for Alfred.
"I have three older brothers. I'll introduce them to you when we get there."
Alfred wouldn't have guessed that Arthur was the youngest child in the family.
It was Christmas eve and the lobby was filled with people trying to visit someone. There were still people that never got visited though, he knew that much. Arthur, who was still holding Alfred's hand, looked around the lobby. It wasn't long until he spotted a familiar face.
"Dylan? Dylan!" Arthur called out.
The said person turned around and upon spotting Arthur he waved then ran towards them.
Dylan had blonde hair, albeit less messy than Arthur's. His eyebrows were as prominent as Arthur's, and he's about an inch taller than him.
"Oh my god, Arthur. It has been so long," Dylan breathed as he hugged his brother tightly. "Alistair and Connor couldn't be around today," he said with a sad expression. "But I'm sure mum would love to see you."
"Oh," there was an apparent disappointment in Arthur's voice. It would seem that Arthur had a good relationship with his siblings. “By the way, Dylan. This is Alfred,” Arthur then gestured to the American. “Oh my. Is he your…” Dylan gasped.
“Yep. His bonafide boyfriend,” Alfred chirped, quickly changing gears from his earlier sombre thoughts. Dylan then went to shake his hand, saying that he was happy that Arthur finally found someone. It wasn’t even a long walk until Dylan walked them to their mother’s personal room, but Dylan had already talked about how he thought Arthur wasn’t going to find someone because Arthur was a grumpy, and recluse person even as a boy. Much to Alfred’s surprise, he was Arthur’s first boyfriend, let alone, a significant other.
When they arrived at their mother’s room, Dylan stopped to knock first, and when no one answered, he slowly opened the door. It was a room designed for one person, and by the window, there was Arthur’s mother, staring at the darkness of the night. Arthur’s breath hitched upon seeing her again, and he slowly approached her, his footsteps were barely audible against the wooden floorboards. “Mother?” Arthur tried, and neither Dylan nor Alfred made a noise. It was the first time Alfred had seen Arthur this way. His mother didn’t answer, her gaze was still fixed on the window. Arthur then gently took the woman’s hand, so gently as if holding a prized possession, before kissing it. “Who are you?” she finally spoke in a barely audible voice, and to that Arthur smiled self-deprecatingly again. “I’m Arthur.”
“Oh? I have a son named Arthur too,” she said, finally looking at Arthur. “He was a good boy. I would make him some scones if those nurses would allow me,”
“Your scones taste great, mum,” Arthur said, pulling up a chair so he could sit in front of her. Alfred then felt a tug on his sleeve and Dylan then gestured to Alfred that they should just go outside for a little while to leave the two of them alone for now. They didn’t go too far, as a matter of fact, they just stood in the hallway. Dylan had just felt that they had to leave the two of them alone for now.
“Arthur was our mum’s favourite son,” Dylan began. “No matter what mothers say, they will always have a favourite,” he said as he leaned on a wall. “Do you have a brother?” Dylan asked.
Alfred shook his head. He didn’t know if he had a brother. After all, he grew up in an orphanage, but he wasn’t going to tell Dylan that. “I’m an only son,” Alfred replied. While it wasn’t a complete lie, he wouldn’t have any way to verify if it was true.
“I see,” Dylan then placed his hands on his pockets. “Arthur was sickly as a child. There was a moment when we all thought he wouldn’t make it. He was only two years old then. Naturally, he would be the one that gets the most attention because he needed it the most. Mum never stopped doting on him since then, until the time she got sick.”
Dylan had told him about how Arthur was devastated out of all of them, and how their mother’s condition was getting worse as time passed by. He also told Alfred that their mother would probably have months at the most. He also told him that none of Arthur’s older brothers held a grudge against him for being their mother’s favourite. As a matter of fact, he admitted that they might have been overprotective of Arthur when he was younger.
Arthur’s eyes were glossy by the time he got out of the room to find the two of them. He already looked so tired despite being there just for short while. Arthur looked at Dylan before shaking his head slowly and Dylan seemingly understood what that meant.
“Come, love. I will introduce you to my mother,” Arthur gestured for Alfred to come back inside, and Dylan willingly stayed out of the room to give them some privacy.
“Mum, remember when you told me to find someone so that I wouldn’t end up lonely in the end?” Arthur asked as he gently held his mother’s hand. “I had found someone, mum.”
“My name is Alfred, Mrs K!” Alfred introduced himself. “Don’t you worry about anything, because I will be looking after your son from now on. Well, it's not that he’s not capable of looking after himself, but you probably get the point. Oh, we actually have been dating for a while, so I have actually been looking after him for a while now and he’s doing the same for me…”
Alfred didn’t notice amongst his word vomit that Arthur’s mother was looking straight at him by now. Alfred tends to churn up words especially when he’s nervous that he almost didn’t hear the old woman speak.
“You’re Arthur’s significant other?
Alfred stopped talking, and Arthur’s eyes widened upon hearing her speak.
She slowly looked around until her eyes finally found her son. “Oh my God, Arthur? Arthur!”
Arthur wasn’t able to stop his tears any longer as he took a sharp breath before finally crying. At instinct, Alfred quickly moved to catch Arthur as it seemed like he would collapse on the floor. “Why are you crying, my son?” and Arthur just shook his head. “It’s nothing, mum,” he rubbed his tears with a handkerchief that he usually kept in his pocket.
It was nothing short of a miracle that Arthur’s mother gained lucidity that Christmas eve. Arthur immediately called Dylan from outside the room and he wasn’t able to hold back his tears when she finally recognised him again. It was unfortunate that Alistair and Connor weren’t able to make it today, but for Arthur, it was one of the best Christmas gifts he had ever received. Before Arthur and Alfred had to go back to their hotel for the night, Mrs Kirkland gestured towards Alfred to come closer to her. “I’m entrusting Arthur to you,” she whispered softly so only the two of them could hear. She then smiled and waved goodbye to them.
—--
“Arthur, I might have been unfair to you,” Alfred began, when they both had finally settled down in the hotel and changed into more comfortable clothes.
“Was that about what mum said?” Arthur asked, slightly worried.
“No… It’s not. Promise me that you’ll hear me out first, alright? It’s really important.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Promise me, please,” Alfred reached for Arthur’s hand as he looked straight into Arthur’s eyes.
“Okay. I promise,” Arthur met Alfred’ eyes with the same seriousness.
Taking a deep breath, Alfred began his story - a story that he never told anyone ever since he stepped into California to find a new life. Alfred F. Jones grew up in an orphanage, and he never even had the slightest idea of what his parents looked like. Apparently, he was left there as a baby. The people at the orphanage were actually very kind, but they don’t have enough resources, so they would have to make do with what they had, but at the very least, they were given chances to go to school, granted that they could find a scholarship, and luckily, he managed to find one. He wasn't even able to get adopted, but he didn't hold a grudge for that. It just meant that he just had to work twice as hard. After finishing high school, he was able to find a scholarship at the university where Arthur and Alfred had met. He was maintaining it quite fine with a decent stipend.
He never really celebrated Christmas as a kid, since their orphanage lacked resources. In high school, he had to save money from the scholarship stipend he received and he probably had carried it to college. He told Arthur how jealous he was of the fact that Arthur was close with his siblings. He told Arthur that he was still wondering what it felt like to be loved by a mother.
"I was really unfair to you, Arthur. I'm sorry," Alfred's voice finally broke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry… I…"
Before Alfred could mutter another word of apology, Arthur moved to hug him.
"You might be right. I should be angry at you for keeping this a secret all this time," Arthur said as he tightened his embrace.
"But you know that I love you for who you are right now…"
And with that Alfred began crying, burying his face on Arthur's shoulders. "Everything that has happened back then made you who you are right now, and I will accept that. I will accept all of you."
For the first time, he had been able to accept his past, and for the first time, he had found someone that he wanted to keep for the rest of his life.