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Arthur looked at everything he had set out on the table. Glowsticks, a plastic pumpkin for candy, more glowsticks, and a jacket in case Alfred got cold. They were almost ready for Halloween. Now all he needed was little Alfred. “Daddy, look! Look!” Arthur heard small feet pattering against the tile as the young child raced into the parlor. He turned and bent down to look at his son. Alfred beamed and jumped to a stop, his cowboy hat slightly off center. “I’m a cowboy! Pew! Pew!” His son said, making little finger guns as he jumped around excitedly.
“Well then, is the little cowboy ready to go trick-or-treating?” Arthur smiled and patted Alfred’s head. Alfred nodded excitedly and bounced on his toes as Arthur equipped him with glowstick necklaces and bracelets. Alfred was tiny, and had a tendency to run off, so hopefully the glowsticks would make him easier to see, and decrease his chances of getting hit by a car. As soon as he was done coating Alfred in glowsticks, he handed the small child his plastic candy bucket.
Almost immediately, Alfred was at the front door, jiggling the handle and looking back to Arthur with excitement in his eyes. “Let’s go, daddy! We have to get the good candy before it’s all gone!”
Arthur smiled at his childish excitement. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” He walked over to Alfred, and grabbed the small child’s hand. “Alfred, please remember not to run off, and hold my hand the entire time, alright?” He looked down at the boy expectantly.
Alfred groaned and jiggled the door handle more. “I know,” He looked back up to Arthur. “C’mon, we have to go right now! I want to get the good candy!” Arthur smiled slightly. He had been afraid the boy would be afraid to go out on Halloween, as he was absolutely terrified of ghosts, but it seemed it wouldn’t be an issue. With that, Arthur sighed and unlocked the door, stepping outside of the house. It was a good thing he was still gripping Alfred’s hand, because the child immediately tried to run off, forgetting he was still attached to Arthur.
“Alfred! I told you to stay close!” Arthur chastised, locking the door behind him. However, Alfred ignored him and continued to pull on his hand in an attempt to reach the street. Arthur finished locking the door and turned to face Alfred, who tugged him out onto the sidewalk. Arthur sighed as he was dragged along by his son, already regretting this. He loved his son, but Alfred was more than a handful.
~
They had only gone to maybe fifteen houses, and Alfred was already actively trying to lose Arthur’s grip. He was in a constant state of running forward and yanking on Arthur’s arm. He had always despised the look of child leashes, but now he wished he had one to keep Alfred under control. It probably didn’t help that Alfred would consistently eat candy from his bucket, and was now hyped up on Smarties and Pixie Stix. They continued on for another hour like this, and Arthur was exhausted.
“Alfred, please, slow down!” Arthur hissed at the small boy. Alfred paused for a moment, raising Arthur’s hopes. Was his child finally listening to him? He took a deep breath, grateful the five year old had given him a break. However, as soon as this relatively peaceful moment began, it was over. Alfred once again raced forward, but this time Arthur didn’t have a firm grip on the young boy’s hand. He watched in horror as Alfred slipped out of his grip and raced into the night, speeding down the sidewalk.
Panic flooded through his body as he stepped forward, trying to catch his child. “Alfred!” He yelled, chasing after the small figure clad in neon glowsticks. He heard a small giggle ahead, and the feet pattering on the ground sped up. And in a split second, Alfred disappeared from Arthur’s vision. He cursed under his breath, and called out for Alfred once again. When he got no response, Arthur huffed, jogging down the sidewalk, keeping his eyes out for a small boy in a cowboy costume.
~
“What a handsome young boy!” Francis cooed at his child, patting the small boy’s head. Matthew smiled up at Francis and reached up for him with one hand, the other clutching a small plastic pumpkin for candy. This year for Halloween, Matthew was dressed up as a cowboy. He looked absolutely adorable with his tiny cowboy hat, and fringed leather vest. Francis smiled and grabbed his son’s hand. “Ready to go?”
Matthew gave a small nod and clutched his hand a bit tighter. Francis knew his son was nervous about going trick-or-treating, especially due to all the unfamiliar people that would be out. Matthew was a very shy child. He made sure his child was thoroughly equipped with glowsticks, before leading the small boy out the door.
~
They had been out for a while, and Matthew was finally getting more comfortable with going up and knocking on people’s doors, but he still held onto Francis’s hand like a life vest. They were walking back down to the street from someone’s driveway when Francis saw a familiar head of white hair. He walked closer and squinted, trying to get a closer look at the person. “Gilbert, is that you?” He called out, and the white haired person turned around, a grin appearing on their face when they recognized Francis.
“Franny! I haven’t seen you in ages! What are you doing out here?” Gilbert pulled Francis into a hug.
“I’m taking Matthew trick-or-treating. He was a little nervous to go this year, but he’s having fun,”
Gilbert looked down to Matthew. “Aw, is this little Matthew? He’s cute! Not as cute as Luddy, of course,” Gilbert smirked and motioned to the small boy standing next to him. “You remember my little brother, right? I’m taking him trick-or-treating this year,”
“Ludwig? Oh, He’s gotten so tall!” Francis grinned at Ludwig, who was clearly uncomfortable. “He’s eight now, right?”
Gilbert nodded, and Ludwig tugged on his sleeve. “My friends are here. Can I go with them now?” Gilbert grinned and patted Ludwig’s head, moving his pirate hat slightly off center.
“Ya, ya, just call me when you’re ready to go home, okay?” Ludwig re-centered his hat and walked across the street to two other boys in pirate costumes.
Francis looked down to his son. “Do you want to go on ahead? I’m going to be talking to Gilbert for a while,”
Matthew nodded, and murmured a barely audible “Okay,”. Francis smiled and squeezed the small boy’s hand.
“Just don’t stray too far, alright?” Matthew nodded and hesitantly released Francis’s hand, before walking on to the next house. Francis looked back to Gilbert. “Where were we? It’s been too long,”
~
Francis and Gilbert talked for a while, reminiscing over old memories, and spent a good chunk of time talking about Matthew and Ludwig. Each of them was extremely proud of their son or younger siblings achievements, and they spoke for a while about how good Ludwig was doing in school, and how many friends Matthew had made at kindergarten.
However, the time finally came for them to part as the minutes ticked by. They parted with promises to keep in contact, and Francis began to look for Matthew. He was sure the small boy would be ready to go home by now. After quickly scanning the general area, he spotted a tiny boy in a cowboy costume. He smiled and walked up to the boy.
“Ready to go home Matthew?” Matthew nodded enthusiastically, spitting out a “Yeah!” once he swallowed the piece of candy in his mouth. Francis grabbed his hand and they began to walk down the sidewalk. As the walked, Matthew chattered on about his costume, the candy he got, and anything else. Francis chuckled at the small boy. Matthew was being extra talkative, and it was a refreshing change from his usual quiet, shy, self.
“You’re extra chatty today, bout de chou. Did you get the candies you like?”
Matthew nodded violently. “Yeah! I got a bunch of Reese’s! And I got a whole Hershey’s bar too!” He continued to chatter on, bouncing and skipping ahead beside Francis.
Matthew’s chatter died, and they walked in silence for a few paces before the small boy looked up to Francis inquisitively. “Hey ugly lady, are you one of those kidnapper people my daddy warned me about?”
Francis recoiled a bit. “Ugly lady? I am not-” As what the child said sank in fully, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh no,” He whispered, looking down at the child, who was still holding his hand. “Oh no,” Francis repeated, a bit louder than before. This wasn’t his Matthew at all. A cool panic settled in his stomach as he struggled to keep calm and not lose his shit in front of this little kid.
Francis leaned down to face the child, a forced smile frozen on his face. “Do you know where your parents are, little one?”
The child gazed up at him with bright blue eyes. “Nope!” He grinned. “I’m Alfred, by the way. Who are you?” Francis inhaled sharply. This was bad. He had just accidentally kidnapped someone else’s child, and had no idea where his own son was. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and regain control of the situation. Everything would be fine. He would quickly return Alfred to his parents, and then find Matthew, and go home.
“My name is Francis. Let’s go find your parents, okay?” He said softly, maintaining his grip on the boy’s hand.
Alfred groaned and stamped his left foot on the ground. “Do we have to? Daddy’s so boring, and he’s just going to yell at me,”
Francis nodded, being as gentle and careful with the boy as possible. “I’m afraid we have to find them. Do you have any idea where they might be?”
Alfred sighed, and scuffed his small cowboy boot against the sidewalk. “I know where our house is. Maybe he’s already at home,”
“Perfect! Do you think you could lead me there?” The small boy nodded and began to drag Francis in the opposite direction. A wave of relief washed over him as Alfred led him back through the neighborhood. He would quickly bring the child home, then go find his own son. Hopefully Matthew wasn’t too scared.
~
Relief flooded through Arthur as he saw a small boy in a cowboy costume. He had been looking for Alfred for at least fifteen minutes, and was beginning to panic. “Oh, thank God!” He ran over and grabbed the boy’s hand. “There you are. Alfred, I’ve been looking for you for fifteen minutes now! Do you have any idea how worried I was?” Alfred stared up at him blankly, unusually quiet.
Arthur clicked his tongue and shook his head. “No matter. It’s time to go home now,” He began to walk ahead, almost dragging Alfred along with him. They had only walked a block or so when Arthur looked back, finding it odd Alfred wasn’t jumping up and bouncing ahead of him. His eyes were wide, and tears silently rolled down his cheeks. Arthurs heart twisted. Alfred usually never cried, and when he did, it was loud, violent, temper tantrums. The poor kid must’ve seen a fake ghost or something that scared him. His son had always been afraid of the dark and ghosts, so maybe he was shaken up by a particularly scary Halloween decoration.
“We’re almost home, poppet,” He said, less harsh than he had previously spoken, in an attempt to calm his son. However, as they made their way back to the house, Alfred only began to cry harder, and soft sobs could be heard from the small boy.
Once they reached the house, Arthur led Alfred inside and locked the door behind him. He would read his son an extra bedtime story and stay with him until he fell asleep again, like the time Alfred accidentally saw a scene of Poltergeist. There was a reason Arthur hadn’t watched any horror movies lately.
However, when he turned back to face Alfred, the small boy plopped on the floor and began to sob loudly. Heavy tears rolled down his face, and he wailed in an unfamiliar language. The boy sniffled and scrunched his eyes closed. “S'il te plait, je veux juste revoir mon papa!” He sobbed, wiping at his nose.
Arthur’s blood ran cold as the boy before him continued to cry out for his papa. This was not his child at all. “Shit!” Arthur hissed under his breath. “Goddamnit! Okay, okay, it’ll be fine, I can fix this,” He said in an attempt to calm himself. He needed to return this poor boy to his parents, and then find Alfred, wherever the hell he was.
He quickly pulled his coat back on, and grabbed the small boy’s hand. This caused him to wail even louder, crying out for his papa. “Oh! Oh no, please don’t cry, I’m sorry, I’m going to return you to your papa, just please stop crying!” Arthur struggled to placiate the young boy, whilst dragging him out of the house onto the front porch.
They had made it out to the mailbox after five minutes of a panicked Arthur frantically calming the boy, while keeping an eye out for his own son. Arthur huffed, and frantically flicked his eyes across the sidewalk, hoping the Halloween passerbys didn’t take too much note of the struggle to calm the sobbing child.
~
“Our house is just up ahead!” Alfred hummed, bouncing forward and tugging Francis ahead. Francis smiled at the extroverted little boy. He was certainly different from his own son. Suddenly Francis heard a familiar wail. Up ahead, there was a tiny voice crying out for it’s papa. Francis stiffened, as adrenaline kicked in and panic flooded through his system. That was his Matthew crying out for help, he just knew it. He jogged up a few paces, before spotting a distressed man trying to calm a sobbing five year old.
“Matthew?” He called out, and the small child shot his head up to look at Francis. Violet eyes filled with tears gazed back at Francis, and his heart lifted. “Matthew? Oh mon Dieu, I was so worried!” He raced forward to the boy, dragging Alfred behind him. He dropped to his knees and wrapped Matthew in a hug, squeezing him tight. As he pulled back to wipe the tears from his son’s eyes, he heard a sharp British accent beside him.
“Alfred! Don’t you ever run off like that again! I was terrified, you hear me?” He looked over to see a man with scruffy blonde hair clutch Alfred close to his chest. He slowly stood up, picking up Matthew and holding the small boy in his arms. He watched as Alfred stayed in the hug for about two seconds, before squirming out of it and offering his distressed father a box of raisins from his candy pail.
The other man got up and brushed himself off, holding Alfred tightly as if the boy would run off again. “Alfred is your son?” Francis started, gesturing to the tiny boy with one hand. The grumpy man nodded, clutching Alfred’s hand tighter. “I apologize for taking him, I truly thought he was my Matthew, they just look so similar,” He trailed off, hoping the other man wouldn’t be too angry.
Luckily, he seemed to be just as apologetic and frazzled as Francis. “I’m sorry for taking your son as well. I should’ve known something was off when he started crying,” He looked to Francis and opened his mouth as if to say something, before closing it and sighing as Alfred bounced beside him. “I suppose I should thank you for returning Alfred. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”
Francis nodded, and allowed the other man to lead him into the house. As soon as they were inside, Alfred immediately wriggled out of the adult’s grip, and raced deeper into the house. He and Matthew were led to the kitchen, and they sat down at the table as Alfred’s father put some tea on the stove.
While they waited for the tea to boil, Alfred raced back into the room, and dumped his bucket of candy onto the counter, sifting through it. For one reason or another, the awkwardness in the room lessened as Alfred murmured to himself, sorting through the candy. He offered a piece to Matthew, who tentatively took it. At this, the little boy beamed and began to chat with Matthew, the atmosphere in the room slipping into one of homely comfort. The walls had half scrubbed away crayon drawings, and the fridge had Alfred’s drawings and alphabet practice magneted up upon it. Everything in the home appeared to be worn, but it was rather charming and comforting, reminding Francis of his family’s old home back in Paris.
Suddenly, the tea kettle whistled, and the man poured two cups of tea, setting one in front of Francis. Once he was seated at the kitchen table, he took a small sip of his tea. “Thank you again for returning my boy. I’m Arthur Kirkland, and he’s Alfred,” He said, gesturing to the boy who was happily chatting away with Matthew.
Francis smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Francis Bonnefoy, and that is my son Matthew,” He took a sip of the warm tea, savoring the gentle herbal taste.
They chatted about trivial things for a while, and found out that the boys both went to the same school. They were even in the same kindergarten class, so it was a surprise they hadn’t run into each other before. The mood stayed fairly lighthearted, until Francis asked about Alfred’s mother.
He watched as Arthur’s brow furrowed and he grimaced at the mention of Alfred’s mother. “She’s not around anymore. Alfred wasn’t exactly planned, and she left us shortly after he was born,” He explained, looking into his tea.
Francis’s eyebrows raised and he held his hand over his mouth. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend,”
“It’s fine,” Arthur said with a shrug. “What about you? Where’s Matthew’s mother?”
Francis smiled sadly and set down his tea. “Unfortunately, she passed away a few years back,” Arthur murmured some condolences and they sat in an amicable silence for a few moments, before the topic turned to lighter things.
Francis mentioned he was a part of the school’s PTO, and laughed when Arthur’s nose wrinkled in an obvious distaste of it. They spoke for another half hour before Francis realized the young boys were falling asleep. He briefly glanced at the clock, slightly shocked by the time. He hadn’t meant to stay out this late talking.
“Well, it’s past Matthew’s bedtime. We should probably be going now,” He said softly, scooping Matthew up into his arms. Arthur looked back at the clock and nodded.
“It’s a bit late for Alfred too. We’ll see you off,” Arthur and Alfred walked him to the front door, and poor Alfred looked so tired he could barely stand. Matthew had already fallen asleep in his arms. He was walking out the front door, when he heard Alfred’s small voice behind him.
“Hey daddy?” Alfred drowsily asked, the effects of the sugar wearing off.
“Yes poppet?”
“Is Francis going to be my new mommy?”
Arthur turned beet red and sputtered. “W-where would you get that idea?”
“Well, uncle Alistair says you need to find me a mom,” Alfred retorted, oblivious to the implications of Francis becoming his ‘mother’.
“You shouldn’t listen to uncle Alistair,” Arthur said, shaking his head. “Now, it’s time for you to go to bed. Run along and I’ll be up soon to read you a bedtime story,” Alfred yawned and began to head up the wooden staircase to his room.
When Arthur turned back and met his gaze, Francis smiled and shifted the sleeping Matthew to his other hip. “I hope to see you around. We should chat more often, mon cher,” And with that he left the house, eagerly awaiting the next time he would run into Arthur Kirkland.