A/N: So this is a fic written for APH_minibang challenge on livejournal. I really tried to expand my abilities by writing characters I never have before. Romano is a very interesting character and I loved writing his interactions with the other characters in the story. I really haven't written fanfiction in a while, so I feel somewhat rusty, so I hope everything here is up to par! I know this isn't USUK, which is what I feel most comfortable with, but I was really trying to get out of my comfort zone this time!

Warnings: Language and drinking

Well, enough of the author's notes. Enjoy!

Please Come Back Home

Chapter 1

I don't think things will ever really be back to normal. Not in this family. Not after all the crap that went on these past few years.

Still.

Maybe we'll get something close to normal…something close to happy, rather than all the fake happiness and fake normalcy that everyone's been putting up with for who knows how long.

I don't like talking about all this crap, damn it. It's too sappy for me. But Feli said I needed to let it out or vent or whatever, and I figured why the hell not write it down? And it's not girly! I can't stress that enough.

Fuck. Lost my train of thought…

I better start with this: my name is Lovino Vargas and yeah, I'll be writing down my "feelings" and the events that pretty much led up to this point. I guess it'll be like a story. Whatever. It's not like anyone else is going to be reading this anyway…

My dad's name is Gilbert, and for as long as I can remember, he's been a firefighter. He said he loved the job because it was awesome to save people and walk away from flames dramatically without looking back or something stupid like that. He's never been the brightest guy around, but he was a pretty caring person who was ambitious and loved his family.

He and my mom, Elizaveta, were high school sweethearts who fell in love and got married and had children and all that crap. The children were Feliciano and I. Feli is my younger brother by a few years. He's…well, an idiot. But the kid's got heart. Feli's a bit gullible and naïve and stuff, and can be taken advantage of easily. If I were a braver older brother, I'd probably try to stop that if he'd let me…

And then there's me. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only sane person in this family. I'll admit that I get a bit worked up at times, but I swear I do not have anger management issues. Everyone else is just entirely too happy.

My little brother was born when I was seven years old. My mom was exhausted and lying in the hospital bed, my new brother by her side in his own little incubator. Well, it looked like an incubator. I'm not really sure what those clear box-like things they put babies in are called. Why did babies need incubators, anyway? They weren't chicks or anything.

He was sleeping really quietly, all bundled up in blankets and muttering a soft sigh that sounded a lot like "ve~". I grumbled to myself. Now I'd have to share my parents with this little guy. What if he turned out really annoying? Frowning, I turned to my dad who was watching Feliciano with hands on his hips and pride in his eyes.

"That's my cute little boy!" he declared. I tugged on his shirt angrily, trying to see if I could rip the fabric. I felt his hand rub the top of my head. "Heh, don't worry kiddo, you're my little boy too," he said, but I still didn't believe him. This new kid was going to steal all my thunder. I continued to pull on the hem of his shirt.

"Lovino, quit mangling your father's shirt, he'll never be able to iron it himself, and God knows I'm not doing it like this…" my mom said gesturing to herself and dropping her head against the pillow tiredly. Apparently it took her hours to get this kid out…I didn't really understand how that worked. How the hell did the stork get the baby out of the mom, anyway? I thought they were supposed to fly to moms and give them the kid…or maybe the stork was the one who put the baby inside the mommy! What the hell? Why would a bird want to do that?

"It's fine, Liz, let the kid do what he wants," my dad said chuckling to himself. "He's probably just upset that he's going to have to share everything with his new brother, is all."

"What?" I practically screamed. "I'm not sharing anything with that thing!" I looked over at my little brother and saw a snot bubble coming out of his nose. My eye twitched at the sight.

"Awesome, nose bubble!" my dad exclaimed in delight. "This kid is going to grow up and be just as awesome as me!" I tugged at my dad's shirt harder. Damn it, why didn't he pay attention to me?

Mom just rolled her eyes. "Feliciano is the only one allowed to make nose bubbles for now. Not you, Gilbert." Dad gave a chuckle and put his hands in his pockets.

I huffed. No one was paying attention to me. Everyone was concentrating on that little squirt in the baby incubator. I began walking around the room, touching all the furniture that interested me. There were buttons on the bedside, but I wasn't about to fool around with those. One of them might've been a self-destruct button and I still wasn't the best at reading in class.

"Lovino," my mom said, "why don't you lay down with mommy on the bed?" She patted the spot next to her. With an angry pout, I lifted myself and plopped down next to her. She wrapped her arm around me and gave me a smile. "Don't you worry, Lovino. Both mommy and daddy love you and your new brother equally, ok?" She gave me a kiss on the cheek, but I crossed my arms and grumbled.

"Ok…" I said unwillingly. She had better keep that promise of hers!

Suddenly, my dad's watch started ringing. "Crap…" he said and looked to my mom. She gave a soft smile of understanding. Dad walked over to the bed and kissed us both. He then walked over to Feliciano and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead. "Catch you guys later!" he said, walking out of the room.

My mom sighed. I just shuffled closer to her as she began to play with my hair. She wasn't really paying attention, I could tell. But that's how it was when your dad was a fireman. He had to be at the station during his shift, no matter what, especially since the fire station was low on members lately. Even the volunteer fire department wasn't enough.

Dad loved his job, everyone could tell, but sometimes it really interfered with family life. There were days when he just wasn't home when he was supposed to be. There were days when he wouldn't come home at all and mom would be worried sick, watching the phone and waiting for it to ring as if her life depended on it. It would be such a relief when he would finally call to say he was ok.

I could tell dad was feeling pretty awful that he had to leave so soon. He wanted to spend more time with his family and its newest addition. Feliciano was still sleeping peacefully, the nose bubble rising and falling with his breaths. It was gross. It would have been cool if it wasn't for the fact that this baby dribble was going to get all over my stuff later. Especially since his crib was moved into my room.

Now that there was another kid in the family, things would be tougher. Mom would have more on her hands with two kids and dad would probably have to take on a few more shifts just to make enough money to support us. But it's not like we weren't a happy family. Just kind of stressed sometimes. But our family was pretty strong, and this was nothing we couldn't handle. Besides, my parents were pretty excited about Feliciano, so things probably wouldn't be that bad.

We all went home as a new family a few days later. In the car I had asked my parents when we were returning Feliciano, and they just laughed. Dumbasses. It's a bad word, but if the kids in my class were able to say it, then so could I!

Things had started out a bit rocky the first few weeks. Dad had to move around his shifts at the station so he'd get time to spend with us and time to earn a living. Some shifts meant he was gone all day, and others meant he was gone all night. It varied during the week. But he was still as enthusiastic as ever.

There was a big party thrown by my parents inviting all of our relatives and family friends. Everyone wanted to come see the baby. I just stayed in my room, away from everyone else down the hall that was all fawning over cute, little Feliciano. Not only did he make snot bubbles, but he also pooped, cried, and dribbled everywhere. It was a new adjustment, and one I was not getting used to.

The buzz of the crowd down the hall was starting to get louder and louder. I pouted angrily to myself and began smashing my action figures into each other. The clacking of plastic against plastic was starting to make me feel better. I was pretty upset, and for good reasons too! Everyone was so excited about this new baby. I don't remember anyone celebrating me like that! Didn't anyone even care that I was in my room? Not that I wanted someone to walk in or anything! Yeah, I wanted to be left alone. It was much better than being in that crowd of relatives and stuff, acting all happy when they were probably only here because they were bored with nothing to do.

I began hitting my action figures together more forcefully when I heard the creak of a door. Turning my head, I saw my dad walk in with a smile on his face.

"Lovino! C'mon, join the party!" he shouted over the noise of the crowd. I crossed my arms and gave a "hmph". My dad's smile fell for a second before it was back again at full force. "Your mom's going to make her famous chocolate chip brownies later. Don't you want some of that? You only get some if you come have dinner with us!"

"No," I stated, making my point clear. I fisted the action figures in my hands tighter.

My dad strode over to my bed and sat down next to me. I didn't look at him as I felt the dip in the mattress. He was probably mad at me because I wasn't happy about having a new baby brother like he wanted me to be. Well, too bad, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being happy when I obviously wasn't. While wishing he would just go away, I heard my dad give a small sigh.

"Look kiddo…" he began, nudging my face towards him with the back of his fingers. I turned around reluctantly and met his eyes.

"What?" I mumbled, trying to give him an angry glare. He still smiled at me in that confident way of his.

"You know…" he began, leaning down, his voice lowering to a whisper as if he was going to spill a big secret, "your mom didn't want me to tell you this, but she's actually really sad." At this I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. I looked to my dad for an explanation.

"What do you mean she's sad? She has Feliciano to make her happy, doesn't she?" I asked sarcastically.

"Feliciano does make her happy, but she's still really sad because she misses you," he said, putting his arm around me. My eyes widened a bit before I had replaced my expression with its signature frown.

"Just because I'm not there doesn't mean she has to be sad…" I mumbled, looking away and crossing my arms, my action figure long forgotten. My dad just laughed.

"Well you know, kiddo, nothing makes mom happier than when the whole family is together," he said giving a warm smile as he looked down at me. Ruffling up my hair, my dad stood and walked towards the door. At the entranceway, he turned around and asked, "Well, are you coming or not?" I looked into my dad's smile, listened to the hum of the crowd outside, and slowly came down from my bed and followed my dad out the door.

If I had thought the crowd was loud before, nothing compared to being in the middle of a bunch of coddling, overly excited relatives who wanted to do nothing more except kiss me with hairy lips, both my uncles and aunts. My grandparents were there too, and then it was my turn to give them each a kiss which sucked because their skin was so wrinkly and they all smelled like fish.

My dad was nowhere to be seen now, so I walked over to my mom to see if she had actually been sad like my dad had claimed. She turned around as I tugged on the hem of her skirt. "Lovi!" she squealed, picking me up and peppering me with kisses. I struggled in her arms.

"Mom, stop it! Stop it!" I shouted, trying to wriggle free from her clutches. She just laughed and smiled down at me.

"Oh, Lovino, I'm so happy you decided to join us!" she exclaimed, putting me down and beginning to get plates out from the cabinet. She put them in my hands, which meant I had to help set the table. Grumbling, but not as upset as I was before, I began to throw the plates on the dining room table. They weren't really landing in the right places, but at least I was helping!

"Lovi!" my mom shouted, exasperated. "Put the plates on the table properly!"

"I am!" I shouted back, throwing another plate onto the table. My mom shook her head and sighed, but gave a soft smile. Taking the plates from my hands, she said, "Thank you, Lovi. Why don't you go play with your little brother while I set the table, hm?"

"Aww, do I have to?" I asked. I would have rather kissed grandma and grandpa again.

"Yes, you do," she said, giving me a kiss on the forehead as she went ahead and began to rearrange the plates I had already put down on the table.

Grumbling, I wandered through the jumble of people to see if I could spot my baby brother anywhere. He was most likely in the middle of a small crowd, and before I knew it, I had spotted a bunch of my relatives huddled around a single person. Bingo.

I pushed my way through their legs and saw that Feliciano was being held by Roderich, who my mom used to date before she met my dad. He was considered a family friend but dad didn't like him too much, and since my dad didn't like him, I didn't like him. I glared up at Roderich as he stood and held Feliciano, looking at my baby brother with a curious expression on his face. He gave the slightest of smiles and put his finger close to Feliciano's hand, whose tiny fingers instantly wrapped around Roderich's much larger one. It would've looked pretty cute if it wasn't for the fact that it was Roderich holding Feli and not someone else.

Before I could say anything, my dad popped through the back door, tongs in hand shouting, "Ribs are done! Now who wants some?" I could smell the smoky aroma of the barbeque and felt how it wafted into the house when my dad had opened the back door. It was familiar. My dad loved to barbeque during every special occasion, even days like Halloween and Christmas when he would literally bring the barbeque inside the house. Everyone else's senses became excited by the smells of freshly grilled meat and they immediately left for the backyard, mouths watering.

Roderich was still holding Feliciano as he walked towards the backyard. "Mr. Edelstein!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. I wasn't about to let this guy walk around with my little brother. He turned around expecting to see someone who was probably as tall as he was, but he spotted no one. I tugged on his pant leg and he looked down, finally realizing I was there.

"Oh, Lovino! I didn't see you," he stated calmly. This guy was always acting so proper and it really annoyed me. He bent down so that he was eye level with me. "Did you need something?" he asked with a small smile. As if he could win me over with smiles.

"Mom said I'm supposed to play with my little brother," I said, holding out my arms waiting for him to hand over Feliciano. He gave a slight chuckle in response.

"Lovino, I don't think you're old enough to hold your baby brother…"

"What?" I shouted affronted by what he had said. "I'm plenty old enough! I'm his big brother and responsible for him!" Who did this guy think he was? I had way more authority than he did when it came to my baby brother. Before our conversation could continue, however, my mom walked into the room.

"Guys, c'mon, Gilbert grilled up some ribs," she said with a smile, wiping her hands on a small dish towel. Roderich stood up, Feliciano still in his hands, and gave my mom a smile.

"I was just having a delightful conversation with Lovino," he said. I didn't like the way he looked at my mom when he said this. It gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I immediately ran to my mom and pointed at Roderich accusingly.

"He wouldn't give me my baby brother!" I yelled, disgruntled because it had been my responsibility to play with Feli, not his. My mom looked down at me and rolled her eyes, but there was amusement hidden in her expression.

"Now, now, Lovi, you can play with your little brother later. But thank you for wanting to take care of him. It's time I fed him anyway…" she said while walking over to Roderich and taking Feliciano out of his hands. "Thank you for watching him, Roderich," she whispered with a soft smile. He nodded curtly and left for the backyard. I glared at his back as he walked past us and grabbed onto my mom's hand. I still really didn't like this guy…

My mom squeezed my hand and we went out into our backyard, the scent of barbecued ribs and hotdogs heavy in the air. I breathed in deeply and licked my lips a bit. I hadn't realized I was so hungry. I sat down next to my mom as she began to breastfeed Feliciano. She was lucky the kid didn't have a snot bubble or anything or that would be just plain awkward.

My dad strode over and put a hotdog on my plate. He even gave me the ketchup bottle. "Here you are, kiddo," he said, sitting down next to me once he was done setting my food up. Hotdogs only tasted good when my dad made them, and so I eagerly took a bite after I put a nice glob of ketchup on it. It had been grilled to perfection. The steam from the hotdog wafted in my nose and I continued to chew, savoring its smoky flavor. While I continued to eat, my dad poured me a cup of cherry Kool-aid.

Everyone seemed to be content at the small table outside, eating barbecued ribs and talking softly amongst themselves. I was now kind of glad I had decided not to stay in my room. My dad seemed happy, narrating stories from the fire department as people eagerly listened. My mom seemed happy too, cooing over Feliciano as he suckled. But before I could feel too out-of-place, my dad turned to me and asked, "Say, after dinner you want to go play some catch with your old man?" Hotdog still held between my two hands, I looked up to my dad and nodded. I was still chewing on my hotdog and couldn't really speak, but I did manage to give him a small smile. Small.

My dad looked like he thought he had just become king of the world when I did that, but I got a bit flustered for some reason, so I immediately put back my signature frown and continued eating. It seemed as if my dad didn't care. He tousled my hair a bit before turning back to everyone to continue telling his stories.

It seemed like everyone was really happy. I'll even admit that, ok, I was happy. Everyone seemed so together in this small moment, and what my dad had said earlier today really sunk in…that mom was happy when the whole family was together. And I really believed him.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! Critiques are loved :)