The Aftermath of War [Hetalia RusAme]

Chapter 14 - Normal(ish) Life

Late August 1949

Anna had eventually slowed down on her rapid growth, at least to a point where she could easily pass as an average 5-year-old. The problem then became who would be able to watch her while Alfred had to work.

Growing tensions with the USSR put his boss on edge, which often required Alfred to meet with him almost every day. Of course, his brother offered but it proved difficult after the first week, especially with Matthew living in a different country altogether. Alfred's alien friend Tony was helpful if he was gone for an hour or two, but Tony had his own life to live. Even if he kind of mooches off of Alfred's hospitality.

Alfred had debated sending Anna to public school. On one hand, she'd get to live as a normal child, make friends and learn about the world. She'd ask more questions than he could answer, and he wouldn't have time to homeschool her or find a private tutor like he had growing up.

On the other hand, she wasn't a normal child. There was no denying it. Anna could stay her size for decades, or start her rapid growth again. Alfred thought about how shocked his older brother was when he went from a little kid to a young adult, to Arthur, in only a short amount of time.

In the end, he went with the school. Her first week in kindergarten went by pretty quickly, but not without some bumps in the road.

Father and daughter sat together on the couch in the living room. Alfred held a hairbrush in hand, trying his best to detangle Anna's sandy blonde hair without pulling her head back. How her hair had gotten so tangled will forever be a mystery to him, up there with how her hair was as thick as it was. She certainly didn't inherit it from him. The blue ribbon she insisted on wearing to school that day was on the coffee table.

"That's... not right," Alfred looked over at a nearby magazine, staring at the page of various hairstyles for little girls. Anna's hair just wasn't staying the way it did in the picture. "Did I skip a step?"

"Daddy?" Anna turned around to face Alfred. "Why do I gotta dress up for school?"

"Dress up?" Alfred grabbed the hairbrush, once again trying to smooth out his daughter's hair. "What do you mean? You're only wearing a dress, that's nothing too fancy."

"But I don't wanna wear a dress." Anna held her stuffed rabbit close to her. "I wanna wear my overalls. How come I can wear them when I'm not at school, but can't wear them when I am at school?"

"Yeah, that looks right..." Alfred reached for the ribbon, finally tying her hair the way she wanted. Sort of. He didn't curl it like the picture had shown it was supposed to be done. What's the point of curling hair if you're just going to put it in a ponytail? "Look, sweetie, I know you wanna wear your overalls and your pants and everything, but the school has a dress code, and the dress code says you have to wear a dress or a skirt to school."

"What's a dress code?"

"A dress code is just a set of rules that say what you can or cannot wear to certain places, like school or work. I have one for when I go to work, it says I have to wear a suit, and it must be certain colors." He stood up, stretching his back with a satisfying pop. "Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't. Can you turn around for me please?"

Anna stood up and turned to face him. The skirt of her dress swayed slightly as she spun around. She reached her hand behind her, touching her hair softly. She wasn't happy with it. "You didn't curl my hair. The picture says you're s'posed to curl my hair."

Alfred grabbed his keys. "I don't have anything to curl your hair with." With a glance at the watch on his wrist, he rushed to put his coat on. "We're runnin' late, go grab your shoes."