PruCan MPREG: Here I Am 27

When Francis got home, he nearly had a heart attack. The condo was unrecognisable. The pillows and blankets from his bedroom and the living room were all piled up in front of the TV. There was variously coloured paint footprints trekking across the carpet, both human and feline, and a line of bright yellow paint trailed across the walls from the kitchen all the way around to the Gilbert's bedroom on the other side of the room. There was also a faint burning smell mixed in with the scent of acrylic paint.
Francis treaded slowly and carefully into the room. "...Mathieu?"
A sob was heard coming from the pile of pillows. "...Here..."
Francis went over to the pile and carefully lifted a pillow. Underneath, Matthew was sobbing and sitting cross-legged. He was carefully picking out feathers from Marina's hair as she napped in his lap. The Canadian looked up to his father with teary eyes. "I'm so sorry!"
Francis smiled and set the pillow aside. "It's alright, Mattie..."
"She wanted to make a fort so we got the pillows and stuff but then she wanted to finger paint and but we didn't have paint so I went to the store and got craft stuff but then it got everywhere and..."
"Shhh..." Francis said crouching and rubbing Marina's head. "I don't care how it happened, just help me clean it up."
Matthew nodded and wiped his eyes. Marina yawned and woke up, giggling when she saw Francis.
"Hi!"
"Hi," he said picking her up. "I see you had fun."
"Yes!" She pointed to the pile of pillow. "Castle! I was pwincess!"
"A princess with feathers in her hair?" He started to take her to the bathroom. "A princess with feathers glued to her hair?"
"Duck pwincess!"
"Ah, I see." He looked back to Matthew. "I'll get her cleaned up and you can start putting the cushions away, d'accord?"
"D'accord," Matthew said straightening his paint stained T-shirt and getting up. "I'm still really sorry..."
"I know you are, Mathieu. Don't worry about it."
"Okay..."
Matthew started putting away the pillows and sheet and after a half hour, Francis came out to help bringing a clean a slightly shorter haired Marina with him.
"Did you have to cut her hair?" Matthew asked patting down the couch cushions.
"Oui, but I didn't take too much off, did I?"
"I guess not..." Matthew said.
"Marina jumped on the spot. "Play!"
"You've played enough today," Francis said, setting her down on the couch. "You're going to help us clean."
"No..." she whined. "Play..."
"It's clean up time," Francis said again. "No games. You helped make this mess so you have to help clean it up."
She began to cry. "Don't wanna!"
"We'll have none of that. Poor Mattie did such a nice thing for you, getting the paints and crafts for you and now you've made a mess so we're going to all help clean up."
"No! Not gonna!" she said.
"You leave me no choice. It's a time-out for you." Francis picked her up again and took her to Gilbert's room. He returned after a minute and shut the door letting her cry.
"Was that necessary?" Matthew asked. "She seems really upset."
"Mattie a child has two types of crying," Francis said. "One for when they need something and one for when they want something. The first you can treat. The second you must discipline. This is what my mother taught me."
"But I just feel really guilty when she cries," Matthew said. "Can I please do something?"
Francis smiled but shook his head. "That's simply your instincts kicking in. Marina needs to learn that she made a mistake."
"O-Okay..." Matthew finished organizing the pillows on the couch. After only a few minutes, Marina had stopped crying. Francis gave it another minute before he went to her.
She came up to him sobbing quietly.
"Are you ready to come out and help clean up?" Francis asked.
She nodded, wiping her eyes with her arm.
"Good. Come apologize to Mattie for your mess."
She nodded again and went over to Mattie, her head down. "Sorry..."
"It's really alright, Marina," he said smiling to her. "But thank you."
"Now are you going to help us clean up?" Francis asked her.
She nodded again. "I guess..."
"Merci. You can pick up your toys and crayons and put them in your bag, please," Francis said pointing to the mess on the coffee table. She nodded once more going over and tidying up.
Matthew and Francis continued on the tougher messes which was getting the paint off the walls and carpet.
Labouring like this was how they were found when Gilbert got home. Ludwig had driven him there and they both were rather surprised to see the pair working away.
"Did...Marina do this?" Ludwig asked with a steel face as his daughter ran up to him and hugged his legs.
"She had quite some fun, huh?" Gilbert asked smiling and scratching a bit of dried paint off the wall.
"It's my fault," Matthew said frowning. "I bought the paints and things got out of hand..."
"What matters is she apologized and is helping clean up," Francis said. "You did a very good job, didn't you Rina?"
"I pick up cwayons and cwose paints and pick up toys and wash hands," she told Ludwig.
He picked her up. "I see..."
"Matt, you shouldn't be cleaning like this in your condition..." Gilbert said going over to the Canadian. "Would you like me to take over?"
"Actually, we're using vinegar to clean and I have gloves so it's perfectly safe," Matthew said. "And Francis let me do the walls so I wouldn't have to bend over."
"That's what the smell is..." Ludwig remarked.
"But still," Gilbert said. "You shouldn't work too long..."
"It's coming off pretty well so it'll be done soon. I'll be fine," Matthew said blushing. "Thank you for worrying though."
"You're welcome, I guess..." Gilbert said. "Can I at least help?"
"Now that you mention it, I need to get groceries," Francis said, quickly handing his own gloves over to Gilbert. "You can finish the carpet. Au revoir."
Before anyone could react, he had gotten his coat and left.
"I'll be taking Marina home now," Ludwig said.
"Alright," Gilbert said but then he remembered something. "Hold on, we need to talk about a pet thing. Matt, get Maple."
"Oh, right!" Matthew went to his room and picked up Maple whom had been snoozing on the bed.
"When'd you get this cat?" Gilbert asked as Matthew came back.
"Thursday. The dogs found her in the backyard," Ludwig said. "Feliciano wanted to help find her owner. We were going to make posters for her."
"Well you're in luck," Gilbert said getting a picture of her from Matthew's Facebook page on his phone. "This is Matt's cat."
"Really?" Ludwig asked a little astounded looking at the picture.
"I lost her a few months ago..." Matthew said. "I can't believe you found her..."
"Fwuffy!" Marina said reaching for Maple.
"Rina, you have to say bye to Fluffy, or um..." Ludwig said.
"Maple," Matthew said. "But she can call her Fluffy if she wants too."
"And she'll always be here when you visit," Gilbert said. "And you can visit whenever you'd like."
Marina pouted. "Pwomise?"
"We promise," Matthew said as Maple began to lick his chin. "I'm glad you took such good care of her. Thank you."
"Wewcome..."
Ludwig started to put Ria’s coat on her but continued to address the adults. "You have enough cat food for her here?"
"Yeah, Lovi's cat is here and she can share," Gilbert said. "We may need a separate bowl though..."
"We'll arrange something," Matthew said. "Thank you so much, Ludwig. You have no idea what she means to me."
"You can thank Feliciano..." Getting her coat zipped up, Ludwig grabbed Marina's overnight bag from Gilbert and opened the door. "Tschüss.Bye."
"Bye bye, baby bro," Gilbert said giving him a hug.
"Bye, Ludwig," Matthew said.
Ludwig nodded and left, taking Marina with him.
Gilbert sighed and scratched his head before putting on the rubber gloves Francis had given him. "Matt, I can finish up here. You should rest."
"No, this mess was my fault," Matthew said, putting Maple down and picking up a scrubbing brush for the walls. "I'm going to clean it up."
Gilbert smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're really cute, you know that?"
Matthew blushed and went back to the wall where his bucket was. Gilbert chuckled then got acquainted with the carpet stain and the two of them worked on cleaning up for the rest of the evening.