The American Empire's pov:

We had many things to unpack and we had nothing for Wes and Eas to sleep on. Flora's side was finished and Dakota was almost through with her side. United Union has some things unpacked in her room and my room only had a desk in it. The kitchen was sparsely organized and the furniture in the living room looked wrong. We didn't ever have a dining table for the dining room! I sighed as Eas and I unpacked my things. "Hey, you've been working really hard today. Do you want to play with girls for awhile?" I gave him a warm smile making sure he knew it was okay.

"Yes, please!"

"Go have some fun!" I chuckled.

He ran out the door and then came running back. He hugged me hard. I grunted with a smile and hugged him back. Then, he disappeared out of the room and, I'm guessing, into the girl's room. That was really unexpected. I smiled to myself as I continued to unpack the room. In a few hours time, I was finished and I decided to check on United. "Hey?" I poked my head into her room. Boxes littered the wooden floor. Some were opened and some weren't. Wes looked exhausted and so did Sou. "Want some help?" I smiled kindly.

"I have all the help I need." She huffed.

"Your help looks tired." I glanced at the two States.

She glanced over at them as well. "They'll be fine."

"United, what's going on?" I placed a hand on her shoulder. She finally looked up at me. She seemed somewhat different. I took a step back and examined her. "Did you get taller?" My eyes widen in realization.

"And stronger." She examined her own arms and legs which had slight muscles.

"Woah." Was all I could say. I glanced at the tired States again. "Go take a break." I waved them away. They wouldn't leave until United nodded at them. I got some stuff out of the boxes and started placing it on the bed. She then would put it where she wants it. "How do you feel about this?"

She stayed quiet for awhile. "I feel great." She was lying so hard.

"It's okay to feel scared. I'll protect you from the other Countries and Dakota will too."

"You don't understand! I'm a huge target because I have the most US land!" She cried at me. I was feeling super guilty.

"I'll fix this." Is all I said.

She sighed heavily. "Okay."

Her room was almost done, so I left her to finish. Someone had to unpack the kitchen. After that, I realized I need to run by Walmart. "United!" I called up the stairs. "I'm going on a shopping run!"

"Take some brats with you!" She screamed back.

I laughed a little and slinked up the stairs toward Flor's and Dak's room. I opened the door to find them all playing with each other. Except for Sou. "Eas, Wes, Sou, want to come help me with something?" I smiled at the boys.

"Sure!" Eas sprang up. Wes followed him with a nod and Sou crossed his arms and scowled.

"It's going to be fun!" I sang in my most appealing voice.

"Fine." He huffed. We all filed downstairs and into the car. I still need to drop off that rental truck.

"Where are we going?" Eas asked while bouncing in the front seat.

"Walmart." I replied. The States gave each other questioning looks. "You go there to get stuff." I explained.

"Ohhhhhh." Eas and Wes said together. Sou still had his arms crossed. Soon, we turned into the Walmart parking lot and I found a great place near the doors to park.

"Come on!" I closed my door to the car and waited for the States to get out. After all the doors were closed and locked, we marched into Walmart.

"Let's get food last." I mumbled more to myself, but Eas piped up and said, "Okay!" I grabbed a cart.

"Adventure awaits!" I pumped my hand in the air while watching the States.

"Yes!" Eas mimicked me. Wes and Sou rolled their eyes. I raced against Eas down the aisle.

The furniture aisle was up ahead and I yelled, "Turn," to Eas. He did and stopped. Wes and Sou jogged behind us.

"We need two bunk beds, one dining table, and one couch. Let's do this!" I plant my hand in the middle of the group. Eas puts his dark blue hand on mine. Wes and Sou reluctantly did the same. "You guys find the bunk beds." I ordered them. "On one, two, three!" We lifted our hands in the air and I shouted, "Bunk beds!"

Eas shouted a little bit after me, "Bunk beds!"

Wes and Sou groaned, "Bunk beds." They scrambled off while I looked at tables and couches. I found some that I liked and sent a picture to United, so she could have the final choice.

United: idc

She's still upset.... I decided to text Dak instead.

Emp: Any you like?

Emp: imaged sent

Dak: ooooooo I like the big round brown table and the light green couch.

Emp: thxs Imma get em. See you at house soon ༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ

Dak: (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃ love u

Emp: love u too (●'◡'●)ﾉ

I slipped my phone into my back pocket and grabbed the boxes that the furniture that Dakota choice was in. Three States came rushing towards me. "We found one!" Eas cheered excitedly.

"Awesome! Let's go grab it!" I followed the boys with the cart.

They picked out two dark wooden, normal looking bunk beds. I looked at the other bunk beds with disbelief. One was made out of a sports car and they chose this one. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" They all smiled.

Wow. Okay. I picked one up with the help of Wes. Then, Sou helped me with the other one. "Eas, want to grab another buggy for us?"

"Yes!" Eas's blue eye glinted with excitement and freedom. The other eye was covered by an eyepatch. He scampered off and my gaze settled on Wes.

"Want to push the cart with Sou?"

Wes nodded.

"Sou, want to help push?"

He nodded as well. I smiled at them. Then, a buggy slammed into my butt. "Woah, now!" I turned around to find Eas smiling mischievously. I shook my head at him with a smile. "Let's get some food!" I shouted.

"Yeah!" All the boys cheered. We headed over to the food aisle and the boys grabbed snacks while I grabbed real food. That's when I got a marvelous idea.

"Let's make a campfire tonight." I said to the boys. "We can have s'mores and tell spooky stories!"

"That would be fun!" Eas whooped.

"Yeah!" Wes grinned.

"Cool." Sou smiled.

"Awesome!" I smiled brightly. I grabbed some stuff for s'mores and I already had stuff at home for the fire, so all I had to do was pay. We left the back of Walmart and walked to the front to a cashier. Los Angeles greeted us with a smile. She shot everything with her cashier gun. I raked over the money and we left. The boys were roaring with excitement.

"I can't wait to tell the girls!" Eas smiled brilliantly.

"It's going to be so much fun to tell spooky stories!" Wes grinned evilly.

Sou joined in, but with slightly less enthusiasm. We arrived home and they helped me unload groceries. Then, they ran up the stairs to tell the girls. I heard excited screams. "What's going on?" United asked from the top of the stairs.

She made her way down as I answered, "We're having a campfire tonight."

"Oh." She scowled slightly.

"It'll be fun! There's going to be s'mores!" I sing-songed.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'll do your stupid campfire thing."

"Awesome!" I smiled.

Her phone played a tune. She checked it. "We have another meeting."

"I thought we would," I sighed.

"Dakota?"

"Yeah."

"UN is going to hate us."

"Especially when Flora becomes a country." I laughed wildly.

"He saw her though and didn't say anything."

"I know."

"It'll be okay." She patted my back.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Let's get this campfire started." She walked around the grey kitchen counter and pulled the ingredients for s'mores out.

"It's time already?" I raised my eyebrows because of my surprise.

"Go see for yourself."

I looked outside. The sky was darkening rapidly. "I'm going to fix the fire." I left the house and shut the sliding glass door behind me. I made huge rocks form a circle for a firebreak and found dry, thick sticks from around the yard. I went back inside for some matches and a match box. "I'm almost ready. I need to grab some chairs for us."

United Union nodded in response. She was playing on her phone on the counter. All the food was lined up for the kids.

"Thanks!" I smiled at her.

"No problem." She lifted her lips slightly.

I found as many folding chairs as I could. Thankfully, the last owner left us some extra ones for some reason. I took them outside and set them up around the fire. Then, I grabbed some hangers and straightened them out, so they could burn marshmallows them. Everything was ready.

I ran back in the house and shouted, "Kids! S'mores time!" The stairs thundered because of small feet slamming down them.

"Yay!!!!" Flora twirled to the kitchen counter. Nor was smiling from ear to ear. Dak looked calmly excited. The boys just hopped around.

"I regret this already." United scowled at me.

"Come on, United! So many things have changed. This is to remind us that we still have each other."

"Ugh sappy stuff." United Union rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Grab some marshmallows and let's go!" I shouted with cheer.

"Yay!" The kids shouted back. Marshmallows disappeared from the counter. United grabbed hers and I snatched mine. We all filed outside and sat down around the campfire. I breathed in the fresh air.

"Isn't this nice?" I asked United Union, who was sitting beside me.

"Yes." She sighed, but slightly smiled. We hung our marshmallows over the fire until they were dripping. Well.., except for Wes, Eas, and Sou.

"My marshmallow is on fire!" Sou shouted with glee.

Oh God.

"Mine is black." Wes smirked.

"Mine too!" Eas's marshmallow was on fire and black.

"Alright, alright. Your marshmallows are well-done. Let's go put chocolate on them."

Sou blew his marshmallow's fire out and helped Eas with his. We carefully walked inside and prepared the s'mores for the kids. One by one they walked out with smiles and s'mores. After United and I made our own s'mores, we walked outside and listened to Wes's spooky story.

I looked up at the twinkling sky. Life can't get much better than this.

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Sou = South California

Nor = North California

Sou = boi

Nor = gurl