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"You almost ready babe?" America called to you from downstairs.

"Yeah! I'll be down in a sec!" you replied as you finished touching up your makeup.

Today was your two year wedding anniversary with Alfred and you were going out somewhere special; Alfred had made reservations at a five star restaurant. On top of being a five star restaurant for its food and service, the building itself was perched on top of a beautiful grassy hill that overlooked a pristine lake. Alfred had made a special request to be seated with you in the outside dining area so you could both enjoy the view.

Quite honestly, though you felt yourself worrying over the expense of it all, you were also thrilled to be going. You had never eaten at such a fancy place before. Heck, you hadn't even stepped inside a place like that!

You smiled gently and closed your eyes. Sure Alfred could be annoying and careless and sometimes he didn't listen to you, but the good always outweighed the bad. Even after being with Alfred for a little over three years he never ceased to surprise you with his sweetness.

Sometimes you wouldn't be feeling well and he'd try to cook something for you or do laundry and other chores. Sure over half the time he'd manage to do something impossible like set cereal on fire or he'd turn all the white clothes pink by unknowingly throwing something red in along with it…but it was just how thoughtful he was. Underneath all that energy of his was one of the most kind-hearted people you had ever known; he had such a big heart….

"________________!"

You shook your head to snap out of your daze when you heard the subject of your thoughts calling for you.

"Coming!" you said quickly before making your way downstairs.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, you giggled at Alfred's face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape.

"Will this do?" you asked, looking down at your current state of dress.

Since you were headed somewhere so formal, you had to buy yourself a nice dress. After trying on what seemed like a million of them, you found the perfect one. It was the perfect length on your body and the neckline flattered your collarbone. In addition to that, the dress was the perfect cut, flattering every part of you wondrously. On top of all that, it was the perfect shade of (color), only further accentuating your beauty.

"You look gorgeous, _______________." Alfred said smoothly.

"Thanks" you smiled shyly. "You look rather nice yourself." You commented, admiring his black slacks, paired with a red collared shirt.

Alfred chuckled. "Thanks but I'm not near as good looking as you."

You rolled your eyes and took his hand. "Come on; let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alfred, this is all so fantastic…" you breathed, watching the sun falling beneath the horizon, reflecting its amber glow off of the pristine lake your table overlooked.

"I'm glad you like it." Alfred said. "I was kinda worried you wouldn't be into this sort of thing." He finished, rubbing the back of his neck with a bit of a laugh.

You smiled softly at him. "How could I not love this? The weather is amazing, the view is gorgeous, the food was perfect…and I've been married to you for two years." You finished, beaming thoughtfully at your wedding band.

"It's kinda hard to believe it's been that long." Alfred said, looking off for a moment before gazing back at you.

His heart pounded in his chest as he took in how beautiful you looked at this moment, trying to etch a picture of you in his mind to look back on. The amber-tinted waves of the lake reflected in your (color) orbs while your (length and color) hair wisped around your face in the mild breeze. Yeah…he almost had this picture completely cemented in his mind….

"Mnngh." You gurgled suddenly, placing a hand against your stomach and another up to your mouth.

"_______________? Are you ok?" Alfred asked worriedly.

"I…" you croaked weakly. That was all you could manage to say before you made your way to the restroom as quickly and as discretely as you could, given the current atmosphere.

Flinging open the bathroom door, you dashed into the nearest stall, latched the door and fell to your knees before the toilet. You were glad you took off when you did. As soon as you knelt down, you began to spasm, choking and retching as your body forced out the contents of your stomach, throwing away the food you had enjoyed only minutes earlier.

After about another minute of being bent over the toilet, your stomach finally settled, leaving you panting and coughing slightly. After taking a few more deep breaths to recover, you flushed away the mess and stood up shakily, making your way over to the sink slowly.

'Great' you thought to yourself, observing your eyes that had now reddened from your straining. In addition, some of your mascara had bled from the small tears that had formed in your eyes, drawing greyish stripes down your cheeks.

'What was that all about?' you wondered. You had been just fine and then suddenly you felt ill. Maybe you ate too much? Maybe the food was too rich? …maybe there was something in your entrée that didn't agree with your stomach. In any case, you were suddenly feeling completely back to normal…not sick at all.

After cleaning your face up a bit you finally headed back to your table.

"_______________!" Alfred said, standing up quickly.

"Hey, sorry about that." You said, giving him a smile.

"________________, what happened? You just took off all of the sudden. You look kinda pale…" Alfred said worriedly.

Poor Alfred…this was your two year anniversary…you really really didn't want to mess this up for him. If you told him that you threw up, he'd probably think it was his fault for taking you to this wonderful restaurant.

"Don't worry, Al." you grinned. "I just had to burp really bad and since this is a really nice place, I can't just let it out like we do at the house you know?" you chuckled.

You were glad when you heard Alfred return your laughter, obviously buying into your story. "Well if you're gassy or whatever then we can just head back home." He said with a goofy grin.

You giggled and shook your head. "Al…you're a goof."

"Yeah but you love me anyway." He laughed.

"Yes…yes I do…" you smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a couple of weeks since your two year anniversary and things were…going not so well…or at least you knew they weren't. Since that day you had only gotten sicker. Your lower back had started aching, you felt dizzy and lightheaded, especially when you stood up. You got headaches a lot and even if you didn't end up throwing up, you still felt nauseous on a regular basis. In general, you just felt a lot slower…what was wrong with you? Some sort of virus? It had to be…but no…you didn't have a fever anytime you took your temperature.

Al…he didn't know about any of this. The reason why? Because you didn't want him to know. Things had gotten crazy at work lately and even though he put on a smile for you every single day, you knew that Alfred was completely stressed out by his job. He had been lucky to even have the time to take you out to eat on your anniversary. You didn't want to worry him anymore than you had to. Your poor Alfred…he was working every single day of the week now from at least 6:00 AM to 8:30 PM…sometimes even later…that was just too much…

'Al will find out I'm sick eventually though…and he'll be so disappointed in himself once he does…I need to find out what's wrong with me…' you thought.

You groaned when you realized something though. You couldn't just go to the doctor's office. They would bill you and then Alfred would find out that you had been to the doctor…plus his workplace was pretty close to your local doctor's office so there was the potential of him seeing you.

Finally you decided to call someone you were close to…yeah…a good friend and someone who you knew had a lot of life experience.

Reaching over you dialed the number of one of your closest friends. After a few rings there was a sweet yet spunky "hello" on the other end of the line.

"Hey Elizaveta…" you said, sounding more down than you had hoped.

"________________? Is everything alright? You sound terrible." Hungary replied worriedly.

Hungary…she was so sweet…like a mom, sister, and best friend all in one.

"No…I feel like hell." You said dully.

You could hear Hungary sigh on the other end. "Why don't you go to the doctor? You were sick on the day of your anniversary too right? That's what you said anyway. That's a long time to be sick."

There was a long pause on the phone…ugh you hated awkward silence. You were about to speak up again when you could have sworn you heard your friend gasp on the other end of the phone.

"Elizaveta?" you questioned hesitantly.

"________________...are you still on the pill?" your friend asked finally.

What…?

It took a minute for her words to register in your mind but once they did you hurriedly sputtered your answer into the phone. "O-of course I am!"

It was true. You had started your birth control a month and a half before you married Alfred just to make sure the medication was settled into your system and you hadn't missed a single day since!

"_______________, you should really get a test. From what you told me back then, it sounds like you really might be—"

"But we haven't planned for it Lizzie!" you rushed.

Sure you and Alfred had talked about kids a couple times before but it was never really decided when you would try for babies or anything like that! You couldn't just dump this on Al! And come on! It's called birth CONTROL for a REASON right?!

"America will be able to handle it if you are, _____________." Hungary said comfortingly.

You couldn't help but sniff. It wasn't that you'd hate having a baby…but for this all to happen so suddenly…and without any prior discussion on the matter…

"_______________?" Hungary said gently, making sure you were still there.

"I guess I'll…get a test…" you said somewhat numbly, still in shock from the whole idea of pregnancy even being a possibility right now.

You could practically see Hungary's face right now…you knew she wanted to be there with you but also wanted to give you space.

"Alright…but if you need anything you know you can call me." Hungary reminded you.

"I know. Thanks Lizzie." You replied blandly. You felt bad for being so dull and seemingly indifferent toward your friend but you just couldn't seem to help it.

After trading your brief goodbyes you simply sat on the edge of the bed. You weren't really sure how you felt...

You shook your head, trying to break free from the numbing daze. Sitting around wasn't going to help anything. And if you really were pregnant, you were going to need to know…there would be a hell of a lot more to think about later if Elizaveta's hunch was correct.

After willing yourself to get up and make yourself look marginally presentable, you headed outside. Honestly you didn't really care how you looked as you had way too much on your mind to worry about that, and besides, the pharmacy was walking distance from your house; only about five minutes away; it wasn't like a ton of people were going to see you and actually care how you looked.

Stepping inside the pharmacy, you didn't look anywhere except straight ahead…you just wanted to get in and out. Aisle 8….your aisle. You stared at everything with mixed emotions swarming your body. All these pregnancy tests…they all looked the same. Looking at the products placed directly next to the pregnancy tests, you nearly laughed. All the condoms and lubricants you could ever want were lined up right next to the tests…the irony…

Refocusing, you looked at the pregnancy tests again. First Response…you'd seen commercials for it…and you got three in one box for a decent price. You didn't feel like weighing your options so you just grabbed the First Response "value pack" with "one free test inside!"…yippee…

The rest of your experience was uneventful. Ring the stuff up and walk back home…but now things weren't so bland.

Walking up to the bathroom you could feel your heart pounding almost painfully from anxiety. Why? Why were you so worked up? Should you be this worried…you didn't know….

'Standing here won't do anything…' you thought as you walked in and closed the door behind you.

After briefly looking over the instructions, you proceeded to use all three tests; might as well. And now you waited….every single second that ticked by felt like an eternity. You just wanted to know. You just wanted—

You practically jumped when you heard a few small beeps, signaling that your test results were ready.

Your heart thudded painfully hard, almost to where you worried you might have a heart attack…but you calmed yourself down…you were just looking at a few tests right? Finally you reached out and grasped the first one before taking a deep breath and looking at it.

……two pink lines…..that meant you were…..

Setting that one aside, you hastily grabbed the next test. Two pink lines…

Finally you grabbed the third test…the screen clearly displayed the same two pink lines as you saw on the other two tests.

Pregnant.

"I guess I'm pregnant…" you breathed.

…………………..

Tears. You were covered in tears in only a few short seconds. Oh god…oh god oh god oh god. You felt like such a bitch for getting so upset. It wasn't that you were against having a baby. That wasn't it at all! You just…you didn't know how Alfred was going to take it. What if he wasn't ready for it? What if he had recently decided that he didn't really want kids at all and was happy with just you? There were so many things that could go wrong!

...practically out of nowhere, you mentally smacked yourself.

'What am I thinking? ....Alfred loves me so much. He's one of the most loving people I've ever met. Why am I acting like he's some random guy I had a one-night stand with and got pregnant by? Sure this wasn't expected but Alfred will be fine…'

Having given yourself a mental review of the situation you actually smiled a bit and sighed. You had been panicking for no reason. Everything was going to be fine….

You gasped when you suddenly heard the front door open and close.

"________________! Guess what?! I'm home early! I got off early!" Alfred shouted happily.

Fuck!

As quickly as you could, you grabbed the tests and their boxes and shoved them into the bathroom wastebasket underneath other garbage so that Alfred couldn't see them.

"Ok." You sighed before stepping out.

You walked out and smiled at the sight of your husband. He had a REAL smile on this time. You could tell he was more than a little happy to get home early.

"Hey there my handsome hero." You chuckled.

Alfred turned around and beamed at you before picking you up and kissing you. "I've missed you so much, babe. I'm sorry I haven't been able to be with you as much." The blonde said before showering your face with kisses.

You giggled at the small pecks against your face. You really had been worrying way too much about this pregnancy thing. Al was going to be totally fine with it. In fact, you were feeling up to telling him! But first you wanted to let him talk.

"So tell me how your day went." You said, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Alfred continued to hold your waist and smiled. "Well not to brag but I got a ton of shit done today!" he began with energy finally back in his voice. "Actually I think my super horrible hours are about to die down pretty quick here. I should be able to be home more often really soon."

You smiled at him. He looked so happy. He was in a good mood. This was your chance.

Just as you were about to speak however, Alfred started chatting again.

"So this guy at work said something kinda funny today." Alfred began. "he said that he figured that we should have some kids by now."

Kids….d-did Alfred know?!

Alfred chuckled. "He got all pushy, but I told him that we aren't ready for kids right now. I told him that we're just not really at a time in our marriage where we want them yet."

……………….

We aren't ready for kids…..we don't want them yet….we aren't ready for kids we don't want them…we aren't ready for kids we aren't ready for kids we aren't ready for kids.

Your eyes widened as those words echoed in your mind over and over, rattling your brain and making your heart shatter. You didn't even notice the silent tears that began to slip from your eyes, but Alfred did.

"___-_______________? What's wrong?" Alfred asked worriedly, confused as to why you were so suddenly upset.

You didn't reply.

"__________________?" Alfred asked again, this time cupping your cheek.

"Leave me alone…" you muttered.

"What?" Alfred asked, not quite hearing you.

"I said leave me alone!" you cried, shoving your husband off of you and running to your room. As soon as you made it in, you slammed the door and locked it before throwing yourself onto the bed in tears.

"__________________!" Alfred shouted, running after you. "_________________! What's wrong?!"

"Just go away!" you sobbed.

"__________________...let me help you!" Alfred insisted, grabbing the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. "________________...come on…let me in. Why'd you lock yourself up in there?"

"I said GO AWAY!" you screeched, crying louder than ever.

Alfred was, to say the least, utterly shocked and completely and entirely confused. What just happened? Less than a minute ago you were smiling and hugging on him and now you were locked in your room and wanted nothing to do with him?

Oh man…what now? ….he needed to talk to someone….

Kiku? No; that guy was way too socially awkward; he wasn't going to feel comfortable talking about marital issues. Arthur? Ugh, no. If he called Arthur, he'd just get called a git and a wanker and have to endure a lecture that may or may not have any bearing on the present situation. So then…ah ha!

Grabbing the phone, Alfred punched in the desired phone number at lightning speed, waiting anxiously.

"Come on. Pick up. Pick up." America chanted to no one.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, there was finally an answer. "…hello…? America…?"

"CANADA! DUDE! I TOTALLY NEED YOUR HELP!" Alfred practically screamed into the receiver.

He could hear Canada making some sort of a pained sound on the other end of the phone….hmmm had he talked too loud?

"Uh…so can you maybe help me?" America finished somewhat sheepishly; sure he was usually confident but this situation with you had him really worried.

"Ok…but just don't yell anymore. My ears really hurt now, America…" Canada said in his usual gentle tone.

"Yeah ok I promise." Alfred rushed, trying to get to the damn point.

"So what's wrong?" Canada asked, sensing America's eagerness and anxiety.

"Something happened with ________________." Alfred said. "I got home early from work today and she was all happy to see me but then a couple minutes later she freaked out and started crying and locked herself in our room and now she won't come out!"

Canada was a gentle person sure, but damn his brother could be a headache…and could Alfred be any vaguer about what happened?

Hmm….Matthew was a sensitive guy so he was good with emotions and such…what could have bothered you? Aaaah yes, words hurt! True story indeed; words hurt; Canada knew that for sure.

"Well wha—"

"And she's been really distant and just different lately too!" Alfred continued, cutting Canada off just as he was about to speak, which internally pissed the gentle country off a bit.

"Ok…well what did you talk about when you got home?" Matthew asked.

"Huh? Well she asked me how my day went and I didn't say much. I told her that I got a bunch of stuff done and that I probably won't have to work as many hours soon." Alfred replied.

"Is that it?" Matthew asked, knowing that Alfred was the type to leave out important details when he was in a rush.

"Well there was one other thing. Some guy at work asked me about me and ________________ having kids. So I told ________________ what I told him, which was that we just aren't ready for kids and that we don't really want any right now."

Canada took in everything Alfred had said for a moment but soon his eyes widened and he made a small gasp in realization. It was all coming together…you had told him about how you had gotten sick at dinner…you had been acting strange…and now you had burst into tears at what Alfred said.

"America, you're so insensitive." Canada said finally.

"What? Insensitive! What does that have to do with anything? And I'm NOT insensitive." Alfred said defensively.

Canada wanted to sigh. He knew that Alfred could be totally dense and all and he knew that he had been going through a tough time at work but still, he just wished that his brother could get things without having them spelled out every once and a while.

"Can't you figure things out for yourself for once? I mean…you don't suppose you could stop using your mouth and start using your head instead could you?" Canada said quietly, feeling bad for you.

"Dude…I don't get it." Alfred said, now more confused than upset. "…can't you just tell me what's wrong so I can do something?"

Canada said nothing.

"You have to help me Canada!" America shouted into the receiver, almost pleadingly.

"You need to help yourself, America…sorry." Matthew said before hanging up.

America stared at the phone for a few seconds before hanging it up and running a hand through his hair.

"Use my head huh…" America mused. "What can I do for her…? All I know is how she's been acting since our anniversary and that now she's all………."

Wait…since the anniversary…? What happened then?

America's eyes widened as everything came back to him. Your sickly expression before you took off, and how pale you looked when you returned on the day of your anniversary. Your behavior had changed since that day, little by little. You ate differently. You paid more visits to the restroom and seemed to always have sleepy eyes. And now you cried after he mentioned…

Alfred nearly cried. He felt so utterly ashamed of himself. How did he miss all of the signs?! He was supposed to be your hero. After that horrible incident on your six month dating anniversary he had decided he'd be a better man to and for you! No…now was no time to be feeling sorry for himself; you were the most important thing right now.

Standing up, Alfred walked back to your shared bedroom a bit more quietly, gently rapping his knuckles against the door. "______________, can I please come in?"

"N-no…I don't want to talk." You croaked.

"______________, we need to talk. Remember where not talking about our feelings got us before?" Alfred reminded you.

After a few moments of silence, Alfred could hear the familiar sound of sheets rustling and your footsteps crossing the bedroom floor before the lock clicked open. Alfred was about to reach out to open it but you beat him to it, greeting him with red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Let's sit down." Alfred said somewhat firmly but still retained warmth in his tone as well.

You simply nodded and followed him to the bed, sitting down next to him.

"_____________, I wanted to say I'm sorry for being so dense. I understand now." Alfred said, taking your hand which you didn't clasp in return.

"Not to be rude but I doubt you do Alfred. I love you to death but you can't seem to—"

"You're pregnant aren't you, ______________?" Alfred said, cutting you off.

You froze with shock…he had really figured it out…

"A-Alfred…" you breathed, daring yourself to look at him.

You couldn't believe what you saw. Alfred's charming blue eyes were filled with warmth and love and even a bit of excitement.

"Alfred I ah—!"

Before you could finish, Alfred pulled you into his arms and kissed all over your cheeks. "I can't believe we're having a baby, ____________...it's so…so….awesome!!!" Alfred said finally, pulling away from you with a giant grin on his face, seemingly back to his usual energetic self.

"But you said—"

"I only said that to him because I thought that was what you wanted." Alfred explained. "I figured because you were still taking birth control, that that's how you felt about having kids. I guess I thought you didn't want any…at least for a while. Actually, I've kinda been thinking about adding someone to our family for a while now but I didn't want to make you feel like you had to do anything."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing…you were just so…

"Alfred." You beamed. "I'm so happy!" you cried, flinging your arms around him.

You squeaked and laughed when Alfred picked you up and began swinging you around. "My girl is pregnant! We're gonna have a baby! This is awesome!"

You laughed and managed to get back on your feet long enough to wrap your arms around your husband lovingly, truly allowing every bit of your love to flow into him.

"I love you so much, Alfred." You whispered.

Alfred smiled and kissed the top of your head. "I love you too…both of you."

Description
"You almost ready babe?" America called to you from downstairs.

"Yeah! I'll be down in a sec!" you replied as you finished touching up your makeup.

Today was your two year wedding anniversary with Alfred and you were going out somewhere special; Alfred had made reservations at a five star restaurant. On top of being a five star restaurant for its food and service, the building itself was perched on top of a beautiful grassy hill that overlooked a pristine lake. Alfred had made a special request to be seated with you in the outside dining area so you could both enjoy the view.

Quite honestly, though you felt yourself worrying over the expense of it all, you were also thrilled to be going. You had never eaten at such a fancy place before. Heck, you hadn't even stepped inside a place like that!

You smiled gently and closed your eyes. Sure Alfred could be annoying and careless and sometimes he didn't listen to you, but the good always outweighed the bad. Even after being with Alfred for a little over three years he never ceased to surprise you with his sweetness.

Sometimes you wouldn't be feeling well and he'd try to cook something for you or do laundry and other chores. Sure over half the time he'd manage to do something impossible like set cereal on fire or he'd turn all the white clothes pink by unknowingly throwing something red in along with it…but it was just how thoughtful he was. Underneath all that energy of his was one of the most kind-hearted people you had ever known; he had such a big heart….

"________________!"

You shook your head to snap out of your daze when you heard the subject of your thoughts calling for you.

"Coming!" you said quickly before making your way downstairs.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, you giggled at Alfred's face. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape.

"Will this do?" you asked, looking down at your current state of dress.

Since you were headed somewhere so formal, you had to buy yourself a nice dress. After trying on what seemed like a million of them, you found the perfect one. It was the perfect length on your body and the neckline flattered your collarbone. In addition to that, the dress was the perfect cut, flattering every part of you wondrously. On top of all that, it was the perfect shade of (color), only further accentuating your beauty.

"You look gorgeous, _______________." Alfred said smoothly.

"Thanks" you smiled shyly. "You look rather nice yourself." You commented, admiring his black slacks, paired with a red collared shirt.

Alfred chuckled. "Thanks but I'm not near as good looking as you."

You rolled your eyes and took his hand. "Come on; let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alfred, this is all so fantastic…" you breathed, watching the sun falling beneath the horizon, reflecting its amber glow off of the pristine lake your table overlooked.

"I'm glad you like it." Alfred said. "I was kinda worried you wouldn't be into this sort of thing." He finished, rubbing the back of his neck with a bit of a laugh.

You smiled softly at him. "How could I not love this? The weather is amazing, the view is gorgeous, the food was perfect…and I've been married to you for two years." You finished, beaming thoughtfully at your wedding band.

"It's kinda hard to believe it's been that long." Alfred said, looking off for a moment before gazing back at you.

His heart pounded in his chest as he took in how beautiful you looked at this moment, trying to etch a picture of you in his mind to look back on. The amber-tinted waves of the lake reflected in your (color) orbs while your (length and color) hair wisped around your face in the mild breeze. Yeah…he almost had this picture completely cemented in his mind….

"Mnngh." You gurgled suddenly, placing a hand against your stomach and another up to your mouth.

"_______________? Are you ok?" Alfred asked worriedly.

"I…" you croaked weakly. That was all you could manage to say before you made your way to the restroom as quickly and as discretely as you could, given the current atmosphere.

Flinging open the bathroom door, you dashed into the nearest stall, latched the door and fell to your knees before the toilet. You were glad you took off when you did. As soon as you knelt down, you began to spasm, choking and retching as your body forced out the contents of your stomach, throwing away the food you had enjoyed only minutes earlier.

After about another minute of being bent over the toilet, your stomach finally settled, leaving you panting and coughing slightly. After taking a few more deep breaths to recover, you flushed away the mess and stood up shakily, making your way over to the sink slowly.

'Great' you thought to yourself, observing your eyes that had now reddened from your straining. In addition, some of your mascara had bled from the small tears that had formed in your eyes, drawing greyish stripes down your cheeks.

'What was that all about?' you wondered. You had been just fine and then suddenly you felt ill. Maybe you ate too much? Maybe the food was too rich? …maybe there was something in your entrée that didn't agree with your stomach. In any case, you were suddenly feeling completely back to normal…not sick at all.

After cleaning your face up a bit you finally headed back to your table.

"_______________!" Alfred said, standing up quickly.

"Hey, sorry about that." You said, giving him a smile.

"________________, what happened? You just took off all of the sudden. You look kinda pale…" Alfred said worriedly.

Poor Alfred…this was your two year anniversary…you really really didn't want to mess this up for him. If you told him that you threw up, he'd probably think it was his fault for taking you to this wonderful restaurant.

"Don't worry, Al." you grinned. "I just had to burp really bad and since this is a really nice place, I can't just let it out like we do at the house you know?" you chuckled.

You were glad when you heard Alfred return your laughter, obviously buying into your story. "Well if you're gassy or whatever then we can just head back home." He said with a goofy grin.

You giggled and shook your head. "Al…you're a goof."

"Yeah but you love me anyway." He laughed.

"Yes…yes I do…" you smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a couple of weeks since your two year anniversary and things were…going not so well…or at least you knew they weren't. Since that day you had only gotten sicker. Your lower back had started aching, you felt dizzy and lightheaded, especially when you stood up. You got headaches a lot and even if you didn't end up throwing up, you still felt nauseous on a regular basis. In general, you just felt a lot slower…what was wrong with you? Some sort of virus? It had to be…but no…you didn't have a fever anytime you took your temperature.

Al…he didn't know about any of this. The reason why? Because you didn't want him to know. Things had gotten crazy at work lately and even though he put on a smile for you every single day, you knew that Alfred was completely stressed out by his job. He had been lucky to even have the time to take you out to eat on your anniversary. You didn't want to worry him anymore than you had to. Your poor Alfred…he was working every single day of the week now from at least 6:00 AM to 8:30 PM…sometimes even later…that was just too much…

'Al will find out I'm sick eventually though…and he'll be so disappointed in himself once he does…I need to find out what's wrong with me…' you thought.

You groaned when you realized something though. You couldn't just go to the doctor's office. They would bill you and then Alfred would find out that you had been to the doctor…plus his workplace was pretty close to your local doctor's office so there was the potential of him seeing you.

Finally you decided to call someone you were close to…yeah…a good friend and someone who you knew had a lot of life experience.

Reaching over you dialed the number of one of your closest friends. After a few rings there was a sweet yet spunky "hello" on the other end of the line.

"Hey Elizaveta…" you said, sounding more down than you had hoped.

"________________? Is everything alright? You sound terrible." Hungary replied worriedly.

Hungary…she was so sweet…like a mom, sister, and best friend all in one.

"No…I feel like hell." You said dully.

You could hear Hungary sigh on the other end. "Why don't you go to the doctor? You were sick on the day of your anniversary too right? That's what you said anyway. That's a long time to be sick."

There was a long pause on the phone…ugh you hated awkward silence. You were about to speak up again when you could have sworn you heard your friend gasp on the other end of the phone.

"Elizaveta?" you questioned hesitantly.

"________________...are you still on the pill?" your friend asked finally.

What…?

It took a minute for her words to register in your mind but once they did you hurriedly sputtered your answer into the phone. "O-of course I am!"

It was true. You had started your birth control a month and a half before you married Alfred just to make sure the medication was settled into your system and you hadn't missed a single day since!

"_______________, you should really get a test. From what you told me back then, it sounds like you really might be—"

"But we haven't planned for it Lizzie!" you rushed.

Sure you and Alfred had talked about kids a couple times before but it was never really decided when you would try for babies or anything like that! You couldn't just dump this on Al! And come on! It's called birth CONTROL for a REASON right?!

"America will be able to handle it if you are, _____________." Hungary said comfortingly.

You couldn't help but sniff. It wasn't that you'd hate having a baby…but for this all to happen so suddenly…and without any prior discussion on the matter…

"_______________?" Hungary said gently, making sure you were still there.

"I guess I'll…get a test…" you said somewhat numbly, still in shock from the whole idea of pregnancy even being a possibility right now.

You could practically see Hungary's face right now…you knew she wanted to be there with you but also wanted to give you space.

"Alright…but if you need anything you know you can call me." Hungary reminded you.

"I know. Thanks Lizzie." You replied blandly. You felt bad for being so dull and seemingly indifferent toward your friend but you just couldn't seem to help it.

After trading your brief goodbyes you simply sat on the edge of the bed. You weren't really sure how you felt...

You shook your head, trying to break free from the numbing daze. Sitting around wasn't going to help anything. And if you really were pregnant, you were going to need to know…there would be a hell of a lot more to think about later if Elizaveta's hunch was correct.

After willing yourself to get up and make yourself look marginally presentable, you headed outside. Honestly you didn't really care how you looked as you had way too much on your mind to worry about that, and besides, the pharmacy was walking distance from your house; only about five minutes away; it wasn't like a ton of people were going to see you and actually care how you looked.

Stepping inside the pharmacy, you didn't look anywhere except straight ahead…you just wanted to get in and out. Aisle 8….your aisle. You stared at everything with mixed emotions swarming your body. All these pregnancy tests…they all looked the same. Looking at the products placed directly next to the pregnancy tests, you nearly laughed. All the condoms and lubricants you could ever want were lined up right next to the tests…the irony…

Refocusing, you looked at the pregnancy tests again. First Response…you'd seen commercials for it…and you got three in one box for a decent price. You didn't feel like weighing your options so you just grabbed the First Response "value pack" with "one free test inside!"…yippee…

The rest of your experience was uneventful. Ring the stuff up and walk back home…but now things weren't so bland.

Walking up to the bathroom you could feel your heart pounding almost painfully from anxiety. Why? Why were you so worked up? Should you be this worried…you didn't know….

'Standing here won't do anything…' you thought as you walked in and closed the door behind you.

After briefly looking over the instructions, you proceeded to use all three tests; might as well. And now you waited….every single second that ticked by felt like an eternity. You just wanted to know. You just wanted—

You practically jumped when you heard a few small beeps, signaling that your test results were ready.

Your heart thudded painfully hard, almost to where you worried you might have a heart attack…but you calmed yourself down…you were just looking at a few tests right? Finally you reached out and grasped the first one before taking a deep breath and looking at it.

……two pink lines…..that meant you were…..

Setting that one aside, you hastily grabbed the next test. Two pink lines…

Finally you grabbed the third test…the screen clearly displayed the same two pink lines as you saw on the other two tests.

Pregnant.

"I guess I'm pregnant…" you breathed.

…………………..

Tears. You were covered in tears in only a few short seconds. Oh god…oh god oh god oh god. You felt like such a bitch for getting so upset. It wasn't that you were against having a baby. That wasn't it at all! You just…you didn't know how Alfred was going to take it. What if he wasn't ready for it? What if he had recently decided that he didn't really want kids at all and was happy with just you? There were so many things that could go wrong!

...practically out of nowhere, you mentally smacked yourself.

'What am I thinking? ....Alfred loves me so much. He's one of the most loving people I've ever met. Why am I acting like he's some random guy I had a one-night stand with and got pregnant by? Sure this wasn't expected but Alfred will be fine…'

Having given yourself a mental review of the situation you actually smiled a bit and sighed. You had been panicking for no reason. Everything was going to be fine….

You gasped when you suddenly heard the front door open and close.

"________________! Guess what?! I'm home early! I got off early!" Alfred shouted happily.

Fuck!

As quickly as you could, you grabbed the tests and their boxes and shoved them into the bathroom wastebasket underneath other garbage so that Alfred couldn't see them.

"Ok." You sighed before stepping out.

You walked out and smiled at the sight of your husband. He had a REAL smile on this time. You could tell he was more than a little happy to get home early.

"Hey there my handsome hero." You chuckled.

Alfred turned around and beamed at you before picking you up and kissing you. "I've missed you so much, babe. I'm sorry I haven't been able to be with you as much." The blonde said before showering your face with kisses.

You giggled at the small pecks against your face. You really had been worrying way too much about this pregnancy thing. Al was going to be totally fine with it. In fact, you were feeling up to telling him! But first you wanted to let him talk.

"So tell me how your day went." You said, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Alfred continued to hold your waist and smiled. "Well not to brag but I got a ton of shit done today!" he began with energy finally back in his voice. "Actually I think my super horrible hours are about to die down pretty quick here. I should be able to be home more often really soon."

You smiled at him. He looked so happy. He was in a good mood. This was your chance.

Just as you were about to speak however, Alfred started chatting again.

"So this guy at work said something kinda funny today." Alfred began. "he said that he figured that we should have some kids by now."

Kids….d-did Alfred know?!

Alfred chuckled. "He got all pushy, but I told him that we aren't ready for kids right now. I told him that we're just not really at a time in our marriage where we want them yet."

……………….

We aren't ready for kids…..we don't want them yet….we aren't ready for kids we don't want them…we aren't ready for kids we aren't ready for kids we aren't ready for kids.

Your eyes widened as those words echoed in your mind over and over, rattling your brain and making your heart shatter. You didn't even notice the silent tears that began to slip from your eyes, but Alfred did.

"___-_______________? What's wrong?" Alfred asked worriedly, confused as to why you were so suddenly upset.

You didn't reply.

"__________________?" Alfred asked again, this time cupping your cheek.

"Leave me alone…" you muttered.

"What?" Alfred asked, not quite hearing you.

"I said leave me alone!" you cried, shoving your husband off of you and running to your room. As soon as you made it in, you slammed the door and locked it before throwing yourself onto the bed in tears.

"__________________!" Alfred shouted, running after you. "_________________! What's wrong?!"

"Just go away!" you sobbed.

"__________________...let me help you!" Alfred insisted, grabbing the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. "________________...come on…let me in. Why'd you lock yourself up in there?"

"I said GO AWAY!" you screeched, crying louder than ever.

Alfred was, to say the least, utterly shocked and completely and entirely confused. What just happened? Less than a minute ago you were smiling and hugging on him and now you were locked in your room and wanted nothing to do with him?

Oh man…what now? ….he needed to talk to someone….

Kiku? No; that guy was way too socially awkward; he wasn't going to feel comfortable talking about marital issues. Arthur? Ugh, no. If he called Arthur, he'd just get called a git and a wanker and have to endure a lecture that may or may not have any bearing on the present situation. So then…ah ha!

Grabbing the phone, Alfred punched in the desired phone number at lightning speed, waiting anxiously.

"Come on. Pick up. Pick up." America chanted to no one.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, there was finally an answer. "…hello…? America…?"

"CANADA! DUDE! I TOTALLY NEED YOUR HELP!" Alfred practically screamed into the receiver.

He could hear Canada making some sort of a pained sound on the other end of the phone….hmmm had he talked too loud?

"Uh…so can you maybe help me?" America finished somewhat sheepishly; sure he was usually confident but this situation with you had him really worried.

"Ok…but just don't yell anymore. My ears really hurt now, America…" Canada said in his usual gentle tone.

"Yeah ok I promise." Alfred rushed, trying to get to the damn point.

"So what's wrong?" Canada asked, sensing America's eagerness and anxiety.

"Something happened with ________________." Alfred said. "I got home early from work today and she was all happy to see me but then a couple minutes later she freaked out and started crying and locked herself in our room and now she won't come out!"

Canada was a gentle person sure, but damn his brother could be a headache…and could Alfred be any vaguer about what happened?

Hmm….Matthew was a sensitive guy so he was good with emotions and such…what could have bothered you? Aaaah yes, words hurt! True story indeed; words hurt; Canada knew that for sure.

"Well wha—"

"And she's been really distant and just different lately too!" Alfred continued, cutting Canada off just as he was about to speak, which internally pissed the gentle country off a bit.

"Ok…well what did you talk about when you got home?" Matthew asked.

"Huh? Well she asked me how my day went and I didn't say much. I told her that I got a bunch of stuff done and that I probably won't have to work as many hours soon." Alfred replied.

"Is that it?" Matthew asked, knowing that Alfred was the type to leave out important details when he was in a rush.

"Well there was one other thing. Some guy at work asked me about me and ________________ having kids. So I told ________________ what I told him, which was that we just aren't ready for kids and that we don't really want any right now."

Canada took in everything Alfred had said for a moment but soon his eyes widened and he made a small gasp in realization. It was all coming together…you had told him about how you had gotten sick at dinner…you had been acting strange…and now you had burst into tears at what Alfred said.

"America, you're so insensitive." Canada said finally.

"What? Insensitive! What does that have to do with anything? And I'm NOT insensitive." Alfred said defensively.

Canada wanted to sigh. He knew that Alfred could be totally dense and all and he knew that he had been going through a tough time at work but still, he just wished that his brother could get things without having them spelled out every once and a while.

"Can't you figure things out for yourself for once? I mean…you don't suppose you could stop using your mouth and start using your head instead could you?" Canada said quietly, feeling bad for you.

"Dude…I don't get it." Alfred said, now more confused than upset. "…can't you just tell me what's wrong so I can do something?"

Canada said nothing.

"You have to help me Canada!" America shouted into the receiver, almost pleadingly.

"You need to help yourself, America…sorry." Matthew said before hanging up.

America stared at the phone for a few seconds before hanging it up and running a hand through his hair.

"Use my head huh…" America mused. "What can I do for her…? All I know is how she's been acting since our anniversary and that now she's all………."

Wait…since the anniversary…? What happened then?

America's eyes widened as everything came back to him. Your sickly expression before you took off, and how pale you looked when you returned on the day of your anniversary. Your behavior had changed since that day, little by little. You ate differently. You paid more visits to the restroom and seemed to always have sleepy eyes. And now you cried after he mentioned…

Alfred nearly cried. He felt so utterly ashamed of himself. How did he miss all of the signs?! He was supposed to be your hero. After that horrible incident on your six month dating anniversary he had decided he'd be a better man to and for you! No…now was no time to be feeling sorry for himself; you were the most important thing right now.

Standing up, Alfred walked back to your shared bedroom a bit more quietly, gently rapping his knuckles against the door. "______________, can I please come in?"

"N-no…I don't want to talk." You croaked.

"______________, we need to talk. Remember where not talking about our feelings got us before?" Alfred reminded you.

After a few moments of silence, Alfred could hear the familiar sound of sheets rustling and your footsteps crossing the bedroom floor before the lock clicked open. Alfred was about to reach out to open it but you beat him to it, greeting him with red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Let's sit down." Alfred said somewhat firmly but still retained warmth in his tone as well.

You simply nodded and followed him to the bed, sitting down next to him.

"_____________, I wanted to say I'm sorry for being so dense. I understand now." Alfred said, taking your hand which you didn't clasp in return.

"Not to be rude but I doubt you do Alfred. I love you to death but you can't seem to—"

"You're pregnant aren't you, ______________?" Alfred said, cutting you off.

You froze with shock…he had really figured it out…

"A-Alfred…" you breathed, daring yourself to look at him.

You couldn't believe what you saw. Alfred's charming blue eyes were filled with warmth and love and even a bit of excitement.

"Alfred I ah—!"

Before you could finish, Alfred pulled you into his arms and kissed all over your cheeks. "I can't believe we're having a baby, ____________...it's so…so….awesome!!!" Alfred said finally, pulling away from you with a giant grin on his face, seemingly back to his usual energetic self.

"But you said—"

"I only said that to him because I thought that was what you wanted." Alfred explained. "I figured because you were still taking birth control, that that's how you felt about having kids. I guess I thought you didn't want any…at least for a while. Actually, I've kinda been thinking about adding someone to our family for a while now but I didn't want to make you feel like you had to do anything."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing…you were just so…

"Alfred." You beamed. "I'm so happy!" you cried, flinging your arms around him.

You squeaked and laughed when Alfred picked you up and began swinging you around. "My girl is pregnant! We're gonna have a baby! This is awesome!"

You laughed and managed to get back on your feet long enough to wrap your arms around your husband lovingly, truly allowing every bit of your love to flow into him.

"I love you so much, Alfred." You whispered.

Alfred smiled and kissed the top of your head. "I love you too…both of you."