Felicia hummed happily as she opened the door of her home just on the outskirts of the city, a grocery bag hanging off of one arm. She kicked the door closed and yelled "I'm home!" out of reflex, knowing quite well that no one would be responding back to her. As she hung up her coat and scarf, the sound of a cat was heard as an orange and white tabby came in, purring against her leg. Felicia crouched down, petting her cat on the head.

"I'm home, Gino! And I've found out some good news! I thought I was sick due to Arthur's food I had a few days ago, but it turns out that I was just having morning sickness! I'm pregnant! Isn't that great?" She giggled, the cat making no sign he understood what was just said. "I hope that you two can get along, once he or she arrives. Ve, I have to go get started on dinner if I want to finish before Ludwig comes home!"

She stood back up, walking off to the kitchen with Gino just behind her heels. "I want to surprise him, do you think that would be a good idea?" The cat mewed.

"Why?" Felicia questioned as though she understood exactly what Gino was saying. "I know he doesn't like surprises, but no matter what this will be a surprise, right? So I figured I should try to make it a special surprise!"

Felicia placed the ingredients out on the marble counter, put her auburn hair up in a ponytail, washed her hands, and grabbed a red apron from a drawer and tied it behind her. Once she made the knot, she slowly let her hands fall in front of her, resting on her stomach. There was silence for a brief moment until Gino mewed, staring up at her. Felicia looked down at him, frowning. "… I'm afraid Ludwig might not want the child. We've talked about it and decided to maybe have one later on, but this was… most definitely a surprise for me. And if it had that effect on me, it might be worse for him. He likes to plan everything and a child…" She looked up at the ceiling, clutching her stomach a bit more tightly than before. "I'm afraid that he might want to…"

The words were left hanging, as though someone would come and pick them up. It was a scary thought that even she didn't want to say. Felicia shook her head and turned back to Gino, a smile on her face. "I'm hopeful though that he'll be happy about this, ve! So please don't tell him about what I just said, okay?" Gino continued to look at her, almost expectantly. Felicia watched him, confused, before it kicked it. Felicia smacked her forehead.

"Oh! I forgot to refill your food bowl, didn't I? I'm sorry, let's go! I'll give you some special cat treats to make it up!" She hurried out with Gino hot on her trail.

After she finished feeding Gino (and Ludwig's three dogs, Aster, Blackie, and Berlitz who were in the backyard), Felicia worked in the kitchen for an hour. It was a perfect plan to let Ludwig know she was pregnant! Since Felicia was a great cook, she decided to make a theme for tonight's dinner, and hopefully Ludwig would put the pieces together and figure it out over a nice meal once he recognized the food! Though because she was cooking pasta, she'd have to translate the meanings for him since he only knew a few phrases and words. Hopefully he will still understand what she's trying to convey to him. There was no way he wouldn't get it! Felicia was positive about that. Ludwig was very smart, after all.

Felicia had just finished setting the table when the sound of a key in lock was heard. She grinned, a bit nervously. Keeping secrets was not her forte. Felicia had a habit of telling others exciting news right off the bat, so holding back was going to be hard and challenging.

She wiped her hands on her apron and walked out of the kitchen to see a tall, muscular, blond-haired man walk in, a stressed look on his face with his eyebrows knitted together. He placed his beige trench coat neatly next to Felicia's on the coat rack, with his knitted scarf on top. He also permitted a few buttons from the top of his nice, blue dress shirt to be undone, signaling Felicia that today had not been very kind to him. It was normal for him to undo one, maybe two, but three? With any luck, maybe she could turn his mood around.

"I'm home." He said in a low voice, taking off his gloves and placing them on the drawer near the door. "Welcome home." Felicia said, walking up to him with a bright smile on her face. He immediately looked up, his expression easing by the mere sight of her. Ludwig leaned down and kissed her, a peck on the lips.

"How was your day, sweetie?" Ludwig didn't mind her calling him endearing pet names, but tended to feel a bit more embarrassed while outside the house. He said that it was hard to get used to something like that and needed time to adjust. Felicia didn't exactly understand, they were a married couple after all and it wasn't uncommon, but accepted his wishes anyway. Most of the time.

"Horrible. I'm working with the mechatronics group this week. I helped Sakura with her industrial toothpaste machine, since there seemed to be an issue with it." He said as Felicia guided him down to the table in the kitchen. "Just as we thought we got it fixed, her cousin came in with her lunch and practically yelled in her ear, causing her to mess up on the arm and accidentally activated it, squeezing bright green mint toothpaste everywhere."

Ludwig sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Felicia quickly brought the food over, though her once happy smile started to wear out. The way Ludwig was speaking, it sounded like he got yelled at, or worse had to be hard on one of his employees. She never did like it when he came home upset. Sometimes on days like these, Ludwig tended to be more stressed out, not to mention would be oblivious to what was in front of him.

Just as she was hoping tonight wouldn't be one of those nights, Ludwig brought the food over to his plate, said a quick thank you, and started to eat. He didn't even notice what exactly was on the table! How was she supposed to bring it up now? "It'll be a while before we can clean all of the toothpaste from the other robots in the room. Sometimes I wonder if I should have ever accepted this position. I can understand why the man before me left the job. It's so hard to keep all the sections under control!"

Ludwig worked in a mechanics building in the city that helps build efficient machines to improve day-to-day life, as well as for industries. He was something of a manager, Felicia didn't know exactly what, but he was basically in charge of overseeing the other groups, which was impressive since he was only 23, though the company used to belong to a relative of his. Ludwig's older brother, Gilbert, now owns the company. He had been offered to be vice president right off, but Ludwig wanted to start from the bottom and work his way up. Felicia admired that.

Well, maybe tonight wasn't a good night to bring up about her being pregnant. It would only add to his troubles at the moment, something Ludwig most certainly did not need. She smiled kindly, placing her hand on top of his. "Ve, don't worry. I'm sure that the toothpaste will all be cleaned up sooner than you think!"

He looked up at her and her bright face. He seemed to relax a bit, his blue eyes softening. "Thanks for listening, Feli."

"It's no problem at all! Besides, you are always there for me when I hit an artist's block and help me through it." She laughed. Yes, tonight was not the night to be telling him. Maybe another day.

"Oh, I have to get down to the studio early tomorrow, one of my students needs some help with her college art exhibit and needs some inspiration, so I was planning on taking her to a park nearby or some other city sites that she might like. But have you heard? The weather channel said there might be a really bad storm coming in tonight and lasting tomorrow morning, so I might have to cancel meeting up with her. But just in case, could you...?"

Ludwig nodded. "I'll make sure that you wake up on time regardless, since you have a hard time leaving the bed. I'll also feed the dogs and Gino in the morning if you do leave, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Ludwig!" she said, clapping her hands together. Ludwig lightly blushed, turning his attention back to the food. He was so cute sometimes, Felicia thought. Even just a simple thank you still causes him to make an adorable face like that!

"Oh, Feli," He spoke, causing her to turn her amber eyes back to him. "Did you make something new? I don't recognize this kind of pasta."

Felicia froze in her seat. No, he was not supposed to notice just as she decided tonight wouldn't work! "I-I wanted to try something different!" She tried not to sound suspicious, but it was hard now that the moment was upon her. Felicia shifted her eyes unconsciously, causing Ludwig to scrutinize her.

"Is something the matter?" He questioned. Felicia squirmed in her seat.

"Not at all! I just didn't know how you would like it is all." Felicia internally breathed a sigh as Ludwig gave a content look as he accepted her response.

"Oh, alright. What is it, then? This pasta." He pointed to his plate. Felicia pointed her fork at each individual piece. "The long tubes are called pici, which means little ones. These bell-shaped ones with the ruffled edge are sorprese, meaning surprise. Over here are orecchiette, little ears, and the last one is campanelle, little bells. I didn't know whether or not to make the campanelle at first, but I like the name of them! Little bells, it reminds me of a baby's laugh! Isn't it cute?"

Yes, perfect! She named them all and even referenced a baby! Felicia looked over at Ludwig expectantly, eagerly awaiting his reaction. But what happened wasn't what she wanted. While he did look as though he was contemplating what she said, he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back and responded with a "Yes, very cute." And continued to eat the meal.

That wasn't how it was supposed to go!

"Oh…" Ludwig said suddenly, looking at her in worry. Maybe he figured it out? Was he going to question her more about the pasta? "Did you end up going to the doctors? Even though it was possible for you to have become sick after eating Arthur's food back at Alfred's party, I don't exactly think it was just that. Are you okay? Do you feel well?"

Apparently not. Now, Felicia saw two choices that she could make at that moment. Tell her husband the truth, that she was expecting in an unexciting way that originally he was supposed to figure out, or try again the next day and do something that would be more special.

"I'm totally fine, it really was just Arthur's food mixed with some stress I've been having back at the studio, ve! It's hard to keep track of students and how they are doing!" She would make it a special moment, no matter what! If it meant another day, then so be it!

Ludwig gave her a concerned look. "Please don't worry, I'm fine! I'm incredibly strong!" Felicia laughed, flexing her arm like a body builder.

Even though Felicia had hoped that this would be enough to stop Ludwig from questioning further, it seemed that luck wasn't on her side. The man placed his silverware down on his plate and scooted over to her, taking her hands into his own. "I can tell you're thinking about something, and something important. What is it?"

"It's nothing, Ludwig! I just…" She stopped. She had almost said I just want you to be happy that I'm having a baby. Felicia shifted her gaze to the tiled floor underneath her.

"I just…?" He honestly was trying to make her feel better, trying to figure out what she wanted to tell him. Maybe she should just say it… Let it out now, even though it wasn't exactly how she planned it? "What is it?"

This was it. She can't back down, once Ludwig got set on knowing something he'd do anything in his power to get the answer. Usually he'd go for one of his manuals, but with Felicia he found out that going by the manual never really works. He wasn't glaring at her angrily, like how she thought he would in the deepest parts of her mind, but genuinely worried about her. He had that look in his eyes, the very same that always took Felicia's breath away. Love.

Felicia took a deep breath, letting all the worries go out through that swift breath of air. "I wanted you to see… to notice what I was trying to tell you." She gulped.

"That… I'm—"

RING!

The noise caught both of them off guard. The ringtone was of Ludwig's personal cell, meaning it was a work-related call. Ludwig himself was not pleased with the interruption, but rubbed his forehead before gazing back to Felicia. "I'm sorry, I have to answer that." He gave her an apologetic smile before twisting it into something sour and left, mumbling irately as he fetched his phone from the room over.

Felicia sighed. On one hand she was glad she didn't tell him. He wasn't having the greatest of days and making him think about something when he only wanted to relax seemed unfair. On the other hand, she really wanted to tell him; to surprise him. And for a moment, it felt like he wanted to hear it, which helped encourage her say what she wanted to say.

The minutes flew by as Felicia ate her meal in silence, wondering if she should tell him when he got back. After contemplating it, the decision was clear. She'd tell him. It was a good moment to do so… right?

An irritated noise came from the doorway as Ludwig stepped back in. "It seems that very same machine, the toothpaste one I told you about earlier, was just reactivated as the janitor was about to leave. He called my brother, who then said to call me. Damn, why can't my brother just handle the problems we get? I swear, when I see him tomorrow I'm going to have to make sure to thoroughly educate him about how to be CEO of a top corporation!"

Felicia let out a sigh she didn't know was in her. Ludwig immediately walked up to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I need to get to the building, there's a janitor freaking out that he's all alone with a toothpaste machine that's spreading a mint fresh air smell about the place ruining the other robots that thinks it will actually harm him, despite the fact the machine only turns and dispenses toothpaste and nothing else." Felicia wasn't expecting such a light answer and ended up chuckling, a large smile cracking from her earlier sad expression. Ludwig had to beam at such a sight.

"I don't know when I'll be back."

"That's fine, just make sure the janitor is alright and that the equipment isn't too badly damaged! Ve, hopefully the poor thing is safe!"

Ludwig chortled. "He's hiding in the closet with a broom as a weapon, he told me." The image was highly amusing, as Felicia thought up a mental picture. They walked to the main hallway, Felicia helping him get his coat on while he put on his gloves and a hat on top of his head.

"Be careful, that snow storm could hit at any moment tonight." Felicia advised, buttoning up his coat.

"I will." He said, kissing her goodbye. He just crossed the threshold when his wife shouted out to him from the warmth of their home, "I love you!"

He turned, looking much more lively and glad than when he had first walked into the house. "I love you too." And left, leaving large footprints in the snow as he started up the car and went on his way. Felicia closed the door, shivering. It looked like they were going to have a white Christmas this year.

Dinner was quietly cleaned up, leftover pasta stored, the dogs brought inside, and a nice warm bed just waiting for someone to occupy it. As Felicia slipped under the covers, with Gino curling up at her feet, she let her hands touch her belly. It didn't look or feel like a baby was there, but it was true. In about seven and a half months she would be a mother. And Ludwig a father. She would have another chance to tell him tomorrow, Felicia thought.

Images of playing with the baby, dressing them up and taking them for walks, teaching them customs and history and how great it was to have fun took over her mind. Felicia was so entrapped by this that she did not notice that she was in fact dreaming until a pair of arms snaked around her middle woke her up. Sleepily, she looked down to see the same strong hands that eased each and every one of her worries.

"Hey…" She quietly spoke as Ludwig brought them closer.

"Hey." He replied back, snuggling into her warm body.

"Was the janitor okay?"

"A little shaken, but he will be fine. The machine is okay too. Just needs some improvements. Though next time we'll make sure there is no toothpaste in it until basic testing is finished with."

"That's good."

She yawned and closed her eyes while Ludwig kissed the back of her neck. He held her gently, as though she was fragile, hands never leaving her stomach. "Good night Ludwig. I love you."

"Good night, Felicia. I love you." Felicia fell into a deep sleep, the last of Ludwig's words echoing in her head as she slumbered.

A/N: One of two Christmas stories I'll be posting up this month. I don't know when the next part'll be up, but hopefully sometime within the week!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia in any way, shape, or form. Many thanks to Himaruya Hidekaz for creating the series!