Hetalia doesn't belong to me.

You can request pairings for me to do. This is just an introduction chapter, so anyone can request GerIta again. Please read the bottom when you're done for important information regarding requesting.

Ludwig had always been and would always be the first to admit he wasn't a terribly emotional person. He hadn't been raised that way. Despite his older brother's antics, he had been raised in a strict household that focused on success and training. The most he found himself truly expressing was his anger and disappointment towards the people around him.

It had taken a major adjustment to get used to being in a relationship once he had started dating his now-husband. Feliciano could accept him for who he was, but it was soon realized the overly-affectionate young man needed affection in return for them to work. Otherwise, he felt like he was being a bother and their relationship was one-sided. It had ended up taking Ludwig months to totally get over his inhibitions, but Feliciano had appreciated the attempts to be sweeter and initiate more kisses and hand-holding himself.

Now that they were married, though, and had a baby literally on the way in the delivery room, he didn't know if he could handle it. He had read all the instructional baby books and child psychology article he could find in the past year, so he felt like he could properly take care of his and Feliciano's child without killing it. On the other hand, his reading material had made it explicitly clear newborn infants needed more than just the necessities to thrive.

The first few weeks alone were pivotal in the baby's bonding experience. This was the most crucial time to connect with and get the creature used to the people around it. It needed love and attention almost as much, if not equally as much, as it needed to be fed and kept warm and lie on it's back in the crib to decrease the chances of SIDS. Otherwise, the baby would develop a detachment to it's caretakers.

Or, more specifically, to Ludwig.

He knew growing up it had been his mother who primarily cared for him and Gilbert as infants. Although his father was there and equally took the necessary responsibilities upon himself, he had been stone faced and emotionally distant. Ludwig had vague early memories of being perfectly fine playing as his father left for work yet bursting into tears the minute he didn't know where his mother was. And while he loved and respected his father, who he took much after in terms of appearance and personality, it had always been his mother he sought emotional advice and comfort from. He had never once wanted to go to father for such a need.

Ludwig didn't want that for his child. It was already an established fact Feliciano would spoil their baby rotten with affection; he did that to everyone until they gave him a reason not to. Ludwig didn't want the baby to grow up thinking it could only go to Feliciano for emotional advice and comfort. He loathed the idea of it only coming to him for logical problems, keeping it's distance otherwise. He wanted his baby to know he could be there for him beyond keeping food on the table and heat in the house.

But would simply holding it for no reason at all other than just to, kissing it, and playing with toys really form that bond between them? He wasn't much of a smiler, so he could see himself scaring it more often than not. Not to mention, he could be a bit of a workaholic and he tended to yell loudly when angered over anything, which would put a wall up around him and certainly scare the child silly.

He didn't know how he could prevent that from happening. None of the books or articles had told him how to get over that. He didn't have months this time, nor a fully grown adult who understood. How this was going to work, he just didn't know.

"Ludwig! Ludwig! Guess what!?"

He raised his head to see Feliciano, completely decked out in rumbled scrubs (he was pretty sure the body was on backwards), sprinting from down the hall towards the waiting room. He was supposed to be in the hospital cafeteria getting them both some lunch. What he was doing dressed up like that, only the heavens knew.

"What are you doing?" he scolded, bring himself to stand.

"The surrogate! She's getting ready to push for real this time! The prettier nurse told me so! Come on, come on, come on!"

Ludwig felt a surge of butterflies in his stomach. This was it; the baby would be out in the world soon. Their new son or daughter.

A part of him wanted to race passed Feliciano to get dressed and in the delivery room as quick as possible. The other part was frozen with excitement. Nine long hours was finally coming an end for the best price of all.

For someone who had just been stuck in a pond of nerves, worried self-pity, and doubt, he actually felt...utterly overjoyed at the prospect.

If he could naturally feel like this before it was born, then imagine after. Maybe bonding wouldn't be so hard after all. He hoped so. He honestly did. It was a wonderful feeling that he really wanted to share as soon as possible.

Ludwig nodded quickly. "Right, I'm coming, Feliciano! Don't dawdle! Where did you get those clothes!?"

PLEASE READ! THIS IS NOT COMPLETE.

I apologize for the rush at the end, but my goal is to pump out at least good quality chapters over the next couple days/weeks/however many requests I get. You can request any pairing you want with any characters you want. The sexauality of the pairing doesn't matter; I'll do straight, gay, homosexual, ect. and have no problem with nyotalia/genderbends. For now, GerIta can requested again, but I'm only doing one chapter per pairing. The characters are still up for grabs, though, so you can still request PruIta and Germerica for example. The chapters will be around 1,000 words at the most so I can hopefully get out several in one day. Although the theme is family, it doesn't necessarily have to involve children. The specifics are your call. My only limit is no Mpreg requests.

HOWEVER, there is a small catch. The whole purpose of this fic is to draw attention to this petition at Change dot org. (The website, in case this goofs when publishing.) You see, this gay couple and their young son went to Thailand to have another child. They had a daughter named Carmen, who is one of the men's biological daughter. Her mother is an anonymous egg donor. The surrogate, who she is not related to, has refused to sign the papers letting them take her home.

They've been in Thailand for seven months now, and are at risk of losing their jobs and house back home. The surrogate at first said she didn't believe a gay couple could raise Carmen, but now has spread multiple excuses and false allegations against them, including human trafficking. There is a new law in Thailand that could help them, but since they are a gay couple, they don't know if it will work in their favor.

They have a petition at Change with a goal of 150,000 signatures. They need over 46,000 more if they want to take it to court (which their Facebook as confirmed they do). You only have to be 13 to sign. If you could sign and get your friends and relatives to sign, that would be fantastic. My heart breaks for this couple. Please help out. Just google bringcarmenhome at change dot org to find the petition. Thank you!