I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia

"Wake up!" A voice sang from the end of the bed. Berwald knew it belong to no one other than Peter, but he hoped if he ignored it long enough, the micronation would grow tired and leave them both to sleep a little bit longer.
Obviously, Berwald had forgotten just who he was dealing with.

Thankfully, the small boy was just that; small. His weight didn't impact Berwald too much as he came crashing into his stomach, but he did have to open his eyes on instinct either way. The blonde child laughed and rolled off his proclaimed 'father', and wiggled himself in between the two men. Tino looked as though he were still sleeping, face buried in his pillow. He would be awake soon, the Swede guessed.

"Mama's still sleeping?" Peter asked, turning his head to look over at the Fin. Berwald nodded his head, and fumbled around the retrieve his glasses off of his nightstand. He slipped them onto his face, looking over at the two.

"Ja, d'n't wake 'im," he said quietly, propping himself up on his elbow. His lips twitched upwards slightly at the sight of Peter – his hair sticking up in all directions and his pyjamas in a messed, twisted state. The small nation didn't seem to care in the least. The boy nodded, and got comfortable in the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"Is he going to be cranky today?" he asked curiously, trying his hardest to keep his voice quiet for the other man's sake. Berwald was appreciative of his efforts. He nodded simply, and Peter sighed. "I don't like him when he's cranky. He gets like this every year," he said, looking over at the Swede. Peter didn't seem to mind Berwald's cold outward appearance at all – he had never shown any signs of fear or nervousness around him. He seemed to like him, therefore he started living with him and Tino. Berwald would never complain. The mere prescience of a child was nice seeing as he couldn't have one of his own.

"He's j'st str'ssed," Berwald replied, studying the Fin carefully for a moment, "Th's time o' ye'r is h'rd on h'm." The smaller blonde nodded animatedly.

"I see," he said, nodding, "Are you two going to a meeting soon?" Peter asked hopefully, "Can I come too? I want to be a country!" he exclaimed. Berwald's eyebrow twitched – not at the request, at the volume. Tino would surely wake up now. Peter seemed to realize his mistake, and shot his 'father' an apologetic look.

"Sorry," he whispered, shifting on the bed, "I'm going to go watch cartoons for a while," he said quickly, scrambling to get to his feet and away from the bed as the Fin started to wake up. Surely he wouldn't be in the best of moods today.

Berwald watched as the small child ran off, scurrying to the living room. He had insisted on buying a television to put in there, and the Swede hadn't been able to resist (after the prompting of Tino, of course). He wished that he could run off and hide whenever Tino got like this too.

He had known the representation of Finland long enough to know that in the winter months, things got extremely hard for him. With having to keep up with Christmas and work, it was all very stressful for him. The usually cheerful, bright Tino was nowhere to be seen. For lack of a better term – it seemed he turned into a zombie around this time of year. He was certainly irritable, and drank more coffee than Berwald had ever seen someone ingest. Needless to say, the transition was strange.

The Fin let out a groan, muffled by his pillow, and Berwald knew that he was awake then. He pushed himself up, resting on his elbow for a minute. Tino rubbed his eyes, and then looked over at his husband, studying him for a moment, "That was Peter in here, right?" he asked, voice still full of sleep. Berwald nodded, and shifted so he was laying on his side instead of his back.

"Ja, he w's in here th's morn'n. W'nted to know if you were up," he explained. Tino nodded at his words, and flopped back against the pillows. It amazed Berwald how quickly the Fin had been able to become adjusted to his heavy accent – as much as he tried, his English just couldn't improve past that point.

"Where's he now?" Tino asked, closing his eyes again. Quite frankly, he was exhausted, and his head was pounding. He loved Peter, he really did, but those extra moments or hours of sleep would have been greatly appreciated.

"W'tch'n c'rtoons," Berwald replied, looking towards their bedroom door which was now wide open. "I bl'me D'nm'rk for g'ttin' him hook'd on th't tel'vis'on," he said, shaking his head gently. Tino smiled slightly and leaned over to press a kiss to Berwald's jaw – he knew the Swede certainly didn't like Matthias – he never had in all of the years Tino had known him. He was still thankful that he was civil with him for the most part.

"Or Iceland," Tino offered, trying to take the conversation off of the Dane, "He watches it with him when he comes over a lot," he said, sitting up in the bed. He smoothed his hair down and sighed softly, looking over at the clock. "Voi jumala,*" Tino sighed, closing his eyes, "I slept for way too long – there's so much to do!" he exclaimed, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His feet were stuffed into warm slippers, and a ignored his dresser for the time being, set of going straight to the kitchen to get some coffee, then to the study to get to work.

Berwald furrowed a brow, and got up out of the bed as well, and walked over towards the bathroom door, "Aren't ya goin' to sh'wer, T'no?" he asked. It had almost become a morning ritual for the two of them to take a quick shower together – Berwald almost looked forward to them now. The Fin frowned gently, and shook his head.

"I just don't have time today," he said, fiddling with the hem of his nightshirt, "Later, okay? I promise," he said. Berwald simply nodded his head. He had promised yesterday too. The Fin smiled however, and quickly thanked the man for understanding, before heading down the stairs, towards the kitchen to start his winter routine.

Berwald had noticed many years ago that these things usually started happening to the man around the 25th of November, or anytime after that. It would start easily enough, a small headache here or there, perhaps a little more tired that usual. At first, he hadn't thought much of it. By the 10th of December, Tino was sleeping much later, and much earlier than usual. Most days he would sleep until Berwald insisted he wake up and get ready to face the day. It had startled Berwald the first time – Tino had always been the first one up in the house, rounding everyone up for the breakfast he would cook for them.

By the 15th, things started to get a little worse. Quite possibly, one of the worst things Berwald had ever had to face was a cranky Tino. It wasn't only strange, and a weird shift to make from the usually happy and upbeat Fin he knew, it was... scary, if Tino could ever be considered scary in Berwald's books. He would get snappy, quick to retort and easily angered. It reminded the Swede a lot of Lukas when Mathias was getting on his nerves about something.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Berwald went through the common motions of a shower. Washing his blonde hair and making sure everywhere else on him was completely clean. After years of doing this, he had been able to effectively get in and out of the shower within ten minutes or so, without the aid of his glasses – which he was nearly blind without. He fumbled with the shower for a moment as he tried to turn it off. He grabbed his towel first, and dried off his face, before sliding his glasses back onto their perch.

Better.

He dried himself off and got dressed, before scrubbing at his short hair to dry it enough to go about business. He walked down the stairs, sighing almost inaudibly to himself. As he passed by the living room, he could see that Peter was still on the couch, shouting at the characters moving on the screen mounted above the fireplace. He would have to remember to put some sort of a timer on that television so Peter didn't waste all of his life away in front of it.

The Swede walked into the kitchen, and rested his eyes on his lover, seated at the small island in the middle of the room. He sipped on a cup of coffee, and Berwald had to assume that it wasn't his first of the day. Tino looked up and smiled softly.

"How was your shower?" he asked, raising a thin brow. He turned his eyes over the the newspaper he had found prior to settling down with his quick breakfast. Berwald merely shrugged his shoulders gently, giving no more indication. Lonely. It had been a lonely shower. But he wouldn't tell Tino that, naturally. He didn't need someone nagging him with how busy he was right now, Berwald knew that. It wasn't going to help anything. Besides, he would much rather have a relaxed Tino instead.

"Do we have any more Burana**?" Tino asked, "I have a headache," he informed the Swede with a sigh.

"Ja," Berwald nodded, grabbing the small box from the cabinet above the sink. He passed it to the Fin, and he murmured a quiet thank you and took them quickly, setting the package down on the counter top.

"We'll have to get more soon," he said, "I have a feeling I'll be going into town later on today. I have a few last minute things I need to finish up. Do you want to come with me? We need to get a few things for Peter," Tino sighed, resting his chin on the counter, letting his eyes slip shut. Seeing as he nearly organized Christmas for the whole world, Christmas shopping became one of his least favourite things to do no matter what time of year it was. Every year he promised he would get it done sooner, but it never happened.

Berwald nodded, snapping Tino out of his musings. "Wh't are we g'tting him?" he asked, sitting down at the island across from him. He took Tino's smaller hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, admiring the simple silver band on his finger. He couldn't help but feel happy at being able to call Tino his – no one would take him away anymore, that was for sure. Tino seemed to notice this and smiled brightly, lacing their fingers together.

"Just some action figures or something. He never gets tired of them. I'll have to ask what TV shows he likes. We can go from there, I suppose," he said quietly, taking another long drink of his coffee. He needed it to start kicking in now, along with his medication. The headache needed to go away, and the caffeine needed to start doing it's job. Berwald nodded, and let the two sit in silence for a while until he spoke again.

"Wh't do you h've to do t'day?" he asked. He was hoping that it wasn't much – Tino deserved a break. Berwald and Peter had decorated the house completely as a sort of present for the Fin, so it was one less thing he had to worry about. While he rarely did any decorating, he supposed that it went pretty well, as Tino had been extremely pleased with their efforts.

"Paper work," he said, nodding slowly, "I have a few last details to go over for Christmas, and then that's thankfully the end of the preparations that I have to do," Tino said, a more gentle smile slipping onto his lips. Berwald nodded, and let go of Tino's small hand.

"Anyth'ng Ah c'n do to h'lp?" he offered, standing up from his seat to get a cup of coffee for himself. He figured since he didn't have any paper work of his own to do, he could at least try to help Tino finish his.

"No, not really. A lot of it is just making sure things are signed and stuff," he shrugged, "Thanks, though," Tino said, leaning across the island to press a kiss to Berwald's lips. He got himself another generous cup of coffee, "See you later," he sang, before heading down the hallway to finish his paper work.

Berwald watched him go and sighed gently. Soon all of this would be sorted out and regular Tino would be back – he said so himself that today was the last of the preparations he had to do for Christmas.

The Swede could only pray it would all be over soon.

The next two weeks passed smoothly, much to Berwald pleasure. Tino's 'Christmas syndrome' had calmed down considerably, and he was able to enjoy time with the man now instead of making sure he had enough burana to cure the headaches of an army. The tree had been set up, the presents had been wrapped, and the duo was seated comfortably on the couch. The Fin curled up against Berwald's sighed, and sighed in content, closing his eyes at the warmth his husband's body offered him. He was always thankful for that when he returned from the long night of making sure all of their preparations paid off, and everyone got what they had wished for.

"I'm so glad we have time to relax this year," he sighed gently, "It seems every year things got a little more hectic. I'm glad we finished early instead. It's much nicer," he hummed, leaning up to press a quick kiss to the Swede's jaw.

"Ja, I th'nk so too," he agreed, looking down at the smaller man, "Ya g't so str'ssed out ar'nd Chr'stm's, and Ah n'ver know how to h'lp," he sighed, running his long fingers through Tino's hair. He was thankful that his husband was more relaxed, and enjoying the holiday spirit instead of cursing it like usual. Tino smiled sheepishly, and looked over to their large Christmas tree instead.

"Ah, joo***," he sighed, "I know. I'm sorry about that. It's just so hard to figure out everything that still needs to be done when there's a million different things happening at once. I'm just thankful that you stick by me through all of it, and try to help out by doing the little things. It really helps, Berwald," Tino said, looking back over to the man seated next to him, studying his dark blue eyes. The Swede's lips twitched upwards slightly, and he pressed a quick kiss to Tino's lips, silently thanking him. He had never thought the smaller things he had done to help out during the holidays could mean so much to him.

"We should probably get busy though, hm?" Tino asked, sitting up on the couch, supporting himself now. He looked at his watch, and smiled upon seeing the time. Berwald seemed to understand, and nodded, getting up from the couch. He offered Tino a hand, and helped him up. The two of them went to work, making sure everything was ready and in place for when Peter woke up in the morning, and their company arrived later on in the afternoon. Tomorrow they would relax, and that was all.

Tino placed the last present down under the tree, before straightening out and studying their handy work. "There," he said, lacing his fingers together with Berwalds. The pair looked down at the tree in content, smiling in the Fin's case. "Now we should get to bed. Peter will be waking us up in... about four hours," he said, looking down at his watch again. He knew they could definitely expect an excited Peter at about six in the morning tomorrow. He pulled Berwald towards the stairs, but paused almost halfway there, grinning slightly.

Berwald, confused, looked down at Tino, raising a brow at their sudden stop. He glanced around, before his eyes turned towards the arch they were under. He should have expected that – he had decorated the house, after all.

Mistletoe.

Tino smiled gently, placed a hand on both of Berwald's shoulders, anchoring himself and pulling the Swede down to his level. He pressed a quick kiss to his husband's lips, smiling against them. It had felt like so long that they had been able to be like this, and not have a headache or be stressing out. He pulled back, and smiled up at him.

"Merry Christmas, Berwald."

-End.-

* 'Oh God' in Finnish

** Burana is the Nordic equivalent to Advil

*** 'Yeah' in Finnish

Authours Note: Ugh, I am so unhappy with this one, but I don't really have time to go back and redo it again. Writing SuFin is so hard! I wanted to kind of show a different side of it though (it's always been a headcanon of mine that Finland get's cranky around the holidays due to all of the extra work). I think parent SuFin is cute. [:

Any reviews or feed back is greatly appreciated. Let me know how I did!