Chapter One: Until Then

"Hurry up!" Alfred urged, waving the pair of visitors into the living room. "We've only got an hour 'till Arthur gets back. Which means, like, forty-five minutes to watch TV before I have to put the remote back where he hides it."

"Okay, okay," Matthew laughed, leading Francis over to the couch. "I don't see why you have to hide your TV-watching in the first place."

"I do not see why television is the first activity that comes to mind when you have visitors," Francis muttered.

"He tells me it rots my brain, or some shit," Alfred snorted, totally ignoring Francis. "He hides the remote in his sock drawer like he thinks I don't know."

"Awwh, he thinks you have a brain, how sweet," Matthew teased.

"You know, shame on the idiot who decided Canadians were polite." Alfred scrolled through a few channels.

"Eh, they were right about Americans and their television," Matthew shrugged, cuddling up to Francis.

"You shut up," Alfred commanded, not even looking away from the screen as he settled on a channel. "Need I remind you that you and your French boyfriend are also watching the TV?"

"I am not watching it," Francis protested, tone teasing as he kept his eyes on Matthew.

"Whatever, Francis."

Matthew grinned up at his French boyfriend before a commercial caught his attention. In it, there was a very cute baby toddling around in nothing but a diaper, seeing as it was a diaper commercial. "Awwh, that baby is so adorable…"

"You are not fooling me into looking at that screen, Matthieu," Francis insisted.

"But Franny," Matthew whined, poking his cheek. "Look at the cute baby."

"Non, I will not become the American!"

"Boo, you're no fun," Matthew huffed. "Alfie, tell him to look at the baby."

"Francis, look at the baby." Alfred's voice was jokingly monotone.

"You're no help," Matthew laughed. He looked back at the television for a bit before speaking up again, his tone thoughtful. "Hey Alfie, have you ever thought about having kids?"

Alfred offered a half shrug. "I dunno… I mean, I'd want to, but they told me I'm not fertile, remember? Besides, Artie doesn't really want kids."

"Well, I guess those are good reasons," Matthew chuckled. "I've never put too much thought into it, myself."

"No?" Alfred raised an eyebrow, finally looking at Matthew. "I feel like you'd want kids."

"I mean, I'm not opposed to having kids," Matthew allowed, shrugging a bit. "I've just never thought about getting my fertility tested or anything."

"Really? Maybe you ought to do that, bro." Alfred smirked. "How often do you guys bang?"

"None of your business," Matthew informed him, sticking his tongue out.

Instead of shoving his way into the conversation at that opportune moment, Francis had gone oddly silent. He still wasn't looking at the television, but his playful smile had noticeably faded.

Surprised that Francis hadn't jumped at the chance to describe their sex life, Matthew turned his attention to the Frenchman. His brows furrowed at his expression. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Francis jumped a little, seeming to have been lost in said thoughts. "Oh… uh…"

"What's up?" Matthew asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Non, non, it is nothing…" Francis sighed softly. "Nothing is… 'up.'"

"You just missed an opportunity to tell my brother about how much sex we have," Matthew informed him. "That usually means something is up."

"You say that like it happens often," Francis attempted to joke.

"Often enough," Matthew insisted. "So, come on, out with it."

Francis's smile melted completely at that, and he lowered his eyes. "I, ah…"

"Franny, you know you can tell me anything," Matthew reminded him.

"I do not want you to be upset with me," Francis admitted, his eyes watering.

"I won't be," Matthew promised, wrapping his arms around him. "Don't cry…"

"Yeah, what are you so worried about, Fran?" Alfred inquired unnecessarily. "You know we won't-"

"I'm pregnant."

Matthew's jaw dropped. Francis was… pregnant?

Alfred's eyes bugged in shock; he clearly hadn't expected that. "Huh?!"

"M-maybe we should talk about this when we're alone?" Matthew suggested, still clearly shocked.

"Say no more," Alfred said quickly, turning off the TV and retreating upstairs with the remote, presumably to hide it again. Francis didn't relax until a door audibly closed.

"Now that we're alone, why on earth would I be mad, eh?" Matthew asked, his expression betraying his concern.

Francis reluctantly raised his head, meeting Matthew's eyes with his own. A single tear traced its way down his cheek. "I was afraid... you wouldn't want it..."

"Oh, Franny," the Canadian murmured, pulling his pregnant lover into his lap. "I've always wanted kids, always. Even discounting my feelings, I know that you love babies. I wouldn't dare not want something that I knew would make you happy..."

"I... I lost a baby once before..." he whispered, letting a few tears fall. "I wanted it... h-he didn't..."

"Oh, Francis... I am so sorry... I will never, not ever, make you do something you don't want to do," Matthew assured, holding Francis tighter.

Whimpering softly, Francis buried his face in Matthew's shoulder. "Thank you..." he breathed.

After a few moments of quiet comfort, Matthew's curiosity got to be too much to contain. "I can't remember the date of... that night... how far along are you now?"

"A-almost two months..." he mumbled, feeling his breath hitch twice more. "I did not find out until a month ago..."

"That's so exciting," Matthew exclaimed softly, showing his excitement quietly so as to not spook his lover. "I bet you'll look absolutely adorable once you start to show."

Despite still being quite shaken up, Francis managed a soft laugh. "But my poor ankles..."

"I'll be sure to rub them," Matthew promised, giving a soft giggle of his own. He placed his hands on Francis' stomach as it finally, really sank in. "We're gonna have a baby!"

Francis smiled, placing his own hand over Matthew's. "We're going to have a baby... Matthieu... I can hardly believe this..."

"Me neither... Oh, wow, we've got to tell Arthur and Gilbert and Antonio and everybody," the Canadian listed excitedly, nuzzling Francis' neck.

"I sort of accidentally told Alfred already, remember?" He exhaled in mild frustration, regretting his little outburst.

"Yeah... well, we can still tell the others... in a bit..." Matthew murmured, placing a few open-mouthed kisses on his boyfriend's neck.

Francis felt himself relaxing further, his previous fear melting away at the mercy of his boyfriend. "Okay... we'll tell them... later..."

Later. They'd worry about everything… later.


(A/n) We want to say this will update quickly, but we saw how that went with the other story, so for now, we make no promises. But we'll do our best to get chapters out in a timely manner.

Also, we do what we want. So simply reviewing to tell us you hate mpreg/Franada/USUK/whatever is useless.

Also also, reviews make us very happy! They really help, so if you have a moment, we'd appreciate your feedback!

Until next time,

Moose and Paris