Disclaimer: Hetalia-Axis Powers © Hidekaz Himaruya

I hadn't planned on another chapter, but here you go. Their life after. Be aware that this is a lot different from the original. There's less dialogue, and it's much darker. Sorry if the characters are OOC. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Natalya Arlovskaya Braginski was afraid sometimes.

Alfred was a real sleepyhead in the mornings. He was known for saying, "Five more hours" and sleeping in T-shirts that read, "Don't bother me, I'm sleeping."

But today was the fourth morning while Natalya and Alfred were living together when his lethargic attitude disappeared the moment he saw his phone.

"Sorry, 'Talya, gotta go," he said, giving Natalya a kiss on the cheek before dressing quickly and running out the door.

She spent the day doing mundane activities: reading, cooking, shopping, and trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach. Maybe it was a bit less than feminist (a lot less, actually), but she enjoyed the activities.

In the afternoon she repeated over and over in her head that Alfred was leaving her in an attempt to prepare for the worst, and frightened herself. Worried now that she would have to support herself like she never had before, Natalya looked through the newspaper for job openings. She saw nothing she was interested in.

That evening, when Alfred came back home, she rose from her armchair, a scowl on her face. It had been her usual expression when she was still in love with Ivan.

"What's the matter?" Alfred asked, seeing it. "Are you closing yourself off again?"

"Where have you been?" she said, disregarding his question.

Alfred sighed and sank down into a chair. "You know I haven't been happy in psychology, right?"

"Yes," Natalya answered, then mentally cursed herself for allowing the word to slip past her lips. Alfred was making her soft.

"Well, I looked into some stuff, and it turns out airlines just like it for you to have a degree. In anything. It doesn't have to do with aviation." Alfred looked up at his girlfriend, face shining with happiness but also looking downtrodden. "So I've been looking into some flight schools at the airport and, um, I got into one."

Natalya breathed a sigh of relief. "That is great," she said, letting her guard down and sitting down as well. "But why did you not tell me your plans?"

"Wait, there's more," Alfred said, lowering his head. "I told my parents my plans today. And, uh, they weren't happy."

"I am sorry," Natalya said softly, taking his hand.

Alfred raised his head and turned it toward her. He smiled slightly, and if killing his parents were what it would take to reestablish the bright smile he usually wore, Natalya would be glad to do it. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But being a pilot has been my dream for a while, but it involves travel, and I was worried you wouldn't like that and-and I guess I just couldn't take it if you weren't happy and how could I choose between your happiness and my happiness and I hate disapproval so much and–"

"Alfred," Natalya interrupted, "you are rambling."

"Oh."

Natalya stood for a moment, but only to shift onto Alfred's chair. Normally two people wouldn't fit together, but Alfred was lithe and Natalya thin enough to fit. "Listen to me, Alfred. If being a pilot is what you want, then I cannot bring myself to stop you. I love you, Alfred, and if you love me, we can make this work."

"I do love you," Alfred whispered, staring into her dark blue eyes. Then he laughed.

"What?" Natalya questioned, almost concerned.

"Oh, nothing," Alfred said. "It's just that I had a ring all ordered up for you, and I was planning to propose tonight, but maybe it's not really the best time."

"What?" Natalya cried. "Where is the ring, Alfred?"

Alfred pulled a small box from his pocket. "In here," he said, staring down at it and not noticing Natalya rise from the chair. "This box is really cute. When I was a kid I would have wanted it. Yep, just the box." He chuckled. "I really liked boxes when I was little. Do all kids like that? Did you?" He looked to where he thought Natalya was sitting. "Huh? Why'd you stand up?"

"Alfred," Natalya said.

"Oh!" Alfred exclaimed, realizing what she wanted. "Okay, I'll do that now."

He slid down from his seat in the chair so he was on one knee in front of Natalya. "Natalya Arlovskaya Braginski," he said, "will you marry me?"

"Yes," Natalya answered impassively.

Alfred opened the box and slid the ring on her finger.

"The stone is too big," she remarked, earning another chuckle from her fiancé.

"Only you," he said, shaking his head.

Line Break

It was finally her wedding night, and Natalya is–dare she say it?–beyond excited. She was always someone who dreamed of her wedding day, but it had always been to Big Brother. This was even more perfect.

Katyusha was her only bridesmaid and thus also her maid of honor. (She didn't have many girlfriends. Or friends in general, for that matter.)

Alfred, on the other hand, was overflowing with friends. "It's not fair," he had complained one night when they were planning their wedding. "Why can't I have more than one best man?"

"You can," Natalya had responded. "It is not unheard of."

"But it looks snobby," was Alfred's answer.

She felt familiar worry in her stomach (being with Alfred was no picnic) and she knew that it was because what if Alfred didn't find the day as perfect as she did? What if his lack of best men somehow ruined the wedding for him?

Kat, noticing the look on her sister's face, gave Natalya a tight hug. "Don't worry," she said, tears leaking from her eyes. "This wedding will be amazing."

"You are rumpling and staining my dress," Natalya stated matter-of-factly.

But walking down the aisle on Ivan's arm (their relationship had improved drastically since he had decided that Alfred was allowed to date his sister), she realized that she had been silly to worry. Everything was breathtaking, even down to the looks Matthew and Kat kept sharing from opposite sides of the couple.

Even when Ivan's wedding present was Toris ("That's so…dehumanizing," Alfred said), nothing could bring her down.

And Natalya could tell that Alfred felt exactly the same way.

Line Break

For a few years, everything was as perfect as their wedding.

One night, Alfred came home and announced that he'd been hired by a commercial airline. They'd rejoiced the news at first; the pay wouldn't be great, but at least Alfred would now have a steady job.

That was, until Natalya realized just how lonely lonely nights were. Needing companionship, even though she'd always liked isolation somehow, she found a nice job as a waitress at a pub. Somehow she even managed to be civil–no, friendly–to the guests.

There was a bartender there named Yong Soo. He was a crazy, horny Korean guy, and a few years ago he would have repulsed Natalya. Now, more open-minded due to years of living with Alfred, she kind of liked him.

And any sympathy she was capable of went to him when she learned that he desired his brother.

They became good friends, spending a lot of their time together. After all, Alfred was rarely around. And him wanting nothing but his brother, and her wanting nothing but Alfred, despite his distance, the relationship was purely platonic.

She even, scared and trusting, told him when she missed her period one month, approximately two weeks since Alfred had left home yet again. He took her to a drugstore to get a pregnancy test.

But one day Alfred came home and decided to surprise her at work. He happened to see her lean up against the bar, say something to Yong Soo, and laugh. Yes, actually laugh. Alfred, cursing his cowardliness, left without surprising her.

When she came home later that night, she found him at their home.

"Who was that guy?" he asked.

"Just my friend," she replied coolly.

"Your friend, huh?" he said.

"Am I not allowed to have friends?"

Alfred, ever the blunt one, came right out and asked, "Are you fucking him?"

"What?" she said, a blush rising to her cheeks. "No! No I am not having sex with him!"

"Really? 'Cuz you two seemed awfully close when you were being all flirty earlier!"

"Flirty?" she screamed, anger and hurt breaking the bondage of her emotions. "I am never flirty!"

"Well you sure seemed to be, leaning on the bar, all over him!" Alfred shouted back.

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Right now? Not really!"

She stepped forward and grabbed his shirt. "You know, if anything, I should not trust you! You are away all the time! Where was it just now? Mumbai? What were you doing there, shaking up with an Indian girl?"

"Of course not," he said, affronted.

"Oh yeah? Well I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU!"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because you do not believe me when I tell you that nothing is happening between Yong Soo and I!"

Alfred was slowly backing off some. "Natalya, calm down."

"I will not calm down!" she screamed. "You have no right to tell me to! You come home for a couple days, get me pregnant, and then leave for weeks!"

Any anger Alfred still felt dissolved. "You're pregnant?"

Suddenly Natalya just felt tired. "Yes," she sighed.

"How, um, how much?"

"Not long," she replied understanding Alfred's question.

"I–I," Alfred stuttered. "Really?"

"That is what the test said."

"This pilot thing," Alfred said, "it's getting in the way. Of us."

Natalya nodded her agreement.

"I'll quit," Alfred said. "Or take some time off. I want to be there for you. For the baby."

"No," Natalya objected. "You love flying. I cannot keep you from that."

"Not as much as I love you," Alfred countered. "I can't be somewhere else if you're unhappy."

Natalya dropped into an armchair. "You sound like you did the day we got engaged."

"That's because nothing's changed," Alfred said, almost sounding as if he were begging.

Natalya shook her head. "Everything's changed, Alfred."

Husband and wife, the ones that vowed to be with each other in good times and in bad, stared at each other.

"I think we should take some time off being married," Natalya suggested.

"'Talya–"

"No," Natalya interrupted. "This is the right way."

Alfred stayed standing there for a moment. "Okay," he said finally. "If that's what you want."

He went into the bedroom and got his suitcase. He hadn't even unpacked it yet. He started to leave, but paused near the door. "Just…call me if you need anything."

"I will."

Line Break

The moment after Alfred closed the door behind him, he began to cry. He already missed Natalya and wondered if she missed him already as well.

He had nothing now. His relationship with his parents had been rockier than normal since he'd started flight school, and now that he and Natalya were–

No. They weren't separated. This was completely as normal. He had a fight to get to, and Natalya was once again left at home.

He hadn't been fair to her. He realized that now, when it was too late. They'd always discussed his dreams, and never about what she wanted.

And now–and now Alfred was going to be a father. His own father had always pressured him to be what he wasn't, and Alfred had hated it. He couldn't do that to his future son or daughter. He had to be the best father he could be. And that meant he had to be around.

He loved to fly, but he needed a new job.

Line Break

Two weeks later, Natalya was aroused from her reading by a harsh knocking at the door. Answering it, she saw that it was Alfred on the other side.

"Hello, Alfred," she said.

"Natalya," he said. His cheeks were flushed and pink, and his eyes were shining, though if it was from excitement, inebriation, or tears, Natalya couldn't tell. "I'm sorry I assumed you were doing something with that guy. I was being a jealous douchebag, and I swear, if you take me back, I will spend every waking moment trying to make it up to you."

"How can you?" Natalya asked. "You are never here."

"I got a new job," Alfred said.

"But you love to fly," Natalya said.

"I know," Alfred said. "And I don't have to give that up. I'm going to be a flight instructor at the airport. At the school where I learned to fly. So I'll be around now."

Natalya stood at the doorway. Her face betrayed no emotion. Alfred couldn't tell if she would welcome him back or send him away again. He hoped the former.

Finally she said, "I love you, Alfred."

Alfred sighed, relieved. "I love you too."

Line Break

It wasn't long before their worries caught up with them. Natalya was now seven months pregnant. She was very worried about giving birth.

Alfred seemed ecstatic about the baby. He didn't seem to care about sex, and his excitement hadn't waned at all when he learned that the baby would be a girl.

"I am scared, Alfred," Natalya said one night in bed, not wanting to weigh her husband down but needing to get her worries off her chest. "My parents died when I was young, and I always felt like my life could not be complete unless they were there. What will happen if we die?"

To her surprise, Alfred did not give her a teasing grin and reassure her. Instead he said, "I always felt sick whenever I was around my parents. What if I make my daughter feel that way?"

"Alfred, you are going to be a wonderful father."

"You use the word 'wonderful' when you don't really mean it."

"Fine then, you are going to be a magnificent father."

Alfred kissed her on the nose. "And if we die, she will go live with her Aunt Katyusha and her Uncle Matthew. She'll have her cousins to play with. Maybe she'll feel the way you did, but her life with them will be great."

"You are right," Natalya said, but didn't sound convinced.

Line Break

Three years later, and Natalya, Alfred, Matthew, and Kat gathered at Ivan's house with their children.

Alfred was sitting on the deck, watching his daughter and the twins play in the yard. Matthew sat down next to him. He seemed about to say something when one of the twins ran up to him with scraped palms. "Daddy!" she said.

"What's the matter, Sweetie?" Matthew asked.

"I fell." Alfred's daughter toddled up to the girl with the scraped palms and tugged at her shirt, wanting her to come back and play.

"Dinner!" Kat called from inside. Matt took his daughter by the hand and Alfred picked his up.

"Yeah!" the other twin shouted, running inside and slamming his truck into the leg of the table.

"I'm taking that," Katyusha said, plucking the truck from her son's hands.

"Uncle Ivan!" the twin said. "Get my truck back."

"I think you should listen to your mother," Ivan said with a smile.

Alfred heard voices from the front of the house, so he went out to the driveway to check who was there.

"Why do we have to come, Toris?" Raivis complained. "We don't even work for Mr. Braginski anymore, and I don't ever want to see him again."

"I agree with Raivis on this one," Eduard said.

"Alfred invited us," said Toris, resolutely marching toward Ivan's house.

"Hey, guys!" Alfred called from the doorway. "Come on in!"

"I guess it's too late to run away," Eduard sighed.

Alfred reentered the house after the three and Natalya sidled up to him.

"Hey," he said, giving her a kiss.

"Hello," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Final Line Break

Her dreams are different now. While they once featured her brother, now what she sees when she goes to sleep is Alfred's huge, moronic grin. Those dreams are the best dreams, but then she realizes that they are not dreams. They are her life.

I was going to have the entire second chapter in present tense, but it didn't happen. Instead I just have that little bit at the end.

This is really the last chapter, guys. No more. Reviews would make me happy.