Chapter 3: The Birth of Lui's Brother
October 11, 1940
It had been three weeks since the Beilschmidts fled to Venice and were taken in by the Vargas family. Claus and Elise decided to look for a house of their own, and had already enrolled Ludwig and Klara in the same school as Lovino and Feliciano; Ludwig had made a new friend in his and Feliciano's class: a Japanese-Chinese boy named Kiku Honda. Jose had helped Claus get a job at the market where he worked, while Gabriella started helping Elise find fabrics so she could make more clothes for her baby.
Gabriella and Elise were at the market, doing some fabric hunting. Gabriella had left Savio at home with Rome and Germania.
"So, what are you and Claus gonna name your baby?" Gabriella asked while looking at a soft fabric for Elise's baby's clothes.
"We've got a few names in mind," Elise replied. "Maybe Dieter, or Johan. Or Timothy. We haven't decided yet."
Later in the day, the two women went to pick their children up from school and came back home to find Rome and Germania both yelling in the kitchen, and Savio crying hysterically.
"Alessio?" Gabriella said. She picked her baby up and coddled him. "There, there, Savino, it's okay."
"Alois…? What the—?" said Elise, dropping her newly-bought fabric.
'AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Rome screamed as he ran away from a spider. "Kill it, Germania, kill iiiiiiiiiit!"
"Calm down, dummkopf," Germania said in an annoyed fashion. He lifted his shoe and chased after the spider.
The spider climbed up the wall and landed on Ludwig's head. The boy screamed hysterically until he started crying for his grandfather to get the spider off.
"Don't worry, Lui, I'll get it," Germania said over Ludwig's cries and screams.
Ludwig shook his head, brushed at his hair and ran around in circles until the spider fell off and back onto the floor. He then cried and hugged Elise. "Mommy, I was so scared!"
"There, there, Lui," Elise said gently. "It's alright; the spider's gone."
Indeed it was. Germania managed to squish the spider with his shoe…finally.
"It's dead," Germania said affirmatively.
October 25, 1940
For the past few weeks, Jose and Gabriella had been helping Claus and Elise look for a house of their own. Finally, they found one, two weeks ago. The house was, as luck might have it, right next door to the Vargas'. The day to officially move in came around.
"Are you sure you want to move out?" Jose asked.
"We really don't mind putting you up," said Gabriella.
"We're sure," said Claus. "Besides, we'll be just next door, so it's not like we're going far away. Thank you for taking us in, it really saved our lives."
"No problem," said Jose. "You're my best friend, so I didn't mind."
The Vargas' helped the Beilschmidts move the little stuff they had with them into their new home.
The house was a small one, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, water closet, kitchen/dining room, and some other rooms. It was a beautiful house, and the family loved it!
"Wow!" Ludwig, Klara, Feliciano and even Lovino said in amazement. They hadn't even seen the inside of this house until that day.
Later that night, the Beilschmidts were having a housewarming party, with the Vargas' and Hondas in attendance. It was a wild and stormy night, so everyone had to stay inside.
"This is really great, aru," said Mulan Honda, Kiku's mother.
"You found a really great house," said Daisuke Honda, Kiku's father.
"Hey, give Jose and Gabby some credit," said Claus. "They helped us with getting the place." He laughed a little.
"Man, it's really raining outside," Kiku said in disappointment. "I wanted to practice my katana moves."
"Hey, let's go splash in the big puddles," Klara said excitedly.
"I dunno, Klara," Ludwig said. "Mommy and Daddy said not to go out there."
"Oh, don't be such a baby," Klara said. She was about to go to the door, when a flash of lightning appeared. Klara screamed and ran behind her brother.
"Told you," Ludwig said.
Kiku was swinging his katana in the house, when his big brother and sister, eleven-year-old Yao and ten-year-old Chi, came up to him. Yao took the katana away from Kiku.
"Kiku, no swinging your katana around, aru," Yao scolded.
"But, Yao," Kiku whined. "It's not a real katana."
"I don't care, aru," said Yao.
"Mama and Papa don't want you playing with your katana in the house," said Chi. "You could poke someone's eye out."
"Man!" Kiku said. He plopped down in a chair.
Just as everyone was having a good time, Elise fell on the floor. She looked like she was in pain.
"Ellie! What's wrong?" a worried Claus asked as he bent down to tend to his wife.
"Claus…it's here!" said Elise.
"Uh…the pasta?" Rome asked.
Elise got annoyed at that question. "The baby, dummkopf!"
"But…but the doctor said in two weeks," said Claus.
"Well, the baby just said now!" said Elise. "And I'm pretty sure he gets to choose!"
"Oh, God, oh, God," Claus said in a panic. He picked Elise up and carried her to the couch. There, he laid her down and put a blanket over her.
"Hang in there," said Daisuke. "Relax, I'm a father of six, so I know—"
"Get this thing out of me!" Elise screamed.
"What's wrong with Signora Beilschmidt, fratello?" Feliciano asked worriedly.
"The baby's coming, Feli," Lovino replied.
"Any chance of getting a doctor?" Claus asked Jose and Daisuke.
"In this weather?" Jose said. "Not really."
"Jose's right," said Daisuke. "It's too dangerous to go out there; it's thundering and lightning out there, not to mention the storm's really bad."
Claus sighed and went over to Elise. "Honey…I can't get the doctor, so you'll have to push for me, okay?"
"Okay," said Elise. "Just…get it out of me!"
Ludwig and Klara went over to the couch.
"Kids, go and play, okay?" Germania asked them.
"It's okay, Dad," said Claus. "They're allowed to see what's happening."
Ludwig and Klara went closer to the couch.
"What's going on, Daddy?" Klara asked, looking at her mother, then her father.
"The miracle of birth, Klara," said Claus. He smiled, but then became nervous when Elise kept screaming and pushing.
"I can see the head!" said Chi.
"Yao, Chi," Claus said urgently. "Can you get some warm water?"
"Yes," said the two elder Honda children. They ran off to get warm water right away.
"Lovi, Feli, I need you two to get some clean cloths," said Claus.
"Yes, sir," Feliciano replied and saluted. But the salute was with the wrong hand; Feli used his left instead of his right.
"Uh…Feli…it's the right hand, not the left," Ludwig whispered.
"Oh, right," said Feliciano. He then saluted with his right hand, and ran off with Lovino in search of some clean cloths.
"Claus, I can't do this anymore; I'm dying!" Elise screamed.
"Oh no!" said Kiku. "What are we gonna do? She said she's gonna die!"
"It's just an expression!" said a nervous Rome as Yao and Chi came back with warm water, and Lovino and Feliciano came back with cloths.
The baby finally came out a few hours later. Jose walked in to see how Elise was coming along, and fainted upon seeing the baby coming out of Elise.
"Jose!" Gabriella said as she and her children bent down to the unconscious man.
"Fratello, Papa won't wake up," said Feliciano.
"I'll get 'im," said Lovino. He took Jose by the shirt and slapped his face. "Wake up! Wake the hell up!"
"Huh, what?" Jose said. Then he snapped back to reality and saw Claus and his children tending to Elise.
The Vargas' and Hondas went over to the Beilschmidts, hearing crying coming from their direction. They saw a tired but delighted Elise, an ecstatic Claus and a happy Germania, Ludwig and Klara. All five of them were looking at a newborn baby boy. He had platinum blond hair and red-violet eyes.
"What's his name?" Rome asked softly so as not to scare the baby.
Claus and Elise thought for a minute.
"You know, with all the bad stuff that happened recently…" Claus said as he held his new child. "…our new son just brightened our lives with his presence."
"That's it," Elise said happily. "We'll name him Gilbert."
"Gilbert?" Gabriella asked.
"Yes," said Elise. "Gilbert Wilhelm Beilschmidt."
"Hi, Gilbert," Ludwig said quietly to his little brother. "I'm your big brother, Ludwig."
"Hi, Gilbert," Klara said. "I'm Klara, your big sister."
"Aw, he's so cute, aru!" Yao exclaimed as he smiled at Gilbert.
"Yeah, he is," said Chi. "Isn't he cute, Kiku?"
Kiku stared wide-eyed at the baby being coddled by the Beilschmidts. He then smiled very widely as his dark eyes shone with excitement and happiness. Kiku turned to his parents. "Mama, Papa, can I have Gilbert? He's so cute!"
Daisuke and Mulan looked at each other.
"Uh, sorry, Kiku, but you can't keep Gilbert," said Daisuke. He smiled at how adorable Kiku was being at the moment.
"That's right, aru," said Mulan. "He's Ludwig and Klara's little brother. And you have Kaoru, Mei and Yong-Soo, remember?"
"Oh," said an embarrassed Kiku. He looked over and saw his younger siblings: five-year-old twins, Kaoru and Mei, and a two-year-old Yong-Soo.
Later that night, the housewarming party was over, and everyone in the Beilschmidt house was asleep. Ludwig and Klara were in their room; Germania in his; and baby Gilbert was sound asleep in Claus and Elise's room, his crib right by Elise's side of the bed. Claus and Elise were both watching their baby sleep, not wanting to miss a moment.
"What do you think he's dreaming about?" Claus asked in a whisper as Gilbert made a tiny fist and pounded on the mattress of his crib in his sleep while making cute baby sounds.
"Probably of being just like his father," Elise said with a smile. She lightly ran her fingers through Gilbert's hair.
Ludwig and Klara came in.
"Mommy, Daddy," said Klara. "Can I sleep with you tonight? I'm scared of the lightning."
"Me, too," Ludwig said. He and Klara walked into their parents' room and sat on the bed. He then saw Gilbert sleeping and dreaming and just kept watching him sleep, while Klara climbed into bed between Claus and Elise. Ludwig kept on watching even when his parents and sister went to sleep. Luckily, the next day was a Saturday, so he and Klara didn't have school.
Despite the raging storm outside, the Beilschmidts' lives were brightened by their new baby's birth.
Early morning, October 26, 1940
The Gekkostate were having an emergency meeting; they were all still in pajamas and rubbing the sand out of their eyes.
"This is urgent," said Holland. "Claus and Elise Beilschmidts' baby boy, Gilbert, was born just last night."
"And you want us to do what?" Renton asked crankily; he really wanted to go back to bed.
"Go to wherever the hell they are now, and grab the baby," said Holland. "Bring him back here, and then we'll keep him as payment of the debt they owe us."
"Right," said the other Gekkostate members. They then went to go back to bed, Holland and Talho included.
"Holland, I want a burger," a five-months-pregnant Talho said.
"Talho, honey, it's too early," said Holland.
"I need a burger, Holland! Now. Our baby needs food!" said Talho.
"Okay, okay," Holland said and got back out of bed. "I'll get a burger for ya."
"Don't worry, Gilbert," Ludwig whispered. "I'll protect you from those meanies who chased us. They won't get you, I promise." He leaned closer to Gilbert and laughed when Gilbert's breath tickled his nose.
Author's Note: Signora- Mrs. (Italian)
