Did you guys love the last chapter? Haha, I did. All of you were surprised. I actually did not intend for that to happen, but then I decided "Why not?" and just did it. It also gave me an excuse for what is about to happen in this chapter. Hehe, I seem to have a thing for dramatic endings and cliffhangers.
It has come to my attention that I need to change the theme of the chapter titles, so I might put the time and then day or date as the chapter titles. Soo, yeah, I'll do that soon.
Things to look out for in this chapter:
~Lovino's life outside his work and kids is introduced (he's not a loner you guys)
~Chiara and Dante have a short little freak out
And that is all I can give you if I don't want to spoil everything about this chapter! Sooo, I hope you enjoy, and please review! Thank you!
Chapter 9
"I'm sorry, you're what?" Lovino asked, not quite sure he if heard his brother correctly. "I thought you just said that you're pregnant, but surely I must be mishearing things…"
"Nope, I really am pregnant fratellone!" Veneziano chirped from the other line. "Isn't this great?"
"Uhh, yeah, it is…" Lovino answered, still somewhat in shock. "How did this happen, exactly? Wait, is it the potato bastard's child? Damn him…"
"Ve, Roma, I thought you were over your hatred for him," Veneziano remarked. Lovino flinched at hearing his old nickname.
"Don't call me that, Vene," he hissed quietly into the phone. "My name isn't Romano anymore, okay? My name is Lovino. I am not a nation anymore. Understand?" He heard his brother sigh on the other side of the phone call.
"Mi dispiace fratellone," he said. [I'm sorry big brother] "But I miss being able to call you that." Lovino sighed.
"No, I'm sorry for snapping at you," he said. "And yeah, I have somewhat gotten over my hatred for that bastard, but I will still call him that sometimes. Anyway, how far along are you?"
"I'm five weeks in, but not many symptoms yet!" Veneziano said. "Oh yeah! I also wanted to tell you that I'm going to be inviting a lot of the nations over as a celebration! A baby shower of sorts! And I want you to come! It's next week Thursday at my house in Rome!"
"Vene, wouldn't that be a bit weird for the nations?" Lovino asked. "Me, a human, coming to your house for a child that you're pregnant with? Wouldn't that be a bit suspicious? After all, I'm not supposed to know about nations and therefore, I'm not supposed to know about how male nations could become pregnant." Veneziano was silent for a few moments.
"I suppose you're right…" he spoke. "But please, won't you come anyway? I would really love to have you and the children come! Please! You are really important to me! You're my big brother!" Lovino sighed again.
"How about the twins and I come the day before and stay the night and then leave before any of the nations show up?" he suggested. He could practically hear his brother's grin through the phone.
"Vee~, I like that idea, Lovi!" Veneziano said happily. "Wednesday it is! I am so excited to see you again Lovi! I have to go now! Ciao fratello!"
"Ciao," Lovino said, and he ended the call. He walked back into the kitchen where Arnaldo was just finishing the pancakes and he sighed, running his hands through his hair.
"Who was that, Lovino?" Arnaldo asked.
"It was my brother," Lovino answered. "He just wanted to say that he was pregnant." He said it so casually that Arnaldo didn't realize what he just said.
"Oh that's nice," Arnaldo said and then almost dropped the plates he had in his hands when the words had completely registered in his brain. "Wait, what?!" Lovino chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, he's pregnant with a fucking potato baby," he said. "He's inviting me and the twins over next week on Wednesday to celebrate. We're staying for the night and then going home."
"Oh, well, have fun," Arnaldo said. "My ride's coming in a few minutes, so I'll wake up the twins and then get ready to leave." Lovino nodded to him and he left to wake up Chiara and Dante while Lovino set the table.
Chiara and Dante came in a minute later looking tired. As soon as they saw their beloved Papa, their eyes lit up and they ran to hug his legs.
"Buongiorno Papa!" they exclaimed. Lovino smiled lovingly at them.
"Buongiorno," he said back. "Are you two still tired?" They nodded.
"But we smelled pancakes!" Chiara exclaimed. "We really like pancakes!"
"Did Arnaldo make them?" Dante asked. Lovino nodded.
"They're never as good as Zio Matteo's…" Chiara began as she and Dante took their seats at the table.
"…but they are still pretty good!" Dante finished happily. Lovino rolled his eyes.
"Don't start talking like that you two, please," he said exasperatedly. "You'll give me a headache." He smiled to show them he was joking and sat down across from them. The twins giggled.
"Sorry Papa," they chorused. They ate in peaceful silence for a while as Arnaldo was leaving, and then it occurred to Lovino that he should probably tell the children about what they were doing next week.
"Oh yes, kids," he began, "your uncle Feliciano called." Chiara and Dante looked up at him expectantly, and he continued. "He is having a child soon. Someone else for you to play with once they're old enough. We're going to his house in Rome next week Wednesday to celebrate and we're staying the night." Excited looks passed over the twins' faces.
"Yay!" they cried together. "We can't wait! We get a cousin! Cousin, cousin!" Lovino chuckled at their excitement, but he also knew he needed to get a present for his brother. Something for the baby.
"I cannot believe my brother is having a kid!" Lovino groaned to his friends the next day, collapsing his head on the table in front of him.
Lovino did actually have human friends. He wasn't a loner dad that worked all day and only played with his kids. He did have friends that he occasionally hung out with. In fact, most people in town actually knew him. They knew him as the sweet male feminist with the two twins that he adored. He was also known as an absolute gentleman to the ladies that still didn't take any shit from anyone, regardless of gender identity. He mostly hung out with four people: a woman named Diana, a man named Cosimo, another man named Emilio, and a woman named Adriana.
Diana was 28 years old, three years older than Lovino's apparent age. She had long black hair that reached just above her waist and brown eyes. She wasn't native to Italy. She came from America, but moved to Italy for her college education. She was the most mature of her friends, often being the one to make sure she didn't get drunk so she could drive everyone home. She was also the one everyone turned to when they needed advice. That didn't mean she didn't have quite the temper. Lovino often mentally compared her to England and himself when someone dares to insult someone she cared deeply for. She met Lovino when she pretended to be his girlfriend in order to stop a few girls from trying to get in bed with him and make him uncomfortable. The twins had been around two years old at the time. They'd been friends ever since.
Cosimo was 25 years old, the same age as Lovino apparently was. He had light brown hair that was always a bit messy and dark hazel eyes. He looked a bit younger than he really was, which really annoyed him when people assumed he was still in college. He was generally more quiet than everyone else, but he did have his moments. When something really pisses him off, he would rant to Lovino or Diana for hours on end. He worked as a bartender, which is how he met Lovino. Lovino had been trying to calm himself down with a few drinks after getting stressed out by the newly born twins. Lovino ended up drunk and accidentally told Cosimo everything about him, including his previous status as a nation and how the children were born. Cosimo never told a soul, and he never told Lovino that he knew. He told Lovino that he took care of him while he was drunk, and that was how they ended up being friends. He was still waiting for the day Lovino would tell him about his past himself.
Emilio was 26 years old. He had dark brown hair and green eyes. He was gay, and had his own moments as a stereotypical gay man, but that was usually just to mess with other people. He was a bit on the muscular side, and liked to have fun. He met Lovino when the kids were four and running around at the park. The kids had gotten lost and bumped into him and they helped him find Lovino. He had gotten a bit of a crush on Lovino once he helped the children find him. They became friends, and Emilio got the courage to ask Lovino out at some point. They tried it for about a month, but Lovino couldn't handle it and broke up with him. Emilio was okay with that. They still remained close friends, and Emilio went on to trying to find someone else.
Adriana was 26 years old as well. She had bright red hair that she usually kept in a ponytail draped over her shoulder and blue eyes. She liked to be energetic and fun and have a good time. She frequently flirted with younger boys just for fun and pretended she was 20 or 17 or something along those lines. She also knew her limits and was every bit as motherly and smothering to the twins as most woman were, except maybe she was a bit more so. She met Lovino when he was trying to find out what he was supposed to buy for kids, and she helped him out. She was often mistaken for Lovino's wife and the twins' mother before everyone in town really got to know him. Since she knew Lovino the longest, she knew the most about him and was usually the one he went to if he needed anything.
All of them were close to each other and all of them loved each other very much, despite them only knowing each other for a few years. Diana, Emilio, and Adriana knew that Lovino was hiding something from them, but they never asked. They trusted that he would tell them in due time.
"I thought your brother was gay," Diana mused. Lovino waved her off, not bothering to give any of them an explanation.
"What's so bad about him having a kid?" Emilio asked.
"Yeah, children are absolutely adorable!" Adriana exclaimed. "How could you not want to have another child to spoil rotten every time you have the chance?" Lovino looked up to glare at her.
"Unlike you, Adriana, I don't want my kids to become absolutely spoiled and reliant on me all the time," he spat. Adriana snorted.
"Funny, you seem to spoil them all the time," she retorted. Lovino just flipped her off.
"What's so bad about your brother having a kid?" Cosimo repeated Emilio's words from earlier. Lovino sighed.
"For one, the other person in that relationship is someone I used to hate with my entire being," he began. "Also, I am expected to give him a fucking gift for the baby, and I don't know what the fuck the kid's gender will be because we can't figure out until something around 15 to 18 weeks! But it's only been five weeks! I have never been good at figuring out gifts! And there's the risk of my idiot fratello letting a certain bastard into the house!"
"Bastard? You mean that ex boyfriend of yours that we never hear about?" Cosimo asked. Lovino glared daggers at him.
"I never dated that bastard," he stated.
"But you liked him~," Adriana sang. "And you slept together." Lovino scoffed.
"Yeah, once," he said. "And he was drunk and remembers none of it. I still never want to see him again."
"Guys, Emilio is very uncomfortable with this situation," Diana spoke up and everyone looked at Emilio.
"Guys, I'm fine," Emilio said. "I am a bit uncomfortable, but that doesn't give you any reason to stop talking for my sake."
Emilio still had some feelings for Lovino, so he was a bit saddened when he heard that Lovino once liked a guy. He was even more upset when he heard that Lovino had slept with that guy before, and was a bit angry that that man hadn't remembered that time and had supposedly never cared for him in the first place. You can understand why he would be a bit uncomfortable talking about the man Lovino used to like.
"Anyway, I'm still not sure what to get Feliciano," Lovino continued, steering the conversation topic away from his past love life.
"Did your brother say you had to get him something?" Diana asked. Lovino shook his head.
"No, but I feel obligated to…" he answered.
"If he didn't say anything, I'm sure you don't have to bring him a gift," Cosimo said.
"No, you don't understand, I have to," Lovino insisted. "I haven't had time to see my brother on holidays and birthdays since the kids were born, so I need to get him something in order to make up for that. I have to make up for that time."
"I wish I had you for a brother," Adriana sulked. "You're so nice and caring. Much better than that little ten year old brat my parents call my little brother." Lovino laughed.
"Please, you don't know what I'm like with my brother," he said. "And I used to threaten everyone that looked interested in him. Seriously, I threw tomatoes at this one guy that tried to grope him." His friends all laughed at that.
"That sounds like you, Lovino," Emilio said, laughing. Lovino rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you bastards," he said. "Point is, I don't know what to get for my brother."
"Why don't you just get him some baby pajamas?" Diana suggested. "Those would work for the child, won't they? And then maybe you could also get him a book on how to raise a child." Lovino snorted.
"Okay, the first one is okay and all," he began, "but those books suck, and raising a child is different for every person. Not that you would understand. I'll just give him advice. Knowing who he's with, the child will either be happy as fuck or way too mature for his or her age."
"Then write your own book on mothering," Cosimo said jokingly.
"Yeah, your kids absolutely adore you!" Adriana agreed. "People could learn a thing or two from you!" Diana and Emilio nodded in agreement and Lovino raised an eyebrow at them.
"One, I'm not a girl and therefore I am not a mother," Lovino said. "And two, I am not writing a fucking book. I'll just give him advice when he needs it."
"Will you at least get him the baby pajamas?" Diana asked. Lovino nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that'll do," Lovino relented. "I can't think of anything better. Baby food would get spoiled quickly."
Wednesday came quickly enough. Lovino woke up the twins at six o'clock in the morning so that they could drive six hours from their small town to Rome. The twins slept through most of the car ride, as they weren't used to waking up so early, so it was mostly silent, save for the sound of music coming through the radio.
Lovino didn't want to wake the twins when they came to Veneziano's large mansion in Rome, so he instead opted to carry them to the door. Chiara woke up briefly when Lovino had reached over to unbuckle her from her car seat, but after some ushering from her father, she fell right back asleep again.
Lovino carried the two up the steps to Veneziano's house and rang the doorbell. He could hear it going off from inside, and was surprised when his brother came practically flying to the door.
"Ve~, fratello, you and the bambinos are here!" Veneziano exclaimed happily, only to be shushed by his brother.
"You'll wake them," he hissed. "They woke up at six in the morning. They're tired. Let us in, please. I'll set them down in the guest bedroom and then grab what I have for you."
"You got me a present, fratello?" Veneziano asked quietly, yet excitedly. Lovino nodded and stepped into the house."
"I'll be right back." He headed up the stairs and walked down the hall, looking for the room that had been reserved for the twins. He passed Germany while he was walking, and gave him a nod as he passed him.
He completely missed the questioning and surprised look on the German's face at seeing him there.
"Italy, what are Lovino and his children doing here?" Germany asked as he approached his boyfriend.
"Ve, I wanted them to be here," Italy replied. "And they wanted to celebrate me having a child." Germany narrowed their eyes.
"Lovino is a human," he stated. "He is not supposed to know about nations, which means he is not supposed to know about your child. Does he actually know?" Italy just smiled secretively at him and bounded off to the kitchen to check on the pasta he had started making for Lovino's arrival.
Germany was frustrated. He didn't know why Italy had invited Lovino here. He felt like he should know, but he didn't. Italy didn't seem like he was keeping a secret, but it was obvious that he was. He couldn't understand why, and it greatly frustrated him. He didn't like not knowing what was going on.
Germany watched as Lovino gave Italy the present and he watched as Italy opened it and then immediately hugged Lovino as a thanks. He watched as Lovino told Italy all he needed to know about raising a child. Unsurprisingly, Lovino was brilliant in telling Italy what was important, but he also remembered that Italy wasn't alone like he apparently was, so he made sure that Italy knew not to do all the work by himself.
Germany went back upstairs after deciding that he didn't need to watch them, and just as he passed by the room the twins were supposed to be sleeping in, he heard them panicking.
"Papa?" he heard Chiara say. "Where's Papa? Papa?"
"Did Papa leave us somewhere?" Dante asked. "Papa?!" They were obviously freaking out over not being with their father, so Germany stepped into the room. The twins looked at him.
"Aren't you Zio Feli's friend?" Dante asked, looking at him. He and his sister were obviously still a bit panicked. It was no surprise. They loved their father more than anything. To wake up without him there in a room that wasn't in their house must have been scary.
"Your father is downstairs," Germany told them. "Would you like me to take you to him?" Chiara and Dante nodded eagerly and they followed Germany downstairs.
"Papa!" they cried as soon as they saw their father. "You're here!" They instantly ran toward Lovino and hugged him. They were on the verge of crying.
"Chiara, Dante, you're up," Lovino said, surprised. "Hey, shh, are you two okay?" He knelt down to hug them and look at them in concern.
"They were scared because you weren't there when they woke up," Germany explained. Lovino nodded in understanding.
"Thank you for helping them find me, then," he thanked. "I would have hated for them to start crying." Germany simply nodded to him.
The day went on, and the entire time, Germany was trying to figure out what about Lovino was so important to Italy. He felt like it was right there, like something he had forgotten. Something important.
It was just before dinner when Germany finally confronted Lovino about it. He had figured it out.
Lovino was making dinner, saying that Italy should play with the kids and that it was his treat. Germany stood behind him for a while, debating whether or not to actually tell him about what he knew, before deciding to say something.
"I know who you are," Germany finally spoke at last. Lovino stiffened almost unnoticeably before continuing what he was doing. Ah, Germany thought. So he is aware of what I mean.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I know that you were once a nation," Germany continued. "I know that you were Italy's twin brother. I know that you were South Italy, otherwise known as Romano."
There was a silence.