AN: Yay! Another filler!
...I know, you guys probably hate me now. School sucks, and yes, that is my only excuse.
*sigh* Oh well. On with the story!
It was fairly common for Afred to see Mattie comfortably settled in the rocking chair in the corner of her baby nursery, either nitting, reading or doing some other leisurly activity. Which was precisely how he found her one late July evening. But the material she was reading suddenly caught his eye, and the nation couldn't help but be curious.
"Umm, Mattie? Is that a dictionary you're reading...out loud?"
"Hm?"
She slowly turned her head up from the text to look at her love, her eyes sparkling innocently.
"Yes. Is there a problem with that?"
"W-well, no," he said, scratching the back of his head. "It's just a bit...unusual. It's not something I normally catch you doing, ya know?"
"O-oh." She blushed. "Y-you're right. I'd heard that playing Mozart to a baby while it's still growing can help it's brain development, but...well, I don't have any Mozart, so I figured hearing the dictionary might get the same affect..."
Obviously she was embarrassed, and hadn't planned on being caught in such a way, but Alfred simply found it cute.
"Y-you think it's weird, don't you?"
Alfred chuckled to himself in amusment, before crossing the room and placing his hands on the chair's arm rests so he could lean over his Mattie and truly gaze into that beautiful, innocent face. The closeness made her cheeks go warm, and the way Alfred was staring at her didn't help much either.
"No. I think it's absolutely adorable. You're absolutely adorable, and I couldn't imagine a better mother for my future child."
She pouted, her cheeks still flushed.
"Now you're just trying to embarrass me..."
"Haha! Maybe~ Is it working?"
She buried her face into his shoulder. "Al~," she whined.
He laughed again. She could be so passive-agressive at times. Somehow, it made the American love her all the more.
AN: As weird as it sounds, my mom actually read me the dictionary when she was pregnant with me. She says it's the reason why I have such a natural knack for spelling. For some reson, I could very easily imagine Mattie doing something like that. So, there it is!
Since you all have been so wonderfully patient in my time of fail (apparently "epic fail" is too high a compliment for me now...), below is a preview for the next chapter, which will be continuing with the main plot. Unfortunately, with my track record, it may not get published until summer break in a few weeks... I am currently in the midst of closing a deal with my parents over my technology privileges, the contents of said deal being top-secret. (Plus, I didn't wanna pull your hopes up too high in case if flops...)
Btw - I did a bit of editing with the story line, so a few things that I said were gonna be in the story ended up getting cut. For one, I'm skipping the whole "Girls/Guys Day Out" thing. It was taking up too much unnecessary space. Two, remember in the Valentine's Day chapter, where the baby was growing slow and Mattie got all sorta freaked out? That's cut too. I got some wrong info involving a plot twist I wanted to add in during the birth, so that's gonna be a bit different. (I'll go back and fix all that in a bit.) All in all, no changes too majorly affecting the plot, so i think we're still good.
...
Damn, I'm rambling again, aren't I?
Anywayz, here's the preview, and I hope you enjoy!
"Ahhh...hahhh..."
Mattie was panting hard now. God, the pain was unbearable. She couldn't believe some women actually went through this by choice!
"Damn...it..."
She scrambled for her phone, digging in the purse laying in the seat next to her. Where was that freaking phone! After what seemed like minutes (though in reality was barely a few seconds) she was able to stop her shaking enough to unflip the cell and dial the first number she could think of. She just hoped they'd answer.
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
The dial tone nearly drove her insane. Finally, she heard a familiar voice, and almost cried, though out of happiness or pain, even the young Canadian couldn't tell.
"Hello? Mattie, love, is that you?"
"Arthur...I-I'm on the road...H-Highway...60, just t-twenty minutes from my h-house...," she was panting hard now, and the aching in her abdomen only became more prominent with each passing breath. "You've g-gotta come get me..."
"What? Why? What's wrong?" His voice was agitated, on the brink of hysteria. Perhaps calling Arthur hadn't been the wisest move. He tended to overreact.
"T-The baby..."
"Oh god. Oh god! Tell me you're alright! What about the baby? You didn't crash, did you! Bloody hell-"
"ARTHUR, SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME! I'M HAVING CONTRACTIONS! DO YOU HEAR ME? THE BABY'S COMING, GOD DAMNIT!"
Silence.
"..."
"A-Arthur...?"
