Coming out of the bathroom, Alfred looked around for Russia. He had no idea where he went, and thought about looking in the nursery. It seemed like he was spending more and more time in there. "Ivan? Where are you?"
Looking up, Russia smiled. "It is finished now. Do you like it?" He gestured to the nursery, smiling. It was just perfect, a great place to have their children. And there was three of everything, colour coded as planned.
America walked into the room and looked around. The incubators still put him off a bit, but he knew it was for the best. "It's awesome." He saw the plastic baby on the changing table again, wondering why it was there.
Noticing the glance at the changing table, Ivan smiled again. "Shall I show you how to bathe him? And you may practice changing again." It was always good to be prepared, after all.
"Sure." Walking over to it, he had the strongest urge to pick it up and hold it, but he quickly got over it. "So what do I do?" It was wearing a little blue onesie, making him think of just how small James and the others were going to be.
Going over, Russia picked up the baby. "Well, let us go to the sink. If you could pick up the baby bath there," He pointed to one of the ones he had gotten. "Then we can start. Obviously you cannot use a normal bath."
Somewhat upset that he wouldn't be holding the doll, America grabbed the blue bath and followed after Russia. "Just warm water right?"
"Yes but you must make sure it is the perfect temperature. Just a little warmer than body temperature." He also grabbed some of the tears free soap he had gotten, that was good for use on babies.
Running the water, America waited till it felt a little bit warm on his skin before filling the tub. It was going to be strange again, but this time he was more enthusiastic about learning. Their children had been moving around in him a lot and it was going to be a relief when he could sleep the night away without them writhing around like Mexican jumping beans. "Russia... Were you really so lonely that you had to get me pregnant?" He asked strangely serious for him.
Pouring some of the soap into the water, Russia watched as Alfred swished it around. "Yes. Now take him and undress him." He got a towel to wash the doll with, as well as one to dry him off with.
"Why? I mean, you could have just said something. Sure you're a communist and all, but I would have been a hero and been your friend if you would have said something." America still undressed the baby as instructed and picked it up to place in the bath water.
"Hold the head." Ivan instructed, lending a hand. "But you would have left. They always do. Even now, you are thinking of leaving." With the babies now, there was a reason for him to stay.
"I only want to leave because I'm not allowed to see anyone right now. Not that I want to when I'm fat with kids." Still, Alfred always wanted what he couldn't have. "You just need to learn to be less of a creep."
Showing the important places to clean, Ivan gave a sarcastic laugh. "So you are saying that if there were no babies, and I wasn't keeping you here, you would come visit me regularly? History repeats itself, America. You would do well to learn that." No one had ever stayed beside him long unless he used force.
"So what if every one hates you? You only bring it upon yourself. You're so engrossed with the past that you aren't willing to change for the future. I was stuck here and my boss helped move my country forward!" Now he turned to face Russia with a frown on his face, glaring at the taller nation. "The reason people don't visit you is because you go off into your own little world where everyone likes you and you shut everyone out."
Of course a young nation could never understand. "Well, now I will have three children, and you will always come back for them, so I no longer need to be lonely." He wouldn't have gone so far for this if there was such a simple solution.
"Whatever. Live in denial then. You won't even let our kids have friends will you?" Turning back to the doll, he took it carefully out of the water before drying it off.
"Of course I will let them have friends. I do not want our children to have the same life as me. But I will make sure their friends are safe, and they will always have to play here."
"Something is definitely wrong with you." Alfred said simply.
Glad that the conversation seemed over with, Russia rubbed the baby's back. "Now take him out and dry him off. Don't forget to hold up his head." It was going to be nice when they could do this for real.
Nodding, America frowned as he did as asked. He didn't want to drop the topic, but somehow he knew he had to. "Other than them moving around, is it the same with actual babies?"
"Pretty much. Although they might already have hair, so you will have to wash that as hair, obviously. And I will help you with all of this, don't worry. We may share these duties equally. While one of us baths, or changes a diaper or whatnot, the other can be with the other two babies." It would make it much easier, both of them being there at the same time.
"Right, makes sense..." America said as he looked down to the doll. Without asking or waiting for Russia to say anything he picked up the baby and held it. Looking down at it in his arms, Alfred just stared.
Smiling down at the small plastic doll, Ivan lifted his hand and rubbed America's arm. "You will be great. Do you want to wrap him?" He could go get James' blanket again, so they could use it. In just a few months, it would be a real baby they were holding in their arms.
Thinking, Alfred shook his head. "Just a minute." It wasn't a hard stretch of the imagination to feel a warm, squirming baby in his arm. "I have three inside me." He said to himself, his voice doing nothing to hide his awe.
Staying silent, Ivan watched him. Obviously, the idea of having three babies was becoming more and more real to him, by the way he kept looking at the 'baby'. "You really do look like a мать."
America didn't even bother getting upset at Ivan for speaking Russian. "Ok, I'll wrap it now." Still, the feeling of having warm, soft skin against his own was so real that he almost thought it was his own children until they started to move around inside him.
Going to get the blue blanket, Ivan handed it to him and watched as he wrapped up the baby correctly. "Very good. Is there anything else you would like practicing? Diapers again?" Although, with three babies, if he wasn't good at changing diapers, he soon would be.
"I don't want to. I just..." He just wanted to hold it, and pretend like it was his child. Like it was James he was holding in his arms instead of inside his belly. "I'm going to have a child. Three... I'm going to be a mother."
Nodding, Ivan drained the small bath. "Would you like to hold him in the nursery, perhaps?" That would probably just make the fantasy that much more real. Well, it wouldn't be a fantasy much longer, but for now, that small doll was all they had.
"Ok." That would be nice, because he could sit down and give his feet -which he hadn't seen for a few weeks- a rest. It was also difficult to not hold the child against his stomach.
Following after him, Russia took the bath and soap back to the room. No one could say they weren't prepared for having children, because they still had a few months to go, and they already had pretty much everything they needed. Well, since it was triplets, they probably wouldn't make it to the full 40 weeks. But since America couldn't really go into labor, it would be interesting to see what would actually happen.
Going to the room, America held the doll possessively so it wouldn't hurt it's neck or fall. It was just so strange to know that he would be holding a real child. Or two. With Russia holding the third one. Damn... He knew that he had been blown away by having kids before, but now with James moving around it was obvious it was happening soon.
Wanting to be in the room while Alfred was in there, Russia straightened the cribs and made everything look neat. "When they are first born, would you like the incubators in your room so you can sleep with them?" It would also make it easier for feedings.
"When they are born, you're taking care of them too. Whether we sleep in the same bed or whatever, I'm not doing everything by myself." But he still wanted to sleep in the same room as his children.
"I know. Of course we will be sleeping in the same bed." He went beside the rocking chair, where America was still cuddling the plastic doll. "I will be there for every feeding, do not worry." He would also try as hard as possible to be there for everything in the triplets lives.
"How much will I feed them?" He asked, looking up at Russia. It wasn't a fun thought that Ivan was going to make him breast feed, but he could just complain that it hurt. Or something.
Kneeling down and resting his head lightly on America's stomach, Ivan shrugged. "You will know when you have to stop feeding one so that there will be enough milk for the others. Your body will make enough milk for them, so you do not need to know about that."
Frowning, America had half a mind to push him off but he couldn't while holding the one. Plus it was strangely comforting to know that Russia cared about him as well as the kids after doing this to him. "I meant how often. Like, how many times a day? I can't... breast feed that much."
"Oh, every two hours, so twelve times a day."
"So... Wait..." America started, shaking his head. "two hours? So like, from six to eight or ten or something?"
Smiling, Ivan picked up his head from America's belly and looked at him. Was he an idiot? "No, I mean, every two hours." Which is why it would be easier if the triplets slept in the same room as Alfred. It would mean less travel.
"Every? Am I not going to sleep or what? I've heard about fussy babies that cry, but feeding them every two hours?"
Stroking the small, plastic cheek of the doll, Russia laughed. "As long as they are fed, you may go right back to sleep. Every few feedings, as long as you are in a sitting position, I could just put them up to feed. Although I would have no idea how much milk you would have left, so perhaps not."
"Really? You aren't trying to fool me or anything?" Did Russia expect him to wake up every two hours to feed the kids? Why couldn't they take shifts? He could just use formula stuff! Or if worst came to worst they could pump him before hand.
"Yes, I will be there for every feeding." He didn't mention how they would probably have to wake up for things other than feedings, too. Like diaper changing, or when the babies just didn't want to go to sleep. After all, their sleeping patterns were different than adults.
Looking down with resentment at the doll, he asked. "Don't they need to sleep too? Unless they really are aliens or parasites and you've been lying to me."
Shaking his head, Ivan placed his hand on the belly, which should be right above James. "They sleep throughout the day, usually. So, I suggest that if all three are sleeping, you should be too." Well, that really went for both of them, since they would be taking equal parts in raising them.
"I want to sleep now, thinking about it... When will I be able to sleep with them?" It was going to suck staying awake all the time. Every day. All the time. Good thing he didn't have to clean and stuff too.
"In your bed? Well, we wouldn't want them crawling off, or you rolling on them in the night, of course. But the incubators have wheels, so we can bring them into your room." Well, when they were a little older, perhaps a year or two, they would be big enough to sleep in the same bed. The only problem at that age would be keeping them there.
"Makes sense... But... I'm kinda scared too y'know? I mean, you keep saying I can do this but I can't! And it's not like you will let me go out to classes or anything cause I'm a pregnant guy." James, Dmitri and Anya seemed to sense his anxiety by moving around more.
Standing up, Russia took his hand from the belly and placed it on Alfred's shoulder instead. "Most birthing classes are for vaginal births. Obviously you do not need to know about that. And as for other classes, I have been teaching you already." All the rest he could easily learn from experience.
Sighing, America rubbed his stomach. "I... Have to piss. Where should I put him?"
Seeing how attached Alfred was to the doll, Russia shrugged his shoulders. "You could put him in your room. Or you could put him in a crib, if you want." That would be funny and cute. Ivan knew that if he did, he would just have to take a picture.
Thinking over his choices, America looked around the room. "Can I put it in the crib?"
"I just said you could. I suggest James', because he is already wrapped in his blanket."
Nodding, he stood up from the rocking chair. Going over to the crib he made sure to hold up the neck as he placed it down in the crib with a sad expression.
"You can pick him up again when you get back from the bathroom." Ivan said, amazed at the look in America's face. Why was he so attached to a doll? Sure, it was the right size, and the right weight and all, but it was still a doll. He had the real things in his stomach!
"No... I'm kinda hungry so I'll just eat some bread." He didn't want to feel this way towards something that wasn't alive dammit! All it was doing was making him want his children more and more to be out of his belly and in his arms. It was going to be amazing he thought as he rubbed his belly slowly.
Nodding, Russia twirled the mobile that was above Anya's crib. "If that is what you want. But you are free to practice with him whenever you please."
America blinked and he turned away from the crib to go to the bathroom. He had been putting it off too long and it seemed like Anya wasn't too impressed with it. "I'm going I'm going!" He told her, feeling her squirm around a bit more before calming down as he finally started emptying his bladder.
After cleaning up he went to the kitchen and got himself some bread with butter on it. Putting it on a plate, he looked around for a second before going back to the nursery. Russia wasn't there anymore, so Alfred sneaked in and sat back down on the rocking chair. Using his stomach as a table, he placed the small dish on it and slowly started to eat as he admired the room.
Peeking in the room, Ivan smiled when he saw America sitting in the rocking chair. He took out his camera, taking a picture. It would be nice to have pictures of when he was pregnant, after all.
Hearing a small shutter sound, America looked up to the doorway to see Ivan smiling. "Did you just take a picture?"
Smiling, Ivan put the camera away. "Yes I did. If you would lift your shirt, I could take a pregnant belly picture." Of course they couldn't put it anywhere online, but it would be a nice thing to have.
"I don't want you to be taking naked pictures of me! Stop being such a creep!" America yelled, holding his stomach protectively. The plate was still balancing on it precariously as he tried to stand up. "Stupid chair!"
"You will not be naked, only your stomach." Russia took the plate from his belly so that it wouldn't fall off and then helped him stand up. "Wouldn't you enjoy seeing how big you were when you were pregnant?"
"Not when I'm this big right now! Why would I want to remember how I looked when I'm fifty billion pounds and the size of an elephant? And I'm getting bigger too! How big are they each? One, one and a half pounds?"
Laughing slightly at what he was saying, Russia shook his head. "You are not fat, you are pregnant. It is beautiful."
"It's annoying. My skin is ichy and I'm getting stretch marks like crazy and my feet feel like they're swelling." Which they probably were by now. He wanted to do something other than laying around playing games for once so he didn't feel so fat.
"Because you are a nation, the stretch marks will probably heal quickly. And the babies are about a pound each right now." Although they would start growing at a slower rate than normal babies, since there were three of them in there and there wasn't much room.
Alfred huffed. "I want to go outside again and exercise. I feel like such a fatty and I can't do anything now without feeling tired. Maybe if I actually do stuff I won't be so sore." At least that was what the pregnancy book said that he read before getting TV and games. But, that was also for women who were equipped to have children. His body had to go through so many changes that it might not be any help or hindrance on his ballooning belly.
"Well, your lungs are being compressed, so you will probably be out of breath." And then there was that little problem with how they were using satellites to find him. But now they were mainly looking off land. Of course, now they knew he could use a phone from where he was...
"I don't care. I've been stuck inside for too long now and I want some fresh air." And to not be pregnant, but that was just wishful thinking there. Well, either that or be able to hold his own children instead of a doll. That would be nice too, yet also wouldn't happen for a while yet. "Seriously Russia, how do you expect me to survive being so lonely all the time? You just creep me out and don't count as company."
Rubbing Alfred's stomach, Russia smiled. "You are never alone now." But he would let him go for a walk. He would need bigger jackets by now, though.
You know, I really should put updating this on my calendar or something. I'm not working right now, so I have trouble keeping track of the days!