Arthur Kirkland

Beijing, China

March 26, 2164

...a plane ride. to CHINA. Of all the days... today? Really? I thought angrily, glaring out the plane window.

America put his hand on my shoulder, "Iggy-" he began.

"What is it, Alfred?" I snapped, turning my burning gaze on him.

"Iggy, you need to calm down. You're-" I cut him off.

"-going to hurt the baby; I know," I grumbled.

"Actually, I was going to say that you were going to break the armrest." I loosened my grip on the armrest and heard it crack. "Thanks for letting go. Anyway, why do you hate flying so much...? I mean, you have to fly to come and see me, right?"

"America, the last time I went across the ocean to see you was before planes were invented. I never went by plane; Even if I go to see one of our friends in Asian, I either go by train or I get a ride from another nation." I said, turning back to the window. I sighed and closed my eyes. "America, when is the plane supposed to land?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't notice the anxiety in my voice.

Unfortunately, the one time that I want America to not notice, he notices. "Aw, are you scared? It's okay; the plane is already on it's way down anyway." He said, patting me on the back.

"America... wh-what if there's something wrong with it...?" I asked, voicing my fears for once.

He scoffed, "Iggy," he said, leaning over the arm rest so he could see my face, "the only thing that could go wrong would be for it to die-" he clamped his hands over his mouth.

My eyes widened, "D-die...?" I asked, suddenly very worried. I think I started hyperventilating, What if the baby dies? I thought, beginning to panic.

"Iggy- Iggy, calm down." America said, grabbing hold of my shoulders, "CALM DOWN, IGGY," I look into his eyes and forced myself to calm down.

"A-alfred, what if the baby dies...?" I asked, genuinely afraid of something for the first time in my life.

"Calm down. I'm serious; if you don't calm down-" I cut him off again.

"-I'll be hurting the baby; you've said all these things so many times that I can tell what you'll say before you say it."

"I was going to say that I was gonna ignore you until you slow your roll a bit," he said flatly. He looked up and said, "We're on the ground again. Look out the window... see, we're here," he tried (and failed) to get me to look out the plane window. I got up stiffly and yawned a bit.

"Come on; let's get this over with, aye?" I said, cracking my elbows and taking America's hand.

~.oOo.~

"Ah, there is a head; can you see it?" China asked, speaking English mainly for America's benefit (seeing as he and I both knew that I spoke Chinese fluently) I shivered a bit, watching the static-ridden screen. He moved the receiver for the sonogram a bit and he smiled, "A girl."

"Healthy, I hope...?" I asked, trying not to seem overly worried.

Needless to say, China saw through it, "Perfectly healthy. It is... interesting to see you concerned about something for once. You are normally so distant."

I looked away from him, "May I please leave now?" I asked flatly.

"No, England. Your ultrasound is not over yet," China said, continuing his work.

I watched the screen with a look of boredom on my face until China gave us some... interesting news.

"Nǐ yǒusān bāo tāi! Sān gè nǚhái! (You have triplets! Three girls!)" he said, enthusiastic as always.

...I must've fainted because I was awakened by water being splashed in my face. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, confused for a moment.

"Hey, China! Iggy's awake again!" I recognized the voice as America's even though I kept my eyes shut.

I sighed, triplets... REALLY? I probably could handle one baby... but three?

"Iggy, why are you crying...?" I felt America put his arm around my shoulders, "We're lucky... three little babies to call our own... It would be grea-"

I cut him off, "No, it wouldn't. America, I was a doctor once, specifically an OBGYN, but I learned something very important; the more children born at once, the more likely they are to ALL die," I opened my eyes and leaned on him, turning my eyes to China who was standing in the doorway, "Yao," I said, using his name for the first time in almost 200 years, "When am I due...?"

"Er... sometime around September 29th..." he said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"...On St Michael's day?" I asked, thinking in terms of names at this point.

"Shì de...? (Yes...?)" China said, his tone lilting upwards.

"Mmm... Michaella. Yes, Michaella is a good name..." I said, thinking aloud.

...well... it does no good to be negative, I thought, smiling a bit, ...besides, it takes more to kill a nation than it does to kill a human...

~A/N- Alright, he's reached his first trimester... and it's been revealed that there are triplets... AND THEY'RE ALL GIRLS!

...anyway, in case you wanted to know, I'm strapped for ideas and am going to be bouncing all over the place timewise. I'm telling you that there's a VERY good reason why Sealand dropped off the map... I just haven't thought of it yet (me and Rabbidfanboy are on it as I'm typing this).

Edit: I corrected some mistakes I made while I was proofreading/editing it. It's not the same as I wanted it to be in the first place, but it's damn close.