Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

A/n1: Lookie here, I made it! Yaaaaaaah.
You know, I kind of expected this chapter to be very short, since I had less days to write it – so OF COURSE it turned out BIG anyway. I stared at it on Wednesday and I was like '…well so much for SHORTNESS.' Pfffrt.
Don't ask me how I did it, because I seriously, SERIOUSLY don't know. I guess I'm just obsessed with writing, there just can't be another reason.
Also, the wedding was great, I had a wonderful time since my friend and her fiancé got married in a safari park (yes, in the Netherlands, we have safari parks - very strange indeed)! I saw lemurids and giraffes from extremely close up and my friend's fiancé corsage almost got swallowed up by zebra. Awesomeness! XDDDDDDDDD

A/n2: For the hell of it, let me tell you about that happened to me, my mother, my grandma and my youngest brother a little while ago…
We were driving on the road, planning to leave for the freeway (we were going to shop in a city nearby) when my brother suddenly asked my grandma if she ever prayed for us – because my brother is a little asshole that likes to ask the stupidest things, just to stir things up. But I love him.
Anyway, my grandmother, who kind of is like an elderly, female Lovino, snorted and glanced over her shoulder to glare at my brother.
Grandma: 'Of COURSE I pray for you. I pray for ALL of you, each and every day! It's good for you and it's very respectful towards God.'
Brother: 'Respectful, huh? So you're saying you'd never swear with God's name?' (he really is a pest, I swear.)
Grandma: 'Definitely not! That's just plain wrong! You should never misuse God's name like that. It's foul. It's—'
Me: 'Hey, look at that!'
*grandpa's car comes turning around the corner, stopping in front of the traffic lights next to us*
Mom: 'Oh, looks like grandpa left the house as well!~'
Grandma: 'GODDAMMIT, IT'S (grandpa's name). IT'S THAT GODDAMNED (grandpa's name). WHAT THE HELL.'
My mother made a choking sound and almost crashed into the car in front of us and my brother and I couldn't stop laughing either. And grandpa, who happens to have a basset dog's face(really), just grinned and waved at us like "hi, darling wife and daughter and grandchildren, what's so funny?" XDDDDDDDD It was just so coincidental and lame, we still crack up when we talk about it now!
During all of this, my grandma looked at us very confusedly and didn't had the faintest idea of why we all laughed so much all of a sudden, but when we tried to remind her of the fact that she just swore with God's name, she just said "oh well, whatever" (grandma has never been a very loyal Catholic), which kind of made it even funnier.
That's what I wanted to share with you. Yaaaaay!

~~ And Three Makes Five ~~

Chapter 51:

Don't have babies. Don't get married and have kids. Have a larger life than that.
Roseanne Barr
(American actress, comedian, television producer and director)

Sure, we went to bed way too fucking early – but I'll be damned if the five of us hadn't needed every single second of that long night of rest to get our bodies recharged again.

I mean, please keep in mind that going away for a couple of days with your offspring gives a nasty gnaw to your condition. Kids are like… like little blood-sucking monsters, only much nicer to be around with and kids don't seem to love blood, no no no, they'd much rather like to om nom nom on your energy level.

Okay, it gives themselves a bit of damage as well, but I still hadn't thought the kids would sleep just as soundly as Antonio and I did. I seriously thought they'd be awake much earlier, like, I don't know, half past five in the morning or so, and they'd attack us in our sleep and accidentally crush our vital organs and such.

But no such thing happened, and although it was pretty early when Antonio and I did wake up – a few minutes past seven o'clock, I think – I still felt like I had slept for ages, and that all of my worries had been snored away.

Of course, that was before I realized all the crap and other kinds of shit that were going on at the moment, so all the anxiety rushed back to me before I could even decently rub in my eyes, dammit. I almost instantly felt my heart beating in all the places inside my body (except for the place it needs to be beating) anyway.

Ugh.

'Good morning, Lovi,' Antonio's just-woken-up voice greeted me as I let out a huge yawn. 'Did you sleep okay?'

'I suppose…' I murmured, drowsily trying to crack open my eyes. 'And you?'

'Ah, not so great, actually.'

Oh? I stopped grossly scratching my butt to look at Antonio. He didn't look as horrible as I had instantly feared – because that's just my panic-stress-reaction for you – but he didn't exactly looked pretty right now, either. His face was ash-grey and his normally-far-from-squinty were eyes red and a bit swollen. He also seemed to sweat the hell out of that body of his.

I groaned. 'Oh fuck, you're getting sick again, aren't you?'

Antonio beamed a half-assed, snottery smile at me. 'I don't think I'm really sick, as in sick-sick, but I might have caught a simple cold, ahahahaha…'

'That's still far from being healthy, moron.' I sighed and got out of bed. I noticed in the corner of my eyes he attempted to scramble out of bed as well, but I immediately pushed him back in the pillows.

'Aw, come on, Lovino – it's just a common cold. Even less than that! I don't even have to cough or sneeze. True, I am feeling kind of tired, but I swear, that's nothing too serious… The only thing that really hurts right now is my head. And my nose—'

'Is running like mad,' I pointed out, as I watched his nose leak. 'And you definitely have a fever. I know how you act when you have a fever – this is typical Antonio-fever-behavior.'

'Oh - you even made up a name for it!'

'It's pretty cool, right?'

'Yes.' Antonio chuckled, although it sounded like he was slowly being strangled, which made my right eye twitch a bit (no, my left eye didn't do anything noticeable).

'You,' I therefore said, 'are so staying in bed.'

Antonio pouted. 'But I don't feel hot at all…'

'No? Do you feel cold?'

'Oh, now that you mention it, I'm so cold…'

'Then you're FUCKING SICK, Antonio!' I unintentionally harshly nagged at him as I felt his burning forehead. 'Just look at all these sheets covering you! Just feel your forehead, trying to scorn away my hand's skin! And yet, you're still cold! No way you're getting out of that bed now, mister. Unless you're planning to put on new PJ's and go straight back to bed afterwards.'

'But I can walk, Lovino. I can walk and I even am a bit hungry. If I really was that sick, I wouldn't be hungry! It really is nothing serious.'

'I know – but your stupid little cold could become something serious in mere hours! So come on, just do as I say and keep your buns in bed. Okay?'

The buns-part made him snicker – perfectly understandable, it was a pretty funny remark of me after all – and it also did the trick: he promised me he'd at least stay in bed for this day.

'Good,' I said, 'very good. Just rest for today, Antonio. Do me and especially yourself a favor.'

'Yes papa.' Antonio joked.

I pretended I didn't hear that. 'By the way, don't worry about food, I'll get you some bread – you don't mind bread, do you? – and something to drink later. Also, before you thoughtlessly go put on new pyjama's, I think it would be nice if you'd put on some good, decent PJ's, and not that ridiculous sleeve-thi—'

Creeeeeaaaaaak, the door suddenly said.

We really needed to fix our creaky doors, you might think – but you know what, I liked our creaky doors, it was really helpful if you weren't prepared for unwanted visitors stumbling into your room anyway.

Anyway, the creaky door made both me and Antonio look up in surprise. It appeared that Alejo had opened the door and the small kid came walking into our room with a very concerned expression on his face.

'Papa,' he started, not bothering to put a Toni or Lovi to the end since we were both in the same room anyway, 'Teo's crying.'

'Aww, poor Teo,' Antonio said, 'what did he do this time?'

Alejo shrugged. 'Dunno, he's just crying. He looks really white, too.'

'White?' I asked Alejo, while my daddy-instincts started playing up right away. 'What do you mean, white?'

'Wellll, well welllllll,' Alejo blabbered, feeling this was his moment to shine since he had our full attention, 'he woke me up, y'know, and he was really loud, and then I said "shut up, Teo!" and then he got louder, and then I saw he didn't look very good, noooo, nope nope, and his nose was all snotty – like Papa Toni's – and his face was very white – like Papa Toni's – and he cried and said he felt dizzy, and then Lulu kicked me and told me to go tell papa, and I said "what papa" and she said "all papa's" and now I think I don't have enough papa's.'

He paused, stared at me and Antonio in turns, and eventually frowned.

'She's mean, y'know?'

'She can be quite the bitch, yes,' I agreed.

Antonio gave me a shocked and disapproving look, before uttering a tired sigh.

Alejo now kept on staring at Antonio non-stop. 'W-what's with Papa Toni?'

'He's sick – just like Matteo is, I think…' I bit both of my lips, which looked kind of weird, no doubt, but I didn't care. I guess it was good to find out now how to take care of a sick child than later, but knowing that Matteo was probably going to have the same vulnerable, phrone-to-sickness-body as Antonio didn't exactly put my mind at ease.

Especially since he was just a kid.

'Antonio,' I said, grabbing Alejo's hand, 'I'm going to check up on Matteo, alright?'

He nodded. 'I hope he's fine, though…'

'I wonder.' I exhaled. 'I really wonder.'

\0o0/

When Alejo and I entered the bedroom of the kids, I was greeted by a very cranky Luisa, who was sitting on a chair next to Matteo's bed and used a book to flutter some fresh air into the sickish boy's face.

Matteo himself sat in bed, straight up, his face looking very sad. That could be because he felt sick, but it could also be the result of Luisa, who had surrounded her brother's small frame with all kinds of pillows, pillows and pillows, as much as Matteo's cute bed could carry, dammit, and it seemed like the poor kid was going to drown in fluffy pillow-ness.

Matteo's pale face lit up a tiny bit when he saw me and he smiled weakly.

'H-hiiiii, papa…'

'Aw, Matteo,' I started, crouching at his bed and putting a hand on his forehead to check his temperature, 'what's the matter, little man?'

'He was crying very hard,' Luisa answered in his place, 'and he kept on crying and crying until I put alllllll these pillows on his bed. I think he likes them.'

I think he had to quit crying because he was scared to fucking suffocate if he continued to bawl while having that much pillow around him – but I didn't say that, I just nodded and told Luisa she was a really nice sister, taking care of her brother like that.

Luisa gave me a hint of a smile, before looking around her, as if she was missing something.

'Where's Papa Toni?'

'Papa Toni's sick,' Alejo told her. 'He looks just like Teo – but big.'

Luisa frowned at him. 'I told you to go get all the papa's.'

'But, but,' Alejo frowned back at her just as wickedly, 'he's sick, and I can't get him if he's just like Teo!'

But Luisa was very strict and wanted none of that shit, so she ignored Alejo and turned to me. 'Papa Lovi, did Papa Toni cry, too?'

'Uh, no?' I replied, cocking my head.

'Then,' Luisa nagged at Alejo, 'he's not just like Teo! Dork.'

'I'm no dork!' Alejo protested.

'Luisa…' I warningly said.

'I'm gonna check up on Papa Toni,' Luisa announced with as sigh, now ignoring me as well, and before I could even try to think of something to stop her, she had pitter-pattered out of the room.

'See?' Alejo snorted. 'Lulu's mean.'

'She just wants to help, so leave her be,' I handwaved it away – really, instead of focusing on Luisa and all her weird habits, I'd rather pay some attention to Matteo, who was remarkably quiet during all of this.

'I'm hot…' he muttered softly as soon as Luisa the Mini Dictator had left the room, and Alejo and I instantly took away, well, say, eighty percent of all the pillows.

For a minute I was seriously scared that whatever Matteo had was really dangerous – he did have a fever, I thought – but then he gasped and held on tightly on three cloud-shaped pillows, telling us in a very clear voice to not take away "thoses" because he liked "feeling cloudwy".

'Veddy soft, y'know?' he grinned at me as he petted the pillows like they were his weird cactus-girlfriend, and so, I kind of figured his sickness probably wasn't that bad, either.

Well, thank God. As if having one sick husband and one ruwaway-brother wasn't enough.

Shit.

I totally forgot about Feliciano.

And Germany! Oh god, that poor bastard was probably out and about already, asking himself what the fuck we were up to, and I was just running around the House like a loser-babysitter.

Just as I started to wonder what I should do now – I couldn't ignore Antonio and Matteo, but it wasn't very polite to ignore Germany either – the door of the kids' bedroom swung open again and Germany appeared, as if I had mentally summoned him or something.

'Uncly Luddy,' Matteo said, waving at him. 'Hiiiiii…'

'Yes. Hello, Matteo.' Germany looked around. 'Anyway, he'll be here in a few minutes, Luisa. I have called…'

He stopped talking when he noticed me, sitting next to my son on the chair where my daughter used to sit.

'Oh.' He looked confused. 'You grew older and manlier quickly, Luisa.'

He was kidding. He had got to be fucking kidding, right?

'I'm not Luisa, you huge, blind mole!' I barked at him right away, aggressively tossing a feathery-light pillow to his German face.

He easily caught it with his hands.

It apparently didn't have that much impact.

'Just kidding,' Germany said with a face that looked like it could burst into tears at any given moment. 'Got you there, hadn't I.'

I stared at his troubled, twisted-in-sadness face in confusion and pity, before I admitted he indeed had me there, my oh my, I sure as hell hadn't seen that one coming.

Germany sluggishly walked into the room and sat down on a random toy box.

'Earlier today, I was making breakfast for the six of us – since I didn't really know what else to do. Then I heard someone crying, so I went to check. Turned out that Matteo didn't feel so good, and Alejo and Luisa both had gotten out of bed and stared at me. I'm not sure why. Anyway, when I didn't do anything, Luisa snarled at me to go call the doctor and Alejo had to fetch you and Spain.'

'That little brat,' I muttered, shaking my head. 'I'm sorry. She can be really bossy when she's given the chance.'

'She's…' Germany seemed hesitate before he continued, '…well, she resembles you in a lot of aspects.'

'Thank you. Bastard.'

'It's not necessarily a bad thing.'

'It's also not necessarily a good thing.'

He chuckled and folded his large fingers together. 'I apologize. It's just that it's pretty amazing how your daughter takes after you and my daughter takes after Feliciano. She may be blonde and have blue eyes, but her personality… it's just like Feliciano's.'

I huffed. 'She's just as annoying and critical as you are, though.'

Germany smiled. 'I'll take that as a compliment.'

'Imma like Papa Toni,' Matteo chirped in, although his voice was a bit hoarse.

'Yep,' I agreed and petted his clammy head.

'Me too,' Alejo also said – but then the conversation lost his interest and he retreated himself to – well, my lap, where he just sat and played with the little car toy he had taken from the ground.

'Alejo's also a lot like Antonio, yes,' I said, resting my head on Alejo's.

'Yes? Well, I think your twins resemble you a lot as well,' Germany remarked.

'You think?'

'Absolutely. They're brash, impulsive and shy.'

'Thank you. Bastard.'

Germany grinned. 'Again – that's not necessarily a bad thing, Romano.'

'Well, whatever.' I sighed and finally looked over at him. 'So anyway, how have you been doing, hm? Still not heard anything from Feliciano or Mimi yet?'

Germany's smile faded away. 'No. Feliciano didn't take his cell phone with him, either. I wouldn't know how he planned to contact me – if he even wants to contact me.'

'You still have that note?' I asked.

'Yes – wait a minute… ah, here it is.'

Germany pulled out a little piece of paper that obviously had been read over and over again – it just was that tattered and worn-out. He looked at it one last time, but then he raised himself off the toy box and walked over to me.

'Here,' he mumbled, giving me the paper and taking a seat on Matteo's bed.

I blew some of Alejo's annoying hair out of my face and raised the note high enough so I'd be able to read it, without disturbing Alejo.

This is what it said:

Ludwig,

I love you very very very very very very much, you're a very good and wonderful man and I'll love you forever and ever, but you just don't understand.
Mimi and I are leaving. I'm sorry.
Please don't look for us.

Love you always and always, Feli.

This part of the note already was very sloppily written, with blobs of dried wet spots in-between the sentences here and there – that idiot was probably bawling his eyes out as he wrote this – but then the Italian-written line caught my eye, which was written down even more horribly.

It took me a while to figure out what that part of the letter said, but I eventually managed to decipher it to this:

Brother, I'm staying at the birthplace of the world's greatest lover.

'He's staying somewhere in Italy, isn't he,' Germany all of a sudden said.

I looked up, surprised. 'So you did know what he had written.'

'Of course.' Germany seemed offended. 'I know enough Italian to read such an easy Italian sentence – really, Feliciano practically demanded me to learn Italian ages ago. But, as you can see, I still need you.'

I nodded. 'Apparently, he does want to be found – by me.'

'Yes.' Germany swallowed. 'It's probably a twin thing…'

'We're not twins.'

'Oh, right, I almost forgot – you're three years older than us, right?'

'You bet your young ass I am, brat.'

Germany didn't say anything, but I did spot a weak smile curling around his lips – and that was good.

'Wow… papa's older than uncly Luddy?' Matteo – who finally heard something that piqued his interests – wanted to know.

'You bet,' I grinned, 'and more handsome, too!'

'Don't forget to also mention how very humble and soft-spoken you are, Romano.'

'Shut up, you wardrobe-shaped macho.'

Then we both grinned stupidly, which made Matteo and Alejo grin as well – damn copycats – and I wanted to say something about the city where Feliciano could be hiding, when the doorbell rang.

Simultaneously, Luisa hopped back into the bedroom.

'Papa, the doctor's here. Fetch.'

'Wha-!' I sputtered, while Germany snorted with laughter. 'Don't talk to your father like that, dammit!'

'Oh. Okay.' Luisa – still standing close to the door – blinked and now looked at Germany. 'Uncle Luddy, YOU fetch him.'

'Luuuuuiiiiiisssssaaaaa…' I hissed, even though I could barely muffle the amused tone my voice had.

'No no, it's okay, I'll let him in,' Germany said as he got off the bed. 'I was the one that called him, after all!'

'Fine with me,' I uninterestedly said as he left the room, and I caught myself thinking that even though I still couldn't say I really liked that German potato-lover, I was happy he seemed to feel a bit better.

I really was.

\0o0/

I really shouldn't have been surprised when not the old coot, but Antonio's smarter doppelganger entered the bedroom together with Germany a little while later – but guess what, I still was, and even the kids needed a moment to realize that the doctor that looked so astonishing much like their Spanish father had arrived.

'Hi! Good morning, to all of you!~' Dr. Hernández happily greeted all of us as he skipped – yes, apparently the doctor skipped – over to Matteo's bed. 'Now now now, little mister, I've heard you aren't feeling so well?'

Matteo's jaw dropped in amazement (he probably thought it was fucking witchcraft that this doctor could immediately tell he was sick), and he did this weird gape-and-stare-thing so that everybody in the room instantly felt extremely uncomfortable, except for Dr. Hernández, because the happy moron couldn't read the ambiance.

VERY familiar indeed.

'Ahahahahaha,' the doctor started, opening his – admittedly child-friendly, because covered in pictures of rainbows and flowers – doctor's suitcase thing, 'well, let's start by telling you that you're going to be all better, okay? I'll measure your temperature later and I'll leave some medicine with your fathers later, but trust me on this one. You're going to be okey-dokey-okay!'

Ugh VOMIT BOWL PLEASE I wanted to say, but when I glanced over at Matteo, he actually seemed to be relieved and amused, giggling a bit when the doctor made a silly face.

It was pretty creepy how much different this Delgado-related dweep was in comparison to his evil grandpa, but I was glad he was. Dr. Delgado himself never was good with kids – hell, he loathes them, and I bet he loathes my kids even more, since they're mine.

But anyway…

'So you've come to replace your grandfather again?' I asked him as Dr. Hernández put on a BRIGHT-BLUE stethoscope.

The young man gave me a dazzling smile. 'Indeed, Mr. Romano!~ It seems like my grandfather really wants me to already do the job that's going to be mine in the future anyway. It makes me kind of happy.'

'Yeah?'

'Sure! It's like he's telling me that he actually does care about me!'

I rolled my eyes. 'If he really loved you, he'd talk to you – not make you do the things that he's supposed to do.'

'Ah…' Dr. Hernández muttered, his smile getting less radiant. He didn't say anything else – or at least not to me. He now just focused on Matteo and friendly asked him cough as he listened to his chest.

Dammit, now I've gone and done it. Why the fuck did I have to be so fucking aggressive and direct?

'Um,' Germany then started, breaking the nasty silence, 'I should apologize for calling you to come over for such a common cold, Dr. Hernández. But I panicked, and Luisa told me I should do something.'

I snorted. 'Way to go, Germany, blaming your niece.'

Luisa nodded, so I guess she totally agreed with me, while an embarrassed Germany flushed.

'B-but I—!'

'It's alright!' Dr. Hernández reassured him while Matteo covered up his chest again (or at least tried to). 'I think it's very good you called me, Mr. Germany! Better safe than sorry, I always say. And may I also say that it's a honor to meet you? I mean, wow! You're Germany! You're already the third personification I get to greet! I'm meeting so many countries!~'

'I…suppose,' Germany stammered, not really knowing what else to say.

Dr. Hernández then smiled again and turned to me – looked like he had an even shorter span of attention than Antonio – and patiently waited for me to finish helping Matteo pull his gown down again ('It'z liek it is stwuck, papa! Ehehehehehehe!~').

'Mr. Romano, I've done a quick check-up on your son, and I think he'll be fine in a couple of days, if he just gets enough sleep, rest and healthy food. Oh! And make sure he drinks enough, too. He has a light fever, but it's nothing too serious. I'll give you some medicine – just some pills and a bit of super-healthy herb tea my boyfriend grows in his garden – and I'll also advise you to let him eat many popsicles.'

'Popsicles!' Alejo repeated. 'Teo has to eat icy ice to get better?'

'Yes!~' Hernández said. 'To avoid his throat will get too soar.'

'Cool!' Alejo said.

'Yea, pwetty cold,' Matteo nodded. 'But I LIEK it!'

'Hmpf! You better watch you don't get a frozen tummy!' Luisa enviously said.

'I dun't care!~'

'Frozen tummy – whoa, that's, like, SUPER-COOL!'

'So anyway,' I said, while the kids started a heavy discussion about the many wonders of having a frozen tummy, 'you think you could also check-up on Antonio?'

Dr. Hernández blinked. 'Oh dear, Mr. Spain's feeling under the weather as well?'

'Yes – but I think he's got the same symptoms as Matteo. However, I'd like it if you'd go look at him anyway,' I explained.

'Alright, let's go look at Mr. Spain as well, then!' Hernández raised from the bed. 'Show me the way, Mr. Romano!'

'Go on,' Germany encouragingly said as he saw me look at Matteo and hesitate, 'I'll keep an eye on your kids – especially on Matteo.'

Well, if he put it that way…

I stiffly got up from my chair and cleared my throat. 'Oh. Um. Thanks, I guess.'

'Don't mention it,' Germany said.

\0o0/

'Well!~ Concerning Mr. Spain, I'm going to give you the exact same advice I've told you in regards to your son, Mr. Romano: lots of rest, sleep, drinks, ice, a bit of medicine and a touch of freshly-harvested herb tealeaves!~'

Dr. Hernández grinned amusedly at Antonio, as the latter covered up his chest again.

'You know, we look like one anther so much, I'm actually a bit amazed you don't have the same melanocytic nevus (or mole) as I have, underneath your right nipple!~'

Antonio looked at him, horrified. 'You studied my nipples?'

'Your right nipple,' Hernández corrected him.

'Doesn't change the fact that you studied my nipples!'

'Don't be such a baby,' I said. 'It's your own fault for having… nipples.'

'A friend of mine made a complete thesis on nipples,' the doctor very earnestly and even more unnecessary said. 'Her research on nipples and the many mysteries surrounding these peculiar pieces of flesh truly is amazing! Here, I can give you a copy – I have it with me! Such a fascinating study!'

'I-I don't understand,' Antonio stammered, now looking at me. 'Why does he keep on talking about nipples? And furthermore, if he's like me that much, does that mean I have a nipple-fetish as well?'

'Oh god, Antonio.' I sighed, but couldn't stop chuckling a bit.

'Lovi. Look at me.' Antonio's eyes became piercing and almost painfully green. 'Do I… have a nipple-fetish?'

I flicked his nose, not impressed. 'You stop that.'

'No, really! Do I touch them too often? Like, do I touch yours too often?'

'Oh my,' the doctor muttered.

I felt my face heating up. 'Antonio…'

'Well I DO like to touch yours, but that's only because you always moan—'

'Hahahahaha, annnnnnd that's enough,' I interrupted with a forced grin him as I harshly slapped my hand over his treacherous mouth.

'Outpch,' Antonio blubbered.

'U-um,' Dr. Hernández said, feeling so very uncomfortable that I felt kind of sorry for him, 'w-well, um… anyway, so the same things I told you about taking care of Matteo go for Mr. Spain as well, Mr. Romano. He should be fine very soon.'

'Great,' I said in a shrill voice.

'And…' Dr. Hernández paused for a sec, but then gave Antonio a very intense look anyway, '…I know it's not my business, but Mr. Spain, if you're willing to learn more about nipples, I could—'

'HE KNOWS ENOUGH ABOUT DAMN NIPPLES, thank you very much,' I brutally cut off the doctor.

'Ah, okay then!~' He smiled cheerfully at us as he started packing his belongings, seemingly already forgotten everything about the embarrassing moment.

I exhaled slowly and softly and let go of Antonio's mouth. 'Goddammit, I'm exhausted – and it's not even noon yet.'

'Well, it was a busy morning…' Antonio said, rubbing his face. '…was Matteo okay?'

'Yeah, he'll be fine.'

'Ah, that's a relief. Maybe we can try to have a moderately nice and peaceful day, then.'

I was silent for a second and looked at Antonio apologetically.

'What?' he said.

'I'm sorry – I think we won't have a very nice and peaceful day. Well, you and the kids can have one, I guess, but I can't - just like you predicted last night, remember?'

Antonio's face fell and he grabbed my hands. 'What are you up to, Lovi?'

I sighed tiredly and explained everything.