I do not own Hetalia okay? I would like to thank all of you who read, faved, reviewed and watch this fic. It's really getting me through this and it's being taken much better than I thought it would be. So anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
"Privet Natalya, how has your Christmas been?" Ivan asked as he looked over at Katyusha who was sitting on a chair nearby excitedly, wanting to speak to her baby sister.
Natalya paused. It was certainly a very interesting one, one where Toris said he would be willing to move half way around the world with her and her dreams of working back in Russia were tempted sorely by this. But to tell her older brother all this, it might cause him to think that she was running away from him and somehow take it the wrong way. Like he might assume that she was doing this to spite him for marrying Alfred. True, she did not like his husband much, but she wouldn't be so low and petty. Most she would allow was the arguments they had. As much as she hated Alfred, she loved Ivan more. "Oh it's been real interesting." Natalya began, Well it was, so you are not lying to him. "Toris's father is a very friendly man."
"Really?" Ivan asked as he saw Alfred and Matthew on the couch arguing over which Christmas movie to put in. Matthew had wanted to watch Christmas Vacation, while Alfred wanted Home Alone.
"At least Home Alone's sequel didn't go straight to video!" Alfred yelled.
"Oh come on," Matthew sighed. "That's not the only thing that matters. You just don't like seeing yourself!"
"That movie came out in 1989!" Alfred moaned.
"No, you just go like Clark Grizwald on holiday situations. If you held Christmas you'd be yelling 'Hallelujah holy shit' yourself!" Matthew said. "I got Tylenol if you need it. I do remember your Thanksgiving after all!"
"Well the only one causing trouble then would be Dad and Papa, like they always do!"
"Yes, he is." Natalya said as she overheard the argument. "Well, you said that Alfred and Matthew were adopted so there is a point for the nurture argument. I swear that is like an argument their fathers would have."
"Well it's still family friendly." Ivan sighed as he rubbed his temple. "The things that Francis talks about casually…."
"He's French. At least I am blessed that Toris's family is rather well behaved. His father seems to really like me." Natalya said.
"You're a darling when you want to be baby sister." Katyusha said. "I don't see why Toris's family wouldn't like you."
"Oh how did they take your news sister?" Natalya asked.
"You knew before they told us?" Ivan said shocked.
"Katyusha and Matthew told me before I left in case there was any issues with time or connection, things like that. I promised to keep it a secret as to not spoil the surprise for you and Matthew's fathers." Natalya said simply.
"Seems fair." Ivan sighed. "I like the idea that Matvey can provide and having a plemyannista sounds like fun. What do you think?"
"I can certainly glad it's a girl. I can be a good role model for her on what a woman can achieve and just that we are strong." Natalya said.
"So how is Christmas over there? Different from what we are going to have?" Katyusha asked.
"Well Toris's parents split the main events over yesterday and today. They are having the meal once the stars come out and nothing like back in America. Toris's mother has been putting in a lot of work into having it to the local traditions." She looked out the window and saw it getting darker. Looking at the ring in her hand, she wanted to talk about her feelings. "Can you give the phone to Katya please?"
"Why?" Ivan asked.
"Girl stuff you wouldn't understand." Natalya said rolling her eyes. Can I just talk to my older sister please? She thought as Ivan handed the phone to her.
"So what do you need baby sister?" Katyusha asked as she headed into a corner. She knew that from the tone she heard that Natalya wanted to only talk to her.
"Toris's mother is almost finished with dinner and it's getting dark so I will be quick. Toris is thinking of moving in with me when we graduate." Natalya said.
"Well that isn't until the spring so you'll have a few months more to see if you would want to and you are already spending a few weeks with him now to see if you can stand the little things they do when at home." Katyusha said.
"Yes but he wants to take his degree to Lithuania or Russia, he said he'd be okay with that if I got a job in Moscow or something. I had been thinking about that but not seriously. I also do not want to break his heart, especially now that you are expecting a girl." Natalya confessed.
"He's not demanding an answer right away." Katyusha noted. "He does not want to do that until after graduation. So that means you have time to discuss what you feel. Wait until the new year to really get into this discussion but you will need to have it."
"What if he changes his mind about me?" Natalya asked.
"Is my oh so headstrong baby sister afraid of rejection?" Katyusha laughed as she heard Natalya growl on the other line. "Well it won't be easy but you wouldn't have been meant to be that way. Sometimes our life goals are different than what we think in the start of a relationship. It happens. But if you want to live your life in misery, never stand up for yourself."
"That's something to think about. Tell Vanya I said Merry Christmas. Do not tell him what we discussed. I don't care what you say if he keeps asking but do not tell him that. Toris's father is looking hungry and trying to get me to finish this call."
"Your secrets are safe with me baby sister. Merry Christmas."
"The same to you." Natalya said as she hung up. As if that was much help at all. Natalya thought with frustration as she joined Toris and his family for their traditional dinner. She sat beside him and looked at the 12 dishes on the table. "Those potatoes look good Mrs. Laurinaitis. That is one of my favorite foods."
"No need to flatter me." Mrs. Laurinaitis said as Natalya took a big spoonful of the dish.
"I do not do flattery in such a way." Natalya said. "I find it a disservice to those you meet. Although I have found not everyone is receptive to my ways either." She took a bite of the dish. "If you do not mind sharing, I would like the recipe of this. I would like to make it for the Epiphany celebration my brother and his husband will be having in January."
"Certainly." Mrs. Laurinaitis said with a smile on her face. "Toris my boy, you never had met anyone like her."
"Well if you do get serious with her, remember this saying son, happy wife, happy life and you're going to have quite a time of that." Mr. Laurinaitis teased. "I don't mean any offense to you Natalya." He recovered at her look.
"I am focusing on my education before marriage sir." She said. "Marriage is a partnership and if I want to be a strong partner, I need a strong career to be able to do so."
"You have a point there Natalya." Mrs. Laurinaitis said. "But don't get so wrapped up in work you forget your family. They love you and are there no matter what. Although if you do not mind my motherly interjections, if you and Toris did have children, they would be so adorable." At this both Natalya and Toris choked on their cider.
"It's a little early to be thinking about that…." Natalya said red in the face. "Besides, my sister is expecting a child to be born a little bit before graduation and I was thinking of helping her and her husband while I look for work this summer. I do plan to further my education in the business world as well. Either that or look into a career in law."
"Well Miss Natalya, I can tell you will be a good rational rock for Toris. But don't let yourself get so wrapped up you forget your family, like my wife said." Mr. Laurinaitis replied.
"I will be certain to keep that in mind." Natalya said.
Ivan and Katyusha headed over the living room where both Alfred and Matthew were sulking. Arthur had taken the remote from them and indeed put in his favorite Christmas movie, A Christmas Carol, and by the looks of it, it was an older version. "This is the only one that Francis likes, claims it's more artistic in black and white."
"Couldn't we have had the Muppet version?" Alfred said "Or that 1999 version with Patrick Stewart? You know Captain Piccard. The better one." Alfred said looking over at Matthew.
"Come on, Kirk is the original one!"
"Boys!" Arthur said.
"You're turning into your fathers." Ivan said with a sigh as he kissed Alfred on the forehead. This caused Matthew and Alfred to stop bickering and eyes widen in shock, causing Katyusha to giggle. Picking up on this, Arthur looked around.
"Just why would that be so bad boys?" Arthur said.
"Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh" Alfred and Matthew said, not wanting to upset Arthur.
"Dinner will be ready in a few hours. The turkey has to finish baking and no, you cannot make your scones while the turkey is baking!" Francis said as he sat in Arthur's lap in a manner much like Katyusha was doing with Matthew. "I see the boys couldn't agree on a movie." He added noting the choice of movie that was on television
"Papa…" Matthew moaned in embarrassment.
"What? Are you not used to seeing this? I mean your own wife is doing the same, so full of love you two." Francis teased.
"I have never gotten used to it." Alfred moaned. "You guys are older than dirt but act like you're newlyweds on the verge of divorce for as long as I have known."
"You'll be this old one day and you'll want for this." Arthur said to quiet his sons up.
The evening passed and as the new day began, they packed up the gifts and headed back home, leaving a sobbing Arthur as Francis waved to them. It was going to be a busy day for Alfred and Ivan so they were ready for the reservation that they would leave for the next day. It was only a few hours drive to the resort, so they didn't have to leave too early but Ivan had wanted to get there with plenty of time to settle in. This was a break from the craziness of work and the holidays and family. Ivan knew that no matter how much he and Alfred loved their siblings, they could not stand being each other's presence for longer than they needed to be. Ivan could stand when it was just him and Alfred in the house but did not want to be stuck with his sister more than he had to be. Alfred had also confessed there were times that he and Matt couldn't stand each other when they hadn't had time apart. Would I feel the same about a child? Ivan had wondered as he and Alfred packed their bags and looked for their equipment. Alfred had liked snowboarding but said it had been awhile since he had done it so Ivan wanted to let him put the equipment he had in the garage to good use. "I am going to make you so exhausted that you won't want to ski." Alfred said as he jumped from behind Ivan and pushed him down on the bed.
"Oh really?" Ivan teased.
"Really." Alfred said kissing him. "It'll be like our honeymoon."
"The one where we got multiple calls from the front desk to be quiet, you screamer?" Ivan laughed.
"Hey I wasn't the only loud one." Alfred said.
"Nyet. I do not know what you are talking about." Ivan played innocent as he turned Alfred onto the bed when there was a knock heard at the door." Cyka Blyat" Ivan moaned under his breath then spoke up, "You may come in."
"Am I interrupting something? I can come back?" Katyusha said.
"Meh." Alfred said. "We'll have plenty of time for that later." He hated making her seem like she was interrupting something or being a burden. "What do you need?"
"Your laundry finished. I folded it and brought it up to you." Katyusha said.
"Thanks Katy." Alfred said as he pushed Ivan to the side and picked it up from her.
"Did I bother you brother?" She asked looking at Ivan.
"At least you knocked…." Ivan said. Katyusha looked confused.
"Matthew caught us in a similar way only he didn't have the curtesy to knock so that made Vanya particularly annoyed."
"I should say so. Do not worry, your house is in good hands. You two just need to go to the resort and have fun. Be safe too. I would hate for one of you to come back with a broken leg from this. I mean your bedroom is upstairs." Katyusha said.
"Oh if Vanya hurts himself, I'll carry him up over my shoulder and take care of it all." Alfred assured Katyusha as she smiled and headed out of the room.
"That's so precious. I'm making dinner tonight so when you are finished, it should be." She said shutting the door behind them.
"What makes you think I will be the one getting hurt on this trip?" Ivan teased. "You take bigger risks than I do sports."
"Oh you think you know it all when it comes to this." Alfred teased. "But I would take care of my man no matter what he does to himself. I promised to in sickness or in health."
"If anyone gets hurt it will be you with those tricks you liked to attempt on your snowboard last time I saw it. I was surprised you didn't hurt yourself then. But this time it has been awhile and you might overestimate your skills." Alfred stuck his tongue out at Ivan. "And if you do, I will be here to treat my patient as his leg gets better."
"Why do you think it will be my leg?" Alfred teased.
"Just a hypothetical." He said as he kissed Alfred on his forehead and put the suitcases beside the door for when they left the next day.
"Come on, you're not going to finish this?" Alfred said.
"Oh, I want you to be so aroused and craving me that the first moment we get the chance I can take you." Ivan teased.
"God you're playing worse than before our honeymoon." Alfred said.
"Exactly." Ivan teased.
The next day after bidding Matthew and Katyusha well, they drove off with Alfred looking out the window as they headed to the resort. You can be so excitable at times my love Ivan smiled as they pulled in and Alfred's eyes widened at what he had seen. The resort had plenty of lifts and trails and looked like a giant hotel that was nothing but a large log cabin. "Much better than that ski trip that our student union had planned, Da?" Ivan teased.
"Much" Alfred said. "You certainly know how to treat a guy."
"You'll see when we get checked in." Ivan said. He led Alfred to the desk where they were checked in and then took the key and headed up towards the room assigned on the key fob. Alfred kept asking just what was going on as they carried their bags along with them.
"This place is pretty sweet, but we left our equipment in the car." Alfred said.
"Do you really think someone will break into our car?" Ivan teased, knowing how Alfred was when he wanted to get Ivan to spoil a surprise. With this he opened the door and show the room. "Think this is good enough for your liking?"
Alfred dragged his suitcase and looked around. The room was large and spacious with a king-sized bed, large whirlpool tub in the bathroom. "Dude."
"I see I have you speechless." Ivan said as he pushed the bags aside and shut the door. "No one will disturb us now." With this he pulled Alfred up and held him close, pushing him onto the bed. "I love you so much dorogoy" Ivan whispered.
"I love you Vanya." Alfred whispered as Ivan unzipped Alfred's jacket and threw it aside.
"I will make you feel better than you had ever." He whispered into Alfred's ear. His heartbeat grew faster.
Meanwhile Matthew laid back on the couch and flipped through the channels of the television with a smile on his face. "Peace and quiet." He spoke.
"It's almost as if this is a gift Vanya gave the both of us unintentionally." Katyusha smiled.
"What were you doing?" Matthew asked.
"Oh this?" Katyusha blushed. "I was looking at homes in the area. With your job we won't have to rent, and we can have a nice place for us to raise the baby."
Matthew smiled. Sure it was simple, boring and no one would really care about it, but the fact that it was him and his wife having this discussion made Matthew feel much better than he was a month and a half ago when he was worried they would be forced into a crappy apartment where he'd be looking for work to make ends meet, not have any time to spend with Katyusha and their daughter because one parent would be working while the other looked after the child. He'd be avoiding his family because he couldn't bear their judgement and would feel inferior to his own brother and would not want his fathers to be worried or even try to raise his daughter for him because of that. He saw a picture of a house with 3 bedrooms and a decent sized yard. "How does this one look? Enough space in the yard for a playset and a garden for mommy."
"That's so sweet." Katyusha said. "Maybe we can do what Vanya did and find a place that needs a little repair."
"Well, he knew how to do most of it himself." Matthew said. "My fathers didn't know much when it came to home repair themselves, so they didn't impart much. I just have shop class and what I learned on YouTube videos, so we didn't have to pay the landlord extra to fix whatever broke. I didn't have a handy great-uncle who insisted that as part of being a young man I know how to build a house complete with that beautiful wood carving you see in Russia."
"Well, you could ask them to help. I am sure that Vanya would be more than happy to." Katyusha said. "But that won't be for a little while. Fredka told me we were more than welcome to stay as long as we needed to, especially since you now have a job but…."
"You don't want to impose." Matthew said as Katyusha nodded.
"Especially because of what Fredka is talking to Vanya about." Katyusha said.
"Adopting?" Matthew said as Katyusha nodded again. "Al talked to me about it too. Can't say they'd be bad. Better than Papa and Dad from what I can tell. They don't bicker all the time. I think they get that out in the bedroom…." Katyusha laughed.
"So, when an argument brews, they get carnal?" She laughed.
"Makes about as much sense as any." Matthew laughed.
"Your hair is stupid and hockey stinks!" Katyusha said.
"Are you trying to see what they get out of it?" Matthew said. Katyusha nodded.
"Well then you burned the roast Mrs. Williams." Matthew teased.
"And we have all the room in the house for us to work this out." Katyusha said kissing Matthew. "We won't disturb the baby at all. I discussed it with the doctor."
"With pleasure." Matthew smiled.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. Once again, I thank all of you who have review, fave and even read this story. It means a lot to me. I started this with a few scenes in mind and it blew into this. So, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
Otherrealmwriter
Aka
Realm