A/N: Now, I am going to start off by apologizing. I am awful with staying in character when I have a plot point I want reached. Also, the last two chapters were the last of my rough draft, now I am working with outlines and may lack on detail, but please bear with me. I never really thought this chapter through, but my mind has given me snippets of dialogue so I have that to work with. There will be Germany, and his point of view. Probably the only way I can sum this up is, it's going to be a god awful mess… any way~ enjoy
Chapter 3 (part 3): I Can't Help But Notice.
"Lovi~ He said lo siento for frightening you Mi Querido! He's been away for so long! Say Hola Lovi~!" Lovino sat, glaring and stabbing at his yogurt (No, not because it was strawberry). "He gave me a damn heart attack!" Lovino shook his head and took a huge bite of the yogurt. He was definitely stressed, but he was the only one with enough brains in this room to see what was going on here. "Lovino! You are so grown up since I last saw you~!" Lovino huffed and continued hastily devouring his snack. "I'm hungry too~ Maybe I could cook again mi amore?" Lovino didn't mean to nod so eagerly. "Well, I know Romulus is always hungry~ "Toni smiled. As Toni and Lovino talked a little bit in slightly hushed voices, Lovino stole an unnoticed glance at Rome and for once felt sorrow that came with seeing his 'on and off" grandfather. "Si…if you could make enchiladas~" Lovino asked this with such wide eyes, Toni just couldn't say no. Not that he ever could. "Of course me amore. Red or green?" Romano blushed. "C-could you make it Christmas?" Toni laughed at his lovers new found bashfulness and use of the Spanish slang which only made Lovinos blush deepen and gave the man an uncharacteristic smirk. Rome felt a certain amount of pride watching his grandson and Spain, his adopted son, giggling and smiling, so much in love. In fact, Lovino seemed to be positively glowing… Kind of chubby though. Rome would have to get him and Feliciano (who he was trying to avoid since WWII due to the potato boy of his) together to train. Antonio kissed Lovino on the cheek but when he went to leave, Lovino pulled him back down and forced him into a heated make out session. Rome almost fell over. "Whoop, that's my boy!" he couldn't help it. It seemed a big part of Lovino had forgotten that Rome was even there, because he let go of Toni so fast, it made the Spaniards head spin and he landed on his ass. "Aye, Aye, Lovi~ you sure-" "Hush…. Go… "Toni nodded his head, smiling like a fool and left the two to their own devices.
There was not much silence with Rome around. "So, Lovino~ I was thinking of getting you and Feli out tomorrow and maybe working out fiercely for a while! What do you say?" Lovino looked at Rome confused, 'I guess he noticed the weight gain…' "Hold up old man. A few questions first…" Rome took a deep breath and then forced a nod. Here it comes. "First off, where the fuck have you been? Second, who the fuck do you think you are? Third, does anyone know you're here, have you seen Feli or the Potato Bastard? Do you even know that me and Toni are married? Do you know what is going on in our lives right now? How long are you going to be around, or are you leaving in a couple hours to return whenever the fuck you want?...Okay… Answers, I'm waiting.." Rome once again took a deep breath and went down the list. "Everywhere and Nowhere, I'm your grandfather, No, Nope, wanted to see you first. No and sad I missed it and that I didn't get to walk you down the isle. No idea, that's why I'm here, and I will be here for a while. Now… Do I get a hug, or are you to good for that?" Lovino blushed. He didn't know…. Well, better now than later. If he wasn't willing to tell him now and Rome was going to stick around, it would be kind of hard to explain such weight gain. "Come here… I need to tell you something.." Lovino watched Rome hesitate, then slowly make his way over, sort of afraid what was to happen next. He took a seat next to the Italian and Lovino looked as though he was praying to himself. "Don't tell me you're dissolving too…" "Nope… worse." Rome looked at Lovino and was once again taken aback. He was smiling. "Here, give me your hand.." Lovino took his grandfather's hand and like a kid at show and tell, placed it on his extended tummy. Rome almost fell over. "A BABY?" Rome smiled so big he felt a head rush. "Do you know how long its been since Europe had a new piece of land? Its been since back in my day! This is amazing! How far along are you? How many are there? Are they- Oh wow! This is…." Rome suddenly looked, well, not okay. "Rome? Are you-" Rome shook his head. He was never one for sappy shit, so this next portion almost made Lovino cry. "Just please… Redo your vows.. I should have never left…" Rome was shaking and it scared Lovino. There was a long silence before Lovino spoke again. "I cant do that…" Rome nodded his head. He understood. "I-..I just want you to know.. I meant to come back sooner.. it just wasn't the rig-" "We will have a ceremony.. we never did that before. Then you can walk me down the aisle.." Lovino looked for any reaction but he didn't receive one. Instead Toni came in with drinks and saw Rome crying and Lovino freaking out. "MI DISPACE!" Lovino looked to Toni for help and so the Spaniard made haste and tried snapping Rome out of it. After a while, Rome was finally back with them… He was obviously not the same as he once was. More a shell of his former self.
"So… you are telling me we are remarrying? "Si..I suppose… " Antonio held Lovino in his lap and stroked the Italians hair. "I'm hungry…" Toni chuckled. "It's ready.. Let's give Rome a bit. He's in need of a siesta~" Toni carried Lovino to the table and there they sat and ate, looking at one another occasionally. They were both thinking the same thing. "Ti amooooo~ Delzura~" Lovino was practically purring. Toni knew that it was just the hormones, but his Italian was so feisty and sex prone as of late. It was barely out of the norm, seeing as they were… active individuals anyway, but he never knew pregnancy could make sex so…. Wow. Toni looked at Lovino. Spain thought again but when he looked up, he saw that they were not alone. "Hola Rome~ Como estas?" Lovino went back to eating immediately. Rome yawned "I heard purring, I had to check it out~" Lovino blushed profusely and got up. Rome looked up at him and noticed the blush. "Si, I must be ezpecting a lot more grandchildren from you two!" Now Antonio blushed as well and as Lovino washed his plate, back to the both of them. Antoino made a threatning motion silently to Rome but before there could come a second chance, Lovino walked over swiftly and punched Rome as hard as he could, right in the jaw. Effectivley, the elder hit the ground, passed out and Lovino stood over him, seething anger. It took Toni a minute to figure out what had just happened. In that minute, Lovino ran. He ran out the back door, through the tomato fields, and though he knew he should not have been running, he felt he had to get away. Quickly. He was in the tallest sections of the plants when he finally had to stop. He then heard a very angry spainard call his yell his name far off at the house. He snuck around in the plants and just prayed that spain calmed before reaching him…
He couldn't breathe. Ever since Feliciano had left, he had felt panic and anger. This was the last thing either of them needed in this situation. He was afraid of Feli when he got like this. Even in WWII he knew something was off about the boy, and when they found out Ludwig made him vow to keep taking the pills because that was the only way that they would ever be…okay. Feliciano always had nightmares before and after WWI and WWII. That came as a shock to Ludwig, because the boy always seemed so happy. That was a façade, a mask that hid the hurt and anguish. Problem was when Feliciano got like this he only wanted one of two people. Romano or Luciano, and in this situation all of Ludwig's money went on his lover going to pay that damn 2p of his a visit. He hoped not, he would rather be cussed out and instigated by the southern Italian. Well, maybe not, seeing as said Italian already has god awful mood swings already, and is now with child making them… could they even get worse? So he sat in the foyer listening to the Feliciano's voicemail and running the bad ideas out of his head. 'Maybe he was driving too recklessly and you will never know if he died' 'Maybe he left you for Luciano' 'Maybe he hates you'. You see, the Italy brothers, due to unification of their government, are very vulnerable. Antonio and Ludwig are scared to death to lose either one of them…and that fear could not be more real.
Ludwig shook his head. He already had been up the past two nights, fighting with the Italian. Feliciano woke up screaming for that damn 'Holy Rome' again. Ludwig just didn't understand… Rome was sort of cast out, forever immortal but ashamed that he had lost control. With his appearance at the world wars and showing up to both Germany and Spain's house in the dead of night on several occasions (which Feli did not know, but I'm sure Lovino was able to get it out of Antonio somehow) to see his grandchildren and to keep an eye on their allies. So this Holy Rome characters disappearance baffled the German. He allowed his head to loll to one side and began to feel the full effect neglecting sleep had on him in this state. Back in the wars, he had to stay up for days due to bombing and the fact that he had many things going on to help his people and save lives. He pushed two buttons on his phone and heard Feliciano's phone go straight to voicemail. He gave up. He then dialed a number that he'd been dreading but he had to know if his love was okay. "Ciao." Hallo, Lovino?" the other end shifted and he heard the Italian sigh in defeat "What do you want, you want a number to a battered woman's shelter?... I know everything… he did you wrong." More shifting could be heard from Lovinos end, and it sounded as if he were outside. "He's supposed to be half way here by now and since he isn't, I'm not going to lie and tell you it's all peachy, but in your state just keep a level head and get rest. There is no use chasing after a broken Feliciano..." Ludwig took a second to process and then he heard a whisper "He didn't hit you, did he?" Lovino was actually concerned. "No, he just yelled, threw things… and said… well, it doesn't matter. No, he didn't, but he needs help. I finally know what's going on, and I should have seen it sooner." Lovino worked his way into the dark tomato field, trying to hide from the two occupants of his estate at this time. "Wait, what did he say to you?" Ludwig sighed, he felt he should have kept his mouth shut. "Well… he didn't mea-""That's not what I asked is it? Now, cough it up potato fucker, I'm trying to help you out… You hear that bambino? Mama potato can't say your zio roma never tried!" Ludwig sighed once more and knew Lovino was trying to reach out to him. "Well, he told me that he wished I had miscarried... He then stormed out and took off in a dangerous and carless manner. Whether it was to inflict fear or if he honestly was in no condition to drive, I'm not sure, but now he won't answer and I know that we both haven't gotten much sleep in the past two months…" Lovino stayed silent. He seemed like he might have been trying to process or trying to think of what to say, but when he spoke next, it was monotone and deep.
"Is this about the fact that he can't get pregnant?" Ludwig was appalled, for he knew his lover did not tell his brother, for fear of being either forced into a psyche doctor's office or something. "I think you both forget.. I'm Italy too damn it. He went through extreme hate and heartbreak, and not to mention how bad all of the miscarriages must have hurt. I'd hate to tell him that I knew, because I never told Spain, but I'm sure that can be our dirty little secret. Now, as far as this goes, I also know he's been having nightmares, and I'd bet a pretty penny that they're all about the Holy Roman Empire." At this point Ludwig was just taking it all in and he forgot where he was and caught himself nodding into the phone. "Ja! I mean si! That's exactly… Lovino?" The name came out sounding like a small child, and this invoked a sort of motherly instinct in the Italian. "Si, Ludwig?" Ludwig knew it was now or never "What happened to Holy Rome?" He heard Lovino sighed and tightened his grip on the phone. "W-well… It's uh, kind of… What do you think happened?" Silence was laced with hope for another topic but Ludwig was not going to budge. "I know he could have not just disappeared, he has to be-" "Look in the mirror…" Lovino held the bridge of his nose to will away a headache and rounded the corner to see a very angry Spaniard with crossed arms tapping his foot.
Antonio took the phone and held Lovino back with one hand. "Hola Ludwig~ Lo siento, Lovi will have to call you right back, okay?" Ludwig was to shocked to answer and so he just hung up. What did Lovino mean? Had he been spending time with Greece again? Ludwig sighed and went to bed. He'd figure it all out later.