I do not own Hetalia okay? I am so surprised at the response this story has gotten. Frankly I am really humbled by it. Anyway, I don't have much else to say, so enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
Natalya woke up early that New Year's Day. They had made it into Moscow with good time to spare and had planned to stay in the city until New Year's day when they would head back into Lithuania for a few days before they had to fly back. Looking at her phone and the time, she thought about calling her sister or her brother. They would both be about 8 hours behind and it would still be New Year's eve back there. Toris was still asleep so she sighed and pressed the phone dial for her brother. Tossing aside Toris's hastily discarded shirt with slight disdain, she looked out the window as some flurries blew by. Watch, he won't pick up, too busy with that obnoxious husband of his…. She thought as she tapped her foot.
Meanwhile, Ivan was lying next to Alfred, the taste of his husband still on his mouth. "Told you I would think of something." He said kissing him as he heard his phone ring.
"Uggggghhhh. Who calls at one in the fucking morning! Someone had better be dead and leaving me a ton of money." Alfred moaned.
"Don't be so negative." Ivan said. "It's Natalya. She must have just gotten up. She is always such an early riser." He saw Alfred huff in frustration.
"I stand by what I said." Alfred sulked. "I hope she doesn't plan to make this a habit."
"I will make sure she doesn't." Ivan assured. "Natalya! Are you aware of the time?" He asked politely but with a slightly annoyed tone that made Alfred gulp. He knew it well.
"Yes I am. I know it is the wee hours of the morning, a little after midnight but since it is New Year's you would still be awake." Natalya said as she headed over to the coffee maker provided in the room. She normally did not drink a lot of coffee but there was a long drive back to Lithuania that she said she would handle on the Moscow to the Lithuanian border with a stop in Minsk, Belarus for a little sightseeing and some lunch. I will let Toris drive us to his house. I will say this he sure holds his vodka better than I expected. "Your speech sounds clearer than most New Years that I can recall big brother. Is everything alright? Did your husband nag you into giving up vodka? Because frankly I have seen his father figures and they are not one to talk. I think that Frenchman father of his says it's not drunk driving if you're only drinking wine and his British dad can't hold his liquor at all."
"If you must know, I chose not to have any this year." Ivan sighed. Something has gotten into Natalya. That had better not have been Toris…
"And just why is that?" Natalya said in an almost accusatory voice.
"If you must know Fredka broke his leg while we were skiing the other day and he acts funny enough on that pain medication they prescribed, let alone mixing it with alcohol. He said he wouldn't be mad if I had my usual indulgence, but I felt it rather unfair to him." Ivan explained as he saw Alfred look at the discarded pizza box if there was a still a slice in there. "And if you keep eating that unhealthy stuff dorogoy, I am going to have to make you a veggie burger when we get home."
"Fine." Alfred sulked.
"So what was he doing?" Natalya said hearing her brother in law's pout in the background.
"Oh you know how active he is. It's the only reason he has not gained as much weight as his diet would lead you to believe. But a broken leg limits what you can do." Ivan began.
"He could just lift a lot of weights. Skip leg day as they say." Natalya suggested.
"You know what six weeks of nothing but lifting weights and that like would cause a serious misbalance." Ivan sighed. "Well I am sure we can find something. He does have to keep cardio up."
"Don't talk about me like I am not here!" Alfred yelled. Ivan smiled and turned to look out the window while he was speaking with Natalya. "So how was Moscow?"
"It was quite nice. I had seen the usual tourist spots but a few of the smaller museums Toris had known about. I found it a very interesting city. He had also taken me to one of Moscow's famous ballet performances. It was beautiful." Natalya said simply twirling her hair around her finger mindlessly.
"I have always said you could have gotten into a ballet company like that growing up mladshaya sestra" Ivan said as Natalya rolled her eyes.
"Maybe. You speak so highly of my talents." Natalya sighed as she noticed Toris stirring. "Sometimes I do wonder if it does not blind you to the realities of some things." She heard Ivan begin to object. "You never took ballet brother, so you do not know how vicious those girls can be to sabotaging each other or how much pressure you are under to be perfect. I quit when I was 16 because I could not stand it much anymore. I had brought a sandwich after school before a recital and many of those girls looked like I was a fat pig. They starved themselves and tried to figure out how many calories were in toothpaste. And the teacher said nothing to them. So I quit. Sorry if me not wanting to deal with anorexic bitches did not lead me on the plan you wanted for me."
"Sorry." Ivan apologized.
"Well now you know. I still have great respect for the art." Natalya explained. "But I stopped practicing it in that studio. It's not like I still don't practice some of the stretches and the like. It is great exercise." She heard Ivan agree.
"Vanya, why do you have to keep talking to her? Come to bed." Alfred moaned as he flipped through the channels trying to find something to watch while Ivan talked with Natalya.
"Why did you marry him?" Natalya sighed. She could accept that her husband loved men but of all the men on the planet it had to be Alfred F Jones. The man that she had heard many stories of their rivalry when she was in high school and he was in college in the summers. She had sarcastically told them to just fuck already but she didn't think he would take it literally. She was just expressing her frustration that while she had just started high school, she heard nothing but how much Alfred annoyed him at the time.
"I know you don't find his mannerisms charming like I do, but with love you cannot explain it." Ivan said with a shrug.
"That's something like what Toris's father said…." Natalya noted as she noticed Toris wake up and rub his eyes, smiling at her. "You know we are coming back on the third?"
"Of course!" Ivan said jumping up. Shit, I cannot believe I forgot that was when she was coming in! "I will pick you up from the airport then."
"I will let you know when we are leaving the airport and when to expect us." Natalya told Ivan as he crawled into bed beside Alfred, who had given up on his search for late night television and had fallen asleep with a pillow over his eyes. "Have a good night's sleep. Sounds like you will need it caring for your husband."
"I am sure I will." Ivan sighed. "Enjoy your day sister." He said as he laid back.
"Same here. Good night." With this Natalya hung up and looked around the room. Toris had gotten out of bed and headed into the bathroom. Hearing the shower start up, she laid on the bed and turned on the television. She skipped over the English speaking channels for the Russian ones and tried to listen to the weather report. Between the man who had called her a 'Yankee bitch' and how some of the locals looked at her when she spoke, she was getting concerned she was losing touch with the land of her birth, that her Russian was getting rusty. They had spoken it as the main language at home with their great uncle for that reason. I don't sound much different than Katyusha or Vanya do when they speak the language at home…. she thought to herself when a realization hit her You were still very young when you left Russia. Looking over at the bathroom door, she thought to ask Toris what he thought of her Russian but shook her head against it. He won't tell you the complete truth. He is sweet but gets like most men with their girlfriends or wives when they ask that type of question. She sighed as she picked out a simple outfit of blue jeans, a collared long sleeved shirt and black flat mary jane styled shoes and stood outside the door.
"Oh hello Natalya." Toris blushed. He was standing there at the door in just a towel. She paused and blinked at him with the slightest blush appearing. "I forgot to bring a change of clothes with me in there. I hope you don't mind." He said growing redder himself.
"No….no…. it's fine…." Natalya panted as she quickly headed into the bathroom. That came out of nowhere. Am I getting sick? We only shared because of necessity. Nothing happened! I am just a little tired waking up. Thinking too much too early. She assured herself as she turned on the water and began to use what shampoo was left to wash her hair. "The downside of a man with long hair. He needs more shampoo than normal." She sighed as she washed up to start her day.
"Gute Nacht euch beiden" Gilbert said as he waved Matthew and Katyusha off. "You are going to be on the evening segment, so I want you at the station at 3 tomorrow. We'll get you set up and in and you'll be good to go. We won't put you doing interviews and investigations and such just yet. A little later. But you'll be swell. Tell you Papa I said hi." He said as he helped some of the film crew roll up the cables. "But seriously, get some beauty sleep. The make-up crew can hide a lot things but try not to make them demand more pay from me by having bags under your eyes. That'll happen in a few months anyway."
"Oooooohf!" Katyusha said as she grabbed her baby bump. "She's got a powerful kick."
"Well now, seems like we know who will be the boss here." Gilbert waved. "Auf Wiedersehen!"
Matthew took a sip of the chicory coffee Katyusha had brought siting it was half the caffeine of coffee and she was trying to cut down for the baby and Matthew was trying to stay awake and energetic without needing to put back the amount of beer he did to balance out days where he lived off nothing but coffee. Gilbert had given the crew a glass of champagne and Katyusha some sparkling juice they had gotten quickly from the local 24-hour supermarket when she showed what Gilbert said was her Eastern European fire and said she was not going to consume alcohol while pregnant. "Reminds me of a girl I grew up with. Elizaveta scared me shitless…." Gilbert had told him. But after the what seemed like a long and quiet drive, he finally arrived at the house and undid his tie and laid down face first on the couch.
"All tuckered out my little telezirka" Katyusha smiled as she headed into the kitchen to make a cup of chamomile tea for the both of them.
"You could say that. Having something like that be my introduction the viewing area, was nerve racking." Matthew sighed with a slightly accomplished smile. "But I can tell you that I am sure Al was very surprised."
"I am sure Vanya was as well. Neither one of them give you the credit you deserve. You are too rough on yourself at times." Katyusha said as he placed a mug in his hands, helping him sit up. "I made this a little stronger than normal to help you sleep." She moved a lock of his hair behind his ear and kissed him on the cheek. "She's active again." And with this Matthew placed his hand over her bump and smiled. "I should really get her into hockey before Al tries to get too involved."
"Now now your brother isn't that bad." Katyusha said. "And you don't need to live vicariously through our daughter. What if she would rather figure skate. I did want to do that when I was little but I was too well endowed to do so well…." With a yawn, Matthew gulped down the tea and headed back to the bedroom.
"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Matthew sighed as he undid his tie and tossed it on the ground. "I'll get that tomorrow." He sighed at Katyusha's stare.
"No, we are going to have to make this place very clean in the next few days. First of all, Vanya and Fredka are coming back on the second and the third, probably into the fourth knowing time differences and how long the flight is, is when Natalya and Toris are coming back. And Fredka was planning on doing a proper Russian Epiphany celebration with her and Vanya told me about his idea and offer." Katyusha said as she sighed. She tossed the tie back to Matthew who headed back to the bedroom with her and laid down for the next day.
Sunlight broke in the room, causing Matthew to wake up with a dry mouth and blurry vision. He rolled over and put his glasses on, noticing the that Katyusha was not there and that the time was nearly 11 in the morning. Shit! I did not mean to sleep this late! He thought as he quickly grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a shower to find it occupied. Rolling his eyes, he found Katyusha standing there holding a mop and bucket with a bandana tied around her hair like she did when she felt it time to clean thoroughly. "Oh hey honey." He said looking at her tired look. "Just needing to use the shower. I guess I slept in. I'm sorry."
"I understand. I figured I would leave this house cleaner than when Vanya and Fredka left it." Katyusha said.
"Take it easy." Matthew said as she headed out of the bathroom.
"Later. I will when you are on your broadcast. I will make you lunch while you shower."
"Okay…." Matthew said as he looked at her concerned. It had seemed to him that she had not gotten much sleep and was working from very early hour trying to make the house clean. They didn't cause that much of a mess, well the trash could be taken out and some of the food put on the list for when they went shopping again but it wasn't a total disaster. The house smelled strongly of cleaning chemicals as Matthew went into the kitchen where Katyusha had a plate of kielbasa and pierogis placed out for him with a large glass of the cranberry apple juice that Alfred had gotten once to try and didn't like but Matthew seemed to.
"Eat hearty my darling." Katyusha smiled.
"Katy, don't work yourself too hard. This house is cleaner than I had seen it in a long time. Not saying Al and Ivan are slobs but…." Matthew started.
"We are living here under their good graces. It is only proper I return the favor for them." Katyusha insisted. "Now when am I to expect my darling husband home?"
"Gil had said something about 7 or 8 when all was said and done…." Matthew said.
"Okay. I will have your favorite pancakes with real maple syrup and sausage ready for dinner tonight. Breakfast for dinner is rather unorthodox, but it is your favorite so that is what I will do for you when you get off. And I will be watching you." Katyusha said as she kissed him on the cheek. "oof."
"Baby kick again?" Matthew asked as he bit down on the potato dumpling she had made.
"Yes. She is quite active." Katyusha smiled.
Once Matthew had finished he put his laundry in the basket so that there would be nothing on the floor that she would need to pick up and headed out the door once his time came to head to work. It was rather busy getting started on his first day. First they had to take a few pictures and make sure he could read the script in a tone that would be pleasing to the audience. "Alright baby, show time." Gilbert said as the clock stuck 5. Following the head anchor's lead, Matthew took over and read what he was assigned to Don't get nervous. Heck this is something Al doesn't even have. This is yours and yours alone. They went though much the same for the 6 o'clock news and at the end of the evening, Gilbert called for the cuts for recording and he walked up to Matthew and smiled.
"You did good. Especially for your first day." Gilbert said.
"Thanks." Matthew said with a smile. It felt rather good to have this and get that acknowledgement from people. Most all his life he could remember, it was Alfred who had gotten all the attention. Now here he was doing well in something that would be noticed well. People would mistake Alfred for him not the other way around and his more selfish side loved that idea.
"Now go home and tell that lovely wife of yours what I said." Gilbert said,
With his boss's encouragement, Matthew came home to see Katyusha curled up on the couch with a few pillows on her back. He could tell she was in pain and it was bothering her bad. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Maybe you should have not cleaned so much today."
"I don't know Matvey, this doesn't feel like my typical I worked too hard type of back pain. This is sort of different. I also feel a little sick." Katyusha saw her husband's face fall. "You were so lovely on the news today."
"We can talk about that later." Matthew said, worry for his wife and child overcoming him. "I'm taking you to the doctor."
"Matvey I- "Katyusha began.
"Need this because if you don't the baby might be hurt."
"But how do you know I didn't overwork myself?" Katyusha asked. She did not want to leave the house or go to the hospital unless she needed to and she didn't feel like she needed to.
"Call it Paternal instinct." Matthew said as he carried her to the car and laid in the backseat so she would have more room to lay and drove to the hospital.
Translation Guide:
Obtained via Google Translate:
Dorogoy-Russian-darling
mladshaya sestra-Russian-Little sister
Gute Nacht euch beiden" –German- Good night you two
Auf Wiedersehen-German-Goodbye
Telezirka-Ukrainian-television star
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't know how fast I can update the way life is right now but I will try to. Anyway remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
Otherrealmwriter
Aka
Realm.