I do not own Hetalia okay? I love all of you who have stuck with this story so far as long as it is in. I cannot thank you enough for your support. Like I said before and will until May it seems at least, I wish I could update more often but work is just a nightmare this year. But hey time will come here on its own. Anyway enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
"Well that went pretty good…." Alfred said as he curled up next to Ivan in bed.
"You were more nervous than the children were." Ivan teased.
"What, with Dimitri's goal to be bigger than you when he grows up, he'll eat any veggie placed in front of him." Alfred said thinking back to the spaghetti squash Ivan had made in an effort to get everyone to eat more vegetables in a way that wasn't conspicuous and wasn't just getting veggie burgers, knowing Alfred's rants about them.
"Not about dinner." Ivan rolled his eyes "About the children's first day of school."
"Well duh. I remember what school was like. And I don't want our kids to face anything bad." Alfred said.
Ivan smiled as he kissed Alfred on top of the head. "As much as I would want they never face hardship in their lives they will moy milyy podsolnukh, they will. We are the ones to help them through it so they become better people. And I know you will do wonders with that task."
"You too big guy." Alfred said turning back over to face Ivan. "Just don't make it so we have to play good dad bad dad….."
"You know I would never do something like that. I worry you may be too permissive with the children sometimes." Ivan said.
"Hey, I only let Nikita have a small coke as a treat every now and again if she does well at her tee ball games." Ivan looked at Alfred skeptically. "And I am trying to cut back on the soda too….."
"You know the tea you get to replace it has as much sugar and the diet sodas are just as bad." Ivan smiled.
"I've had what you call tea and by god, that stuff is SWEET. And filled with jam….." Alfred said.
"Well never mind that, we have a birthday party to plan." Ivan said changing the subject. "Have you sent word to anyone yet?"
"Well Nikita asked me to help her make an invitation for Winnie, and Dimitri did one for Davie too. We'll have to talk to their parents of course. I sent Toris and Mattie messages but haven't heard back." Alfred said.
"I have text Katyusha and she sounded happy and said she would make it. If she's coming I doubt Matvey would stay behind, he usually does not work on Saturdays nor would he pick up extra work if he knew the twins wanted him there. I thought you would reach out to Natalya…." Ivan said.
"Uhhhhhhh…" Alfred began
"Konechno..." Ivan sighed
"Ummmm….I figured Toris would let her know and you know how much she loves the twins." Alfred blushed.
"I'll let her know in the morning." Ivan sighed. "Your parents?"
"Figured I would in the morning. Papa hasn't gotten back to me, so I don't know if Katy told him yet or not. From what I heard, Dad has found a place online he wants Papa to check out. I think he's really missing that frog…." Alfred laughed. "Using Dad's pet insult there…."
"I am sure Katyusha is about ready to have him move out." Ivan smiled. "She told me she is doing her best to be a good host to him as her father in law, but she has her limits." He sighed as he turned off his bedside lamp.
"Yeah," Alfred yawned. "I have to head in to the office tomorrow so you'll have to drop the kids off."
"Shame that I have to myself. We will miss you." Ivan smiled as he grabbed Alfred tight around the waist.
"Yeah, work sucks when they need me there and don't want to just video call me." Alfred sighed. "But hey got to keep the kids fed somehow."
"That is our responsibility." Ivan said as he yawned.
"Too tired for some fun?" Alfred asked.
"Da Much so. It has been a very busy day." Ivan said. "I have to get the party planned, invited and arranged while you are at work and the kids are at school."
"Hey I can help with that too. Do you know how much I goof off on the system at work? I installed an emulator so I could play Pokémon Crystal on it when I should be working." Alfred bragged.
"I thought they had systems to protect against that…." Ivan said.
"I kind of said it was for business use to help combat stress and the head of IT bought it as long as I gave him the link to get it…." Alfred said.
Ivan rolled his eyes. "Your company's IT department head probably installed it on his too."
"So? All the guys at the top care about is turning a profit, which we do well." Alfred said proudly. "And companies are slowly becoming more aware of how burnout is a bad and expensive thing. I am sure they'd love to have a solution like this. Doesn't cost them a thing."
"Well an attitude like that, you would know when the children are trying to do something they are not supposed to. Your mind works just the same." Ivan sighed.
"See, it's useful." Alfred teased.
"Ya tebya lyublyu" Ivan sighed.
"I know you do; you wouldn't have married me if you didn't." Alfred kissed.
"Spokoynoy nochi i idi spat'" Ivan whispered.
"You too big guy." Alfred said as he adjusted his alarm. "Freaking too early…." He moaned. "I'd move us closer to work if this happened much more often…." Alfred grumbled.
"Well it doesn't happen often." Ivan said as he kissed Alfred again. "Now sleep. God knows you don't need to be living off coffee and McDonalds in the morning."
The next two weeks were filled with hustle and bustle while Ivan and Alfred secured RSVPs from everyone the twins had wanted to come to their birthday party. This was the first birthday they had as the Braginsky-Jones twins with their dads and both Alfred and Ivan had wanted it to be memorable. They were counting the days down until September 17th and the day that they had their big party at their favorite place, Pizza Party Planet. Alfred had hoped that there would be more children and that they would not be clinging to adults all their lives, Ivan assured them that most of them were family and that as Nikita and Dimitri got older, they would make more friends with their classmates and teammates and the adults that were there were mostly family, the only ones that were not were Allen, Miss Michelle and Kyle, Winnie's dad who had insisted he stay while his business partner Jack took care of the animals. Although Allen had told Alfred he was thinking it was just an excuse to play the games which caused him to tease Allen for coming for the same reason, which he dismissed then looked over at Michelle. "So, you're Miss Michelle?" He asked as he took her hand and she took it from his.
"Yes, and I intend to keep it that way." Michelle said as she looked over at the twins as they ran around wearing party hats and Kyle laughed causing Allen to look at him annoyed.
"Strike out…." Alfred teased.
"Whatever, I have girls lining up around the block, I don't need to waste my time with you!" Allen said.
"Don't be mean!" Nikita said as she overheard Allen's sass after Michelle's rejection.
"I'm sorry." Allen said as he turned to Michelle. "I was so rude to you."
"Better." Michelle said as Nikita and Winnie ran around the table.
Everyone the twins had invited was at the party, except for Toris and Natalya. Ivan was growing worried as he knew they both loved the twins a lot and wanted to show up for it. Toris had assured Alfred he would be there and he said that Natalya would be with him, but they were the twin's favorite aunt and uncle. Ivan noticed Katyusha come back from the bathroom after having to change Charlotte and spoke up. "Hear anything from Natalya?" He asked as he saw Davie and Dimitri play skee-ball.
"Yes actually. She and Toris are running a little late. He had a study group he needed to attend today but it will end in time for the party. I am assuming that he's wanting to do his best. I know that Lucille values Natalya having days off so she will not have her come in to work on days like this. Especially when she is working towards a degree."
"Is Aunt Natalya not here yet?" Nikita asked as she and Winnie looked up at Ivan.
"She should be here soon." Katyusha reassured her. "Who is your little friend here?"
"I'm Winnie and I'm in Niki's class." Winnie said. "We were just over at the gator smacking game with my dad! He helped us win a lot of tickets!"
"This is sure one swell party mate." Kyle said. "Glad to see my little Winnie is finally making friends outside the ones at the safari park."
"Yes, it is nice to see the children making friends." Ivan said.
Kyle nodded then looked over at Matthew. "You're that news anchor all the sheilas are going crazy over, right?"
"Who me?" Matthew blushed looking around, still not used to the idea of being a local heartthrob
"Yeah, you. You ever want to do a feature on my park, go right on ahead. We have tours right on through November. Visitors always seem to slack off after Labor Day thinking we're not open, but we are." Kyle said as he took a sip of the soda.
"you'll have to talk to the station manager about that…." Matthew replied.
"Which I will bring up to dear Gilbert for you Mathieu." Francis sighed. "He's a good friend of mine, but because Mathieu has my charm and debonair, that is what got him the job, I had no part of that."
"That's my grand pear Winnie." Nikita said.
"He talks funny." Winnie said.
Well so do you, but I guess being around that Crocodile Dundee of a father of yours, that would rub off wouldn't it…. Francis thought. "I am from France, so that is why my voice is the way it is."
"Look at what Davie and I won!" Dimitri said as he and Davie held up small squishy balls that said 'Pizza Party Planet' on them. "Davie is the best at skee-ball! He got one in the 100 points!" At this, Dimitri's stomach growled. "How much longer on the pizza Papa?"
"It should be here soon." Ivan smiled.
"What about Uncle Toris?" Dimitri added sadly.
"And Aunt Natalya?" Nikita said.
"Sorry, sorry sorry!" Toris said as Natalya ran after him. "The class ran a little longer than I had expected, and we got stuck in traffic…."
"But there was no way, we would miss your birthdays!" Natalya added as she ran up and hugged Nikita.
"Yeay!" Nikita said. "I want you to meet Winnie."
"Is this a new friend of yours?" Natalya said.
"Yeah!" Nikita said.
"You guys made it just in time." Alfred panted. "The pizzas should be ready."
"You get a veggie one for me? You're lucky I'm putting up with the cheese being dairy." Allen yelled.
"Yes." Alfred sighed. "God that guy is a jerk." He moaned.
"What, accommodating for someone's dietary choices is inconveniencing?" Natalya teased as she handed Toris the presents who took them to the table.
"No, it's just how he goes about it. I mean when Nikita wanted to invite him, I figured I would order a veggie pizza so the guy wouldn't be stuck with the salad bar, but he likes to get under my skin." Alfred explained.
"Stop letting him." Natalya replied simply. "He probably likes the reaction he gets from calling you 'porkchop' so by not rising to it, you take some of the fun of it from him and it would set a good example for the twins as they would see their dad not rising to someone's childish name calling. It would show they could overcome it themselves and this world is rough on children."
"That's actually pretty smart…." Alfred said.
"You're welcome." Natalya smiled as she sat with the other adults.
"Nikita, Dimitri, do you and Davie and Winnie want to come to the table? We have the pizza and the gifts to handle now that you've been playing."
"Okay." They said as Ivan brought out a large orange cake covered in rainbow sprinkles.
"That's the cake?" Arthur whispered to Alfred.
"Ice cream cake, the twin's choosing. Strawberry ice cream with Devil's food chocolate with brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough and strawberry middle layer. It's from that ice cream place in town…." Alfred said.
"Just why do I have the feeling you left something out Porkchop?" Allen asked as Alfred heard Kyle laughing. Of course, Allen is making me look like an ass in front of Kyle when I was making another dad friend. He seems pretty cool. But remember what Natalya said. This is the kid's birthday, and it would do no one any good if you pick a fight with him over a stupid name.
"Porkchop?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah, it's the nickname I gave Alfred, just something about his thighs." Allen explained.
"Well about the cake I said that the kids picked out what they wanted. Nikita really likes strawberry ice cream and Dimitri likes chocolate a lot, so we combined the two that way. And they picked 3 mix ins." Alfred began.
"You only mentioned two." Arthur said.
"Gummi bears." Alfred said.
"Gummi bears?" Matthew asked.
"Yep. Gummi Bears." Alfred said. "But hey if that's what they want, that's what they get on their birthday. Ivan tried to talk them into a different third mix in but they both agreed heavily on the gummi bears."
"It might not be so bad." Katyusha said as he pulled a bottle out for Charlotte who was beginning to cry. "I tried one of these unicorn churros and the pink ones are not too bad.
"Katy, are you okay?" Matthew asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Katyusha asked confused.
"Never mind." Alfred sighed. "It is Nikita and Dimitri's big day here." He said as he lit the 4 candles. "Now we have to sing the song and then you can blow out the candles and make a wish." Alfred said as Ivan lead the other adults in the song and watched as the twins blew out the candles. With this the pizzas and cake were handed out as the twins looked greedily over at the pile of gifts.
"After you eat." Ivan said. "And you will thank each person who gave you a gift." He instructed.
"Yes Papa." The twins replied as everyone passed around some pizza and cake.
"So, you said Nikita invited Allen?" Kyle asked Alfred.
"Yeah. He's her tee ball coach and she really likes baseball. She wants to be in the major leagues. Not like professional softball or whatever, no MLB. That big." Alfred explained as he took a cautious bite of the cake at a piece that was filled with gummi bears. "This actually isn't that bad…."
"Surprisingly no….." Francis said as everyone looked over at him. "What? I am not saying ice cream cake is gourmet by any means at all. It is just it captures the loves of children well. Chocolate, cookies, and candy with some fruity ice cream flavors. It is the children's birthday after all." Francis added in a huff. With this Alfred whispered in his father's ear. "Same place has a pirate frosting style that I wanted to surprise Dad on his next April."
"Oh Alfred, that is not for nearly 7 more months." Francis said as he blew a kiss over to Arthur who rolled his eyes but smiled. "But give me the name of the place. I will surprise Arthur at work with one."
"Planning already Papa?" Alfred laughed.
"Of course. Your father and I have a place picked so I do not have to keep bothering Mathieu and Katyusha much longer." Francis said
"Oh, thank god." Matthew sighed in relief.
"And just what is that supposed to mean young man?" Arthur said.
"Dad, you of all people should know what living with Papa is like!" Matthew sighed. "Sure, he has helped with the baby some but other times he's rather…. ummmm…."
"How you say…. high maintenance." Katyusha finished. "Here little Charlotte. A tiny bit of strawberry ice cream." She said. "It's only a little bit and honestly my little one here is starting to teethe. I've found her chewing her blankets more and more often and when I do breastfeed, it is hurting more and more. She's a little biter sometimes…."
"Ouch." Michelle said. "I'll have to keep an eye out for that if I ever have children of my own. Not with you!" She sighed as Allen began to say something as he got another piece of veggie pizza causing everyone near him, including Natalya to snigger.
"Okay, now that we're all fed and caked out, let's open some gifts." Alfred said as he headed to the table. "Okay here is one for Nikita from Winnie and one for Dimitri from Davie." Alfred said as he gave the gifts to the twin's new best friends who gave them to them. They eagerly tore open the paper to find that Winnie gave Nikita a kangaroo and Davie gave Dimitri a dinosaur Lego set. From there, the pile was torn into more. "Okay this one is from Miss Michelle." Alfred said as he gave two gift baskets to the twins who opened them.
"Flash cards?" Nikita asked.
"Books?" Dimitri asked.
"It's so you can get some extra practice and become better and smarter students." Michelle said.
"Geesh, can't give the kids something cool?" Allen said. "You're not on the clock." He laughed as he grabbed his gifts. "Here slugger, and something for your brother too. Didn't want him feeling left out."
"You know Alfred," Michelle sighed. "As much of a jerk as he can be sometimes, he seems to be good with children. I know Nikita is the one who invited him but he got something for Dimitri too."
"Yeah. That's the reason I put up with him. If he wasn't good with Nikita, I would not let him anywhere near her." Alfred said.
"Cool!" Nikita said as she put the helmet on. "It's pink!"
"Yep. Got you a new pink helmet for the upcoming spring season." Allen smiled. "And what do you think buddy?" he asked Dimitri.
"Dude this is cool." He said as he looked at the radio-controlled Jurassic Park jeep.
"Yeah, your sister told me how much you like dinosaurs, so I thought you'd like this." Allen smiled.
"Now what do we say?" Ivan prompted.
"Thank you, Mr. Allen!" Nikita and Dimitri replied.
"Must be a twin gift." Allen shrugged. "So, seeing I give the kids cool gifts that make up for your lame one, I mean you heard porkchop over there, I am good with kids, you want to go out?"
"Three strikes and you're out." Michelle said as Alfred and Kyle started laughing as the twins opened their gifts more.
"Hey mate," Kyle said as he took Alfred's shoulder. "You want to bring the kids up to my place? Nikita and Winnie seem to get along well, and we'll have a good barbecue?"
"Sure," Alfred said as he gave Kyle his phone number. "Just give us a call. Be nice to get to know some of the twin's friends better."
"Sure." Kyle said as the rest of the day was filled with playing with the gifts and Toris and Natalya playing with Dimitri and Nikita in the tubes and ball pit to the begging of them and their new friends. However, as the day wore on, the party guests had to slowly leave, and Davie's parents took him home and Kyle had to check back in on the safari park he ran.
"See you at school Winnie!" Nikita smiled.
"You too Niki!" Winnie sighed as Kyle placed her on his shoulders and carried out the toys she had won.
"Thanks so much you guys. We had a blast." Kyle waved.
"Thank you for bringing Winnie." Ivan said.
"I was talking with Al there; you should come with him and the twins up to my place. Throw some shrimp on the barbie, have a good old fashioned get together like we do in Oz." Kyle smiled "I mean Winnie really likes Niki there and Al's fun. Want to get to know you and Dimitri better too."
"We will certainly have to arrange that." Ivan smiled as he took some of the trash and threw it away to help the staff of the restaurant.
"Daddy! Papa!" Dimitri said. "Can Uncle Toris and Aunt Natalya come over to play a little? Maybe some Minecraft or Candyland? Maybe a birthday Sleepover?"
"Yeah! Uncle Toris's school kept him really late, and he and Aunt Natalya missed a lot of fun." Nikita pleaded.
"Well…. I don't know…." Alfred said. "Would you guys be able to fit it into your schedule?"
"I am off until Monday and Lucille told me to keep a good eye on Toris's mental health through med school. I think playing and having a sleepover with his favorite niece and nephew would be good for him, correct?"
"Sure, that is if you would mind having us?" Toris asked Ivan, knowing that Alfred would have no objections.
"If the twins would want that." Ivan said as they looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "Well, come on over then. If you would mind helping me, put the gifts in the car."
"Sure Mr. Ivan." Toris said as he took some of the bigger gifts and followed Ivan to the car.
"See you at practice lil slugger." Allen said as he put the helmet back on Nikita's head. "Mind if I take the left over veggie pizza?"
"Nope!" Nikita smiled.
"Porkchop, you share the same generosity as your daughter?" Allen smiled.
"Why not? Not like you're taking Miss Michelle with you anywhere anytime soon?" Alfred teased.
"Shut up Porkchop. Thanks for the pizza. And amazingly gummi bears in ice cream aren't bad…." Allen said.
"Thanks for coming!" Alfred waved back.
"Well let's get ready to head to the car." Ivan said as he picked up Dimitri. "Your Aunt Katy and Uncle Matvey are talking with your grandfathers, but we need to go home."
"Bye Aunt Katy! Uncle Mattie! Grandpa and Grand pear!" The twins smiled as Alfred and Ivan headed to the car followed by Natalya and Toris.
"Au reviour" Francis said. Can they stop calling me grand pear? He thought.
Translation guide
(Obtained via Google Translate)
moy milyy podsolnukh-Russian-my darling sunflower
Konechno...-Russian-of course
Ya tebya lyublyu-Russian- I love you.
SO how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I don't know how many more chapters it will take but I plan to wrap it up with this year's holidays then do a time skip story. So, I have the general time frame left but how long can't tell you. I don't know how fast it will take for me to update but I will and hopefully I can get more done than before. So other remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
Otherrealmwriter
Aka
Realm.