Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

A/n1: Yay! I get to post a chapter on my own birthday (well, for me, it's my birthday already). I don't think I've ever done that before! How much fun! 8DDDDDDD
You know what's even more fun? People that have sent Valentine cards in the Netherlands only had to put a kissy lipstick-smooch on the spot where the stamp goes. That's all! Isn't that just lovely!
So today, I hope I'll be delivering lots of kissy envelopes! That would be so cute! ^^

A/n2: Here, have some more funfacts about Lovi and Toni's offspring! ^^
Luisa isn't cuddly at all, unless it's with a person she cares deeply about. After they started dating, it cost Seb a whole, full year before he could hug her without Luisa freezing up or instantly pushing him away. And Seb had to wait even longer before Luisa allowed him to sleep with her – while she had been deeply in love with him this entire time, too. She just was scared. She didn't really know what she was scared of, but she was terrified. She got over it, though.
Matteo is very cuddly, even with people he just met. He has no sense of personal space and he doesn't get subtle hints, either. Still, sexual intimacy was kind of an issue for him as well – Kay was the first person he shared the bed with, because before he met her, he never really thought about sex. Although he fell in love with Kay and Raquel very rapidly, he actually doesn't fall in love all that easily.
Alejo's also really affectionate, but a tad less extreme than his brother. He get physically attracted to people very swiftly, but the emotional attraction usually isn't there. Of all three siblings, Alejo was the first to lose his virginity, but also the last to genuinely fall in love with somebody.

A/n3: To the Concerned Reader of last week (and all other readers that wondered why I updated so late): sorry to have made you worried about me, but it wasn't my fault I couldn't post the chapter earlier than Sunday last week. There was some sort of international network problem with the site, so I (and pretty much everybody else) couldn't post/edit/reply/answer anything! It got better, but then it was Sunday already for me, so yeah – that's why chapter 87 was late.

~~ And Three Makes Five ~~

Chapter 88:

The heart of the father is the masterpiece of nature.
Antoine François Prévost
(French author and novelist)

I stood next to Mr. South Italy when Matteo was busy saying goodbye to Mr. Spain. Mr. South Italy had already said goodbye to Matteo and Mia and he was now patiently waiting for his lover to finish his hugs and cuddles and over the top goodbyes with both his son and granddaughter, and that was fine by me – but I did wonder why he decided to stand next to me while waiting for Mr. Spain.

I-I mean, even though I truly believed him when Mr. South Italy had indirectly told me he was sorry for his behavior, I still was a bit afraid of him. Well, not of him, but of… of his words. Mr. South Italy could be very mean when it came to verbal aggression. I knew that – I knew more about him than I wanted to, after all – but now I had experienced it first handedly, and I could safely say that I was right about how much his words could hurt.

Thankfully enough, he seemed to be aware of that as well.

'By the way, Raquel,' Mr. South Italy suddenly said, casually ignoring the visible jolt that instantly shot through me. 'About the stuff Matteo said about you.'

'Y-yes?' I stammered.

'You don't know who you are. Is that really so?'

I averted my eyes in shame. 'I-I'm afraid it is, Mr. South Italy…'

'Well I'm afraid that's bullshit.' He stopped talking when he noticed I cringed, before awkwardly clearing his throat. 'Hum. S-sorry. I mean… I don't mean it as badly as it might sound. I just want to tell you that I think you know yourself better than you realize.'

'Yes?' I asked, carefully looking to the side. It was a bit ridiculous to feel intimidated by a man that was significantly shorter than I was, but I couldn't help it.

Mr. South Italy smiled at me – it was a weak, faint smile, but still a smile. 'You yelled at me that you're not a horrible person. You smacked me in the face with your knowledge about your nice, kind and princely personality, and honestly, Raquel, there are lots and lots of people out there that can't say that about themselves with that same conviction you had.'

I felt my face was heating up a bit and touched it, dumbfounded. 'Did I really say all those things…?'

'You forgot?'

'N-no, no, but… I didn't think I had spoken them out loud…'

'You had. Believe me.'

I stared at Mr. South Italy and felt like crying for some reason – happy tears, nothing but… but countless amounts of amazed, confused tears of happiness, but I didn't.

'And I really am sorry.' Mr. South Italy's voice sounded strained. 'I… um. You make my son happy. You really do. I'm thankful for that. I hope… we will get along, in the future. Not only because it would make Antonio, Matteo and Mia happy, but also because I really want to.'

'You mean that?' I blurted out, before I could stop myself. 'But… but… sorry, but… why would you want to so badly?'

Mr. South Italy now looked at Mr. Spain and Mia, dangling on his hand.

'You also had a family. You also lost it. And now you have one again.'

I nodded quietly.

He looked at me again. 'We have the same family now.'

'Y-yes. We… we have.'

I couldn't withhold my tears any longer and they suddenly ran over my face, all at once.

'…w-we have.'

Mr. South Italy gently touched my arm and gave me a wink when it made me look up.

'Take care of that dumbass son of mine for me, Newspaper Nicker. You owe it to me.'

I snorted and grinned, nodding instantly.

'N-naturally!'

\0o0/

'I'm proud of you.'

'What?'

I looked next to me, to Antonio's smiling face. We had just left Matteo's place and were now on our way to where Luisa lived, when Antonio had suddenly made that comment. I didn't know what he was talking about – was he proud of me because I allowed him to drive this time? That was a pretty random thing to be proud of me about…

'The way you apologized to Raquel and made things up with her,' he explained, when he noticed my confused, tilted-to-the-side face. 'I know that must have been hard for you.'

'Oh, that.' I nonchalantly cracked my fingers, as if it actually had been a very easy-breezy thing for me to do, and leaned back. 'Well, it's not like Raquel could help it. After everything she has gone through, I'm amazed she's still standing on both her feet.'

'She has Matteo now.' Antonio changed gears, his smile getting bigger. 'And Matteo has her. I think they make a very good couple, the both of them. They'll help each other out. That's what matters the most in a relationship, if you ask me: knowing you can count on your partner to be there for you. And they will be. They care about each other very much.'

'Yeah, I bet she gets pregnant within a month.'

'Well aren't you the romantic.' Antonio chuckled and moved his hand from the gear-box to my leg, squeezing it and making my leg feel like it was on fucking fire because, you know, he touched me.

'B-but I'm happy.' I stared at his hand for a while, before putting my own hand down on top of it. 'I'm happy you're… p-proud of me. And as a matter of fact, I'm proud of you, too. You were pretty freaked out about Mia first, but as time passed, you grew more and more comfortable with the idea of being a granddad.'

Antonio nodded and let me hold his hand for a little longer, until he had to switch gears again.

'It's strange, though. We're grandfathers already – god, we're grandfathers. Can you believe it?'

I snorted. 'After seeing Matteo as a dad, and a pretty good one, too, I think I nothing surprises me anymore.'

'Don't say that, we still have to visit Luisa, after all!' Antonio sounded excited. 'I wonder what she might me hiding from us. You think it's better or worse than Teo's or Allie's secrets?'

I shrugged. 'Looking back, I think none of their secrets were that… bad. I'd be lying if I said that all of their choices in partners automatically have made me happy, but… but I guess that's just my fatherly instinct talking… you always think there's something or someone better for your kids.'

'That's not for us to decide, sweetie.'

'I know. And I hope I can be just as reasonable about… you know… accepting other people into our family as our kids' lovers as you are. Because a tiny voice in the back on my head is telling me that Luisa's probably having a lover as well, and… well, I… I hope I won't flip out.' I frowned and tried to ignore the way my heart was starting to beat faster.

Antonio was quiet for a minute, before he carefully spoke up.

'You… think she has a lover?'

'Please, Antonio – have you even seen how goddamn gorgeous and Italian she looks? That girl has more eyes on her than a lone porn magazine in a gift shop!'

He let out a weird little laugh. 'I-I'm not sure I like that idea, Lovi.'

'Well get used to it. I have to get used to it, too.' I folded my arms and bit on my lower lip. 'You'll probably be fine – you're a fucking good man, after all, accepting each and every cute but troubled person that waggles into our life like that, but as for me… I don't know. I just hope I don't start yelling again. I yelled at Alejo and I yelled at Matteo and Raquel – yelling at Luisa as well would make me a terrible parent…'

'First of all, your tendency to yell at problems doesn't make you a bad parent – it makes you a loud parent,' Antonio assured me. 'And second of all, you called me a good man, and that makes me so very happy that I kind of want to pull the car to the side of the road, just so I can hug and kiss you.'

'D-don't, y-you moron.' I kept on frowning but I blushed as well, turning my face away from him. 'Y-you can hug and kiss me as much as you want after we get where we need to be, d-dammit.'

'Then I will.'

'I know you will.'

I fidgeted with my sleeves and cursed my stupid, curved lips.

Goddammit. I wish I didn't constantly feel so unhealthily overjoyed about every little stupid hug/kiss-promise he made me.

o\00/

I must have dozed off a bit, because I was suddenly brought back into the real world when I heard hissing voices – and the huge chocolate-cookie I was stuffing my face with had disappeared in fucking thin air.

'Once more – oh, come on, Lovi, just once more!~'

'N-no – shit, stop… stop that already, dammit, w-we're in the middle of the street!'

'But you told me I could hug and kiss you as much as I wanted – you told me yourself!'

'You can hug and kiss me, yes, I told you that – but I didn't say you could fucking slither your damn hand under my shirt and start feeling me up, you fucking pervert!'

'But it's been so long…'

'WE DID IT THIS MORNING, YOU ASS. TWICE. IT'S A MIRACLE I CAN STILL FUCKING WAL—o-oh, hello, ma'am! Nice weather, huh?'

…

…

I firstly just, you know, kept on lying on the couch, my brain slowly starting up and at the same time progressing what was happening on the street and how familiar those voices sounded (and how it was possible that they didn't feel any shame, shouting and doing those things in broad daylight, I mean, not everybody was having a siesta right now).

Then, the very second I realized that those voices belonged to my biological dads and that that had to mean that they were right outside the apartment, doing their very best to embarrass me and make me fucking hysterical because oh god oh god oh god I wasn't ready for their visit yet, I didn't quite believe it.

Well, I didn't want to believe it – so like every other person would do in my place, I flung myself off the couch, to the nearest window, and opened it, looking down the street to see if they really, like, really really, were wandering and doing dirty things just outside of the apartment and oh god, THEY WERE.

I saw them, Papa Toni smiling sheepishly and stupidly at Jovita, the cranky woman that loved across the street and that didn't like public displays of affection while Papa Lovi tried to say he was sorry while putting his shirt back in his pants at the same time.

Oh god, they were here.

THEY WERE FUCKING HERE.

I must have frozen and gotten brain damage or something, because instead of pulling my head back in and starting to get rid of all the even mildly Seb/baby-related things that I got lying around the house, I just continued to stare at my dads with a dropped jaw, until Papa Toni eventually couldn't not see me any longer and waved at me.

'Hi Lulu! Surprise!~ How are you doing? Papa Lovi and I will come up in about a minute, now!~'

'Ubluh,' I sputtered, waving back like a total idiot, and then I finally snapped out of it and pulled myself back, closing the window with a hard snap.

I walked away from the window, to the nearest wall, and pressed my back against it.

NOW WHAT.

NOW FUCKING WHAT.

Okay. Okay – calm down, first. As long as Jovita kept them busy, I still had time to… to hide all of the books I had fucking spread and sprinkled around all the damn rooms there were in this apartment like a dipshit away from them. And maybe… maybe I should also put away all the items that seemed too Dutch as well.

Like that imitation Van Gogh-painting on the wall. Or that calendar that had all the year's months written on it in Dutch. Or the tablecloth, that in fact was a huge Dutch flag.

…we had a Dutch flag as a tablecloth.

WHY DIDN'T I SEE THAT BEFORE

OH GOD

EVERYTHING WAS DUTCH IN HERE

FUCK YOU AND YOUR NATIONALISM SEB

ADAPT TO THE SPANISH CULTURE ALREADY YOU DAMN XENOPHOBE

And then the doorbell rang, shattering my very soul, because that freak-out had apparently cost me too much delicate time to de-Dutch/de-baby the room.

'Gah!' I therefore gasped.

Papa Lovi and Papa Toni must have misheard it as me asking 'who is there?', because Papa Lovi answered: 'It's us, Luisa – you know, your cool dad and your shameful, perverted dad? That's who we are. Please open the door so I can decently glare at him for making complete fools of ourselves.'

'I already told you I'm sorry!' Papa Toni whined – and I hastily wooshed around the rooms, trying to hide and stuff away as much shit that had got too much to do with the forbidden subjects as I could.

'Luisa?' Papa Lovi asked, when I accidentally dropped one of the books I was now carrying. 'Is everything alright, baby?'

'Y-yeah!' I shrilly yelled back. 'I'm just… you know… cleaning up! W-why didn't you call before… showing up like this all of a sudden!'

'We have reasons,' Papa Toni mysteriously answered, making me panic even more – but thank God and all his angels all over the world that I had actually locked the door last night – I didn't forget this time – and since I hadn't left the house since then, I could take my time and clean up all the—

Wait a minute, I had put the trash outside this morning.

…

CRAP.

'You don't have to clean up for us, you know that,' Papa Lovi said. 'Come on, open the door already.'

'NO,' I shrieked – way too suspiciously.

Papa Toni made a groaning sound. 'Aw, don't be like that, princess, just unlock this—oh, hey, it's open!~'

'What a surprise,' papa Lovi sarcastically muttered, and before I knew it or could even muffle away the books I held in my arms behind a cabinet or something, both my fathers just waltzed into my apartment, like the impatient, rude people they were.

'You got in,' I said, doing my best to not sound like I was going to fucking bawl any damn minute now.

'We got in!~' Papa Toni jollily confirmed.

'You need help with that?' Papa Lovi pointed at the many books I was still carrying. 'They look heavy.'

'NO! No, no, no no no, it's fine, it's fine! I can carry a book or two, three… or even ten…'

Hardly had I said these barely-believable words, or one of the books I had fell on the floor. Of course I fucking feared the worst – but fortunately enough, it was only was a normal history book.

Too bad it automatically fell open on the page I had read, because that's what books do when they get the chance: they fucking screw me over, to make me pay for folding their pages or spilling drinks on them or maybe just because they like to see the world or at least me burn.

'Ohh!~' Papa Toni exclaimed, picking the book up and reading where I had been – yes, that page was folded as well. 'I see you've been reading about my rich history! That's just great, princess! Are you that interested in… let's see… wars and… my time with the Netherlands?'

'That's PURELY coincidental,' I immediately said – and snatched the book away from him. 'B-but yes, yes, I indeed am interested in your past and the like, dad. I-I mean, it's not like I know you that well, you see, other than the father you are. So… u-uhm… I just really was curious to the person behind the daddy-figure!'

I nailed that one so hard – just look at Papa Toni's face, all happy and overjoyed because I was so interested in him and his background, having no idea I only did it to find out what the deal was between him and a certain Dutch guy.

Fuck, and now I felt guilty. Way to go, Luisa.

'W-what about me?' Papa Lovi sounded a bit disappointed. 'You don't have any books about, you know… my and your Uncle Feli's history and such? You're my kid too, you know…'

I stared at Papa Lovi, who stared back.

Aaaaaaaand now I felt even more guilty. Crap on a stick – how was I going to save my ass out of this, dammit?

'U-uhm…' I started, while trying to keep the books I held from Papa Lovi's curious eyes, '…o-of course I'm going to study more on your past as well, Papa Lovi! B-but I just… wanted to start with Papa Toni! It's easier to get books in Spain in Spain than books on Italy in Spain, after all…'

TOTAL AND UTTER BULLSHIT, naturally – but luckily, Papa Lovi wasn't the reading kind of guy, so he just nodded and seemed to be content with that answer.

'You know, you don't really have to buy books on us or anything,' he then said, trying to sound casual. 'If you have any questions… well… just ask us, Luisa. Papa Toni and I are more than willing to tell you all about our past!'

I smiled at bit at that. 'I-I know. Thanks, dad.'

'Hey, what's this?' I suddenly heard Papa Toni say. Both me and Papa Lovi looked over to where he was to see what he was doing – and I swear to God, I nearly got a motherfucking brain meltdown when I saw he had noticed the Dutch flagcloth.

RAAAAAAAAH!

'Is that…' Papa Lovi started, approaching the table with the hated fabric as well, '…is that a tablecloth of the Dutch flag? Why'd you have one of those?'

'Luxembourg!' I stammered, slapping aimlessly on the table with my hand, meaning that I now carried all the books on just one arm, '…t-t-this is the flag of Luxembourg, silly! C-can't you see?'

'Nope,' Papa Lovi said.

'Not really,' Papa Toni also said.

'You are so dumb!' I laughed, hoping it wouldn't sound like creepy cackling, and decided to put the books down on the table. 'Look, the Dutch flag has a dark-blue stroke on the bottom, right? Well, this flag, the Luxembourgian flag, also has a blue band, but it's much lighter blue. You see?'

All three of us looked at the very dark-bluish stroke of the Dutch flagcloth in silence.

Maybe I should've said it was the flag of Yemen that I washed too much.

I SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT. WHEN IN DOUBT, ALWAYS GO FOR YEMEN.

Fuck – now what to do? They were clearly not buying it – well, maybe Papa Toni was (he wanted to buy it at the very least) – so I should distract them! And it had to happen now, now that they were still trying to figure out the hidden dept of the flagcloth!

'A-anyway!' I said, huffing and putting my arms in my side. 'What are you doing here? I mean, was it really too much trouble to at least give me a call? You see for yourself how much of a mess my place is – I could've cleaned up at the very least if you had warned me beforehand!'

It turned out to be a perfect strategy, since the tablecloth was instantly forgotten as Papa Lovi and Papa Toni explained to me that they had somehow found out that my brothers and I were hiding something from them – and so, they decided to go on an unexpected-visit-rampage.

'We already visited Allie and Teo, so we now know their secrets,' Papa Toni said, grinning victoriously. 'And I can tell you it feels pretty good to know them – especially the Mia-secret. That was the best secret so far.'

'So you're the last one left,' Papa Lovi told me. 'And you can choose: either you just tell us your secret, or your dad and I will start walking around your house, making an even bigger huge mess of everything, because that's what we always seem to do when looking around – we make a huge mess a bigger huge mess. It's your choice.'

'Um…' I muttered – but before I had even made up my mind what would be the wisest, they already started to wander around and before I had even realized it, Papa Toni had disappeared in the bathroom while Papa Lovi was looking at a painting on the wa…

VAN GOGH.

YOU TRAITOR.

'P-Papa Lovi!' I stuttered, hastily walking over to the wall he was standing in front of, '…I-I bet you're wondering what kind of painting that is—'

'It's a copy of "The Potato Eaters" by Vincent van Gogh.' Papa Lovi gave me a haughty look. 'I'm a fucking sucker for art, Luisa, so don't think I don't know Van Gogh.'

'O-oh.'

'It seems to be a very grim scene at first – this painting. It's dark, gloomy and even a bit depressing. There's not much light in the room these people are eating their food. But you know? It's actually a very domenistic picture of a family of hard-working people, eating the food they tilled from the earth themselves. They don't have much, they don't even have separate plates to put the potatoes on, but that's fine with them. They just put all of the potatoes on the only plate they had and grabbed some forks. They're probably talking about their day while the woman on the right pours them some coffee, or something that at least looks like it, and there's even a little girl, you see her? She has her back turned towards us.'

I stared at the copy. I never really looked at the painting in the way Papa Lovi did. I knew that Matteo once yapped about it as well, the first time he came to visit and saw it hanging on the wall. He and Seb even had a huge discussion about it, but… I don't know, the way Papa Lovi talks about it – it's just more interesting.

'So… it's a family picture?' I concluded.

'Yep.' Papa Lovi nodded. 'And a happy family picture, too. You don't see anybody with a sad or angry face, in spite of the darkness.'

'That's pretty cool,' I had to admit.

'It is.' He turned to frown at me. 'Care to tell my why the hell you have all these Dutch elements hanging around your place?'

Wow. That was unexpected.

'You…you really noticed them that much?' I weakly said, knowing that I had no way back now.

Papa Lovi started to count on his fingers. 'First there's the book about the wars between Spain and the Netherlands. Then there's the suspicious flag. And finally, the icing on the cake: a very well-known copy of a painting of Van Gogh. But I bet that when I go look around more carefully, I'll probably find more Dutch things… won't I?'

It was no use to lie – Papa Lovi could look straight through me, dammit.

'Y-yes,' I mumbled, '…there are many more… Dutch things in here, actually…'

'Are you such a fan of the Netherlands? Or is it something else you're hiding – or should I say, somebody else?' Papa Lovi squinted his eyes.

'Alright, alright!' I nagged, looking over my shoulder to check if Papa Toni was still in another room, 'I give, okay? I'm dating a Dutchman. Happy now? I'm dating a damn Dutchman. This was his apartment, until I moved in here with him. Hence all the… Dutchness.'

Papa Lovi made a face that had been very comical, if the situation hadn't felt so goddamn awful.

'You're dating a Dutch guy?' Papa Lovi hissed, also looking if Papa Toni was still being captivated by the bathroom – seriously, what was he even doing in there? 'You're actually dating a Dutch guy, Luisa?'

'Yes! I am!'

'You like him?'

'Y-yes!' I puffed my cheeks and tried to avoid his stern eyes. 'I-I like him a lot, d-dammit. We've been dating for years. I love him.'

Oh god, this was the first time I said it out loud. That was strange.

The intensity of Papa Lovi's eyes got less and eventually, his expression changed from annoyed to understanding – and even accepting, hopefully.

'I see. Well.' He sighed and scratched his head. 'I'm not sure what I expected, but maybe I should have seen this coming. After all, your brothers also have a rather unusual taste in partners…'

'So you don't mind?' I said, relieved.

'Not really – and even if I did mind, what difference would that make? You said you love him. I know how… how difficult it is to say that. Just saying that word out loud to myself took me centuries, really. But you said it.' Papa Lovi smiled a bit. 'I'm proud of you.'

'Thank you, papa.' I let out a relieved puff of air. 'I-I'm happy you're okay with it… but will Papa Toni be okay with it as well?'

'Oh, sure, don't worry about it!' Papa Lovi made a throw-away gesture. 'He's no fan of the Netherlands, but he can't get angry with a random Dutchman that happens to date you. I mean, aside from the nationality, there's no connection between your boyfriend and the Netherlands at all, right?'

Ohh boy.

Cue a short, but fucking deafening silence and me, wiggling next to Papa Lovi, smiling nervously.

He noticed. 'Luisa? What's the matter? Just a minu— are you telling me that there is a conne—'

'Funny story,' I rapidly said, 'very funny story indeed, let's talk some more about Rembrandt.'

'Van Gogh.'

'Whatever.'

'Luisa…?'

I froze up a bit. His questioning, low tone didn't sound threatening or something – it was more like the voice of a worried mother – but I think he was starting to get what I was hinting at and if that made his voice sound like this, I didn't believe I wanted to continue this conversation any longer.

'C-come on!' I tried to avoid the subject. 'Just tell me more about Rubens already!'

'Van Gogh.'

'Whateve—'

'Rubens wasn't even Dutch.'

'One of Papa Toni's arch-enemies was.'

'Shit. Oh no. Oh no.' Papa Lovi, who caught on surprisingly quickly, got all white around his nose and planted his hands on my shoulders. 'Luisa. Baby. What's your boyfriend's name?'

'Seb,' I said.

He seemed to be temporarily relieved. 'Seb, huh? Not Bas? Well, then I guess he at the very least can't be the Netherlands—wait, is Seb his full name?'

'It's Sebastiaan.' I swallowed as Papa Lovi's eyes started to dilate like crazy. 'S-Sebastiaan Tom Dieter van der Wiel. T-those are all of his names – and his last name's his adoption parents'. H-he thinks his name is too old-fashioned, so he calls himself Seb. Or… well… Bas.'

Papa Lovi slowly shook his head, his hands squeezing my shoulders.

'Are you dating the Netherlands' son?'

'I-I didn't know he was the Netherlands' son!' I started to stammer, half in panic. 'He didn't know, then how should I have known? He… I-I just… he was just a Dutch student! Just a transfer student from the Netherlands that decided he wanted to study here and then went and made me fall in love with him! Y-you think I wanted that to happen? You think I liked falling in love with him?'

Papa Lovi's eyes got more normal again and he stopped gripping my shoulders. 'Luisa…'

'I didn't!' I hissed and looked down, my entire body shaking. 'I hated it! I felt fucking vulnerable! I still feel fucking vulnerable! Whatever he does, whatever he says, whatever he fucking thinks about – it all hits me ten times harder than when any other person would do those same things! If Seb happens to leave me, cheat on me or die on me – I'm not like Alejo or Matteo! I won't recover from it!'

I looked up and saw Papa Lovi was watching me, but not saying anything. Like he was silently encouraging to keep on talking.

'I love that fucking son of a bitch!' I clenched my teeth and fisted my hands, even when my nails started to draw blood. 'I loathe my weakness whenever it's about him and I'd hate it if you or Papa Toni wouldn't accept our relationship – but it won't stop me from loving him. It won't stop me from being with him! Nothing will, goddammit – and believe me, I've tried to get rid of him, and the feelings he wakes up inside of me. But it's too fucking late for that – I can't go back to the way it was anymore! I don't want to anymore, either! Don't you understand, dad?'

'What the fuck – are you seriously asking me this?' Papa Lovi gave me an angry look, grinding his molars together. 'You're my goddamn daughter, Luisa – who do you think you have your complex personality from? From that happy-go-lucky fool Antonio? You're nothing like him. He's a moron. He's an asshole. He's the most humane personification of all and I fucking fell for him when I wasn't even fucking looking.'

'Y-you did?' I stammered.

'Yes. So… don't talk to me like I don't know how god-awful it feels to realize you love somebody. It tore me apart. It made me lose grip of my life. But you know what, baby?'

Papa Lovi smiled at me and took my face in his hands – I bet it was burning, dammit.

'It was the best thing that ever happened to me.'

'But it's scary.' I bit back my tears and grasped his wrists. 'It's so scary.'

'Life's scary.' Papa Lovi chuckled. However, his hands felt clammy. 'Life's fucking terrifying. But you're still doing it, right? You're still living it. I got no grip on that, nor on whoever you wish to live that scary life with. But it might as well be somebody you love. Right, Antonio?'

I gasped and couldn't even blubber a startled 'what' when Papa Lovi suddenly twirled me around, making me face Papa Toni. He apparently had been standing behind me for quite some time, judging from the way he stared at me and held that… Dutch calendar in his hands (guess I didn't hide it well enough).

'Dad,' I managed to say.

'Yes! I-I mean, hi,' he said – and, thank God, he awkwardly smiled at me and put the calendar on the table (even though he did flinch a bit when he saw that flag again).

'I'm sorry,' I said, when Papa Toni concentrated his look on me again. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just was… was afraid you might've gone berserk or something if I told you sooner.'

'I would,' Papa Toni simply said – and I had to admit, his voice indeed sounded a bit different than usual. 'If you had told me sooner, I'd have flipped out. I'm sure I would have.'

I felt a cold chill creeping up my back. 'But you haven't.'

'No. I'm not certain why that is. Maybe it's got something to do with your brothers and their lovers, or with the fact that I actually don't really hate the Netherlands anymore – I mean, we haven't fought wars in centuries and he even married me and your father – or maybe it's because Lovi is supportive of the idea of you and that emotionlessly kid dating… I'm not sure – but I… guess… I accept it.'

'Really?' It felt like a dead weight was knocked off my back. 'Y-you don't hate me for dating Seb?'

Papa Toni frowned, but at the same time he noticeably relaxed some more.

'Princess, I'll never hate you. Ever.'

I laughed shyly, clumsily rubbing my arms. 'O-oh, dad... I-I'm so happy. Thank you so much.'

'And as long as your boyfriend loves you, he won't ever hate Bas… Seb… whatever that kid's name is, either,' Papa Lovi added. 'Right, Antonio?'

Papa Toni made a sour face, but then nodded begrudgingly.

'And also, he's taking the Netherlands with us on our very next vacation. Hooray!'

'What?!'

'I'm just kidding, you stupid dork.' Papa Lovi grinned. 'As if I want that tall gruff guy to join us on our vacation. No way. He'd mooch off us like a damn parasite.'

Papa Toni breathed out, relieved, and in all honesty – so did I. This went better than expected, really. Papa Lovi and Papa Toni had both accepted me and Seb's relationship, and although Papa Toni still seemed to need some time to… you know, actually be completely fine with it, I guess I could say that so far, things went great!

Maybe I should tell them about my pregnancy as well, now?

Why not – this seemed to be the perfect time. Might as well pull the total band aid off.

'Papa Lovi, Papa Toni?' I therefore started. 'I… um, maybe you sit down, because I have something more to tell y—'

'Het was een donder, een bliksem, een slag, toen ik jou zag – ik ben veranderd, een ander, sinds die ene lach! Ik geef me over, je hebt me, verzetten heeft geen—'

My ringtone went on a dramatic singing spree – and I could see both my fathers exchanging confused looks ('you heard that, she even has a ringtone in that creepy German language') as I excused myself and hastily picked up my phone, embarrassed to the very bone since they now knew I liked a song even most Dutch persons considered a guilty pleasure.

'Y-yes?' I stuttered, only then realizing I hadn't seen on the screen who had called me.

'Cutie.' A tired, but happy voice, instantly warming all of my heart.

'Seb!' I said. 'H-hi! W-why are you calling me – you're supposed to call me tomorrow, when your plane has landed! Don't… don't fucking annoy me with your stupid voice earlier than that, dammit.'

'Oh. I can give you the steward if you want, then.'

'NO.' I huffed – but I smiled as well. That Seb, still the same old…

…wait a second…

'Steward?' I repeated. 'You mean… y-you're already in an airplane?'

'Yup. That's why I called you,' Seb patiently said. 'I managed to catch yet another early flight. Yay. Care to pick me up in about two and a half hours?'