September 21st, 1936
"What was it you call this time of year? Alt-something…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes looked in wonder at the large chestnut tree that grew just beyond the den. The green, yellow, and red leaves swayed so delicately in the soft breeze of summer, the sun still shining happily upon them.
"Altweibersommer," he answered, his head resting on her shoulders, arms wrapped around her waist. He loved these moments the most, the ones in which it was just her and him – just the two of them, nothing and no one else.
"Right, and that means –"
"Indian summer," he finished her sentence. The scent of honey and peppermint wafted into his nostrils. "What have you been cooking?"
"Cinnamon honey buns and peppermint pancakes," was the short response as she moved one hand from atop his to brush lightly at his perfectly combed hair. The honey buns were something she and Alfred often had together, back in the States. Madeleine had sent the pancake recipe over last winter – it was a winter food – and Amelia, on a whim, decided she would test it out this morning. If the mess in the kitchen were any indication, she'd say she did pretty well.
Ludwig quirked an eyebrow at the idea of peppermint pancakes. It did not sound so very appealing, but he would try it. He had eaten much worse – Arthur's scones came to mind – after all. He moved his lips closer to her neck, and placed a delicate kiss just above the chain of the cross necklace he'd given to her.
At the same time as Ludwig was enjoying this rare, warm time with his wife, a voice called, "What's for breakfast?" It was followed by one pajama-clad Prussian waltzing into the room, running a hand through his uncombed hair. From his disheveled appearance, one could tell he had been up late the night before and just awoken minutes ago. The Prussian was quick to retreat from the room when his eyes lay upon the couple, shouting during flight, "Gross! Can't you two do that somewhere else? Seriously, Ludwig, I don't want to see my little brother making out!"
"Can't you have better timing?" Amelia sighed, turning around to face Ludwig with a grin on her face. "Remind me why your brother lives with us."
Ludwig returned the grin, "Because you invited him when he sniveled loudly in the streets during broad daylight that he would die if we abandoned him."
"I won't make that mistake again." She patted Ludwig's arm and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Time for breakfast. I'll set the table, you get Hans." With those words, she walked towards the doorway, though stopping for a moment to turn back to Ludwig and ask, "Do you think Gilbert will be eating after that?
Ludwig nodded and off she went.
"Hans," one knock on the door. "Hans, this is your vater," two knocks on the door. "Time to wake up, Hans," three knocks on the door. "Your mother is waiting," four knocks on the door, this time it was a bit harder. "Are you going to make me get the key?" The handle rattled as someone attempted to turn it. It was locked. "Hans," it continued to rattle as the voice grew louder and more urgent. "Hans! Open this door!" The voice was angry. "Hans! Hans! Are you okay?" And the voice was worried. "Answer me! Hans –" The door opened.
Hans stared up at his father's blue eyes, blinking his own blue eyes innocently. "I am sorry, vati. I could not hear you from the bathroom."
"You were in the bathroom?"
"Yes, brushing my teeth." He opened his mouth, making sure to lift his lips so that his father could get a good view of his newly cleaned pearly whites. "Were you worried, vati?"
At this particular question, Ludwig's cheeks turned red. He averted his eyes from the child, clenching and unclenching his hands while thinking of an appropriate response. "I," he paused, "was not worried. But your mother," yes, it would be believable for Amelia to be worried, "was."
"Mutti?"
"Ja."
"Did mutti send you to get me, vati?"
"Exactly."
"Oh." This 'oh' sounded much exaggerated, as if this were shocking news to the child. But it was not. Hans did not suppose his father remembered it, but he had already used this same excuse 23 times before – this made 24 times. His father was such a strange man. He was quite emotional, something he hide whenever possible.
Hans smiled to himself as he followed his father, staring up at the broad back of the greatest man he knew. He wanted to be like his father. First, he needed to convince his mother to give him a brother, one that was like his Uncle Gilbert, so that he could see how not to act. Then he'd grow bigger and get stronger, marry a woman like his mother, and become the greatest nation that ever lived. Perhaps his Uncle Alfred – he found him very likable – would help him become a great nation, because it wouldn't be right to receive help from his father.
Suddenly, Ludwig stopped in the middle of the hallway. Hans studied his back with curiosity. They were just outside the dining room. Why his father had stopped, he wondered.
"Put that fork down, buster!"
"No way, I'm starving!"
"Bums don't starve!"
"I'm not a bum!"
"Oh, really? What do you call yourself these days?"
"The awesome –"
"And nonexistent Prussia."
"You wound me."
Ludwig chuckled. Hans found that bizarre. His father seemed to like hearing his mother and Uncle argue. He didn't. The two obviously did not get along and he just couldn't see how that was funny. Letting a little sigh escape due to the exasperation he felt from the bad relationship between his mother and uncle, he followed Ludwig, who had just walked into the dining room.
Hans' eyes immediately made contact with his mother's, whose face brightened significantly at the site of him, he noticed. "Did you sleep well, my little Hansi?" She walked over to him to give him a light kiss on the forehead, ruffling his hair a bit before sitting down at the table.
"Yes, mutti," he replied, sitting in the seat beside her, as he always did.
"Pass me the pancakes, Amelia!"
Hans narrowed his eyes at his loud uncle. Why did he speak to his mother like that? And what gave him the right to demand things of her? Why didn't his vati say anything to him? It was a confusing situation.
With a pout on his lips, Hans shoved, none too delicately, the plate of pancakes sitting in front of him at his uncle. "Here, uncle." His aggressive tone did not go unnoticed by any of the three adults.
"Hans, what's the matter with you?" Amelia scolded him, with a small smile of amusement still on her face. "You woke up on the wrong side of the bed, mister."
His father coughed, clearing his throat, took a swallow of milk, and said, "Apologize to your uncle."
Hans clenched his fists slightly. How dare they scold him! And his mother – he was defending her! "I will not."
"Hans!"
"Do you have a problem with your awesome uncle, Hansi? Did I forget a promise again?"
"Don't call me Hansi. Only mutti can call me that."
Gilbert blinked in confusion. He honestly didn't understand why Hans was suddenly so angry at him and acting this way. "But I've called you that since you were a baby."
"Stop being mean to my mutti!"
"Vat?"
"If you continue to be unkind to mutti, I will…I will have the SS execute you!"
"Hans Derrick Bielschmidt!" Amelia grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to turn his head towards her.
Hans frowned. Why was she upset? Couldn't she see he was defending her? "Yes, mutti?"
"Do not say those kinds of things!" Amelia placed her arms around Hans' shoulders, pulling his face into her chest. Her innocent little child, she wondered how he could speak of execution so easily. "And Gilbert does not bully me, Hansi, we're only joking with each other. So," she pulled his head back from her, putting a hand underneath his chin so that he was not able to look away, "don't be angry anymore. Besides, I could kick Gilbert's sorry little butt in two minutes if he were messing with me!"
"He is not being mean to you?"
"Of course not!"
"…Forgive me, uncle," Hans bowed his head, his cheeks turning red at the embarrassment he now felt over his outburst. No one was saying anything, so he slowly opened one eyelid to peek up at the faces of the adults. All three were smiling at him. They obviously found what had just occurred to be a funny situation. With a pout, Hans lifted his head back up and stuffed a piece of pancake into his mouth, which he immediately spat out. "Ew! Mutti, zis is disgusting!"
"What?" Amelia looked upset, the corners of her mouth drooping downwards. "It…doesn't taste good…"
Hans clenched his left fist, looked to his father and Uncle for encouragement, and forced another bite of the horrible pancake down his throat. "I-I mean…delicious! This is delicious, mutti!" At this, Amelia's face brightened instantly.
The three males suffered through the meal while she watched them all happily, only drinking coffee. And so ended a fall morning in the Beilschmidt household.
I wanted this to be a semi-sweet chapter prior to all the nitty-gritty stuff. So, yes, it's short and quite late, but I've been writing so many academic papers lately that I really did not have the time to focus on fanfiction. Still writing those academic papers, by the way, but I'll preserve for my few fans.
History Time! These are important events that happened prior to this chapter.
1933 October 19 - Germany leaves the League of Nations.
1934 January 26 - Germany and Poland sign the 10 year German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact; March 1 - Japan renames Manchuria Manchukuo; March 20 - All German police forces come under the command of Heinrich Himmler; June 30 - The Night of Long Knives occurs, in which Germany executes many ranking leaders of the Sturmabteilung (SA); July 20 - The SS became an independent organization of the Nazi Party, reporting directly to Adolf Hitler; August 2 - Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany, becoming Head of State as well as Chancellor; September - The Soviet Union joins the League of Nations; December 5 - The Abyssinia Crisis occurs, in which Italian and Ethiopian troops exchange fire; December 29 - Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty.
1935 January 7 - The League of Nations approves the results of the Saar plebiscite, which allows Saar to be incorporated into German borders; June 18 - The Anglo-German Naval Agreement is signed by Germany and the United Kingdom to limit the size of their navies; October 2 - Italy invades Ethiopia, beginning the Second Italo–Abyssinian War.
1936 March 7 - In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland; May 5 - Italian forces occupy Addis Ababa in East Africa; May 7 - Italy annexes Ethiopia; May 9 - Chiang Kaishek proclaimed that Japan was waging war in China without a declaration of war; July 18 - The Spanish Civil War begins when nationalist forces led by Francisco Franco rise against the current republican government.