Oh good golly it's been a while! I'd been meaning to get back to this fanfiction before, but college work was totally getting in the way! I will do my best to continue it during the summer holidays for you all!

A sincere apology to Alfred was going to be hard. I knew that, but it was about time that I gave the other the apology that he deserved. I'd been bad to him in the past… I realised that now. I'd done a lot of bad things really. It was time to set things straight. It was time to make things right. Before this baby came I was going to get all of my personal affairs in order, and try my best to become a better more nurturing person, rather than a control freak… even if it was hard. I had to do it, and the first step was apologising to Alfred.

I waited for the end of the school day when I knew he'd be in his dorm room before I knocked on his door nervously. I knew he'd great me politely enough, what worried me was my own mouth really. I didn't want to screw things up. I didn't want to make a prick out of myself. I took a deep breath as I heard footsteps and a key unlocking the door.

"Oh hey Arthur, what can I do ya for?" Alfred greeted me with a relaxed smile on his face.

I hesitated a moment before forcing myself to speak.

"I wanted to come to apologise to you." I told him, taking a moment to get my thoughts together before continuing to speak "I realise now that the way I treated you before was… It was unacceptable." I paused again, trying to think of the best way to word things to the other so that I didn't sound like a dick, and made the point that I wanted to make "I was too controlling of you, and I see that now. I treated you unfairly and…. And I- I don't feel like I need to forgive you for leaving me when you did now- It was my fault." God this was a hard conversation to have, I would have killed to be back with Donnovan debating the life of a fetus.

Alfred looked a little taken aback to hear all of that. I of course didn't blame him. It was all very sudden, I was still stood in his doorway like a bit of an idiot but… well- I was getting used to looking stupid these days.

"Woah dude- I don't really know what to say." Alfred said, his voice softer than I usually heard it now "I mean like… I don't know am I meant to thank you- or say it's okay?" he asked "How does this work-?"

"I- don't really know, mostly when I apologise people tell me to fuck off." I said with a slightly exasperated laugh "Why don't we just… just go and get a drink together- a non-alcoholic drink." I suggested. It was a shot in the dark, but I hoped the other would accept. We could go out and have a nice civilised drink together, no getting drunk, maybe something to eat. It was well overdue.

"That would be awesome! You wanna hit up Starbucks or something?" he asked, his eyes looking brighter with excitement now, his whole demeanour changing like he'd forgotten what I'd said to him only minutes ago now. Well, it was good at least that the other seemed willing to forgive me and it seemed good at least that he wanted to spend some time with me. I'd been scared of being rejected I supposed.

"I suppose so." I nodded, just pleased that he wanted to come with me. "I'll just text Francis and let him know where we are." I said "I don't want him worrying about me." I explained with a smile. Francis had been so good to me. I could tell that sexually he was getting impatient. It'd been a while since we'd been intimate, and I know he was holding back because of my pain… I'd give him a treat once I was feeling better.

Alfred nodded at me understandingly "Yeah he'd probably freak the hell out if he couldn't find you and stuff." He said "Like screaming in French and crying, and probably calling a bunch of people up to come look for you, and I dunno- getting the navy to come look for you too or something~!" he said jokingly.

"Of course of course~" I laughed, texting my now fiancé :

To Francis:

I'm going to be out spending some time with Alfred this afternoon. Don't worry about me, we are only visiting Starbucks. I won't be home too late.

That was enough for him to know that I'd be alright. "So- Shall we get going now?" I asked the American "Time is of the essence of course and I don't want to get home too late. The doctors say I still need to get my rest." I explained to him.

"Oh yeah sure, we can go now, no reason not to." Alfred said with a bigger smile "I'll make sure to get you back to Francis in one piece, I'm sure he'd probably cut me up into little pieces if he thought I let you get hurt~" Alfred joked playfully.

I laughed softly as my phone buzzed:

To Arthur:

Just make sure you're here before dinner, I want to make sure you're eating enough mon petit lapin

oxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

I smiled to myself softly as I saw the message, before putting my phone back into my pocket "Right okay, yes let's go." I said, stepping back out of the doorway into the narrow hall to let the American out of his room so we could go and get those drinks together as friends, as I had wanted to do for so long.

Getting permission to leave the school to visit a Starbucks was awkward, but we managed, convincing them that it was somehow integral to making sure the baby grew up healthy that I was allowed in and out of the school as needs be so I wouldn't be stressed… or something like that.

Alfred talked for most of the car ride about a whole bunch of different things. It was impressive how he managed to talk about so much in so little time, and managed to change topic at the drop of a pin. I really didn't know how he did it. Still it was interesting to listen to him talking about class, and politics, and the baby, and Francis, and pokemon- that had been a big leap from topic to topic, I almost got lost a fair few times.

It didn't take long to arrive at the Green clad coffee shop in a local town. I could smell the coffee as I walked in, hearing quiet conversations between people, and the sound of beverages being made, and the hum of the small fridges for the food. I was tempted to get something to eat… but dinner was soon. I'd just get a drink.

I looked up at the menu, white faux chalk font on black boards. There were various coffees, some teas, some iced beverages, and some beverages blended with ice. Alfred was getting some chocolate iced drink that sounded like it was ready to give him diabetes at any time- I settled for a mint tea. It was one of the few herbal, non-caffeinated drinks that they offered in the coffee shop and I was glad that they had them… I also ended up getting myself some wafer biscuits… and a sandwich- I hadn't eaten since lunchtime after visiting Donnovan and it was already mid-afternoon. My breakfast had been small… I was technically eating for two-

Alfred of course didn't comment on my food, since he'd gotten himself a toasted sandwich and a slice of cake to have. I asked him if this was going to be his dinner, but he snorted and told me that it absolutely wasn't going to be his dinner and he was going to have that when we got back to the school, no this was his afternoon snack, then he was going to have dinner, and then later in the evening a pre midnight snack. Apparently he'd be going to bed too early for it to be a real midnight snack, but he liked eating before bed for some reason.

We continued to talk for a while, drinking our drinks and eating our food and having a really nice time. My apology wasn't brought up again. Colonisation wasn't brought up either. It was a very casual conversation, nothing stressful or deep or even all that meaningful. We spent about half an hour discussing what we thought would happen in the next season of The Walking Dead. It really was just relaxed conversation which I was glad about.

Eventually the topic led to the baby, my baby, Alfred wanting to know more about how it was all going.

"So you must be pretty hyped to be out of hospital, right?" he asked with a smile "You're looking better and stuff, not looking very pregnant, but I guess that's just gonna come with time or something?"

"I'm 100% sure that in a few months I'm going to look unavoidably pregnant." I told him, rolling my eyes a little and drinking some more of my tea. "I'll probably have to avoid going out in public at that point. I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself, you know?" I told him, patting my stomach softly.

"Can you feel the baby yet?" he asked "Can I feel? Am I like their uncle or their big bro or what?" he asked "I mean like… I wanna be there for them, y'know?" he said with a soft smile, looking hopefully at me to say that of course he was family and of course he was!

My heard felt like it was melting as the other looked at me like that. That was my sweet little Alfred. He still had such a round youthful face, his expression so hopeful and so innocent. I never wanted anything bad to happen to Alfred.

"You can be whoever you feel you are to the child." I told him "You really can." I said, really just wanting to give him a big hug. I really wanted to have him be involved in the family, and have him be a part of everything. I wanted that more than the world.

Alfred grinned at me "Can I be their Godfather~?" he asked excitedly "Cause that's like a super cool family position like I am the Godfather~" he said, trying to act dramatic. There were times that Alfred's childishness grated on me and I couldn't bear it. This was not one of those times. Now, it was the most endearing part of him. I couldn't help but love his childish nature as he talked about being a Godfather to this child.

"You can be the Godfather if you want to. That does mean that we're going to have to find a church that will christen this child- even if it has two fathers and no mother in sight." I said with a chuckle "I'm sure there's got to be some liberal church around here somewhere- We'll just say the child is adopted and then it'll all be fine."

I could tell how excited Alfred was about this, his eyes twinkling, his legs bouncing as he sat in his seat, leant forwards excitedly, a big grin on his childish face. I loved seeing him like this, so happy, so excited about life. With most other nations being so serious (for good reason of course) It was wonderful to see that side of him never die out like it did in most of the rest of us, that childish glee that could come from such small things at times. A baby wasn't going to be a small part of our lives- but it was literally tiny.

"This is gonna be so cool!" he exclaimed "Hey- can I feel?" he asked, leaning more towards me "I'll try to be careful, I know I can be kinda rough sometimes." He said with an apologetic laugh "I just don't know my own strength, y'know?"

"I've never had that problem too much, but yes, if you promise to be gentle I'll let you feel when we get back to the school. It would look weird if you did it here." I told him "I mean we are out in public after all, and I'd rather not draw any unnecessary attention." I didn't want to let him down, but I did believe that there was a time and a place for everything.

"I guess that's pretty fair enough." Alfred said much to my relief "I mean like- yeah we are just in some coffee shop, it would look pretty weird and whatever." He continued to speak, taking a few sips of his drink. His excitement had waned a little, but not enough for it to make me feel guilty, just enough for me to know that this clearly did mean a lot to him.

We continued to talk, and eat and drink and then just talk when the food was gone. Alfred told me about what NASA was doing, and gushed over how exciting space travel was. It definitely was exciting. All of the new technologies were exciting. It was hard to think about what life was like before them but I'd lived a vast majority of my life without even having electricity or plumbing. It was so odd to think about my youth.

Alfred was living so differently to how I had, and growing up so differently to how I had grown up- It wasn't a bad thing, but I knew that I had to accept that in this world as it was, he was the leading power, the leading country for so many things living way beyond my legacy, and much more peacefully so. I felt like maybe I was outdated, maybe my way of thinking was outdated too… My influence used to mean everything, but not even the EU took me all that seriously anymore.

"You know- I think I'd like to go home." I said after a few moments "I'm getting quite tired and I think I'd like to get some rest." I didn't want to be depressing company for the other, but I could tell that my mood was turning, and I didn't want to be around the other when I was feeling that way. It was more for him than myself. I didn't want him to feel like I didn't enjoy his company. I did, I just knew that I was definitely starting to feel pretty low.

"Oh right sure." He said, his smile seeming unbreakable this afternoon "It's been totally legit hanging out with you today, but you look kinda tired and whatever, so it's cool." He told me, standing up from my seat and offering me a hand to get up.

I appreciated the gesture, taking his hand and standing up, my hips had gotten a little stiff and painful from sitting down in the same position for too long. "I'm still a little sore-" I said, walking slowly with him out of the shop "I always end up achy now if I sit still too long."

"You're such an old man~" Alfred joked, still holding onto my hand "Just take it easy, lean on me if you gotta, I can take it." He said. It felt a little humiliating to be treated like this by the nation I had raised so long ago, but I was thankful at the same time that he cared about me.

"Thank you. I should be alright. You're such a good boy Alfred." I said as we walked to the car. He'd always been such a good boy. He was always so good. He helped me into the car, asked the driver to drive carefully for me, helped me out of the car, and walked me all the way back to mine and Francis' dorm room.

"See ya later, yeah?" He said as I unlocked the door.

"Yeah see you later Alfred." I said before walking into the room and flopping onto the bed "I think his youth is crushing my soul Francis…" I whined, letting the Frenchman rub my back soothingly.

"How is his youth crushing your soul-?" He asked me, clearly confused by my logic

"I just… he's so young, and he's already surpassed me in every way, and I was so bitter about it for so long, and now I'm trying not to be but it's just making me depressed to think about it all-" I told him, staying laid down where I was.

"Aaah I see." He said with a soft nod "Yes I understand, but it is alright to feel that way." He told me, still stroking my back "But know that you're not worth any less than him, and you're certainly not past your prime. Your people are living better now than they ever have you know." He continued to speak "You've really done some good things for your nation. You're no more behind the times than me."

I nodded at him softly, moving to cuddle up to him, leaning my head on his chest "I'm still feeling shitty, but thank you. You're helping." I told him. I knew it was a little bit selfish to just lay there and be sad on the other, but… well if I couldn't be sad on Francis then I couldn't be sad around anyone. I'd make it up to him somehow.

That's right I'm back! I want to write (Maybe even finish) this story over the summer break. I'm sorry if there's changes in the tone or characterisations, I started this story years ago but I really just want to get it done, because it's my most liked story out of all of them.

QUESTION TIME:

I'm kind of curious to see which characters you guys want to see more or less of

I can't remember if I decided before but what should the baby gender be?

How long can Francis survive without getting laid?

When will I post the next chapter?

Thank you for reading, reviews really do mean the world to me, and genuinely I'm literally only coming back to this story because of all the support I've had for it, so please if you like this story swing me a review, it's really wonderful motivation. Again thank you. I hope the next chapter will be coming soon!