HetaWriter/HetaReader here, and with the last ever chapter of Truffles and a Hammer! 8D

How long has it been since I first started writing this? A couple of months, but I've finally finished one story, and I'm quite content with it. :)

Anyway, BIG thanks goes to everyone out there who faved, followed, reviewed, and even just simply read this story - as I said before, that really means a lot to me. Writing is my first love, and seriously...there's no words to describe how it feels when someone reads something you put a lot of work into, and they say that they like it or feel it's worthy to be read. ;w;

NordicFlags: Well, though Denmark actually puts off social hostility, I noticed that if the hostility is aimed at him, then he'll ignore it. However, I believe that if the hostility is aimed at someone he cares about, he'll obviously get angry. Yeah, I feel a bit bad for Emil, but that's how things go, and there's actually some more to his part of his story - Smoke Catching Fire. DenBelg is adorable - one of my OTP's. :D and same with SuFin - though I love crack, this is probably the only non-crack that I'll ever ship whole-heartedly. It's just far too adorable. =^w^=

Madam Platypus: Fear not, here it is! :D yes, Emil has them behind him. :) I'll work on Smoke Catching Fire now since I left that for...quite a long time and only agreed to update it once I finished this story. ^_^'

Just a little note before-hand - there's some mature themes, but nothing explicit or graphic, so don't worry. XD

Well, shall we finish this off, then?

Beep! Beep!

Giving a somewhat snarling groan, the blonde, spiky-haired Dane clutched squirmed a little in the large bed while the Belgian woman beside him also let out a moan, albeit it sounded more like a weary sigh

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Oh, come on…" Matthias gave a little childish whine as he shuffled a bit in the bed a bit more before turning over to his side; trying to drown the alarm's sound. Glancing at the calendar wearily, he moaned, "It's freaking Saturday…I owe no-one any work today!"When the damn thing still wouldn't shut up, he grabbed the fluffy pillow that he lay his head on before, and chucked it harshly at the alarm to hopefully silence it. Though the impact it made caused the alarm to slide slightly on the bedside dresser it stood on, the Dane was dismayed to see that the freaking thing still wouldn't just shut the hell up.

Still trying to get some sleep, the woman at the Dane's side grit her teeth before shooting her arm out and, with a tight fist, slammed it down on the alarm to kill its annoying noise. The pair sighed in relief at the peaceful, tranquil atmosphere that quickly melted from the harsh noise earlier.

"Better?"

Matthias couldn't help but have the bright beam spread out on his (still) somewhat tired face, "Oh, yeah…thanks, Em'."

Emma turned on her left side and gazed at the man lying beside her.

Feeling a pair of eyes bearing right at him, the Dane half-opened an eye before turning on his side so that he could fully face her. "Something wrong, Em'?" he asked, crinkling both of his eyes open to look at her.

The Belgian woman made a slight tilt of her head; golden waves rippling a little before settling back onto the sheets, "Aren't you uncomfortable with no pillow?"

Matthias shrugged, "Eh, I'm used to it."

"Oh, really?"

The Dane gave a soft chuckle, still feeling tired from last night, "Oh, yeah. Every time I woke up back home at Copenhagen, I always found myself sleeping on the floor or in some weird-ass position."

Emma gave her trademark cat-like smile – though she gave it to the Dane so many times already, it would always remain warm and beautiful to him. "Come on, can't have been that weird of a position…" she began.

Matthias chortled, "Oh, believe me, it was. One time, I found my feet where the pillows were, and my head was at the other end." Seeing her chuckle, the Dane continued – wanting to make her feel more uplifted and better since the alarm irritated the both of them, and they were still considerably exhausted from not only work, but also their affectionate actions before.

And honestly, whenever she was happy with that lovely smile, he himself would feel more cheery and upbeat.

Sometimes perhaps even more so than usual.

"There was another time where my head was near the bed post," he continued with that white grin of his. "So, when I woke up, I bumped my head on it." Seeing her giggle, the Dane's smile stretched a bit wider at the brightening sight before him, "Got a bump on my head, but nobody really noticed."

"Ouch," Emma chuckled. "Then again, I've had my fair share of bumping myself against things – I was a huge klutz as a child."

"Seriously?" Matthias arched an eyebrow, truly surprised here; she always carried herself so well with a straightened posture and elegant poise. Sometimes, the Dane would worry that he wasn't sophisticated enough for her – that she was way out of his league. He was glad though that she didn't care about that; and really, it turned out that she had a rather toughened side to her, too; she wasn't afraid to get down and dirty. Though she was caring and sweet, she was definitely a force to be reckoned with when the time came.

Still, the smile still remained on his face as he tilted his head a bit, "How much of a klutz are we talking?"

Emma chortled, "When I was a little girl, I remembered I used to wear my mother's aprons a lot, and since I was so little, the ribbons that tied the back would trail around on the floor, so it's no surprise that I kept tripping over them." Seeing the Danish man before her give a laugh made her do so, too – seeing him with such a bright and merry expression made her heart flutter. "There was this one time I was trying to bring a bowl with this mix for a cake because bro and I were ambitious that day, and we wanted to make a multi-layered cake."

"I'm sure that cake turned out great," Matthias grinned. "You're a great baker. You're bro's pretty cool at it, too."

The Belgian woman flushed a rosy red at the compliment, but it made her smile her trademark cat-like smile. "Why, thank you! Anyway," she continued. "He was working on the bottom layer, so what happened was I came running over to him with the top layer. I remembered I was so excited to make that cake with him, so I called him saying, 'Brother! Brother! I have the top layer! Look!' he then warned me not to run, but too late."

"What happened?" inquired Matthias as he shuffled slightly on his spot in the bed as he rested his head in his hand, smile still present on his face.

"I tripped on the ribbons of the apron, and so, I fell flat on my face," responded Emma before laughing. Matthias gave a chuckle at first, but she was able to make him give a full-blown amount of laughter when she finished, "And the bowl went flying…and it landed splat right onto my brother."

"Oh God…" Matthias was laughing so much, that he couldn't breathe properly – he rolled on his back and clutched at his stomach while trying to imagine Lars as a little boy with a bowl on his head as well as having cake batter splattered all over him. Imagining Lars with a bowl on his head wasn't hard, though.

He had a bucket on his head before after all.

"What happened after that?" the Dane finally spluttered out before wiping at his eye.

Emma was smiling quite fondly at how happy Matthias appeared – he was a bit childish, other people have certainly noted that, but the Belgian woman didn't care. On the contrary, it was one of the traits she liked about him – there was an innocence with that childishness, and how his baby blues sparkled in delight while his whole being brightened after a good working day of either plumbing or repairing around the town…it was definitely a lovely sight.

"Em'? Emma?" Matthias reached out a finger and poked her nose, prompting her to snap out of her momentary daze. "You okay?" he asked, face now etched in slight worry.

"I'm perfectly fine," Emma said with a soft smile, causing him to feel relieved at hearing that. She continued with the little story, "Well, big brother was a mess, obviously – he went to go shower so that he wouldn't be sticky while he told me to take over with what he was doing. He also insisted I take off mother's apron." She sighed fondly, "I loved wearing that apron, though…"

"I'd really like to see that now," Matthias said as he moved onto his side again, causing the bed to squeak a bit due to his weight. He beamed, "Must've been a really cute sight."

"Speaking of which," Emma remarked. "I'd like to see pictures of you as a child." The Belgian wondered what the Dane looked like in his younger days – she loved children, but obviously, they came in many shapes and sizes, and they developed into much more different people.

Lars was a meek and shy child who had his hair down, but now he was a serious and stern man with his hair spiked up. Lovino was a lazy child with rather chubby cheeks, but he was now a rather slender young man that began working harder nowadays. Antonio was apparently hyper as a child – always bouncing around and constantly curious; now, though he was still cheerful and naïve, he was much more mellow and gentler. Elizaveta thought she was a boy when she was a kid, but now she was much more graceful as a woman.

Matthias however sighed, his baby blues with a slightly melancholic feel to it, though the smile was fond and tender as he fixated his gaze to the ceiling. "I'd love to show you them," he said. "But most of them are back home, which kinda sucks…"

"You miss home, do you?" Emma asked as she shuffled a little closer to him – she could feel the warmth radiate from his being.

"Yeah, sometimes I do," admitted Matthias before blowing some stray strands of hair that landed on his eyes out of view. "But I have no regrets leaving Copenhagen, though," he turned to face her and came closer while his pale face tinted scarlet. "'Cause I have people I care about here, too."

"That's how I feel at times, too," agreed Emma warmly as she wrapped an arm around his lower torso, bringing the both of them closer. "I miss Brussels and mother, but I know that everything's okay. My parents are together now, and I know that they're happy where they are. And I also have people I care about here."

"Hey, we should go to Belgium one day," Matthias said as he wrapped both arms around her and snuggled closer. "I've never been there, and I'd definitely like to see where you used to live."

"There's an idea," smiled Emma. "And after that, we can go to Denmark – meeting your parents face-to-face instead of through the webcam would be much lovelier."

"Yeah, definitely!"

They both lay there for a bit more time, though for how long, neither knew, but it mattered not – they were just happy to be in each other's arms; keeping each other warm in the slightly cold, yet rising morning.

Soon, some of the sun's rays were lightly shimmering through the window's clear surface and through the curtains that were still drawn over it, providing a nice glow and brightening the room's atmosphere just a little bit.

Some more time later, Emma finally broke the tender hold that she and Matthias were in when she got up and rubbed at her eye before giving a yawn and stretched her arms up in the air. Scratching her locks of gold, she quietly got out of the bed so as not to rouse him. Picking up his discarded pillow, she gently placed it back on the bed.

However, Matthias felt something amiss when the warmth in his arms was missing.

Cranking an eye open, he saw her approaching a door. He raised his head, "Em'?"

Emma simply smiled, "I'm just going to the bathroom. Don't worry – I'll be back, soon. Just go back to sleep."

"Okay…" Matthias nodded as she disappeared through the door to the bathroom. He gave another yawn before gratefully lying back down on the bed and turning to his left, his eyes just fixed on several photos that were on the drawer opposite him.

One in particular caught his eye the most.

In it, there was a beaming man with wild, blonde spiky hair grinning as wildly as a Cheshire cat with his baby blues glittering. He was clad in a white tux with a dark blue undershirt and black tie. However, what truly captured his attention was the woman in white that stood beside him; her lovely, laughing expression of bliss forever captured in that one little frame as she stood close by him while holding the bouquet of poppies and marguerite daisies.

Sighing contentedly, Matthias' eyes darted a bit more onto some more photos that looked similar – he was laughing with his family, who were also clad in white tuxes, Emma was in another photo with her older brother who actually had the ghost of a smile etched onto his face (the Dane wondered why he was still wearing his scarf over his tux, though). There was also a photo with Emma and the bridesmaids, wearing lovely, silk-looking dresses.

Of course, they could definitely not compare to the bride.

After staring at the photos for a little bit more, he rolled onto his back again to try and feel comfortable. However, during that time, he couldn't help but recall everything that had happened so far and how fast time seemed to fly on by nowadays.

It had already been a month since he and Emma had finally made their vows, and sealed their lives together. However, it still felt as if it were only yesterday that the Dane had bumped into the Belgian woman in the supermarket and he dropped his milk. Their eyes meeting…the knots that his stomach produced and how fast his heart was beating just by gazing into those grass green orbs…

The knots had all but since disappeared, however Matthias found that his heart would still react the same way as it did before – sometimes even more so just by knowing that she was his forevermore and he was hers, too.

A few times they had already engaged in acts that a husband and wife did after holy matrimony, and admittedly, though that shouldn't be out of the norm, Matthias was uneasy and nervous the first time that happened. Now that he thought about it, he found it a bit funny and interesting – usually the man was the one who took the lead and reassured the woman that they were going to be okay, but the times that it did happen…it was actually her who reassured him that she was going to be fine – that he wasn't hurting her and that there was no need to be nervous.

Scared he was, he wasn't thin and delicate like Tino, Lukas or Emil, nor was he nurturing and gentle like Berwald despite how scary that guy appeared. Matthias knew that he was rough, wild, tough and brawny and large – he sometimes even scared kids (that Italian kid was enough proof). Though the only solace he knew was that Emma was just as inexperienced as he was when it came to this certain act of love, she was much calmer and, after some awkwardness at first, she immediately took the upper hand in causing the atmosphere to be much warmer and more welcoming.

Then he was able to take charge.

Still, the thought of harming her frightened him – what if it happened? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he hurt her accidentally. Though she was definitely fine in taking care of herself, there was always the fact that remained that she was a woman, and still had a more delicate frame than him – so it was from that, it made him consider the amounts of strength he used at certain times such as hugging and holding her.

The first time that it happened, he was rather jumpy the next day when she stayed in bed the whole day while he was perfectly fine. He honestly thought he did do harm to her, but from how chipper she was in the afternoon and her moving around just fine, he was instantly relieved.

However, he couldn't help but go and talk to his kin and ask for some advice.

Then, he discovered that out of the five of them, he was actually the one who made the most progress in a relationship so far.

All the more reason to make him rather nervous. Yet at the same time, he couldn't help but feel really proud.

So, in the end, he decided to just leave things as they were, and personally – he preferred it that way, and it seemed she did, too. Maybe someday he could finally feel comfortable enough to start those times; he knew she'd appreciate that.

But life was good right now.

'Lort…' he thought to himself as he sighed in content again. 'Thank God everything's going good…'

Hearing a little creak, Matthias opened his eyes and peered to the source, seeing Emma leave the bathroom with a rather pensive look on her face accompanied with a quirking eyebrow. Interested with the expression, the Dane tilted his head up, "Em'?" he asked. "Em'? What's up? What's with that face?"

It was then that he noticed that one of Emma's hands were behind her back, seemingly concealing something. Matthias craned his head, wondering just what she was hiding there, when the Belgian woman cleared her throat to gain his attention. When his pale blue eyes fixed onto her, she then shot forth a question that surprised him a bit, "Matthias, what do you think of letting…another person live with us in here?"

Matthias arched an eyebrow, "Huh? Why? Does your brother want to move in here? I thought he was happy staying at the back part of the patisserie."

Emma gave a giggle that caused him to tilt his head to the side in question, "No, no, no…that's not what I meant." She then sat at the bottom of the bed, causing Matthias to sit up and rub at his eyes so he could focus properly on her.

"Then…what do you mean?" he inquired, seriously not sure what she meant by her question. "Don't tell me Antonio's moving in here…"

The Belgian woman shook her head, "Nope! Not Antonio – he's living with Lien, after all."

Matthias scratched his blonde, spiky head, "Uh…did Norge ask to move in or something?"

"Nope~"

"Can't be Emil – he's in college with that girlfriend of his…wait, it's not him, is it?"

Emma shook her head – her blonde locks swaying slightly, "Wrong again, Matthias~"

"Uhhh…" Matthias scratched at his head some more, his eyes this time fixed onto the floor as he began to ponder. "So, it's not your bro, not Antonio, not Norge or Emil…who else could it be? Wait!" he then snapped his fingers. "That Italian guy! What was his name again? Uhh…Lovino! Yeah! That's it! Lovino! It's him, isn't it?"

Emma couldn't help but laugh – she thought that her Danish husband had got it for a moment, but it turned out to be a false alarm. He was rather dense like Antonio at times, but while her brother found that frustrating, the Belgian woman found it quite adorable – she didn't mind that he was rather slow at times; Matthias made up for it, anyway with how hard-working and enthusiastic he was. "Wrong again," she chirped. "It's not Lovino – he and his Canadian friend are living in an apartment together."

"Damn," Matthias rubbed at his head. "I thought I had it!" he rubbed his head to think some more and tried guessing other names, but after his Belgian wife kept saying the n-word over and over again, the Dane threw his hands up, "Okay, okay! Can't you give me a clue? I suck at guessing games…"

Emma chuckled, causing him to blush, "Sure thing~! Well, they're kinda here already…"

"Wait, what?" Matthias immediately perked up. "Already here?" he immediately brought her close to him, "Somebody's in the house?!"

The Belgian woman was a bit taken aback at first, but she couldn't help but guffaw at how protective he was; it was very endearing. Carefully, she placed her hands on his chiselled chest and gently pushed him back a bit. "Well, there is someone else in the house, in this room…"

"In this room?!"

"Matthias, calm down, first," Emma said soothingly as she then took one of his hands in both of hers. Once the Dane looked down at her, feeling the electricity surging through his veins from the tender contact, he swallowed and nodded, prompting her to continue. "Think deeply and carefully – there is going to be another person living with us, they're in the room right now, too. They'll also be pretty small, but they'll eventually grow."

The Dane stopped and stared, still thinking deeply; how was that possible, though? Somebody else was going to live with them; they were even in the room with them at present. However, as he glanced around, it was clearly evident that it was just him and Emma in the room. So how was that-?

Before he could open his mouth and say something, he spotted the thing that the Belgian woman was hiding behind her back before with one hand. It appeared to be some sort of strange strip-shaped object. Squinting his eyes, he was able to see what appeared to be two red strokes on a certain panel.

"Huh?" Matthias pointed at it. "What is that thing, Emma?"

'Now he's on the right track,' the Belgian woman thought delightfully. She held it up so he could get a proper look, "It's a pregnancy test."

"Pregnancy…?" Matthias looked confused at first, but that was when realization slapped him.

He looked from the pregnancy test to his Belgian wife, then back and forth between them again.

And it all pieced together, making much more sense.

Someone new living with them; them being here right there and now with the both of them despite them being only the two people in the room so far; them being small, but would grow later on.

His jaw dropped as his eyes widened while he tried to string the words together, "Y-You're…you're preg-?"

Emma nodded, saving him the breath; she looked both shy, but quite happy at the same time, "Yes, Matthias. I'm pregnant."

The silence that hung in the room next worried her – he wasn't responding.

But at that instant, it was as if an explosion took place.

Matthias had suddenly burst into a huge outburst of happiness; he immediately grabbed hold of her and raised her up high in the air while dancing around as he roared triumphantly at the top of his lungs, "I'm gonna be a father! I'm gonna be a father! Woooo!"

Emma gave a startled gasp when he just grabbed her like that, but she couldn't help but laugh soon after as she wrapped her arms around his neck while he carried her around as he still proudly proclaimed of their good fortune.

The news of Emma being pregnant made everyone so happy. Tino was excited for the baby to come out and Berwald was immediately getting to work on sewing some clothes for the little one, but he was seen to use both blue and pink since it wasn't sure whether the baby would be a boy or a girl.

Peter, now in high school, was ecstatic at hearing that he himself was going to be an uncle sometime in the future. He still lived with Tino and Berwald, but he began to visit Matthias and Emma more frequently to help out as much as he can. The couple couldn't help but smile at that – he was just so excited, just as excited as they themselves were with the baby's arrival.

Lars was shocked at hearing that his sister was pregnant, and honestly at first, Matthias thought that the Dutchman would sock him, however the older, spiky-headed blonde simply smoked his pipe after hearing the news before staring at the sweets in the patisserie, seemingly deep in thought.

What Matthias didn't know was that Lars was staring at a cake that read, 'Congratulations!' on it and had bunnies hopping all around it. And in his mind, he was wondering what the baby would be like.

Lukas was surprised at hearing the good news, and said his congratulations with a rather stoic face. However, it was plain to see that he was just as thrilled as everyone else around him – Matthias, Tino and Peter couldn't help but tease him here; the usually quiet and blank Norwegian man always had a soft spot for kids.

Emil came to visit from the city along with his girlfriend, Michelin upon hearing the news. The Icelandic boy was doing much better since he was far away from the bullies now, and getting over the passing of a very dear friend of his. Michelin was bursting with joy and insisted on helping Emma as well at times with Peter and Emil assisting.

Elizaveta had come with Gilbert, the pale-haired, red-eyed man that Emma and Matthias had seen before. The Prussian man now had a prosthetic leg from his kneecap down so as not to depend on his Hungarian fiancée all the time. Besides Peter, Elizaveta and Gilbert hung around quite a lot, too to help Matthias around the house since Emma's belly was getting larger and larger as the time passed and she couldn't do everything as much.

Antonio and Lien also heard of the news, to which the Spaniard squealed in excitement since he loved children. His usually serious-faced Vietnamese wife appeared quite happy for Matthias and Emma's good fortune. However, that was when Antonio gave a pout as he turned to his wife, "How about us, mi amor? Don't you think it's time that we have some kids of our own?"

Poor Lien's face was as bright red as a tomato's.

Even Lovino and his Canadian friend came over to visit and give their congratulations.

Funny enough, during Emma's pregnancy, she had a huge craving for chocolate. Matthias always wondered about cravings, but this time, he knew he had to be responsible here – he had to watch her intake; sure, it was fine to eat chocolate, but he knew that his wife should be eating it in moderation since even when she was pregnant, it still wasn't something that you should eat in huge quantities.

Which was why he ate some of the remnants.

A few times she was cranky and moody, but to everyone's surprise, Matthias was very patient with her – he blatantly ignored and dismissed her aggressive tones and simply soothed her. It was funny seeing him so mature and taking charge for once, but others couldn't help but note that it was a nice, positive change.

And soon enough, the nine months passed, and Matthias found himself in the hospital smiling down at his wife and the precious bundle that was in her arms.

Emma herself experienced a roller-coaster – pregnancy.

She knew that she must've been a bit nasty and impatient to her husband a few times, but bless his soul, he was understanding and didn't seem to mind or care when she snapped at him. And now…just staring down at the little bundle of joy in her arms, the pain and all the stress was finally over, and it felt worth it.

As she looked up at her Danish husband, it felt even more worth it just knowing that this beautiful baby boy was a product from their love.

Their foreheads touching, Matthias smiled as he gazed down tenderly at the baby before planting a kiss to his exhausted Belgian wife's lips and murmuring those three simple, yet meaningful words. Likewise, Emma, though tired and weary, simply kissed him back and responded accordingly, feeling a little better and slightly restored at having such affection right beside her before laying back in the hospital bed to rest.

Life has a funny way of making things happen, but they both knew at that moment that things would only get sweeter for the both of them from there.

And thus ends Truffles and a Hammer. :) it was a great round, and I enjoyed typing it up - admittedly, this was the first time I wrote a story of romantic nature, but it felt nice. ^7^ now, I shall work on my other stories - particularly the side-by-side story for this piece, Smoke Catching Fire, which is told through Emil and Sadik's perspective; and A Tail For Two Legs because it's not even halfway complete yet, and I feel motivated again. ^w^'

Anyway, for the final time; thoughts and opinions? Good day to you, dear readers. :DDD

Sincerely,
HetaWriter/HetaReader