Prompt: Romania and Bulgaria adopting a baby and acting all fatherly.
Note- Alin is Romania and Tsvetan is Bulgaria. The baby is an OC.

Alin smiled fondly down at the little sleeping infant curled up peacefully on his lap. He gently cradled him closer to his body, whispering a few words of Romanian into his tiny ear while he slept. This little baby was the single most beautiful and precious thing he had ever seen, Alin decided. And the best thing was, this baby was now his.

"You know, you should probably put him in his car seat while we are driving," remarked Alin's partner, Tsvetan, from the driver seat of the car. "I don't want us having to return the baby as soon as we adopted it."

"He's not an it, he's a him," said Alin, sweeping the baby's soft, fluffy hair off his forehead. "And I just wanted to cuddle him! He's perfectly safe in my arms, so stop worrying."

Tsvetan chuckled softly as he glanced at Alin and their new baby in the mirror. "Well, he's ours now, so you will have plenty of time to cuddle him." He thought for a moment, before adding, "You will have his entire life."

"Do you hear that little one?" Cooed Alin, "We're gonna watch you grow up! We're your new Mummy and Daddy!"

"Well, I hope you are the mum," said Tsvetan dryly, turning a corner.

"Are you kidding? You're the mum!"

"Come off it!"

"No, mother~" Sang Alin.

"Look, can't we both be dads? You'll be Tată and I'll be Bashta."

"Ok fine…" Agreed Alin, "Mum," he added in a whisper.

"I heard that!"

Roused by the gentle teasing, the new baby opened one eye sleepily and stirred in Alin's arms, making him almost drop him in delight. "Tsve look, the baby is awake!"

"That's good," said Tsvetan, turning the last corner, "He's just in time to see his new home."

With that, Tsvetan hooped out of the car and opened the back seat door in a gallant manner, so Alin could climb out, holding the baby close to his chest.

"What do you think little one?" Asked Tsvetan softly, tickling the baby under his chin. "Do you like your new home?"

It was nothing special, thought Alin, as he followed the baby's gaze to the small house he shared with Tsvetan. It was a slightly gothic styled, but was painted with bright, cheery colours that were faded over time. It was only a one story, two bedroomed slightly rundown house, but the baby gurgled with delight as he caught sight of it, as though he could tell that this is going to be the place he would grow up calling home.

"Hey Alin," said Tsvetan, interrupting Alin's thoughts. "Do you think that maybe…" He paused, feeling a little nervous, "Maybe I could hold him for a little bit?"

Alin laughed, and carefully passed the baby over, catching Tsvetan in a kiss halfway. "Hey, you have his whole life for that remember?"

Tsvetan smiled and kissed him briefly back, adjusting his arms to get used to the sensation of carrying a small child. He felt extremely nervous that he was about to drop him, but Alin just laughed the feeling off. "I know you; you're way too fastidious for that."

"And you're too vivacious for your own good," countered the Bulgarian, tapping Alin lightly on the head, making him yelp indignantly.

"I suppose we balance each other out pretty well huh?"

"I suppose so," said Tsvetan thoughtfully, taking Alin's hand as he walked up the drive to their house, and fumbling for the keys. "Alin, could you…?"

Alin winked and slipped his hand into Tsvetan's back pocket, fishing around before withdrawing his partner's keys and unlocking the door. He flung said door wide open and spread his arms out wide, his face a picture of delight.

"Welcome," He said dramatically, "To your new home!"

The baby made a delighted noise and wriggled out of Tsvetan's arms, who placed him gently on the floor and watched as he clumsily crawled down the hallway. Alin, caught up with the childish wonder, also dropped to his knees and crawled along behind him, making Tsvetan roll his eyes and the baby roar with laughter. Such mirth on this particular young one's face was certainly a joy to see, Tsvetan thought, as he watched his lover sneak up on the baby and toss him into the air. They had adopted him from an orphanage who had only recently acquired him, since he was dumped at their doorstep in the dead of night, with no note, no possessions, nothing. He didn't even have a name. However, Tsvetan and Alin had agreed that adopting a child without a name would be best, because once they named him they would truly be a family.

"Ooh, do you like that door? Let's look inside, shall we?"

Tsvetan was brought out of his musings as Alin pulled on his sleeve, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, baby has found his room! C'mon Tsve, lets show him what we have done!"

"What I have done. You just wanted to paint vampires and things on the walls."

"What's wrong with vampires? I just wanted to add my own personal touch," Alin pouted comically, then flashed his fang.

"Your own personal touch is scaring this poor child to death."

"Vampires aren't scary!"

"Alin, you scare me every time you tell me one of your stories!"

Alin chuckled, flicking Tsvetan's nose with his middle finger. "That's because you're so cute when you get scared!"

"Oh, shut up," Tsvetan blushed and pushed past him into the room, trying to hide the fact that he was smiling. He found the baby sitting in the middle of the floor, taking in his new surroundings with wide eyed wonder.

The room was rather small, its main colour was cream, but Tsvetan had painted a simple red thread making its way around the room. In the corner was a painting of a lazing Lynx and Lion, the thread winding around their ears as they slept. There were great chests along the walls, full of toy, old and new, which Alin picked out specially. The room gave off a homely feel, Tsvetan thought, and hopefully he had left enough space for the baby to make his own mark later on in life.

Alin was going through the chests of toys, pulling them out one by one and introducing them to the baby.

"-And this one is called Vlad the Impaler. Isn't he cute?" Alin handed a rather terrifying looking vampire doll to the baby, who hugged it tightly. "I grew up with vampires and scary stories being normal, so I want to share them with you. Even though your mum is a big wuss!"

"Oi, I heard that!" Said Tsvetan, making his way over towards them. "And I don't think that raising the kid on vampire stories is the best idea."

"Why not?" Asked Alin cheekily.

"Well, look where it got you!"

"That was cold," laughed Alin, pushing Tsvetan's shoulder. "You wouldn't love me I wasn't like this though!"

"Oh, I don't know…" Tsvetan teased. "Perhaps if you didn't eat all the yoghurt, I would love you more…"

"What, so I'm not getting the maximum amount of Tsve love?"

"Oh, I've got a lot more passion, just waiting to be unleashed," Tsvetan winked and hooked one finger around Alin's collar, drawing him up so they were nose to nose, red transfixed as it met intense green. Tsvetan reached out and tugged on a lock of Alin's overly long hair, grinning slightly predatorily.

"Um, Tsve…" Said Alin, looking slightly shiftily away from Tsvetan. "I'm really loving this and all, but we have kinda got the baby in the room."

Tsvetan cursed softly and quickly released Alin from his grasp. "Uh, forget everything you have just seen kid," he said hurriedly to the oblivious baby, who was playing quietly with Vlad the Defiler. "Wipe it all from your mind."

"You prost," said Alin affectionately. "Maybe later, hey?"

"Whatever," said Tsvetan, blushing. He quickly distracted himself by drawing out one of his childhood toys from the chest and introduced it to the baby, making it walk up to him and do a funny little dance, telling him his name in a squeaky little voice. "My name's Boris. What is yours, small child?" The toy answered his own question, snuggling up to the baby's chin. "Oh that's right, your papas still need to choose one! Well, I like the name Boris. It's a very good name."

The baby grabbed Boris from Tsvetan's grasp and hugged both him and Vlad tightly, yawning as he did so. Tsvetan noticed, and quickly grabbed Alin's arm.

"Alin, I think he's tired."

Alin nodded, and picked the boy up. "Is it nap time, d'ya think buddy?" He swayed him gently as he made his way over to the bed. Alin and Tsvetan had decided against putting in a cot because the bars reminded them too much of a prison. Besides, the child was old enough to climb over the bars anyway.

Alin settled the baby down as Tsvetan fussed over him. "Would he need some milk or something? Maybe yoghurt would suffice… How long do they sleep for anyway? Do they just drop off right away or-"

"Tsve, just calm down!" Laughed Alin, flinging an arm around the Bulgarian and ruffling his hair. "I'll deal with this. Just go sit down and think of baby names or something."

Tsvetan was about to argue, but Alin was already pushing him out the door. "Fine… Just don't- don't- Oh, I don't know." He put his head in his hands, and groaned. "I really don't know the first thing about parenting, do I?"

"Hey, that's okay," Said Alin soothingly. "Neither of us does. Let's learn together, shall we?"

Tsvetan smiled at him gratefully, before making his way down the hall.

About an hour later, Tsvetan figured that it would be safe to re-enter the baby's room and remove Alin from the premises. Hoping, of course, that the Romanian had successfully put the infant to sleep. Tsvetan wasn't ready to bet anything just yet.

Cautiously, Tsvetan poked his head around the door and peered in. He was greeted with the sight of his partner sitting on the bed with the lightly sleeping baby tucked under his arm, reading aloud from a book of Romanian fairy tales. Tsvetan watched for a while, simply listening to Alin's captivating voice. Alin was surely a wonderful storyteller. Some nights he would tell Tsvetan some of his countries folk tales which he knew off by heart, and Tsvetan would lie there in his arms, transfixed by the way his voice lilted and shaped the story, the way his lively red eyes would glitter with excitement and foreboding. He would flash his fang in the darkness and whisper odd words in Romanian into Tsvetan's ear, thoroughly terrifying the other man. Tsvetan would lie there, stiff as a board and quaking until Alin held him tightly against his chest and kissed him lightly, murmuring that it was alright, he was there to protect him.

"-So the Princess Lexandra was sent back to the topaz castle with her father, bringing with them enough riches for her dower. The lovely Rose Maiden took Prince Marin's hand in marriage. They had many children and lived very happily ever after."

Alin closed the book softly, and smiled at the sleeping baby before noticing Tsvetan standing in the doorway. He beckoned for him to come over, and gently detached his arm from the infant's small grasp.

"See?" Said Alin proudly, getting up from the bed and coming over to kiss Tsvetan. "I can manage this whole parenting malarkey!"

"Well done," said Tsvetan, admitting defeat. "What was that story you were reading, anyway?"

"The Daughter of the Rose," answered Alin, handing Tsvetan the worn book and pointing to the story he had been reading. "It's a love story."

Tsvetan skimmed through it quickly. "It seems very sad."

"Yes, but it has a happy ending," said Alin, carefully slotting the book back into its space on a bookshelf. "That's the best part."

"I like sad stories," mused Tsvetan, staring off into space. "There is a certain type of sadness that is very beautiful. I don't know, they just make me feel happy."

"You are so morbid," commented Alin. "How can sad be the same as happy?"

Tsvetan smiled softly, entwining his fingers with Alin's. "I don't know… I think it's because you read them and then think about how perfect your own life is. Look at me, I have a lovable but childish partner-"

"Hey!"

"-And a perfect son. And yoghurt," Tsvetan continued, "Yoghurt is good too."

"Why don't we name him yoghurt then?" Joked Alin.

"Actually, I was going through some of your old family records before," blushed Tsvetan, "Looking for some names."

Alin looked taken aback. "You want to give him a Romanian name? But what about-"

"Actually, the name I was thinking about is both Romanian and Bulgarian," Cut in Tsvetan. "Also, it's the one I like the sound of best."

Alin cocked his head curiously.

"I was thinking… Maybe… Anton?" Tsvetan said hesitantly. He waited for Alin's reply, feeling a little worried. What if he didn't like the name? Then they would have to go right back to square one…

But Alin's face lit up with delight at the name, and practically lifted Tsvetan up in the air and swung him around, despite Tsvetan's protests. "Put me down you dumbass!"

"I love it!" Alin cried, stopping in mid-swing, making Tsvetan lose his balance and topple over backwards. However, Alin caught him before he hit the ground, and dip kissed him clumsily. "Anton. It's perfect. Who is he named after?"

"Your great-grandfather," said Tsvetan, getting uneasily to his feet.

"Ah, I remember hearing about him! Rumour was," said Alin, winking, "that he was a vampire..."

"Oh?"

"Yup! Great-Granddad Anton, the terror of Transylvania,"

"Oh wonderful, we have just named our child after a psychotic killer." Tsvetan rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. He walked over to where the newly named Anton was sleeping, and picked him up lightly in his arms. "What about that, Little Anton? Do you like your new name?"

Anton opened his eyes and blinked blearily down at Tsvetan's flushed face and sparkling green eyes, hanging limply from Tsvetan's hands. He gave him a look which clearly said; 'Yes that's all very well, but can I go back to sleep now?'

"Alin, Tsvetan, and Anton makes three," said Alin, coming up behind Tsvetan and wrapping his arms around his thin waist. "Welcome to the family bud!"

"Our dysfunctional, homosexual, multicultural family," laughed Tsvetan, tossing Anton lightly in the air.

Alin grinned and hugged them all in a massive bear hug, trying to encompass them all in his arms. Anton squealed a little and batted his face, and Tsvetan nuzzled his cheek with his nose, protesting affectionately against the lack of space. For a while they stood there hugging, knowing that they encompassed their entire world in their arms. It was a promise, a pact, an unspoken bond.

No one spoke in that moment, because they knew that everything will have its time, because their love will blaze forever.

End.

A/N: (I do not own Hetalia.) Thanks to Republic-of-Yolossia for offering to do a fic trade and giving me this theme. Writing it was so much fun, and I hope the fluff made up for the crappy dialogue and sudden change of POV's (Hopefully that wasn't too confusing… That's what happens when you try to write whilst sucking at Mario Kart). Check out Republic-of-Yolossia's profile for her part of our trade, a beautiful RoBul called Us against the world.

Note: My take on Romania and Bulgaria's was influenced from a variety of other fics, but I tried my best to keep them vaguely like their canon selves, no matter how briefly they appear in the webcomics. Bulgaria's love of sad stories came from the comic where he tells Romania that singing a sad song cheers him up. Romania's storytelling talent comes from where he told the real story about Count Dracula to a disturbed Bulgaria.

The Lion and Lynx painted on Anton's wall are the national animals of Bulgaria and Romania.

As requested, I'm currently writing a sequel to this, (Another one-shot) So stay tuned Robul fans!

Translations:

Tată: Romanian for father

Bashta: Bulgarian for father

Prost: Idiot

Anton: A Bulgarian/Romanian name meaning priceless.