The Start of Our Family

A Hetalia fanfiction

By RishiandSquee

-oo-

The day that Peter came into our family, I was definatly not ready.

Our two six year old twins-Matthew and Alfred-Francis, and I were all waiting anxiously. Francis was carefully sitting on the floor of the hospital, with Matthew sitting firmly on his lap. Alfred was jumping around-typical bugger he is, can't stay still for a second-and being half-heartedly scolded by Francis. Normally I would be the one scolding him, but I was too busy pacing back and forth, waiting and-let's face it-I was worrying like no tomorrow.

I was going to have another child.

Well, obviously it wouldn't be my child...no, the one in the delivery room was a distant relative of mine-but in a few hours he would be mine. My child. A boy that Francis and I would be able to raise, all on our own, from the very beginning. Alfred and Matthew had come to us when they were about two or three years old-I'm sorry, I'm a bit stressed at the moment that I can't quite remember-and it had been an adventure. We love our boys.

But no, this child would be ours from day one. From the beginning.

I turned at the end of the hallway for what seemed like the hundreth time, chewing on my thumb as I continued to fret. Francis chuckled at me. "Arthur, it will be fine. Many mothers go through delivery safely. The child will be fine."

"Quiet, frog!" I snapped, brows furrowed. Francis shrugged in reply, grinning. He nuzzled Matthew with his chin.

"Hey, hey, Artie." Alfred piped up, mometarily pausing from climbing on one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room. "What are we here for again?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "I told you, we're here to get your baby brother."

"Doesn't there need to be a mommy for that?" Alfred asked, blinking. He climbed down from the chair and ran to me, tugging on my shirt. "Unless we get, like, a super baby! Oh, Artie, are we going to get a super baby? A super baby like in the comics that fights crime and has the pet dog and wears nothing but a-"

"Alfred." Francis' voice was sharp, and stopped the boy's rambling at once. "Arthur's cousin is having a baby, but she cannot take care of it. We are taking the baby into our big family, so We are here to see your baby brother for the first time. So you must be patient, Alfred. Take example from your brother here."

Alfred pouted, then quietly sat down next to Francis, pulling on Matthew's hair curl, delighting in how Matthew squirmed. I sighed again, but this time in relief. "Thank you, Francis." I muttered, then began to resume my pacing.

A distant cousin of mine, one who I had not particularly been close with, was having a child. She could not take care of it due to circumstances, and she had been searching for parents. It was only by coincidence that my mother had heard of this and recommended her to myself and Francis. At first she was put off by the fact that we were both men, but seeing Alfred and Matthew had convinced her that this was the perfect home for the baby.

I could not thank my mother enough for that.

Another sigh escaped my lips. Realized that I wasn't doing any good by pacing and wearing myself out with worry, I leaned up against the wall and slid down next to Alfred, who was still tugging on Matthew's haircurl.

A baby.

I was going to raise a baby.

Francis and I were going to raise a baby.

It was a strange feeling. I felt happy-europhic-yet at the same time, I felt worried. Anxious. Scared. I had felt these things when we had adopted Alfred and Matthew, but it had not been as strong. We had seen them, and we had chosen them-something we were not doing with this new addition to the family. Would Francis I be able to raise the baby properly? Would Alfred and Mattew take kindly to the thing that would no doubt take up all of the spare attention Francis and I had? Would the baby grow up to hate us? What the bloody hell was I thinking when I agreed to this?

In short, I probably felt what every parent feels when they realized that they are having their very own child for the first time.

"Mr. Kirkland? Mr. Bonnefoy?"

My head snapped up at a soft, female voice. There was a petite nurse standing there, her face bright red, wearing a soft pink uniform with a matching cap. The woman bowed her head and nodded. "The delivery went well. I-you can go see them now."

With that, Francis and I were up in a second. Francis was holding Matthew in his arms, and I took Alfred's hand. I sucked in another deep breath and smiled down at the older twin. "Well, lad, let's hope your baby brother is a good one now, huh?"

Alfred frowned up at me. "Of course he's a good one, Artie. He's our baby brother."

As we walked into the room, I heard the sound of a baby's wail. I let go of Alfred's hand and quickly followed the sound right to the bed where my cousin was proped up. There was a bundle in her hands. She smiled softly at me. "Arthur." she said softly. "Arthur, come here."

I stumbled over, breathless. I leaned down and peeked into the bundle of blankets where the wailing was coming from.

I was met with a beautiful sight. Words could not describe it, but I will try to the best of my ability to convey what I saw.

What I saw was a beautiful, perfect blond angel. Bushy eyebrows were already present on his baby face, big, tearing blue eyes looking up at me. His cheeks were bright pink, but he had momentarily stopped crying to look up at me.

My God.

My God, this is my child.

My perfect, honest-to-God child.

My hands tried desperatly to steady themselves as the bundle was handed to me. I gently knelt down, as a pair of curious children stared up at me, eager to see the bundle.

Even Alfred had nothing to say when he looked at the baby. He was stunned.

"Ah, he is perfect. Just like Arthur, no?" Francis chuckled. "What is his name, miss?"

"I haven't given him one...I wanted you and Arthur..."

I looked up at my cousin, wide eyed. "You mean we're going to name him? We...we get to choose his name?"

She nodded. "You're raising him, after all." she said weakly. "It's your right. I can't thank you enough for giving him a place in your home. I hope this conveys my thanks."

I swallowed, hard, then looked back down at the baby. "Well, lads, you heard her. We get to name him. What do you say?" I glanced at both Matthew and Alfred, smiling as their eyes widened and their faces brightened. I then nodded at Francis. "You too, you know. What do you suppose we call the little thing?"

Francis knelt down, putting his hand to his chin as if he was thinking deeply. "I was thinking, maybe Pierre?"

"Or!" Alfred chimed in. "We can call him Marmaduke! Or Scooby! Or Clark Kent! I like Clark Kent. Or!" he grinned mischeviously. "Alfred Two!"

I rolled my eyes, then smiled at Matthew. "Well, lad? Do you have any idea what you want to call your new baby brother?"

I could see Matthew chewing on his lip, thinking deeply. "...I like the name Peter. Like in the story you told us, Arthur." he said softly. "Peter Pan."

"Ha ha, that is a fine name, no?" Francis agreed. "What do you think, Arthur?"

I nodded. "Yes, a great name." I brushed the baby's blond hair off his forehead. "Peter."

Alfred looked back at the baby."I still like Alfred Two, but Peter's an okay name."

And so that's how our life as a complete family started.