I was deep in sleep when I heard the worlds most annoying sound known as the alarm. I grumbled sleepily and I reached over to find my phone. I patted my hand around for a while, growing more frustrated by the second, before finally finding my phone. I turned off the annoying alarm and rolled over, looking for the warm body that was supposed to be next to me. When I felt nothing but a somewhat warm spot I picked up my head. I glanced around the room, stopping when I saw a light coming from underneath the bathroom door.

I groaned loudly, plopping my head back on my pillow. "Fredka, are you awake?" He called out from the bathroom.

"Is it optional?" I called back questionly.

"Nyte. It's not." He chuckled.

"Ugh! Are you sure?" I whined.

"Da. You are the one who wanted to wake up early to take pictures of the kittens." He reminded me as he came out of the bathroom.

They were finally old enough to be given away to the other nations. They were no longer nursing on Hero nor did they need me to soften up their food with water. I planed on taking pictures of the kittens to show to other nations just how cute they are. I'm sure I can get a few nations to take in some of the kittens. Well, most of them.

I plan on keeping little Snow Pea and Cranberry. Snow Pea is such a sweety all the time. Always wanting to sleep on my lap and cuddle. Cranberry is a little mischief maker. She just loves to play, climb, and always get into trouble. I loved those two little girls and I can't part with them.

I groaned as I sat up. It was too early, 7:00, and I did not want to be up. But we have to have these stupid meetings. Being the first one of the year made this one especially important. I can not miss it. It was already delayed twice anyways.

"Will you help me?" I aked as I got up. I started to get dressed for the day, despite wanting to stay in my pjs all day.

"I already agreed to last night." He reminded me as I got dressed.

"You did?" I looked up confused as I racked my brain for that bit of information.

"Da. You were half asleep when you asked me, so I can see why you don't remember it." He chuckled.

"Oh, yea. That makes sense." I said, still trying to recall that little bit. Whatever. It's not like it was important anyway. What is important is that smell that made my mouth water. "Dude. Is Mattie cooking?" I asked sniffing the air.

"I am not sure." He said opening the door. "Smells like it."

"Yes!" I fist pumped as I rushed towards the stairs.

"Alfred!" Ivan said warningly.

"You know, you can't protect me from everything. I am going to go down stairs without you around some time." I told him as I carefully made my way down the steps. He stayed right next to me as best he could to catch me should I fall. "Ivan, I love you, and I love how protective you are. It means you are going to be one amazing father. But I do need you to back off a little bit, okay? You being right up on me all the time, it stresses me out."

He gave a shocked look that turned guilty. "I am sorry Fredka, I did not mean to stress you out. I just want to protect you and our children."

"I know love, and I am not mad at you at all. Like I said, I love how caring you are to me." I reassured him. We were at the bottom of the stairs so I turned to face him. "You only need to remember that I am free. I am a free spirit that needs room to be who I am. Being hovered over makes me feel trapped, and that's not good."

"I am sorry. I did not mean to make you feel like this, ever." He apologized.

"It's fine love." I said giving him a kiss. "You can still be protective of me, just let me go down the stairs by my self and let me cut my own food. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself." I teased him.

"Da, you can." He smiled fondly at me with just a hint of amusement. "I will back off, but when you get bigger I will be helping up and down the stairs."

"Fine, I can deal with that." I rolled my eyes, but a small smile was on my lips. I gave him another kiss before draging him into the kitchen to eat. "Hey Mattie."

"Hi Alfie. Hungry?" He greeted me with a stack of pancakes.

"Yes!" I said enthusiatcly.

I took the plate of food and started adding toppings to it. I put on some bananas, olives, whip cream, a pickle, and hot sauce obviously. I love that stuff to death right now. I took my combination of foods to the dinning room table and dug in. It tasted like a piece of heaven in my mouth. It was one hundred percent perfect to me.

"I know you are pregnant and all, but that is still disgusting." Mattie told me amused.

"Bite me." I said half heartedly.

"So, I did a thing for you." He started.

"Yea?"

"I took the pictures of the kittens for you. I knew you would be too tired to want to do it, so I lined them up and took pics of them. I have them in my phone right now. I'll send them to you before the meeting." Mattie told me. "I also fed the cats for you."

"Thanks bro. You're the best " I smiled at him gratefully. I really did not want to track down and take pictures of every kitten.

"I know." He said smugly in a playful way.

I rolled my eyes and stuck my toung out at him. "Alright, who is ready to go to a meeting and get nothing done?"

"We will get something done though, Fredka." Ivan told me. I gave him a confused look. "We are telling my sisters about our little ones, remember?"

"Oh right! I almost forgot. I need to go get that copy of our baby pictures." I said standing up. "I'll meet you guys in the car."

I sped walked to the picture room I had set up over a century ago. I kept most of my photo albums and cameras in here. This place is set up to be a dark room if needed for any pictures I take with my older camras. I also had a copyer in here so I can make multiples of the same picture. I had left the copies on the machine so I can easily get them this morning.

I picked them up and took a good look at it. I loved the pictures of my babies. I almost couldn't put them down yesterday. Their is just something that makes seeing feel all the more real. I tucked the pics safely in my pocket. I can look at them later. For now I had somewhere to be.

I left the room and whent down the hall. I quickly put on my stuff, adding an extra jacket in case the meeting room is cold. I then walked out of the house to see that the car was already on. I looked in the front to see that Mattie was in the drivers side. I gave him a confused look as I got into the back.

"You still suffer from morning sickness Alfie. I don't want you hurraling chunks on your lap while we're driving down a fast road." Mattie ecplained to me.

I nodded my head in understanding. While my morning sickness was definitely waning, it still came out of no where. About thirty minutes I'm grateful for my brothers foresight when I am blowing chunks into a plastic bag I kept in the car for this reason. They asked if I wanted them too pull over, but I waved them off. I'll be fine untill we get to the meeting. I did want them to pull over by a garbage can or something to throw away the vomit though.

After about a 45 minute drive we are parking in the world meeting building parking lot. We had fifteen minutes to spare, so we weren't in too big of a rush. That was untill we got inside. A sign with big lettering saif 'out of order' in every single elevator.

"Oh you have got to be joking." I said irritated. "Their is absolutely no way every single elevator is down."

"Sorry sir, but it's true. One of the cables in an elevator was found to be extremely worn out, so we can't allow anyone in any of the elevators untill we replace the cables in everyone. They will be up and running this afternoon. " Said the man at the front desk. "You are going to have to use the stairs in the mean time. We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

I felt a wave of frustration and anger go through me. I gritted my teeth and glared at him. He ducked his head in fear and pretended to be busy on his computer. I know it's not his fault, but he was the only one here I could blame. In a huff I stomped over to the stairs. In my anger I all but slammed open the thin wooden door.

"Fredka, being angry won't get us anywhere. You need to calm down." Ivan said soothinly as he layed his hand in my shoulder.

I half turned around to give him a half hearted glare. Long used to my more heated looks he didn't even flinch. He did back off a little, however, to give some space to sulk. We climbed the stairs as quickly as we could, but I was slowing down. I was becoming more and more tired the further we whent, which was weird for me. Normally I could do a climb like this no problem, but today I was panting when we were hardly half way up.

"Oh my God. This sucks!" I painted as I took a quick rest on a stair step. "Why is this so difficult?"

"It's your extra weight coupled with the fact that you threw up breakfast." Mattie told me. "You really shouldn't be doing this."

"But we have no choice." I told him. "I can't stay at home. This is the first meeting of the year. I have to go."

"I know." He sighed heavily.

"Come on. Lets get a move on." I told them as I stood back up.

"Are you sure dorogaya? We are already late, we can take more time if you need to." Ivan told me concerned.

"Yea, I'm fine." I waved him off with a small, slightly forced smile. "We need to get going before Germany has our heads."

By the time we had gotten up the stairs and too the meeting room we were forty minutes late. We also looked a messy from the long climb. So it was no wonder we got so many looks when I pushed open the door to the meeting room. Everyone had turned to stare at us. Germany looked about ready to blow a gascut at us.

"Why are you two so late?" He asked *shouted at* us.

"Well, first of all, their are three of us. You forgot my bro." I said pointing to my brother who was giving me a dirty look. "Secondly, the elevators were out. We had to walk up thirty flights of stairs to get here. That was a Hell and a half. So just be happy we showed up at all." I sassed him. Boy was my brother rubbing off on me. Or was it my hormones? Who knows, don't care.

He looked a little surprised at my attitude. "Well, I suppose that is an understandable reason. Just sit down so we can finally begin."

"You got it." I saluted with a smile.

I took a seat between Francis and Mattie. He purposefully sat between me at England so he couldn't mess with me, wich I was grateful for. I did not want to deal with him on top of everything else this morning. I gave Francis a quick hello and put my focus back on the meeting.

From the corner of my eye I could see Ivan talking with his sisters. Probably asking them out to lunch with us. They nodded their heads, both wearing a small smile. I smiled in turn, glad that they agreed. It would be easier to tell them both at the same time. I put all of my attention back on the speaker after that.

The first half of the meeting whent by slowly. Even more so then usual. Probably because of how monotone everyone was who spoke. Italy looked about ready to pass out. Greece already did. Even the ever professional Germany was slouching slightly in his chair. So when it was time for him to call for lunch everyone ran out of the room like it was on fire. Not that I cared, it only made or easier to get to the love of my life and his sisters.

"Hey ya three. Ready to go get some grub?" I asked them cheerfully.

"Yes, we are very eagered to go eat. Our dear brother said you two have something very important to tell us." Kat said happily.

"Yes, he seemed very happy about it, so I want to know what made big brother so happy." Nat said pulling out her bunny from her bag.

"You still carry Snow Ball with you?" I asked the sligbtly shorter nation as we made our way to the elevators. Hopefully they are operating by now. To my delight they were back to being fully functional again.

We made idle chit chat on our way to a small cafè. We chose a small cute one that was mostly empty. We didn't need for everyone to over hear what we had to say. It is a family matter only. So we chose the most secluded seats they had available.

The waitress came around shortly after and we put in our orders. When she walked away Kat and Nat looked at us expectantly. I took a quick glance around us one last time before pulling out the pictures. I didn't show them to them yet, but I had it in hand for when I told them.

"Okay, so we have some really great news to tell you two." I started with a big smile. I glanced at Ivan who nodded encouraging. "You two no longer are just sisters, but have now been promoted to Aunties! I'm pregnant, with twins." I pulled up the pics and handed it to them.

I could have sworn I heard a cough from behind me.

They looked at the pictures for a second, confused and not really processing what I said. I watched them go from a blank look to that of glee. Kat started crying, which earned is a lot of looks, while Natalia sat their with this look on her face. I can't tell if she was mad, pleased, angry, or what ever. It was starting to make me a little nervous.

"Oh I am so happy for the both of you. This is such wonderful news." Kat said between tears of happiness. "I've always wanted to be an Aunt, and now I will! And of twins! This is so wonderful."

"I know, right? I'm so glad you're happy." I said with a big smile, a little relived. I then turned to the younger sister who has yet to say anything. "Nat, got anything you want to say?"

She turned from the wall she had been staring at to look at me. She looked at me for a long time in silence. It was actually starting to creep me out a little. I started to squirm a little in my seat. I was about to say something when she finally spoke up.

"I want to babysit." She told us.

I froze for a second in slight shock, then laughed. "Sure thing Nataila. The second we need a sitter you will be the first on our list." For the first time ever I saw the biggest grin on her face.

"Do you have names picked out yet?" She asked us.

"If they are girls I want Whice and Alice." I told them happily.

"If they are boys I want Nikolie name Victor." Ivan added.

"Those are such wonderful names!" Kat squealed while clapping her hands.

"Thank you. We haven't decided on middle names yet though, but we still have a way to go before they are born." I smiled at her.

"Oh, of course. When are you due?" She asked me.

"I have about another 22 weeks left of pregnancy." I said recalling what Mattie told me.

"So in July?" Natalia asked us.

"Yea, we're thinking the due date is on the 14." I nodded my head.

"So about ten days after your birthday?" Natalia asked. I nodded my head again. "Can we come for the delivery?"

"Oh," I was not expecting that response "sure thing Nat. You will have to be prepared to show up early and stay longer. A due date is pretty much just an ideal time when they should be born. It's not one hundred percent acurate." I warned her.

"That is fine. I want to be there when I become an Aunty." She told me.

"I feel the same way. I want to be there for them." Kat added enthusiaticly.

"Well alright then. You two can show up when ever you can. Just not too soon, kay?" I asked them.

They nodded their heads in understanding. As much as I love my family I am going to need space to stay stress free. Hosting to several people for an extended period of time is not a good way to do that. So I was happy that they understood that and weren't mad.

Our food came just then. I imeadiently whent about adding all sorts of random things to my plate. Nat and Kat gave me a weird look before smiling. Kat said something about the cravings that I was having. This sparked a new conversation about my pregnancy. We were laughing and chatting for the whole time. Soon enough it was time for us to go. We stood to get ready when I saw a flash of gold and green go by. I turned my head to get a better look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I decided it was a trick of the mind, so I played no more attention to it.

After paying for the food we walked back to the meeting building. Right before entering I told them that I didn't want anyone else to know about my condition. They quickly agreed to keep it to themselves for now. I gave them both a bright smile and we walked in.

The rest of the meeting whent by fast enough. Though, I felt like I was being watched the entire time. When I whent to look, however, I saw no one staring at me. I tried brushing it off as simple paranoia, but some part of me was saying to keep my guards up. I guess that Ivan and Mattie noticed my tension because they kept sending me concerned looks. I would send them small smile to reassure them I was fine, but they didn't buy it.

When the meeting finally ended they three of us hurriedly packed up our stuff. We wanted out of the meeting hall quick. I wanted out so fast that I had forgotten I wanted to show the pictures of the kittens to the others. I'll do that tomorrow instead. When we got into the car and were driving down the road is when I finally relaxed. I could no longer feel those unknown eyes piercing my skin.

"So, Alfie, what was wrong back there? You looked so tense, even more then normal." Mattie asked me worried as we drove away. He kept shooting me concerned looks as we drove.

"I felt like someone was watching me the entire second half of the meeting. I couldn't figure out who, but it was totally creeping me out." I admitted to them, blushing slightly.

"Why didn't you say anything to us? We would have helped keep a look out for you." Ivan told me from the back seat. Since he had front on the way it I got it on the way back.

"I didn't want to bother you two, especially since I had not proof or an idea of who it might have been. It could have just been me being paranoid from telling the girls." I tried to explain myself.

I know I can trust them, they are my family. I don't want to bother them if it was just me being paranoid for no reason. They both have a lot on their plates right now with out me dumping what might be me overreacting on their laps. It's not like I even had an idea of who it was that was staring at me, let alone any proof other then a feeling that it actually was happening.

"Alfred. You should always trust your instincts. Even if you have no proof behind it. They are what keep us safe when we don't even know their is danger." Ivan told me. "If you feel anything, even if it nothing, you have to tell us."

"Ivan is right. We are here to help you, and we can't do that every well if you keep us out of the loop." Mattie added in.

"Okay. You two are right. I should have told you when I felt something. I just didn't want to distract you from the meeting unnecessarily, but I will tell you next time. Does that sound good?" I asked them with a smile.

"Da. That will be fine." Ivan said and Mattie nodded in agreement.

"If some one is staring at you, I'll bury them under six feet of snow and ice." Mattie threatened nonchalantly.

I looked at him and smiled. I didn't doubt he would do it for a second. I'm sure he would even get Ivan to help out. Heck, they might even get the girls involved too for the fun of it. A little family bonding exercise. Hehe, I love my family.

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Hope you enjoued and please point out any errors.