Chocolate Flap Jacks [o.c. x Canada]

A Promise

The meeting was soon over and had even gotten over a little early. Many of the people would stay for church when the sun came up but many would also go home to sleep for a little before work. A few people crowded around me and Canada while some were around America. America was in charge of the sign-up sheet for the army and his crowd was quite large. Most of those around me were curious women.

"Who's the daddy?" asked one women in a strong French accent.

I smiled and pulled Canada's arms over my shoulders in a bit of a hug. "Mathew is... and he's protective too."

"Ah!" One younger girl squealed. "You two are going to have the cutest little baby!"

"Thank you," I said. "I just hope it's healthy..."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" the girl asked.

"Oh..." I looked up at Canada. "We don't know. I didn't really think about that. Did they ever ask if we wanted to know?"

"Yes. I said we didn't want to know if it was a boy or girl." He looked almost scared to tell me that.

"There you go." I smiled brightly. "We don't know and don't want to. We don't need to know in order to know that we'll love the baby."

"Hmm... don't most women want to know before they do the shopping for their baby?"

"I think green is a nice gender neutral color, don't you, Canada?" I looked at him again with an innocent look.

"I personally like the color of tanned hides but it's much colder in Canada than here..." Canada smiled. "Having anything that isn't thick, warm and soft would be bad for the baby, especially since the baby will be born in the dead of winter."

"Kinder," the French woman asked, "you're not having the baby here?"

"It's not really a safe place for any member of my family to be during this time. Even just coming to these meetings is actually dangerous for me because the king can't know at any moment before the baby is born that I'm even on this continent for even a single second. I'm not supposed to be anywhere but in Canada."

"Wait. Are you risking your life to be here?" the younger girl asked.

"Yes, I am."

A silence fell over the small crowd around me. We stood silent for ten seconds before Canada took his arms off of my shoulders. "It's time to go, Kinder."

"Okay..." I cringed lightly as a sharp main shot though my ovaries. I grabbed Canada's hand hard but stayed standing tall in front of the women surrounding us. "I want some hot cocoa. Let's get home so you can make me some."

Canada didn't seem to mind too much that I was bossing him around because he looked me in the eye with a glimmer of concern. "Of course, dear." He escorted me to the door.

We soon got back to France and had to stop for a bit. It was hard for me to move and I felt something was wrong, even though there was no way I could have told you what it was. I was laid on Francis' couch while his personal doctor was called.

The female doctor arrived quickly and I was moved to a private room away from the boys where she could properly check me over. "What are all of your symptoms? Even the ones you don't think are related."

"Just the normal morning sickness and cravings then tonight bam. Just pain like crazy and something is in my underwear that I'm pretty sure is as close to period blood as it gets." I stayed laying on the bed, slightly angry at myself and thinking that Canada was right.

"You may have had a miscarriage. Has anyone in your family ever miscarried? That can be a genetic thing."

"I'm a country. We're not supposed to have kids and I have no clue how I came into existence." Tears welled in my eyes as my mind went a million miles an hour.

"Right... I have a feeling you have had a miscarriage. How far along were you?"

"About twenty four weeks." Tears rolled down my cheeks as I sat up on the side of the bed.

"I see. This is classified as a still born then. You'll have to have a C-section to remove the baby from your body, and then you'll have to rest for a while. If you decide to try again for a child you'll need to wait at least week after your period resumes before trying after the C-section and get a lot of bed rest while pregnant. You can have a proper service done for the baby and you'll be able to name it."

Tears fell in torrents down my face. "I- I want Canada... get me Mathew..."

The doctor left and less than two second later, Mathew was in the room with me. Mathew sat on the bed and placed his arms around me. "Shh... it's okay, Kinder."

I balled into his maple leaf shirt, my hands in my lap. "I... this... no..."

"It's okay, Kinder." He petted my hair. "It's okay. I'm sorry, Kinder."

I couldn't get myself to stop crying like a child so I just was with Canada for a half hour while the doctor explained to the others what was going on. Eventually I was dehydrated enough that I ran out of tears. "I feel like this is my fault..."

"Kinder..."

"No. If I had just stayed home like you said, this wouldn't have happened and we'd be having a happy little kid in a few months and... and..." I couldn't breathe anymore.

Canada stroked my back. "It's not your fault. It happens. It's just what nature does. I know you wanted a baby, honey..." There was a long pause of heavy breathing and dry sobbing. "I promise you, Kinder, I will do everything in my power to give you a child." He sounded almost afraid of saying that but he also sounded sincere. He was just proving again that I had found the perfect man.

I wrapped my arms around Mathew and dry sobbed into his shoulder.