"Wow! Who'da thought you'd have a kid, Su-San?!" Tino said, surprised
"Yeah, you had us all thinking you were as Gay as a Christmas Tree!" Mathias said, laughing
That laughter cut through me like a knife, but I couldn't shout or move to hit him. I didn't want to wake my little girl, who was fast asleep in my arms
"So, Sve ... what's her name?" Emil asked
I remained quiet, thinking carefully about what to say and above all, I wanted to keep my emotions in check. I noticed them all leaning forward and looking at me with interest, even Lukas
"[Name]" I said
I looked at the sleeping baby in my arms. It broke my heart to know that she would grow up not knowing her mother
"So, where's the mother?" Mathias asked
I looked at the floor and considered whether or not I should respond. But I noticed the interest again and I sighed
"She ... sh-she died" I mumbled
Of course, I was lying because I didn't want them to track the mother down and give her hell. The truth was simply this - She left me
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Berwald!" Mathias said, covering his mouth
Lukas hit him on the back of the head, which cheered me up a little, but I refused to smile. Instead, I just stared
"Are you alright, Berwald?" Lukas asked
I nodded, but in truth ... I felt awful. I wanted to go to the nearest bridge and jump off of it, but ... [Name] needed me
"This is so cool! I'm an Uncle!" Mathias said, punching the air
I sighed and Lukas strangled him with his own tie
"Thank you Lukas" I said
"Don't be ridiculous, Mathias. You can't be her Uncle, because you aren't related to Sve" Emil said, folding his arms
I looked at Tino, who was smiling brightly at me. I wanted his opinion the most. My dearest friend ... and my first love
"What do you think?" I asked, my heart aching as I looked into his lovely brown eyes
"Well ... I wish you luck" He said, smiling
I smiled at him and the others stared at me as if I had just said something heinous
"What?" I growled
"It's very rare to see you smile, Sve" Emil said
"Brother Dear is right ..." Lukas said in his usual monotone voice
"Here we go again" Mathias said, as Lukas and Emil descended into the famous "Brother Dear" argument
I decided then and there that I should probably find someone to take care of [Name] whilst I was at those meetings, but ... without a mother or a friend outside the Nordics, I was stuck. I was going to have to find a friend ... or better yet, a mother

-5 Years Later-

"Uncle Denmark!" [Name] cried happily
She held her arms up, indicating she wanted to be picked up. She had grown quite a bit ... she had [h/c] hair, which was [h/l]. She was wearing a little dress that resembled my country's flag, which she insisted on wearing almost every day. Mathias gave me a smug grin as he picked her up, making her cry out excitedly and start giggling as he placed her on his lap. I took a seat and sighed, watching [Name] look up at Mathias with her big [e/c] eyes
"Yay! Uncle Denmark! Uncle Denmark!" She said, bouncing up and down
"She's a little hyper, isn't she?" Mathias chuckled
"Ja ... she had a few sweets before she came" I said, sighing
"Where's Uncle Iceland and Uncle Norway? She asked, pouting
"They had other things to do, sweetie" Mathias replied
"Awww ... but I wanted Uncle Norway to do that funny thing again!" She wailed
"What funny thing?" I asked, confused
"When he makes Uncle Denmark make that funny face!" She said, smiling
"Oh, you mean when he strangles Mathias?" I asked
"Ja, ja!" She said, bouncing up and down again
"Do you want me to do it?" I asked, smiling
"Noooooo! Only Uncle Norway makes him pull that face!" She said, pouting
I had to hold in the urge to laugh as she looked at me. At that moment, Tino entered the room
"Hi guys!" He said, smiling
"Tino, Tino, Tino, Tino!" She said, bouncing up and down again
"Hey, how come she calls him by his human name and not the rest of us?" Mathias asked
"I don't know, she just does" I said, shrugging
"Is that [Name]?! Goodness, you've grown fast! I remember when Su-san first brought you here! You were such a tiny thing" Tino said, smiling
"Tino, can you marry Papa, pretty please?" [Name] asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes
I wanted to die of embarrassment. He had been my friend for so long, and ... I admit, I did have strong feelings for him ... and still do, but Tino didn't feel the same way
"Oh, [Name] why would you want that?" Tino asked
"Because Papa is lonely" She mumbled, looking sad
It was true, I did feel very lonely ... and it was hard bringing [Name] up all by myself, but I managed it for 5 years, so I thought that I could continue to do so for the rest of our lives
"Please, Tino!" She squealed
"Don't pester him, [Name]. He won't respond to nagging" Mathias said, smiling
"I'm not nagging, I'm asking!" She said, pouting
"I'll think about it" Tino chuckled
"YAY!" [Name] cried happily
I felt my face heat up and I looked at Tino as he left the room
"E-excuse me" I said, hurrying out of the room
I managed to catch up to Tino and decided to talk to him about it
"Did you mean what you said?" I asked
He chuckled and shook his head
"I did that to make [Name] happy ... I don't want her to cry" He said
My heart broke a little, but I accepted this ... it would forever be just [Name] and me

To be Continued