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Chapter Text

It felt like the world hadn't started until that moment, but that it ended at his death, and Edward couldn't take it. But, there was one thing left of his father figure.. of Maxis… a little girl, his daughter, who was named Samantha.

She was young, very young, only a toddler, only 3, and she already lost so much, her mother dying during childbirth, and now her father. Edward couldn't even begin to imagine it because he never had parents of his own, but he felt it in his own way, he had been close with Maxis, and knew his wife, too, they were both kind, like parents to him, even if he wasn't truly their son, it was so much like it, if only he truly was...

But, now, he would have to raise her, as if HE were Maxis, and the chances were high that she wouldn't even remember her parents because of how young she was when they died… it broke his heart, and made him wonder what could've been of him if his parents lived… But, that wasn't the point, he had a child to care for, now, he would have to learn something he wasn't truly qualified for, and he was young, too. 23, just barely graduated with a decent job, but he believed in himself, though he knew it would be hard.

But, almost as if the thought was only just spoken, days had passed by then, a knock was heard on the door of his home. It was a surprisingly snowy day in November, so whoever was outside must've been freezing. He hurried to answer the door for whoever may be outside, truly confused as to who would be here at such a time. He just put Samantha to bed, and the sun was down by now, but when he went to the door, and opened for the mysterious person outside-

A Russian voice spoke up, and stepped inside, almost as if they owned the place. “Hello, Richtofen”. The German couldn't stop his jaw from dropping at the sight, he hadn't seen him in so long… Why was he here now?

“Nikolai!?!? What are you doing here?” He asked, “Und why are you walking in like you are allowed!”. Nikolai turned towards him and raised an eyebrow, “And you think that you would really have the guts to kick me out?”, “...”, “That's what I thought”.
Richtofen glared at him, “Well?? Are you going to explain? Or what?”, he demanded. Nikolai cleared his throat, and responded, “Listen, I heard about Maxis’ death.. I may not like you, but I can understand the grief you AND Samantha would be going through... I can- I thought I would offer my support, you would be a horrible father, Edward, I don't trust you with her”, he wanted to be offended, or tell him he was fine and kick him out, but his offer was genuinely tempting him, the idea of not being alone… Being with Nikolai through this, he didn't want him to leave whether he'd admit it or not….

He felt his cheeks heat up against his will, and became very embarrassed. “... Ah, the offer is very sweet, Nikolai, but you really don't-”, “So you would accept offer?”.
Nikolai's persistent was killing Edward, why couldn't he just fuck off…

He sighed, “Alright, fine, you can… help. Samantha is currently sleeping, though, so be quiet. You are lucky there happens to be a guest room in the house”. Nikolai nodded and smiled, “Alright. Thank you for the hospitality, Edward, I appreciate it”.
He began walking through the house, up the stairs, still in his snow covered clothes, as he carried what seemed to be his luggage, which was oddly tiny… wait luggage? What was this? A hotel? Nikolai just thought he could come into his home unannounced, and move in so they could raise some orphaned child together???... Well, that was exactly what's going on, and honestly he couldn't even want to imagine being alone.

Like sure, he had Samantha, but she was 3 year old, and Nikolai was actually his age, though some years older. He could have proper conversations with him, and receive comfort, and he needed that. So fine, Nikolai could come into his home whenever he wanted, he didn't care, he even somewhat welcomed it.

Chapter Text

It had been a month since Nikolai moved in, and life had actually been taking a better turn. The roommate addition was actually quite pleasing.
Winter was fast-approaching, as December arrived. But, despite that, it was a rainy and wet day, though that was normal for their home of Germany, it was still boring.
Samantha was sat on Richtofen’s lap, kicking her tiny feet, and humming a song that he couldn't pinpoint whatsoever, she probably made it up. They stared at the rain outside through the window. The cloudy skies and puddles on the ground made for a sad feeling, normally. It brought him back to Maxis for a moment, but the beauty also distracted him from such a thought.

“Teddy? Can we go outside?” The child asked, “Nein, it's too rainy, we'll catch a cold”, “Awh… But, I want to play in the puddles!”, “No, Samantha. Today isn't full of any fun, I fear”. Samantha made an angry face for a moment, and held her breath, but she gave up on whatever the attempted action was and just nodded.
When someone walked up behind the two, who it could be would not shock a soul, it was Nikolai, of course, their beloved Russian roommate. “Why do you choose to sit around and do nothing on a wet day? It's truly a waste. Let's do something inside, c’mon, get up” Nikolai rushed the two, picking Sam up off of Richtofen, placing her down, then offering his hand to the still sitting man. “Danke… Nikolai. Mein legs are sore from Sammy using them as a seat”, and Nikolai just nodded, “Can we play house with my teddy bears?!” Sam pulled at Nikolai's hand, with a smile on her face, “Да, bears are fun, I know Teddy would agree, wouldn't he?” he glanced at Richtofen, and raised his eyebrow.

“Ja, ja…” Richtofen agreed. Samantha began hopping around, and excitedly giggled, “Hehe! Teddy likes teddy's, that's why it is your name! That is funny!”. Her laughing was continuous even as they made their way to her room to begin playing.
She had decided, without asking the other two, that they would play family, that she would be the baby, Nikolai would be the dad, and Richtofen is the mom. Richtofen sighed at the outcome of his fate, and Nikolai laughed at him.

“Okay- Teddy, you need to take care of me because I'm your baby, and Nikolai- You go to work” Samantha firmly explained, like a tiny control-freak, literally.
“Goodmorning, family, I am off to work, come give papa a hug before he goes!” Nikolai stated, and Samantha brought her bear up to Nikolai’s and pretended to give it a hug, “Goodbye papa!” She responded. Nikolai looked towards Richtofen, and spoke as the papa bear, “I can't forget hug from wife”. Calling Richtofen wife was 100% him mocking the German, and he rolled his eyes at him before bringing their teddy's together in a hug as best they could. “Well, I am leaving now, goodbye!” Nikolai announced, and made his teddy walk off.

Richtofen lost track of what he may have been doing as a bear housewife, when he couldn't take his eyes off of Nikolai playing with so much enthusiasm which he lacked. There wasn't a moment of silence from Sam as a result, and the two were both grinning heavily. Now thinking about it…
“Edward? Why are you distracted? Papa bear was telling very important story to family!” Nikolai cut his thoughts off, as he stared with a raised eyebrow, “Oh! Right, I am sorry. Please, continue… Husband” the last word came out odd, but no one seemed to notice. Nikolai finished his crazy story that show in detail what papa bear had to deal with every day at work, must've been tiring.

“Well, game was fun, Sammy! But, it is bedtime, okay?” Nikolai spoke, as he looked down at the toddler, and she had a frown on her face, but it disappeared, “Okay… Can we play again tomorrow?” she asked, Nikolai nodded, and began helping her clean up the mess of bears.
Richtofen awkwardly stood in the doorway of her room, it felt as though Nikolai was doing most, if not everything, in the house, and he just got here! He was jealous… Yet it was admirable, truly.

The two men wished Samantha a good night, tucking her in, and leaving one kiss each other on her forehead. She giggled then passed out immediately.
“... Goodnight, Nikolai” he said to the Russian as he went off to his room to finally rest, “Goodnight, Edward” was the response heard as he shut his door, and shut the house off for the night.

Chapter Text

A year had passed, and summer now bloomed in its fullest on a hot day. Edward admittedly hated summer because of its hotness, but Nikolai decided that today would be perfect for the beach.

“Alright, Sammy. You can go play now, just don't go into the water until one of us does in case you drown, okay?" Edward instructed, after pulling her floaties and sunscreen on, and she nodded, and ran off towards the sand, giggling.

Nikolai grabbed the sunscreen from Richtofen after removing his shirt, and began applying it to himself. Once he got to his back, he awkwardly asked the German for help, which he did. Then vice versa as Richtofen put his own on.

Edward turned to sit on his beach chair, but Nikolai stopped him. “We're at beach, Richtofen. Come play in the water with Ms and Samantha” he said, and Edward just sighed and agreed, because he could see the big smile worn on Samantha's face in the distance.

The water was cold at first, and Edward wanted to flee, but Nikolai would not allow that, neither would Sam.
“Bleeh! Sam, stop splashing me!” Richtofen demanded, but the laughing child wouldn't stop. Edward decided to fight fire with fire, or water with water, literally, and splashed her in response, giggles and chuckles escaped the two, and Nikolai just watched, grinning.

Happy to see that they are enjoying themselves, even happy to see Richofen, because he's a pretty moppy guy when he can be, which is annoying as he'll if you have to see it, which Nik did. So the change was nice.

Seeing him treat Sam with so much care and be so happy made Nikolai flushed. It was such a sweet sight, he felt that he had achieved what he had intended all along, to give Sam the life she deserved, it brought tears to his eyes.

But he better calm down, he's in public, now's not the time.

“Stop splashing, if you want to truly get wet, you must go all in” Nikolai announced to the pair, and Samantha's face lit up before she turned around and jumped in, splashing Richtofen. “HEY- I wasn't ready to get this wet!” he protested, when Nikolai came up behind him and picked him up, which he then started yelling for him to put him down.
So he did.

“I DIDN'T MEAN DROP ME IN THE WATER!” he spoke, quickly getting to the surface, and hitting Nikolai, which he chuckled in response. Richtofen, still angry, grabbed Nik by the hand and pushed him into the water without warning, which resulted in Nikolai splashing him dramatically with water.

The three spent the rest of their afternoon at the beach, playing in the water, and eventually taking a break on land, as Samantha and Edward had a sandcastle building contest. Sammy ended up winning, which Richtofen argued that Nikolai unfairly rated them.

Richtofen and Nikolai also had one, which Samantha declared they both won, very happily.

“That was so much fun, can we go tomorrow?!?!” Sam excitedly asked as they entered through the front door of the house returning home, “I don't know, Sammy... We'll see” Edward responded.
“Mm. Don't be sad that fun is over, be glad it happened anyway” Nikolai said, leaning down and speaking to the child, in which she nodded. “Okay, I'm gonna go make dinner” Nikolai announced, while walking to the kitchen.

“Teddy? Why does Nikolai cook dinner? Is he like a mom?” Sam asked, “Um… No, not quite- He just does, it's part of his role in this house because he doesn't pay rent” Richtofen lied in a mocking tone, which he was sure that Nikolai heard him from the kitchen because he yelled back.

“Oh, shut up, Richtofen! You know I do everything in this house! Like take care of YOU two!" Edward giggled in response, before bringing Samantha to the living room so they could distract themselves while they waited.

Chapter Text

A distant ring was heard throughout the house, which interrupted Edward's beloved silence, which he had begun to lack as Sam got older, and became much more vocal. Not in a necessarily bad way, just in a way that Edward was sick of all the noise.

He grunted, annoyed at the disruption of his Sunday, and walked over to the phone. “Hallo?” he answered, and a rough, southern voice spoke up, one he hasn't heard in a while. “Doc? Did I get the right number?” His jaw dropped, and he almost yelled into the phone, “DEMPSEY?!?!”.

Nikolai must've heard him on the phone, because he came running in, and asked the same question. “Oh, shit, is Nik there too?” Dempsey asked on the phone, which Nikolai came over to answer himself, “Why are you calling right now, Dempsey? It's so random, we haven't spoken to you in awhile…” Richtofen asked.

“Well… Me and Tak decided we're gonna come visit you guys, you know, for Sam's birthday! We're also bringing the kids. We should be there in like… How long, Tak? Oh, okay, uhh.. Like 9 hours? Or whatever- We're just about to board the plane- Oh, sorry, I gotta go now, uhhhh- we all love you, see you soon!” and then he hung up, leaving Richtofen and Nikolai so confused.

“Dempsey and Takeo are visiting? When did we discuss this???” Nikolai asked, “We didn't! I haven't even spoken to them in a while! Dempsey just thinks he can invite himself in!” Edward barked, annoyed at the sudden notice.
“Well, I mean… You let me in randomly?” Nikolai pointed out, and Edward sighed, “Well, ja- But-”, he didn't have any argument. He's being picky towards the other two but willingly let Nikolai in? Who he ‘hates’? What is this logic?

“Well, it's not like I'm complaining! So don't treat it as such” Edward said, “But, the issue is, it's so last minute, we barely have any room for guests!”. Nikolai nodded in response, and simply told Edward to sit down, and that they had time to worry about that later, which Eddie admittedly appreciated, and did as he was told.

Hours passed, the night being here now, and Edward was almost ready for bed, when he heard the doorbell, which made him remember.

He ran over to the door, and opened it, he was greeted by the smile of his two old friends, Tank and Tak, and three sleepy children at the men's side.
Nikolai came up and welcomed them in, offering to pick up the children to let the other two have a minute to rest, which they accepted, and Nikolai picked the three kids up with ease.

“It's great to see you two. How have you been? Also, tut mir leid, we weren't prepared for your guys arrival at all” Richtofen said. Dempsey just chuckled and reassured him, “Ahh, it's fine! And we've been good… But we're also tired, these kids need to go to sleep”.

One of the children that was now laying in Nikolai's arms spoke up, in a sleepy voice, “Daddy? Can we go to sleep now?”, and Dempsey nodded towards her. Must've been his then, though she looked just like him so it made sense, logically.

“Uhh yeah. So where are we sleeping, then?” Dempsey asked.

“Ahhh… Well, I said we weren't prepared for you guys, afterall-” Richtofen answered.

“Oooh yeah…”

“The kids are tiny enough, maybe they can sleep on the couch, and me and Dempsey can get the guest room?” Takeo offered.

“Nikolai is sleeping in the guest room, though, und we only have one bed in there. You may find it awkward to have to share with each other” Edward said.

Takeo and Dempsey glanced at each other, looking like they were about to speak, but the idea was thrown out the window, and Dempsey just shrugged.

“I don't care, and I don't think he does, either” Tank made eye contact with Takeo as he said that, which grew a blush on his face.

“But what about me und Nikolai? I don't think he would want to share with m-”, “I don't really care, I will do if needed”.

Edward looked at him with a blush burning on his face, but turned away before he could see it. Takeo seemed clearly confused by something, but when he turned to Dempsey, he just shook his head.

Once they helped the group bring their things in, and set up a place for the kids to sleep. Edward went up to his room, with Nikolai following behind. It was a bit embarrassing, he had to admit, sharing a bed with Nikolai…
No, no! Get your mind out of the gutter, nothing would even happen, I mean, take Dempsey and Takeo as an example, they were perfectly fine with sharing a bed as two men.

…

Why was HE so nervous about sharing with Nikolai? Okay, the answer was obvious, why even ask.

He finished getting ready for bed, and awkwardly laid down next to the giant Russian, he was almost like a huge teddy bear, and he had a strong urge to cuddle him like one, but he had self control, so he cuddled his normal sized one instead.

“You sleep with a teddy bear?” Nikolai asked, with judgment in his voice. “Ja.. Ja, I do” Edward sighed and Nik began laughing.

“Shut up! I'm going to bed now… Goodnight”, “Goodnight, Teddy”. Nikolai's goodnight message was clearly mocking him, but he couldn't care at the moment, because he was exhausted.

Chapter Text

Edward blinked himself awake as he heard rain outside, which was usual for the average winter weather in Germany.

He felt abnormally warm, and he didn't even use a ton of blankets… His teddy also felt…

He sat up, and finally realized that he was cuddling up against the Russian, like he had desired to the night before, but embarrassment boiled inside of him, and worry that Nikolai would wake up and notice.

“... Richtofen, what the hell are you doing?” Nikolai asked, his voice deep and full of exhaustion, which caught him off guard because he hadn't heard Nikolai's morning voice before, or not like this, at least, and it didn't help that he was still holding him like a giant teddy bear.

“AH- OH MEIN GOTT-” Richtofen shouted, and ended up falling off the bed, earning a chuckle from Nikolai. The sound attracted Dempsey and Takeo, who ran in, curious as to what happened, but they quickly stopped, assuming something else was going on.

“Oh, God- Sorry to pry on your guys’ privacy, you might want to stop, because you know.. The kids should be waking up by now” Dempsey immediately said, before he was basically dragged out by Takeo.

“Dummköpfe! We are not-”, “Eh, what did he mean by that???”, “Erm… Nothing, Nikolai, don't worry about it.”

He slowly went down the stairs, sleep still heavy in his eyes, and entered the kitchen, everyone was downstairs except for Nikolai and Sam. He must've been waking her up, oh, how he can imagine her shock when she sees their unexpected visitors, come to think of it… He's certain that Sam has never met, or just doesn't remember, any of these people, so this will be fun.

“Teddy!!” Sammy skipped through the house into the kitchen and hugged Edward, which he kindly accepted. “How did you sleep, Samantha?”, she didn't respond, and instead gasped and pointed behind Edward to their visitors.

“FRANKIE AND TAKEO??” She let go of Richtofen and ran to the pair, which Dempsey opened his arms and welcomed her in, greeting her and asking how she's been. Now thinking about it, though, Edward was positive Samantha has never met either of them before…
So how did she recognize them??

He was softly punched in the side by Nikolai, who broke him out of his thoughts, and he glared at him, but noticed that he did it because he was being spoken to.

“Right, we still haven't introduced you guys to our kids!” Tank said.

There were three, two being female and one being a male. The first one, who appeared to be 5, who looked almost like a female version of Dempsey, but with longer hair, was named Delilah.

The second appeared to be 4, and, same as Delilah, a photocopy of Takeo. Her name was Kyōko.

And the third, who was the only boy in the group, and seemingly about 3 years old, had brown hair instead of black, like Takeo, but he was still clearly his. His name was Hiroshi.

“- Kids, these two are me and papa’s old friends, Edward and Nikolai, and their daughter, Samantha” Francis calmly explained, and the children nodded, before approaching Sam, and saying hi.

But one word stuck with Edward… He and Nikolai's daughter??? DAUGHTER?? What did they mean by that?!?
Well, he didn't have time to ponder on this, or the nature of his relationship with the Russian, because conversation broke out, and made it hard to concentrate. Plus, Nikolai wasn't questioning Tank, so the thought was useless, anyway.

“I make bacon and egg for breakfast, does that work for everyone?” Nikolai asked, “はい、ありがとう” Takeo spoke, and smiled. Luckily, his introduction of Japanese into his sentences were easy enough to understand, because they were words the doctor already knew, as they were basic words.

They all sat at the table, speaking amongst each other, the children not really paying attention.
“Thank you guys for letting us visit so unexpectedly. I told Frankie that we better plan instead of springing it on you, but he didn't listen” Takeo said, earning a look from Dempsey, “Hey! No need to throw me under the bus like that, I thought you loved me!”, “Right, I'm sorry, Tank, I'll make it up to you later.”

A blush was worn on Dempsey's face after that comment, but they didn't speak of it further.

Nikolai intruded on the tension that seemed to build between the two men, “No worries, you two, but we for sure have to get you guys better rooms to sleep, I found Richtofen clinging onto me this morning-”, “I WAS NOT!” Edward quickly came to his own defense, and his face turned red. Nikolai laughed, and continued to tease him.

Tank and Tak exchanged glances, confused, but they didn't say anything. The American found it fairly amusing, too, so he chuckled at the interaction, and Takeo found himself giggling a tiny bit.

Chapter Text

Despite Nikolai's mention of wanting to change the sleeping arrangements, Edward and Nik were still required to sleep together. Luckily he didn't find himself waking up, cuddling the Russian again, but much worse was happening in his dreams. He refuses to elaborate on that.

The sound of footsteps outside the door can be heard, before it bursts open, and a giggling child runs inside. She jumps onto the foot of the bed, leaning down, staring at the sleeping men with excitement.

“It's my birthday!” Sammy cheerily announced. The presence of her woke Richtofen and Nikolai both up, Nik rubbed his eyes, before pulling Sam into a hug, “Happy birthday, маленький медведь” he softly spoke in his morning voice.

Edward admittedly wanted to sleep in longer, but was required to get up very insistently by Nikolai, he didn't mind though, it was Samantha's birthday…

It made him happy to even know that she was still alive, still thriving, Maxis would be proud…. Hopefully of Edward, too.

For breakfast, Nikolai made Kasha for the special occasion, which is just porridge. He specially made it using buckwheat as the grain, he gave options of sweet and savory to go with it. Nik wanted savory, and had it with a side of bacon, which did not surprise anyone, the man was known for his love of bacon.
He also made tea to go with breakfast.

Sam ate away happily at her breakfast, and Nik smiled. Dempsey and Takeo’s children seemed hesitant at first, but eventually ate it, Edward could tell they liked it based off of their faces after and the fact they were shoveling it into their mouths.

“Thank you for the meal, Nikolai. It's very good” Takeo said, “Of course, Russian meal is always good. Kasha is very popular breakfast dish in Russia, so I thought making it may be fun, to switch it up, and it seems everyone likes it” Nikolai responded.

He was right, everyone was enjoying it, but it's not like it was something crazy, Nikolai was clearly boosting his own ego, and using this as a chance to talk about his beloved culture for no reason!... Maybe Edward was just projecting, but he had to admit, it was good.

He saw Nikolai glancing at him from the corner of his eye as he ate, acting like he's never seen him eat before, and they now have lived together 4 years.

Oh my God, 4 years? It's been 4 years?? Really? Right, he moved in after Samantha's 3rd birthday…. So it has been.
Wow, that's funny that two guys who hate, or at least dislike, each other have been getting along surprisingly this whole time. But then again, Nikolai has been the only one truly being hateful, Edward has been trying to be nice, but Nik teases him too much, it's frustrating.. In more ways then stated.

Breakfast went by at a slow pace, as conversation was made, when the kids eventually did finish, they went off, probably to Sam’s playroom. So she was getting along with them? That's good to hear, having more friends would be good for her, not that Edward would know anything about that… He grew up an orphan who lacked them, but his point still stood.
Though, having friends who live on another continent might be tough, considering the two men hadn't even spoken to this pair before they randomly showed up.

Then again, Edward can't seem to remember WHERE he met Francis and Takeo.

…

Dempsey's name reminded him of where it could've been, but he couldn't put his finger on it exactly.

Well whatever, it didn't hold much relevance anyway.

Edward looked out the window as he helped clean up the table from breakfast. Today was lucky, because it was snowing, the chances for that was low, considering the area they were in, too. The kids seemed to have discovered the white covering the place in light sheets, and came rushing out of Sammy's room, asking to go out.

“Do you three have the clothes for that?” Edward asked, looking down upon Tank and Tak's children, Takeo noticed and came up, “Yes, actually, I assumed we may need winter clothes for the weather, if it is anything like America, or more, like other places there”, pause, “We live in the South, so we don't get snow a whole lot, but Frankie has told me about other places that do get more” He explained. Richtofen nodded.

“Well then, it should be fine, go get your clothes on. Und Samantha, you have to wear everything unless you want to freeze to death!” Edward announced, the children bolted off in search of their clothes. Tak followed, as he likely had to help his littles with theirs.

Of course, you couldn't leave the kids unattended outside, so all the adults had to come along,
He shivered out in the cold, even with all his jackets he was wearing, but at least the place was beautifully painted in white. Nikolai stood beside him, staring at the same view. Dempsey was already running off with the children, and Takeo began to follow, so it was just them two.

“Shall we go play with the children?” Nikolai asked, Richtofen gritted his teeth. He knew he lived in a place that did get pretty chilly in the winter, but for some reason it felt worse today, like all his wear wasn't enough for the coldness of a November day, but he just nodded, and went off in the direction of the rest of the group, with Nikolai walking behind.

Dempsey was talking among the children, with Takeo lurking close. They were discussing what they were going to do, and when Edward and Nikolai joined the circle, they didn't catch anything that was spoken.

Well, Richofen didn't, but the Russian sure did, because he reached down, forming a snowball, before throwing it at Edward.

He squealed, “NIKOLAI-”, he furrowed his eyebrows at the discomfort of ice on his back, but that was only the beginning.

Everyone ran off, forming the clumps of snow, before throwing them at each other, being sure to be careful with Kyōko and Hiroshi, the youngest children there.
Edward took cover behind a tree, taking a deep breath, he was hit several times, and was freezing, and even worse before some snow got IN his clothes, ugh, right now he would rather be inside and reading than engaging in this childish war, which seemed to have been taken too seriously.

Dempsey and Nikolai were having a face-off, as Takeo watched in the distance, seemingly not spotted by them, and he felt a child bolt past him, Samantha, who threw a snowball at him and almost revealed him to everyone.

“Sammy!-” he quickly shut himself up. Checking quickly, to ensure that the two fighting men didn't hear him.

He then turned his attention to the other notice, the 4 children who were huddled up, maybe planning something. He only heard a little of what they were saying.
Which was them scheming, they all must've teamed up in this war against grown men, Edward was getting sick of participating, and decided to attempt his exit.

That's when he made direct eye contact with Takeo.

Tak came running at him, being pretty fast, which Teddy did not know he was, and was holding a snowball in his hand.
“NEIN, TAKEO, I AM NOT PLAYING, LEAVE ME BE!” He tripped and fell to the ground, but instead of what he expected, he heard the Japanese man chuckle. “No, doctor, I am not either, I just wanted to mess with you, I don't have much taste in silly games like these”.

He sat up, now on his knees, and groaned, looking up. Tak offered his hand to him, and helped him up. “Ugh, I'm too tired to be doing any of this right now, I want to go inside”.

“Go ahead, they won't notice, I can tell how sleepy you are. Did you get any sleep last night, doctor?”. Richtofen nodded, “Ja, I did, for the most part, aber it was kind of hard to sleep though with that bear taking up all the space on the bed!”.

Takeo giggled as they walked toward the house, “You talk about him in such funny ways, doctor, comparing him to an animal”, “Well, maybe you should pick it up, Francis acts like a dog, that could be suitable for you to use”.

“Thank you for the idea, Edward. Now, have a good nap, I'll make sure the kids stay out here long enough for you to rest decently” Tak said. Richtofen smiled, and nodded, “Danke, Takeo”.

As he entered through his backdoor, he heard screaming, it wasn't painful though, because he turned around and saw the children ganging up on the American and Russian, causing a much bigger fight to break out. They can have fun with that, and Teddy can go to sleep.

He removed his winter clothes, and went to his room, grabbed his teddy bear which fell off the bed last night, and tucked himself into bed. It felt weird laying there, now. The lack of Nikolai next to him was odd, even if they were only sharing the bed for a few days, but that didn't matter, because the man already drifted off to sleep before he could ponder more.

Chapter Text

He wasn't sure how much time passed, not that it really mattered, his rest was fulfilling. He stretched awake, rubbing his eyes, he was hugging Nikolai's pillow like a bear, or a substitute for the real thing. It smelled like his hair, which was probably just about the same as his own, but it felt more special, he would admit.

He awkwardly put it down, and stood, getting dressed back into his normal clothes, before making his exit from his room. He found that everyone returned from outside and were now all inside. He got a nice hug from Samantha before she requested he partake in a game she made up, which he agreed to.

It was later in the day. Edward and Nikolai stood in the kitchen, as Richtofen was bent over his cookbook, trying to find the recipe for Samantha's cake, well… Cheesecake, but you get the point. He finally found it, and began giving instructions to Nikolai.

“White sugar, unsalted butter, 2 eggs, flour, baking powder, quark, vanilla pudding packet, oil, vanilla sugar packet, milk, 2 egg yolks, und lemon juice… Make sure to grab all of our measuring cups, the bowls, und the pan, too!”. Nikolai grabbed the utensils first, then followed with the ingredients.

“This recipe is no surprise to me, I have done before, Richtofen, you are aware of this” Nik said, “I just have to double check, incase we accidently mess it up” he responded, “Well, naturally we won't with me here, I am better cook” Nikolai bragged, chuckling, which earned him an eye roll.

“I make the filling, you make the dough?” Edward asked, which Nik nodded.

Richtofen preheated the oven, then proceeded with greasing the pan. He then left it for Nikolai to fill with dough when he finished making it.

The recipe wasn't too hard, for Nikolai he would beat ⅕ cup white sugar and unsalted butter together in a medium bowl, until it became smooth. Stir in 1 egg, stir in flour and baking powder, and then knead that into dough.

Edward watched as he did knead the dough, then turned away and got to work on his own.
In a large bowl, he combined quark, ¾ white sugar, the non-instant pudding mix, oil, and 1 vanilla sugar packet until it turned smooth.

Then, he stirred in milk, the second egg, the egg yolks, and the lemon juice which he had taken a moment to squeeze himself.

“Fresh juice a bit unnecessary, don't you think?” Nikolai teased, “Nein, the recipe calls for it, I want the best quality… In hopes that maybe mein cooking will become better than yours in her eyes-”

Nik leaned over and hit him, “No no, not happening! Nikolai always better cook AND baker than German!”, Edward giggled, “Sure, sure!”.

Samantha wobbled into the kitchen, “Is the cake almost done?” Nikolai pulled away from the dough which he was kneading, and walked over to the child. “Нет, sadly, we have about an hour left, дорогой. Now go play, okay?” He softly said.

It was funny to see how different he got with the children compared to Richtofen… He somewhat envied the kindness given to them that he didn't get from the Russian, but he shouldn't complain.

Samantha smiled, gave Nikolai a big hug, then walked off, speaking two words quickly before her exit, “Okay, daddy!”

… Since when was Nikolai her dad- Did Edward miss a chapter during his nap or- Wait a minute.

Nikolai froze at that last bit, he didn't seem prepared for that, so it was just randomly decided by the child, he announced to himself.

His shocked expression then turned to a grin, and he came back over and finished the dough.

He pressed it into the pan, then added the filling, before putting it in the oven, which now just left the men to sit around and do nothing, though Nikolai already took back his position of carefully attending to the children. Teddy decided to converse with his visiting friends, which the Russian would pop in and out occasionally.

Chapter Text

He inhaled the delicious air of the kitchen as Nik was away at work, making dinner, and sighed out. He better go set the table, unless he wanted to prove useless at the moment.

When he went over, though, he spotted Francis and Takeo up-closely together, seemingly not noticing his presence, speaking to one another in teasing or flirtatious manners, as they were embracing and kissing one another.

… It's good to get it confirmed, he supposed, the two were clearly homosexuals. Considering they both had ringed fingers and children with no wives in sight.
Edward had no problem with it whatsoever, in fact…. It felt natural, way too natural, like he'd seen this happen before, which made no sense. Odd.

“Could you two move, please? I need to set the table” Richtofen interrupted them, which had both of them turning in shock, concerned expressions laid on their faces.
“OH! Uh- I-I’m not against-” Edward began explaining quickly, before they had to, to which the men both sighed in relief.

“Oh my God, you almost made us have a heart attack, Richtofen.” Dempsey said.

“Tut mir leid…”

They were silent for a minute. “Sooo…. What's for dinner?” Francis asked

“Schupfnudeln.”

“Ooohh…. Yeah, I have no idea what that is, Richtofen.”

“As if I should be surprised,” he looked up at him and laughed, “It's potato pasta. Nikolai is pan-frying it und serving it with savory sides, so I'm sure you'll like it. It's one of Sammy's favorites.”

“It sounds very good.” Tak cut in, smiling, which was returned to him happily by the German.

“Well, I know you have a refined palette, Takeo, you'll definitely enjoy this.”

Nikolai carried the last dish into the dining room, which was Samantha's. He laid it in front of her and she got to work eating.

They all sat around, digging into the meal of the potato dish, served with sauerkraut and bacon. It smelled delicious and tasted even better. Richtofen always loved German cuisine, not that he's tried much else… The point still stood.

There was a conversation happening, but he was slightly out of it, he couldn't care to listen, until he felt a pinch at his side.

Sam was sitting next to him, grinning very happily, which he returned the smile.

He leaned over, and asked Samantha. “Genießt du dein Abendessen?” Because, unsurprisingly, the little girl knew German, even with the introduction of her Russian caretaker, and the majority of English they all spoke to one another.

Though, he was pretty sure Nikolai either was, or is, teaching her some Russian, but Edward was unsure if she would remember at such a young age.

“Ja!”

He turned back towards his food, and nodded.

“Teddy?” She whispered to him.

“Hm, what?”

“Is Nikolai my dad?”

He almost spat out his food purely in surprise at the question, but shook it off to nothing if anyone asked, and continued whispering to her.

“Nein, nein…. He's your mommy.” Richtofen joked. Samantha giggled in response.

“You're mein father then, Teddy!” A happy, yet almost sad, smile creeped up his face, and he ruffled Sammy's hair before he returned back to his food when he noticed someone was talking to him.

With dinner all cleaned up, Edward grabbed the cheesecake, and placed it in front of Sam. It was decorated with 7 candles, and was slowly lit by Nikolai, as he sat at Edward's side.

“I normally prefer to sing in German.. But you guys are open to do whatever you want. This birthday is nicht excluding.” Edward said.

“Yeah… I'll stick to English, considering I don't know anything else.” Dempsey laughed at his own joke, but shut up as he found it awkward after a moment.

While there was an overlap of the English and German, Edward clearly sang out, with Nikolai serving as background vocals, because his German improved over these years of living together.

“Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!”

“Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!”

“Zum Geburtstag lieber Sammy~”

“Zum Geburtstag viel Glück...”

Edward sat for a moment, once the song finished, before he muttered a few more words, only directed towards Samantha, and only to be heard by her. “… Meine tochter.”

Samantha's head perked up from where it was, staring at her cake as they sang, and it looked like tears almost fell down her eyes, but she smiled, the biggest one Richtofen would've ever seen.

Nikolai's eyes lit up, which Edward didn't exactly notice or think about, but Nikolai knew enough German to understand what he said, and was listening closely, an unreadable expression on his face.

Sam giggled at him, before leaning over and blowing out her candles, earning cheers and clapping from everyone around.

Edward grabbed a knife and began cutting the cake into even slices, and plating them up, then handed them out.

Sam took the first bite, and exclaimed how good it tasted, which had others following.

“We did good job, wouldn't you say, Richtofen?” Nikolai spoke to him.

“Of course we did, I'm glad you agree.” Edward responded, which earned a chuckle from him.

Takeo watched them from across the table and smiled, looking like he wanted to say something, but refrained.
Though, he did decide to get Francis’ attention and point it out of him, to which Edward noticed their eyes were on them… They knew.

He paid no attention, though, only to the Russian speaking to him!

Sam and the others’ children were speaking to one another, excitedly. Samantha clearly loved her new friends,

“Did you- Nom!- know I can speak Japanese?” Delilah said in-between bites of her cake.

“REALLY?!?” Sammy exclaimed.

“はい、 my papa is teaching me!”

“Takeo?”

Delilah nodded. “Yeah, he is papa and he is dad.” She explained, pointing at the two men.

“Wow… I basically have two dads because of Teddy and Nikolai, but Teddy called Nik my mommy, and he is my daddy.”

Tank and Tak’s children giggled at that, which was eventually drowned out by conversation between the adults, too, as the night went on.

Fast forward, Edward sat himself down on the chair of his desk, and pulled out his notebook, labeled with his name.

Pulling out a pen, he began to write, when the sound of his door opening sounded behind him. It was Nikolai, coming in to go to bed.
He turned off the lights, besides the one at the desk.

“Richtofen, turn off the damn light, I want to go to bed.”

“Nein, I'm writing. You'll have to wait or just deal with it.”

“And what are you even writing?” Nikolai spoke, coming up behind Richtofen and glancing down before he could stop him.
Upon seeing the sentence ‘Dear Diary’ he burst out laughing.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS- DOCTOR CUDDLE WITH TEDDY AND HAVE DIARY TOO?”

“It's a journal… Und don't look, it's also private.” Edward said, with a flushed expression of embarrassment, covering the pages with his hands.

“Sure, Teddy.” Nikolai chuckled, as he pulled out a chair, and sat next to him.

Nik watched as Edward wrote silently, with some sort of admiration, he wrote so smoothly and beautifully. Nikolai smiled at his penmanship.

“... You're still watching, aren't you going to bed?” Richtofen asked.

“I thought we already stated that you're stubborn and won't turn off light, Edward.”

He rolled his eyes, “Well, if you're so stubborn as to not wanting to leave me alone….”

Richtofen froze as he spoke, almost at a loss for words. He gulped.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about….”

Nikolai looked at him and raised his eyebrow, “Hm? What is it?”
He sat for a moment, trying to pick out the right words, or decide if he should say this in general…

“Um, I.. You know, living together 4 years now has definitely improved our relationship, wouldn't you say? I can't really tell what it was before, especially when you always mess with me… But I think friends would be a fitting word?” He began, getting a questioning look from Nikolai as to where he was going with this.

Edward physically moved his own chair to face the Russian, as he continued what he was saying. Darting his eyes to the ground, with an uneasy expression.

“But, I don't want to be your friend, Nikolai….” Richtofen thought Nikolai stopped breathing for a moment based on the absolute silence. He wasn't finished speaking, it just felt like the words couldn't come out, they were stuck in his throat, he felt like he would choke on them, he just needed to say three words, admit what he felt to him. Be honest.

“I-I don't want to be your friend.. Because, I love you, Nikolai.” He said, then bit his tongue, holding his breath, terrified of how he would respond to his confession. Maybe he shouldn't have admitted that, it wouldn't kill him to box his true feelings inside forever…
They couldn't have even been open about it outside of their home, homosexuality is illegal in Germany.

There wasn't any point, but he still loved him, and he couldn't lie to himself or pretend to dislike him, even just a pinch, he just had to tell him.

He fiddled with his fingers, and looked up to face Nikolai. The man's face was flushed, with an expression Edward couldn't even read.
Fuck, he definitely made a mistake telling him.

…

He almost murmured an apology, but it was short-lived, when the Russian grabbed his face, pulling it close to his own, and kissed him. Richtofen would've gotten whiplash if he wasn't being held by Nikolai, softly in his hands, as he caressed his face.
Edward kissed him back, with such force, he almost fell off his chair, but was caught by Nikolai, then brought onto his lap. The room was silent besides the sounds of muffled moans as the kiss continued.

Before they finally broke apart to breathe, which didn't seem preferable for either, because Edward smashed his lips into the others as soon as physically possible, this time so desperate to feel him, he stuck his tongue into Nik’s mouth, which earned a groan from him.

The kiss broke apart again. Edward rested his head against the man's chest, having a chance to properly breathe, but sighed in relief, and embraced him.

“I love you too, Teddy.” Nikolai grinned, kissing the German on his hair. And hugging him back.

“That honestly shocks me with how much you tease me, it's annoying…”

He laughed, “I'm sorry, I don't mean to do it in a cruel way.. I express my love that way, I've done it from the start, милый.”

Edward looked up at him, “Since the start…? How long have you known, like… That you were in love, Nikolai?”

“It's hard to say, but I think since the start, I always have, even if I didn't want to face it,” Nikolai confessed, “What about you?”

“I don't think I exactly remember when… It didn't happen all at once, I found out over time, like whenever you did something kind, even if it wasn't directed at me, it made mein heart melt.” Edward said. Nik chuckled, and kissed him on the cheek.

“I'm glad, because that proves I am, in fact, a better father than you-”

“Oh, come on! I just had mein tongue in your mouth, und you dare to insult me!” Edward cut him off, pushing away from the tight embrace of Nikolai, and back onto his own chair.

“I was only joking, Edward, come here!” He grabbed Richtofen by the face and kissed him once again.

“Alright, fine, only if you promise to act as a substitute for mein teddy tonight? Or maybe.. More?”

Nik raised an eyebrow, and laughed at him, “Truly that eager, already?”

“I waited 4 years for this!-” Edward exclaimed, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening. Richtofen was flung off of him, and fell to the ground.

“Teddy? Nikolai? I can't sleep.” Sam was standing in the doorway, with a teddy bear by her side, and a frown on her face.

“Oh, Sammy… You can sleep with us tonight, okay?” Edward offered.

“Heheh, yay!”

The lights were turned off, and the three were tucked into bed.

Well, any plans of not sleeping were thrown out the window by this little girl, but truly… He and Nikolai had other times to get busy, but he only would have so much time with her.

Richtofen gave Sam a kiss on her forehead, and snuggled close. She giggled.
The two men embraced Samantha, similarly to a sandwich, and she slowly drifted off.

“I'm so happy to have daddys like you…”

Edward warmly smiled, and Nikolai chuckled. Nik leaned over Sam and gave the German one last kiss, before he would soon follow in sleep, with Richtofen being the last to fall victim to slumber, calling an end to the eventful day that followed, and a start to the newly formed family.