A Family Thing

“So Sally what was your conclusion from the study?” You were jolted from your anxious dozing on the plane by the sudden question from one of your team from Berlin Zoo. Despite the fact you spent most of your day as a keeper with the Marine and Arctic/ Antarctic critters of the zoo, the opportunity to visit the Great Lakes and study an invasive species had been too suitable and too good of an opportunity to miss out on. It had been a three week study spent in wellington boots and waders in stinking coastal patches with rain and clipboards as you’d updated the data on the project to deal with the Zebra Mussels. 

It had been your third time out there with the study and the question being asked of you was a very important one considering what was happening to the native species competing against these Russian invaders… but your mind had not been into it. You had not been thinking about the conclusion to the project in your head at all but rather you were recalling the fact you were about to return home to your husband in time for something quite chaotic and unpleasant. Even as you were able to breathe easy and grit your way through the confining quarters and horrid noise from the airplane, you could not conceal your stress regarding home and your husband Ludwig’s five brothers. 

“Sally?” He questioned again and you jumped in your seat with a start as you companion looked toward you with confusion and anxiety. He was not sure how to react now or whether he should try and comfort you, but with your slightly autistic manners, he knew that the physical contact might be a little too much for you to handle on the plane. But you looked toward him with an air or expectation and swiftly he asked the question again, knowing that you could not always read the concern on people’s face. “What’s your conclusion to the project? Do you think introducing a native hunter of the mussels will do the work?” 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Time after time our attempt to introduce something to destroy something else has failed miserably; look at the rat problem in Hawaii? Mongoose were introduced and devastated the bird population, they did not affect the rat development at all. Although this species has invaded thanks to human interference, we should not introduce something else to the mix that could outcompete the natives; they’re already having trouble keeping their numbers up because of the food competition. Lakes are too fragile for the interference we think should solve the problem.” Talking about the work was a good way to distract yourself through the flight; it was like hitting a switch in your brain that reacted and closed off the rest of the world around you apart from the question. 

Your friend smile fondly at you, nodding his head in understanding and the joining in the conversation himself, always smiling and making you feel safe. Sometimes having slight Aspurgers could make the world seem like it was going too fast, being too loud, everyone was involved in your life and that was scary! However, when you only had to focus on one thing and one person, it was great and that’s what you loved about your husband back home. Ludwig never let himself get too distracted and he knew that he could not drag you out when you were having a bad day. He also reacted to things before you did to make sure that you were not startled or frustrated and that was so wonderful and so kind… 

Problem was sometimes you felt you did not deserve his affection, that you did not give enough back to him… and his family did not always help! 

* * * * * 

When the plane landed and you found yourself out of the troublesome security at the Schönefeld Airport, who always seemed to pull you over for a check but always one of your fellow researchers would scuttle over beside you with all the documents just in case. In fact everyone at security was very nice to you and yet the stress of the situation could cause you to panic and feel like you might faint or just scream and run. Thankfully they always seemed to understand your disorder and made a point of treating you as calmly and quickly as they did everyone else. But then after getting through that you had your first challenge as you gathered your bags and sought about the arrivals area for a sign with your name and a familiar face. 

To your great fear the first thing you saw are you came out was brilliant platinum blonde hair that looked almost albino. You suddenly gulped at the thought of the loud and crude Prussia being the figure to take you home and how horribly fast he liked to drive! However, as you stepped forward you noted the neat business suit, the soft violet-pink eyes and the stationary form of one of your husband’s eldest brothers, Varick… Saxony. Seeing him you felt completely relaxed as he was a good driver, a sophisticated figure and would try and show interest in your work to give you something to focus on instead of fear. 

“Guten Tag Sally how was your flight?” Varick smiled gently toward you and as he stepped out from the crowd you felt all the better for him being the choice to pick you up. As much as Varick probably tried the hardest of all the brothers to understand your problems, he was still very unsure about what he was able to say and do around you, often making you nervous. But today he seemed very happy and encouraged you to follow him out to his neat looking Audi. You were pleased to be sitting in the back and being allowed to relax and when you stated that you were a little tired, Varick nodded his head gently and encouraged you to sleep. 

“Thank you for picking me up today… just tell me Gilbert and Alrich haven’t started drinking already?” You grumbled as you considered just what the little BBQ you would be going to was going to be like. Those two always brought beer, drank a massive amount and became loud and roared about the place. They were not unpleasant but just too much around you and tended to do nothing more then complain about you not getting involved in their celebrations often. Then of course with Ludwig’s boss at the little meet up, you could only imagine would be as unimpressed as Ludwig could be. 

“No… they’ve been very good because Ludwig insisted the boss was a little unpleasant the other day at work. It’s for both of them to relax, so Bavaria and Prussia are promising to behave.” Varick stated but you were not sure if maybe you’d upset him or whether he wasn’t bothered. You were worried that he thought that you might have been insulting his baby brothers and Varick was very protective over them, so you just huddled up with a grimace in the back of the car and pondered what was going on. 

When the car arrived you found yourself being met by the worst person to come face to face to! As the car door was opened, Brandenburg was the one to do it and his face was a scowl as he looked down at you. Of all the brothers in the Beilschmidt family, Brandenburg looked like Prussia’s twin but was closer to Germany then any of the others. Brandenburg, Gunther, was always a little too harsh on you because he was so protective of Ludwig and in many ways he was the most resentful over your marriage. He had never thought you worthy of his brother, no one was worthy of his little brother, but more then anything Gunther did tend to react the worst to your disorder and blame you if Ludwig couldn’t do something. 

Before you could even try and figure out what the scowling figure might be thinking, only that he must still really hate you, Bavaria came bouncing into view. He pushed his brother aside with his hips and shoved his big smiling face into the car door and beamed down at you. The moment you realised Alrich was about to greet you, you grimaced in fear of just how loud he was going to bellow as he then stretched out his hand to pat at your shoulder, making you jump slightly. 

“Sorry Sally, I forgot you don’t like me touching you… my bad… I’ll get your bags!” The eldest brother beamed despite feeling a little unhappy that he could not be a little huggy with you. Next to being a little loud at the best of times, Bavaria was very fond of hugging and wrestling his little brothers… and being the stockier of all the sons he was always a little more physical then the others could be when he was happy. As much as you did love him because he smiled no matter what was going on, it was a lot to cope with and it was the biggest thing you felt guilty about… Oktoberfest. 

You got out of the car as Alrich carried out your bags to the house and Gunther strolled beside you with his scowl still prevalent, Hesse stepped out of the house with the food in his arms ready to go on the grill. He was looking as anxious as always but when he spotted you he gave a soft smile; although quiet like Gunther, Nicklaus was a worrier and tended to be cautious of making mistakes. Of all of the brothers you understood Nicklaus the most although no one was willing to tell you where the scar on the right side of his face had come from! 

“Come on guys… I’m going to start cooking.” He called out to you all and suddenly you spotted your beloved Ludwig sitting on a bench beside Gilbert with his boss opposite him. They were laughing and chatting about something and Ludwig looked very, very distracted. Suddenly you were filled with confidence as you singled him out as the most important think in the whole of your universe and you bolted toward him. When you reached the form of Ludwig, you bent yourself down to rest your chest to the back of his head and your arms around his neck before kissing his ear playfully. 

“SALLY!” Ludwig practically hiccupped in surprise, his face turning a brilliant crimson in front of his boss, who just gave a slight chuckle of amusement. Gilbert was startled however and practically dove off the bench as you had appeared from nowhere. As he picked himself up and grumbled about you getting in the way, you were far to busy rubbing your head against Ludwig’s, kissing his neck and making him blush and giggle with embarrassment as your immediate affection. “I… I take it you missed me!” 

“Careful with him Sally… you don’t want him to pop a boner in front of the boss or the other executives coming in the next fifteen minutes!” Gilbert chortled in amusement as he pulled himself up off the grass and then tried to squeeze himself back onto the bench. Ludwig was so pink and embarrassed he looked silly, but he had his arms hooked around you and were beckoning you onto his lap, pressing his head to your chest and smiling warmly. He looked so happy to have you back in his arms again and it just seemed to make Brandenburg snarl as he stepped over… as always he did not approve. 

As the other executives arrived and everyone settled to the lunch as Nicklaus started cooking with a smile upon his face. Varick had also settled down onto another bench with the other executives and began chatting with them firmly about the business. You looked from him to Ludwig and then to Ludwig’s boss who was smiling and happy; you were pleased Ludwig was not going to get tangled up in work talk but you felt bad that Varick was doing it all. Gunther was still scowling at you as he was presented with food but Gilbert had managed to get himself one drink of beer alongside Alrich and the pair of them were suddenly having a playful wrestle in the background. 

They were getting loud and Varick’s conversations were loud too so it was bothering you greatly. You hooked around Ludwig all the more tightly and at this first sign of your slight discomfort, Gunther gave a harsh grin and then gently gave a soft cough. Once he had everyone’s attention, he began to talk about other family events and all the time he pointed a finger toward you and Ludwig, asking whether you remembered before sticking with the line… ‘oh wait… you two couldn’t come’. He rolled his eyes toward you each time he said it although Ludwig remained calm and steady in his words over the matter. You were not sure how Ludwig was feeling about this matter but pressure was piling upon you and you were feeling scared already and starting to tense up when Gilbert suddenly pointed a finger at you both and suddenly appeared frustrated. 

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing… but it always surprised me bro that you did not marry a woman who was into beer. Not to mention she can’t handle the Oktoberfest and that’s our… that’s OUR THING! We haven’t seen you the past two years there and it really upsets Alrich!” Gilbert grumbled, with his head still locked under Alrich’s arm. At the mention Bavaria seemed to look a little perplexed and gently he shrugged his shoulders and dropped his little brother to the floor gently. 

“Look… I’m not upset about it… I just… I don’t want either of you to miss out. It’s just not the same without the whole family! But look don’t worry about it Sally, I know its get loud and crowded so don’t listen to these two.” Alrich grinned happily toward you but you could not tell if he was being sincere or if you were really in some kind of trouble. You began to lower your head and look very sad over the matter, as if you might just slip off Ludwig’s lap and wander back inside the house where the three dogs were barking at the back door to try and get out and get the food. The dogs at least wouldn’t be unhappy at you for anything but then even Hesse seemed unhappy about it all. 

“But you know you could always just come by yourself Ludwig. I’m sure Sally wouldn’t be worried if it happened just once. I mean, October’s her busiest time at the zoo so I wouldn’t think you’d be missed.” Nicklaus tried to look a little unhappy but at the same time he felt unfortunately bad for saying what he had. He could also see Ludwig’s screwing up his face in frustration and annoyance about the fact they were talking about you when you were sitting there. 

You suddenly stood up, ready to leave them to it so you could just go and rest up. They looked at you worryingly as you stood up to go but Ludwig gently grasped your hands tenderly and then pulled you onto his lap again. You gave a giggle of surprise as he then kissed you firmly and rocked you back onto his lap, causing you to laugh excitedly and loudly. The sound of your laughter made the others grin and smile, but most of all Ludwig grasped you in a tight hug and encouraged you to bend down to kiss him firmly once more. 

“Whatever… Sally and I are quite happy where we are right now. So what if we haven’t been coming to Oktoberfest, I’ve been very busy at work as well and in general it’s not fair on Sally if I abandon her and she gets worried about me. But we can celebrate at home; it’s more comfortable here when it’s just us two together.” Ludwig stated, rubbing his nose against yours and making you grin widely. Suddenly the brothers nodded their heads, smiling thoughtfully as they considered what Ludwig might have been hinting at. You just chuckled gently as you bent down to kiss him firmly on the neck and when you teasingly nipped him, he turned red again and Ludwig appeared nervous. 

Bavaria though just gave a chuckle of amusement and then patted Ludwig’s shoulder fondly. You felt suddenly very comfortable now that Ludwig had stood up for you and was hugging you firmly again. Despite the fact he was blushing and looking a little nervous, you just sighed thankfully as you recalled why you loved him so much. He then turned to you and softly kissed your neck with a massive grin. 

“I love you Sally, no matter what.”