April 6th, 1986
Charlie Fischer wasn't going to the spring dance. Without Shelby what was the point? He had relayed verbally through Marlena that Shelby should go. He would stay away so her father wouldn't object. She liked dancing, and parties. The only reason he had ever gone was because of her anyway, so he would stay out of it, and she could go with her friends.
He tried not to think about her dancing with other boys.
Instead, he spent the day with Gill in Gill's garage, working on their newest restoration project, a '65 Flamestar that, when they got it done, would be painted bright red. At the moment though, she was just a beautiful old pile of rust and oil, and Charlie was perfectly happy to lose himself in the focused task of putting her back together. Gill's dad was planning to sell her when they were done, and Charlie was hoping he find a way to afford her.
"You'd better be clean before we leave in an hour, Gill."
Charlie almost bumped his head on the open car hood above him at the sound of a female voice. It was Marlena of course, but that didn't stop him from turning around.
His tongue caught in his throat.
Marlena and Shelby were both standing in the entrance of the garage, dressed for the dance. Marlena's dress was a soft burgundy-rose. Shelby's was a shimmery pale silver-blue. Her curly hair was pulled up in a twist on the back of her head.
"I'm about to go shower now," Gill assured his girlfriend with a laugh.
Charlie was still looking at Shelby. "Hey."
She smiled nervously. "Hi."
He was only peripherally aware of Gill and Marlena vanishing indoors, leaving him alone with Shelby for the first time in weeks, the air between them crackling with energy.
Charlie took off the grease-smeared gloves on his hands. "You're gorgeous, Shels…"
"Thanks." She blushed prettily. "I'm not sure why I'm going, without you. It's just better than sitting at home."
Charlie unhooked the overalls he had on over his regular clothes and the grimy fabric dropped to the ground, leaving him mostly clean. He took off the gloves and set them aside. Then, he reached out tentatively, afraid she might pull away, but she didn't as he gently took her hand. "Is your old man still giving you a hard time?"
Tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes. "My parents have never been upset with me like this before. I'm still surprised Daddy didn't go through with his threat to put me in private school." She fell against him, hugged him tightly, and his arms closed around her without a thought. "It almost would have been easier if I had gotten pregnant."
That admission startled him. "What do you mean?" he looked down at her. It made no sense.
"If I had… he probably wouldn't have chased you off. Daddy's very old fashioned that way. He straight up told me he'd have put a gun to your head and made you marry me if I was pregnant, but that this was easier because he could chase you off. It's like we're being punished for trying not to be careless…for coming forward with the truth…"
"You really think your father would have let us stay together if I'd knocked you up?" It was the strangest thing Charlie had ever heard…and yet there was some bizarre logic to it. Twisted logic… but given his father's stories of small-town Amestris, there was some sense to it. It made him angry.
Shelby nodded. "Stupid isn't it?"
"Yeah… but it means things can't get worse…right?" Charlie wasn't sure what he was thinking… it was kind of crazy. "You know, if we're careful not to get caught, we can still be together. You're not grounded anymore. I'm not grounded anymore. Summer's coming. As long as we act like we're following orders anywhere they might see us, we've got the freedom now to find ways to see each other."
"I'd like that," Shelby agreed, much to his relief. "I don't want my parents to be mad at me anymore, but I don't think anything I do is going to fix that. It's not like they'd let me date anyone else anyway, not after this…and I don't want anyone else. Just you."
His heart swelled. "Good, because you're the only women I want. We'll make this work, somehow."
April 8th, 1986
The first time I looked into my daughter's face, the world finally started to make sense. I had always thought I understood how people worked; what motivated them to fight on one side or another; what drove their life choices. I had tried the forbidden to bring back my mother. I had done everything in my power to restore my little brother. I had defied the laws of the world, and learned to use them. I thought I understood loyalty, and family, and love. Then I looked into my daughter's face, and I realized I'd had no idea until that moment.
"If I see one more of these things I'm going to go crazy!" Winry's voice echoed up to Ed's open office door from two floors below, ripping through the ribbon of thought.
Sitting back from his typewriter, Ed turned his chair and stood. "Mice again?" he called back as he stepped out into the open hallway and leaned over the railing.
"Two of them!" Winry called back, stepping out of the kitchen and looking up in his direction. Ed had to put all of his will into not laughing at her mouse-war get-up. She was wearing full-arm gloves and carrying one of her larger wrenches. Her long hair was pulled back with one of her favorite blue bandanas. "Bold as you please, right in the middle of the cracker boxes!"
"We can put out more traps," Ed suggested. He had already tried finding—and transmuting shut—every small hole and crevice in the house foundation, the basement, and the kitchen cabinets.
"They're too smart for that," Winry objected. "I found two more of them with the bait gone." The traps were humane boxes and Ed couldn't figure out how the mice were getting in, and out again, .As useful as Mal had been good at guarding against larger animals in the garden, the large, elderly white dog didn't care about mice. He was twelve, which was pretty ancient for a dog of his size, and all he did these days was lay in the warmest spots he could find, and follow Ed on his shorter, more leisurely walks.
"I'll see what else they sell in town," Ed suggested, knowing that until the mice were driven out, Winry would drive them both nuts trying to keep them out of the food. It was spring, and it was the rainy season. Of course the house had mice, though this year they seemed to be much worse than in previous springs.
Winry sighed and turned back towards the kitchen. "We could always get a cat."
"Hah!" Ed snorted. A cat? That'd be the day.
April 14th, 1986
Urey couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Sunday morning than lazing about in bed, listening to the rain splatter gently against the windows, muting the light and enclosing the little house as if it were its own little world. Beside him were the two most precious things in his life. Raina slept soundly, her hair spread all over her pillow in a tousled mess he found absolutely endearing. She had put her grading away early last night—almost as soon as Yurian was in bed—so they could enjoy the evening together.
Between them now, sprawled in a way that discouraged cuddling, was the boy, his little innocent face the picture of worriless bliss. That innocence belied the way he could jab sharply with his knees and elbows when he rolled in his sleep, but Urey couldn't say he minded too much. Yurian had woken up early in the pre-dawn hours, when the storm had rolled in, and crawled into bed with them. It wasn't the first time in the past month it had happened, and both he and Raina were happy to give him that comfort. While Yurian had always been well loved and cared for, they were all settling into being a new family. It was clear that Yurian was still adjusting to living with his father full-time, and having a new mother, even though he was obviously happy about it.
It was clear that neither of them were going to wake up again immediately. Quietly, Urey slipped out of bed, stopping only briefly in the bathroom before he headed into the kitchen, debating the benefits of sweet-toast versus waffles.
He didn't debate too long, choosing to make some of both, as well as scrambled eggs and fresh early-spring strawberries. Yurian was going through a growth spurt, so Urey didn't have to worry about leftovers lying around causing unnecessary temptation.
The smell of coffee percolating finally pulled Raina from their bed. She came into the kitchen wrapped in her fluffy green house-robe over her nightgown, with a drowsy smile, followed by a much brighter-eyed seven-year-old boy. "Mmm, this all smells amazing."
"It looks awesome," Yurian nearly bounced into his chair. "Let's eat!"
"Only after everyone is at the table," Urey reminded his son with a firm, gentle tone. "Have you washed your hands this morning?"
"Uh huh." Yurian nodded. "When I used the bathroom."
"Good." Urey glanced at Raina.
Her lips pursed in amusement. "Are you going to ask me if I washed my hands?"
Urey chuckled. "No. I was going to ask if you wanted milk in your coffee this morning. I know how fastidiously primary school teachers wash their hands." Otherwise, they came home with every little germ and bug that went through their classroom.
"I think I'll take it straight this morning," Raina's smile widened. "I was up late."
"So was I."
"Can we eat, please?" Yurian asked with a voice that sounded like he was rolling his eyes. Which, of course, he wasn't, but Urey knew that tone. No mushy stuff when there was food to eat.
"You may start," Urey gave his son permission as he and Raina both sat down. Yurian's plate already held two pieces of sweet toast, and a waffle, and a good sized portion of eggs.
"Thank you, Daddy." Yurian picked up his fork and dug in.
"This is quite the spread," Raina agreed as they all ate.
"I just felt like cooking this morning." Urey smiled as he cut into his waffle. "Besides, if we're going to put together that new garden trellis you wanted, I'll need plenty of energy."
"You're building the trellis today?" Raina glanced at the window, where the rain was still coming down.
"Well, it may not get installed," Urey admitted. Not unless the weather let up by the afternoon. "But I can put most of it together in the shed and put it up as soon as the rain stops. It'll be up in time to plant your flowering vines."
"That's great! I'm really hoping the bulbs Mom sent me like the soil here." Raina's mother had sent her some bulbs for a beautiful purple-blue climbing flower.
Urey smiled. "If they don't, I'm sure I can make some adjustments to the soil in that part of the yard." Alchemy had a lot of practical uses. "But you're a great gardener. I'm sure they'll bloom without any help from me."
Raina chuckled lightly. "Maybe, but I enjoy the company."
He liked the warm look in her eyes. "So do I."
April 17th, 1986
Lia was only mildly surprised to see Will coming through the food line in the University cafeteria. She had arrived a little later than usual to eat. Normally they didn't cross paths in the middle of the day. "Hello there, Professor Elric."
He turned and saw her, and smiled. "Hello yourself, Professor Elric."
"Seat's open," Lia motioned to the one across from her at one of the tables reserved for faculty.
"I'll take you up on that," Will said as he sat down, placing his burger and fries across from her soup and salad. "It's awfully quiet at my house these days." With all three children off at college or in Creta, and Ren out of town at an alkahestry conference in Xing for a month, Lia could understand that.
"Any word from Ren?" Lia asked curiously.
"She called yesterday." Will nodded before taking a large bite of his burger. "She said Michio and Kamika both came up to the palace for dinner last night, and she's having far too much fun at the conference. She spent almost half an hour just telling me about the new breakthroughs in neurological alkahestry in treating some mental disorders and addiction."
"I'll bet Ethan will want to hear all about it." Lia sipped quietly at her soup. Both of those were important areas where treatments were definitely needed, especially in a city like Central, where many of their patients were soldiers or former military; lines of work that did not lend themselves to long term mental stability. Given what many of them had done and seen, Lia understood why.
"How are things at the clinic?"
"Crazy, as you might expect in the spring, with one of the primary physicians out of town." Lia smiled, then shrugged. "It's not like the others aren't doing their part, it's just the onset of spring colds and allergies, and the usual run of families expanding after the holidays."
Will chuckled. "Naturally. Well I'm sure he's enjoying the chaos. It always seems to me he's only happy when he's working too hard."
Wasn't that the truth? Lia nodded and allowed her long-suffering sigh to be voiced. "That's for sure. He's got his own cold, like he does every spring, but he's still refusing to admit it."
"Because he knows you'll scold him for it."
"Which he thoroughly deserves," Lia replied pointedly, waving her spoon above her bowl emphatically before putting it back into her soup. Ethan had, in fact, been stifling sniffs and sneezes for over a week, and insisting he was fine. He was working long hours at work again though, and she knew that was why. He was working on refining a new medication for severe post-combat anxiety that was more natural and had fewer side effects. As always, when he had an exciting project going on, his own health seemed to be an afterthought…except for eating. At least he never forgot to do that. "You know, you're welcome to come over for dinner."
Will's expression brightened. "I'll probably take you up on that. I've been over at Mom and Dad's at least twice a week, and Cal and Alyse's almost as often, since Ren left."
"Well, eating alone is no fun," Lia agreed. "And I know Ethan would like someone else to talk about his recent work with." As much as she was willing to listen to her husband babble on about anything, that didn't mean she could always offer him the engaging response and feedback he could get from another alchemist. Not when he got deep into it, like this current project. Understanding the jargon was not the same as being able to speak it back fluently. Aeddan, who was heavily into soccer season and didn't talk about anything else, wasn't much of an audience for alchemy talk these days either.
"So if I come over and distract Ethan, you'll feed me. Seems like a fair trade."
Lia nodded. "You distract Ethan, and I'll feed you something besides double-burgers with extra cheese." She couldn't help smiling knowingly at Will. "Does Ren know what you eat when she goes out of town?"
"Of course she does," Will replied, faking a decent look of consternation they both knew wasn't genuine. "She's my wife. She can tell what I've eaten from over a thousand miles away."
"And a month later."
"Are you nagging for both of you?" Will asked.
Lia sipped her glass of tea and tried not to laugh. "Don't you know? Ren and I have been co-nagging you both since college. It's a pact we made."
"Suddenly the past few decades make a lot more sense."
Lia shrugged. "It's how we stay sane."
April 26th, 1986
There were a lot of things Charlie liked about his new after-school job. The first was that it was an auto-mechanic's shop, which meant he was working on cars for money. The second was that his boss, Trey Govin—the middle-aged guy who owned the place—not only paid him better than most of the after-school jobs he had seen available, but was laid back, happy to teach Charlie everything he knew, and had been happy to work him in around his school schedule. Trey's Garage had been in business for over twenty years, and the man knew Gill's parents, so Charlie's parents had been quite happy that he wanted to take on a little extra work to make his own money, as long as he kept his grades up.
Which Charlie didn't think would be too much of a problem, due to his other favorite thing about the new job. Trey had been quite happy with Charlie's offer to help close-up shop a couple of nights a week, since it meant he could go home a little earlier. That left Charlie alone once work was done for the day, and Trey liked to go home in time for dinner with his wife, which meant Charlie usually had an hour or two alone on those nights before his parents expected him home.
Above the garage was a tiny apartment that was used mostly as a sort of staff lounge for the garage. It was more of a multi-purpose room, with a kitchenette on one wall, an old orange couch—the kind that would eat you if you weren't careful—and a small bathroom. It wasn't much, but it was the perfect place to meet up with Shelby where no one would be likely to see them together and report to her parents.
At least, that was his plan. This was the first evening he had dared to invite Shelby to join him—during a note he had dared to slip to her when she and Marlena had come by Gill's again a few nights ago. They were part of a group going to the movies. Charlie hated not going with them, but if they wanted this to work, they had to continue to pretend that they weren't seeing each other…that they were starting to move on.
Shelby's own after-school job was only two blocks away, at a little deli and bakery. Charlie waited anxiously as Trey took his time putting his tools away, washing up, puttering up around the shop, and checking the register before he left. Charlie had his head under the hood of one of the cars, pretending he was almost done with a repair he had finished nearly twenty minutes earlier.
As soon as Trey was gone, Charlie washed up, dropping his grease-smeared coveralls in the dented washer kept there for that purpose, and waited an agonizing ten minutes before he heard a soft knock on the side door. Hurrying over, he opened the door and Shelby darted inside, carrying a bag.
"What's that?" Charlie asked only after he had released her from a long hug and passionate kiss. He wanted to head upstairs, but he was surprised by the unexpected addition. He had expected her school bag. His was upstairs too, since he came right over after classes.
"Dinner," she smiled. "There's always a little extra after closing time. Whatever they don't sell, most of it goes down to the homeless shelter if it won't keep, or it's on marked discount. We're allowed to take home some of it too." She shrugged. "So, I thought you might be hungry… later."
At the moment, his only appetite craved her, but Charlie appreciated her thoughtfulness. "Definitely later," he agreed, taking her hand. "Come on, let me show you the place." Trying not to be too over-eager, he took her up the small flight of stairs in the back. He couldn't call the apartment a love nest…but it was their own secret meeting place, and that made it special.
"Cozy," Shelby commented, wrinkling her nose a little at the car smells, but she smiled. "Nice couch."
"I think you'll like it." Charlie took the bag out of her hands. She let go without resisting, and her backpack slid off her arms to the floor before he gathered her into his for another embrace, and a much longer kiss. The little room felt hot, and Charlie's skin tingled where they touched. His muscles twitched. Months without Shelby had been like months in a desert with no water. He needed her with every fiber of his being; and judging by her reactions, she felt the same.
As they tumbled onto the couch, Charlie was grateful for the thick walls and lack of anyone else sharing walls with the apartment. They wouldn't have to worry about noise.
Author's Note: 1/10/2017 And, we're back! Thanks everyone for your patience while I got through end-of-semester, holidays, and running my part of the Convention! Had a great time, and excellent turn-out at the Fan fiction writer's discussion panel. Anyone want to take bets on when Cal's blood pressure is going to spike through the roof, and how high? ;)