Milk
"Daddy, why do you hate milk?"
A man, around his mid-20's and sporting blond hair tied up in a braid, almost spat out his coffee after hearing his daughter's sudden inquiry.
"What did you just say?" his eyes went wide as he tried to reconfirm the 5-year old girl's question.
The girl crawled next to her father on the sofa he was sitting on. His eyes followed her movements, waiting for her response.
"I said, 'Daddy, why do you hate milk?'."
The question made the man grimaced. "Of all the questions you have to ask, why that?"
This time, it was the girl's turn to frown. "I want to know. I like milk, but mommy said you don't. Why?"
Her father placed his cup on a nearby table on his right and scratched the back of his head with his automail hand, slightly scowling. He just didn't want to talk about that issue of a certain dairy product. He sighed.
"I just don't."
"Why?"
He sighed again. He should've known that his daughter inherited his and his wife's stubbornness and would never back down on an argument.
"I just don't like to drink something that came out from a cow or any sort of livestock for that matter."
"Why?"
'She's never giving up on this! It's starting to get on my nerves.' He thought.
"Look kid…" he started and somehow irritation became obvious in his voice, "I don't like to drink milk because of who knows what kind of weird stuff could be in it. It's just plain gross."
This time the child fell silent for a moment. The father thought that what he gave for an answer was sufficient for her. However what she said next baffled the man completely.
"But…I drink mommy's milk…does it have weird stuff in it too?"
He was speechless as a blush crept on to his features.
"Daddy, are you okay?"
If it wasn't for his daughter's voice, he would have stayed in that state for quite some time.
"Uh, what…? Huh…oh, yeah…I'm fine."
He thought that his daughter had forgotten her question. He had never thought so wrong.
"Daddy, is mommy's milk bad?"
This time he stood up, turned his face away so he could hide his blush while ruffling his child's hair a bit before giving a hesitant answer.
"I guess…" He gulped inaudibly, "it's not so bad…" then he walked away, leaving his daughter with her musings.
When he stepped out of the living room and into the hallway, he noticed a figure standing near the doorway that seemed to be trying to suppress her laughter with great difficulty. He snorted.
"And what did you find that was so funny?"
The man's wife stepped closer to him. Her laughter died down for a bit before responding to him. Yet she still couldn't help but giggle while answering.
"You have to admit Edward that our daughter is smart. Who would've thought that the famous Fullmetal Alchemist would be stupefied by a mere child?" she chuckled afterwards.
"Shut up Winry."
And with that he left his wife with her laughter still ringing in his ears as he walked away feeling embarrassed.
-The End-
Author's Notes: I had always kept this "milk" idea for some time but I didn't have a way on how to write it that wouldn't seem to be "suggestive". Then this plot suddenly struck me as I'm in my sleep-deprived state of mind.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. Hiromu Arakawa does.
Date written: October 21, 2009 (around 1-2 AM)
Additional A/N: This story was subject to editing and revision. That's why I didn't post it immediately after writing. I still had it checked by my beta-reader, Auto-Alchemechanicist. I offer her the warmest thanks from the bottom of my heart.