May 28th, 1978

Urey Elric and Cayla Evans were married in Resembool after graduating from East City University. The beautiful late spring day was as idyllic as the couple could have hoped for, not that they seemed to notice much outside each other. Seven months of engagement had not dimmed their absolute adoration of each other, but enhanced it. Cayla was feeling far better than she had been during their fall visit, and the couple danced every dance at the reception.

Edward was glad he wouldn't have to share a house with the newlyweds. He and Winry had housed the majority of the out-of-town wedding guests, so Urey and Cayla would be staying two nights at Aldon and Cassie's before leaving for their honeymoon.

"They look so happy," Winry smiled softly beside him as she watched the couple dancing.

"They do," Ed agreed. "For both their sakes, I hope their lives are easier than they look like they will be."

"Killjoy."

"Sorry." Ed slipped his arm around Winry's waist. "I really hope her health stays good. I wish them all the health and happiness in the world."

"They'll be fine," Winry assured him. "If anything else, those times will make them stronger."

"Like us?" Ed smiled at his wife.

Winry rested her head against his shoulder. "Just like us."

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Urey didn't believe in magic, but if he did, he would have believed that was brought him and Cayla together. From the first time they had actually made eye contact, his entire world seemed framed by her hair, centered on her eyes, and everything existed only so long as she was by his side.

As she was now, cradled in his arms, the silky softness of her skin nearly indistinguishably from the thin pale blue satin of her nightgown. His wife; his to love, and cherish, and protect for the rest of their lives. How he had been given such a kind, gentle spirit he still couldn't fathom. All Urey knew was he was luckiest man in the universe.

"How do you feel?" he asked in little more than a whisper. He had done his best, despite his own inexperience, to be gentle.

"Mmm… wonderful," Cayla smiled at him. "Stronger, if that's possible."

"Must be our love." Urey kissed her, and rolled back to his side to gather her to him. "You are my everything. I can't imagine anything we could want more. Can you?"

He felt a hint of surprise when Cayla's face flushed, and she nodded. "Just… one thing."

"What?" he asked curiously. "Whatever it is, I'll get. Or if we can't buy it, I'll be it. What do you want, Cayla? It's yours, you know that."

His wife looked away, clearly embarrassed, and snuggled against him. "I'd like… a baby."

A what! Urey felt an instinctive shudder run through him. He'd just gotten Cayla. He had hoped that they might have some time alone before they had children. Time to enjoy being with each other, and to finalize settling into jobs and a home in Central. Well, she hadn't said it had to be immediately. "Sure," he replied. "We can do that."

Her bright, pale blue eyes darted upward, her gaze locking him in place as she smiled in startled delight. "You really are the best husband ever." Then she locked her lips with his and they did not speak again for quite some time.

June 2nd, 1978

Urey awoke feeling refreshed and eager. Today he and Cayla would be leaving Resembool for their honeymoon trip. They had planned a trip North, to a little resort town outside North City, where they could enjoy the slightly cooler weather and the scenery. The town was also known for a delightful midsummer faire they threw, and Cayla had told him she had always wanted to go. Naturally that had decided Urey at once; it sounded like fun to him too.

"Cayla… sweetheart," he shook her shoulder gently with one hand. "It's time to get up."

She made a soft mumbling noise, and buried further in the covers.

Urey smiled. "Come on. We can't miss the train." He pulled the sheet back enough to kiss her forehead… and stopped cold. She felt awfully warm. Not again. Please not again. "Cayla, honey, wake up."

This time there was a gentle grunt. "Sleepy," she sighed without opening her eyes.

"All right, all right." Urey tried to keep calm. There was no need to panic. She'd had fevers before, even if the last one had been back before winter holiday. "You rest. I'll get a thermometer and just check your temperature."

Getting out of bed, Urey pulled on a t-shirt so he wasn't just in shorts and hurried out of the downstairs bedroom they were sharing at his parents' house. He padded down the hallway into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet.

"Something wrong?"

He nearly dropped the thermometer in surprise. Urey turned and saw his mother standing in the doorway. "It's Cayla," he blurted out. "She's got a fever."

"Let me take a look." His mother took the thermometer right out of his hands, and he followed her back down the hall. The only thing he could do then was stand out of the way and try not to fidget too much with worry as his mother checked Cayla's temperature, and then her breathing, her pulse, and looked in her eyes. Cayla was quiet for the most part, though she made small objection noises when Urey helped roll her on her back so his mother could do her work properly.

"Well?"

"Calm down, Urey." Cassie straightened up. "It's not a very high fever, but she should stay in bed. You told me she always keeps medicine."

"Oh, right!" In his panic, Urey had entirely forgotten. He made a quick run back to the bathroom, and returned with the small bottle that Cayla had told him was the treatment her family doctor had prescribed. "Here they are."

His mother took the bottle and looked at it. "This should do the trick," she nodded. "Get a glass of water, Urey, and a compress. There are cold ones in the refrigerator."

"There are?"

"For when your father does something foolish in his workshop."

Urey fetched the water, and the compress, and then once Cayla had drunk down her first dose of medicine, he settled in beside her to wait, his heart pounding, his thoughts for her safety, and he worried.

He didn't move when his mother called the family for lunch. He wasn't hungry. Urey tried to get a few spoonfuls of broth into Cayla, but he met with minimal success. He was lucky to get water into her, and her next dose of medicine.

The day dragged into early evening before Cayla actually woke. Her fever hadn't broken, but Urey had never been so grateful to see eyes open. "There you are," he smiled weakly. "I've been waiting all day."

"All day?" Cayla looked confused, then horrified. "Urey… what about the train?"

"Shhh." He straightened the cold compress that tried to slip off her forehead. "It's all can change our tickets. We'll go when you're better."

"Are you sure that's all right?"

"Of course it is." He squeezed her hand so very gently, not wanting to tell her how much she had scared him. "We have all the time in the world. You rest and get better. It wouldn't be any fun if you couldn't enjoy it."

Cayla smiled. "Thank you, Urey."

He caressed her hand again. "I love you."

June 9th, 1978

Urey could not remember a longer week. Cayla's fever rose and fell, it came so close to breaking, then would spike unexpectedly. It never rose to levels his mother considered dangerous, but it refused to go away. Her last one had lasted only two days and it had been enough to leave him frazzled. This was so much worse.

It was the middle of the day, a full week later, when her fever finally went away. Urey cradled Cayla, and carried her into the bath, and helped her wash, and dry, and get into a clean nightgown. "There, is that better?" he asked attentively as he got her comfortable, sitting up with a pile of pillows to support her.

"Much better, thank you." Cayla smiled. "Your mother said it was almost lunch time. What are we having?"

"Vegetable soup," said Urey. "As soon as Doctor Lalman comes and has a look at you again." The doctor, one of the four now working at the Resembool hospital, was a specialist whose area of expertise included illnesses like hers. She had come to see Cayla twice in the past week already.

The visit was reasonably brief. "There appears to be no lasting harm from the fever itself," Doctor Lalman finally proclaimed. "However travel is out of the question for the time being."

The trip had been the furthest thing from Urey's mind, but Cayla had asked anyway. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze at the look of disappointment on her face. "There's time," he promised. "We'll have a good time here. It's all right. Someday we'll get there."

Cayla smiled. "You're right. We will."

July 13th, 1978

Urey was feeling the most relaxed he had since the wedding as he strolled back up to the house with Reichart, their catch of the day – nine fat trout- hanging from sticks and ready for grilling. They would make a great feast. Or at least, for everyone who ate fish. Urey felt guilty about looking forward to something Cayla couldn't eat, but she had insisted that he go with his brother today and have fun, even though she was tired –fine, she insisted, just tired- and that if he helped catch anything, he should be able to eat it. With her insistence, he was determined to look forward to a well-cooked trout.

"That last one was really a fight," Reichart grinned as they stomped up the hill behind the house. They went in the back way to avoid dragging muck into the rest of the house. Urey was just kicking his boots off in the back hall when he heard the sound of violent retching in the bathroom.

"Who's that?" Reichart asked.

Urey's stomach dropped through the floor. Horror filled him. He'd never heard her vomit, but he'd heard everyone else in the house at one point or another, and it was coming from downstairs. He broke into a run in the hallway and nearly flew right past the open door of the downstairs bathroom. "Cayla?" he gasped, as he took in the bathroom, his wife leaning over the toilet, and his mother standing there, giving him a wide eyed look of consternation.

Cayla was wiping her mouth on a hand towel as she straightened, though she looked just as surprised to see him.

Urey took a deep breath at the utter lack of urgency in either of their faces. He was over-reacting… over… reacting. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

Cayla giggled, as softly as ever. "You should see your face, Urey."

"Yeah, well, I think I have a right to be concerned when you're sick," he replied irritably.

"For once," his mother said calmly as she stepped around her daughter-in-law, "she's not sick."

What? "But she…"

Reichart's hand clapped him on the shoulder from behind. "Didn't take you long, did it little brother?"

"What?" Confused, Urey looked to Cayla for the answer.

She seemed to take pity on him, as she smiled shyly. "Urey, we're having a baby."

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Aldon waited until Cayla had gone to bed to talk to Urey, who had spent the rest of the day in a bit of a daze. "Son, can we talk?" he asked after Ted and Callie had gone upstairs and Cassie upstairs working on a painting at his suggestion. After that afternoon's revelation, Aldon had suggested she unwind. He had a feeling she might be painting all night.

"What? Sure." Urey blinked, and stood up.

"Let's go outside." Aldon let the way out. It was far from dark yet, being summer. He just started walking, letting his feet carry him down the drive until they were far enough from the house not to be heard. "I noticed you seem a little… surprised about this whole thing," he began.

Urey shrugged. "I thought it would take a little longer. Are you going to tell me Coran wasn't a surprise?" he added irritably.

"Well, no." Aldon leaned back against the old stone wall, resting his elbows on top. "I was just hoping the two of you had thought this through."

"Look, Dad, I know Cayla's health isn't great, but she really wants children." Urey remained standing. "Usually she's fine for months at a time, and when she asked Doctor Lalman, she said it ought to be possible. It's risky, but it's always risky. Cayla wants this more than anything else in the world."

"Your mother is concerned."

"Mom is always concerned," Urey frowned. "But Cayla can handle it."

"What are you going to do about work?" Aldon asked. "There's no way you can take care of her in Central all day and work for the State."

"We'll stay here for now," Urey replied, almost too quickly. "I'll find a job here. You won't have to support us. I'll work whenever someone can be home with Cayla. Then, when the baby comes, and she's okay to travel and work, we'll go to Central. I know it won't pay as much right now as I'd be making there, but this isn't about money."

"No, it's not," Aldon agreed. And it was too late to say they thought it wasn't a good idea. Cayla was already pregnant. "But I'm hearing a lot of 'Cayla wants this.' What about you, Urey?"

Urey looked shaken for a moment before he frowned at him. "Of course, I do," he replied. "It's just a little bit of a shock, and I'm worried too, just like you are."

"Right." Aldon didn't push the subject anymore. He was sure Cassie would have plenty to say over the next few months. He'd already heard a private rant upon getting home about irresponsibility, foolishness, it being far too soon and a terrible time for them to be starting a family… he hoped Cassie calmed down by the time he went in. "Well, congratulations." He offered Urey a reassuring smile. "For what it's worth, I think Cayla will be fine with you to take care of her, and I think you'll make a good father."

Urey's defensive stance lessened. "Thanks, Dad. Right now, given the looks Mom's been giving me, I get the feeling I'm not currently her favorite son."