1. His return
"And are you completely certain of this?" The Major General's velvety voice roared, bouncing off the walls and completely filling the entire extent of the development lair. Her deep blue eyes bore intently into the young engineer who had the misfortune of dealing with the woman so early that morning, and relaying to her the horrible news about the new tank they had been developing.
The other men around the area briefly looked up from whatever they were doing, their eyes instantly meeting with the man standing before the merciless firing squad. They gave him a sympathetic 'we feel for you ,bro' and 'hang in there' looks before quickly returning to whatever task they were doing least the Northern wall turned around, and decided any of them would be next on her hit list.
"Aye sir, absolutely certain." The man replied as courageous as possible. "The fault we found is much too big and because of that reason the protocol will not be ready as scheduled. I apologise." He solemnly added, hoping that would satisfy her.
It didn't. She glared daggers at him; berated him with the harshest cutting words she could think of, then unceremoniously kicked him out of her sight, demanding that the head engineer come before her that very instance and explain the meaning of this very unacceptable delay. The young redheaded man promptly fled to bring his boss, extremely thankful that all of his limbs were still intact, save for the bruised ego and throbbing ears.
As she waited, Olivier felt a sharp pain in her back and cursed under her breath, reaching her gloved hand under her dark blue overcoat and firmly rubbing over the area in question. It was a pain she had become very familiar with lately.
"This is just starting out to be a really fine day, isn't it?" The blonde woman muttered quietly, more to herself and a tad to the overgrown bulging belly before her.
"I would blame your not wanting to come out, on this but I won't." Her eyes fell on her very pregnant tummy and she smiled a little, her features softening as she patted that familiar source of both solace and aggravation for the past nine months and additional one week.
At first she hadn't accepted the idea and decided to ignore the whole thing but as the weeks went by and the bump grew and with it feeling the little movements and kicks it made, she slowly started acknowledging and becoming very used to the new life that was growing within her. The life she and her partner had made unexpectedly, one late, very beautiful and very social afternoon, against the book filled walls of the spacious library at the Armstrong manor.
Just then a solider came running towards the General and instantly her face reverted to that harsh expression it held moments before. "Sir, the Major has just arrived and wishes to see you." He said without delay after a serious salute. Olivier's heart skipped a beat, her face however didn't show how blissfully jovial that statement made her.
She hadn't seen her handsome husband's face for good seven months – she wasn't including that quick one week visit he made in between that timeframe, because to her it didn't count - and yet it somehow felt much longer to her at times, most especially when she lay alone on her bed those cold sleepless nights, wondering if he was doing well in that arid dessert land he was currently stationed and working at.
She missed him terribly.
She missed the warmth of having him by her side most of the time. She missed how she used to give him a hard time, even if he did or didn't deserve it. She how so in tune with her needs he was, getting her coffee or food whenever she most needed it. She missed their heated arguments that would often end fairly well. She missed his strong, comforting voice, telling her what she needed to hear. She missed the constant support he gave her. She missed those strong, firm arms that held her tightly to him at night.
But most of all, she missed not having him there to experience the wondrous journey of the growth of their baby with her.
They called one another after duty hours whenever they could, always through a secure line, and she would tell him the most important thing his child did to her that day and he would tell her how absurdly proud he was of her for coping so well without him and that he expected nothing less from his queen, then he proceed to complain about Mustang and Scar not seeing eye to eye on things and how he had to the peacemaker.
They would both laugh and discuss all sorts of things, before they'd wish each other good night and hang up. Each being able to sleep a little more at ease, that night. It just wasn't the same as having him there though, to see and feel the baby's kicks for himself, to whisper comforting words to her bulging abdomen while she made faces at him. It was for that reason she decided to write a diary, filled with every immaculate detail of her pregnancy for him to read when he'd return. And that fact surprised Olivier, because she never thought she could be so gushingly sentimental. It must be the hormones she'd often tell herself.
She snapped out of her repertoire and turned her attention to the white uniformed dressed solider who was waiting for her answer, and as much as she wanted to drop what she was doing right now and just go where he was and see him, her rigid discipline wouldn't allow it.
"Tell him I have something that needs my urgent attention right now and that I'll meet with him soon." The General declared, and before the man turned and leave, she added. "While he waits around aimlessly, he should freshen up hastily and then come down here to report for duty." The foot soldier gave his commander a curt nod, quick salute then rushed off to convey her message to Briggs' former and now returned second in command.
The moment the solider left, the head engineer appeared and even though it had only been about five minutes roughly since he'd been summoned, he could instantly tell that the Ice queen was not happy with his tardiness. The neatly dressed middle aged man, was surprised when she didn't bite him off with a sharp remark but instead just asked to hear the exact reason behind the issue at hand.
After an hour of going through every detail from blueprints down to inspecting the machine with the man, Olivier finally issued her orders regarding whatever improvements they agreed upon and told him to immediately inform her of any mishaps that occurred and that she expected things to go according to plan this time or else there would be hell to pay. With a quick swish of her long blonde hair, she turned and marched towards the exit, leaving the lair to finally make her way upstairs.
Miles couldn't contain the rush of emotion that was playing with his insides the moment he entered the familiar grand and impressively imposing fortress he had called home for so long. He had been away two hundred and ten arduous and lonely days exactly, not counting that week he managed to pop in between.
It had been much too long for him without the warm affection of his wife, the woman everyone else feared and thought was incapable of showing anything other than strict authoritarian callousness. To him however; and only him, she was the most gentle, tender and loving woman.
That discovery awed, enticed and fascinated him to this day. It had taken him a good while to remove and get rid of the cold mask the Ice queen hid behind, and the discovery of a warm and passionately amazing woman buried beneath it, charmed the hell out of him.
He loved the fact that she was only this way with him and no one else and he considered himself a very fortunate man because she had chosen him, a man who so unlike her in lineage and background, who never in his wildest dreams have thought he would be the one to tame and make a lifelong mate out of her. The goddess Ishvala truly favoured him, after he had thought she'd abandoned him for so long.
The man made his way to the showers after he'd received the message from the solider he was greeted by outside and with a skip in his step and a song in his heart he hurriedly went about his business of getting the smell of his long track off of him.
Moments later, he strolled into their quarters to find her before him. Her back to him as she stood over a table preoccupied with something he couldn't make out. She was a sight for sore eyes and he found himself instantly smiling as he gently closed the door. From this distance, he could make out how different she looked, the mother to be who was carrying his child. His heart ached at that realisation; they've really come so far.
Miles quietly padded towards her, being barefoot helped otherwise her keen ears would have spoiled his surprise attack. He took hold of her waist and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest and nuzzling her neck. Olivier jumped at first before a slow smirk spread across her lips and her hand went to brush over the familiar sideburn on his cheek.
"I've missed you." He whispered roughly, close to her ear his mouth raining light kisses on her soft skin. "You and this little one." His strong hands patting her belly tenderly. She closed her eyes and sighed happily, taking in his familiar scent, her other hand covering one of his as he continued paying attention to her belly.
"I would turn around and hug you but someone would get in our way, although I'm guessing you missed this someone more than you did me." She teased, turning around anyway and capturing his lips with hers. They kissed for the longest time before the need for air pulled them apart, each refusing to let go. Fiery reds studying deep blues, staring as though it were the very first time they'd seen each other.
"How have you been, Olivier?" He asked softly the concern in his voice apparent, reaching for her cheek stroking lovingly with a warm smile. "Saying I've missed you wouldn't be enough to express just how much I truly did." She replied softly, her eyes shining with tears that threatened to plunge forth. Her entire being shook from the weight of everything she'd been trying to hold back but no longer could.
Miles frowned then pulled her to him, "Hey now, I'm here. It's okay." He cooed. "I'm sorry I've been away for so long, especially when you needed me the most." The reply he received were muffled damn right you should be, indignant huffs and little pounds on his chest as he felt the front of his white plain shirt grow wet. She had her head buried in his chest, refusing to let him see her cry and he was used to it. It was her way of coping with break downs and he found it adorable and almost childlike.
"Nathan..."
"Yes, Olivier?"
"My feet are killing me."
"Oh, okay... Let go of my shirt and I'll take you to our bed."
Author's note: This idea has been on my mind for the longest time and I wrote the story but left it after losing inspiration. However, after reading some fics again and one in particular, I was immensely inspired that I decided to get back to finishing it. Originally it was meant to be a one shot but now I think its going to be a multi chapter and I hope I do finish it. As always, comments on what you think of it, would be appreciated.