Family Dynamics
Author: MoonStarDutchess
Part 1: Four or Two? That is the Question
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Fullmetal Alchemist and gain no profit from this fanfiction but I do own my plot and OC's if any. Any resemblance of the OC's to anyone, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Note: The kids' incorrect grammar is intentional.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Recently I was notified that in Character Guidebook 3 released recently in Japan it's revealed Chris Mustang is actually the younger sister to Roy's biological father, making her his aunt. According to this guide, she took Roy in after the death of both his parents, when Roy was still very young. This story was written prior to my finding out this information but it won't be changed in this fic.
Four or Two? That is the Question!
The woman working at the front desk of Central City Headquarters smiled brightly as General and the Chief Representative to Amestris, Roy Mustang, walked through the double doors. He was flanked on each side by two much larger men, obviously bodyguards. Roy excused the two guards now that he was inside the building, and they went on their way to their proper locations.
"Welcome back to Central Headquarters, General Mustang," the woman said, her eyes obviously checking out far more than his rank bars on his uniform.
"You are new here?" he asked, noticing the familiar way the receptionist was looking at him. Those lustful looks were all the same and he could pinpoint them instantly. While he used to welcome them, now they were just annoying.
"Yes," she said, "I started yesterday. I was told earlier this morning that you would be arriving today. I wanted to be the one at the desk to greet you on your return."
Roy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "I see. What's your name?"
She smiled widely, clearly excited that he would take the time to ask her name. "Eve Benedict."
"Miss Benedict, if a person holds a title of officer and representative, president, and so on, and you are a civilian, you should address them with their non military title."
"Oh, I see! So I should call you Mister Representative or Representative Mustang."
"Yes, exactly," he said.
"Thank you, Sir. I was not notified of that fact."
"Now you know. Keep up the good work Miss Benedict." Without another word, he walked past the desk and over to the elevator, which was conveniently opening at the exact time of his approach. He waited for the people to get off of it, each officer saluting him as they walked by. When the elevator was void of people, Roy walked inside and pressed the button, the doors shutting and blocking the receptionist from view. He was incredibly relieved to be away from the woman and vaguely hoped she would soon be transferred to the secretarial office. He didn't want to have to see her everyday when he came in via the lobby entrance.
Eve huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "Well he's not very friendly!" She wrinkled her nose and glared at the elevator as if she could pass her feelings through to him. When she heard a laugh behind her, she turned to see four other women, also receptionists, chuckling at her.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Dear, you have a better chance doing a successful human transmutation than getting Roy Mustang's attention. Especially flirtatious attention," said the brunette of the group.
"Well I heard he was very flirty so I figured if I at least flirt slightly he'd respond."
"You really should do your research on people around here. Roy Mustang is very much in love with his wife," the red-haired receptionist said.
"I didn't even know he was married. Still, did he have to be so uncongenial?"
"Yes, he's very happily married. And as for unfriendly, what did you expect him to do? Make out with you? Besides, he did say, 'keep up the good work'. He didn't seem that unfriendly."
"His demeanor was so cold towards me," Eve said.
"Well that's understandable. He's been gone for two weeks, and hasn't seen his wife for those weeks. He was probably in a rush to see her. Plus, he gets annoyed with women that try to flirt with him now."
"Wanted to see his wife? Does she work here?"
All the girls stared at her like she'd lost her head. "Girl, you really do need to do your research," the black haired woman said. "He's married to Riza Hawkeye."
"Sara! Get real. Colonel Hawkeye? The Colonel Hawkeye that everyone is afraid of? She's not his type!"
"Oh please," Sara said, "She's nothing to be afraid of at all unless you…" she stepped closer to Eve. "Flirt with her husband."
"You all are kidding me! She's not his wife," Eve turned to the blond of the group, who was keeping quiet. "Come on Lene, they are kidding right?"
Lene shook her head. "No, they aren't kidding. In fact she and the representative have two of the cutest children you'll ever see."
"He's a father too?" Eve heaved a large sigh and sat down roughly in her chair. "Why are all the good ones either taken or gay?"
Roy smiled widely as he approached the office that was directly across the hall: his wife's office. He walked into the main office, nodding his hello to her subordinates who were leaving for Hawkeye's required daily target practice. He made his way toward her private office at the back of the large room, slowly opened the door slightly, and peeked inside.
As always the small office was immaculate and very well organized. There were two shelves stacked against the white walls on the right side of the office. These shelves held various types of profession related books and were organized from the tallest to the smallest so they didn't look uneven or asymmetrical. If he were to go over to the shelf, he would also see that they were organized alphabetically and in order of topic.
Stacked against the left wall was another shelf that reached up nearly to the ceiling, there being about a foot to spare between its wooden top and the ceilings off white tiles. There were books on this shelf also, all of them the same size in both width and height. They were all the same shade of blue and the spines of the books were all decorated uniformly at their tops and bottoms with gold laurels wrapping around the state seal. Roy knew those books very well, having had to refer to them for referencing the various laws of Amestris when doing research. Located behind his wife's desk, was a long black shelf that came up to the same height as the bottom part of the two windows it sat between. It was void of any books and instead displayed her trophies, accomplishments, and odd gifts from her grandfather. On the top of this shelf sat pictures of their family and a thriving vine-like potted plant that was twisting down the edge of the shelf in the direction of the window.
Riza was sitting at her red oak desk. Upon it sat piles of neatly stacked paperwork, a telephone, a coffee mug, and a pencil holder. Her eyes were focused down at her work and she was in such concentration that she obviously hadn't noticed that Roy opened the door.
He made a clicking sound of disappointment, striving to get her attention. She instantly looked up from her work with an annoyed look, her mouth formed into a straight line and her eyes narrowed. However, when she saw it was him, her expression changed completely, a smile lit her features like the sun lighting a summer morning. He entered the room, then shut and locked the door.
"Why are you giving me a look like that when I just got back? Do you want me to go back East or something?"
Riza stood from her chair, threw her pencil down on the desk, and rushed over to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist. Roy fell back against the door. He hadn't expected her to show such extreme affection at work. He moved his hands down to pull her tighter against him and hold her so that she wouldn't fall. She placed her forehead against his, and then nuzzled his nose sweetly with hers. It was a very girly and innocent gesture, quite different from the way everyone else perceived his wife to be. Of course, they wouldn't have expected her to leap into his arms either.
"No, you stay right where you are. If you try to leave I'll tie you to something," she threatened affectionately.
Roy smiled broadly and drew her closer, "I'm so glad to be back."
Riza unwrapped her legs and sat her feet back onto the floor. She kissed him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Roy sighed and enjoyed the intimacy with his wife. Spending so long away from both her and his kids was almost too much to take. If he'd had to spend another week out east he thought he would go insane.
They pulled away from the passionate kiss and stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Riza rested her head against his chest and took a deep breath, savoring his smell. "I missed you so much."
Roy kissed the top of her head, "I missed you too. I missed not having my family around me. It's terribly difficult to being unable to hug my children goodnight then snuggle in bed with my beautiful wife."
Riza raised her head and kissed him at the right corner of his lips, then the left corner, before enrapturing his lips with a concupiscent kiss. She pulled away, leaving them both gasping for the warm office air. "It's hard sleeping without you there beside me." She hugged him again, quickly and tightly. She felt as if her words couldn't fully express how much she desired to have him around all the time.
"Next time, hell or high water, you all are coming with me," he said. "I don't want to go through that again."
Riza chuckled and nodded. "I think the kids are well behaved enough that we can take them with us. As long as it isn't too dangerous that is. Their school is catered to working with people in the military so we could get their work and have them do it while they are with us."
"If we have to go on our own, you know Grumman would be tickled pink to have them at the house running around. So would the staff. They love the kids."
"And the kids love it there, so it works well," she said.
"Well we will have to keep all that in mind the next time we have to go away."
"Speaking of time," Riza said as she turned in his embrace to look at the clock, "I need to go pick up our children from school. Then I have to come back here and finish that work." She motioned to several stacks of papers atop her desk.
"I'll do it for you," Roy said. You get to work and be done by the time I get back Missus Mustang. I plan on spending this up and coming three day weekend with my family."
"I'm taking Maes to the gun show tomorrow so you'll have to stay with Maeve. Unless you want to come?"
"Nah, I'll stay with Maeve."
Riza laughed at Roy's obvious dislike for firearms. She kissed his cheek. "I'll only be gone for a few hours to do some work and look around a bit. Then we are all yours through the three days."
Roy smirked, "And you during the nights?" Riza blushed, looked down at her lap and nodded. Roy thought she looked so adorable when he got her to display such features and actions. "Well?"
She finally looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, me during the nights," she said, then leaned in closer so she could whisper in his ear, "and even during the kids' nap time."
"Sounds like I have a great weekend to look forward to."
Riza laughed, "Me too."
-/-/-
The children at Central Private School were excited about the three day weekend coming up and anxious for the day to end. So when the bell rang, the kids excitedly grabbed their bags and rushed out the door to their parents. A great number of the kids left immediately, their moms and dads already there early, and others had to wait in the coatroom, staring out the window watching for their parents. Six year old Maes and Maeve Mustang were two of those kids.
Maeve stared out the window, calmly waiting for their mother to arrive while her twin Maes was far more anxious.
"Why isn't mommy here yet?" he asked.
Maeve sighed and pointed at the clock with her tiny index finger, not moving her gaze from what it was focused on. Maes stared at her for a moment before turning to look at the large, cat shaped timepiece on the wall. "The small hand is on the three!" he said.
"But where is the big hand?"
Maes studied the clock for a moment and saw that the larger hand was on the five. "Mommy said she'd be here when the small hand was on the three and the big hand was on the six right?"
"Yep," she said, and then sighed. She glanced over to her left and was surprised to see her friend Lily waiting. "Hey, why isn't your mommy here yet?"
Maes walked over to stand closer to his sister. "Yeah, your mommy is usually the first here," Maes said.
"My grandparents are coming here to get me! I get to stay with them this weekend," she said with an excited laugh following her words. "All four of them are going to take me out west and we are going to go to the zoo, and swimming, and going to have ice cream and other stuff!"
"Fun!" Maes exclaimed, "I like giraffes and swimming in lakes and chocolate ice cream and other stuffs too!"
"Me too!" Lily said with another giggle, her dimples showing in her cheeks as she smiled. She looked back outside and the smile grew as she saw her grandparents walk through the gate. She pointed. "There they are!" she said, and began to gather her things together hurriedly.
"Why didn't she just go ahead and get them?" Maeve muttered.
Lily ran to the door. "Bye Maeve! Bye Maes," she yelled. She rushed out of the building and up to four older people, one of the women picking her up and hugging her. After she hugged all of them, they put her down and she turned to wave at Maes and Maeve before walking out of the gate.
"Maeve, why does she have four?" Maes asked. He looked down at his hands and held out two fingers. "We only have Gramps Grumman and the holiday lady."
"We have to find out!" Maeve said, "It's not fair that we only have two and she has four!"
"Four what?" a little brown haired boy asked as he walked up to the twins.
"None of your business Dwayne," Maeve huffed and folded her arms, clearly displaying her dislike for the boy.
"Grandparents. Lily has four of them!" Maes said, ignoring what his sister had told the other boy.
"Maes! You aren't supposed to tell!" Maeve scolded.
"So do I!" Dwayne said, "I have four."
"Me too!" a little girl piped up.
"I do too!" yet another kid said.
"Don't you?" Dwayne asked.
Maeve grabbed her brother by the collar, then her bag and began pulling him out of the room before he could say more. "Come on, we have to wait for mama!" Maes grabbed his bag quickly as she dragged him past the table that he sat it on.
"Bye guys!" Maeve said, waiving at their classmates as they walked out of the door. Maeve led them to the gates and stopped.
"Maeve! You know mommy said that we aren't supposed to walk out of the gates without her here," he said, while carefully zipping up his coat.
Maeve huffed, "We aren't exactly out of the gates are we?" she said and step directly on the border of the gate and the sidewalk.
Maes kicked a pebble on the ground. "I suppose not."
"Listen, we have to find out why we only have one gramps and one grandma!"
"Yeah, I know but how do we do that?'
"Leave it to me!" she said proudly. A small smile, that was the child version of her father's infamous smirk, came to her lips.
"I always get more afraid when you say that than I do when the boogeyman sleeps under the bed."
"You are going with mama to the gun thing tomorrow! You ask her about it!"
"Why can't you come and ask her? Or ask daddy about it?"
"I'm staying with Gracia tomorrow because I hate the gun place. And you know Papa is away out east for a meet thingy."
"Oh yeah. I miss daddy."
"Me too, but he'll be back later. You have a duty to do tomorrow like an officer. You must ask mama!"
Maes saluted his sister. "Okay I shall ask mommy then!"
"Good!" Maeve then directed her dark gaze down the road and saw their car coming. "Mama's here!"
Maes walked up to stand at the gate as the car pulled up and stopped. The door opened and their eyes widened and smiles graced their lips when they saw their dad.
"Daddy!" Maes said while Maeve yelled, "Papa" at the same time.
They rushed toward him as fast as their little legs would go. Roy bend down, scooped the two children up, earning hugs in the process of his lifting.
"Daddy is supposed to be out east!" Maes said.
"I was able to come back early so I thought I would pick you up from school while your mom finishes her work."
Maeve kissed him on the cheek, "Yay! Now I can stay with papa tomorrow instead of Auntie Gracia!"
"Stay? Ah yes, your mom has some work at the gun show to do," he said, having momentarily forgotten about Riza's plans the next day.
"I'm going with mommy though," Maes said.
"Yes, I figured that much," Roy said. He put his kids down and opened the back door of the car. Roy secured them in their seats before getting back in the driver's side and making his way toward headquarters to pick up his wife.
Maes leaned to the left, towards his sister. "Now you can ask daddy too."
"I will," she said with a firm nod of her head.
