Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Pairings: Past Maes/Roy, Havoc/Roy, future Ed/Roy
Chapter two
Waking up to a foot in the face wasn't exactly the start of a good morning but the innocent little three year old often snuck into his bed in the middle of the night. Roy didn't have the heart to throw her out though, especially since she claimed there were monsters in her closet that would eat her. He could hardly remember being that young and having such a big imagination.
He groaned sitting up. Isabella was a kicker and half the reason he always woke up with some sort of pain or ache in his back. He gave her a look, tiredly observing her. She had kept her baby blue eyes and her dark hair had lightened up quite a bit. Of course her hair was blonde by the time she was twelve months old. He found it weird when she had such dark hair at birth and only showed that it was turning at six months. It was soft though and it went down to the top of her shoulder.
"Isabella time to wake up," he told her softly.
He dodged the foot that would have hit him in the head had he been there a second later. She started to whine and not having the time to wait until she was fully up, cradling her with one arm while he dressed her with the other. He leant her against him whilst pulling her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a magenta rubber band. By the time he was finished, she smiled up at him and gave a tiny little kiss on his cheek.
"Goo' morning papa."
"Good morning sweetheart." She beamed at that, allowing herself off the bed, waiting for him to finish dressing himself before going to eat.
They had her favorite, toast and after getting her face cleaned, they brushed their teeth. Whenever she got bored with the brush, Roy motioned for her to keep on brushing. She hated the flossing though and didn't hesitate to whine when as he tried to successfully run the string between every tooth.
"Oh come on Bella, you want clean teeth right? Papa does it."
She finally nodded now that he was finished, taking his hand. She put on her own shoes whilst he put on his boots. She refused to let him help her tie her shoes, insisting that she could do it on her own. He waited five minutes when she finally had it looped and tied although he knew it wouldn't last all morning but left it be seeing as how she had a triumphant look on her face while she looked at him.
"Papa, I did it."
"You did indeed baby. I'm proud of you."
He left her with Gracia most days since she was happy to play with Elysia. Elysia was two years old and had a different personality altogether. It was kind of funny to see how their personalities clash seeing as how they were around the same age and yet they were different as night and day. He couldn't help but think that Elysia was definitely luckier than the two though because she had both parents with her and Isabella only had one.
"I love you papa."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her to play with the other girl. Gracia smiled watching them and knowing that Roy had to go to work, didn't stop him. She did call out to him as he was leaving though and he turned to see what she had called him for making her smile serenely.
"Bella is a good girl Roy. Don't worry about her so much alright?"
Roy just shook his head.
"I was thinking about how big she was getting to be. She could already tie her shoes. What's next, she'll be needing me less? I really want her to need me for a while."
Gracia smiled.
"Sometimes I don't know who's worse, you or my husband. She is your little girl, remember that okay?"
Roy nodded before stepping out. It was true that she was his and that she was going to be dependent on him until her teenage years but with every year it seemed that it was another one closer until the day she would go away and he didn't know if he wanted that. He definitely didn't want to think that though.
If only time could freeze and she could stay this way.
"What's the matter Havoc?" Breda was secretly amused.
It seemed that their superior officer was stealing the other man's girls again. It didn't really surprise him anymore but the fact that Havoc was depressed by it often made him rethink what he should tell him often. He did think it was amusing but he didn't want his best friend to know that. Especially since he had no idea what it could possibly be that was causing him to be upset in the first place.
"Nothing new. Mom wants me to meet a girl and have children so that she could see her grandchildren before she dies. Oh and how could I forget, Mustang stole my girlfriend again!" His sarcasm wasn't going to be taken in high regard because this was how Mustang and Havoc normally were. Breda always heard about Mustang taking the girl all the time now.
"I can see how your mom would want a grandchild but-"
"But nothing! I don't want children anyways. They are too much responsibility and they keep you awake at night. Hell, they make you stay up while they get rocked to sleep. And if that isn't bad enough, they suffer from colic and a whole range of things that succeed in making you an insomniac. If that wasn't bad enough, there's the post-partum depression. Sorry but I don't think I need a baby in my life thank you!"
Breda frowned.
"But what if you get married and your spouse wants a baby? What would you do then?" Havoc snorted.
"I will say so up front so that they don't give any false expectations."
He didn't bother telling Breda he had a daughter anyways. He remembered Mustang taking him aside and giving him pictures of her and she was surely cute despite being a brat as an infant. She was like two or three the last time he checked and Mustang had said she was a good girl. When he asked why he was giving him updates, Mustang just frowned and even though he hadn't meant to, Havoc felt like he had possibly hurt his feelings. God he would give anything to have him to stop having feelings for him but then again, Havoc still harbored secret feelings for the man himself. Sometimes life couldn't be fair though.
"You seem to know an awful lot about babies though," Fuery joined in.
Havoc took out a cigarette huffing at the thought that if he told them the truth, they would probably fall out of their chair in shock. He wouldn't though since he hadn't been with the man for three years now and wasn't going to go back on his word now. He may be a lieutenant now but he would still be committing fraternization if he got together with him. Hell, he wasn't going to be doing anything with Hawkeye so there was no way he should do anything with him. Why pick him when he could be with that girl?
"WHERE THE HELL IS THE BLASTED COLONEL!"
And there walked in Edward.
"I think you should look where he is always at before bitching." Havoc said miserably.
Ed only raised an eyebrow before turning to the rest.
"What crawled up his ass and died?" Havoc wanted to hit the kid then and there. That was another reason he didn't want to having kids. What would happen if he ended having one like Ed? He didn't know anything about Isabella other than she was supposedly a good kid. Elysia was a good girl too and he knew because of what Hughes told them what seemed like every hour sometimes. If not then every single day.
"Mustang stole another girlfriend," Falman answered for the rest.
Ed looked over sympathetically and Havoc found himself not caring. There was no telling why Mustang did it but if they knew that Mustang was actually bi then what would they think about their fearless leader then? Ed then waved and headed for the office. It was quiet for a moment until Roy finally walked in, depositing the umbrella on the stand and sighing.
"You'd think after turning twenty seven, you stop worrying about childish antics." Breda was if anything more amused.
"Of course, although it only works if the twenty seven year old gives up their own childish antics sir." Roy gave him a glare and if looks killed he would have already dropped dead.
"Oh hush you, just because I embrace my inner child doesn't make me immature and those who believe in that shit anyways are too boring."
"Of course sir, I wasn't disagreeing with you anyways. I was only stating a fact to what you were bitching about."
Roy nodded.
"Well when you get kicked in the face or back every night by a significant other, you find that all humor is a form of masochism and that your sense of fun ends when you grow old."
"Was it Havoc's ex-girlfriend that kicked you in the face sir?" Roy looked confused at that and Breda frowned wondering why until the light went off in Roy's eyes and he nodded.
"Oh you're talking about Brenda. Nice girl. Kisses like a fire hydrant though."
Fuery chuckled although Breda didn't think it was funny at all. His boss needed to come up with better analogies. Havoc who knew the 'significant other' that was kicking him at night could only shake his head. Three year olds are good my ass, he thought soberly. Why would a three year old sleep in the same room anyhow? He guess he didn't understand kids at all and was just another reason why he shouldn't have kids. Although at one time he thought that he could have one or even two but that was before he forced himself to take an ultimatum. It was to be happy at the expense of Mustang's happiness and career or let him go and let him be happy. Besides Mustang never actually told him he loved him anyways. He had to be happy now taking all of Havoc's girlfriends away.
"COLONEL SHIT!"
"Fullmetal."
The kid glared at him, angered and red faced at having been kept waiting. Roy gave his other subordinates a wink before following behind Ed. Breda didn't know the extent to which that meant but Havoc seemed to for he laughed.
"He's gonna cause the kid to have a stroke one of these days." Breda frowned for a second before he grinned.
"Maybe but then that will be the day you fall in love with Mustang and the Fuhrer approves gay marriages."
One of those things already happened although what Breda didn't know wouldn't kill him.
"So Fullmetal, can you explain why you are grouchier than usual? Don't tell me it's the short complex that has you down? Did a girl turn you down because you are so short?-"
"DAMN IT MUSTANG MUST YOU ALWAYS INSULT ME! STOP CALLING ME A PERSON SO SHORT I CAN START MY OWN RELIGION OF SHORTIES!"
"I have to remember that one. I didn't say that Fullmetal but that is a great idea. Why didn't you start a religion based on your height?" Ed just glared and Roy became serious again.
"I want you to be safe while you are here Fullmetal. It seems that Scar is back in the city and he is killing again. You and your brother are going to be watched by Breda and Havoc alright? That means you don't go a single place without telling them. They are going to be committed to keeping you safe and I for one am not going to be responsible for you getting hurt. Listen and I'll give you another lead."
Ed looked at him as though searching for any discrepancies he saw in the talk he's had with him so far. He found none and grumbled to himself before replying.
"If you're so worried why can't you just give me a lead and send me away?"
"Remember last year's assessment?" By the look on the kid's face, Roy knew that he remembered. He just couldn't let the kid leave before then anyways. He would let Hughes house them but then Bella came over there so often that they were bound to put two and two together with Ed being there. He didn't want that and for some reason he felt like he should keep that secret. Havoc had wanted him to and no matter how much it pained him to be, he would respect that man's wish.
"I guess. Funny I never thought you could look so down but you look like your puppy just died."
Roy slipped his mask back in place so fast that Ed had to blink to see if he had seen it at all. He didn't want Fullmetal to know what he felt nor did he want to feel vulnerable in front of anyone. He let himself slip when Isabella was born and he almost went insane at the prospect of Havoc breaking up with him. Damned who did the actual dumping, Roy didn't care about that. He would have a chance in the future to tell him how he felt. He just needed to get Havoc to realize he didn't care about rank and if he felt that they were doing something wrong, he could be the first to tell him that nobody was perfect. He fell apart because of his love for that man though.
"You're dismissed Fullmetal."
Ed blinked but nodded, heading for the door. Roy knew what it was like to be young and hopeful. He knew what it was like to think there was no one in the world that could possibly know what he was going through. He thought there were a lot of things that nobody would relate to but in the end, Havoc was the one that helped him get over himself and even after the nasty breakup, his biting words got him to bounce back onto his feet. He still couldn't help but love the man.
Now if only if he could say those three words out loud. It was easy to feel the love for the man, he really did love him but it was another to tell him. It was just hard to get it out and he was terrible from the start at doing that.
"Fullmetal, keep safe."
Ed paused and nodded.
"You too sir."
Funny Fullmetal never told him that.
Roy dismissed it though and finally began to fill out his paperwork. It was due in two hours. But try as he might to concentrate, he knew that the blue eyed man in the other room was the reason he had been so distracted lately.
Why couldn't he tell him those three simple words?
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think!