He told her he loved her at Resembool's welcome home festival for him and Al.

The whole town was there to welcome the brothers home with open arms and Ed couldn't remember a day where he had gotten so many hugs and pats on the back. He would have been more grateful too, if they weren't doing the same to his fragile younger brother. Al had only been back in his body for a short month, which was spent in the hospital until he was strong enough to walk and take care of himself more independently.

When the greetings were through and their stomachs were filled with all the delicious country cooking, Ed and Al were soon surrounded once again by people eager to hear about Father and the story of their own father, Hohenheim, and how the two had lived for hundreds of years before Father set his plan in motion to use Amestris, the country he formed, to become the perfect being.

Edward found himself getting antsy when Al was deep into his turn of the storytelling and began looking around. Where was Winry? He hadn't seen her since they showed up together and she'd been out of sight ever since.

He caught a glimpse of Pinako, talking to some of the older women of the town. She and Winry had already heard the entire story back at the hospital, so he could understand why they wouldn't want to be caught up in the stuffy crowd.

"She better not be off with that good-for-nothing Pitt." he mumbled to himself, slipping away from the hoard of people and into the outskirts of the festival area. He found her talking to Nelly and few of their other childhood friends. Pitt was there too, laughing animatedly at something Winry must have said which made his blood boil and turn his face red.

"Winry." he called, she and few of the teenagers looked over his way. "Let's go for a walk or something, I think I ate too much." he laughed a little nervously, hoping it wasn't too obvious that he just wanted her away from Pitt and with him instead!

"Yea, sure that's what you wanna do Ed." Pitt laughed tauntingly and the other teens around him joined in with 'yeas and ohs'. Winry just shook her head as she made her way to Edward while he was going off on his childhood rival. He was still yelling when she passed by him and was already on her way down the road alone, until she finally called for Ed and pulled him from his ranting fit.

"What's wrong? Too many people?" she asked as they started walking down the familiar dirt road.

"Yea, sorta." he sighed and held his arm out for Winry to link with his, smiling when she accepted and began walking closer to him. "I just wanted to talk to you I guess, I haven't seen you since you got here and we didn't even get to eat together."

"Yea, I decided I'd share you tonight." she laughed, squeezing his arm a little tighter.

He smirked, "Bet you'd love to do that a lot more often, huh?" and squeezed her back just as tight.

Winry shrugged, "Nah, it kinda made me jealous to tell you the truth. I'm glad you came and found me. I missed you." she finished soft and unsure, hoping she wasn't coming off too strong.

"I-I missed you too." he said shyly, then stopped her and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her tight. She did the same and laid her head on his shoulder when she felt her face heating up, Ed had been hugging her a lot like this ever since he came home and it still surprised her whenever he did.

He didn't know what he was feeling when he decided he couldn't let her go just yet, he held onto her tighter, letting her know he had no intention of freeing her from his arms. He smiled into her hair when he felt her hug him tighter in return and began stroking her back softly and pulling her closer to him with his other hand.

"Ed?"

He was thinking she was going to ask him why he still wouldn't let go of her after a minute or two had passed, but she pulled away from him only enough to where she could look into his eyes.

Maybe he did know what he was feeling, maybe he was just too scared to finally let himself feel after all these years of having to be so guarded. He wanted her safe and it was hard to finally believe that he didn't have to worry about putting her in danger just by being associated with her more than what his enemies thought was necessary.

Now, there are no more enemies or people to worry about who could harm her.

He pulled himself from his thoughts and looked deeper into her eyes, he could see it in her too. Maybe she was waiting for him to do more than just come home to her, maybe she was waiting on him to say something first, afraid of being too pushy because she knows him so well and it would probably just worry him if he didn't feel it was the right time yet.

He didn't know if he could wait any longer now though, he knew he was about to say it and he had a feeling that she was waiting patiently because she knew this too.

Then it hit him, why wait any longer?

He'd come close to admitting his feelings for her multiple times during the past few years, but he stopped himself because he knew that it wasn't the right time, that one day they would have their time and he could finally say it without having to worry about Al or if anyone who's out to get him overhears him bearing his soul to the only girl he's ever loved.

This had to be that time, the one he knows both of them have been patiently waiting for. There couldn't be a better opportunity than this, his conscious was clear and he truly felt that this was the right thing to do.

He looked at her again and that was all he needed, right there in front of him, staring back at him with those gorgeous blue eyes that he couldn't help but drown in everytime his own eyes met hers.

He took a deep breath and let it out, before his mind caught up to his heart and made him re-think everything all over again and cause him to wimp out...

he said it.

"Winry. I l-love you." he whispered, taking her fully into his arms again after seeing her surprised smile. He found himself liking the way the words rolled off his tongue, like it was the easiest thing he ever said and he couldn't be more sure than he possibly was about how good it felt to finally say it. "I love you." he said more confidently this time, smiling as he did so. He could feel tears forming behind his eyes and tried to fight them off, but then again, why should he care? He didn't need or want to hide any of his feelings towards her anymore.

"I love you too, Ed." was all the permission he needed to take her face into his hands and kiss her gently. He hated not knowing anything about things like this, so he was still unsure of his actions. Winry just smiled back at him and guided his hands to rest around her waist as she brought her lips close to his again. "You don't have to be nervous, I've been yours since we were little kids."

And after that, he sure as hell wasn't nervous anymore.
_

Lilianne Elric's baby babbles were ringing thoughout the warm, Rockbell home. She was playing with Den, laughing as she chased her around the kitchen, almost knocking Winry over when she caused the dog to run into her leg.

Winry laughed herself and continued stirring the contents in the big pot, adding a pinch of this and a dash of that, whatever spices would make her homemade chicken soup taste just right. She felt it was the perfect meal to make after such a long and dreary day, the rain never let up and it was still raining pretty heavily outside.

Pinako was chopping up carrots and celery, adding handfulls of the mixed vegetables here and there, humming an old tune to try and brighten the mood in the house. She knew the grief her granddaughter was going through, she understood what it was like to raise a child on your own due to her late husband's early passing.

"It's finished." Winry placed the lid on the pot and turned to her daughter who was trying to climb on old Den's back while she was resting on the floor. "Come here, Lily!" she tried to sound excited while she coaxed her daughter into her arms to wash her hands and place her into her highchair. She ladled out a small amount of soup for the girl and then some for herself and sat down at the table with Pinako following shortly after.

The "after-dinner-routine" consisted of a little more playtime, then a bath, story time, then Winry or Pinako would quietly sing the small girl to sleep. Lily loved to be rocked in her mother or great-grandmother's arms, so whenever she was having a hard time falling asleep, the Rockbell women were happy to hold her a bit longer before laying the baby down in her crib for the night.

Once Lily was tucked in and asleep, Winry took advantage of the brief break from the rain and went out to take Den for a walk and some fresh air before she went up to her room and passed out for the night. She hasn't slept well at all since Ed and Al left, she worried about them all the time and she was constantly stressing over the fact that Edward was the father of an almost one year old daughter without knowing.

Thinking about it some more brought on the all too familiar ache that swelled up in her chest and tied her stomach in knots. She didn't know how Ed would react and that's what scared her the most. What if he's so overwhelmed he runs away? What if he's furious at her for not trying harder to tell him what's been going on? There were so many ifs and Winry was tired of thinking about them. She just wanted him home, so they could move forward together as a family.

All too soon, she felt it start to sprinkle again and whistled for Den as she made her way back to the house.

"More rain, Granny." she sighed, taking her light jacket off and hanging it on the hook on the wall next to the front door. Noticing that her grandmother wasn't around, she went into the next room to find her on the phone, pinching the bridge of her nose like she was fighting off a headache. "Granny?" she tried again and Pinako looked over at her granddaughter and smiled lightly, turning away again to finish talking to the person on the other end.

"She's here now, I'll let you go. Alright, be safe. Bye." But she didn't hang up, holding the receiver in her hands, she looked over at Winry and nodded, "It's him."

Winry's heart almost burst out of her chest as she took the phone into her shaking hands. "H-Hello?"

"Winry." Edward breathed, the want and need to see her coated his words and made her ache to see him herself.

"When are you coming back?" she asked softly, afraid he was calling to tell her he would be gone longer.

"We're back, we just got back into the country. We're getting on a train in about an hour so we should be there early in the morning." Winry smiled, she'd been waiting six months too long to hear that. "I can't wait to see you, I'm so sorry we've been gone this long, I'll have to tell you all about it when I get there. What have you been up to this whole time? Do I have to kick anyone's ass for trying to put some moves on you?"

"No, no. Nothing like that happened, Edward. I have a lot to tell you, too, it's been rough without you. I wish you could've called a few months ago at least to tell me you'd be gone longer than expected." she began twirling the phone cord around her finger, nervousness starting to take over while the thought of their daughter entered her mind.

"I know, I'm sorry about that. I'll tell you everything when we get there." he promised.

"Okay, same here. Tell Al I said hi and you two better make it back here safe."

"Will do. Hey, Win?"

"Yea?"

"I love you." he said sweetly.

"I love you too, Ed." she had missed saying those five words entirely too much.

"You're not gonna sleep tonight, are you?" Pinako asked knowingly, hints of worry tugging at her features while she took her glasses off to wipe away smudges with her apron.

"I'll try," Winry let out a sigh, "but if not, I really hope this is my last night like this. It's crazy, I have a baby who actually sleeps and yet I'm the one who's up all night crying like I'm the baby." she sat down on the couch, bringing her knees to her chest, "I'm tired of it, Granny."

"I know, kid. I think once he gets here and recovers from the shock, you two will be able to fix things and continue on like a normal family." she encouraged.

"Yea, I hope. But what if he's mad? Or what if he blames himself for missing Lily's first year? I don't want him to feel that way and regret going because I know it's something he really wanted to do."

"The only way of knowing is to just tell him and help him through it." she said, heading down the hall to her bedroom while motioning for Winry to go up the stairs and try to get some sleep.

She wished she could, she knew she needed it. On the walk with Den, she felt like she could've fallen asleep when they took a break to sit next to the river, but now that she knew Ed would be here in the morning, she couldn't get her mind to stop racing.

She was happy, but at the same time she was terrified. She didn't know if there was a certain way for her to explain things to make Ed hurt any less, this had been such a heavy burden to carry the past year and a half and she hoped that burden wasn't about to grow any heavier.

Morning came in a few short hours and Winry couldn't stand laying in bed any longer, it was still early and Lily wasn't up yet, so she took advantage of the free time to quickly get herself ready for the day. Pinako insisted that she should wait outside for the brothers and told her she would take care of Lily once the baby girl woke up.

The last thing they wanted was for Ed and Al to walk through the door and see Winry with a baby that looks just like her and Edward and no explanation to go with it.

She took her coffee out to the front porch with her and sat down on the old porch swing, pushing her feet against the ground every now and then for a short swing. She had become all to comfortable with waiting, she decided, and she didn't like how familiar the feeling was.

After the night of the festival, Edward and Winry's relationship progressed rather quickly, but no one seemed to mind, especially not Pinako or Al. Ed and Winry both assumed that everyone felt the same way they did, there was just no need to wait or take things slow anymore. They both knew they loved each other basically their whole lives and when you're that sure of someone for that long, eighteen years is long enough to wait.

So they didn't.

Winry liked to call their first time making love a good learning expierence, to say the least. They were both very inexpierenced and even though they had already been doing things together since a week or two after they started dating, when it came to actual sex, they were both lost.

Despite the eagerness Edward so clearly had when they took that first step into full on adulthood, he was the most gentle and loving person Winry could have imagined, which made her love him and want him even more.

Once they found out what the other wanted from them while making love, Ed and Winry simply couldn't get enough of each other. He slept with Winry in her bed every night and they were almost inseperable during the day.

She had a small, but still unsure feeling that maybe she could be pregnant the entire month before Ed and Al got the letter from Ling, but of course, she didn't say anything. She didn't want to say anything unless she was positive. Her cycle was always irregular, so she never kept track of it and without the most obvious sign, morning sickness, she didn't know if there was a way of finding out for sure by the time Ed was set to leave.

So she kept it to herself.

To this day, she kicks herself for not sharing her thoughts with Ed. She should have at least told him what she was thinking and maybe when they knew for sure he could have just come home then? But then there was the annoying fact that communicating with one another while he was in a different country was next to impossible.

What's done is done, she kept telling herself that and hoped that Ed wouldn't hate her when she told him everything.

Her thoughts suddenly came to a hault when she saw the outline of two similar forms and a smaller, more feminine one heading toward the house. She knew it was them, so she stood up and ran to meet them halfway.

No going back, she knew she had to tell him now, before he went in the house, before his entire life changed.

Was it for better or worse?

She felt tears stinging her eyes when she finally found herself in his arms, he held her closely and ran his fingers through her hair while she looked over his shoulder to Al and the third person, who turned out to be May, (with Shao May lounging on her shoulder) and waved at them happily while returning Ed's warm embrace.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." he whispered in her ear, "I'm a crazy man leaving you here for so long, I won't do it again, I promise Winry." he kissed her lovingly, but aware of their audience, he saved the rest of his affection for when they could be alone for a while.

Winry exchanged greetings with Al and May and moved to be next to Ed as they began to walk the rest of the way to the house.

"Al and the bean are together now." he muttered to Winry.

She laughed and shrugged, "I had a feeling that's what you were going to tell me. And don't call her that, she's a sweet girl and I think they're adorable."

Ed made a gagging noise while she glanced behind her to see May holding onto Al's arm as he pointed in all directions, telling her about his homeland and his childhood spent here.

Winry then stopped when they were just a mere ten feet from the front porch, forcing Edward to stop with her from holding her hand so tightly.

"I have to tell you something." she said to him, then looked over to Al. "It's something important and I don't mind if May hears it too because you're all about to find out anyway when we go inside."

The three exchanged confused looks and then focused their attention back on Winry, who was now standing a few inches further away from Edward, this had him more confused and now and he was starting to worry.

"Winry?" he tilted his head, reaching for her, but she was staring at the house wearing a look that none of them, not even Edward could read.

Al stepped forward, "What's wrong, Winry?" he asked, reaching out to try and comfort his best friend.

She swallowed hard and turned to face Ed, who was clearly lost, "I'm just gonna say it, there's no sugarcoating this." Her face brightened slightly when she found the courage to go on, "We have a baby. A baby girl."

_

A/N: Revised as of 7/21/11. Thanks for reading. :)
Credit to AnimeCookie for Liliane Sarah's beautiful name!