Warnings:
Roy and Ed fluff at various points in the fic, as well as a few
spoilers from the anime.
Summary: It was just supposed to be a
routine recon in the east. But when Ed returns from Ishbal with a
little girl, can the unorthodox family come together for the child,
and even find those she belongs to?
Rated: PG-13 for language and
some suggestive scenes.
---
Trisha was the first awake that morning. She scrambled up the comforter that hung off the edge of the bed and planted herself firmly between her two fathers. Fir golden eyes opened and then navy. She beamed and clapped. "You promised me a surprise today!" Instead of annoyance, she was met with smiles, and yanked down between the two.
"Ed, is the sun even up." It was silent for a while before Ed shifted to look out the window.
"Barely," he gruffed sleepily. She giggled as she was firmly encased in two sets of arms. She had to wiggle into a comfortable position on her back so that her spine wasn't a question mark.
"Your present will come here later, Trisha. Just relax and sleep," Roy muttered, already halfway sleeping again. Trisha was still and quiet for a while before she sighed.
"You two are boring," she declared, getting up and sliding down to the floor. She knew Al would be awake. She heard chuckling in her wake.
It had been about a week and a half since she had come to live with the tiny family. Already she had fallen easily into her place among them. To Ed, she was a pupil. He taught her all he knew about alchemy and she absorbed it as naturally as air. To Al she was a baby to be pampered. Around him she didn't walk, he carried her. To Roy she was redemption. He lavished affection on her because of all of the bad things he'd done in his past.
"What are you doing up so early," Al asked with a smile in his voice. Trisha tugged on his pajama pants to signal her arrival at his feet. He picked her up and balanced her on his hip as he continued his work on the stove.
"What's that," Trisha asked as she reached for the heating element. Al slapped her hands away and she looked at him with shock.
"Don't touch that, you'll burn yourself."
"That doesn't mean you had to hit me," she muttered indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. Al laughed and kissed the side of her head.
"What is that," she repeated. This time she was answered.
"They're pancakes. Have I not made them for you before?" Trisha shook her head and he grunted in slight wonder.
"Do you have any… choh-coh-latte?"
"Chocolate? I'm sure Roy has some around here somewhere, why?"
"One of the cafés I used to steal from had chocolate chip pancakes. I used to smell them a lot, but I never got a chance to have any."
"Well, how about we fix that."
Trisha had expected such an answer. She had all three men wrapped contentedly around her fingers. But she still giggled and clapped her appreciation and clung to Al as he cooked.
Roy had long since looked past Trisha's race and saw the beautiful little girl she was. Now she was his baby girl. She was the daughter he would raise with Ed. She was the pillar of his world, and he'd do anything to see her smile, even if that meant hacking off a part of himself.
Now, however, his world centered around the darkness behind his eye lids and the contented feeling both he and the smaller male beside him rested in. They had been together for about a year now, and still sleeping in the same bed was just as good as making love.
He shifted gently under the weight of the metal leg, pinning his legs in place. Ed didn't stir once. He felt his breathing tickle his lips as he breathed, and feel the muscles in his arms work slightly as he dreamt. Carefully, he tightened his grip on him. Ed still didn't wake.
Having a child had turned his life into the most wonderful sort of chaos. Trisha was up with the sun and down with the moon, and every moment in between was filled with her voice, happily chatting about whatever popped into her mind first. She was so very much like Ed, never hiding how she felt, or what she wanted. But at the same time he saw himself reflected in her. She saw everything with objective eyes, turning situations over in her mind. He knew full well, as did the two brothers, that she held the strings. She worked them all with joy, in turn elating the three of them.
He was so lost in his musings that he didn't the the slightest of footsteps whispering in the darkness of the room. It wasn't until a weight on his leg alerted him to her presence that she looked blearily up at Trisha.
"You promised me a surprise today!" She sounded like she'd been up for a while. He sighed and buried his face in the crook of Ed's neck. At first irritation bit at his insides. That sanctity both of his room and his musings had been breached. Not only that, but the blissful peace between he and Ed had been broken. Then he registered who spoke, and all negative feelings washed away.
"Ed, is the sun even up," he asked, not sure if he even articulated correctly. There was heavy silence, and Roy knew he wished Trisha gone. Slowly he rose and peered at the window behind Roy.
"Barely," he sighed, flopping back down next to him. Roy reached up and brought Trisha between he and Ed, both holding her close and pinning her down.
"Your present will come later, Trisha. Just relax and sleep." He could feel the irritation in the way she laid. He smiled over her head at Ed, who grinned down at the top of her ruby head. He reached over and sleepily brushed a stray hair from his cheek, and was asleep again before his hand rested on Trisha's head.
"You two are boring." The words made Roy's nerves jump. He cracked open and eye to watch her go. He wanted to voice a goodbye, but he was just too tired. Instead he yanked Ed closer and sighed deeply.
"She gets up too early," Ed muttered into Roy's chest. He nodded in agreement and fell back asleep, Ed's metal leg curling around his.
"Where are we going, daddy," Elysia asked from the car seat. Maes only smiled and answered, "You'll see. Daddy has a surprise for you!" Squeals ensued from the back seat and he smiled gently to himself.
"Why are we going to Roy's house," she asked after an extended silence. He grinned brightly; his little girl was so perceptive.
"That's where your surprise is."
"Why is it at Roy's house?"
"That's where he's keeping it." Granted, he felt a little odd calling Trisha 'it' but he had to keep it a secret. Finally he pulled into the driveway of his house.
By the time Roy and Ed walked downstairs Trisha was covered in chocolate and she was bouncing off the walls. She was giggling and bouncing and talking a mile a minute. Al only smiled apologetically and tried to clean her face as it whipped from left to right. It was the doorbell that stopped her actions. They turned away for a second and just like whenever the doorbell rang before she was hiding.
As Ed and Al poked around for her he opened the door for his friend and his daughter. Of course Elysia immediately began inquiring about her present.
"Settle down, Ed and Al are looking," he chuckled as he pulled the little girl onto his lap.
"Why did you hide it?" Roy only laughed.
"Mine." Roy looked down at ruby eyes. Trisha yanked the child down from Roy's knee and placed both of her hands on both of Elysia's shoulders and repeated her mantra.
"Trisha, that's not nice," Roy scolded, taking her hands off the other child's shoulders. Trisha pushed him away and pulled Elysia's arm close to her, glaring at Roy.
"No, she's my present. She's mine." There was shocked silence. Elysia pushed away and stuck out her hip, pouting.
"I belong to my daddy, not you! Besides, you're my present." Trisha shook her head and seized her hands, repeating her mantra with confidence. Elysia took her hand back and denied the claim. Finally, Trisha grabbed Elysia's shoulders and embraced her.
"You're mine, okay," it wasn't a question. Elysia huffed and pushed Trisha away, going back to her father.
"I don't like my present." Maes couldn't speak because of his withheld laughter. He picked up his daughter while Trisha pouted from the floor. She reached out feebly for the other girl and whimpered when Roy picked her up.
"Mine," she whined, kicking and pulling away from the strong arms that held her in place.
"I'm sorry Maes, I don't think she understands things just yet."
"She's an orphan. She probably hasn't had any contact like this before," he chuckled as Elysia put him between her and Trisha. Trisha stopped and looked up at Maes with a questioning. Elysia was slightly shocked at the sudden ceasing of activity, and poked her head out from behind her father. Trisha pursed her lips curled up back into her father to think for a moment. She absently traced a button on his shirt before she looked up. She opened her mouth to speak, but did not. Roy kept watching her, expecting something that did not come.
Orphan, the word tumbled and twirled in Trisha's mind endlessly, its meaning lost to her. Her unrequited affections for the other little girl were now shoved to the backseat as confusion over took her. Orphan, what did that mean? Her father apologized for her behavior, was orphan a bad thing? But then Mr. Hughes said she hadn't had any contact. From lessons with her father, Ed, Trisha knew the basic meaning of that word. Did orphan mean the same thing as loner?
She tilted her head up to search Roy's eyes for an answer. He'd never had any trouble answering her questions in the past. But then again, she'd never asked about anything negative, not even about why he'd been so resentful of her at first. Would he tell her the truth? Trisha couldn't be sure it was bad, so she could be sure she'd get the true answer.
She looked back down at her knees and furrowed her brow until it hurt. Finally Trisha clicked her heels and muttered, "Orphan means bad. I'm bad, aren't I?" Why else would Roy apologize for her? She was most likely an untouchable, a pariah. She was probably putting her whole family in danger. New as it may be, she still loved them. Trisha had to get away, if only to save all she loved. She hopped down from Roy's knee.
"Orphan means bad. I'm bad, aren't I?" Roy stopped everything at the statement. He heard the words, but they didn't quite register. It wasn't until she slid off his knee that he snapped back to reality. He lunged, perhaps quicker than he should have, and grabbed desperately for the little girl. He tugged her back and hugged her tighter then he had been before and bestowed a million little kisses onto the crown of her head.
"No, no, no, never ever would we ever call you something that meant bad. An orphan is someone who has no parents. And you're not an orphan." His eyes snapped angrily at Maes, "She's not an orphan. She has parents. Parents who love her more than the world." He twisted to lean back on the couch back and hugged Trisha tighter.
The tone of her voice when she spoke those words broke Roy's heart into a thousand tiny pieces. He could live with Ed. It would be an empty, meaningless existence, but he could do it. Trisha had become so much a part of his life it would be like living without a lung, short and painful. He knew she was crushed under the weight of her assumptions. He knew she felt like she needed to get away. Roy would have none of that.
He felt her tiny fists ball up around fistfuls of his shirt and he kissed her head again. She didn't need to feel so broken, not ever again. He pulled her away and looked into wet, red eyes, wiping tears from under them. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "don't you ever assume something like that again. I'll never ever want you to leave. I can turn my back on the whole world so long as you are here, right where you belong, with me and Ed and Al. Do you understand?" Trisha nodded and cuffed her eyes with a small smile. Roy brought her back into a quick, tight hug and let her go.
"Why did you apologize for me then," she asked, walking over and picking up an alchemy book from the bookshelf along with a paper and pencil.
"Because you were being rude, darling," he smiled. Trisha pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.
"She was my present," she huffed. Roy laughed and shook his head.
"No, your present is something else." He smiled brightly as Trisha's eyes widened and sparkled. She quickly flipped open the book to her dog-eared page and went on, "Well, what is it then?"
"I'm not telling you, we have to wait for Ed and Al to be finished getting ready, then we can go."
"So it's somewhere else," she observed, carefully outlining a beginners array. She looked up to see him nod and she hummed in thought.
"So it's a thing, and not a person, and it's somewhere else. That means it's also not a place, since you said it's something else and not somewhere else. You also said that we have to go somewhere to get it. All of that coupled with the fact that there have been complaints between the three of you about my clothing and the fact that you have all decided to take pains to have this day off leads me to believe that you are taking me clothes shopping." Roy watched in silence and fascination as Trisha deduced all of that by herself. His jaw dropped as she went on.
"However, that does not explain the presence of the little girl, unless she too is getting clothing as well." She looked up questioningly and locked eyes with Roy. He smirked and crossed his arms, positively swelling with pride.
"She certainly has the makings of a great alchemist," Maes said, referring to her observation and deducing skills. Roy nodded and beamed.
"She's being taught by Ed, actually."
"No better teacher anywhere is Amestris. Or the world, I'd wager."
Roy looked over to Trisha who had continued copying her array, acting like she hadn't just amazed two adult men.
Trisha had successfully completed her array by the time Ed and Al walked down the stairs. She hopped up and ran to Al who flung her up into her arms.
"I'm ready to go shopping," she squealed. Ed's head swung to Roy and glared. Roy only put his hands up with a grin and said, "She figured it out by herself."
"He told her that her present was somewhere else and she put various, seemingly unrelated pieces together to come to that conclusion." Roy would have defended himself, but Maes would have sold Roy out if it brought some amusement. He watched Trisha as she clung to Al's neck and glowed with pride.
"Well, maybe if the three of you weren't so painfully obvious," she huffed, thought she couldn't hide her smirk.
"You linked days off and complaints to the answer," Roy sighed.
"Now that you put it that way, it was fairly obvious," Maes conceded, Elysia on his heel as he stood and went for the door.
"Daddy, why do I need new clothes," Elysia asked.
"Because you're growing like a weed," he answered with a smile. Trisha puzzled at the phrase, wondering what it meant to be compared to a garden nuisance. She shrugged it off and was fastened into her car seat.
Trisha was almost put into shock from all of the people and the shopping mall. She curled into Al's shoulder and whimpered at the stares she got from people. Ed saw this and bristled next to Roy. The only reason, perhaps, that he wasn't being held in place, was that Roy was bristling right along with him. He looked up to a woman staring with a strange fascinating at the child. His child, something primal and angry hissed.
"You got something you wanna say," he spat. The woman squeaked a little and looked away.
"Brother, be nice."
"Trisha isn't an exhibit," Roy growled, shooting a glare at someone who passed by, staring at the child who let only one red eye scan the crowd.
"She's Ishbalan. It's a healthy curiosity. If we let people ask questions, they'll be satisfied and go away."
"No one is asking any questions," Ed screamed, drawing the attention of half the mall. Al rolled his eyes and hiked Trisha up further.
"Pardon me," a voice to Trisha's left murmured. Trisha quickly recoiled further into Al to hide from whoever was speaking. She heard him chuckle and answer her.
"That little girl… she's not from around here, is she?"
"Oh, what tipped you off," Ed hissed, grabbing Trisha to put as much space between her and the stranger as possible. She yelped a little at the sudden transfer, but easily settled back down and curled up in Ed's arms.
"Pardon my brother ma'am," Al spat at Ed, "But now, she's an orphan we took is from back east."
"Could I… see her for a moment?" Trisha looked up to consider his brother for a moment. Finally he sighed and spun her around, leaving her open for anything. Trisha cringed and tried to turn back around.
"Ah, daddy," she yelped as the woman reached out for her. Roy batted her hands away and took Trisha away from Ed, glaring at him.
"She's not an exhibit, Ed," he mocked, patting her ruby head gently as she sniffled. Ed only flipped him the bird. Luckily Trisha didn't see.
"Pardon me," the woman apologized, "I'm a grandmother you see, and I just can't resist little babies. My own is only three."
"Quite alright," Al assured her. She tottered off and addressed the two men.
"Oh, very well handled you two," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Ed spun his head around and hissed, "I can't stand it! Alright, she's Isbalan, that doesn't make her a side show."
"No one said it does, Edward," Al spat right back, using Ed's full name, "But think about the last Isbalan out in the open in Central. There hasn't been one! These people have only heard about Isbalans in news and whispers. There's nothing wrong with wanting to see her."
"She screamed for us," Roy growled.
"And only then were you to react. Until that moment you should have allowed her to deal with her. How else will she learn the people skills she needs?" Ed considered his brother for a moment before he sighed.
"Give Trisha to me." Roy scoffed and shifted her to his other hip.
"Seriously Roy, give me the baby. She needs to walk on her own two feet."
Maes smirked from behind them. They were little, and they were broken. But they were a family, and they'd do just fine.
