To be honest, Roy had never gotten the appeal of faking sick for work. Not that he was a workaholic by any means, heck he'd even sneak a nap in during the work day when he could, but it just seemed like a dumb idea for anyone with a desk job. After all, it just meant you had double the work the next day. But in some instances, he could understand how it could be worth it. Like right now. He had to call in sick this morning. He couldn't find anyone to look after the two in such a short amount of time. And right now, he didn't think he could find anyone in the whole world that could handle these boys.
"Stop running in the house!" he shouted as he chased after them. Rin bumped into a lamp stand and Roy stumbled to catch it before it hit the ground. He scowled at the two boys as they disappeared around the corner. He had left them alone for twenty minutes to search the phone books for a nanny for them and the two had started a game of tag and were now tearing up his home. He hadn't been paying attention and only found out about it after Rin decided to include him in their game. Now he was running around the house after them as "it."
They had been going in circles for over a half hour, and the colonel was starting to get sick of this little game. As Roy rounded the corner, he hit his shin against the coffee table and cried out as he fell over, clutching it. Roy glanced up at the clock. It was barely eleven in the morning and he was already worn out. He couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of weird form of punishment for all that he had done in the past. The two stopped in their laughing and running and turned to him with concerned expressions.
"Are you ok Mr. Mustang?" Yukio asked as they ran over to the man in pain, "We're so sorry! We didn't mean for you to get hurt!"
Roy glared up at the two concerned boys. Then he smirked as an idea came to mind. He suddenly lunges for their waists and lifted them up as he climbed to his feet. The two boys let out distressed noises and tried to flail out of his grip but to no avail.
"What the heck?! Let me go, you jerk!" Rin cried.
"No way," Roy said chuckling, "This is what you two get for letting your guard down." He then carried them to the couch and dropped them in the seat. His smile then faded as he crossed his arms and glared at them. "What the hell had gotten into you two?" he demanded, "I leave you alone for only a few minutes and you start tearing up my home! I've told you multiple times not to run in the house! I even told you to stop a few minutes ago. Do you realise how much you could have broken in your recklessness or how hurt you could have gotten?"
Both boys looked down at the floor shamefully, Yukio was looking like he was afraid to look up and rin was glaring at the white carpet. "We're sorry Sir…" Yukio said, "We didn't mean any harm. It even started out as just a game of hide and go seek but it got out of hand."
"You should have stopped it before it got that way," Roy said a little less harshly, "You two are old enough to know right from wrong."
"We really are sorry," Yukio continued, "It's just…"
"We're bored!" Rin interjected, "We're sick of being cooped up inside here! There's nothing else to do! No toys, no games, no TV, and all your books are too grown up for us to enjoy. We can't just sit and a desk and stare at papers all day like you!"
Roy narrowed his eyes at Rin, but in his mind he did realise the kid had a point. While he did have some creature comforts here, really his home was not much more than a place for him to sleep. If he wanted entertainment, he could just go out on the town or borrow something from the library. This place didn't have anything to offer the children entertainment wise. Roy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. How was he going to make this work? Maybe there would be something on that list that Shiro gave him that could help...
"You two sit right there and don't move," he said, turning to head up stairs. He gave them an "I've got my eyes on you" motion before heading to the room. He pulled the sheet of paper hidden in one of the graphic novels from the package and opened it, looking for any information on entertainment. He smiled a bit as he found a sentence saying they knew how to play card games like memory and go fish. That was good. He knew he had a few packs of playing cards somewhere. He dug one out of his drawer and headed down stairs. He threw the pack on the coffee table in front of them.
"Knock yourselves out boys," he said. The two smiled before tearing open the pack of cards and starting to shuffle them. Roy smiled with relief and began to walk back to the stairs.
"Hey, Mr. Mustang!" Yukio called. He turned to them with a raised eyebrow. "Would you like to play a game with us? Its more fun with more people," he said, "Maybe you could even teach us something."
Roy thought for a moment. One game couldn't hurt.
…
Roy slowly lowered his hand holding the card with laser focus. He narrowed his eyes as it hovered above the stack. The two boys looked on in awe, clutching his shoulders as he attempted to place the last card on top of the stack. Gently, he lowered it until it connected with the two other card. The huge house of cards wobbled slightly. The boys held their breath before it stopped and became balanced. Roy smirked and the boys cheered.
"That's amazing!" Yukio cried.
"Yeah!" Rin said, "Now I wanna try! Can I?"
Roy shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said. He collapsed the deck of cards and put them back into a deck for the boys. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Roy looked up in confusion. Who could that be?
He got up and slowly walked over to the door. He opened it a crack and immediately regretted that action as he saw none other that his best friend Major Hughes grinning at him. "Hey Roy!" he said, "How are you doing? I'm on my lunch break and I'd thought I'd drop off today's paperwork for you on my way out."
"Thanks," Roy said as he opened the door just enough to step outside and grab the files from him.
"Hey, wait a minute…" Hughes said giving him a sideways grin, "You look perfectly fine...aside from your clothes and hair being ruffled that its. You're not sick at all are you?" In fact, in Hughes' opinion he looked better than he had for a while. He was definitely less somber than usual. He still looked tired though.
Roy narrowed his eyes. Damn it. "I am sick. Now leave me be," Roy said grabbing the paper work and trying to hide back in his home.
Hughes caught the door however. "You know, you don't need to lie to me about this. You aren't the only one who's ever played hooky by faking sick. Heck, I've done it at least twice to spend time with Gracia!" he said before a thought came to mind. A sly grin crossed his face. "Is that what you're hiding? That you've found some pretty lady and are trying to spend a 'special day' together?" he said.
Roy growled at him. "Don't be ridiculous! Now go away!" he snapped, trying to force the door closed, But Maes was immovable.
"Aww...at least let me meet the girl! I am your best friend after all!" he said trying to shove his way into Roy's home.
"There is no girl! Now leave!" Roy snapped.
"But-"
"Awww! Damn it!" a tiny voice shouted as cards fluttered to the floor.
Both men froze. Roy could feel his stomach sinking. "Oh my God…" Major Hughes whispered, as a look of shock plastered his face. Before Roy could do anything more, he was shoved out of the way as Hughes barreled through the door, a look of elation on his face. There he saw two little boys with black hair and blue eyes playing cards. They both looked up at him in confusion. "Oh my GOD!" he cried again, pointing at them. "You didn't!" he squealed, "You did! I can't believe it! You actually managed to make a pair of little roylings!" The two boys blinked at him in confusion, but they were too bewildered to respond.
"Maes, they're not-" Roy started but was cut off by his friend turning around and glaring at him.
"Roy, I am disappointed in you! How could you hide these two from me? I spent all this time worrying that you'd never settle down! You better not have made Fuery or Havock their godfather in my place!" he accused, although there was a little hint of amusement in his eyes, "Though I expected you'd want to be married long before you had children running around the house if you ever decided to have them. How old are they anyways?"
Roy scowled at him. "I haven't been hiding them from you! I didn't even know of their existence until last night," he stated but quickly realised his verbal mistake. But before he could correct himself, Hughe cut him off with a sly grin.
"An old flame of yours tracked you down and dumped them on you, huh?" he said, "Heh! I wonder why she didn't try to get ahold of you sooner." He smiled at Roy's death glare but once again didn't let him respond. He walked over to the boys and crouched down to eye level with them. "Hey there little guys!" he said waving his hand at them, "My name is Major Maes Hughes. I'm a friend of Roy, but you can call me Uncle Hughes if you like!" Roy's eye twitched and his fists shook. "What are your names?" he asked.
The boys blinked their surprise away. "Uh, Hello Major Hughes... My name is Yukio Okumura and this is my Brother Rin," the little one with glasses said, "It's nice to meet you, Sir."
Hughes smiled warmly. "Awww...They're so polite!" he cooed.
"You're really weird, you know that?" Rin said giving him an odd look.
Roy smirked as Hughes stumbled slightly at that comment. "Well one of them is anyways…" Hughes muttered. He then quickly bounced back with a sly smirk at Roy. "At least I know where he gets the cold bluntness from!" he remarked. Roy ran a hand down his face in annoyance. "So," Hughes said turning back to the boys, "What's it like living with your daddy now? Are you enjoying it? I know he can be a bit of a buzz kill at times."
Rin looked offended and Yukio raised an eyebrow. "What are you, crazy?" Rin blurted out, "that Mustang guy isn't our dad!" Yukio nodded.
Hughes' eyes widened in surprise and confusion before turning towards Roy for an explanation.
Roy sighed. "I've been trying to tell you: They. Aren't. Mine!" he snapped, punctuating each word.
"Oh…." Hughes said quietly. He then gave Roy a concerned and confused look. "If they aren't yours, then whose are they? And why are they here?" he asked he stood up, smile now gone.
Roy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's a long story," he said, "I'll explain it to you as I make lunch."
…
"So these kids were being looked after by that weird guy who save your life a few years back?" Hughes clarified. Roy nodded as he turned over a slice of chicken in his frying pan. It simmered quietly as the tiny flames of the gas powered stove evenly cooked it. The two boys went back to trying to build a house of cards. Yukio had managed to make it to a second tier, while rin was getting frustrated over not being able to complete even one.
"Wait, didn't that guy claim to be from a different universe?" Hughes asked.
Roy nodded again. "And honestly, I believe him. After all the things I've seen him do, I find it hard not to," he said, "I and three other men were attacked by a few of the monstrosities from his world, so I know I wasn't going crazy either."
Hughes nodded, though still didn't look entirely convinced. "So it's safe to assume they're from his world too?" he asked, "How did they get here?"
"I don't know, but I suspect the freak who dropped them off last night had something to do with it," Roy said, "There was definitely something wrong with him, but I still can't explain what…"
"So why can Shiro no longer take care of them?" Maes asked, glancing over to see Yukio snicker lightly at another one of Rin's failed attempts at building a house of cards, "And why send them here?"
"Because if they stay there, they'll be executed," Roy said grimly. Maes looked at him in shock and horror.
"Why?" he hissed, "Why would anyone want to kill kids like them? What could have they done wrong to deserve such a thing?"
"It's not what they did, it's what their father did," Roy explained, "Their biological father is a monster. He embodies everything evil in their world. They fear his children, whom have never known him and never will, may follow in his footsteps."
"That's messed up," Hughes stated, shaking his head and clenching his fist in anger, "A child should never be blamed for the actions of their parents."
"Tell that to the ones that had been hunting them down," Roy muttered, "So here we are now. I'm stuck with these two and I have no idea of how to take care of them and still do my job."
"Sounds like you need a nanny," Hughes said.
"Yeah, and it's a little bit difficult trying to get one," Roy said, adding seasoning to his dish, "I'm a little worried that if I do, the person I get might go to the tabloids with how I suddenly have two kids. I have no idea how to explain them yet."
"You might have another reason to be selective about who's around them," Hughes said with a sigh, "Last night, a man attempted to assassinate Basque Grand." Roy stopped what he was doing and looked at him with surprise. "It was unsuccessful, but we've figured out there were multiple people behind it. Ishvalian sympathizers," the Major stated grimly, "They were unhappy with how the people there were massacred, and they want revenge on military personnel involved."
Roy looked down, guilt seeping through him. Looks like he'd already failed in keeping the boys out of harm's way. "So if anyone finds out about their connection to me, they'll be in just as much danger as I am…" Roy muttered. He closed his eyes and knit his brows together. Just another problem because of his own mistakes.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up! It'll be ok," Hughes said patting his friend on the back, "I know the perfect person to solve your nanny solution. She's smart, and funny, and beautiful, and great with kids...Not to mention she's the best cook in the whole world! I can assure you she's completely trustworthy too!"
Roy let out an amused snort. "Let me guess, is her name Gracia?" he said. Hughes nodded happily. Roy chuckled. "Alright. It's not like I have any other choices," he said with a smile. At least that was one problem solved.
Suddenly they heard the collapse of cards and a loud "GRAAAAAAH!" They both turned to Rin. "Why can't I get it right!" he yelled, "This is impossible!" At that moment, he slammed his hands down on the table. At the same time, the flame in the stove when haywire, growing five times in size and burning a bright blue for a few seconds.
All four people in the room looked on in surprise. "The hell was that?!" Hughes breathed.
Roy took a deep breath to shake his nerves. "The gas release system must have malfunctioned," he lied, turning off the stove.
"You should really get that looked into before you hurt yourself," Hughes noted, still glancing warily at the the stove top. Roy nodded, but he felt something deep down that told him this problem wouldn't be as easy to fix as a broken stove.
Happy Father's Day everyone! I thought it would be appropriate to update this story today. Anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!
