Edward Elric opened the door on his younger brother Alphonse, Mae and their daughter Jiaying.

"Come on in." He said.

Al and Mae stepped inside and Mae, who was carrying her baby in a Moses basket, placed Jia on the sofa. Mae kissed her daughters forehead and gave her, her favourite toy; a panda plushie.

"You're alright to look after her for the night? Me and Mae don't want to miss this conference." Alphonse asked his shorter brother.

Ed enthusiastically patted his brothers back. "I'll be fine." He said with a smile.

Mae walked over to Ed "Thank you for doing this, Ed. I know it's short notice." She said, glancing over to her precious daughter.

Two days ago Edward had received a call from his brother asking if he could look after Jia. Ed had been looking forward to a quiet weekend but was happy to help out.

"We haven't had much time together recently." Al admitted.

Ed laughed, knowing the feeling.

"I've left a bag with several changes of clothing, a bottle which, make sure you heat it up and clean properly. And there are some toys and blankets and lots of nappies." Mae said.

"You have our number and the number for the conference centre, so any emergencies . . ." Alphonse said.

Ed nodded. "I will call you."

"Will you be alright with Hugh and Nina away on their school trip and Winry off buying parts?" Al asked.

"I'll be fine, I want Winry to have a good weekend, she loves Rush Valley! And Hugh and Nina are with their school, so I have no worries there." Ed said.

Alphonse nodded. "We should get going." He said. "Sorry that we can't stop for longer!"

"Don't worry about it! Say hi to colonel bastard if you see him."

Alphonse moved toward his daughter and picked her up, he looked into her golden eyes and hugged her close. "Mummy and daddy are going away for a night. We'll be back for you tomorrow Jia." He said smiling. He held up his daughter and kissed her, she squirmed and laughed and Al joined in. "I love you." He told his daughter with so much affection.

Mae tapped his shoulder and Al handed Jia to Mae. He wiped the tear from his eyes, he was going to miss her. Mae smiled at Al and hugged and kissed her daughter before placing her back in the Moses basket. "Mummy loves you too." She said.

Mae looked at Al and took his hand and led him away, he was so attentive as a father.

"Have a good conference, we'll be fine!" Ed said.

Al and Mae left and Ed picked up his niece and waved them off.

Ed turned to Jia and tickled her belly, she laughed and Ed put her back in her basket.

The next few hours passed with ease, Jia switched between playing with her panda toy and being tickled by her uncle, while Ed read a science journal. Suddenly Jia started crying, Ed sniffed the air and grimaced, she needed her nappy changing.

He went into the bag and set up a mini nappy changing station on the living room carpet. He picked up his niece and shhhed her as he carefully placed her down. He undid her dress and the poppers on her undergarments, the smell getting worse. Taking off the nappy he put it to one side and focused on cleaning her up. Jia started to squirm wanting to crawl away, but not yet able to. "Oh no you don't!" Ed said. She began to cry louder. "I'm sorry, just bear with me." Ed whispered. Ed started to panic; he hadn't had to put a nappy on anyone in years. He grabbed the clean nappy and put it on her, holding her so that she couldn't move.

"There!" he said triumphantly. He did up the poppers and dress and held her up. "Is that better?" he asked.

Jia stopped crying and looked up at her uncle, she cried louder. Ed took a deep breath and calmed himself.

He held her on his shoulder as he went into the back and grabbed the bottle, hoping that she was hungry. He warmed it up and sat down on the sofa, feeding her slowly, but she was hungry and soon the bottle was gone. Ed smiled, relived, memories of his children returning to him.

Jia yawned and burped and Ed put her in her cot. He tucked her in a blanket and kissed her forehead. As he pulled away she grabbed his finger.

Ed looked down at his niece, so intelligent and precious. She looked back at him with her golden eyes and smiled. Her hand loosened it's grip and fell and she fell asleep. Ed smiled at her and went make himself some dinner.

. . . . . . .

After giving Jia a finally feed of the evening and putting her pyjamas on her, he set up her Moses basket in his room, so that he could make sure that she was okay in the night.

He kissed her good night and left, leaving the door slightly ajar. He went go do work but heard crying. He went to go and see what was wrong, but stopped himself. What was it Winry said when Hugh and Nina were babies . . . "Let them cry."

Ed sat down, he would give it five minutes. He took a deep breath and focused on his research, but as Jia's crying got louder, Ed found it harder and harder to focus. The words just weren't going in! He sighed and put his papers down, he wasn't going to get anything done tonight.

He stood up, seven minutes had passed. He went upstairs and picked up Jia, he sat on his bed and rocked her. nothing. He rocked her more gently and she began to play with his hair. He began to sing softly, a lullaby he sang to his children, the same one his mother sang to him and Al when they were children.

"Der Mond ist aufgegangen,
Die goldnen Sternlein prangen
Am Himmel hell und klar; . . ."

"The moon has risen,
The little golden stars shine
In the heavens so clear and bright"

(German Lullaby, Matthias Claudius)

He sang the four verses, not realising how well he remembered them. He sang it through till he could her Jia's soft breathing on his neck. He looked down and saw that she was asleep, Ed smiled. As carefully as he could he put her in her basket, and gently wrapped the blanket around her.

Within minutes he crashed himself . . . he was exhausted.

. . . . . .

When Ed awoke it was still dark outside. He sorted out Jia's nappy, bottle and changed her clothes in sleepy ignorance of a new parent. He was so tired!

He gave Jia her panda and tried to complete the work, he failed to do yesterday.

. . . . . . . .

In the evening Winry came home with two boxes full of parts. She opened the door and bought them into the living.

Suddenly Jia started crying; Ed ran from his office and picked her.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realise you were looking after Jia." Winry said apologetically.

Ed hugged her awkwardly and gave her a kiss. "It was short notice." Ed admitted.

Winry took Jia. "I remember when ours were this small." She said.

"It's hard to think isn't it? How things change . . ." Ed said his attention turning to his own thoughts.

"Ed?" Winry asked.

Ed snapped into focus. "Sorry I was miles away." He said. Winry laughed. "How was your trip?"

"It was good, I got several months of supplies and something special for your leg!" Winry enthused.

"Does that mean I'll be on crutches for a few days?" Ed asked.

Winry hit him with a spanner "I was just trying to give you a nice present." She pouted.

Ed rubbed his head. "I know and I appreciate it." He said standing up. He leaned down and kissed his wife, his arms reaching round her neck as hers reached around his waist.

Suddenly the doorbell went. "It's probably Al and Mei." Ed said.

"I'll get it!" Winry said.

"That might be you're mummy and daddy." Ed said to Jia.

Alphonse and Mei came in. After an exchanging of hugs and a round of tea they talked about the various adventures they'd been on. Mae and Al, the conference and Winry her time in Rush Valley.

"Mustang was leading it, he says hi back." Al said.

"Roy?" Ed asked "I bet it was lit." he said.

Winry punched him, but laughed.

"How was Rush Valley?" Al asked.

"Amazing, I would live there if I could . . ." Winry said.

"When do Hugh and Nina get back?" Mae asked.

"They get back tomorrow." Ed said "I'm picking them up from the school at six, while Winry makes dinner"

"Why am I making dinner?" Winry asked.

"Because every time I cook I nearly burn down the house!" Ed pointed out.

"You're not that bad brother." Al said.

"He really is." Winry commented.

Jia yawned and everyone looked at her.

"We should get her to bed." Alphonse said.

Mae nodded and grabbed the basket. "Thanks again for looking after her." she said to Ed.

"That's alright. They're so sweet when they're that small." Ed admitted.

Everyone looked to Jia who smiled at the grownups around her, enjoying the attention.

An exchange of hugs and goodbyes' after which Ed saw them out.

. . . . . .

Ed yawned and leaned against the wall.

"Tired?" Winry asked coming up to him and hugging him. Ed nodded. "I missed you." She said.

"I would've missed you if I hadn't been so busy." Ed said.

Winry kissed her husband. "I know. You're a good dad, Ed."

"You really think so?" Ed asked. Winry nodded. Ed smiled.

"Were alone now till tomorrow evening . . ." Winry pointed out.

Ed nodded "Yes we are!" he said and kissed her. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

"This is just like our wedding night!" Winry laughed.

"But the other way round, and we were both sober!" Ed laughed.

As much as he liked being by himself, he loved being with his family.