Open Up
Woohoo, we get to meet Cecelia's family. Sorry if this chapter isn't very exciting, but I promise that the next one will be a lot more interesting. I'd like to thank Your Royal Freshness and especially KuramaMustangElric for reading and reviewing. It was very encouraging and you guys are the best! I hope everyone enjoys.
Typical Disclaimer: I don't own FMA but I do own Cecelia and her family.
Winry had to restrain herself from bouncing in her seat as their train neared Rush Valley. She'd arrived in Central the night before and caught up with everything else and earlier today around lunch time they all boarded the train to begin their trip to Rush Valley. They spent most of their time chatting or playing cards, but it got a little old when Ed continued to win, although it was later revealed by Cecelia that he'd been cheating. As the ride went on, Ed, Al and Cecelia all fell asleep for a nap and out of all of them Cecelia looked the most comfortable. Her head was slumped against Al's arm while her feet were propped up on Ed's lap. Winry was actually surprised that Ed left her feet there, but he didn't say anything about it before he fell asleep. With a sigh, she looked out the window and smiled when she noticed a large town in the horizon that only got bigger as they got closer.
"Hey guys wake up, we're almost in Rush Valley." She said, leaning forward to shake Al's knee.
After a bit more prodding, Al woke up and he in turn woke up Cecelia who woke up Ed by poking him in the gut with her foot. When Ed came to, he chuckled at the sight of the brunette across from him. The left side of her hair was mussed from Al's arm. Cecelia stuck her tongue out at him before fixing her hair and pulling her feet off him. The four of them got situated and by the time they collected all of their baggage, the train was pulling into the station. Cecelia led them off the train and onto the train platform.
"Okay everyone follow me, my house is a ten minute walk from here so it won't take us too long."
"Let's get a move on then," Ed patted his stomach, "I'm starving."
"But you ate on the train." said Cecelia
"Crummy train food doesn't fill me up."
"You're going to get fat."
"Shut up."
Cecelia merely shrugged before beginning towards her house. Winry stepped in line with her and began discussing the Wheelright tool company with her, Cecelia answering the mechanics the best she could, but they did little to satisfy Winry's question. The family business wasn't really in Cecelia's interests. The Elric brothers trailed behind the chatting young women in silence, the only thing on their minds was a warm house and a warm meal, after walking for a few minutes more the boys were surprised with what they saw. Instead of some ridiculously large mansion, they were greeted by a cozy; but larger than average, white house with red shutters and puffs of smoke popped out of the chimney. Cecelia went straight up to the red painted door, set down her suitcase and opened the door.
"Smallfry!" she called.
Ed, Al and Winry watched her skeptically as they heard a loud scampering noise coming from the house. Cecelia repeated the name until a large St. Bernard appeared at the end of the hall. The dog paused for a moment, taking in the sight of one of its owners before running over. Cecelia squatted slightly and held out her arms to embrace the family pet, but scowled when the dog dashed past her. Next thing she knew, Ed was on the ground with Smallfry sitting on his chest, licking the blond who desperately tried to get out from under the large dog. She laughed before reaching down and pulling on the dog's collar. Ed jumped up and brushed himself off all the while glaring at the dog.
"Good boy Smallfry," she gave him a good scratch behind the ears before picking up her luggage and heading inside, "come on you guys."
The Resembool trio all trudged behind her, taking off their shoes at the entry way and followed Cecelia to the foyer. They all took in the surroundings of the new environment. Pictures lined the buttercup yellow walls and a large set of stairs led to a second floor.
"Cecelia sweetheart, what took you so long?" asked a voice from the top of the stairs.
An older woman made her way down to the group and pulled Cecelia into a tight embrace, cooing about how much she'd missed her daughter.
"Mama cut it out, there are guests." pleaded Cecelia, squirming to release herself from her mother's clutches.
The woman turned to the three of them and smiled. She released her daughter and bowed slightly to them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you three, my name is Melissa Wheelright, but Lisa will do just fine."
Ed, Al and Winry introduced themselves respectively.
"Cecelia, take them up to the third floor, those rooms are still open, but you boys may have to share a room."
"That's alright Mrs. Wheelright, thank you for letting us stay in your home." said Al politely.
"You are absolutely darling," she reached forward and pinched his cheeks, "but please call me Lisa. You all get situated and then wash up for dinner, I bet your staving."
She spun on her heel and left the young adults alone. Cecelia grabbed her stuff and made her way up the stairs, dropping her suitcase off at a door on the second floor before taking them up to the third.
"I can see where Cecelia gets her touchy feely attributes from." Al whispered to his brother while pointing at his inflamed cheeks.
"I heard that."
Dinner time came along and it took a bit of rearranging to fit everyone around the dinner table. Cecelia sat in between Ed and Al while Winry took a seat next to Al. Cecelia's parents were sitting at opposite ends of the table, taking the head seats while Cecelia's brothers took the rest of the available spots.
"Boys," said Lisa to her sons after all the food was passed around the table, "why don't you introduce yourselves to our guests."
A man in his early thirties nodded before waving his hand to bring everyone's attention to him.
"Well, I'm Ashton the oldest and this is my wife Helen," he gestured to the blond woman to his left, "and I have two daughters named Sara and Leah, but they're up in their rooms. They already ate."
The next brother began his introduction.
"I'm Samuel…I'm the second oldest and my girlfriend couldn't make it but her name is Grace…I don't really have anything else to say."
And finally the last brother introduced himself.
"I'm the youngest out of the boys and my name is Hunter."
All three of them looked at Ed and Al expectantly, waiting to hear who their guests were. Cecelia elbowed Ed. He coughed down his food and patted his chest before beginning.
"I'm Edward Elric, this is my younger brother Alphonse and our childhood friend Winry Rockbell."
"I recognize that name," said Hunter, waving his fork in Ed's direction, "you're the FullMetal Alchemist aren't you? I remember you causing a ruckus when those foreigners were here."
Ed bashfully looked down at his plate, remembering his first encounter with Lan Fan. "I was the FullMetal Alchemist; I've retired from the military."
"And your brother, everyone said that you always wore that suit of armor. I remember seeing you around town while you were here." said Hunter.
"Umm yes, I wore it for Alchemy training." Al replied quietly, stealing a glance at Ed who shoveled food in his mouth with hopes of moving the conversation off of them.
Cecelia noticed the Elric's discomfort and turned towards her father.
"Dad, now that everyone is here, do you think we could play Keepers tomorrow?" she asked.
Chester Wheelright eyed his youngest and only daughter and sighed. He knew how rough his children could get when they played Keepers and he didn't think it very appropriate for their guests. Just as he'd begun to protest, Cecelia shot him her best puppy dog eyes. That brat, she knows I can't resist those.
"That's fine, but I don't want it to get out of hand." He said after awhile.
"What's Keepers?" asked Winry.
"We split up into teams and each team has a goal post and we have to get the ball into the other team's post." explained Cecelia.
"Well that doesn't sound hard at all." Ed said after finishing off the food on his plate.
"It may sound easy, but it gets pretty intense. You're allowed to tackle your opponent and wrestle for the ball. I remember one year when we played, Cecelia accidentally elbowed Hunter in the nose and fractured It." said Ashton with a light chuckle.
"Oh yeah, I remember that," grumbled Hunter while rubbing his nose before looking at Ed, Al and Winry, "I'm just going to warn you three now. Cecelia plays dirty."
Cecelia scoffed and shook her head. "I don't play dirty, I just play to win."
Ed looked at her out of the corner of his eye, taking in the determined looked that took over her facial features. He smiled lightly, but quickly replaced it with a smirk.
"I think I can handle you." he said confidently.
"Oh ho," she leaned in and returned his smirk with one of her own, "well then you're on Elric."
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And Keepers is more or less an intense version of football if anyone was curious. Any who, I hope everyone reads and reviews and I will see you guys in chapter 12.