We Need Each Other
Riza was curled on the bed, she was donning nothing but a tee-shirt, since it was awfully hot and Roy refused to open the window because of the baby. He quietly knelt down beside the bed to kiss her. "Elizabeth, I love you." Though she didn't reply to him, he knew she heard him. He was buttoning his shirt when he heard the infant crying in the next room. Riza would likely go get her, but he found himself making his way to the nursery instead.
There, lying in the crib beside the window was a tiny bundle of pink. Her little fists rose into the air and her mouth opened up into a wide, earsplitting cry. His eyes softened, as he leaned over the crib to pick up the child. Cradled ever so gently in his arms, as if she was glass, he brushed a hand over the child's unruly ebony locks.
"You're going to be a heartbreaker," Roy whispered, kissing the child's forehead. She was only a few weeks old, and he was terrified of dropping her and making all their dreams for nothing. It had taken him weeks to actually talk Riza out of an abortion, and he didn't want to be the reason their child died after all. "You look just like me."
He began to rock back and forth on his heels, dancing around the room. "But that's not a bad thing, you know. You'll be beautiful, and you're going to have guys fawning all over you. Please, don't be like mommy and daddy." He whispered, clutching her close to his chest.
The infant began to cry again, so Roy carefully stood by the window, staring out at the moonlight that was illuminating the room. He looked down at the infant, smiling softly. "Hush, little baby, don't you cry. Daddy's gonna sing you a lullaby. Everything's gonna be alright, daddy's not leaving you behind tonight." He rocked back and forth, cradling her softly. "It's okay, sweetie, you're not alone. Daddy's here."
Riza stood in the doorway, her hand hovering on the doorjamb. She didn't want to disturb the scene. He looked so serene with the child. He'd never held her. The day she was born, he held her, but he hadn't touched her since. Riza was sure he didn't want to be a father after all, that the idea of it being real scared him. It's as if their roles reversed. She folded her arms and leaned against the door.
He turned sharply and saw Riza standing in the doorway. He didn't know what to say, so he held his arms out for her to hold the child. His eyes darkened again, as he stared at the ground. "I can't calm her down. She doesn't want to stop crying. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."
Riza closed the distance and gently took the child into her arms, kissing her forehead. "That's because this is her feeding time. She's hungry." Roy looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him what to do. Typically she'd nurse the infant, but he was so willing to help that she let out a soft sigh. "There's some milk in the fridge. Heat up some boiling water, and put the bottle in for thirty seconds. Test it by putting some on your inner wrist. If it's too hot, don't let her have it."
"It's so…complicated." He whispered, leaving the room.
He came back several moments later holding the bottle. Riza looked up at him, holding a finger to her lips. "Shhh," She said softly, touching her hand to the child's cheek. "I finally got her to calm down, but I'm sure she's still hungry."
Roy froze and held up the bottle. "Right! Here, I wouldn't want to starve her."
Riza stood from the rocking chair and motioned for him to sit. He raised a brow at first. "Sit, Roy."
He reluctantly nodded and sat in the rocking chair, looking up at her. "What are you…" Before he could speak, she laid the child gently into his lap. "You don't…"
"I'm going to teach you, don't worry." Kneeling down in front of him, she touched their daughter's hair, pushing it from her eyes, and gently took his hand, guiding it down to the child's mouth. "There's a rule of thumb here, she'll curl her tongue." Riza demonstrated for him. "Like this. The nipple for the bottle will fit in the curl of her tongue. She might push it aside, and she'll start crying, but its okay. It's easy to fix." The mother replied.
Roy nodded and looked at her with a tiny smile as the child drank from the bottle. "She doesn't seem very hungry…"
"No, she's just a slow eater, like her momma." Riza replied, smiling down at the infant. "She's very calm when she's eating. She's a lot like you in that respect. But she's slow, so it takes her a few minutes to actually finish. She never drinks a full bottle, maybe a half at a time."
He nodded, his hair falling in front of his eyes. "She's so serene."
"She is, isn't she? It's funny, considering the circumstances she was born under." Riza folded her arms on the top of his knees and rest her chin on her arms. Staring up at him with wide amber eyes, she couldn't help but notice a sense of sadness. "I thought you wanted to be a daddy?"
"I never thought it would be this hard." He whispered sadly. "I almost dropped her last night. It didn't hurt her, and she seemed okay, but I'm still horrified that I let it happen. She's so tiny, what if I'm wrong?"
Riza gently reached for his hand, touching his gently. "Its fine, Roy. She's okay. As long as she's still doing what she normally would do, she's okay."
He couldn't help but frown some more. "It's so difficult protecting her," Roy whispered, touching the child again. He ran a hand through Riza's hair, staring down at the infant in his lap. "I feel like I won't be able to keep her from all those troubles."
"Being a daddy is hard work, Roy. I imagine it's going to be harder than being furor. But you can do this. You handled being blind, I think you can handle being a daddy."
He nodded to her and looked to the infant again. "She's so tiny. What if I break her?"
"You won't break her," Riza said with a laugh. "They're very resilient."
Roy nodded and watched as the child started wailing again. "Oh God, I broke her!"
Riza jumped back at the sudden outburst and started laughing. "No! She's okay, Roy. She needs to be burped." Riza noted that he was in uniform, likely getting ready for work. She pushed her hair back and grabbed a blanket, throwing it over his shoulder. She gently took the infant into her arms and re-positioned her against his shoulder. "Pat her back, gently."
The first time he did it, the child cried louder. He flinched and moved his hand away, his head staring out the window. "I hurt her."
Riza took his hand and put it back against the child's back. "Like this," she murmured, lifting his hand and putting it down again. "Just really gently, like you're patting Hayate."
He nodded and began to follow her instruction, waiting until he heard tell that the child was done. When she spit up on the blanket, he was pretty sure that was an indicator. "Oh God, she's sick!"
Riza started laughing gently. "She's not sick, she just ate too much."
Letting out a sigh, Roy looked to his daughter and smiled. "She's so adorable." He smirked softly. "And she has daddy's temper."
"So I've noticed," Riza murmured. "She bites. It seems that she enjoys my breasts as much as you do."
"Do you ever…y'know…get aroused when you nurse her?" Roy asked, blushing softly under his hair.
She laughed and rose to her feet, kissing his lips gently. "No. I'm only sensitive in that area for you. But it does hurt if I don't nurse her right away. That's how I know when she needs to be fed, because they start to hurt really badly."
"Do they hurt now?" Roy inquired softly, looking up at her.
She nodded. "Only a little bit, though. I'll probably just juice myself like a cow later."
He raised a brow at the image, wondering if she actually did that. "So that bottle was full of…breast milk?"
Riza nodded.
"Oh my God, I drank that!" Roy screamed, his face bright red.
"There's nothing wrong with that! I've done it before. I think every woman has tried it at some point," Riza commented, kissing his head. "Stay with her for a moment, okay? I'm going to go get dressed. Oh! And make sure that you move that blanket before it ruins your uniform."
He nodded and ripped the blanket off of his shoulder, looking down to the child again. "I think mommy's gonna come to work with us today."
Riza held the infant in her arms, walking along with Roy. She was gently stroking the infant's back, watching the scenery change. Roy gave a sidelong glance at her, raising a brow questioningly. "Why don't you put her in the carriage?"
Riza stared at him suspiciously, holding the wrapped bundle closer to her arms. "Because it's warmer if I carry her. Plus, she likes feeling like she's with someone."
He sighed and resigned himself to just agree with her logic, shaking his head. "You're crazy, it's freezing out here." He held his arms out to hold the infant. Riza reluctantly handed her over. Roy gently took the tiny bundle and held her in his arms, staring down at her. The child stared back, as if challenging him. He narrowed his eyes. "I don't think she likes me much."
"Nonsense, she's your daughter, of course she likes you," Riza admitted, holding up a finger. "Besides, if she didn't she would be crying."
Roy couldn't help but agree with the logic, his eyes watching the woman he loved with their infant daughter. He couldn't help the giddy smile that crossed his lips. "I can't believe we're parents."
She looked at the baby again, gently brushing her hair back. "She looks so much like you, it isn't even funny. Black hair and black eyes? How unfair is that."
"Don't worry, we'll have more." He murmured with a sidelong glance at her. He bundled his jacket a little tighter and made sure to cover Ruth so she wouldn't get cold, then gently laid the infant in the buggy, covering her softly with a blanket, and laying her bunny stuffed animal next to her. He knew she didn't know what it was, but it seemed to calm her a little when she had it nearby. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled to Riza. "I can't believe you wanted to come with me to work today."
"Why wouldn't I? I want to show off our little treasure." She smirked and looked down at the baby, folding her arms over her chest. While she hadn't lost all of her weight, he seemed to prefer it that way. She watched as he pushed the buggy containing the infant and smiled softly. "You're a fine daddy, General Roy Mustang. You'll do just as good as a Furor."
"Hm," He looked up at the steps to Central Headquarters and handed Ruth to her mother with a small smile. "Take her for a moment." He folded up the stroller and held it with one arm while helping Riza up the steps. He sighed. "I guess you're right, having this is too much of a hassle, since I'd have to do this each morning." He stopped and set the stroller aside, then turned to her and wrapped his arms around her body, touching his forehead to hers, careful not to crush Ruth. "Are you sure you won't come back to my command? I know you won't want to come back right away, but…"
"They'll hang you," Riza commented softly, looking down to Ruth, shifting her weight to the other arm. "I won't let you be a martyr because of me. It's a small sacrifice to make, and Ruth is more than worth it. I've got everything I ever wanted, right here, in this moment. But you've still got some work to do, sir. I can't let you slack on that."
"Hm." He looked to Ruth as well, sighing gently as he turned to go back inside. "I guess that's fair. But you don't know what you're missing, Captain. You could have everything, even the world, in the palm of your hands."
"I have the world in my arms, that's a lot more than the palm of my hands." She answered with a smile, following behind him, in her typical fashion. Riza was a follower, she would protect him at any cost, but in the bedroom, she was a leader. She would never let him lead. It was fine, though. His pride was more concerned with outward appearance, and their bedroom trysts were not the talk of the office. They hadn't been since she became pregnant. "Roy."
He stopped, but he didn't turn to look at her. "Yes, Hawkeye?"
She took a deep breath, a smile gracing her features. "Thank you, for the opportunities, the enjoyment, the precious gift, and the memories. I appreciate all you've done for me over the years. I could never make that up to you."
"You have," He answered, staring ahead of him. "Her name is Ruth. And she's everything you'll ever need to give me. You already gave me your heart, and your name, and everything else. Maybe it's time I give back to you. I'm a little selfish, aren't I?"
"Not really, because she's the most amazing gift you ever gave me, the second one being your last name."
"You haven't got that yet," Roy commented quietly. "But you will soon enough, and when you do…Mini Mustang here will finally be inducted into the family."
"She will not be working at your mother's bar!" Riza shrieked in disbelief.
Roy laughed, his voice low and melodic. "No, I meant that the girls at the bar would be so overjoyed to meet Ruth and baby her and coddle her. Oh God, our daughter is going to be a weakling. How can that be possible if her parents are so strong?"
"She won't be weak." Riza replied casually. She used her free hand to shove him across the threshold. "Stop putting off your work, you need to practice your speech!"
Grumbling something about not wanting to work, Roy sighed and continued down the halls.
Two hours later, he was standing in front of the mirror, speaking slowly to draw out his words. Sheska was coaching him, explaining that there were words he was mispronouncing, and he needed to fix it. He cussed up a storm before his cheeks grew bright red and he stopped. Something in his mind kept screaming little ears hear what you hear. "Sorry, Ruth."
Riza sat on the couch, the child lying in her lap happily. She leaned over and kissed Ruth's forehead. "Do you hear that voice? That's daddy. He's going to be a very powerful man, and when he gets there, he's going to do very nice things for this world. Aren't you proud of your daddy?"
Roy turned to steal a glance at Riza for a moment, smiling before going back to practicing his speech. "She's going to have a complex from us referring to her as a boy for so long."
Riza quickly covered Ruth's ears. "Shh! We don't speak of that!"
Sheska chuckled slightly and looked back at Roy, fixing his uniform. "You're addressing the Ishvalen public tomorrow, are you ready for this? You've practiced your speech at least fifty times; I think you've got it memorized."
He nodded. "I'm ready for this."
"Good, because, at this point, there's no going back. You're stuck now." Sheska commented.
Somehow Roy got the idea that she was referring to the campaign and the baby. He nodded again, watching Riza's reflection in the mirror. "I know."
Ladies and gentleman, I introduce you to my favorite chapter so far, because of the Daddy Roy moments. And Riza, ah! She's an adorable mommy. Wait until the speech. =D
Pardon the continuity errors. I'm fixing them as I see them or they're brought to my attention.
Read and Review, Purdy please.
Couldn't sleep so I took an older stand-alone chapter I never posted and edited it to fit the scenario lol. I'm a cheapskate tonight.
Also, I want to say I LOVE YOU GUYS. You have no idea. I met one of my readers at work the other day, and it blew me away. We started talking about Brotherhood, and I said I wrote fanfiction, so she started going on about this one story they were reading, and I was just…in awe that someone actually read and told me about my own work. And I was blown away by this. I don't think you guys understand how amazing you are, and how much I'm driven by your kind words. I know my stories get a little convoluted, and that's because I write in different emotional states as well as different sleeping patterns, so it's not intentional. But thanks for bearing with me so far and giving me a good run. This story isn't over by a long shot though, so don't get too sad.
I'm seriously in shock that I've written 11 chapters in a matter of a week. I've really been sucked into this story, like, you have no idea. I find myself planning out chapters while I'm at work – and I never plan my chapters, yo! So I hope you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!
As long as there's still at least one person reading; I'll still be writing for them.
