The Blade Alchemist: The War

Old Friends

Drake POV

I woke up to the slight snoring of my wife, at least it wasn't very loud. I looked at my watch, it was 6:49 in the morning. We still had about another twelve or thirteen hours until we got to Central. I looked at my wife and she was sleeping peacefully on my shoulder. My butt was hurting from the hard wooden seat, so I decided to walk around a bit to sooth it away. I gently picked her head up off my shoulder, stood up, and layed her back down flat on the bench. I yawned as I walked to the restroom to splash water on my face to fully wake up.

When I entered, I saw Jess's medicine bottle sitting on the sink. "She must have vomited again." I mumbled. I put the bottle in my pocket and washed my face. I saw in the mirror that I needed to shave again. So I walked back to the booth, grabbed my razor out of my bag, and walked back to the restroom. I quickly shaved and then I noticed that my hair was down to my shoulder blades. I did like to have a little long hair, but I decided that this was long enough. From now on, I would have to trim it every now and then. I fixed my hair in the tie and walked back to the booth.

I picked Jess back up and sat down, putting her head in my lap. I looked out the window and saw the sun was just coming up over the horizon. "Morning, honey." I looked down and she was wiping sleep from her eyes. "Morning sleepy wolf." She lightly slapped my chest, sat up, then yawned. "How much farther?" she asked in mid yawn. "About twelve hours or so. Here." I gave her the bottle of medicine. "You left this in the restroom." She face palmed and took it.

"Sorry. I threw up again last night, but not that bad." I gave her a worried look. "I'm fine, honey. Really." I sighed and let it go. She layed back down on her back, head in my lap, and started rubbing her baby bump. "I'm so happy, Drake. I just can't wait till their here. I'm just so excited." I smiled and placed my hand on hers over the bump. "Me neither, hon." She reached over and grabbed the book she had been reading. I watched out the window as the trees and houses passed by.

We had finally arrived in Central, but found that the train to East City was not until tomorrow. "Hey, babe. I'm going to go see Mustang and give him a brief on whats going on." She nodded then looked into town. "Okay. I'll go see Mrs. Huges and Elicia and say hi." I looked at her worried. "I'll be fine dear. Trust me, please." I sighed and gave her some money for a cab. "Be careful. And don't leave there until I come get you. I want to see them too before we head to the hotel." She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Okay, hon. Bye." I waved her off as I haled a cab.

"Central Command, please." I told the driver. After about fifteen minuets, we arrived and I got out. I walked up the stairs and presented my watch, and the guards let me in. I walked down the hallway until I got to Mustangs office door, then knocked. "Come in." I heard his stern voice. I opened the door and saw him sitting at the desk doing paperwork. "Evening sir." I greeted as I saluted. He looked up. "Oh, evening Blade." he said and saluted back. "I thought you went up north." I shrugged my shoulders. "Had a personal matter that required my attention, sir. May I speak with you privately?"

He nodded then told his new subordinates to leave. "So what is it?" he asked with his chin resting in his hands. I explained to him about Jess being pregnant, but that something was very wrong about it. He snickered when I told him about her being pregnant, but held back any remarks. "I see. So your requesting the mission to Kaumafy? (the city just north of Resembool) I thought about what he asked, then realized it was a cover. "Uh, yes sir. I'm not much help to Fullmetal at this point, so I need a new assignment." I played along and he smirked.

"Very well. This should keep you busy for a few months. There have been reports of local robberies and attacks, all made by the same man or group." He continued giving me my 'fake' brief. "We don't want to give our involvement away, so you'll be there as a new resident looking for work. Here are you fake IDs." He handed me the paperwork and I looked at it. "Thank you sir." He tapped his desk with his finger and looked at the paperwork in my hand. I looked and I saw he had written a note, hidden in the papers.

'Consider this a gift for your wedding. Keep me informed on her status. Good luck.' it read. "You are dismissed Blade. Good luck on the mission." I stood up and saluted him. He returned it, and I left the office. "Alright, now on to Mrs. Huges' place." I mumbled. I left the Command Center and hailed another cab. "To the Huges residence, please." I told the driver and he nodded. "It's starting to get cold out there, isn't it sir?" I chuckled and nodded. "Sure is. Another week and winter will be here." We drove a few blocks more and the car stopped. "Thank you." I said and got out.

I walked into the building and walk upstairs to Mrs. Huges' door. I knocked on the door and heard a faint, "Come in." I opened the door to see my wife sitting on the couch with Elicia sitting on her lap, Mrs. Huges sitting across from her. "Oh! Well good evening Mr. Ganters." Mrs. Huges said cheerfully. "Please maam, just Drake." I politely corrected and she smiled. "Very well. And you just call me Gracia." I chuckled. "Okay then, Gracia." I walked over and she stood up and gave me a hug. "It's good to see you again." I said and she smiled more. "Likewise, Drake. And congratulations."

I looked at her a little confused. "For?" I asked and she laughed. "On the pregnancy and marriage." I twitched and looked at Jess who held her hands up. "I didn't say a thing. She figured it out on her own." Gracia started laughing. "It's true, she didn't. But I'm not a fool, Drake. I can very easily see she's pregnant by looking at her stomach." I face palmed and moaned. "Didn't' think that one through." Gracia laughed again. "I can see you two are trying to hide it, so I wont say anything. Would you like some tea?" I smiled and nodded. "Yes, please."

We all sat down and the two women talked about babies and clothes, and all that stuff. I sat there thinking on what Gracia said about seeing Jess's stomach. She only had a small bump before we left Briggs, now it is much bigger. I was really getting very worried. I thought about it a minuet, then decided to ask Gracia about it. I looked at Elicia. "Hey, Elicia. Why don't you show Jess your room. Me and your mommy are going to talk a bit." She smiled, grabbed Jess's hand, and pulled her away. "Oh, thanks hon. You're gonna pay for that." Jess said playfully and Gracia laughed.

After the two left the room, I turned to Gracia. "There's something you need to know, Gracia." She looked at me with slight confusion. "Yes?" I sighed. "Jess is not entirely human. She's a chimera." I saw Gracia gasp with her hand over her mouth. "I found her abandoned in a lab a little over two months ago. She's part wolf." I saw tears come to Gracias eyes as she turned and looked in the direction that Jess went. "That poor girl. How could they do something like that?" I shook my head. "I don't know. But that's not the issue right now." Gracia turned back to me. "What do you mean?

"Gracia, please promise not to say a word to anyone, no one at all." She nodded. "I promise." I sighed again. "There is something wrong with Jess and the pregnancy," I whispered and she gasped again. "She went to a doctor almost two weeks ago, and he told her that she was three months pregnant. You follow so far?" Gracia gave me a nod and I continued. "Well, she started vomiting again. So I took her to the hospital while we were in the north, three days ago. They did a blood test and the doctor told me that she was about 'four' months pregnant." She gasped again. "Four?" she asked and I nodded.

"Yes. And she looks it too. She has the baby bump and all. But here's the thing. You saw how big it is, right?" She nodded. "Well, it wasn't there a week ago. Her pregnancy is going way, way too fast. I believe it has to do with her being part wolf." Tears came to Gracias eyes as she again looked to where Jess had gone. "It's just not fair. For her to go through all this. She did nothing wrong, and she has to go through this." she finally stated. "So what will you do now?"

I sighed. "We're going to a friends place to stay for a while. At least until I can figure out whats wrong with her. Ed and Al are still up north, but I'll catch up with them later. For now, my wife comes first. And my kids." Gracia nodded and stood up. "Yes they do, Drake." She walked over, knelt down, and gave me a hug. "You two are going through so much and still love each other. I'm so happy and proud of you two. And so is Maes." I frowned and lowered my head at his name. "I'm sorry Gracia. He was taken from all of us so soon. I guess life just likes to laugh at us all."

She pulled away and smiled. "Yes, it does. But all we can do, is laugh back at it." At that moment, Jess and Elicia walked into the room. "I'm getting tired again, hon. Ready to go?" she asked and I nodded. I stood up and gave Gracia another hug. "It was so good to see you again, Gracia. We'll visit when we get to Central again, promise." We broke away and Jess hugged her while I hugged Elicia. "You be a big girl for your mommy. Okay?" She smiled and nodded. "Kaaayy" she answered in a high pitch voice. We waved goodbye and left the room. We began our long walk to the hotel, and I saw Jess was on the verge of passing out. "Sigh. Come here, dummy. Climb on my back." She nodded and did so. I carried her piggy back the rest of the way. I looked over and she was fast asleep, snoring in my ear. "Sigh. Damn wolf." I mumbled as we entered the hotel.