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Winry's eyes opened to a dark room. The blinds were closed, but she knew the sun was rising outside. She felt Ed's automail leg between her own, his arms around her chest and stomach, his head resting on hers. His automail leg moved and it chilled Winry. She involuntarily shivered. She wanted to do something on her own; Ed was always carrying her around the house. So she extricated herself from his grasp and slipped out of the room. She crept down the stairs and began breakfast.
Ed sleepily tightened his grip on Winry. Instead, he was met with open air. His eyes shot open. "Winry?" he whispered. He looked around the room for her. He drew all his hair back in a ponytail. Then, the door creaked open. "Oh, you're awake," she said. She was carrying a tray of food. Ed watched, completely shocked. "Winry, you made breakfast," he said. "Yes, silly," she replied, setting the tray down on his lap and sitting next to him. "What about you?" he asked, looking at her empty lap. "I already ate mine. I was hungry," she put her hand on her stomach. Ed gobbled his food up fast. "Why didn't you wake me?" he asked. "Well, I was going to, but you were already awake," Winry responded. "But I meant earlier, when you woke up," Ed said with his mouth full. He swallowed and took a gulp of water. "You looked so peaceful in your sleep," Winry answered, "And I wanted to do something on my own." "Winry, you could've been in trouble, and I wouldn't know," he shared his concerns, "You could've needed me, and I wouldn't be there." "Ed, I'm sick of your little 'helicopter-husband' mode. You let me do things all on my own when I wasn't pregnant, and now, all of a sudden, I can't even walk around the house," she let it out. Ed looked hurt. "'Helicopter husband'?" he asked quietly. "Yeah, you never let me do anything by myself; you're constantly hovering over me. You're behind me whenever I'm doing something, or you've always got me in your lap. I just want to be Winry sometimes, not Pregnant-Winry-Who-Can't-Do-Stuff," she said. "What is this 'helicopter'? And I let you do stuff on your own sometimes. I thought you liked being carried around the house," Edward argued. "The new helicopters that the military is working on, they're like balloons, but controllable. And when have you let me do something on my own since I've told you that I'm pregnant, huh?" Winry asked, her voice rising a bit. "Winry, don't yell. You could hurt yourself," Ed reflexively said. "There it is again!" Winry almost yelled. "I'm sorry, hun," Ed reached out to give her a comforting touch. Her eyes welled up with tears. "I just want some freedom," she said frustrated. She didn't let Ed touch her. Instead, she got off the bed and went over to the closet. "Gracia's going to be here soon. Elicia's coming over, and you're going to watch her while Gracia and I are shopping," Winry ordered. She hid in the closet, and Edward finished up his food. Opening Winry's side of the closet, he opened his arms. "Winry, come here," he said. She looked at him, sighed as if annoyed and asked, "Why?" "Because, hun, I'm sorry," he said. She slowly approached and hugged him. He stroked her hair, "I didn't realize I was being over-protective. I just don't want something to happen to you, okay? Because I love you." She started to cry, and Edward held her tight. He wondered if these kinds of weird moods would come and go. That was something to ask Gracia while she was here.
He got dressed on his side of the closet and went downstairs to clean up the kitchen. There was a knock on the door, and Ed could hear an excited Elicia on the other side. "I can't wait to see Uncle Edward! I wonder if he'll tell me more stories. Maybe I can add it to my book," she continued on. Ed opened the door with a smile. "Uncle Edward!" Elicia exclaimed, latching on to one of his legs with a hug. He crouched down to meet her eye level. "Hi, Elicia," he answered enthusiastically, "Are you ready to spend a day with Uncle Edward?" "Yeah!" she ran inside the house. "Hi, Gracia," Ed said standing back up, "Come on in." He led Gracia inside and to the couch. "Winry's upstairs getting ready, but I had a question," he said. "Sure, shoot away," she replied. "Winry has a strange mood today; she was angry with me and then started crying. I guess these are her hormones, but will this happen often? Strange moods?" he asked. "Does she still want to go shopping today?" Gracia asked, "Does she want to stay home and rest?" "No, she still wants to go shopping, or at least she made it sound like she did," Ed answered. "Oh, okay. I wouldn't want to make her come if she really, really didn't want to. But about the moods, she may get them from time to time. Maes never told me if I was being moody, but it is pretty common for moods to happen. Maes was never disagreeable with me," she gave a reminiscent smile of her late husband. Ed looked down for a moment, respectfully remembering Brigadeer General Hughes. "I'm ready!" a cheerful Winry came down the stairs. Gracia and Ed stood. "Alright, well, have fun!" Ed said. "Elicia," Gracia addressed her, "You be good now, for Uncle Ed, okay?" Elicia nodded, smiled and reached up to hold Ed's hand. "We'll be back," Gracia and Winry said as they made their way to the front door. "So, what shall we do first?" Ed turned mischievously to Elicia, "Build a fort? Bake cookies? Hide-and-find?" "Fort!" Elicia exclaimed with a jump.
"Alright, I'll be back. You find a good place for the fort," Ed ran up stairs to get the blankets and pillows necessary. Throwing down a set of sheets, two blankets, and four pillows, Ed found Elicia in the corner of the living room. She had moved one of the kitchen chairs, and grabbing the sheet, she stuffed it under some of the books and draped it over the chair. Ed helped her finish the fort with the blankets, pillows, and couch cushions. Elicia laughed at Ed as he barely fit in the fort. "Uncle Ed is much bigger than he used to be," she said. "Hey! I wasn't that small!" Ed protested, tucking his legs under him criss-crossed. "I wonder what Mommy is doing," Elicia said, piquing Ed's curiosity as well. "Probably shopping or walking somewhere. Shopping involves a lot of walking," Ed said.
"So, is it fitting, Winry?" Gracia stood outside the dressing room. "You're looking for a fit that offers a little room for more growth," Gracia coached. Winry looked herself over in the mirror. "I guess so. It's a bit itchy in the back. Does the other one come in this size?" she asked. "Let me go check," Gracia said, her voice fading, "I'll be right back." Winry poked one of her enlarged breasts. A little sore, but she knew it was probably going to get worse. Her hand moved down to her stomach where a small bump was forming. "Here, try this one," Gracia's hand came over the stall door, "And the other one does come in this size, so I brought it as well." Winry grabbed the hangars from Gracia with a thanks. Winry tried them on, and soon, she was back in her tight clothes, a few new clothes in her cart, and on her way to checkout. Gracia carried the bag as they walked down the street. She noticed how quiet Winry was. Something was on her mind, and she couldn't guess what. They passed an intimates store, and Winry paused. "Winry?" Gracia asked. "Gracia," Winry turned to her seriously, "Will Ed still think I'm pretty when I'm huge?" Gracia gave her a smile, "Of course, Winry. He loves you so much." Gracia thought, "That must be what's worrying her." "Maes loved me when I was huge. I'm sure Edward will still love you. They call it the 'pregnancy glow'. It makes your husband love you even more. It can be bothersome to you sometimes, but Ed will always love you," she said, hoping that Winry would believe her. Winry was considering it. "All Ed thinks about is protecting me," she said quietly before she walked into the store, and all Gracia could do was follow.