The Game of Three Generals
by Lady Norbert
A/N: Okay, did everyone place their bets as to what Riza's going to have?
Chapter Twenty-One: Prince or Princess
Prince or Princess: Pieces found only in certain variants of shogi. The Prince, when present, essentially functions as a second King. The Princess, which moves like the Queen in a regular game of chess, is found only in the variant of shogi known as Okisaki.
Rebecca is intensely glad that the worst is finally over.
At the Fuhrer's insistence, she and Jean have taken up residence in his mansion for the remainder of Riza's pregnancy, to provide both protection and companionship to the First Granddaughter. He has placed her on leave for the remaining few months, wanting her to remain in Central rather than return to her work in Ishval. Roy, on the other hand, does go back to Ishval with Breda, Douglas, Miles, and the others who belong there. He commutes to Central on the weekends, and talks to his wife every night on the telephone, and neither of them is exactly thrilled at the separation (especially after all that's happened) but there's work to be done. The glass factory has to be reconstructed, the members of Dong Bao's clan rooted out and arrested.
Ed returns to Resembool, to the wife and son who have been waiting patiently for his arrival, along with Al and May. They all promise to come to Central when the baby is born, to meet the newest member of their odd extended family and (in Ed's words) so he can collect on his wager in the betting pool, since he's very certain that he's correctly identified the gender of Baby Mustang. General Armstrong, satisfied that she did her duty, goes back to Briggs in the company of Falman, who will come again as soon as he's able when the birth is announced - not least because he's holding the stakes for the gambling.
The Xingese soldiers take the imprisoned Dong Bao back to their Emperor, who sends his profuse apologies to the Fuhrer and his family for the trouble that the exiled prince has again caused for them. His exile is revoked; he will remain in prison for life, so he can do no more harm. Piper receives the same sentence, avoiding a trial by acknowledging up front exactly what he did and who helped him to do it. They put him in solitary confinement, just as they did Roy, feeling that this is the most karmic retribution they're capable of offering without actually sentencing him to death.
The biggest shock of all comes from Dr. Knochs, whose surly pronouncement on Acheron's death does answer one question. Scar himself had recounted how Acheron made no attempt to fight for his life, nor to flee, and admitted that he didn't understand why. Knochs reveals that Acheron was, in fact, already dying; Rebecca doesn't get the specifics, but he apparently had a fatal illness that would likely have killed him in the next few years, meaning he wouldn't have lived to see the fruition of his plans even if they had not been foiled.
"Do you think he knew?" she asks Riza.
"I do wonder. Maybe he didn't find out until after the plan was in motion, and he felt it was too late to turn back. Or maybe he knew he was sick but not that he wouldn't survive."
"Maybe he suspected he was dying, and he thought death at Scar's hands was better than wasting away with a disease," offers Jean.
"That's possible too. I suppose we'll never know for sure."
They pass the days in the garden when possible. Hayate chases butterflies, and Riza - growing ever plumper - helps Rebecca settle on wedding details. Eventually, however, the doctor feels that she's grown too heavy for her small frame, and orders the mother-to-be to be placed on bed rest. She's not pleased about this, not at all, and between themselves Jean and Rebecca, and Roy on the weekends, work to keep her amused, or at least preoccupied enough that she doesn't think about how much she longs to get up. They unfortunately have to miss Al and May's Resembool wedding because of her condition, which does nothing to improve her mood; she had been looking forward to the trip.
Grumman is exceedingly cheerful. "The baby's so huge, it has to be a boy," he insists. He's never had a son, nor a grandson, so in a way Rebecca hopes he's right just because it will make him happy. For her own part, she would really like a girl, so she can be the doting Aunt Becky and buy the child ridiculously pretty clothes. Riza keeps insisting that she doesn't care either way as long as her child is healthy, which the doctor assures her is the case.
"Well, give it to me straight," she says one afternoon, in between spoonfuls of the chocolate pudding she is currently craving. "Who's placed what wagers on which gender?"
Jean consults the chart. "Ed, Douglas, Breda, Grumman and I all have our money on a boy. Fuery, Armstrong - Alex, that is, Olivier couldn't care less - and Falman put theirs on it being a girl."
"How high are the stakes?"
"The pot's close to 15,000 cenz."
"You boys really don't have anything better to do with your money?"
"Hey, that's our prince - or princess," he acknowledges grudgingly. "The kid's probably going to run the country someday. So what's more important than that?"
Rebecca rolls her eyes. Riza just smiles, and shakes her head.
It's late on a Monday night - more accurately, early on a Tuesday morning - when Rebecca is awakened by her friend's cry for help. "I think it's time," Riza calls, before letting loose a wail of pain.
They've known it was getting close. The bag has been packed for days, ready for her to be taken to Central Hospital for the delivery. Grumman, half dressed, stumbles into the hall with a gleeful expression. "Well, let's get this show on the road! Havoc, call the father-to-be and whoever else needs to be urgently notified."
Riza groans, clutching Rebecca's hand as she walks through the halls. "Is this the part where you scream about how Roy's never going to touch you again?" Rebecca asks innocently.
Riza glares. "Don't make me hurt you. Right now I could strangle anybody I please and I'll get off scot-free because I'm a slave to my hormones."
"Sheesh, Riza, you are cranky when you're in labor!"
"I'll remind you of this when you're giving birth to Baby Havoc in a couple of years."
They get her into the car, delicately cushioned against possible shocks between her grandfather and Rebecca. Jean jumps behind the wheel. "The Chief is a little groggy, but he's on his way. He and Breda and Fuery will all be on the next train. He sends you his love, Ladyhawk."
"That's very comforting," she growls. It's all Rebecca can do not to laugh; she knows her friend is in pain but really, the faces she's making are excessively comical.
Grumman explains that at Central, they've prepared a private room for the First Granddaughter, and a gag order has been issued - no talking to the media without the express permission of the Fuhrer. The car is outfitted with a radio and Jean turns it on, trying to find something to soothe the irritable mommy-in-the-making. To their surprise, it's already being broadcast, somehow, that the executive birth is underway. All efforts to maintain composure are lost now, because Riza fairly explodes.
"Doesn't anybody in this country have anything else to worry about besides the condition of my uterus?"
Somewhere around the third hour of Riza's labor, Rebecca falls asleep in the waiting room.
She awakes with a start when the party in the waiting room grows abruptly larger. The clock on the wall indicates that it's close to dawn, there is still no news, and the anxious father-to-be and his entourage have arrived from Ishval. Grumman intercepts Roy's question before he can ask. "Nothing yet. The doctor says she's doing very well, but it's been a long night and your child is apparently already showing signs of being as stubborn as either of you."
They call Falman in Briggs and tell him to be on standby for the announcement. Someone apparently called Armstrong, too, because he joins them less than an hour later, and is considerate enough to not only pick up Madame Christmas on the way, but he even brings coffee for everyone. Rebecca isn't sure that Roy should have any - he's already so fidgety she's expecting him to wear a hole in the rug - but he downs a cup without thinking twice. In truth, everyone is antsy, but it's Roy who's most upset at not being allowed to be in the delivery room.
Breda, to help everyone pass the time, is dealing cards. Rebecca joins in and even manages to win one hand, but the stakes are pitiful and no one's heart is really in the game. Every time a nurse walks past the open door, they all look up, hopeful for news. Fuery has brought a camera with them from Ishval and is impatient to start using it on the newest member of the extended family; he keeps fiddling with it, trying not to use all the film taking pictures of the scene in the waiting room. Madame and Jean both look like they want a cigarette.
"What is going on?" Roy wonders for perhaps the fifteenth time.
And at long last, as if in answer to the question, they hear it...the distant wail of a newborn taking his, or her, first breath. The General flushes, and then pales, and flushes again, and sort of covers his mouth with one hand.
"That's my baby," he says hoarsely. "It is, isn't it?"
"Think it must be," says Jean with a grin.
Sure enough, several minutes later the doctor finally appears, and he's smiling broadly. "General Mustang?"
"That's me," says Roy, stepping forward.
"If you'd like to come with me - and you as well, Your Excellency, of course - I think there's something you should see. The rest of you, please wait here."
Rebecca is beside herself, squeezing Jean's hand in anticipation. Fuery look like a child waiting for an exceptionally big birthday gift. "I can't take the suspense!" he says, grinning. "I'm quite sure it's a girl."
"Boy," Jean and Breda say together.
"Have they decided on a name for the baby?" asks Armstrong.
"They have, but none of us know what it is. They've been keeping it a secret. Don't know why."
The doctor comes back with the Fuhrer, although Roy is not in evidence. Everyone looks at them eagerly. "Well?"
"First and foremost," Grumman says, "Riza is just fine." There's a relieved cheer. "Now," he continues, "I'm sure you all want to know the results of the betting pool. So go ahead and ask me, I have my answer prepared."
This sounds a little odd to Rebecca, but Grumman's an odd sort of guy. Fuery decides to be the one to ask. "Did she have a boy or a girl?"
Grumman's eyes twinkle as he replies jovially, "No!"
After a few perplexed seconds of absolute silence, they start asking more questions.
"No? What do you mean, no?"
"That doesn't make sense."
"Where's the General, anyway?"
"General Mustang," says the doctor, raising his voice a bit, "is currently sitting with his head between his knees, because he almost fainted." They laugh, and laugh harder when they realize the doctor isn't kidding.
"I said no," Grumman clarifies, "because that's the right answer. No, Riza did not have a boy or a girl." His grin is something bordering on wicked. "She had a boy and a girl."
"That's why the General almost fainted," adds the doctor. "He's just become the father of twins."
Everyone is nigh squealing, now. Well, Rebecca certainly is, and Fuery isn't much better. The other men are trying to be a little more masculine. "Can we see them? Are they healthy? Do they have names?"
"Yes, yes, and you'll have to ask their father." The doctor glances down the hall. "Here he comes now."
Roy half-staggers into the room, looking almost intoxicated. "Twins," he manages, his expression dumbstruck but delighted. "Good God, are they beautiful."
"We want to see them!" Rebecca declares.
"You will. They're getting Riza cleaned up; she wants to see all of you too." He leans against Jean, who props him up in a brotherly sort of fashion. "I'm a father," he mumbles, stunned.
"That was sort of the idea, yes." Grumman chuckles.
"The girl has this head full of black hair - guess she's going to take after me." Rebecca's deeply amused, because this is the closest she's ever heard Roy come to gushing. "The boy's hair is lighter; might be like Riza's or it might get dark later. It's no wonder poor Riza had to go on bed rest, she was doing everything for three. They're so...tiny, though. I'm almost afraid to touch them, they seem so delicate."
"What are their names?" asks Breda.
"Oh, right, we didn't tell you." Roy grins, his expression almost silly. It's like he's drunk on his happiness. "Our son," he continues, clearly relishing the term, "is Brendan, and our daughter is Riana."
Rebecca sits alone with a drowsy Riza, whose smile is vague and softly ecstatic. Everyone else is off making phone calls - to Falman, to Fullmetal, to Miles back in Ishval, and Madame is calling her daughters - while Grumman issues a formal statement to the media. Rebecca has little Riana in her arms, swathed in the traditional pink blanket, and a similar blue bundle is cradled in his mother's embrace. "They're beautiful, Riz, absolutely beautiful."
"Truthfully, I'm sort of relieved that there were two," Riza jokes tiredly. "I couldn't understand why I was so hungry all the time. At least now I know I wasn't overdoing it."
"Hi, Riana. Hi, sweetie," she coos, looking down at the girl. "I'm your Aunt Becky. You gave her such a pretty name, too... where'd you come up with it?"
"In a baby book. Roy saw that it's an old name meaning 'little queen,' and he said it was too perfect not to use." Riza chuckles.
"Well, that's what you're going to be, with these guys," Rebecca tells the little girl. "You're less than three hours old and you already have a contingent of loyal knights who would die for you. Nice work, kid." She giggles.
Said contingent reappears soon, chattering noisily as ever. Riza scoots over a bit so Roy can sit next to her on the bed and put his arm around her. He looks at her with so much love and pride that it makes him appear a bit dopey; it's possibly the first time Rebecca has ever thought of him as cute.
She hands Riana to her father and beckons to Fuery. "Come on, you've been waiting how long to use that camera? Let's get that family picture - you too, Madame, Your Excellency."
"Oh, right!" Fuery hurries to pick up the camera and move into position. Madame stands at Roy's side of the bed, Grumman at Riza's. "Turn Brendan so I can see his face a little better? Perfect. Hold still." He takes several pictures, so that there will be enough copies for everyone who wants one.
"So how are you going to resolve the betting pool?" Riza asks, allowing Brendan to be transferred to the arms of his great-grandfather. "Since, technically, everyone guessed right."
The men look at one another, somewhat sheepishly. "Well, we just got off the phone with Falman," says Breda, "and we basically came to an agreement."
"An agreement?"
"You only prepared for one baby," Fuery points out. "So we're going to take the money from the betting pool and use it to buy the second crib for you."
Riza's eyes are soft, and Roy is visibly moved. "That's really sweet, guys, thank you."
"Well, it was the only way to be fair," says Jean. "When we thought about it... after all, you did all the work here, Lady. So this way, it's kind of like you won."