Hey guys, New update. I am so sorry. I honestly thought I was going to get this out to you on Dec. 1st, obviously that didn't happen, y'know family affairs and all, it being the day after thanksgiving. I kept working, got a little lost with the new character… Everyone at South military base I made up because I'm too lazy to actually search and see who has what position there. Now that school is out on break, I will have more time to write and update. Hope you like the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA
Chapter 26
It was April 28, Milo's third birthday, also the night before Roy and Ed left to South City.
They decided to have the gathering at Winry and Al's house since that's where the kids would be staying while their parents were out of town.
In attendance, was Oliver, Louis, Winry, Al, and of course the boy's parents, siblings, and cousin. Oliver and Louis were in the kitchen working with the cake, Roy and Ed kept their kids entertained. Al was upstairs trying to get Elaine to sleep. Winry and Trisha were in the backroom wrapping presents and little Grey was asleep upstairs.
"Happy birthday sweetie…" Ed said, running his fingers through Milo's dark curls. He stood behind Milo's chair.
Milo smiled up at his mother from his seat at the table.
Roy sat between the girls across the table "How old are you turning?" Roy asked his son.
"Ummm." Milo hummed, "three?"
"That's right…" Roy said with a smile.
"Hippee burr-day Mio." Ollie said excitedly
"Hah-pee bur-dee!" Lulu squealed, she looked to her mother, "Mommee wen is my and Oll's bur-dee?"
"It already past, baby… do you remember?"
Louisa looked lost in thought, before she could answer, the kids' attention shifted to Winry who set a present on the table.
Milo reached for it.
"No Milo, you have to wait." Winry chided. Trisha scampered up to the table and placed another small parcel on the table.
Oliver and Louis entered the dining room from the kitchen.
Louis held the cake and Oliver ran excitedly to the table, "It's time to sing" The small man chirped excitedly, clasping his hands together.
Everyone sang to Milo and he struggled to blow out the candles.
"Yay." Ed said, placing a kiss on the top of his head.
"Do you want cake or presents first?" Winry asked.
"Al's still upstairs… we should wait for him before opening presents." Roy said.
"So cake then." Louis said.
Winry grabbed the knife off the table and cut the cake into slices, dishing them out, first to the kids and then to the adults. It was a while before Al came back downstairs.
When he finally did come back down, Al was holding Grey in his arms as he moved downstairs, "Little Grey woke up…" he said, handing the baby to Roy.
Roy cooed to his infant son and smiled.
"Are you excited to go to South City?" Oliver asked, taking a bite of his cake.
"Are you asking me or Ed?" Roy asked.
"Both?" Oliver answered, "You're going away for two weeks without the kids… I'm sure that'll be…. Rejuvenating…"
"Oh… yes, it'll be nice to sleep for once."
"I'm sure…" Winry said with an envious sigh.
"You can't be that tired… what with the two girls." Ed commented
"Nobody said the two of you had to pump out babies left and right…" She retorted.
"I like to think of it as taking advantage of our good fortune…" Roy said with a smirk.
Ed was blushing furiously, "can we not talk about this right now?"
"By the way, speaking of babies, you need another check-up Ed… it'll have to wait till you get back…"
Ed groaned, "okay…"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
After clearing off the table Milo was reaching for presents excitedly, there were only three, one from Oliver and Louis, one from Winry and Al, and the last was from his cousins.
He opened the small box he'd seen Trish with. He pulled out a little necklace with a small silver star dangling from a leather cord.
"I made it!" Trisha said, "look Milo, we match." She tugged on a cord around her neck and pulled out a necklace with a matching star from under her shirt.
He slipped the necklace around his neck, and smiled at his Cousin, he slid down from his chair and gave her a hug, "Thanks Trish!" He said happily.
She hugged him back, "You're welcome! Happy Birthday!"
Milo crawled back into his seat and then reached for the next present, he tore away the striped green and white paper, revealing a rather thick book. Milo flipped the cover and began to look at the pages.
"Ah. Milo, that's one of your Uncle Oliver's books on medicinal alchemy." Louis said.
Milo's eyes lit up with fascination, "Thank you!"
"I know you can't read yet, but your mom and dad tell me you love to look at pictures and learn about alchemy." Oliver said.
Milo nodded his head eagerly, then looked up at his mother, still standing behind him, "Mommy will you read this to me later?"
"Of course, Milo…" Ed answered ruffling black curls.
"You still have one more present Milo," Winry said.
This regained the boy's attention and he began to open the last one. Another book, this one looked very similar to the one Al had given him on his last birthday. The cover read, "Alchemy in pictures."
"Did you make this one also?" Ed asked.
"Oh… yeah… I mean… I know he likes to read about Alchemy… and I know that he can't read… so I wanted to help out."
"Thank you Uncle!" Milo squealed flipping through the book looking at the pictures and symbols. "Do I have any more presents?" He asked, looking at his dad.
"No… Mommy and I are going to bring you back some presents from South City."
"Oooh! I wanna go with you!"
"Me too!" Ollie whined.
"An' Me" lulu said.
A chorus of cries and whines from their three children filled the room.
Both Ed and Roy sighed in dismay.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roy gently shook Ed, trying to wake him. It was the next morning, when they left for South City. "Hon… wake up… we gotta go catch the train…"
"Nooo…" Ed whined, pulling the cover up over his shoulder.
"C'mon Ed, it's time to go."
"Go by yourself," Ed mumbled into the pillow
Roy chuckled, he leaned down and placed a kiss on Ed's lips, gently his hand pinched his nostrils closed. Ed started to squirm, he pushed Roy away, "What the hell, jerk." Ed said sitting up.
Roy sighed, "If you'd gotten up I wouldn't have had to do that…" Ed got out of bed and began to pull clothes from the closet, trying to decide what he wanted to wear for the train ride.
"Ed hurry up, we're running late…"
"I know." Ed said, tugging a shirt over his rounded belly.
"It's weird to think the kids aren't here…" Roy said.
Ed nodded in agreement, pulling on a pair of pants.
"We made good use of the empty house last night didn't we?" Roy purred to Ed.
Ed blushed and scoffed, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"The sounds you made echoed through the entire house." Roy wrapped his arms around Ed's belly, gently touching and stroking.
Ed was completely red, "Tch. We have a train to catch." He shoved out of Roy's arms and headed downstairs.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ed and Roy had been on the train for three hours, soon they'd stop and transfer to the south bound train. Ed's forehead rested against the glass and he stared out at the ever drying landscape.
"I wish we could've said bye to the kids this morning…" Ed sighed sadly
"We'll see them in two weeks, they'll have a blast with Al and Winry… Try to stay positive…."
Ed nodded, he felt his stomach drop… he'd never been away from the kids for that long… he wondered if it was too late to go back home. His train of thought was broken when Roy patted his knee.
"It's gonna be fun, we'll go out on a date…"
Ed blushed, "we haven't been out since before Milo was even— conceived…"
"We'll have to try to remember how it works," Roy said with a smile.
Looking at Roy, smiling, Ed felt his heart melt. Sure he'd miss the kids, but he should focus on work, and his time with Roy, this trip was to focus on them anyways, to do over the time they'd wasted.
"Anywhere in particular you like to go while you're in South City…?" Ed asked.
"Well there's this bar I sometimes go to after work with co-workers— but clearly we can't do that." Roy said.
"We could…" Ed chirped
"It wouldn't be fun for you… so we'll go somewhere else."
"Maybe… a nice restaurant…" Ed suggested
"Yeah, I can ask around… find out about any nice places…"
Ed sat back in his seat and sighed, "This is so boring… how do you survive these trips?"
"They're by far the worst part of the job."
"Why do you say that…?" Ed muttered, glancing at Roy, he was leaned back, hands behind his head and eyes closed.
"Mm. Because it's when I have to leave you and the kids behind… or it's when I'm on my way back to see you… and the anticipation almost kills me."
Ed blushed and smiled, happy to hear that and happy knowing Roy wasn't seeing his reaction.
"I'm happy you're coming with me Ed…" Roy mumbled.
"M-me too!" Ed said with a smile, a silence settled between the two of them "This is strange…don't you think?" He asked finally breaking the silence.
"What?" Roy opened his eyes.
"It just… it's almost like we're back in the past, before we were married, before all the kids happened… when things were simpler."
"Oh you mean like, how you were confined to our house and I got thrown in a fake prison?" He asked.
"N-No…" Ed stuttered, "I mean like… when you would fall asleep rubbing my belly… or just lay in bed showering me with kisses…"
Roy sighed at the memories, "what's hard to believe is that that was three years ago… we used to be able to stay in bed all day… without any interruptions…"
Ed was blushing, smiling at the fond memories.
"Do you remember when we first got together...?"
Ed nodded, "Of course, I remember it was… October… I think?"
Roy nodded, "We were at headquarters… and as I was leaving I saw you and Winry on the steps…"
"I remember she was confessing to me… which was weird and so unlike her… and I felt awful because I had to tell her that I didn't love her in that way… you should've seen the look on her face Roy…" Ed sighed, "I never want to make her cry like that again."
"I don't think you have to worry too much about that…" Roy said reassuringly.
"Anyways" Ed said, shaking his head, "She thought I was lying and wouldn't outright say I liked her."
"So you had to give her a name so she'd believe you…" Roy added.
"Ugh." Ed groaned, "I hate this story."
"Why?" Roy asked, almost sounding offended.
"Well… it's just… embarrassing."
Roy chuckled and grabbed Ed's hand squeezing gently, "I don't think so… it's when I finally realized I loved you."
"Really?" Ed asked
"Really… when I heard you say my name I almost couldn't believe the tremendous amount of relief I felt… at that moment I knew that I returned your feelings…"
"Wait… when did you start to develop feelings for me?" Ed asked
"Oh, god, I don't know… it must've been… you must've been seventeen… eighteen? Obviously I didn't realize my feelings at that time, I just— every time I saw you, my chest felt tight… and I got a bit nervous… I didn't know what it was, but I realized on those steps that when she asked you for a name I kept hoping it was mine."
"And it was…" Ed mumbled.
"If I hadn't overheard you at that exact moment… we might've never ended up together."
"That's not true!" Ed said, just the slightest bit of irritation rising into his voice.
"Relax hon." Roy said, chuckling, "All I meant was I doubt you would've swallowed your pride and confessed to me and I doubt I would've realized my feelings."
Ed leaned over, resting on Roy, "I love you."
"I love you too." Roy said, bending over to kiss him.
Ed was blushing, left staring into Roy's dark stony eyes, he felt lost in them.
"Do you remember what happened next?"
"You finish the story… I want to listen…" Ed said, glancing away in an attempt to hide the blush
Roy sighed, and then cleared his throat "You said Roy Mustang… and then, I guess you must've seen Winry go wide-eyed, so you turned around and… you had the cutest expression I'd ever seen you with… you looked so scared, vulnerable, nervous… you were glowing red and you couldn't stop stammering."
"Don't dwell on unimportant details…" Ed barked, his face turning red.
Roy chuckled, "Then you tell it, I don't quite remember what happened next…"
"Yes you do, you ass!"
"Remind me." Roy said with a smirk
Ed scoffed "Well… you apologized to her…. And then dragged me off."
Roy began to laugh at the memory, "that's right…"
"And we went to your house." Ed began to blush, "You made dinner… and we talked."
"Mmhm."
"Then I remember you went and closed all the curtains and locked the front door. And when I questioned you about it, you didn't say anything… you just came back to the table… and you said… you said…. Something…" Ed trailed off
"What did I say?" Roy asked playfully.
"I don't… I never actually heard what you said."
"Are you serious?" Roy asked, his tone falling flat with disappointment.
Ed blushed, "My heart was beating too loudly… I didn't hear you."
Roy shook his head, chuckling softly, "I said that you were the one I wanted to love…"
Ed ears were practically ringing, "Then you… kissed me."
"I can't believe you didn't hear that… confession… so embarrassing."
Ed gasped theatrically, "Brigadier-General Mustang is embarrassed, how rare…" He smiled.
"Yeah, well…. Only you…" Roy mumbled. They were both quiet, until Roy sighed, "No wonder you were always running from me… you thought I was playing with you… I can't believe you didn't hear me…!"
Ed blushed, "That doesn't matter now…"
"I'm sorry… I ever made you feel that way…" Roy laced his fingers with Ed's and held up their hands, kissing Ed's wedding ring.
Ed was always so embarrassed when Roy did that, he tugged his hand away. He placed his hands on top of his belly.
"Are you embarrassed to be married to me?" Roy asked
"N-No…" Ed stammered, "Just… the PDA…"
"We're not in public…" Roy countered
"Yes we are, this is a train and people can walk by our cabin and see…"
"And see me kissing your hand?" Roy asked
Ed was at a loss, "it doesn't sound so bad when you say it…." He mumbled, "But it's embarrassing…"
"I love showering you with affection, it brings out such a cute side to you… you're embarrassed, flustered, clumsy, sort of ditzy."
Ed was fuming, he practically growled. "I'm not ditzy!"
"Only teasing…" Roy said with a smile, "But it's endearing, you're my cute little husband."
"Keep it up," Ed snarled.
Roy chuckled, and kissed Ed's temple.
Ed sighed, rubbing his forehead, "I don't…" He paused, as if collecting his thoughts, "I don't' feel very good…"
"Are you nauseous?" Roy asked frantically.
"…yeah…" Ed looked out the window to the horizon with hopes that that would help.
"Do you need to go to the bathroom?" Roy asked, concerned.
Ed shook his head, "I need to sleep… I think I'm just exhausted." Ed spread out on the seat and rested his head on Roy's lap.
Roy stroked his hair and Ed nodded off.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Roy was taking Ed to where he lived, two weeks out of the month, it was located in the "campus" where they trained the newbies. Roy however was located in the officer's quarters, so it wasn't too bad. His room was rather small. There was a bathroom, a bed, and a desk.
It was desolate of all objects, except a picture on one of the nightstands.
Ed sat down on the bed, dropping his things on the floor in a heap. He picked up the flimsy photo.
"Oh, Ed, that's just—" Roy stuttered, too late, no time for explanation, Ed looked at the picture and his face lit up red.
"ROY!" Ed yelled angrily.
The picture was rather dark, but it was clearly him, lying in bed, asleep. His hair was down and he was naked, uncovered by sheets.
Roy pulled the picture away, "I knew you'd be upset… but let me explain."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ed yelled, still blushing brightly.
"Well again I told you I was keeping my distance… and I was really pent up, we went like a month without sex, that's the longest we've ever gone."
Ed cocked an eyebrow, "You were in jail for a couple of months…. And we didn't have sex for…. Eighteen years before that!"
"Yeah, but that doesn't count because I could have sex with other people… now I can't."
"I at least expected it to be of the kids, but no it's a picture for you to get off too." Ed folded his arms over his chest.
"I won't need it now though…" Roy set the picture face down on the nightstand.
"H-How many of those do you have?" Ed stuttered, he refused to meet Roy's gaze.
Roy chuckled, "Just a few"
"A number, Roy…"
"Three." He answered
Ed sighed, "I'm not… mad, because I know you wouldn't give them to anyone…"
"Of course not." Roy said, He took Ed's hand and kissed his palm, "For my eyes and mine alone, I would never let anyone see you like that…"
Ed blushed and nodded.
Roy kissed his cheek and temple, "Did you still want to go out or did you want to save that for tomorrow?"
"I want to save that for tomorrow…" Ed mumbled into Roy's chest.
"Alright… well for dinner we can go down to the mess hall… maybe we'll see some of your superiors…"
"I don't want to go…" Ed said softly.
"Are you okay?" Roy asked, brushing Ed's hair out of his eyes. His face was bright red, he looked up at Roy.
"I know that face…" Roy said, a smirk playing at his lips.
Ed tried to hide his face once again, turning away.
"If you want to have sex you have to let me know, so I can satisfy you…" Roy purred
"Stop…" Ed said, "I was just wondering… you took those pictures when we weren't—"
"Having sex?"
Ed nodded, "Then did you—?" he stopped himself.
"I could hear you from my office when you were masturbating… and a couple of times when I'd come upstairs for bed, you'd be passed out, in the act."
Ed dropped his head into his hands shaking his head, "Oh my god… I have no dignity left…"
Roy chuckled, "No need to be embarrassed, I did it too, I'll show you how I envisioned it." He pulled Ed's face up to his own for a kiss, then he pressed him back into the bed, straddling him.
As Roy kissed Ed, he fumbled blindly with the buckle of his pants and then Ed's.
Ed broke away for air, "What are you doing?"
"Just watch." Roy commanded.
He pressed their lengths together and began to stroke them.
"Tch. R-Roy… we're still fully clothed, we're gonna…. G-get all messy n' have to change…" Ed barely managed to choke out the words.
"Don't worry about looking presentable, you're not leaving this room for the rest of the night…"
Ed blushed furiously as he felt himself about to come already.
Roy's hand began to move quicker, jerking, squeezing, and pulling.
Ed bit his lip hard, squirming in anticipation, "S—op" He whimpered, Roy did so, Ed laid still his body trembling. His chest heaved, Ed wiped his eyes, "ugh. I'm about to come…. I can't take this… please stop…" He sniffled.
"You'll be in much more pain if you don't." Roy resumed movement, he began to rock, ever so slightly.
"Ple-ase…" Ed whimpered,
Roy sighed, "alright…" He let go of Ed, holding up his hands in defeat. "You don't want to get off… that's fine."
"No—that's not… it's not…" Ed turned bright red realizing just what he had done.
Roy stood up and pulled himself together, straightening his coat, he sighed. Ed just watched him from where he laid on the bed.
"Shall we go to dinner then?" Roy asked.
Ed didn't move, or make eye contact, he didn't speak.
"Let's go." Roy motioned towards the door with his head.
"B-ut…" Ed stammered
Roy cocked an eyebrow, "Oh, now you want to stay in…"
Ed blushed as his husband leaned over him, Ed leaned back into the bed, getting in the same position he was in just seconds ago. Roy kissed his already raw lips and then pecked a few times before pulling away. "Alright let's go."
"But you just—"
"You said you wanted me to stop. I stopped, this is punishment now." Roy said with a smirk, "Now c'mon, let's go meet your superiors."
"Are you kidding me? I'm not going like this…"
"You look dazzling." Roy responded
Ed blushed, "That's not what I meant!" He barked.
"Oh, you're referring to your boner?"
"Tch." Ed glared at him, "shut up, this is your fault in the first place."
"True." Roy said, "But to be fair you're the one who told me to stop… I did and now it's your problem…"
"You asshole!" Ed glared.
"I'll take care of you when we get back…" Roy said casually.
Ed shook his head, "n-no…" He sniffled and dropped his head into his hands.
At this point Roy knew he'd taken it too far, sure Ed was emotional due to the pregnancy, but Roy hated to see him cry under any circumstance. "Hey… hey." He sat down on the edge of the bed.
"You bastard." Ed whimpered into his hands.
"I'm sorry." Roy said trying to pry away Ed's hands from his face.
"Hey, you want to stay here, we will…. I'm sorry"
Ed sniffled, "I want to have sex…" He wiped his eyes, still hiding his face.
Roy sighed, "Can't you make up your damn mind?"
Ed whimpered again.
"Sorry. Sorry." Roy said, placing kisses on Ed's face where his hands weren't covering. He brushed back Ed's hair and then laid him down, his hand stroked the side of Ed's belly very gently.
Ed's arm was draped across his face. Roy figured, while he gathered his emotions, he didn't want Roy to see. It looked like he was attempting to wipe away tears.
"Ed…" Roy pulled his arm away, finally revealing Ed's face… "You weren't crying!" Roy said irritated.
"So…?" Ed asked, he propped himself up on his arm and kissed Roy.
"You think you're so clever." Roy said, he planted his lips firmly on Ed's.
"We're going out, that's that." Roy pulled Ed up off the bed.
Ed sighed, "Fine, give me a minute… I'm going to the bathroom."
"Don't take too long…" Roy teased, he was waiting by the front door.
Ed reemerged a few minute later, bright red. He pulled on his coat, "Alright, let's go."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upon entering the mess hall, Ed felt everyone's eyes, whether they were looking or not. He pulled his coat, trying to hide his swollen belly.
Roy took notice, "What's wrong?"
"Tch." Ed crossed his arms over his abdomen, "nothing."
There were lines of tables, and a fair amount of people were there, mostly cadets from the looks of it.
"Brigadier General Mustang!" someone yelled, waving down Roy.
Roy smiled and nodded to the man, he led Ed over to the table where the man sat.
"Glad to see you back in the city." The man said, he glanced at Ed, but only briefly before looking back at Roy.
"Ah. It's been a long day, but finally I'm here." Roy said with a smile. He looked at Ed who was fidgeting nervously at his side, "This is Edward Elric-Mustang… the fullmetal alchemist."
"Ah, yes, your husband…" the man stood up.
Ed stared up at him in awe, he was a giant, towering at least two feet over Ed. He had light brown hair and dark green eyes. He was fit and looked well built.
"Yes." Ed said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."
The man's eyes scanned Ed and lingered at his belly.
Ed's arms tightened around his midsection.
Trying to reassure and comfort him, Roy wrapped an arm around his waist.
"I see a congratulations is in order."
"I'm sorry… who are you?" Ed asked
"Err. Guess I didn't introduce myself, I'm Colonel Barnabe (bar-nuh-bay) your supposed boss…"
"Supposed?" Ed asked.
"Ah. Well, y'see your trial period under… your husband… has almost ended they're reviewing your submitted work and determining whether or not you'll continue to work under him."
Ed felt his stomach drop, uh oh. He knew that his last report was rather redundant and far from great, because he hadn't made a break through yet. His research was at a standstill—still.
Finally Ed managed to clear his throat, "well, if given the opportunity, I look forward to working with you."
"But you like working under me a lot more." Roy purred.
Ed turned bright red and elbowed him in the ribs.
Roy gasped, and held his side.
Barnabe sat back down, "Are the two of you going to stay for dinner? You could join us at our table, he offered.
Ed looked at all the faces, two women, and three other men were all staring at Ed, he suddenly felt very aware of himself.
Roy glanced at Ed, then back at everyone else, "I'm not sure… it's been a long day…"
"Oh, this reminds me." Barnabe stood up and pulled something out of his pocket, it was a small wrapped box. "Your son's birthday was yesterday…" His face began to fall seeing Ed's surprised reaction, "Did I get it wrong?"
Roy shook his head, "No, you're right…"
"Your eldest? Milo, right…?"
Roy nodded, "Yes, he's just turned three…"
"You'll have to remind me when your other kids' birthdays are, so I can get gifts for them."
"That's not necessary…" Ed stammered.
"Nonsense, it's no sweat off my back. I have a niece and nephew, around the ages of Milo and your girls."
"Oh." Ed nodded as if interested, but he was more creeped out by how much he knew about them, naturally Roy would talk, but he didn't think that he'd confide so much to this brand new… friend.
"You're the fullmetal." One girl said, "you're the one investigating space transmutation… Er. Well now thanks to you, it's molecular transmutation."
"Oh." Ed grinned, "Yeah. That was me."
"Is it true that you have a womb and have bore the brigadier general four children?" One man asked curtly.
"Uh." Ed was red, the man sounded so… mean. He didn't know what to say.
"Watch your fucking tone, sergeant." Roy snapped.
The man scoffed and dropped his head.
"We won't be staying." Roy said, he took Ed by the arm and pulled him away out of the mess hall.
"I can't believe that asshole." Roy mumbled.
"Is he your friend?" Ed asked, pulling his arm away.
"Obviously not. I mean, he was… but that jackass was being unnecessarily rude. We're going out."
"Oh. Alright…" Ed said, following behind his husband nervously.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ed and Roy sat on a bench at an abandoned park. It was different than in Central. Barren, the playground was sand and had a tent covering the play equipment to keep it cool during the hot days.
It was dark, late at night now, but it was still warm, a comfortable temperature. Crickets chirped all around them, unseen in the darkness. Fireflies glowed dimly everywhere, too many to count. The moon was absent in the sky, and only stars twinkled.
Ed blinked, his eyelids getting heavy.
"Hey… try to stay awake." Roy said softly. He wrapped an arm around Ed's shoulder, jostling him and pulling him closer on the bench.
"It's just so warm out… so quiet and relaxing." Ed mumbled. He sat up straight, keeping himself awake.
Roy chuckled, "We'll go back to the bunkers soon."
"So… the colonel…. Barnabe… he knew so much about us… our kids… and…"
"Yeah, he's a nice guy, a little too enthusiastic for my taste…"
"Do you talk about us that much…?" Ed asked, he looked at Roy, his dark charcoal eyes staring back. Ed felt saddened thinking of his daughters' matching eyes and his sons. He missed them already. Absentmindedly he began to stroke his stomach, which comforted him slightly.
"Well, you're sort of famous Ed. Your published report is gaining traction… everyone has heard of our kids…"
"That's frightening." Ed murmured.
"Little bit… but I guess it's mostly rumors… Everyone was asking about you and the kids…"
"You didn't have to answer..." Ed said.
"They're all harmless questions…" Roy said.
Ed sighed, "I miss the kids."
"Me too." Roy kissed Ed's forehead sweetly.
"What do you think Barnabe got him?" Ed asked
"Let's see." Roy pulled the top of the small patterned box off, revealing an amber fossil of a beetle or what looked like a beetle.
"That's—cool…" Ed said "I think Milo will find it fascinating."
Roy put the lid back on.
"I-I think he likes you…" Ed said.
"Yeah, I'm his superior, we work together…"
"No, he really likes you. He was gawking at you… and he got Milo a present…"
"Yeah, Milo, He got Milo a present."
Ed cocked an eyebrow, "To get on your good side, he ignored me when he first saw me, looked straight at me and didn't say a word…"
"Do you feel threatened?" Roy teased.
"No." Ed blushed, "I just… things haven't exactly gotten off on the right start."
"Just because Sergeant Wik had to be an asshole."
"His opinion holds no value to me, Roy… you don't need to be upset."
"I'm upset that he would say that, I don't even want to associate myself with him anymore."
"Then don't…. Roy I know you're upset, but can we drop it? I just want to enjoy our time. I feel guilty for leaving the kids, so help me take my mind off them…"
"Tomorrow we have work. It'll be fun…"
"I don't want to talk about work either." Ed mumbled.
"Why not?"
Ed shook his head, "I'm not."
"You're scared I won't be your boss anymore."
"Shut up." Ed said, "We're done."
Roy chuckled, "What should we get for Milo while we're here?"
"Are there any cool shops? Maybe another book? Or a toy?" Ed suggested.
"We'll go to the market when we have free time… There's a book shop that might have some alchemy books that we can read to him…"
"Maybe a ball or something so he can throw it for Cal..."
"He loves that puppy," Roy said with a chuckle, he kissed the top of Ed's head.
Ed smiled, "Yeah… she's a good dog."
"I knew when I got her that you would lover her." He said.
"Did you now?" Ed asked raising an eyebrow as if testing Roy.
"I mean I knew she would grow on you."
"Oh. Okay." Ed murmured
Roy's hand slid down to Ed's waist as he pulled him closer. Then his hand slid up to Ed's belly, he stroked gently. There was a kick, then another kick.
"You're … what six…? Months along…?" Roy asked.
"Nearly…." Ed said, he was blushing now, he didn't like to talk about the baby or think about it, it made him anxious, was it his? Was it Oliver and Louis'? Despite everything he felt, or dreamed, there was no way to be entirely sure.
"Can we go home and go to bed?"
"This isn't home…" Roy mumbled.
"I know." Ed said, getting to his feet, "I'm falling asleep here, so let's walk back."
"Alright…" Roy got up with a sigh and he and Ed walked back to the bunkers.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The next day they got up early, ate breakfast, dressed and then headed for work. Ed was a shaking mess, completely nervous.
"Calm down."
"Well if last night is any indication of how things work around here we're… in for a bad… situation."
"The general is tolerant, he's read Oliver's published research, and there's actually another paper published, by this man on the same topic… y'know, male pregnancy, the severity principle… that stuff…"
"What?" Ed asked astounded.
"Yeah, I can't remember the man's name but he went through a similar incident and it was almost fatal."
"He… had a-a baby?"
"Yeah. It's just him and his kid now…"
"I need to contact this man!" Ed demanded.
"I'm not sure how to go about doing that… talk to the general about it… he might know."
"O-okay…" Ed mumbled.
"You're going to be fine… Ed, calm down." Roy gently rubbed his shoulder.
Ed sighed and brushed him off, "I know… I know." They both fell silent. Ed's head drooped, "I want the kids." He whimpered, one of his hands gently stroking his belly.
"I know…" Roy comforted "I do too…"
Ed took a deep breath before straightening up.
Roy stopped outside large dark oak doors with silver knobs.
"Is this the general's office?" Ed asked.
"Nope." Roy responded, "This is my office, everyone in here works under me…" He pushed open the doors, everyone froze where they were and stood up, if not already standing, they saluted him and Roy returned the gesture. He wound through the maze of desks and Ed hurried to follow behind.
Roy made his way to a back office, "This is my space." He opened the door, his office was orderly, neat and far more decorated than his bunk. Three picture frames sat on the desk.
Roy sat down in his chair and Ed picked up a photo, it was a photo of him and Milo, when he was a bit younger. Ed stared at his son's smiling face, then at his own, he set down the picture and grabbed the next one.
This one was of the girls. Oliver and Louisa sat on either side of Calces who—in the photo, was only a small puppy.
The third photo was the newest it was him and Roy and Greyson… Ed didn't remember this picture, but he looked to be asleep in it. He chuckled a bit looking at Roy's beaming face, he was passed out as was Grey. He set the picture back down.
"—eetie?"
"What?" Ed asked, turning around to face Roy.
"I asked if you wanted to call your brother, see if any of the kids are up…" Roy said, holding the phone out to Ed.
"Oh… yes… please…" Ed said. He took a seat in one of the chair in front of Roy's desk.
Ed watched his finger as he spun the rotary phone, dialing his brother's house phone which at this point Roy had memorized. He held the receiver out to Ed.
He held it to his ear, listening to the ringing. Roy was watching him, Ed made eye contact, black and gold softened.
"You run a tight ship… Brigadier-General Musta-"
The phone clicked to connection just as Ed spoke, "Brother please tell me you're not currently dirty talking to your husband while on the phone with me…"
Ed turned bright red, "No no, Al, you've got the wrong idea."
Roy was chuckling at his desk.
In the background Ed could hear a chorus of kids chiming off about their mother and father.
"Sh." Al said, "I cannot hear your mother."
"I was calling to check up on the kids… they haven't been too much trouble have they?"
"Mm. No." Al responded, "They're on their best behavior for their uncle and auntie, isn't that right kids?"
Ed didn't hear anything, "Can I talk to one of them?"
Al didn't respond but next Ed heard a small "Hi mahmee!"
"Hey sweetie… how are you?" He asked
"Goo. Unca an annee take goo cae of us…"
"Good. I knew they would. Have you been taking care of Cal?"
"Yah"
"I wanna talk to him!" Milo whined in the background.
"Ollie sweetie can I talk to your sister?"
He heard rustles as the phone was transferred.
"No fair! I waited!" Milo huffed angrily.
"Mommee?"
"Louisa?" Ed responded, he heard his little girl giggling in response.
"I miss you sweetie…" Ed said.
"I miss oo too mom-ee"
"Daddy and I will be back soon though, so keep taking good care of your brothers, and sister… okay?"
"Oh-tay…" She said softly.
"I wanna talk now…" Milo whined again.
"Lulu, let me talk to Milo please…"
"Mommy!" he said excitedly into the phone.
"Hey Milo…" Ed said.
"Mommy I miss you. I have lots of pictures I drew of you an' daddy…"
"Oh. I'm excited to see them!"
"Uncle Al has been teaching me with alchemy."
"What?" Ed was sitting up a bit more in his chair now.
Roy noticed his sudden alertness and he became alarmed something was wrong.
"Yeah, he says I'm not to do it on my own yet, but he shows me how he an' mommy practiced when you guys were little."
Ed relaxed leaning back into his seat, "Oh… alright…"
"Auntie Win reads to me and Ollie, n' Lulu at night… the new books I got!"
"What?" Roy asked
Milo gasped, "Is that daddy? Mommy can I talk to him?"
"Yeah," Ed handed the phone to Roy,
"What happened?" Roy asked his face covered in concern.
Ed shook his head, "nothing… it's fine…"
"Hello?" Roy asked.
Ed could hear the phone from where he sat.
"DADDY!"
"Kids, one at a time…" Roy said calmly.
There was knock on the door and Ed got up to answer it, standing on the other side was Colonel Barnabe.
"Oh. Sorry are you busy?" He asked
"Roy" Ed stopped himself, "the brigadier general is on the phone right now."
"My business was actually with you…" Barnabe said. He knocked on the inside of the door frame, catching Roy's attention. "I'm stealing him…" Roy nodded, "Tell Milo I wish him a happy birthday."
Ed wasn't sure why but this made him mad, or jealous… but it did. He pushed Barnabe out as well. Ed closed the door rather loudly. It made him rather uncomfortable, to know that this man he'd just met had been talking to his kids.
"Come with me please, Fullmetal." Barnabe said.
Ed followed behind Barnabe as he led Ed out of the main office and down the hall to another door. He went in, there was only one desk. Barnabe sat down and opened a folder. "Have a seat." He gestured towards the chair on the other side.
Ed sat and watched as Barnabe flipped through Ed's folder, he saw a very old picture of himself, he could've only been fifteen at most.
"So, I've spoken with the general…" Barnabe said, closing his file. "We've both looked over your work, and in our review have decided that with your latest paper, you weren't bringing any new information. That being said, I'm taking over your supervision."
Ed felt his heart sink. He sighed, "I understand that my research is at a standstill but at the moment I am really indispensable to our family life… I think that if you really reviewed my work history you'd see that I am productive… this topic however… There's not a lot of research done already… so I'm left on my own to pave the way if you could just give me a bit more time I can prove—"
"Y'see… Mr. Mustang if the problem is the topic in itself we'll need to reassign it to another alchemist."
"That's not fair!" Ed said loudly, he stood up. "I've invested so much time and money into this project!"
"We didn't ask you to do that."
"It's my job." Ed retorted, his voice almost a growl.
The colonel sighed, his eyes stuck to Ed's belly, but the small pregnant man didn't notice, he was too worked up. "I'm sorry but as your supervisor it's my job to oversee your work and I'm afraid that as long as your husband is the one directly overseeing your research you have no pressure to get it done…"
This made Ed mad beyond belief. He was losing to this dick. He was losing his work, even his kids knew about this man and Ed felt a jealousy mixed rage boiling up.
Barnabe grabbed a pen and paper and began to jot down some words. He gave the slip to Ed, "This is your new topic."
Ed picked up the paper and without looking at what it said, he crumpled it up and threw it, hitting the colonel square in the forehead.
"That's infantile, don't you agree?" Barnabe asked.
"Well I guess you would know, since you're cozying up to mykids and myhusband."
A smirked slowly slipped across his features and he began to laugh, "Ah…that would explain it…" He said.
Ed glared, not wanting this man to know any more about him than he already did. He felt irritated knowing Barnabe was analyzing him.
"You're just being a protective parent… I mean no harm to your children… I only feel genuine care for those children as if they were my own… now your husband… he's a nuisance… wouldn't you say?"
Ed shook his head confused, "What? No he's—"
"Just in the way…" Barnabe interrupted. He was standing now, leaning over his desk, closer to Ed, he was so tall he towered over the pregnant man, even though he was hunched over.
"What are you talking about?" Ed asked his face stuck in a scowl.
"I know how you feel about me…" Barnabe said.
"You sure about that?" Ed asked trying to put some distance between the two of them.
"I know you felt it last night… you're my soulmate… I've followed you're career since I first heard of you… your story… such a tragedy for a child to suffer..."
Ed felt sick to his stomach, "So you have it out for me… or my husband?"
"No… no… of course not… I just need you to see that we were meant to be."
"I don't think so…" Ed said quietly
The colonel looked angered by this he grabbed at Ed, but he moved too fast and was too far away. Ed turned to the door quickly, he felt thin strong fingers wrap around his wrist and he panicked tugging at his wrist, he managed to break free.
He opened the door to the office and sprinted out and down the hallway, opening the door he knew to be Roy's office. It slammed closed behind him and paused to catch his breath. Everyone in the room stared at him.
Roy came out of his back office, "what the hel—?" Roy stopped as he saw it was Ed.
Ed's eyes pooled up, he was relieved. He felt safe again. He rushed to Roy completely unaware of their audience.
Roy had to steady himself, too keep from falling back due to the sheer force of Ed's hug. He was shaking, in his arms. Roy stroked Ed's hair, hugging him tightly.
"What happened?" Roy asked, as he kissed the top of Ed's head. Someone cleared their throat, causing Roy to look up. Every set of eyes was glued to them.
"Back to work." He ordered, ushering Ed into his office. Roy sat down in his chair and Ed stood in front of him, his lower back pressing against the desk as he leaned on it for support.
"What happened?" Roy asked again, taking Ed's hands in his own. He looked up at his quivering husband.
Ed sniffled wiping away the pooled tears he managed not to shed, "It was Barnabe." He said, clearing his throat.
"What?" Roy was confused and worried about this whole affair. Ed was still shaking, obviously terrified.
Roy dropped his gaze, noticing Ed was covering his wrist with his sleeve. He pushed up his sleeve, as Ed normally wore his shirts (The sleeves were always too long). His wrist was red there was definitely a few scratches. Near his palm, nothing broke the skin, but it was raw, like a burn.
"Is this… what Barnabe did?" Roy asked, trying to keep a level head, there could be many explanations.
"He told me that I'm not working under you anymore and that I was being reassigned—" He was cut off by a knock at the door. Ed hid in the corner of the room by the wall with the door.
It was obvious he didn't want to be seen, so Roy was going to kick him out. He answered the door.
"Brigadier-general!" Barnabe said his tone cheery as ever.
"Colonel." Roy responded, trying to sound impartial… normal.
"I was hoping to find your partner… the Fullmetal?"
"I haven't seen him… I've been on the phone with my brother-in-law…"
"Ah. Of course… well, we didn't go over his contractual agreement and he hasn't reviewed his reassigned topic." Barnabe said.
"I see." Roy said.
"I would like to inform you of his misbehavior… so I have your permission to penalize him as I see fit."
Roy remained silent, curious as to where this was going since he knew so little.
"Angry with me… which was misdirected… he crumpled and threw his reassignment at me…"
"That gives you no right to touch him, regardless." Roy said through gritted teeth.
Barnabe looked surprised and flustered. "Ah. I see… I-I will dismiss myself then… and I will see you l-later" He stammered and left Roy's office with his tail between his legs. When Roy saw the large door close behind him he ordered a nearby sergeant to lock it. The staff was allowed to come and go as they pleased as long as they locked the door behind them. Roy didn't want to deal with anyone. Especially Barnabe.
Ed was now sitting one of the chairs opposite of Roy's. He took his own seat, "Okay Ed, tell me what happened."
"I went to see him he reassigned me when I told him that I was plowing the way with this research and so my last paper wasn't very… good… I'm sure you realized… If I had more time I could've incorporated more in it…"
"Okay…" Roy said nodding.
"He said because you were my boss, I didn't feel the pressure of my job… so I wasn't working at full power… which is because we have four children, which we need to take care of. He was taking away my research. My work. I've been working on this for three years… how…? why…?" Ed shook his head getting angry all over again.
"Calm down Ed, the baby…"
Ed sighed and shook his head, "I'm frustrated."
"I know…Keep going…"
Ed took a few deep breaths, "I crumpled the paper and threw it at him. I was going to leave, but he was… saying that we were soulmates… and he wanted me to realize it… when I tried to leave he grabbed me and I had to struggle to pull away. I hurt my wrist."
"Fuck Barnabe, you're staying under my supervision, I'll fight the general… I'll quit if I have to…" Roy said. "Stay away from the fucker…"
"I-I never liked him Roy… he's creepy… he's obsessed with my work or me… I just…" Ed shuddered. "I don't want to talk to him he knows all about us and our kids…"
"That's partly my fault…"
Ed shook his head, "Can we… report him?"
"I'm going to..." Roy said, only a hint of anger in his tone.
Ed fiddled with his fingers, leaning forward in his chair. His hand came to rest on his belly. "I need to get my mind off of this…"
"Should we go out and shop for the kids?"
"Are you allowed to come with me?" Ed asked, standing up.
"I don't care if I'm not…" Roy's arm snaked around Ed's waist and he kissed him before they stepped out of his office for the day.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I did it. I finally finished the chapter. I am so relieved. Now… to work on the next.
Please leave me a comment! Thank you for all your support and encouragement. I love you guys see you next chapter, which will be out sooner since break and all. I promise.