Open Up
I love being on winter break. It means I have way too much time on my hands which also means I get to update the crap out of this story. My goal is to finish it up by the time school starts up again. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Typical Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, but I do own Cecelia, Ellie, Gretchen and the plot.
Cecelia's breath got caught in her throat and she looked down at Ed with wide eyes. H-he wants to get…married? He wants to marry me? Her heart was thumping hard in her rib cage and she could hear its heavy beats in her wasn't until she noticed the smile on Ed's lips falter a bit that she realized that she'd been quiet for far too long.
"Are…are you serious?"
He nodded. "As serious as I've ever been."
"Even though I tease you all the time?"
"I still love you Cecelia. I love that you make fun of me and you can take it when I tease you back. I love that you care so much about other people. I love that you sometimes talk in your sleep and I love that you sing really loudly when you're in the shower. I love everything about you and nothing is going to make that change. So what do you say Cecelia?"
She nodded shyly. "Yes…I'll marry you Ed."
Her fingers trembled as he untied the ribbon that held the ring to the rubber duck's neck and slid it onto her left ring finger. As soon as the ring was on, she squealed and threw herself into his arms, the force of it knocking him on his back.
"We're going to get married!" she cried as she planted numerous kisses all over his face.
Ed laughed. "I'm glad you're excited, you were quiet for awhile so I thought you were going to say no."
They rolled around on the ground in each other's arms with their lips locked together for awhile longer until they both realized that things were getting a little too heated for the hallway. She could feel the strain in his pants pressing against her stomach. Ed and Cecelia both stood bashfully with red cheeks, the latter straightening her towel. She cleared her throat.
"Well I'm going to get dressed and I'll see you in the bedroom."
Cecelia scurried into the bathroom and sighed when the door was shut. She pressed her hand against her chest and her heart was still beating a million times a minute, but now it was from excitement.
"Slow down there girl, you have to get married before you can jump his bones." she said to herself.
She bent over and pulled an extra pair of pajamas out from under the sink; she always kept them there just in case, and exchanged her slinky towel for the comfortable cotton. After towel drying her hair, she pulled the plug out of the bathtub, blew out the candles and went into the bedroom. Ed was already in bed and he smiled at her.
"Sorry about earlier in the hallway, I guess I got sort of carried away…" he apologized.
"It's not your fault, I was a part of it too and besides," she paused to wink at him as she slid under the sheets next to him, "I liked it."
With a kiss on his forehead, she rolled on her side and let sleep take her.
The next morning Cecelia was up bright and early, making phone calls to her family announcing her engagement. When she told her mother, she cried loudly into the phone and nearly broke Cecelia's ear drum. It was around noon when she was finally done with all her announcements. Al poked his head in.
"Are you all done on the phone Cecelia?" he asked.
"Mhmmm, so did help Ed plan this?" she gestured to a few rose pedals that weren't picked up.
"Ed came up with everything, but I helped him light all the candles and stuff."
Al looked at her hand and smiled. "It's very pretty and I'm glad you have the ring, it was our mother's ring you know?"
"Was it really?"
He nodded.
"I promise that I'll take very good care of it, now Alphonse how did your meeting this morning go?"
He smiled. "I think it went pretty well, they said they would give me a call back. Would you like to see it?"
"Sure."
After they had their shoes on, Al led her outside and they went across town to a vacant little shop. Cecelia pressed her face against the front window so she could get a peek inside. It was dirty and dusty with a lone table and chair inside.
"It may look shabby now, but if I get it then I'll make it look really nice." Al explained.
"Ed and I will be there to help."
They looked around awhile longer before leaving the vacant store and just walking around. The weather was nice today and they didn't want to spend the day cooped up inside the apartment. Cecelia and Al peered into windows and viewed cute little trinkets. Just as Cecelia was about to enter a shop that specialized in women's clothing, a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Gretchen?"
She turned and saw her pregnant friend walking with the man who always had a cigarette in his mouth. What was his name again? Joan? Jacob? Gretchen waved and for the first time in awhile, showed a true smile. The two women embraced.
"Damn Al, I haven't seen you in a long time." said the cigarette man.
"I agree, but now I'm here to stay. How have you been Havoc?" Al said, shaving his hand.
"You two know each other?" Gretchen and Cecelia asked in unison.
Havoc nodded. "Sure, I ran into Alphonse and his brother a lot when I was still in the military and the boys were getting their bodies back."
"Their bodies?" Gretchen asked.
"A story for another time," Cecelia said when she saw Al frown, "so how are you doing prego?"
"Don't call me that and things have been going well. I broke it off with Brent and I've filed for divorce."
Cecelia clapped. "That's great news, I'm glad you got rid of that pig."
"Mhmmm, I've been a lot happier now that I've been staying with Jean. Right now the paper work is being filed, but it will be official soon."
"I'm really happy for you Gretchen."
"Oh Havoc, did you know that Edward just got engaged?" Al asked, elbowing Cecelia lightly.
"Did he really? And who's the lucky lady?" he asked.
Cecelia raised her hand. "Guilty as charged."
Gretchen grabbed her hand and looked at the ring before hugging her again. "Congratulations Cecelia, I'm very happy for you. Do you mind if I tell Ellie?"
"That's fine with me."
" Have you thought about a date or anything like that?"
Cecelia scratched her chin. "Well no… I mean he asked me last night after all."
"That doesn't matter; you need to start thinking about this stuff right now."
"Calm down, the moment I come up with something I'll tell you."
"I'll be holding you to that I hope you know. I didn't get to plan my wedding so I want to help you out, that way I can at least plan a wedding. It doesn't have to be mine. But Jean and I need to head out now; I have a doctor's appointment to get to."
The four of them said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Al and Cecelia hung out for awhile longer before turning back and returning to the apartment. When they got there, Ed was seated at the dining room table with papers all around him.
"Hey you guys, where have you been all day?" he asked.
"Future sibling bonding." she answered.
"I don't think that's how it works Cecelia." Al said.
"Sure it does, I'm going to be your sister-in-law and that has the word sister in it. That means we're going to be siblings."
Cecelia walked over to the table and sat across her fiancée. "
"So I ran into Gretchen today-"
Ed cut in. "How is she doing?"
"She's doing alright; she's in the middle of divorcing her psycho husband. But she was telling me that I was supposed to start planning stuff for our wedding right away."
"But we haven't even been engaged for a day."
"That's what I was saying, but she insisted that I start today. So first and for most, do you have a preference for when we have the wedding?"
He shrugged. "Not really, I would just like it to be in Resembool."
"I would like that to…why don't we shoot for this September."
Ed spewed his water out of his mouth. "You want to plan a wedding in three months?"
She nodded. "I want to get married while it's still warm."
"We can always wait for next year."
Cecelia shook her head. "I don't want to wait though."
"Alright then, we're getting married in September."
She smiled. "Besides, planning a wedding can't be that hard."
Cecelia was in for quite the surprise.
Good for Gretchen, but this won't be the last time we see her crazy husband Brent. Dun Dun Dun. See you all next chapter and I hope you all drop a review if you can.