Let's keep this beginning bit short: RoyEd with a parental complex, both subtle and being shoved down your throat. There is angst in basically every character except my six-year-old OC; it's kind of insane. There is so much OOC-ness that it's unbelievable. You have to be careful or it will eat your soul. Literally.

Notes: Apologies for posting this later than usual, of course.

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Roy arrived home early on Thursday with Gabriel's cake from the bakery. It was about an hour before the guests were due to arrive. Hawkeye was pissed about the paperwork he wasn't doing. However, after he explained to her that this was necessary not to piss off a special someone that he really thought he was in love with (plus some begging on his knees), she merely rolled her eyes and told him to have fun with the girl.

Not that Edward was a girl. Or, as Edward himself had once said, he was "naughty girl who happens to have a penis". (1)

Edward raised an eyebrow when he saw the cake decoration that Roy had chosen.

"Yes?" Roy asked, curious as to Edward's raised eyebrow. Of course, he knew why Ed was lifting an eyebrow, but he needed to have Ed say it.

"...A fish?" Edward's voice bordered disbelief. The cake was a 9x13 size, with a large fish decorating the center of it.

"So?"

"A fish??" Edward asked again. "Whatever...freak. I love you." Edward gave Roy a kiss on the cheek to show he meant it.

"Do that when Gabriel is here and he might not be as easy with it as I am." Alphonse said as he walked into the room. He looked into the pink bakery box. "Cute cake, but I didn't know Gabriel like fish."

"We don't know that he does." Edward informed Al. "Of course, he was pretty intensely into coloring the 'F for Fish' in his coloring book."

"See?" Roy insisted. "It'll be fine. Now then, I'm going to go get properly dressed. I shouldn't dress like a military dog for this."

Almost immediately after Roy was done getting ready, the doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of Aiden, Gabriel, Falesyia, and Raphael. All except Gabriel were carrying gifts.

Al answered the door and encourages the four to come in. He led them into the living room, where, after they had set their gifts by the small stack, they sat down. For lack of other places to sit on the small couch, Gabriel sat on Aiden's lap. As soon as the others were seated, Alphonse left to retrieve Edward and Roy, who were having a small, frantic argument in the kitchen.

"Guests are here." Al said plainly when he walked into the kitchen.

"Al!" Edward burst out. "Help us decide! What come first: cake, games, or presents?"

"They go in that order. Now put the candles on the cake." Al said, realizing that he would have to take charge. He knew that, normally, games come before cake, but the games weren't rambunctious, so they weren't risking anyone vomiting by having cake first.

Edward did as Alphonse said. Roy rushed into the living room to shut the curtains and turn out the light. Luckily, no one was afraid of the dark.

When Roy returned to the kitchen, he found Edward and Alphonse waiting with a cake with seven unlit candles in it.

"What are you waiting for?? Light the candles!" Roy was shocked that the candles weren't lit yet. Ed and Al looked at each other and then back at Roy.

With really big eyes, Edward said, "...You said you wanted to light the candles..." Roy made a face he had never made before: an 'Aww!' face. It was terribly sweet of Edward to remember such a thing, and, had Roy been of "weaker" heart, he would have had to stop himself from crying.

Roy slipped on a glove and gave seven small snaps, lighting the candles.

"Come on," Roy aid, putting his arm around Edward and giving him a squeeze. "Let's go give Gabe a nice party."

Unable to stop himself, Al rolled his eyes at Roy and Ed's absolute cheesiness. Luckily, neither of the lovebirds saw him.

A little while later, Roy, Ed, and Al walked into the living room singing "Happy Birthday". Edward was holding the cake—after all, he was one of the fathers. Once the song was finished, Edward set down the cake. Gabriel took a big breath and blew out all the candles.

Once everyone had their share of cake, they played a few party games. First came Pin the Tail on the Donkey, which Falesyia won. Then they played an innocent game of Truth or Dare.

During the game, Aiden excused himself to the bathroom. After about ten minutes, Alphonse decided to check on him.

"Aiden?" Al asked softly as he knocked gently on the bathroom door.

"...Yeah?" Aiden asked.

"You okay in there?" Alphonse asked.

"Yeah, fine." Aiden said, though he didn't sound it. He sounded sad, if Al had to pin an emotion to it.

"Can I come in?"

"Yes." Aiden said. When Al walked in, Aiden was merely sitting on the rim of the bathtub with his head in his hands. "Am I a bad father?" He asked quietly.

"Why would you ask that?" Alphonse asked in return.

"Well," Aiden looked up at Al, who was relieved to see that it didn't seem as if Aiden had been crying. "I just keep thinking that if I was a better father, maybe Gabriel would have some friends his own age here..." Aiden let his eyes fall to the floor.

"That's the stupidest thought I've ever heard!" Alphonse said. Aiden looked back up at the now angry Al, who launched into a rant. "You know what is being a bad father? Sitting in here, moping. Gabriel is having fun. He's perfectly healthy, socially speaking. There is nothing you could have done to change how old his friends of choice are. Besides, Raphael is...what, eleven years old? That's close enough. Now get back out there and have fun. That's all that Gabriel needs."

Aiden was speechless. This was not at all the Alphonse he knew. He merely nodded and walked back toward the living room. Al followed him.

When Aiden walks into the living room, the first thing he heard is, "Fall in, darling?" from Falesyia. Aiden smirked at the joke but didn't answer.

"It's present time!" Gabriel demanded, since he was sick of the games.

"All right, Gabe, here's mine." Roy tossed Gabriel a rectangle box wrapped in firemen paper. It came as no surprise to anyone except Gabriel that, when the box was opened, it contained pajamas with flames as decoration.

"Cool!" Gabriel yelled, and put on the bottom half over his jeans.

He opened Raphael's next, which turned out to be a coloring book of numbers and also markers. He almost began coloring, until Edward had to remind him that it would be rude.

Next was Aiden's gift—sneakers with dinosaurs on the side. Of course, Gabriel put them on right away after taking off his other shoes. After than, Falesyia's gift—a toy pony that came with a comb to brush her hair. Gabriel decided to try to open the box later. Al's gift was a popping toy in which you push it and the balls inside popped, officially called a Corn Popper. Gabriel took a bit to push that around. Finally, Edward's gift was opened. Ed went very simple with his gift, and was slightly embarrassed due to it. Part of Edward's gift was simply clothes to wear for a few months, and the other half was a medium-sized, brown teddy bear.

Even though the teddy bear was much plainer than any of the other gifts, Gabriel squealed when he opened it. He quickly scooped it up like a mother does to her child. Edward was relieved at Gabriel's reaction; it was obvious he like the bear.

Gabriel spent the rest of the evening carrying around his bear, pushing his Corn Popper, and having the pony lay on the Corn Popper. The others simply talked about random topics.

Late in the night, Gabriel had fallen asleep on Roy's couch. This created a problem of getting him home or now. After some debate, Roy insisted that Gabriel could sleep at his house.

Of course, this meant that Al's sleeping space was taken. Thus, Alphonse joined Aiden, Falesyia, and Raphael as they left to return to Hooligan's.

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(1) Yes, that was a reference to an earlier chapter. Hehehe.

Obviously my story is officially AU. The gift Alphonse gets Gabriel didn't exist until 1957, according to Toys R Us. Apparently it's for four year olds, but we'll just say that Al didn't know that.