It took a few hours, but after a long walk Edward had managed to find the motel. Unlocking the door in the early hours of the morning, he shouldered his way in. Alphonse had evidently been pacing in the hallway, because no sooner had he closed the door then he was tacked in a whirl of golden hair and grey fabric.

His back hit the wood as Al reared back, green-gold eyes flashing, "Where the hell have you been!? I thought something had happened to-"

Their trailed off as his gaze landed on the shifting tuft of dark hair Edward had bundled under the brown flap of his travel coat, "Brother, what is that."

It didn't sound like a question, but Ed was nice and answered anyway, "he is a baby, Al. Some doctor you are."

The Amestrian was comforting on his tongue. The constant concentration translating English required of him had begun to give him a headache after a while.

Alphonse was nodding, slowly, like they were still deciding whether or not to scream. Finally, their eyes met Ed's, "Brother, did you steal a fucking baby!?"

Edward sniffed, raising his nose in a mostly bullshit show of offense, "I acquired Harry with completely moral and only slightly illegal methods."

"Brother."

"I'm raising him," Edward finally explained, stepping past his little sibling, "meet your newest nephew, his name is Harry."

Al let out a strangled noise, "where are his parents? Isn't that their job?"

"I didn't steal him, if that's what you're implying," it was totally what they were implying, "they're dead. His aunt and her family weren't ready or willing to take him, so I did."

A mixture of the motel bed and the bedside table created a somewhat garish bassinet, with a wicked looking gargoyle perched at the top like a terrifying guardian. Harry's back hit the child sized mattress, confused green eyes meeting gold as Ed set him down. He blew a raspberry, and the child giggled up at him.

"I'm going to need a little more context then that, Brother."

"They called him and his parents freaks, Al," Edward hissed, anger building in his tone as the child grabbed at his wriggling fingers, "and whoever tried to put him with that family decided the best method was to just drop a baby on a concrete step in the asscrack of winter with only a letter and a warming charm. They didn't even ring the doorbell before they left."

Alphonse nodded, eyes focused, "what'd the letter say?"

"Fu- Frick if I know," Ed plopped down on the motel bed, bending down to remove his boots, "lady's husband tore it apart before I could read it."

"So that's it then? You're just going to keep him? What if this planet has widespread foster care, there could be other options."

"Concrete in October, Al. If there's a system, it's already failed him."

There was a moment of silence, then Al let out a long breath, "Winry is going to kill you, Brother."

Ed let out a bark of laughter, and the two chuckled fatalistically into the night.

Doorways through the veil were a lot easier to come by at this time in October, and by dusk the next day the duo turned trio had reached their ride back. Due to lack of supplies, Harry had been clad in clothing made from scraps of the siblings', including a cloth diaper made from one of Ed's lesser loved shirts.

They came out in a forested area somewhere North of East City, where a small team of military officers had been posted in case something went airy with their trip. Leaving Alphonse to explain their early return, Edward took off to call Winry.

Setting Harry down by his feet with a few hastily crafted toys, Ed waited anxiously for his wife to pick up.

The phone clicked, "Hello, Winry Elric-Rockbell speaking."

Edward's face split into a wobbly grin, his beautiful wife's voice causing joy to bubble in his stomach like the world's best chemical reaction, "hey, Win."

"Edward? You're back early."

"Uh yea, about that," he spoke, voice wavering, "how are the kids?"

There was a pause, and when Winry spoke again there was suspicion in her tone, "Ethan's been using more full sentences, but Frankie has been as crolicy as ever, why?"

"Can't a man ask after his wife and beautiful children?" Edward defended hastily.

"Edward Elric-Rockbell, what did you do?"

He sighed, slumping in his seat. At his feet, Harry had already managed to coat nearly his entire onesie in dirt, "this probably wasn't the souvenir you were expecting, but I managed to pick up a baby while in Gaia."

"I'm sorry!?"

Flinching with the phantom sensation of her wrench, Edward spoke quickly, "he'd been abandoned out in the cold! All they left for him was a letter and a warming charm, and the people who he was supposed to go to just called him a freak when I rang their doorbell!"

His voice softened, watching Harry giggle brightly at a few worms he'd dug up, "he's Ethan's age, and he doesn't have anyone else. Please, Win."

There was another long pause, then, slowly and quietly, "what's his name?"

"Harry Potter."

Silence, then, "well, I suppose we were never going to stop at two anyway."

A large grin split his face, words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them, "you'll love him. He's got the softest black hair and the chubbiest little cheeks I've ever seen-"

"Is that so?" Winry mused, voice thick with amusement, "you know Ed, most people bring home stray cats."

He laughed, leaning forward to flick a beetle off Harry's ear, "yeah well, you know us Elrics. We've never been ones for tradition."

Harry Potter was a troublemaker right from the word go.

Between his apparent separation anxiety and a baked in propensity for mischief, the young parents could hardly afford to take their eyes off of him for more than a minute at a time.

Whenever the couple would lie him down for the night, they'd leave the nursery only to find him lying in their bed with a shit eating grin the minute they opened the door. Sneaking into every space in the house and giving his parents heart attacks every time they opened a cupboard only to find a giggling baby. And while at first the young parents had been ecstatic their child had such strong magic, by the fourth tantrum turned cyclone the patience was beginning to wear thin.

"I couldn't have just picked up a normal fucking baby," Edward said late one night, deep bags under his eyes and hair sticking out at increasingly odd angles as his sanity frayed, "no, that'd be too easy. I had to find Merlin's second fucking coming, apparently."

Winry just groaned and buried her head under a pillow.

But the family loved their little black sheep, and so a few anti-apparition wards stronger, they endured. And bit by bit, Harry adjusted. Learning to sleep soundly through the night and call the neighbor's big black dog by her name instead of "Pa'foot."

Ethan in particular was quite taken with his new little brother. And even if Harry cried when he found he couldn't teleport to Ed and Winry's bed anymore, Ethan had inherited enough intelligence and bullheaded determination from his parents to sneak him into his own crib instead. Learning to walk and climb just to find his way to Harry.

Harry, for his part, was just as happy with Ethan as anyone else, and by the time the two could use full sentences they had grown thick as thieves. Pooling and sharing everything from toys to birthday parties, despite Ethan being three months older than Harry.

"Dad! Frankie stole my scooter again!"

"Did not!"

Now if only he could be taught to tolerate his sister.