AN: Now here are random scenarios I think happened over the course of the Mustang/Elric family adjusting to one another, focusing on Roy's adjustment to his new role.

Hope you enjoy!

War Zone

"Ho ho ho," Roy breathed then tried again in a deeper voice, "ho ho ho."

Riza's brow raised. "What are you doing?" She caught him half-bent at the waist, staring at himself in the mirror of their bathroom.

"Practicing my Santa laugh," he said like it was a usual routine for him. "Ho ho ho."

"What for?"

"Happy holidays… Happy holidays!" he said in a voice so deep, it rivaled Major Armstrong's bass.

"Roy." She crossed her arms. The sun was still out for him to be drunk already.

He beckoned for her to enter the bathroom. When she stepped inside, he closed the door.

"If this is some weird scheme to get me to strip…" she trailed off, seeing what was hanging on the bathroom door. "What's going on?" She furrowed her brows. She knew it was the holiday season, but that did not explain why a Santa costume, with wig and beard, was hanging there.

"For the boys." He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided eye contact with his wife. He rented the costume earlier this week and almost got into a fistfight with another father since it was the last one. "I plan on surprising them tonight."

"With a Santa costume." She had to make it clear she wasn't imagining this.

"Yes."

She looked at the costume once more, then at him. She wanted to ask why the idea crossed his mind and if he was sure the boys would appreciate something like this, but his expression told her he had given this a lot of thought and effort.

With a sigh to herself, she agreed to help him.

That night, Ed and Al were in the kitchen eating dinner with Riza. She pretended Roy had something to do and would be catching up with them. She heard their front door open, the lock clicking back into place, followed by the thud of heavy-set boots.

"Ho ho ho!" Roy, dressed in the Santa costume complete with the wig, beard, and large belly, entered the kitchen.

As agreed, Riza said, "Look who it is." Roy expected the boys to leap to their feet and shout, "Santa!" but the reality was far from fantasy.

Ed frowned down at his food.

Al got up from his seat and took out another plate. "Welcome home, Mr. Mustang."

"Huh?"

Roy's shoulders slumped at the unexpected reactions. He sat on his spot with the plate full of food courtesy of Al.

"We never believed in Santa," said Ed, noticing his adoptive parents' tense demeanors but unapologetic for not playing along.

Al nodded, chewing on the rest of his dinner. "But ma said we shouldn't spoil the fun of the other kids."

"Never?" asked Riza. When her mother was alive, even she had a brief time she believed in old Saint Nick.

"Ed and I found a book with the alchemy books in our old house. We thought it was about famous alchemists…"

"It contained people called saints. Ma told us it was a religious book. We read about Santa there."

Roy brought his dinner to his lips as the rest of the family continued with theirs.

"Thank you, Mr. Mustang." Al stood to take his and Ed's plates to the sink. "We always heard stories about Santa coming every year from our classmates, but we never… um…" He got distracted when Ed pulled his shirt.

"We appreciate it. Good night, Mr. Mustang," said Ed, wordlessly urging Al to say the same.

"Good night, Mr. Mustang. Mrs. Mustang. Ed's just shy 'cause we never understood why the kids were so happy, but now we know." He grinned. "Thank you!" Maybe the other kids knew it was their father dressed as Santa but nonetheless went along with the ruse if only to keep up the fun tradition.

Ed slapped Al on the back, embarrassed at being called out that way.

/-/ /-/ /-/ /-/

"No way," grumbled Ed.

Riza's gaze left the book she was reading to observe the two boys. They were bickering with their voices low for a time but now Ed shoved the book in his hands with more force than necessary. They were in the living room with Roy sequestered in the study. He had a meeting tomorrow and was scheduled to present budget proposals for the State Alchemy Program for the next year so he asked for peace and quiet. He had to be ready for any and all questions thrown his way to justify his proposals.

On the other hand, the boys were in the middle of their exam week and Riza volunteered to be their tester after they've finished.

"I'm telling you," pushed Al, his volume rising to normal levels, "cats are better!"

She didn't know why they were arguing about dogs and cats though. Neither of them had science as their exam tomorrow. "Is someone done studying? I can quiz you now so that you can go to bed."

They ignored her and continued to glare at each other.

"Cats climb and scratch on things."

"Dogs can't use litter boxes!"

"At least you can call dogs by their names!"

"Hush," interjected Riza since their voices were rising higher. "Roy has work to do and you two have exams."

"Which do you prefer, mom?" asked Al, ignoring her reminder, "Cats or dogs?"

"I saw a pair of her socks with dogs on them," replied Ed, sticking his tongue out.

"That doesn't mean dogs are better!"

"You were the one who asked her!"

"Well… Well, cats are self-trained!" Al stood up, looking down at his brother.

Ed stood up too, fists at his sides. "How do you train them not to scratch at furniture?!"

A shouting match ensued. Al's eyes lined with tears but he didn't back down from the fight, defending cats to the very end. Ed took on an aggressive front with gritted teeth and no tears in sight, defending dogs just as much.

Riza got to her feet too and planted a hand on each of the boys' shoulders. "Ed. Al. Stop this." This is ridiculous. Two supposed alchemy prodigies fighting over animals.

Neither surrendered and the argument escalated and got louder, which the soldier in Riza was proud of. But now is not the time to praise their fighting spirit.

"Boys…"

"You can't trim a cat's nails!"

"Dogs leave slobber everywhere!"

"Boys!"

The door's study clicked open and footsteps followed. Riza winced as she turned to her husband, an apology ready to leave her lips. She hated the feeling of failing as a wife, mother, and adjutant all at the same time when she failed to control the boys.

Roy placed his hand on her shoulder. It's okay. "Ed. Al."

The argument ceased and the boys looked up at the same time, processing the events that led them there.

Roy was not supposed to be out here. Roy was not supposed to be out here, addressing them and talking to them. Roy was supposed to be working. They were supposed to keep quiet to let Roy work.

He knocked on both their heads as if checking if they had brains beneath their foreheads, a silent plea to use their minds. "They're both hairy and will shed everywhere. They both will leave scratches on your skin when you play with them, stinky, and too much to handle if you aren't prepared. Case closed. Go to bed." He concluded if the boys had time to argue about childish things, then they were confident to pass their exams tomorrow.

/-/ /-/ /-/ /-/

Roy sat in the living room half-awake, trying to make heads or tails of Dr. Marcoh's latest research. Though muffled, he could hear the sounds of laughter coming from one of the bedrooms.

He knew it was past the boys' sleeping time, but with Riza out of the house for a girl's night with Lieutenant Catalina, he figured they could stay up a little longer.

"Brother, brother!" Roy heard Al say.

Nothing followed after that which led him to believe Ed reminded his brother of their bedtime and how they were currently breaking it. He closed the book in his hand with a smile. In terms of rule-breaking, he was glad the boys chose to break bedtime instead of the other "more important" rules.

He's heard from Maes that two-year-old Elicia thinks of new rules and/or things to break every day just to get a reaction from him and Gracia. It has kept the couple running for almost a week now with barely any sleep.

On the other hand, he heard Winry was as obedient as ever to the Curtis couple. She had her temper with Ed and Al, but never showed signs of disrespect with her foster parents.

Roy wondered if it was alright to rank the Elric boys in the middle based on the two other children he knew. They weren't particularly bratty or disobedient, but they weren't very pliant either as they tended to question things occasionally.

Casting the thought aside as normal, he rested his back down on the sofa. Maybe he'll take a little nap before reminding the boys to get to bed before Riza got home.

His eyes drew to a close.

"Mooooom! Help! Mom! Riza!"

Shit. Sitting upright, he dashed to Al's bedroom.

Blood was the first thing he noticed. Blood on Al's hand, and Ed's hand… and the back of Ed's head.

The older boy's eyes were closed, face twisted in pain.

"We were jumping on… He - he hit… hit…" Al's shaky finger pointed to his oak desk. Tears lined his eyes.

Roy saw the corner of the desk had blood on it too. He knelt beside Ed, helping him sit up straight. "Ed, Ed, are you awake?"

The boy grunted, the hand holding the back of his head losing its grip.

"Keep it there," he instructed, covering Ed's hand and securing it.

If Ed saw the blood on his hand now, he might faint and he needed him awake. "Al." He turned to the boy. "Al!" he said again when he wouldn't focus. "Get me a towel." When he took it, he wiped Ed's hand first then asked the boy to keep it in place at the back of his head.

He lifted him in his arms after checking Ed was conscious and would follow his instruction to keep the towel tight. He lowered him on the kitchen counter, took out the ice tray, dumped all the ice cubes in the towel, then requested Ed to hold the towel again at the back of his head.

"Ed." Roy met the boy's gaze and sighed when it was clear. He was still conscious. Good. "Does it hurt?"

"Not… Not so much? It stings."

"Alright." He steadied his breathing and reminded himself he was trained for this. He had to get a hold of himself. "We're going. Don't move your hand, okay?" He carried him again and deposited him on the passenger seat of the car, strapping the seatbelt for him. "Al!" he yelled.

The boy's head popped up from the side of the house.

"What are you doing? Get in."

"But…"

Roy gritted his teeth. Of all the times he had to question an instruction, it had to be now of all times. "Al, I'm not going to say this again. Get in and don't leave my sight tonight."

The drive to the hospital was the quickest and most reckless drive he's ever done in his life, to which Ed even managed to scold him.

"Careful where you're going!"

Roy smiled at that. "Keep that hand steady on your head."

"How can I keep it steady with you swerving?"

Good. Stay awake, he prayed. He parked right in front of the door to the Emergency Room, tossing his keys at a guard and carrying Ed inside. Al was hot on his heels, learning his lesson the first time around.

Upon an initial assessment of Ed's head with the towel and ice cubes being discarded immediately, the triage nurse wheeled the boy into an operating room to stitch his head.

"Shit." Roy huffed, sitting on one of the designated benches. Al's heavy footsteps snapped him back to reality. He took the boy by the shoulders and hugged him. His hands slid down the boy's arms, checking if all traces of Ed's blood had been washed as he asked. "You did well. Thank you."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. It was no good if he was going to pin Al for something they both did. He would have one hell of a time explaining all this to his wife though. "Accidents happen, but now you know not to jump on the bed, yes?"

"Yes."

/-/ /-/ /-/ /-/

Al wailed, his mouth hanging open with his head tilted back, his fists secured tight by his sides. Riza bolted from the backyard and into the living room where she found the two boys and what looked like a broken toy on the floor.

She braced herself. One did not make judgments merely based on who was crying.

"Brother broke it!" complained Al, snot mixing in with his tears.

She knelt by Al's side. "There, there. Maybe you two were playing too roughly?" she offered.

"No!" He pointed at Ed. "He grabbed it and threw it on the floor!"

"Ed?" asked Riza. The latter turned away and went out the front door.

Roy, who heard Al's crying and went out of the bedroom to check, witnessed the exchange.

Riza patted Al's head to soothe him. "Al, we'll get pop to fix it later, okay?"

When the boy nodded, Roy murmured, placing a hand on Riza's shoulder, "I'll talk to Ed." He found him on the steps to their front yard, which doubled as parking space for their car.

"Ed," he said, sitting down beside the sulking boy.

He turned his face away from Roy. "Ma used to always take Al's side too."

"You know… Riza wasn't taking sides. She was asking you."

"Still, it's true I broke it, but that's only 'cause Al's so annoying but you and mom will only see I was wrong to break it, not Al as wrong because he's annoying."

"Shouldn't you be looking out for your brother more?"

"And that's another thing!" Ed faced Roy then, fist slamming on the floor. "Why do I always have to be the one 'looking out' for him?"

"You're his older brother."

"I didn't choose to be! What if I'm tired of being the older brother? It's always Al who gets in the way so does he always need someone babying him?"

"Do you want to be the one babied, then?"

"No," his lips twisted in disgust, "but I don't want to be responsible for him either. I'm tired."

"Can I tell you a story?" Roy reached over and forced Ed's fist to open.

Ed nodded, not knowing where this was headed.

"Once upon a time, there was this girl who had a doting mother and a loving father. For a time, the girl was happy as their daughter. Eventually, her mother died and the girl became the housekeeper for her and her father. She cooked and cleaned for him, did the laundry and house repairs… everything."

"Why would she do that? Did her father ask her? What was he doing?"

"He didn't ask her, but someone had to do it. Someone had to play the 'role', otherwise, their house would be in ruin." He took a deep breath, not particularly fond of Riza's family history. "So she played the role of housekeeper. Their house didn't fall to the ground and her father stayed alive by eating the meals she regularly made."

"Isn't that like being a maid?"

"If you look it that way, yes, but the girl never viewed it like that. To her, it was only natural."

Ed crossed his arms. "She must be a saint." If Roy expected him to bend over because of this story, he had another thing coming.

If you only knew. "Then, a boy came into their lives…" continued Roy, "and the girl eventually became lovers with the boy, but the boy wanted to pursue a better life for them even if it was dangerous. Eventually, the girl, who used to be 'daughter' turned 'housekeeper' turned 'lover', took on the role of 'bodyguard' too. This time, she watched over the boy."

"But it's dangerous, right? So the boy isn't happy about the one he loves doing that?"

"You're telling me, kid. You're looking at him."

Ed's eyes all but bulged out of their sockets.

"We all have roles to play, Riza happens to be taking on multiple ones at the moment." Wife. Mother. Bodyguard. Adjutant.

"I thought she was just assis-tutant or something?"

"Adjutant," he corrected, "or assistant, yes, but bodyguard too. Humans are social creatures, so it's inevitable to avoid 'roles'. Even people you don't know or have yet to know has a role in your life."

"Huh?"

"The role of 'stranger'." He chuckled, to Ed's grimace. "So if not 'older brother', what role would you rather play in Al's life?"

He was met with silence. It was laughable if he said he didn't want to be part of Al's life.

"If you're going to ask me though, no one is perfect. You're bound to fight or disagree, but Al couldn't have asked for a better older brother. Remember Harry McFarland?"

Ed smiled.

AN: I had fun recreating events from my childhood, so there will be a similar Riza-focused chapter up next.

'Til next time!