Ed was awoken by a stuttering wail.
He stared blearily at the ceiling, struggling to make sense of his surroundings. Before his brain was fully functional, he found himself sitting up in bed, blinking at the darkness around him. Realizing he was in his room, he patted the bed beside him. The space where his wife should be sleeping was cold, indicating that she had been up for a while. He swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood, shuffling over to the bassinet. No baby, either.
He paused, rubbing his eyes as he strained to listen for the sound of a baby's cry. He only had to wait a few seconds before he heard it again, coming from another part of the house. Ed walked over to the bedroom door, gaining more clarity as he pushed it open and followed the cry.
It led him to his wife's workroom. As he entered, he saw Winry sitting, balanced on a stool with her head and torso leaning against the wall behind her, with their baby son in her arms. He was crying brokenly. Apparently the noise had not been loud enough to wake his sleep-deprived mother.
Chuckling, Ed walked over and reached his hands out, muttering, "Come on, Henry, let's get you–"
But before he could touch the baby, Winry finched. Too fast for him to follow, she grabbed a wrench from another stool next to her and flung it at him with all her strength.
Ed was just barely able to dodge the brunt of the attack, succeeding in merely getting hit in the shoulder. At least he was fully awake now. He grunted in pain as his wife straightened, issuing a challenge. "Who's there?"
"Geez, Winry, it's me! What the hell are you even doing here in the middle of the night, throwing wrenches at people?"
As his parents started to yell, Henry squeezed his eyes shut and took up a much louder wail.
Winry blinked, then her gaze seemed to focus on Ed. She looked from her husband to her crying son, and to Ed's dismay, tears started to drip down her face. He frantically rushed the last few steps to her side, tucking her into the crook of his arm as he used his free hand to smooth her hair. "Winry, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Oh, Ed…I, I can't get Henry…to stop crying at all! I'm a…a terrible moootherrr!" Her words blended into a fresh batch of sobs. The baby seemed to take his cue from his mother, crying even louder.
Ed felt panic rising up inside of him, and tried desperately to quench it. Doing his best to keep his voice steady, he said as calmly as possible, "Winry, that's silly. You're the best mother in the world. Henry is so lucky to have you."
"H-how am I supposed to know that? I can b-barely remember…my own mother, so what if…if I'm just screwing it all uuup?" She tipped her tear-stained face towards her husband.
The quiver of her bottom lip felt like a sting to Ed's heart. He moved his free hand to her face, wiping her cheeks as he soothed, "Shh, Winry, don't be silly. I watch you with him every day. There's no way someone as attentive and loving as you could be a bad mother. And Henry loves you. He thinks you're just about the best person in the world." He smiled crookedly, giving his wife's forehead a kiss. "And I think he's right. Now come on, why don't you hand him over to me? You've been so busy being a good mother that you haven't been taking care of yourself. I'll stay up with him for a little bit so you can go back to bed." Gently, he lifted his wife from her seat on the stool, shifting his arms around so they were positioned to hold the baby.
Winry looked at him uncertainly, sniffling a little. "But you need to sleep too."
"Of course I do. But we're both his parents, and it's my turn to be up with him. I've already slept for a while, so let me take a turn." As his wife slowly placed the baby in his arms, Ed added, "Besides, I can use this time to get him to like me a little more. He definitely favors you."
Winry smiled a little through her tears as Ed started bobbing gently in place to calm the crying baby. "Ed, that isn't true. He loves you so much!"
He snorted. "Maybe he does, but there's no doubt which of us is his favorite." He smiled down at his son fondly. "If I'm lucky, maybe the next one will like me best."
There was a long pause, and Ed finally looked up to see what Winry was doing. To his shock, her entire face was red, and she was shaking. He opened his mouth to ask her what was the matter, but before he could utter a sound she barked, "Edward Elric, I can't believe the nerve of you! Henry is barely two months old, and you want me to push out another baby already? Just how strong do you think my body is?" To Ed's horror, she reached for a wrench on a nearby table.
Ed began backing away. "Now, Winry, don't forget I'm holding the baby. You wouldn't throw that near Henry, would you?"
Her eyes glinted dangerously as she stalked closer. "Don't worry about that, I have excellent aim."
Turning on his heel, Ed hurried as fast as he could down the hall with Winry in hot pursuit. But he hadn't missed the way his wife's lips were pulled up in a barely suppressed smile.