Notes from Shardy: Yeah, so I really have up to chapter fourteen typed and posting it upon the forum as I go, and I wanted to see how many people would like it here. But I'm taking my time on updating. Maybe once a week or so. I don't want to post it all yet.

Disclaimer: Go back and read.

Chapter Three

The carriage ride was not going fast enough for Edward Elric, who squirmed on the seat as if a hoard of fleas made home in his trousers. He struggled against the urge to leap out of the carriage and run the rest of the way, though, in real-time, the horses would probably cover more ground than he could in the least amount of time. "How much longer until we get to the Rockbell residence?" Ed yelled, poking his head out the window towards the driver.

"Two minutes less since the last time you asked me," the driver replied peevishly.

"Brother, you need to calm down," Al spoke up gently.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" the older Elric snapped as he slumped back in his seat. "Winry is carrying my child, do you honestly believe I can be calm about this?"

"Ah…so Edward, knocked up the Rockbell babe, eh?"

"SHUT UP AND DRIVE, FOSTER!"

"You shouldn't worry about it, Ed," Al continued in his attempt to soothe his brother's boiling rage. "I, for one, am excited about being an uncle."

This sweet and deliciously naïve little comment made Ed snigger in spite of himself. If only he could share the excitement. If only he could be thrilled from his little toes in his boots to the strand of hair that defied gravity on his head; thrilled that Winry was carrying his baby--wasn't that something he had always dreamed of since he understood the concept of birth?

However, he felt an ominous black cloud circling his heart. He had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, and it just didn't concern the reactions of the old bat when he graced the Rockbell property with his presence once again. The worst part about these gut feelings of his was that they were fairly accurate. And the darkening sunset behind them was not contributing any to lighten the atmosphere.

By the time the carriage pulled up to the automail shop that belonged to the Rockbell family, Edward's increasing uneasiness escalated to a sense of displacement. He did not pause from the point he jumped out of the carriage to the point where he burst through the door, demanding at the top of his lungs, "Where are you, Winry?"

"I know you're anxious to see her, Edward, but could you please refrain from breaking my house?" Pinako snapped while she straightened some cushions on the couch. "She's upstairs in her room, resting."

Ed needed more direction, ignoring Pinako's pointed glare as he bounded up the steps two at a time to Winry's bedroom. Heart racing against his ribcage, he knocked lightly on the door. "Winry? It's me, Ed," he announced. "Are you awake?"

There was no answer, and he went inside anyway. The previous proclamation of his presence was intended so that she wouldn't have a heart attack should he burst in unannounced. He found Winry in a mid-situp on her bed, slightly heavier in features than he remembered, sapphire irises sharply contrasting with the redness of tear-glazed eyes. Despite his vertically-challenged stature, he was by her side in four strides, plopping down on the bed without invitation and snuggling her against him.

She had no choice but to lay her head against that warm chest and allow his strong arms to hold her. All fear of him hating her vanished as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift. How was it all her problems vanished every time Ed so much as looked at her, smiling that goofy smile of his in a gesture that everything will be okay?

For a long moment they sat there. It was then Edward realized just how much he had missed Winry, feeling like he had been gone for years when it had only been four months. Inhaling the sweet scent of peaches in her golden hair, holding her soft body, he felt his insides twist up in knots once more. If not for the promise he had made to Al long ago, he would never leave again.

"Winry…" he whispered, the closest he could ever come to telling her all he felt. When it came to his personal feelings toward another, he was more a man of action than of words.

And action he much preferred.

Tracing his left fingers along her face, he lifted her chin to capture his lips with his own, tender but expectant, passion igniting within him at the memories of these sensations.

Yet she made no response to him, causing the feeling to die quickly as he pulled away to stare at her, topaz eyes confused and hurt at this unspoken rejection. "Winry," he said again, a puzzled query as he tried again to reach for her to which she reacted by moving back away from him. "What's up?"

"We can't do this, Ed," she whispered, staring at her fingers entwining themselves nervously in the wrinkles of the bedspread. Her voice was barely audible, but her tone spoke volumes of what she meant.

His eyes narrowed. "Why not?" he demanded, scooting even closer to her. The closer he came, the farther back she went.

"Because…" Her breath caught in mid-sentence when the sound of her back hitting the head-board revealed that she could not move any further. He leaned over her, one hand planted by each of her sides, making it known that there was no escape for her. "…we can't…"

His lips brushed her cheek, butterfly brush placed temptingly near one corner of her mouth. "Who says we can't?" he breathed against her skin, so close that as his eyes closed to reunite their lips, she could feel his eyelashes against her skin.

Though Ed tried to be gentle, considering he was now dealing with a pregnant woman and all, his testosterone had other ideas and shooting off enough hormones to make him squirm slightly with impatience. He wanted to stop all this talking and start with some hot carnal necking, clothes ripping, maybe a little--

Another knock on the door caused the couple to stiffen and barely have enough time to move out of their compromising position as another figure stepped into the room. "Hey, Winry," Felix greeted, trying to keep his focus on her but kept glancing at the other male occupying the room, much less Winry's bed. "Pinako told me you were up here. I just assumed you were alone."

"And who the hell are you?" Ed demanded rudely, irritated that this chump had to come and ruin his moment with Winry. Those ominous clouds he had felt in his heart earlier had now become a full-fledged thunder storm.

This time Felix did turn his attention on Ed, not looking in the least bit phased as if his gray-blue eyes had already sized the tiny alchemist up and concluded he wasn't much competition. "Felix Mortimer," he replied coolly with a short bow. "And you…?"

"Edward Elric," the shorter one answered with a confident hiss.

Felix was not impressed. "Ah, the famous Full-Metal Alchemist," he remarked in a sardonic tone. "I have heard much about you, especially from Winry. They say you were the youngest to pass the State Alchemist Exam and are a vital member of the military."

"You'd better believe it, pal," Ed snarled.

"Also heard that you left Winry without so much as a good-bye and didn't contact her for years."

Ed's face flared and Winry jumped off the bed before this conversation could become uglier and someone lost his head due to another certain someone losing his temper. "Come on, Felix," she chirped with a wide smile, taking his hand in hers. "Let's go get dinner. Granny's probably waiting for us. You coming, Ed?"

Edward could only trust himself to nod as he watched Winry, HIS Winry, leave the room with that Felee or whatever the hell the bastard's name was. Who was this guy and what the hell was his deal, anyway? Whatever it was, for Ed, it wasn't the problem.

Ed had suddenly thought up many different ways to bump this guy off his girl and the problem was he couldn't decide which one to go through.

Dinner could have been better.

Certainly there was nothing wrong with the meal but the gathering could have been a lot better if this towering specimen of the male population wasn't in the room. And to add insult to injury, he was the one sitting close to Winry as Pinako had forced Ed to sit at the other end of the table. The table itself could have grown icicles from the frigid atmosphere. Nearly chomping on his fork with each bite, Ed never took his eyes off of Felix while said stranger ignored Ed completely as he delicately ate his own food.

"So," Felix spoke up casually, "what brings you guys to Resembool?"

Ed opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Al jumped in. "Oh, the Colonel just gave us some vacation leave for all the hard work we've been doing," he explained cheerfully. "We decided to come visit Winry and Auntie Pinako."

This time Felix did fix his eyes on Edward and was met with an intense golden glare. "I see."

Pinako had picked up on the various opportunities for Winry to reveal to Ed of her intimate relationship with Felix. But Winry said nothing, merely picked at the food about her plate. The old woman sighed inwardly; though she understood why Winry would be scared of hurting Edward's feelings, if that girl didn't make everything clear as soon as possible, more than Ed's delicate heart would be broken. If anything, it'll make the silly boy, who practically engaged himself to Winry since they were in diapers, become that more determined to cut Felix out of the picture completely.

However, it wasn't the old woman's place to cue Winry on the subject. If Winry was to have any effect on the boys, she would have to do it herself, in her own way, at her own pace. No matter how slow and aggravating that pace may be.

"Felix, can I talk to you for a second?" Winry spoke up quietly, hesitantly. Ed almost chocked on his own spit. What was this? Winry…being polite? Whenever she wanted to speak to him, she would just come out and say it. Or, if it was private, drag him off by the collar whether he wanted to go or not.

"Sure, babe," he replied, casting a pointed glare at Edward. Ed was tempted to give the ass a good view of his middle finger in response, but the way Al was observing him, he thought better of it and kept his hands to himself. There were children still in the room, after all.

Once outside in the cool wind of the evening, Winry turned her full attention to her boyfriend. "You don't have to be so rude to him," she jumped in, the first time she had ever really spoken to Felix like this ever since she had dated him. Something about Ed always made her throw caution and tact to the winds. Then again, if it didn't she wouldn't be in this situation, would she?

Quite surprised by her tone, Felix stared at her. "How was I being rude?" he demanded curtly.

"Just the way you're behaving!" Winry snapped, gathering a little more courage with the words. "You're acting like a typical, jealous boyfriend!"

"Jealous? Of that munchkin?"

Winry snapped. "He's not a munchkin!" she yelled. "Don't you ever call him that! Or anything else related to the word short!"

Felix sighed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Whatever you say, sweetie. Can we please go back inside now?"

But she was too infuriated to stop now. "Not until you promise me you'll be nice to Edward! He's been my best friend since we were little--"

"Yes, I know…"

"--and he's closer to me than anyone in this world!"

A long, dead pause followed.

"Closer than me?" Felix finally broke the silence with this quiet declaration. Winry blushed, looking away, the restless child in her body a constant reminder on just how close Ed had gotten to her. With Felix, she had only done it once and she had felt so dirty, like a cheap whore. And it was obvious Felix had experience in bed play which made her feel even worse. In a strange way, she had always believed that Ed would be her first and allowing Felix to take her made her feel like she had betrayed him somehow.

Why did she let Felix do it? On a more important note, why had she let Ed? With Felix, had it been merely obligation? Sure, she desired him in some way, he was extremely handsome and her boyfriend after all, but the intensity of this desire was nothing compared to when she had been with Ed. With the simplest touch, she had been swept away by Edward, making love to him countless times over seven consecutive nights, and nothing felt more right to her than being with him in every sense of the meaning.

With Felix, it had been fast and simple.

With Ed, they had done things that would make Auntie Pinako blush.

But--

For Ed, desire was all it was. No matter how right it felt. No matter how he knew all the right places to touch or ways to send her spiraling out of control and begging for more, it was not the same as being in love with him. And Felix…

She was snared out of her thoughts when his hands placed themselves on her shoulders and he kissed her forehead. The caress made her shiver and confused her even more. "Felix…"

"Just remember that I will never leave you," he whispered against her hair. The comment could be taken both ways, but Winry was too tired and confused to really think about it right now. She saw neon lights dancing in her vision, threatening to overwhelm her. It was due to stress, she knew, and she had to get inside soon otherwise the results would not be good for either herself or the baby.

"Felix, you have to understand," she began softly, her breath starting to shorten. "Edward is like my brother. He's not trying to be mean to you, he's just a little over-protective of me is all. Yes, he left without a word. But I know about things that have happened to him that no one else knows. Please, just try to be a little more understanding of him before you judge him. Please?"

Last thing she needed was for Ed and Felix to be fighting over her. Last thing she needed was to feel like she had to choose between the two of them.

"I will," Felix promised after a moment. "But, Winry, only for so long as he knows his place. You are mine and I will not stand by and allow that li--him to come between the two of us."

"He won't come between us!"

He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked to the side, as if he had difficulty believing her statement. That Ed guy…it was obvious there was more than simple sibling-like friendship he felt for Winry. Those piercing eyes glowed with possessiveness, as if he believed he had already staked his claim on Winry.

Well, little Edward Elric was about to learn that precious treasures left behind were not so easily recovered.

"What are they talking about out there?" Ed demanded, glaring out the window as if he could hear the entire conversation by doing so.

"None of your concern, now eat," Pinako shot back, smacking his head with her spoon making him yelp in more surprise than pain.