1. I do not own any of these characters at all in any way, they belong to 'The Cow.' I do own Andrea, Little Maes and Micah, Lindley and Hanna.
2. THIS IS IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!
3. I'm sorry..I thought this was the lemon chapter.. it's not.. it'll be the next one.. I think... .;;;;;;;
Chapter ten- Saturday morning question and answer session
Saturday morning came as if nothing had happened the day before; Andrea woke up at eight o'clock and raced to her mother's room, bounding up onto her bed.
"Wake up mommy! It's time for breakfast!" She said, laying down on the bed next to the sleeping form of her mother. Riza rolled over and smiled, continuing to pretend to be asleep; Andrea laughed and dove for her mom, tickling her sides.
"Ok! Ok! I give up! I'm awake now… did you see if Mr. Roy was awake yet?" Riza said, sitting up in her bed and giving the girl a hug.
"No, his door is still closed. I told him last night about the sparkles in your eyes; he likes you mommy. I can tell!" She said as Riza tickled her.
"You told him our secret about the sparkles? What did he say?" She asked, pulling her onto her lap.
"He said 'I hope that sparkle never leaves either of you two's eyes.' He thought I was asleep already! I'm clever aren't I mommy?" She asked, standing up and jumping on the bed. Riza's face instantly hardened and Andrea knew she shouldn't be jumping on her mother's king size bed; she sat down and scooted off, going out the door. "Where are you going?"
"To wake up Mr. Roy the same way I wake you up mommy!" She said, slamming the bedroom door shut. Riza cringed as the pictures on the wall shook, the vibrations of the slammed door echoing through her room. She got off the bed and quickly crossed the room to the wall between her room and Roy's, listening for anything that might indicate trouble.
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" CRASH "Andrea? What's wrong? Is everything ok?" "Everything's fine! Mommy told me to come wake you up and I did, just like I wake her up every morning." "Well, you scared me; I'm not used to a little girl jumping up and down on my bed." "I'm sorry…" "It's ok; it's just going to take some getting used to." "Mr. Roy?" "Yes Andrea?" "If you love my mommy, why haven't you married her yet?"
There was a silence on the other side of the wall for a moment just as Riza sneezed; Roy's head turned towards the wall and the little girl giggled. He pointed at the door and put his finger over his lips, indicating to her to be quiet. He got out of bed and tiptoed to Andrea.
"Let's scare mommy; how about it?" Roy whispered, picking her up and continuing to tiptoe out the door. She giggled right as they got to Riza's doors and he stopped to tell her to hush again. He set her down on the ground, her small feet making a pat-pat sound on the wooden floor; they both stood next to the door and she counted to three.
"One, two, three! Rraaaaawwwwwrrrrr!" They both said, jumping into the doorway. Riza had heard them coming and jumped back in mock surprise, falling into a chair behind her.
"Oh my gosh! Don't scare mommy like that Andrea! And you know better than that Roy; you know what I do when I get scared…" She said, patting her thigh. Through the thin silk gown she wore he could see the outline of a leg holster, fully loaded. He nodded and smiled, picking Andrea back up.
"Come on; mommy's not going to play fair. We should go get something to eat; do you like pancakes and strawberries?" Roy asked as he walked out the door, the little girl in his arms.
"Blueberries! I like blueberries because they're the same color as Beary and he likes to eat them, see?" She said, holding her stuffed bear up to Roy's face, showing him the dark bluish-purple stains around the stitched mouth. He laughed and shook his head, closing the door behind them so Riza could come downstairs when she was ready.
The kitchen was a complete mess when Riza had finally gotten herself dressed and downstairs. Hanna, her hired help was sitting on a stool, laughing as she watched the man and the little girl make pancakes; the only time she moved from her place at the island was to go and get the blueberries out of the refrigerator for them. She laughed again as Riza came in and gasped, stopping Roy and Andrea in their tracks; they were covered in flour and their hair was streaked with white. Getting over the initial shock of the disaster, she took over the cooking and had the two mischief-makers clean everything up. They went upstairs to their own rooms and got themselves cleaned up; Roy stood outside Andrea's door until she finished getting dressed.
"May I escort you to the table miss?" He asked, holding out his arm for her to hold on to.
"Yes please sir; I would like that." She said, jumping up to grab his arm. He laughed and picked her up again, walking down the stairs. Riza smiled as she saw them enter the kitchen; she was honestly happy to see them getting along and it made her heart swell even more with love for him. Roy carried her to the table and set her down, pulling her chair out for her and pushing her in.
"Would you like to take a seat ma'am?" He asked, doing a deep, sweeping bow in Riza's direction and motioning towards a chair. "I would be delighted to seat you."
"Why thank you sir; that's so kind of you…" She said as he pulled out her chair for her and she sat down, letting him help scoot her in. He seated himself and passed the pancakes to Andrea after she had passed the syrup to her mother. The silence of the table was only interrupted by scraping forks and intermittent, 'Please pass the-'s"; Andrea decided it was time for her mommy to know what was on her mind.
"Mommy?" She asked, putting another fork full of the flapjacks in her mouth.
"Yes? And don't talk with your mouth full." Riza answered, cutting her food with her fork.
"Why do you and Mr. Roy sleep in different rooms? If he likes you and you like him, why don't you get married?" She innocently asked, licking syrup off one of her fingers. Both adults turned a light shade of red as Riza struggled for the right words only to be interrupted by Roy.
"B- because we don't… We haven't-" She stuttered out as she was cut off.
"Because big people don't just get married; they take time and get to know each other. Then later they get married; do you see now?" He explained, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions.
"How long do you have to wait?" She responded.
"As long as it takes; some people might take a year, some six months. You never know…" He said, looking over at Riza. She was smiling at him as he answered her daughter's questions; she never thought he would be the fatherly type, but this completely proved her wrong.
"But I don't want you to wait too long… I want a little brother to play with, and I know you have to be married to have a baby; just like Aunt Winry and Uncle Ed." She said, shoving another piece of the food in her mouth. She chewed for a minute as Roy formulated his thoughts.
"All I can say is that is in the future; maybe when you're eight or nine that might happen, but not right now." He said, picking his plate up and walking to the sink to rinse the syrup off; Hanna would do the dishes later. Riza finished her breakfast too and handed Roy her plate; she helped Andrea get out of the chair and ushered her upstairs to get her swimming attire. She went back into the kitchen to prepare a lunch for her daughter's afternoon excursion with Edward and Elysia; Roy followed her in and helped.
"Kids say the strangest things don't they?" Riza said, putting two pieces of bread together with the peanut butter and strawberry jelly in between them.
"I don't see what's so strange; she was simply making an observation about our actions." He said, kissing her cheek as she turned to face him. She leaned in and lightly kissed his lips; he pulled her towards him and ran his tongue over her lower lip and gaining precious access to her mouth.
"Mommy I'm-" Andrea said as she walked around the corner and her eyes opened wide at the sight of her mother and Mr. Roy kissing in the kitchen. Riza's eyes flew open and she pulled herself away from him, desperately trying to think of something to say.
"Honey; Andrea we were just-" she began but was cut off again.
"It's ok mommy; I know what kissing is." She said, puckering her lips and making wet kissy sounds.
"Who told you?" She said, kneeling down on the floor.
"Uncle Ed did; I asked him where Lindley came from and he said from kissing. So when is your tummy going to grow mommy?" She said innocently as Roy turned around to try and hide his laughter. Leave it to Edward to confuse a seven-year-old girl on what kissing and sex was…
"Oh Andrea; he told you that? I'm going to have to talk to your Uncle Ed; he shouldn't be discussing things like that with you." Riza said, standing up and glancing over at Roy's back. She could tell he was laughing, but he was never good at hiding things from her.
"Mommy?" Andrea said.
"Yes?" Riza replied.
"When are you going to marry Mr. Roy?" She asked again, bringing the topic back from breakfast.
"Whenever both of us are ready to be married; I think that's the last time I want to hear you talk about these things. You're a little girl; you aren't old enough to be asking questions like this." She said, picking her up with her normal arm.
"But one more; just one more question." She pleaded, looking into Riza's eyes with her adorable brown ones.
"Fine; as long as it has nothing to do with babies or marriage, you can ask it." She relented as Roy came to stand next to them.
"Mommy? How much do you love Mr. Roy?" She questioned. Riza gave her a warning looking. "I didn't say anything about babies or getting married; you never said I couldn't ask about love."
"Well…" She said, looking into Roy's yellow-black eyes. "I love him more than I love the sweet smell of the carnations growing down the street and more than walking the little puppies on Sunday morning." She said as Andrea leaned over and Roy took her from her mother. She leaned into Roy's ear and whispered.
"That's a lot Mr. Roy. She really, really likes to walk the puppies at the shelter; how much do you love my mommy?" She asked.
"I love your mommy more than the blueberries we put in the pancakes this morning and more than the number of stars in the sky… is that a lot too?" He whispered to the little girl.
"That is a lot; will you tell her something for me?" She whispered back.
"Sure." He said.
"Tell my mommy how much you love her. I know it would make her happy." She said, wiggling for Roy to let her down. He set her down on the ground and she bounded into the other room, leaving them there alone.
"What did she say to you?" Riza asked as Roy pulled her into his arms again.
"Nothing really… she just told me I needed to tell you something." He answered.
"Well?" She said as she kissed him again. Roy paused for a moment, a smile spreading across his face.
"I love you more than blueberries and stars…" He said, pressing his mouth onto hers again, molding their lips together.