I just want to say a hige thank you to all who have reviewed, especially considering I wrote the first chapter such a long time ago! Well here is some more, hope I don't dissapoint. FMA isn't mine and never will be
Armstrong for once decided he would avoid embracing someone he so really wanted to. The last thing he had expected that day was for Miss Winry to turn up on his doorstep, let alone heavily pregnant. Yet he was a polite man and did not bring it up. If she wanted to tell him she would in her own good time. He had his suspicions anyway.
Winry glanced around the shop that Mr Armstrong had built. It was full of all sorts of crafts mostly made of wood and stone. There were small models surrounding the room, mostly of animals but some of people she had seen round the town. Today it was raining so few people were walking around which suited her down to the ground. Not too many people recognised her but it would only take one person to give out the cry then she would be swamped. Armstrong had not said a word which if anything encouraged her to tell him out right. His eyes filled up with tears as she confirmed what he had been thinking. She poured him some tea, almost laughing at the absurdity of this bulk of a man in tears.
'Miss Winry will you excuse me a moment,' he asked and left to go into a separate room. He arrived a few moments later with a two packages in his hand. One had Mrs Hughes name on it, the other had hers.
'Please open this when you get home and give this to Mrs Hughes,' he said, tears still shining in his bright blue eyes. She nodded and thanked him, desperately wanting to open her gift. They sat and talked about his work for some hours more. She delighted in hearing it all and even managed to hear some tales of Al. According to Armstrong he was easily picking up all his alchemy skill but he still had no memory of any of them. At this Armstrong began to well up again but Winry held onto his hand. He smiled down at her and again an evil thought crept into her mind. Was Armstrong too only concerned for her and the child because it was Edwards? He didn't seem the type to think such things but as he waved her off it was all she could think about.
While in bed she finally got the chance to open her package. It was carefully wrapped but it felt like a wooden figure inside. From the shape she guessed it was the model of a person, perhaps the one of a woman she had commented on. They were all so full of detail she could swear they would all come to life one night and raid the town. What a childish thing to think, she thought.
She unwrapped the last layer. Inside was a figure but of a person she knew well. Boots that looked to big, small stature, hair in a braid and intense, stern eyes. She held the object in her hands for a moment, wishing with all her might that it would come to life, before breaking down into a flood of bitter tears.
After another month had passed she finally received the call she had been waiting for. Al had been tracked down and he was now on his way to Central. As far as she was aware he still was unaware of her pregnancy. Roy had kept his promise and the military kept a close eye on her but not so they were intrusive. She had mixed feelings about the security but wanted to do the best for her child. That is what Rose had done. Al had been so good with Jack she sighed at the very memory. She wondered what he would think of being an uncle mores-o then how she thought about how Ed would take the news. It was likely to be because Al was at least still in their world.
She was banned from the train station so Gracier volunteered to join Riza on the platform to meet the young alchemist. He too was very important to everyone although he had no recollection of any of them. She would help him get his memories back somehow. She would be damned if he forgot everything after the worry he and his brother put her through.
Elysia sat on the floor in front of Winry and drew pictures. She was a delightful child, bright and innocent, always with a smile across her face. She knew her daddy was gone but she loved him all the same and said goodnight to his picture that hung in her room. She was still slightly timid around Roy but he had accepted that now. Winry noticed she sometimes drew pictures of him next to her Hughes, understanding the friendship in the way only a child could.
After an hour she finally heard a car draw up outside. It was odd, but she was nervous about seeing Al, wondering if he would be upset that she hadn't told him. No such thoughts had flared up before but now they consumed her as all her worries tended too. It was Elysia who went to the door first.
She stood and waited listening to the voices. She heard Havock and Riza say farewell, she heard Al embracing Elysia and she even heard Izumi complimenting Gracier on a beautiful home. She hadn't expected to see their sensei as well.
They were still chatting as the entered the room and saw her standing their. Much like the others there was a moment of total silence, as if the slightest noise would break the world in two. The first to make some form of disturbance was the most silent of all.
'Oh,' Winry cried as the baby inside her kicked out in protest at its mothers anxiety. She looked back up to see Al walking over to her.
'Winry, can I touch your stomach?'
She nodded, truly moved at the unwavering gentleness of the boy she had known all her life. He carefully placed two hands on her stomach in time to feel another outburst from the life within. He grinned broadly and cried with delight, looking up at her with sparkling eyes.
'So Edward remains with us not only via his brother.'
She blushed as Izumi said these words. Was it so clear that it would be his child? How many people guessed how much she felt for Ed? It was verging on pathetic but nobody had shot her down. People had given her disapproving looks but they had all been strangers to her. Everyone else seemed genuinely concerned but happy for her. Al had now taken to resting his head on her swollen belly as if wishing to hear a baby cry.
'Winry, I'm going to be an Uncle!'
Her fears lifting for the time being she embraced her spiritual brother. He was such a kind and unselfish spirit. All he was doing now was in search of his brother, believing with all his heart he could bring his brother back. She hoped that now he knew it would give him a new burst of energy. He had promised Winry he would bring brother back as if he knew Edward was needed by all of them.
