In Times of Peace
Chapter Two
The First Day
Early Morning
Tad was sitting up in his crib smiling in Roy's direction when he woke. Roy smiled back at the boy, before silently slipping out of his bed and over to his son. He whispered "Shh. We're letting Mommy sleep in today." Before carrying the boy with him into the bathroom.
Tad sat on the footstool, swing his legs while he waited for Roy to use the restroom and wash his hands, then he brushed both of their teeth and changed his son's training pants. Then he carried the boy back out and slipped silently passed his wife. Hayete followed them out into the hall, then wandered down the stairs before Roy cracked Ed and Winry's door.
Ed was in bed still, with Trisha sitting on his chest. Roy held out his arms to her, so she scrambled down to rush over to Roy squealing a 'Bye bye' behind her despite the men both shushing her. She had already been changed this morning, so Roy went straight to collect the boys.
The three were all already up and playing with their trains when Roy cracked open their door. They scrambled up to rush out to him, even as he reminded them to be quiet. Franklin trailed behind them. He then leads them all downstairs to the kitchen. He had asked it to be stocked before they arrived, so he had everything he needed to make pancakes for breakfast with sausages and eggs.
The dogs slipped out into the backyard, as the cat glared from her perch on the window seat. Roy helped the children into their chairs around the table, before he brought over the ingredients to let the boys help him make the batter.
"I don't want eggs please, Yeye." Yuery said as he dumped flour into the bowl.
"For today, I'll allow it." Roy said.
"No milk." Maes said, frowning at the milk William was adding to the bowl.
"Yes, milk Maes." Roy said with a smile. "However, I will let you drink juice instead."
"Yeye. I like it all!" William said, adding sugar to the bowl.
"I know." Roy said with a smile.
"Daddy. Me help!" Tad demanded pounding on the table.
"Me, me." Trisha added.
Roy handed each of the smallest toddlers a little bowl with a pinch of flour to 'help' as he took the batter over to the counter. Tad upturned his bowl into his hair instantly, while Trisha chose to finger paint her tray and shirt. Yuery slid off his chair to collect the plates and glasses, while Maes carefully laid down the silverware. Once Yuery set down the plates, William carefully set the plates at each place. Yuery then went around setting down the glasses.
The boys sat back down to wait, while Roy started the pancakes and sausages. He would make the eggs after the sausage, since the pancakes would take the longest amount of time. Edward wandered into the kitchen and over to the fridge wordlessly pulling out the milk and orange juice to place on the table before starting the coffee.
"Good morning." Roy said over his shoulder as he slipped the pancakes.
"No. No morning before coffee." Ed mumbled as he sat at the island to watch the coffee brew.
"Bad night?" Roy asked sympathetically.
"Yeah. Usual stuff. I'm good." Ed replied, before laying his head on his folded arms on the countertop.
"Yeye, can I pour the juice?" Yuery asked, already reaching for the bottle.
"No, it's full, wait for me." Roy replied without looking at the boys, instead focusing on placing the sausages on the platter.
"I got it." Ed said before pulling himself up to walk over to the table. He poured juice and milk for each of the kids, then went over to retrieve the coffee.
Winry and Riza arrived in the kitchen then, both actually dressed for the day unlike their husbands who were still in their sleep clothes. For Ed that meant the same tank top and shorts he'd been wearing since he was a kid and for Roy a pair of flannel sleep pants and a white undershirt.
"I think the others will be down soon, I thought I heard Al talking when I was headed down the stairs." Winry said as Ed handed her a cup of coffee. "Granny is up but she's working on a knee joint so I don't know when she's coming."
Riza nodded as Ed handed her a cup as well, before setting one down in front of Roy's place and then his own. "Well, neither of them drinks coffee like normal people so they don't have to worry about it getting cold." Ed said as he began drinking his own cup.
"Ed. Just because they don't drink coffee- "Winry began.
"They run a school Win. How do they manage to have any energy without coffee?" Ed replied.
"Because tea also has caffeine Brother, as you well know. You just grew used to that awful drink thanks to too many years eating in the cafeteria." Al said as he walked into the room. "Dad, Mei's going to lie down a bit longer, she isn't feeling well today, so she won't need a plate for now."
"Is she alright?" Winry asked in concern, as Izumi and Sign silently joined them accepting mugs of coffee.
"Yes, traveling and then cake didn't agree with her stomach is all. Plus, she's just getting over a virus that went around the student body just as they were leaving for the summer. Then it hit the staff." Al said as he sipped his juice. "Don't worry, we made sure to wait it out before coming, we didn't want to pass anything along to the babies."
"It's alright Alphonse. I'm sorry she is feeling unwell." Riza said and Roy nodded in agreement as he placed platters on the table.
Everyone began eating as soon as Roy sat down at the table as well, Edward and Maes pointedly ignoring the milk in front of them, while Yuery refused to consider the eggs and Trisha's sausages found themselves under her highchair as the dogs came back inside. Izumi stuck to toast which no one commented on, the boys used to her eating light breakfasts.
"Ed, are we going to look at your leg today or do you want to wait until tomorrow?" Winry asked as she took a bite of her eggs and pretended not to see her daughter feeding Franklin.
"Tomorrow. Next week. Never." Ed replied around a bite of pancakes. "I promise, I didn't mess it up Win."
"You've been limping Ed. I am looking at it." Winry replied.
"Damn it Win." Ed started.
"Dad. Mom said Damn was a bad word." Yuery said seriously.
"It is, which is why only big people say it." Ed replied to his son.
"You said a bad word Daddy!" William said.
"Yes, I did." Ed replied.
"Daddy's bad." Maes added.
"Damn." Tad answered.
Izumi, Sig,Roy, Riza, and Winry looked at Tad, then Ed, who held up his hands in defense. "Okay. That one was my fault, but Dad got all five of them saying shit the other day and no one said anything!"
"Shitshit." Trisha said.
"Edward Elric!" Winry yelled.
"Dad!" Ed yelled to Roy.
"I think it's time to check on Mei." Al said as he slipped away from the table before he laughed at his brother and made things worse.
"Enough." Riza said, and the table grew silent. "Good. Now children, as your father explained, those are not words that children use. Go wash your hands and get dressed. Winry, get the babies cleaned up. Roy, help the boys change. Edward clear the table."
"Yes ma'am." The others said together as they stood to do as she said.
Mid-Morning
Roy and Edward had both dressed in jeans and t-shirts, which they were unable to do generally while in the city. They dressed all the children in a similar manner before leading the three eldest boys down toward a nearby stream to take them fishing.
Pinako was still working, having taken a short break when Winry brought in her breakfast and the Curtis had headed into the city for the morning.
Winry, Riza, and the two younger children planned to walk to the nearby village to window shop. Al and Mei had gone back to bed, siting tiredness from travel, but promising to be more engaged in the afternoon.
Yuery and William ran ahead, Maes trailing behind his brothers, but ahead of the adults, as they walked down the path toward the stream. The boys are excited, especially Maes, who had not been fishing before. Edward had insisted that all of his children were to learn how to fish and camp. After all, Izumi had taught him and Al by throwing them on an island, and he wanted the kids to be prepared if they were ever in a similar situation… he also had no intention of putting his kids in a similar situation himself. It was what the debate between him and Izumi had been the last few months.
Roy also agreed it was good for the kids to learn these things, and that Izumi was not sticking any of the kids on an island for a month. He had had his own intensive alchemy training. It had not involved being stuck on an island, instead it included total responsibility for the caretaking of the animals on Hawkeye Estate. He had never set foot on a farm of any sort before that, but he learned the lesson quicky. He would much rather the children have a training like that than being placed on an island somewhere.
They arrived at the stream, and got the boys settled between them sitting on the grassy bank. Each of them was holding a fishing pole, and no one had grown bored, yet which Roy considered a victory of its own. Yuery and William were staring down into the water in complete concentration, whereas Maes was kicking his legs and looking around the water's edge.
Maes' pole, of course, got the first bite. It yanked out of his hand and down the hill, but Ed managed to jump forward to catch it before it landed in the water. Then he handed it back to Maes and helped him pull the line back in. Yuery's line tugged, Roy immediately moved to help the boy, but Yuery shook his head with a determined frown as he mimicked Ed's movements to pull in his line.
They were still celebrating the boys' catches when William's line tugged as well. Roy helped the boy with his catch, before they decided the boys were now far too excited to try again and began gathering their things. Yuery and William skipped ahead down the trail, excited and wanting to show off to their mom. Ed smiled as he followed behind, carrying Maes and the fish, while Roy trailed behind with the poles. All in all, they had only been fishing for an hour, but it was a great first experience for the boys.