In Times of Peace

Chapter Eight

Dinner with the Fuhrer

The boys had been bathed and changed into pajamas, they sat at the table waiting for their guest. Mom and Dad were still mad, Yuery could tell. He was sorry to have upset them. Yeye and Nainai too. Uncle Al and Aunt Mei also seemed upset, but Aunt Mei was busy making food, and Uncle Al was helping Maes change upstairs. Trisha and Tad had already eaten dinner and were in their cribs.

Mr. Eber was going to be here soon, according to the clock. Yuery was very glad the man had found them and stayed with them until Mom and Dad came. Will had been very scared. Now that they were home, Yuery could admit to himself he had been scared too. He was never ever leaving the yard or garden without telling a grown up again.

Mom sat down next to them as Uncle Al brought in Maes. Dad and Yeye were helping Aunt Mei bring in the food. Nainai had gone upstairs to make sure Trisha and Tad were asleep and said she would be right back. Yeye had gone to answer the door.

Mr. Eber arrived just before eight as Aunt Mei and Dad finished putting everything on the table. With Mr. Eber was a little girl, older than Yuery, with large green eyes and auburn hair. "This is my granddaughter, Edith. It's just the two of us." Mr. Eber said with a smile.

"Hello Edith, I am sorry to have delayed your meal tonight." Yeye said to the girl.

"It's alright. Grampy said that he was late because he had to help two little boys lost in the woods." Edith said in a quiet voice with a big smile. "Grampy is always helping people."

"Well, I do believe your Grampy seems like a very nice man. I hope you are well yourself." Yeye said.

"I'm sorry we got lost and your grampy had to come help us and made your dinner late." Yuery said.

"Well, we better all eat before it gets cold and I can't." Aunt Mei said with a smile before serving herself a bowl of rice covered in chicken pieces and spicy sauce.

There was also a stew brought to the table, so he asked if he could have that instead. Mom agreed with a smile, as William requested the rice. Edith asked for stew as well. Once everyone had their food, the grown ups were all talking about paperwork and gardening, which was boring.

William and Maes were arguing over the juice, until Yeye took it from them and poured them each some without pausing in his complaint about the new quarter budget. Edith was sitting quietly, so Yuery asked her. "Did you always live with just your Grampy?"

"Yes. As far back as I remember. I have pictures of my mother and father, but I was little when they died. I don't really remember anything about them." Edith said. "But it's okay because Grampy tells me lots of stories about them, and then he sometimes lets me come with him to take care of the flowers. We live in a little house right over there on the other side of the hill."

"Oh, maybe you can come play with us when your Grampy comes to work?" Yuery asked. "Mom said we aren't going to be outside without a grown up for the rest of the summer though, so you'd have to play inside."

"I can ask. That would be fun." Edith replied with a smile. "Do you go to school yet?"

"I had a tutor last year, and my Dad before that, but Mom said we could try a special school this fall as long as I'm good."

"What about William?" Edith asked.

"I'm just little. I get a special tutor in the fall." William said around a mouthful of rice and chicken. "Then after a year I get to go to Yuery's school.

"Maes is too little for the tutor so Dad teaches him, like he does me and Will and Trish is just a baby." Yuery added.

"Who's Trish?" she asked looking around the room.

"She's in bed. So's Tad. They're little so Aunt Mei fed them and sent them to bed. Trish is our little sister." Yuery said.

Once they were finished eating, Yuery tried to get permission to go play and bring Edith, but Dad said it was bedtime. With a sad wave from Yuery he, William, and Maes disappeared up the stairs followed closely by Dad. Yeye stayed behind to show their guests out, Mom and Nainai went to clean up the kitchen, and Uncle Al and Aunt Mei had already gone to bed.

Ed led the three boys to their room and tucked them into their beds. He sat down in the rocking chair in the corner and pulled out the book they had been reading. "Daddy. I'm really sorry I got us lost today." Yuery said as Ed started to open the book.

"I know you are Yu. However, the punishment stands. We can not have you or your brothers wandering around the countryside like that. Bad things can happen." Ed said. "Like getting lost."

"Yu memembered that you sit down and wait if you're lost." William said.

"Remembered, Will." Ed corrected. "That's good that you remembered Yu. I'm glad you picked a spot and waited."

"We did move though, cause we sat on a log, but then I heard the water and thought it was where we went fishing. But then it didn't look the same so we sat to wait." Yuery said with a frown.

"I'm glad you both handled getting lost well, and am proud of you keeping your heads." Ed said with a smile. "However, I am very disappointed in you to have you wander off in the first place. What is the number one safety rule?"

The boys mutter under their breath before Maes sat up with an excited expression. "I know! I know!" He yelled as he bounced out of bed. "Never ever even cross the road without telling Mommy or Daddy!"

Ed picked his youngest son up to put him back into bed. He poked the end of Maes' nose. "That's right Maes. Now, we are going to read one chapter, then everyone will go to sleep."

"Okay." The boys all say together. Ed smiles at them, then reopens the book. He cleared his throat and began reading about the little girl's adventure into the woods.

The boys fell asleep before the chapter had ended, Maes was the last to drift off. Ed closed the book and tucked Will back under the light cover. He always managed to kick it off in his sleep. He moved Yuery's glasses from his pillow to the night table. Then he pulled Maes shirt back down. For some reason the boy's shirt always managed to expose his belly while he was sleeping. When Ed had brought it up one evening, everyone else laughed at him but no one explained the joke.

Finally, Ed slipped from the boys' room and across the hall into his own. Winry had already showered and changed for bed, she was sitting up waiting for him and reading a book on new alloys. "They're all asleep." Ed said. "Are you headed to sleep now?"

"Yeah, I think so. Trish had an early nap and after all that hiking, I'm really tired." Winry said as she closed her book.

"Okay, I have some more paperwork that needs my attention, but I should be back up before long." Ed said before kissing her goodnight.

He then headed down to the study, fully expecting everyone to have headed upstairs, he was surprised then to find both Al and Roy sitting in the kitchen drinking tea. "Hey Ed, care to join us?" Al asked.

"I need to do some paperwork…yeah I'll join you for a bit." Ed said as he pulled out his chair and his Dad handed him a cup of tea.

"We got really lucky today." Al said.

"Oh, I know. This will be featured in my nightmares for the next couple of weeks. Winry's too most likely." Ed said before sipping the tea, then adding a spoonful of sugar.

"I think it will feature in all of our nightmares. Possibly the boys as well." Roy said, while frowning at Ed's cup. Roy had already added sugar to the tea but apparently it wasn't sweet enough tonight for Ed's tastes.

"How far apart are the babies going to be?" Al asked Ed, who glared in response.

"I already knew Edward, however, Alphonse do not announce the pregnancy to anyone else. That's for Ed and Winry to decide."

"I don't know for sure Al. I'm guessing close. Maybe a month apart. Maybe less." Ed replied. "We should give Eber a raise. The garden is beautiful, he is friendly, and he helped us get the boys home."

"I agree. I'll take care of it right away."