Heir to the Flame

Chapter 8: Letting Girls Talk

A doctor came out in a white coat just as Roy put down the phone and heard his mother say that she would be there soon. The man looked old and sighed, running his hand through graying hair. "Young man, are you her husband?" He thought quickly and came up with a plausible excuse that wasn't too far from the truth. "No, I'm her superior in the military. We were working and she suddenly started having pains... I just brought her here, that's all." The man scrutinized him. "Where's her husband then?"

"...dead." He had to think on his feet; he was not in a good position. The doctor nodded. "Can I see her? We're close friends..." he hated lying about his relationship with Riza, but it was necessary. He didn't think Riza would mind so much anyway... he hoped she didn't. The other man nodded and they left Al to sit dejectedly on a couch in the lobby with specific instructions to point his mother towards the room when she came, then come as well.

"So what's wrong with her?" he asked, sitting down next to her bedside and pushingsome hair out of her sweat slicked face.

"It seems she suffering from some symptoms we only find in older mothers; it's a bit perplexing, but we don't think there's anything very wrong with her. We thinkthat the child itself is suffering from some illness or malformation." Roy's brain mulled over the word malformation. "Does that mean it could be born... disfigured?" he asked. The man nodded. "It could be slight, as I said, we don't know the extent of damage, or whether the damage has even started yet. The child itself has not formed enough to tell for sure."

"I see... could we... have some time alone?" The man left and Roy held her hand gently, kissing her brow. She moaned softly and opened her eyes, staring at him blearily. "Roy... honey..." He put his finger to her lips and shushed her. "Riza... do you want to hear what the doctor said?" she drew the covers over her chest and nodded slowly. He stroked the hair out of her face with his forefinger and tried to think of what to say. He took a deep breath and traced it down the side of her face. "He said that baby... he said the baby might be deformed... they're not 100 percent sure though... so there's a chance there won't be any... deformation." Tears welled up in her eyes and she held his arm. "Do you think it will be..." he shushed her again and hugged her, letting her head rest in the crook of his neck. "It doesn't matter even if it is. If it is, we'll love it all the same, won't we?" She nodded. "It might be nothing, Riza...it might not be anything at all, so let's not worry, okay?" She nodded again and the doctor came back in with a note.

"I understand that you work in the military, from this man's statements. Here's a note to keep you out of work for the time being. Be careful with that baby, young lady." She took the pass from his hand and smiled wearily. "For right now, you'll just have to stay here in the hospital. We might need to examine you in case your pains get worse." Ilia burst into the room and the doctor chose the moment to sidle out. She seized Riza by her forearms and looked her up and down worriedly, felt her forehead, then busied herself by wetting cloths and placing them on Riza's forehead. Riza looked at Roy and he mouthed 'my mother' at her. She laid back down without complaint.

"You were right Roy, she is a pretty one." Riza blushed. "Now you keep healthy for that baby, and you'll be fine. Oh this makes me think back to when I was pregnant with Roy..." Roy reddened. "Mom, I don't want to hear about this!" Ilia sighed and continued as if she hadn't heard Roy. Roy grumbledand he and Al retreated to the lobby to wait and let the women talk.

"When I was carrying Roy I was always so tired... even though he was a small baby. Leroy and I were only sixteen; not very smart for either of us, but neither of us regretted having him after he was born. He was so cute..." Riza smiled and settled back into the pillows. "You really... loved you husband, didn't you?" Ilia nodded sadly. "Yes... but they took me away from him and my little boy and sent me to a command near Aquorya. Then it suddenly shut down a few years ago and they sent me to Central." Riza sat up. "That must have been when Roy and I were transferred to East City! They were keeping you apart intentionally!"

She nodded sadly. "Apparently so... Take care of Roy, will you? I know it doesn't seem like it, but he does need a lot of looking after, what with the life he's had, I don't blame him. Judging from his father though... you'll have a lot on your hands. My boy's a trouble maker." She smiled and Riza laughed softly. "Can he take care of kids though?" Riza asked, stroking her stomach.

"Once you get him devoted to something, he won't even pause for a break. I remember... when he was about seven, he found a stray puppy in the road, injured. I'm allergic to dogs, so I wouldn't let him keep it, and Itold him to take it to the vet to heal it. He did, said there was nothing they could do, and pretended to drop the dog off somewhere.

"Turns out that three weeks later I find that puppy running around in the back yard completely better, and Roy sneaked out to check his legs every night. After that I let him keep the puppy as long as it was in the back yard... he's so adamant..."

"If you think that's bad you should have heard his 'tiny miniskirt' rule... once he became Fuhrer he said that all female officers would be recquired to wear tiny miniskirts."

Ilia choked on the water she was drinking. "Little rogue! He's just like his father... Leroy would threaten me with that, teasingly. He'd say something and if I refused he'd tell me that once he became Fuhrer, he'd make me wear a tiny miniskirt!"

'So that's where Roy got tiny miniskirts from... like father like son.' Riza thought to herself. "I'd have thought that you and your husband would have had more children..."

"I... we did. I got pregnant three times... the first two were girls, both miscarriages... the third and last was Roy. I guess you could sayI spoiled him a little bit when he was very young... but Leroy was much more strict with him than I was." Riza nodded sympathetically, it must have been hard for her to lose two children. How could she resist pampering her son a bit? "Why was Roy's father so strict?"

"Leroy... expected a lot from Roy, wanted him to follow in his steps as the next Flame Alchemist, all this talk of Mustang family tradition, but you could tell he was so proud of just Roy's existance. He would have doted on him if he didn't know better, and Roy adored his father, nevermissed out on a chance to go off somewhere with him or play with him..."

Roy stood behind the door and smiled, letting them talk. Neither of them knew he was listening in, maybe it was better that way.