Heir to the Flame
Chapter 11: Little Roy and Little Ms. Havoc
Roy sighed; it had only been a week since he'd gotten back to Eastern Command, and here he was bored as hell already. Fullmetal probably wouldn't be back until tomorrow, so making fun of him was a no go, and Havoc had taken leave to visit his father in West City, so there would be no burning of Havoc until well into next week. Fuery and the others thought that Roy looked downright gloomy.
"What do you think's wrong with him Falman?" Fuery asked in a low voice so Roy wouldn't hear. Falman shrugged, then looked back at Roy's office thoughtfully. He stroked his chin in deep thought and his face lit up. "It's got to be the First Lieutenant! Ever since she left for Central he's been acting this way, maybe the Colonel's in..."
"LOVE!" Fuery said ecstatically, and Falman clamped his hand over the young sergeant's mouth and dragged him to a corner. He let go of Fuery and put a finger over his mouth. "Shush! He'll fry us for sure if he finds out what we're talking about!" Fuery shrugged, embarassed. "Sorry Sir. But the First Lieutenant... you saw her stomach didn't you?"
"What about a stomach?" Roy yelled from the doorway, pacing to and fro in the office.
"Um... Colonel..." Fuery ventured. Roy bit his lip angrily and continued to pace, shooting a look at Fuery, telling him to continue.
"Um, it's the First Lieutenant Sir... I was just wondering-"
"Wondering WHAT?" Roy yelled.
"Uh, um, eh, that is... um... if you noticed... that the First Lieutenant is... uh... pregnant?"
Roy stared at him for a minute, then burst into laughter. "Of course I know, I should know! Eh-" He stopped abruptly and donned his usual serious personage. "It was easy to see, wasn't it?"
Fuery and Falman sweatdropped. "You're... very bad at covering yourself up, Sir..."
Roy floundered a bit moreand decided that the game was up. He cleared his throat. "Um, well, that is, I-"
"He got the First Lieutenant pregnant, the old dog!" Havoc cried, bursting into the office for the first time that day.
"Havoc! I thought you were..."
"Visiting my folks? Turns out they've already left for someplace else, ungrateful... Anyways, the Colonel's gonna be a daddy!" Havoc sang, dodging away from Roy's grabs at his neck. Fuery and Falman's mouths hung open. "Really Colonel?"
"Yeah..." Roy grunted, retreating back to his office. Falman had a brainwave and held out a book to him. "So does that mean this is yours, Sir? I thought it was the First Lieutenant's, but now..." Roy snatched the book from him and scanned the title. " 'Baby Girl Names... and Baby Boy Names... how conveniant. It must be Riza's, but I'll borrow it," he declared, dumping himself onto a couch and opening it to the 'girl' section.
"You want a girl, Colonel?"
"Maybe. Doesn't matter so much to me, but Riza already picked out a boy name."
"Really, which one?"
"She wants to name him Roy Junior."
Falman and Fuery kept their faces straight and fought the urge to laugh. Poor Havoc on the other hand, was not so fortunate.
"Hahahahahahah! Roy Junior?"
Roy glared at him over the top of the book. "What's wrong with Roy Junior?" he demanded.
Havoc bent over with mirth. "N-nothing Sir," he gasped.
Roy decided not to pursue the matter any further and went back to the book.
"Help me will you? I'll just read them off here... Ana?"
"Nah."
"Aria?"
"...it's okay."
"One check there... Becca?"
"Ewww..."
"Bethany?"
"No way man!"
"Catherine?"
"Nope."
"Uhhhm... Lyra?"
"Ooooh... Nice one..."
"Two checks.Maria?"
"Oldish, isn't it?"
"Patricia?"
No response.
"Riana?"
"No."
"Raya?"
"...I dunno..."
"How bout...-"
"Hey everybody! How're ya doing?" Maes threw open the doors of the office and Roy jumped clear out of his seat. Maes grinned and held up three fingers. "Three feet Mustang. Jumpy are we?"
"Yes, God dammit Maes, don't do that!"
"A'right, I won't. You're thinking of girl names? Lyra was a nice one."
"You think so, Maes?"
"Yep."
"I'll ask Riza then. Speaking of which... why are you here in Eastern Command anyhow?"
"Do you know what day it is today?"
"Uhh... noooo..."
"Today, lamebrain, is the four and half month halfway point of Riza's pregnancy! You think he'd keep track of stuff like this, but nooo..."
"Okay Maes, I get it." He said it, then realized that he didn't.
"I still don't understand why your here and not back in Central."
"Well... there hasn't been much to do. It's getting a little boring around Central. Riza doesn't go to work too much anymore, which keeps her away from Haruko and lets her take walks around town. She loves those walks, especially with her pup."
"Hmm... Black Hayate right?"
The Black Hayate they referred to was a massive dog with a shoulder height up to Riza's hip, and was about six or seven years old. In any case, he was an old dog. He followed Riza everywhere, bidden or unbidden, except on trains to which he was confined to the storage compartment.
"Maes... how's Riza doing?"
"Well, she puffing up, that's for sure. She's actually cuter when she's plump, you should see her."
Roy tried to imagine a plumped up Riza and failed. "I'll be coming over again tomorrow Maes."
"I know! Listen, we need to have a night on the town, me, you, and Havoc! It'll be justlike old times!"
"I'll second that!" Havoc said happily. "S'been a while since we've had a man's night out, the three of us."
"We'll go tonight?" Maes asked, looking hopefully at Roy. Roy's brow twitched and he frowned. "I don't know... oh... all right... I'll call homefirst, to see if my date... is there." He got up from the sofa and glanced at the clock. He stretched and yawned, then looked at the door. "It's about time for me to leave anyway, on a... ah... 'date'. I'll call you guys when I get back home."
Maes and Havoc grabbed Roy's uniform sleeves and pulled him out the door. "Then you should be getting ready for your date, shouldn't you? Let's go!"
After they had left the building, Maes and Havoc glared at him. "And what is this 'date'?"
"I was just making an excuse to leave! Don't tell me you didn't see one of the generals peeking in the office! I had to change the subject."
"Oh, damn we almost got busted didn't we?" Maes said, embarrassed.
"I'll say! Now where do you guys want to go?"
"We want to get as drunk as humanely possibly before tomorrow night!" Havoc and Maes chimed together.
"Why?"
"Well, you know that Gracie's pregnant already, don't you? It's almost nine months, and after she's born I won't have any time to get drunk! I hope she's adorable... You're the godfather, remember Roy?"
"Yes yes, I remember... what are you going to name... the girl, you said?" Roy asked as they walked down the streets, unbuttoning their military uniforms.
"Well, Gracie wanted something like Elizabeth, and I wanted something like Alicia, so we combined the two and got Elysia! An adorable name for an adorable girl!" Hughes practically oozed.
"What about you, Havoc?"
Havoc, however, looked very uncomfortable. "I don't want to talk about it..."
"Really? You sure?"
"Maybe later," was all he said, and Roy gave up, figuring that if he knew Jean well enough, that his old friend would burst sooner or later.
"You know, you should check whether your kid is a boy or girl. I think you can by now," Hughes suggested, noticing that Roy was purposely steering them away from any bars in East City. Roy looked at them both slyly. "I know, that's where we're going. I'm going to get the reports right now."
"But if you get it, then they'll suspect..." Jean started.
"Nah, I've got it covered already. Riza's getting too round to come get it herself, so I'm getting it so I can give it to her, no sweat." Havoc wasn't convinced at all, but decided that if something went wrong, Maes probably had a back up plan. At least, he hoped so. He twiddled his fingers and Roy shot him a look, but said nothing.
"Look! I need to get some reports too!" Havoc burst at last, and the other two gaped at him. Havoc's agitation increased and he turned red. Roy put his arm around Havoc's shoulder. "Ahhh, so you finally got a girl, eh Havoc?" He said, grinning through Havoc's indignant 'it's not like that!'.
"It's alright Havoc, admit it! But how'd you find one that'd put up with the cigarette?" Roy asked as Havoc muttered darkly. "You don't have to say it that way..." Havoc whined. "She's a very nice person... she said as long as I don't smoke up the house, she's fine with it."
"Must be a regular martyr, that one."
Havoc growled at Maes. "She's in the hospital rightnow getting checked, and I was going to go anyway! So let's go!" he jogged ahead of the other two and threw a look over his shoulder. "C'mon, c'mon!" He said impatiently.
After they reached the hospital, Havoc immediately stamped out his cigarette, checked in, and ran to a room. Roy's papers were coming eventually, so he and Maes followed Havoc into a hospital room.He was sitting by a woman who was lying in bed, and he held her hand in his. Roy's mouth dropped open. "She looks a little young... Havoc?"
"Oh shove off Roy, she's only two years younger than me... Her name is Keira. Keira, these are my friends. The snotty arrogant one is Roy, and the nice one in glasses is Maes," he said as Roy fumed. "Snotty arrogant one...?"
"It's nice to meet you," she said tiredly, laying back down again. Maes covered his face with a hand. "Geez you guys, you're getting women pregnant right and left without even getting married... what's wrong with you people?"
"Jean?" she looked at him and he watched her. "Yeah?"
"It's going to be a girl."
"Really? I mean.. um... really!" He jumped up, and sat back down again. "I'm just... I'm just nervous... and... happy!" He hugged Keira and a man came in to hand Roy the papers. Roy read them and sweatdropped, looking at Havoc.
"What?" Havoc demanded.
"We're having a boy," Roy said.
Havoc glared at him. "You better keep your boy away from my girl!"
"What's that supposed to mean? Who implied anything about them getting close?" Roy yelled.
"Yeah, what was I thinking? Your'll be ugly anyway..."
"Havoc!"
"Mustang!"
They jumped at each other and collided, punching, kicking and biting each other, and Keira sighed.
"Don't worry," Maes said, "They're always like this."