Heir to the Flame

Chapter 18: Photographs II

"Yes? Yes, I think it could be early... how fast do you think you can get here? Within the hour? Good. Okay, I'll see you then. Bye Mom." Roy hung up the phone and glanced at Riza, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, Black Hayate at her feet. He couldn't help but think that this must be the peace before the storm, couldn't shake of the feeling that he would have a son to hold in his arms much sooner than expected.

Not that he wasn't prepared. He had at least a room stuffed full of baby items, so that was no problem. It then occured to him that he and Riza had never really discussed the actual birth of the baby. What would he do? What did Riza want him to do? Stand outside? Or be there next to her? He decided on the latter, though he grimaced when he thought of her screaming in pain. He didn't want to hear her in pain, but he would if she wanted him next to her.

He would certainly feel better if it was his mother who actually helped Riza deliver the baby. He had no idea what to do, not the foggiest, and he had given Maes permission to come on the grounds that he took pictures only after the baby was born, not a second before, and to please limit his photos to one roll of film. Maes had been ecstatic at the early invitation. Now his Elysia would have someone to play with! Roy sighed, hoping that Elysia wouldn't grow up to be half as smothering as her father. Then again, Maes hadn't always been this way, and Roy wasn't sure which side of Maes he liked better.

He shrugged one shoulder out of habit now, since his right was no good at the moment. He supposed that he liked 'SuperDad' better, although before it had been 'SuperMatchMakerForRoy', so it didn't make much difference. Maes was Maes and he was fine with his friend. You just couldn't get mad at the guy you were practically born with.

He sat down on the bed next to Riza and stroked her hair, smiling as he noticed that she had gotten a bit plump. He hadn't noticed at first; he saw Riza every day and there didn't seem to be change day by day, but now that he thought about it... she looked cute, he thought, a little more cute than beautiful. Either one he didn't mind though. Maes obviously had preference over the cute category rather than the beautiful, but Roy didn't really take sides. Riza could be both when she wanted to be.

Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled at him. "And what does Miss Mommy want, eh? Your wish is my command," Roy joked, widening Riza's smile. "Can we look at a photo album?"

Roy looked surprised. "Now why would you want to look at something like that?" he asked as he opened a drawer and pulled out a thick leather-bound album. The leather was cracked in places and soft in others from use, but Roy didn't want to take the cover off and buy a new one. It had the authentic feel to it.

He sat down next to her again and laid the book on his lap, scooting next to her so she wouldn't have to crane her neck to see. "This one is back before I was born, when my parents were dating before Mom joined the military. Dad was already a State Alchemist, and Mom's dad signed her up for the Alchemy exam when she turned fourteen. I beat both of their records; I passed the exam when I was thirteen. It turns out that there's an alchemist now who's only twelve; got him to beat my own record."

"You're talking about Edward Elric?"

"Yup. He's a feisty little kid, kind of a midget though... reminds me a bit of myself when I was little. Without the midget of course. I was always taller than everyone else, that is, until Maes and Jean started shooting up. So I guess I'm the short one out of the three of us!

"This one is when I was born; you can see Dad hiding under the table over there," he pointed to a table which Leroy was cowering under. "And you can see Mom giving him a nasty look too, it's hilarious! Maes's dad said that as soon as my mom went into labor, Dad went straight for the table and didn't come out until after I was born."

"That's a bit cruel, isn't it?"

"You have to keep in mind that my father wasn't exactly the age we are now... I was born when my father was... fifteen... close to sixteen I think. They were both really young. He was scared out of his wits, and Mr.Hughes can't talk because he did almost the exact same thing when Maes was born. Only, he passed out."

Riza laughed out loud. "You'd think it would be the women passing out from the strain, but no..."

"It's the men that pass out!" Roy laughed with her. "I promise I'll try my hardest not to pass out though," he said, winking at her.

"This is when I met Maes for the first time. I didn't really meet him... I mean, I was hardly alive for four hours, and Maes was three days old. Dad just couldn't resist gloating though." A picture of Maes and Roy looking like thoroughly disgruntled newborns, which was what they were. Who would appreciate having a camera in their face when they were three days and four hours old respectively? Riza giggled at the look on baby Roy's face. "You still look the same," she giggled, and Roy gave her a look. "Um, last time I checked I was roughlyfive feet taller than when I was a baby."

"I mean the expression! It's the same expression you have when Maes starts shoving pictures of Gracia that you've seen four million times in your face!"

"Guess old habits die hard.

"This one is when Maes and I met Jean for the first time, when we were about a year old. Jean was a regular stand up comedian back then, but we sure didn't appreciate it."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, the first time we went to say hi, we fell into his hidden mud pit and he dumped three day old custard on us. Then he snapped a picture!" Roy still fumed over it; he had still failed to pay Jean back for it. "That's pretty advanced for a one year old."

"You wouldn't believe all the stuff this guy had; his old man worked in stealth and capture operations, so it figures that he'd teach his son how to catch things and keep hidden before he actually knew how to say Daddy and Mommy. My dad was like that too.

"He taught me about alchemy before I even started crawling. He taught me how it was done, not what happened in order to make it happen, so I could use alchemy without actually knowing what I was doing. Mom disapproved at first, but she's as much of an alchemy-maniac as he was. You could say I was a bit of a prodigy by the time I was six...

"Dad used to take me to all sorts of fairs where combatants face off with alchemy. He entered me in the adult competition one year since there wasn't a Junior division, and I got to third place!"

"Who beat you out of second and first?"

"My dad and my uncle of course," Roy sighed. "They were uber-strong. I had the misfortune of going up against my dad in the semi-finals. I'll just say he payed me back for all of my little pranks, ten-fold. My butt still burns just thinking about it... I mean, my mom even videotaped it! It's humiliating! Not to mention that she played it for Maes and Jean's satisfaction when we came back," Roy muttered darkly.

"And look at me now..." he murmured softly to himself. "I'm a daddy, and I've got a wife, friends, a pretty well paying job, a mansion... never would've thought I'd have all of this after Dad died."

"Why? You must have been upset..." she was sympathetic.

"Yeah... I kind of... gave up after he died. That was until Jean and Maes beat the hell out me for getting depressed. And needless to say..." his left arm reached up to touch his right shoulder. "How did you lose it?"

"Have you ever watched me fight, Riza?" She looked at him like he was crazy. "Yes, when you were fighting in the Ishbal War..."

"Have you watched other alchemists fight?"

"Yes."

"Can you think of anything... different?"

Riza thought for a while and Roy stared at his one gloved hand, or more accurately, the transmutation circle on the glove. "I... I've never seen that circle glow... maybe once or twice... and other alchemist's circles..."

"Fullmetal and I are more alike than he thinks... he thinks he's the only one... who's lost something, and tried to get it back..."

"But then..."

"I've... tried human transmutation... I tried to brind my father back to life... but it... didn't work...

"I lost my shoulder bone as a result. When I woke up again, I couldn't move my arm, I almost died from the pain. My uncle found me in the basement of the mansion, he had a replacement fixed and put into my arm. No one could tell the difference. I'm not sure what he did... with that... that thing..."

"So you are like Edward... you don't need the circles... but you never told anyone?"

"No... I just kept the circle on my glove as a decoy."

"Then you don't need the gloves at all?"

"As long as I can make sparks... but I don't know... sometimes there are times when I need the circle to transmute. It's an on and off sort of thing, I haven't figured out why it does that."

The doorbell rang and Roy ran to answer it. Ilia stood in the doorway, a large bag in hand. "I'm ready, what about her?"