HEIR TO THE FLAME
CHAPTER 22: Hawkeye Family Reunion
Once they were outside, Junior wasted no time in clinging to Riza's leg and wailing, "Momma!" for attention. Riza sighed and looked around, making sure that no one was in sight, and gave in to temptation. She picked up Junior and he threw his arms around her neck, still repeating the word 'momma', and played with her hair. She just didn't want to ever let go of him, but when they were inside... the temptation to cuddle and be protective was almost overpowering.
He was still tugging at her hair and looked like he was about to move on to her earring when she found who she was looking for. She stopped and the man looked up, smiling weakly. "Elizabeth."
"Dad."
"Daddy!" Junior cried out randomly, having heard Riza say it and feeling the urge to mimic. When he didn't get a response from his mother, he turned in her arms and looked up to her face. "Momma?" He seemed more eager to be babyish around Riza than he did Roy.
Riza's father was taller than her, if not by more than a few inches, maybe even as tall as Roy, but not much taller. He had the same blonde hair, but where her eyes were brown, his were abrilliant green. He shrugged one shoulder, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"So, how are things, Elizabeth?"
"You have a grandson."
He looked surprised, and his mouth opened slightly before he closed it again. "I wasn't invited to any wedding."
"There wasn't one."
His surprise seemed to deepen, but the only way you could tell was the miniscule widening of his eyes. Junior certainly didn't catch it, but Riza did. "Surprised?"
"I thought I knew you well enough that you'd marry before you had a child."
"I would have."
"Fraternization?"
"Yes."
He seemed uncomfortable about her straightforward, icy, tone. "Elizabeth... is this still about-"
"Yes," she snapped, and Junior whimpered and buried his face into her chest, frightened by her tone. Her face softened and she stroked his hair, giving him enough courage to lift his face slightly and peek around. Black Hayate sat behind them patiently and Junior reached through the crook of her arm to touch his nose.
"I apologized already, Elizabeth."
"Maybe the apology wasn't enough."
"I think it was." He was being stubborn now, which only fed her anger.
"So you can kick me out of the house, and you think that years down the road a simple apology will make it all better?" she raged at him. Junior started to sniffle.
"I warned you of what I would do if you joined the military; I warned you Elizabeth and you paid no attention. If you think you're old enough to join the military, to play with life and death, then you have no place in my household, I told you that; you ceased being a child when you made that decision, I thought I made that clear."
"But you didn't have to... to... abandon me!" she cried, and Junior started to wail loudly. Her father shook his head slowly.
"I didn't abandon you, Elizabeth. Why do you think you just happened to be under the command of your grandfather? How do you think you were stationed away from all the riots?
"Who do you think let slip the suggestion that you were to be put under Mustang's command?" She gasped and jerked her head up.
"You planned it? This whole thing?"
"No, I couldn't say that I foresaw you falling in love and having a child with the man, but I knew he was trustworthy. His parents proved their trustworthiness to me, and so did he. And also... during the war... I wanted you to be sniper backup for a strong alchemist. To avoid being hurt..."
He walked closer to her and wiped the tears from Junior's cheeks, smiling still. "Children aren't meant to be abandoned; they need to be loved and cared for... Even when they do things you know are wrong, you just have to... let them find out for themselves, guide them however you can... and sometimes it's better if you don't let them know you're guiding, sometimes they can resent help, they can be cruel, and they can be stupid, but they're still children.
"You're still my daughter, still my little girl, and so I'll guide you, even when you think I'm not there." Riza looked away and Junior tugged at her hair a bit more.
"Is there a reason you came, Dad?"
"Yes, actually." He handed her a paper and she shifted Junior to one arm to take it and read it.
" 'Family reunion?'"
"Yep, back at the house. You remember where that is, don't you?"
"Up in North City, I remember. Can I bring Roy?"
"Sure you can!" he said brightly, having finally convinced his daughter that he wasn't evil. "The more the merrier! You can even bring some friends, if you want."
A week later...
"Riza... I hate wearing suits!" Roy whined at her as she straightened his tie. He felt confined, caged, imprisoned; he hated suits! Riza sighed and brushed dust off his collar. "Stop whining and squirming or we'll never get to go!" Roy grumbled and she got out a comb, and he groaned.
"You're combing my hair too?"
"Yes."
"But why?"
"Because it'sa mess!"
"It is not!"
"How on earth do you go to work with your hair looking like that?"
"I comb it a few times..."
"Like how many strokes, three?"
"More or less."
"I just don't get it." She pushed him onto the bed and he bolted upright again, trying to get up, and she promptly sat in his lap. "Now stay still!" she muttered, running the comb through his hair at last. "B-b-b-but!"
"No buts! Just stay still."
"But!"
"What did I just say?"
He sighed for a painfully long time and kissed her neck, and she could feel her face reddening. He must have realized it as well, because he continued to kiss her up and down her neck, his arms around her. She glanced at the clock, got one of her arms loose, and smacked him in the head.
"Ow!"
"Get off, it's almost time to go!"
"But..."
She waved afinger at him threateningly and he let her go with another painfully long sigh. She got up and went to the mirror to examine herself in her blue halter top dress, when she gasped and her hands clapped down on her neck.
"Roy Mustang!"
"Yes?"
"You-you-... come here and look!"
He came in hesitantly, wondering what he was in for this time. He looked at her neck and Riza lifted up her hands.
"Oh, um... woops?"
"'Woops'? That's all you can say for yourself?"
"Pretty much..."
"Oooh! How am I supposed to go to the reunion when I have a... a... hickie on my neck?"
"Hmmm... say it was a bug bite?"
She glared at him. "Hey! That's what you get for sitting on my lap to comb my hair!" Junior stumbled into the room with Black Hayate close on his heels. Black Hayate had become a self-appointed guardian, never letting the baby of the household go where Hayate didn't think it safe, and picking him back up by the collar when he fell.
"Momma!" She bent down and picked him up, and he pressed his face against hers contentedly. His eyes went down her neck and focused on the red mark on her neck. "What's that?" he asked, looking up into her eyes.
"Bug bite," Roy said, and Junior shifted his attentions to him, reaching out his arms to Roy. Roy lifted him up into the air and grinned. "Now what does the little guy want, eh?" Junior squirmed.
"Hungry!"
"You're hungry? But I just gave you dinner ten minutes ago!" It had been some vegetable and beef stew; something that Riza had made three days ago, but was left over.
"... I fed it to Buraha..."
"Roy!" Riza said scoldingly, and Junior slouched. "I didn't like it..."
"You have to eat what's put in front of you! And you won't be getting a thing to eat until we get to the party."
"But it'll take a long time..."
"Then that's your punishment," Riza finished, taking Junior from Roy and heading down the stairs. Roy sighed and shrugged, petted Black Hayate, and followed Riza down the stairs.
In the car, Riza was still furious over... 'the incident'. She was still rubbing her neck in the hopes that it would disappear, and Roy sighed again. Honestly, what could she have expected, sitting in his lap like that? Sheesh, give a man a break.
A thoroughly hungry Junior squirmed in the backseat again, once again announcing that he was hungry from beside Black Hayate. After about an hour in the car, Riza had stopped rubbing her neck so hard and Junior had fallen asleep, while Roy kept his eyes glued to the road. His eyes felt raw and he wanted to just close them and go to sleep, but with his son and his 'wife' in the car... sleep would just have to wait. He took one hand off the steering wheel and rubbed his left eye with the heel of hand, and Riza looked at him sympathetically. "Do you want to stop and rest, Roy? The party doesn't start for a long time..."
"That'd be lovely... but where can I stop?"
"We could check in to a hotel."
"Sounds good, there's one right here..."
They stopped, found a vacancy, and checked in to the hotel, Riza carrying Junior up to the room while Roy half-dragged himself up the stairs. When he got into the room, he didn't bother to turn on a lamp and fell onto one of the beds, exhausted, kicked off his shoes, and fell asleep. Riza smiled to herself and undressed, undressed Junior and put him into some baby clothes, and slipped into bed with Roy. She picked up the phone on the bedside and dialed a number, waiting for someone to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hi Jack, it's Riza."
"Oh, hey. Are you coming?"
"We are; we stopped at a hotel. Roy is exhausted and we stopped to let him have some rest. I was hoping to be there by tonight, but we'll probably get there tommorrow afternoon."
"That's fine; it was rescheduled to tommorrow night anyway. Why didn't you take a train to North?"
"Well, didn't you hear that all the tracks in North City are frozen over?"
"Ah, oh yeah, well nevermind then. I'll see you tomorrow then, Elizabeth."
She hung up the phone and snuggled down in the bed next to Roy while Junior snoozed in between them. She felt a little regretful for being so harsh with him... but... she didn't want to spoil him.She'd give him breakfast in the morning. She leaned over and kissed his little forehead and Black Hayate woofed softly from the foot of the bed. "Good night, Buraha." Black Hayate woofed in response and laid down his head on his paws.
She was a little tired, but not tired enough to go to sleep right away, so she contented herself with watching Roy in his sleep. He looked peaceful enough, his mouth slightly open, his hair already messed up. She wouldn't have been surprised if he started drooling, but he did that... sometimes, in some of his more... graphic dreams. Graphic dreams which Roy would refuse to share with her unless she did some probing.
He grunted in his sleep and woke up, looking at her with half-closed eyes. "How long do we have to get there?"
"Another 36 hours."
"Good," he sighed, and went back to sleep.
Yaaaay! 387 reviews! Let's see if we can hit 400!
On a note, there's yet another story...
Love Through Flame and Gunfire
It's a bit different from my other stories. Roy is being tracked down by Homunculus and is also framed for Maes's murder. As a result, he'll have to run or be faced with execution, unless his family and Riza's can get him out and prove his innocence. I've even managed to put Psiren into this fic, for anyone who likes Psiren.
-T A