Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. Rowan, Chris, Trisha, and Daffyd are my own creations. If you wish to use them, please ask.
Lilacs and Tea
Rowan leaned back, letting Daffyd's questing fingers work the tension out of her back. It was a sunny summer day, and the Mustang backyard was full of people. Ro grinned at that thought; by the evening, there would be even more people there for the barbeque. Right now, it was just the Mustangs, the Elrics (both sets), Izumi and Sig, and Gracia and Elysia Hughes as well as Elysia's fiancée. Her dad and Uncle Ed were over by the grill arguing over who would do the actual barbequing. It really was a moot point; her mom didn't trust either of them to do the cooking. She would let them argue it out, and then she, Aunt Winry, and Aunt Gracia would take over. Her younger brother, Chris, was stretched out on a picnic blanket, napping. His head rested in Trisha Elric's lap, which wasn't surprise as those two were coming up on their two year anniversary. Uncle Havoc had a betting pool on which of the Mustang children would get married first, Ro or Chris. Anyone who had money on Chris would probably win. Trisha's brothers were over with their cousins. Ro sighed, resigning herself to the fact that there would be some sort of minor disaster later on. The five Elric boys in combination were always troublesome.
Her mother joined them on the back porch. Riza Hawkeye-Mustang grinned at them and ruffled Daffyd's hair.
"Enjoying yourselves?"
Daffyd grinned. "It's nice to spend time together outside the office, General."
"Riza," she corrected. "I'm retired, remember? Besides, you're stuck with us now. You might as well start treating us like family."
Ro blushed at that. Yes, Daffyd had been accepted into their close knit circle after he and Chris had risked their careers to find her when she'd been kidnapped, but her mom was implying that he was going to become a more permanent part of the family. It was quite possible, but Rowan really wasn't ready to think about that right now. She and Daffyd were still working on the whole balancing budding romance with working relationship thing. Ro also made a mental note not to catch the bouquet at Elysia's wedding. At least, her mother wouldn't push the subject like some of the more annoying members of the family would.
Riza stretched back and sighed a little.
"Mom?"
"Just reminiscing. Do you remember that Mother's Day when I was pregnant with Chris?"
"Not really. There was something about lilacs?"
"I'm not surprised really. You were only two. Yes, there was something about lilacs. You see--"
"Oh no, if anyone's going to tell this story, I will. You weren't even present for all of it." Rowan's father had joined them, seating himself on the step below his wife. "Now, Rowan was two at the time, and Riza was seven months pregnant with Chris, and it was Mother's Day…"
Roy slid out of bed and tucked the covers back around his sleeping wife. This late in her pregnancy, she slept like the dead, something he was thankful for right now. He slipped out of the room and made his way down the hall. Kneeling at the side of his daughter's bed, Roy whispered, "Rowan. Ro, sweetie, wake up."
A tiny hand smacked his nose. "Bad daddy, no biscuit."
With that, she promptly pulled the blankets over her head. He sighed; Rowan had taken after him in the fact that she was not a morning person.
"Ro, it's Mother's Day. I'm going to go make Mommy breakfast. I thought you might want to help."
A dark eye peeked out from the blankets suspiciously. "What are you going to make?"
"I was thinking French toast." That was one of Rowan's favorites as well as one of Riza's.
The covers were pushed back. "Okay."
He scooped her up out of the bed, and they made their way down to the kitchen where they were joined by Black Hayate. Roy kept Rowan busy with finding things like napkins for the breakfast tray while he got the French toast started. He had a brief moment of panic when he looked up from cooking to find Rowan no where in sight. She reappeared seconds later. Apparently, with Hayate's help, she'd managed to get the back door open and had gone off to get flowers for her mother's breakfast tray, as evidenced by the arm load of lilac blossoms she was carrying.
They had gotten everything ready except the flowers for the tray and the tea when disaster struck. Rowan was perched on the counter next to the breakfast tray putting some of the lilacs in a vase when she lost her balance. Roy was quick enough to catch her, but the delicate teacup next to her was now very fine shards of china. Rowan promptly burst into tears. It was Riza's favorite cup.
He set Ro on his hip, wiping away her tears with a dishtowel. "It's all right, sweetheart. It's just a cup."
"It's Mommy's cup." She hiccupped.
"We'll fix it for her," he promised. He set her down on one of the kitchen chairs before sweeping the fragments of the cup into a dustpan. He put the dustpan down next to Rowan and fetched a piece of paper from the drawer where Riza kept supplies to make shopping lists. Sketching a quick array, he set the paper on the table and poured the china shards onto it.
"Hand me a lilac."
Rowan gravely handed him one of the smaller sprigs. He added it to the pile on the paper then pressed a hand on a bit of clear space. There was a soft glow as the teacup was reconstructed with a few slight changes. Now the delicate, cream colored china sported a pattern of lilac blossoms. Roy smiled at his daughter who was looking at him with wide eyes. No matter how many times he did alchemy around her, he always got the same reaction. He and Riza were also fairly certain that Ro would be an alchemist, but he had promised Riza not to start teaching it to her until she was at least in elementary school.
"There. Now we even have a gift for your mom."
The tray was quickly completed, and the four of them: father, daughter, dog, and tray made their way up the stairs. Roy opened the bedroom door and then whispered, "Go wake Mommy up."
Both girl and dog followed his instructions by leaping onto the bed.
"Mommy, wake up!"
Riza awoke with her daughter bouncing on the bed and her dog attempting to lick her feet while her husband looked on. It was a scene she was fairly used to, at least, when they had free time. Roy smiled at her, setting the tray on their dresser and moving to help her sit up.
"We thought we'd make you breakfast in bed. It is Mother's Day after all. And no, we didn't damage your kitchen in any way, shape, or form."
She smiled at him sleepily as Rowan settled next to her. "I helped, Mommy."
"I'm sure you did."
Roy sat down next to them on the bed, positioning himself so Riza could easily reach the tray. It currently would be a little difficult for her to balance it on her lap. Rowan was quite happily snuggled between them. Riza reached for the cup of tea then blinked as she took the tea cup. "You bought me a new tea cup?"
Roy shrugged. "Not exactly."
His wife raised an eyebrow. "Roy?"
He shrugged again. "Rowan and I improved one you already had."
Riza smiled and gave Ro a one armed hug. "Thank you. That was sweet of you."
Ro looked up at her with worried eyes. "You really don't mind?"
Riza grinned. "Your father's been improving my tea cups since before I married him."
Rowan smiled before wrinkling her forehead. "Mommy, what does im-improving mean?"
"…It was a nice morning. Of course, I had to go to the office two hours later which was one of the more annoying things about being Fuhur; it's really hard to get a day off when you're running the country."
"You mean when Mom was running the country," Rowan corrected. "We all know you'd never had gotten all the paperwork done without her."
Her dad laughed. "True. Anyway, I think Gracia has the shish-ka-bobs ready. We should grab some before the rest of the mob realizes the food's ready."