Chapter 2

His Daughter

Riza accepted the fussing baby with a sort of weary fondness. "Was she any trouble?"

"The usual," Gracia grinned. "An angel, until we get into the military headquarters. Then it's 'Mama, Mama, Mama'!"

"Hey, little Eyass," Havoc cooed, "Uncle Jean thinks you've grown since last time." He tickled Amelia's stomach, and she squealed with laughter. "But you're still the cutest thing around."

Fuery, Breda and Falman gathered around as well, all cooing at the baby and caressing her hair.

Roy stood where he was, rooted to the spot in shock. He was about to start forwards, but then Amelia turned her face towards him.

And he nearly choked. He knew those coal-black eyes...they were exactly the same as the one that stared back at him from the mirror. Roy had no doubt who had fathered the child in Riza's arms.

'No...' he thought in despair. 'How could I have done this to her, on top of everything else?'

"You guys know the drill," Riza said, walking past Roy to the door, eyes glued to the floor. "See that you stick to it."

All military personnel (except Roy, who was still in a state of shock) saluted as she left the office.

"What's..." Roy moistened his suddenly-dry lips. "What's the drill?"

Havoc shuffled his feet, feeling as guilty as the others looked. "Hawkeye has lunch with little Eyass now – she works during the lunch break to make up for it – and we're supposed to keep our heads down and work."

"Eyass?" Roy muttered weakly.

"I came up with that one," Falman admitted. "Eyass is a a hawk's hatchling that hasn't left the nest yet. Hawkeye...Eyass...you know?"

"Right," Roy said blankly, his mind obviously elsewhere.

He walked to the window, watching as Riza entered the courtyard with Amelia in her arms. She sat on the bench, as she rummaged in her satchel, obviously searching for something. Amelia sat on the ground at her feet, smiling as her hands tangled in Black Hayate's fur. The dog rolled over, tongue lolling, as he invited Amelia to scratch his belly. The girl complied, dark eyes shining.

And Roy couldn't stop staring.

'Why didn't she tell me?'

Roy's eyes closed against a swift rush of anguish. Riza had been pregnant when he'd left for the north. She had waved him off with his child growing within her – why hadn't she said anything?

Another, grimmer thought struck him. Had she even known? Or had she discovered it later, alone in her apartment, with no one to share in a revelation that should have been nothing but joy? A revelation that his absence had caused to be bittersweet at best, utterly heartbreaking at worst.

As Riza pulled her lunch from her satchel and hefted Amelia in her arms, Roy turned away from the window, utterly stunned.

That was his daughter!

He stared at the bland wood of his desk, trying to wrap his mind around the concept. He gradually became aware that the others in the room were watching him warily, as they might eye a venomous snake they expected to strike at any moment.

Roy's eyes rose, landing on Havoc and Breda, who were looking especially guilty.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Roy heard the anger in his own voice, and made a concerted effort to contain it. After all, they might not know Amelia was his...

But any doubts about the extent of their knowledge were erased the second Havoc spoke. "We figured it wasn't our place to tell you. I can't speak for Breda, but just I thought you should learn you were a father from Riza, and no one else."

Breda's expression spoke of complete and total agreement.

"You knew I was...?" Roy began, and Havoc nodded.

"Hawkeye was very quiet about it," Fuery spoke up. "I mean, she told us she was pregnant, but nothing about the father or the circumstances..."

"Not to say we didn't have our suspicions," Falman cut in. "But we figured, if you were the father, the last thing Hawkeye would want was us bringing it up. So we sat back and let her handle it..."

"And then Amelia was born," Breda finished. "One look at those eyes...well, we're not stupid. Any doubts about little Eyass's paternity were erased in a split second."

Roy licked his lips. "How did...how was Riza...?"

"While she was pregnant?" Havoc supplied. At Roy's nod, he elaborated. "Well, we didn't see much in the way of mood swings-"

"For which we are deeply thankful," Breda interjected.

Havoc laughed. "Yeah, nothing worse than a pregnant woman with a gun! Lord have mercy if she'd been having mood swings on top of that!"

Gracia, listening silently until now, began to speak. "She asked me for advice frequently. What to eat, what not to eat, how much she could exercise, what positions were best for sleep when she got really big..."

Roy continued staring into space. He was hearing the words, but his brain had yet to process them. He had a daughter! He and Riza had a child!

"She took a lengthly maternity leave," Gracia continued, but Fuery had started again.

"She called us for the birth, can you believe? We came in just after they had finished cleaning both of them up, and we saw the nurse put this little bundle in Hawkeye's arms..." Fuery paused, his lowering, almost reverent. "Her smile, it was...I've never seen her smile like that."

Now everyone was glancing at the window, checking on the pair in the courtyard. Both had finished their lunch, and Amelia was back to playing with Black Hayate, the poor dog seeming almost exasperated as she pulled on his ears. But when the toddler yawned, Riza picked her up, beginning to rock her daughter in her arms.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Roy breathed.

Havoc looked distinctly uncomfortable. "You'll have to ask her."

A sudden surge of decisiveness had Roy striding to the door and making his way to the courtyard. He needed to know, and there was no time like the present.

oooooooo

AN: I was writing an overused Edwin cliché – with them having slept together before he went through the Gate, and Winry being left pregnant – anyway, while I was writing, I wondered if anyone had ever put a Royai spin on that plot. After all, with Roy and Riza's little scene together at the end of the anime, the idea that they were lovers before he left gains some serious ground. So, while I may upload the Edwin story at some point in time, I started this story in an attempt to be at least halfway original.