Not in chronological order, but the boys' ages will be listed at the top of every chapter.
Yuery,7, William 5 1/2, Maes, 3, Trisha, 1 1/2, Edward 21, Winry, 21
Bonus scene from In Times of Peace, zoo visit
Day at the Zoo
Edward and Winry were woken unusually early by the bounce as their three boys arrived on the foot of their bed a full ten minutes before Roy would come to collect their daughter. Edward huffed out a laugh, as he sat up, "I think some little people may be excited about something." Winry faux grumbled not bothering to sit up since her stomach was unhappy with the bouncing.
"Yes, I wonder what." Edward 'frowned' as his daughter stirred around and he changed her as the boys all groaned.
"We're going to the zoo today, Daddy." Will whisper-yelled.
"The zoo? Really? When did we say that?" Ed asked, suppressing a laugh.
"Stop teasing the boys and get them fed before they eat you." Winry grumbled with a glare.
"Come on boys, we'll meet Mom after she gets more sleep. The zoo isn't open yet anyway." Ed said as he ushered the children out into the hall. He smiled as Roy slipped out of his own room with Tad trailing behind him. "Shh, Mommy wants more sleep." Ed said and led the way down the hall.
"I take it my grandsons are a tad excited." Roy asked.
"Me, Tad." Tad added while squirming as Ed attempted to hook him into his highchair.
"Yes, you are Tad." Ed agreed. "Yeah, they came bouncing in, literally. Baby wasn't happy about it."
"I Tiss" Trisha looked at Tad, frowning.
"Yes, you are Trish. No being mean." Ed said to his daughter, she sighed but took the bowl of cereal flakes.
"Daddy, Trish is throwing her cereal." Will yelled a minute latter as Ed went to start the coffee.
"Will! No tattling before Daddy has coffee." Yu whispered before Ed or Roy could respond.
"Here, Tish." Maes handed his sister his own cereal bowl, which joined her own on the floor.
"I'm going back to bed. I'll see you on Monday." Ed said, as he reached for the broom and dustpan in the pantry.
"Daddy, you don't sleep in the food." Will said with a confused frown.
"Daddy was kidding." Roy said from his place in front of the stove where he was stirring eggs.
"Oh. I see." Will said, before looking down at his own cereal. "We are going to the zoo today?"
"Yes William, we are going to the zoo today. Not until later." Ed said as he swept the floor.
Winry and Riza came into the kitchen as Ed put the broom away and Roy served the eggs. Ed poured juice and coffee, then sat himself. "Feeling better Win?"
"No. But I will later." Win said, taking a slice of toast and jam refusing anything else.
After the children were fed and changed, with their teeth and hair brushed, they were excitedly running around the apartment waiting for the adults to be ready. Winry and Edward came into the sitting room first, with Roy and Riza arriving a moment later after quickly brushing their own teeth and in Ed's case, getting dressed.
They still needed to wait for Heymans Breda and Kain Fuery to arrive, who agreed to come with them for extra security and to help keep an eye on the excited children. They arrived on time, so a very long time later according to the children, along with Alex Armstrong and Sheska Harris. Alex explained that he felt it was best to join them considering the issues they had been having with the media.
Ed nodded in agreement, as Heymans cut Alex off before he goes into a full speech. Soon, they had made their way downstairs and into the cars. The zoo would be opening in about half an hour, and they wanted to arrive as early in the day as possible to avoid most of the crowd. It was the last weekend before most of the schools started so it was bound to be crowded.
Everyone stood together as they climbed out of the cars, while Ed went over the rules for the children once again. "There will be no running, yelling, or climbing. Absolutely no climbing on anything. We look at the animals, but we do not bother them. That means no tapping, no shaking fences, and no climbing. I am looking at you Will. No climbing. Everyone stays with their buddy. If you cannot find your buddy, sit on the nearest bench, and your buddy will find you. Does everyone understand?"
"What if they want us to pet them?" Will asked.
"No touching." Ed sighed. "Okay Will is my buddy."
Roy claimed Yuery, Riza claimed Tad, Winry claimed Trisha, Heymans claimed Maes, and Alex, Sheska and Kain claimed each other to make the children laugh. They then joined the short line waiting to go inside when the gates opened.
Soon enough the group was inside the zoo, and ready to explore. Tad and Trisha were both in seldom used strollers since they assumed it would be a long day, though Maes was already eyeing his sister's jealously until Alex scooped the boy up onto his shoulders as they made their way toward the elephants.
"Hey, that's my buddy." Heymans joked as he trailed behind the taller man and toddler. Alex laughed loudly in response, while Kain grumbled about his 'buddy' abandoning them to Sheska.
"I think you were worried about the wrong group." Roy laughed as he watched his grandson ahead of them and held Yuery's hand.
"No, Will is absolutely who I should be worried about." Ed said as he redirected the boy in question as Will tried to wander in the direction of the big cats. "We stay together Will. We will get to see them before we leave today."
"Hey, did anyone remember to bring water?" Winry asked, already thirsty.
"Damn it." Ed said, the bottles of water were sitting in the car. "Here I'll buy you something." Ed and Will headed toward the closest concession stand near the elephants as he ignored Winry's lecture about cursing in front of the children. Will also frowned as he wondered why they could go to get a drink alone but had to stay together to look at the animals.
Ed tried to explain, again, "We have to stay together because sometimes someone needs something. Like Mommy needing a drink, and we can help each other. Plus, it's more fun to spend the day together than all apart."
"But I like cats." Will said. "When can we see the cats?"
"We will see the cats next. Yuery picked Elephants, you picked cats, Maes picked snakes. Then the grown ups pick." Ed paid for a cola, and they walked back toward the others. "Trisha and Tad don't get a pick because they haven't been before, and they don't know what animals to see."
"Trisha would pick cats, so that's two times with cats." Will said.
"No, that's not how it works, and you can't claim your sister's turn." Ed handed the bottle of soda to his wife then led his son over to the fence. "Now, come look at the elephants. Look they have a baby."
"I bet the cats have babies too." Will grumbled but came over to look anyway. After all, Dad had a point, it was Yuery's turn first. Yuery was eldest, so it was in order, Will hated things not being in order. The baby elephant was standing over in the group, near what Will assumed was its mom. None of them were very close, but Yuery was excitedly telling Yeye about how he had read about elephants.
Roy, meanwhile, was listening with amusement at Yuery's excitement. Yuery loved nearly all animals, so most of the books he read outside of schoolwork were about them. Recently, he had been obsessed with elephants and camels in particular.
"Did you know they came from a far away place?" Yuery asked.
"Yes, I did. They have been here for hundreds of years though, mostly in Xing." Roy agreed, having read the books himself long ago. Yuery lit up when his grandfather knew about it as well. His tutor didn't know much about anything off continent and always seemed uncomfortable when Yuery was reading about the other continents, but Dad and Yeye had given instructions that Yuery was to learn about everywhere, not just Amestris.
"Did you know that elephants are very smart?" Yuery said. "Oh, and they are pregnant for longer than mommies!"
"Really?" Roy asked, pretending to be amazed at this 'new' information. Yuery nodded excitedly, before he noticed William's frown. His brother was bored, and Yuery knew that Will really wanted to go see the cats, especially the tigers.
A few minutes later, Yuery insisted that he was done and ready to look at the next animals, which made Will happy. Yuery smiled at his brother as their Dad went around the exhibit fence to gather the others. "That was very nice of you." Yeye said quietly while the others were gathering back together.
"Will is being good, he should get to see his favorite." Yuery shrugged. "Cats are fun too. Did you know that in Xing they sometimes use elephants to carry things?"
"I did. I saw it when we were there to visit." Yeye nodded.
"We went to Xing. When?" Yuery asked, "Did I ride any elephants?"
"You were a baby, and no, we did not ride any elephants or anything else." Yeye smiled. "You did get to play with Huan."
"Oh, like when he came to visit Uncle Al at the same time we did?"
"Yes, but for longer. It was a few days. We were there to celebrate Huan's father becoming emperor."
"…Before that he was Dad's friend, and he was here for a while." Yuery said with a frown. "Sometimes I have a dream about him playing with me. I was really little. Dad was in bed, and we were in a really small room, no one else was there. I think it might have been real."
"I am sure it was. You spent a few weeks camping in a cabin with your father and Ling, and a couple of other people. You were very young though; I am surprised you remember it even in a dream."
"I have weird dreams sometimes." Yuery shrugged. "Like living in a different house, with you and Dad and Uncle, but he stayed in bed all the time."
"That too happened a long time ago." Yeye said as the others walked over and Yuery dropped the conversation. Roy wondered how much Yuery actually remembered from the time they had all been separated, or when they were out in the dessert. Though, those memories as scant as they were would likely fade away as the boy grew.
They arrived next at the tiger exhibit. Will excitedly ran right up to the fence, to his parent's dismay, with Yuery trailing behind him and the others following. Unfortunately, Maes took one look at the large cats and started crying.
Alex and Heymans, not wanting to ruin everyone's fun, offered to take the boy over to see the garden next to the cats. Ed agreed gratefully, as he watched after his second son carefully in case the boy decided to try to climb.
As Yuery quoted everything he read about tigers, and Ed wrangled Will, Alex and Heymans led Maes away from the animals. The garden was designed o draw in butterflies and the flowers were still in full bloom as they walked calmly down the path, the small boy happily swinging between their arms as they lifted him gently every few feet.
Will was happily listening to his brother tell them all about tigers as he watched them. The large cats were mostly sleeping, with the exception of a pair of babies and their mother near the end of their section. The mother was watching the babies play as she laid there, but Will knew if she was anything like his own mom, the minute one of them did something against the rules, she would be up and ready to grab them.
He could stay here all day, but he knew that Yuery had given up part of his own turn to let Will get to come early, and Maes had been scared of the tiger, enough that he to leave. It was only fair that they go to see Maes thing now. Especially since the baby tigers were going to sleep now too. "We can go to the snakes now, I'm done." He said to Daddy, who smiled proudly at him before asking if, he was sure.
They went to gather Maes and the others in the garden, but Mommy and Nainai along with the babies decided to stay there in the garden for awhile longer. Mommy didn't like snakes. Kain and Sheska decided to stay there too, so the boys headed toward the darkened building that held the snakes and other reptiles, while the others sat in the garden.
Maes bounced happily on Alex's shoulder as the large man walked with Heymans beside him, Roy and Yuery walking directly behind them, and Ed and William walking last. Will beamed when his Dad told him he was proud of Will being a nice brother to Maes. Will was happy to treat Maes like Yuery always treated him. Dad always said it was a brother's job to watch out for their brothers (and sisters)
They reached the reptile house quickly, and spread out again, Maes squealing happily as they saw the giant snakes in the far corner. Will and Dad went over to the lizards, which were more of an interest to the boy, and Yuery and Yeye walked slowly around the displays.
"Yeye?" Yuery asked quietly, as they stood in front of a glass case with a pair of brightly colored snakes.
"Yeah, Yu?" Yeye smiled down at him.
"There are no snakes, or any animal that talk like people, right?" Yuery asked with a frown.
Roy's mind jumped immediately to the talking chimera, poor little girl and her dog, which had nearly crushed his sons. The boy could not possibly remember that horror! He had only been a few months old at the time, and if he did remember…Roy didn't want to think about how that would play out for Ed. "No, they don't. Why do you ask?" Roy said hesitantly.
"I thought so." Yuery said with a sigh. "Remember my dreams about living with Daddy and Ling? I had a dream, a few times, about being out in the woods with Ling and a snake came up to us. Ling told it to go away, but it didn't understand him. He didn't understand me when I tried to tell him the snake didn't know what he was saying, but he was getting mad at it and I didn't want him to hurt it, so I told the snake 'Uncle says to go away!' and then the snake said 'oh, is that what it said.' And then it went away. It can't have been a real dream like him playing with me though, because snakes don't talk."
"Yeah buddy. That sounds like one of those dreams where a memory and a dream mix together." Roy said in relief. He was glad the boy didn't remember Nina, though he had to be sure. "You don't have any other talking animals in your dreams though?"
"No. Just the snake. Last week, before we left, I saw a snake out in the garden near the woods. I tried to talk to it, to be sure I couldn't." Yuery shrugged, "It didn't answer, so I knew it was just a weird dream."
"Okay. Maybe don't tell your mother that you were playing with snakes in the garden." Roy said, though he was glad to know it was just normal childhood imagination plaguing his grandchild. He also knew Winry would not see it that way if she knew he had tried to actually talk to a snake.
Ed and Will came over then, and it seemed Yuery decided that telling his father was not the best idea either. Yuery and William looked at a few more snakes, while Roy debated if he should mention the conversation, he had just had with Yuery. He eventually decided that he would bring it up later, after the zoo. After all, it was unlikely the boy had come into contact with a venomous snake in this area, and even if he had it hadn't hurt him.
Maes squealed again, and Alex laughed loudly. Edward cleared his conscience when they were leaving the display. "The thing about the reptile house is sound carries." Edward said to Roy. "You probably didn't notice, with how loud Maes can be, and how quiet William was."
"Oh?" Roy asked.
"Yes. I heard all about his dream." Edward said. "And his garden adventure. I agree. Don't tell Winry about that, she would freak out."
"Not you though."
"Nah. Caught snakes myself as a kid. Now if it had been spiders…"
"Note to self, ensure there are no spiders anywhere near the mansion…or snakes." Roy smiled. "I imagine it is completely normal to mix memories and fantasy in your dreams. Especially since he was so young at that time."
"Yeah, the snake thing happened." Ed shrugged. "I saw them crouched out there through the window one morning when Greeling took Yu out for his walk near the end of our time there. So early spring. When they came back in Greeling said they saw a snake. He was about of get rid of it, when Yuery 'hissed like a cat' and it slithered off. He assumed it had just woken up and was still disoriented."
"Strange. Well, its not like he actually spoke to the snake. He's just remembering it as he viewed it as a baby." Roy said, before they rushed to catch up with the boys who had slipped ahead with Maes and the other men while they were talking.
They met up with Riza and Winry before deciding to grab lunch before they went to look at the monkeys and bears. Winry and Riza were happy with that plan, so they walked over to the food court area to buy hotdogs and chips.
Trisha and Tad had been let out of the strollers to wander around the flowers, so they were happy to eat as well, having run off their pent-up energy. When they finished eating, they headed toward the monkeys.
Winry and Trisha led the way this time, with Alex and Maes trailing behind, last of the group. Heymans dropped back to walk with them when they started to lag, Maes no longer happy with being carried and wanting to walk on his own.
"He's as stubborn as his father already." Heymans laughed as the small boy frowned with determination as he tried to keep up with the others.
"Indeed. He reminds me greatly of young Edward." Alex smiled at the boy. "With any luck he does not share his father's tendency to find trouble though."
"Oh no." Heymans groaned. "Alex, I think it's time to retire to the country. Come on. We can raise goats and live out our days peacefully."
"Why goats?" Alex asked curiously.
"Cows are too big, and dogs are a no go. If we did cats, we'd be invaded by Elrics which defeats the purpose of retiring." Heymans reasoned.
"I do not think we need to retire. Remember, he cannot join the military, he is still a toddler, and most importantly, he is not our responsibility. Edward will have to deal with the paperwork."
"But. I work for Ed. Who do you think has to SORT the paperwork?" Heymans whispered.
"…Very well. In ten years, should the boy begin to display his father's tendencies toward trouble, we will retire to country. But no goats." Alex laughed.
"Okay. Fair enough. No dogs either."
"hmmm. We will consider our options when it is time."
They joined the others around the monkey exhibit as Yuery began listing facts about the animals, and William seemed tempted to climb in and join them despite his father's hand on Will's shoulder. Maes rushed over to join his brothers, and Kain whispered to Heymans. Heymans paled and nodded before turning to Alex. "The Elrics keep a country house. We should reconsider our retirement location."
Alex laughed again, while Kain and Heymans whispered together and Winry picked up Maes. Ed took Will further back when his hands crept toward the fence. Riza sighed heavily and suggested that they move on to the bears.
"I think that perhaps Will and I should take a walk. I do not think I want him near bears right now." Ed said, while the others walked toward the bears. Roy smiled when he saw the father and son heading back toward the tigers.
Maes and Yuery stood between their mother and grandmother while they watched the bears, as the others stood further off to the side discussing Heymans and Alex's retirement plans. Sheska seemed to find the whole conversation nearly as amusing as Kain while the mothers chose to pretend, they couldn't hear the mean worrying about Maes turning into a new version of his father. Winry wasn't worried about it, after all just because the boy looked exactly like Ed didn't mean he would be Ed. Ed looked exactly like Van, but he behaved far more like Roy and at the end of the day he was just Ed. She expected her children would be the same way. Appearance was nothing… though she also agreed that the child also seemed to have a bit of Ed's personality as well. As did the other children.
Winry was glad when they decided they were done for the day after a couple of other displays since her back and feet were growing sore, and she was tired. Everyone plied back into the cars, and unsurprisingly the kids all fell asleep before they reached the mansion. Normally Yuery and William no longer took naps but after the exciting day they needed one. Alex helped carry the children upstairs, before Winry slipped away to take a nap herself.
"Before you run away to raise goats, give me fair notice, okay?" Ed said with a laugh as he showed Alex and Heymans out. "I mean I'll have to find someone to do everything you do which won't be easy."
"We decided against goat raising anyway. We don't know anything about goats." Heymans said with a shrug. "Alex is right. They're your kids, any trouble they get into isn't my problem."
"And for that, you get to be Yuery's driver for the first semester." Edward smirked.
"Alex! Goats are back on the table." Heymans said as the two men walked down the stairs to Ed's cackling.