Thank you so much to those who have already favourited and followed this story! :D


Chapter two

"...When it comes to surnames?" Roy began as he looked down at the baby on his lap before returning his focus to Ava. Dean had thankfully decided that the promise of sustenance had been enough of a bribery for him to give Roy a chance when his mother was also speaking. It felt extremely odd to have this boy on his lap in general.

Adding in the fact that he was Roy's was surreal.

"Why do you think i went with 'Dean'? It works well ring-wise with 'Dean Vickers Mustang', if you'd like to add your surname, don't you think?" Ava asked cheerfully and fondly at the sight of him with Dean in his arms.

Roy felt his stomach clench once again, even if he had to agree. "Yes, it does."

"Odd to think about the words 'our child'... They don't really feel right, if you get what I mean?" she asked thoughtfully.

Roy just nodded once more. He'd done that a lot these past two hours. He still felt in a daze about this pre-toddler that was apparently his son. "Yes, I can understand that full well... Though not in an offensive way, of course."

Ava giggled at that. "If I had thought so, then I wouldn't have suggested it, now would I?"

Yet another nod from Roy, but accompanied by a little smile this time. "So, your son and my son, and we're just going to be friends where I'll be coming down here a few days a week to spend some time with Dean?"

"Yes, that's basically it."

"I still can't believe that this is actually happening..." Roy said after a few seconds, his stomach clenching once more, his mind still halfway in a daze.

"I know how that one goes; got a bit worried when my period had been overdue by a week and then it just went on and on with not coming... After three weeks, I figured that it was a good idea to visit my GP... The signs were all there, though the bulge came later... But apparently he was a very healthy baby upon delivery and I was a very healthy mother with a traumatised big brother because of how visually unhealthy Dean had looked upon arrival after all the sounds that I had made and the thought of where the baby had come from, even if Bill had stayed in the adjoining room through the entire thing."

"And does your brother know about me?"

"Yes, I told him everything about it, but you should still expect some apprehension like the rest of the townspeople, what with the town being attacked by Ishbalans because of how the wool from the sheep was used for the military uniforms. Then there's Sara and Yuriy Rockbell who lost their lives, meaning that a pair of well-known and well-liked doctors were dead because they had been ordered to help on the battlefield... So leave the initial rhetorics to me."

Roy nodded again, but then sighed, knowing that he really ought to bring it up. "I need to ask you not to repeat it to anyone, but as Dean's mother who's letting me look after your son, I think you're entitled to know that my parents died when I was very young and so I was brought up in my aunt's hostess bar in Central after she became my foster mother."

Ava froze, eyes widening.

Roy sighed again. "However, I think it could be said to be a slightly redeeming feature that she's an excellent intelligence operative and her girls use their seductive talents to gather information so that my aunt knows a lot about a lot of what is going on... So by speaking with the owner of a classy hostess bar, I actually know what places to stay away from... There's nothing shady going on there and it's not a brothel, they wear tasteful formal wear, but that's part of the reason why I'm known as a womaniser, also because it helps me inconspicuously gather some information from the girls..."

"Yes, I agree, I think that that is something very important for me to know about my son's father..." she replied awkwardly. "I was planning to speak to you about the womanising, considering how I don't really want to have my son to be branded as Roy Mustang's little mishap... So I think I'll ask that you don't -"

Roy cut her off, his stomach clenching as he realised just how much his way of life was truly changing. "I have no intention of going to a hostess bar with a baby on my hands... He's my son too, and I'm not gonna make him grow up looking like he comes second to my libido... I'm more or less clueless as to fatherhood, but I know what I want for people to think about my kid... And I know that I don't want people to think badly about him for being my son."

"Good, then we agree on that..." Her voice softened slightly. "Thank you."

Roy gave a small sound of recognition, before looking down at the odd little being in his arms, knowing what came next. "There's another thing that I think you should know, and that too is something that I don't want you to tell anyone as it could be considered semi-treasonous, seeing as how it's the reason why I'm staying in the military."

And so Roy told her about his plans, and about the part that had now suddenly been discarded.

Ava just stayed quiet for about ten seconds, letting it all sink in.

Then she began giggling. "Sounds like I'm right about you being a nice man, then... Though I hope that that'll mean a ticket for me inside the Presidential Estate for safety reasons."

Roy chuckled himself at that. "So you actually believe in a mass-murdering soldier like myself

"Babies do strange things to people, and now that you've said that you'll be his 'Dada', then there's no way that someone as stubborn and intelligent as yourself will let themselves be stopped in reaching their goals... So, yes, I'm rooting for you, Roy."

Roy smiled at her words. "Thanks, Ava... And, yes, there's no way that I'd allow you to be living anywhere but the Presidential Estate when you're the mother of my son."

"Then I believe we have set the foundations of a wonderful friendship."

Roy chuckled again. "Sounds like it. I'll be borrowing your phone in order to call my aunt afterwards, if that's okay?"

"Yes, of course. Then you can go visit the Elrics while I make dinner."

"Thank you."

And so Roy found himself picking up the phone again and dialling the familiar number in order to say something that he hadn't ever expected that he would.

"Madam Christmas."

"Hi, it's Roy."

"You only call once in a blue moon, what's the occasion?"

"Turns out that defying your teachings while half-drunk and a wish for a distraction the day before getting shipped out to Ishbal was -"

"Don't tell me that you're actually a father, Roy?" his aunt interrupted him, sounding slightly disbelieving, exasperated, but mostly as calm as always.

"Seven months now... His name's Dean... Hughes is coming over to help me out with advice and he's aiming for a baby himself so he's got a good idea about how to combine fatherhood with military duties."

"So does this mean that you're getting married?"

Roy felt very awkward at the thought, and instinctively shook his head, although it was of course impossible for his aunt to hear. "No, Ava just wants to be friends. She's pretty nice about it all, almost acting motherly towards me too for my cluelessness."

His comment earned him a slight chuckle. "Sounds like you had some luck in the mother, then."

Roy let out a heavy sigh, thinking the same as her. "With how that night went, I could have ended up with someone else who definitely shouldn't be a mother, though Ava seems dead set on me being a nice guy, which was why she kept Dean secret. She was planning to come find me when he'd turned two and I'd had a chance to potentially have gone through enough therapy to actually be able to handle the responsibilities of a father... She only told me in order to give me a choice and said that I could leave if I didn't want to be a father at all... So Dean's a redhead with my eyes, meaning yours and Dad's, and I think his face is just a bit like Mum's."

"You'll have to send me some pictures, then."

"Yes, I know, Hughes said that too."


Roy was more than a little awkward as he approached the Rockbell house once more and knocked with a lot less force than he had used earlier that day.

And so the door was opened to reveal a slightly confused Pinako Rockbell. "I thought you were leaving with the train, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?"

Roy nodded and sighed. "Yes, but then something came up that means that I'll be coming back to Resembool during the weekends, and so I thought I would ask the Elrics for some kind of deal."

The woman frowned.

"...One that includes me doing everything I can to keep Edward away from the battlefield as I have got a bit more sense in my head through these recent events," he added.

Ms Rockbell's eyebrows rose in slight surprise at that. "I suppose that you'd better come in, then."

Roy nodded and stepped inside, before pausing. "It turns out that Dean Vickers is my son and that Ava was going to keep the child away from me until he turned two, just in case I'd be a traumatised wreck after Ishbal whom she had given a bit of time to have kicked some bad habits by then if I'd had them..." Roy said in a low voice.

"I suppose that that explains why Ava wasn't too broken up by Dean's lack of a father when he was born." She seemed to be both grumpy and just vaguely amused.

"Do the Elrics know yet where babies come from?"

"They looked up every part of female biology, I'd be severely surprised if they didn't."

Roy nodded, realising the stupidity of his question, though he supposed that it had something to do with his half-numbed state.

"Well, then I can tell them how things came to be... Because your granddaughter knows too, right?"

"She found out how things work by accident when she was six and picked up a book on medicine at random."

He nodded again. "Well, where do I find them?"

"In the workshop upstairs, Winry's giving them a lecture on automail... Your little speech got Edward very eager on getting a new pair of limbs." She pointed towards a green door at the other end of the room. "Through there, down the hallway to the right, then upstairs and the first room to the right."

"Thank you, Ms Rockbell."

The woman grunted and puffed at her pipe, something that Roy supposed meant that he was free to leave.

And so Roy went upstairs and walked inside the workshop, announcing his arrival by knocking twice on the doorway.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mustang?" Alphonse asked in obvious surprise. "What are you doing here again?"

"I have changed my plans slightly and will be presenting His Excellency with arguments for Edward not to be sent out on the battlefield, should that day come when he receives orders to do just that... And I'd like to ask you, Alphonse, for a favour... If your brother is getting automail, then you could both use a distraction, right?"

"I, uh, thank you, sir, and yes, I think so...?" He was obviously taken aback.

"In that case, I will be providing you two with more advanced alchemy books, though nothing from the branch that is restricted to only State Alchemists, of course..." He sighed heavily. "In exchange for you distracting yourself by helping out at the Vickers farm, including either manual labour or keeping Ava and my newly discovered infant son company..."

It was the first time that Edward Elric had spoken in full to him as he opened his mouth. "You're Dean's father?!"

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are... It was just one night the day before I was shipped out to Ishbal as a way to distract myself before I ended up in the hell that that campaign was."

The three kids seemed very unsure as to what to say to that, the two that were able to blush doing just so.

And so Roy just sighed, looking up at Alphonse. "What do you say, would you be okay with that?"

"Yes, of course, thank you, Lieutenant Co -," Alphonse began.

"You're doing me a big favour here, I should be the one to say thanks, so thank you, both of you." He thought slightly. "Also, I think you might as well just call me Roy, it simplifies matters a lot, especially if you're gonna be keeping Ava company and that's what she calls me. There's a lot of awkwardness that will be avoided through doing it that way." He looked towards the young girl. "And that counts for you too, Winry."

She just nodded awkwardly.

Roy sighed heavily once more . "Whether or not you want to tell Ava what you did is up to you, of course, but I think it might be a good idea that she knows why you're suddenly so big, Alphonse, and why Ed's two limbs down. She's trustworthy and kind and will understand."

"How do you know that? If you've only known her for less than two hours plus one night last year?" Edward asked, looking slightly unsure and almost scared. They obviously hadn't had much to do with Ava and her son.

Roy sighed once more. "Because the reason that she didn't say anything to me about Dean and wasn't planning to do so until he'd turned two, was that she had wanted to give me some some time to potentially get back on my feet in case I'd ended up as a traumatised and alcoholic wreck that had needed some therapy, and she hadn't wanted to spring a baby on me in between all that... Plus, she told me that I was free to not do anything about Dean and that even included not even paying for any expenses that revolved around him... She's of the type who sees the best in everyone and everything... Apparently her first association with me is that I'm 'kind', even."

The two boys went quiet for a few seconds, before Al spoke up. "Then I think we should invite her over this afternoon."

Roy nodded and sighed for what had to be the hundredth time that day.


"So you're Roy Mustang, huh?" were the first words that met him as the front door was opened for them. They looked up at a redhead in his mid-thirties with a few of Ava's facial features, especially his eyes, though his skin was far more tanned than his sister's and he had a myriad of freckles. He was wearing a thin dungaree boiler suit that had been opened and the upper part was tied around his waist, revealing the pale yellow T-shirt underneath and the muscles, making him look taller and more impressive than the one inch he had on Roy, making him not a particularly tall man.

"Yes, I am," Roy said and walked forwards with his hand held out to shake. The house carried a faint scent of what smelt like garlic and potatoes. 'It's very nice to meet you."

The man grasped his hand, his grip firm. "I've been wondering what sort of man you actually are, but I suppose the fact that you'd decide so quickly that Dean's worth changing a lot of your ways makes you okay in my book." Then he smiled. "So I guess it's nice to meetcha, Roy, I'm Bill."

Roy smiled back before the man shook hands with Lieutenant Hawkeye in turn, and then turned back towards Roy. "Ava said you didn't have anything to wear but your uniforms because you were gonna go back to East City on the same day, so Ava's put some clean clothes on your beds upstairs, as well as a pair of fresh pyjamas. It's the second room on the left, first one's the bathroom if you wanna freshen up before dinner, it's still about thirty minutes away from being done. There's a couple of glasses with a toothbrush each in them, they always come in threes, so we had a couple of spare ones, they're the red and yellow ones, and there's toothpaste on the shelf between them together with a comb. Feel free to borrow the soap and shampoo as well."

Roy had to admit that he was a bit sceptical about the clean clothes, considering how Ava and Bill might potentially find it a bit amusing to lend him some sort of garish chequered shirt to make it even more clear to him that he wasn't staying here as a soldier. But still he and the Lieutenant nodded and thanked Bill for the extent of their efforts to make them feel welcome and then they walked upstairs to the guest room, but not without removing their footwear first and leaving them by the doormat.

It was a cosy bedroom of about five-by-four metres with a pair of beds against the wall in front of them as they walked inside the room. The left wall went along the left side of the doorway, the slanting roof along the wall in front of them giving it a sort of cosy feel, as well as an instinctive fear of forgetting oneself and starting the day by banging one's head into the ceiling. The room was painted a pale yellow, and there was a large window to their right with a white windowsill with white curtains. The duvet covers were bright yellow to fit in with the walls, and as Roy walked inside, he found that the remaining wall featured a pair of paintings, one of which was of a Jack Russel and the other a basset hound.

"Well, this looks homely..." Roy commented and walked over to the nearest bed as he spotted something that looked like a brown waistcoat on top of it, hoping that it was for him.

Lieutenant Hawkeye did the same with her own bed, and Roy unfolded the clothes, finding himself with a checked brown waistcoat with a series of thin black lines, and matching trousers. There was a cream-coloured shirt for him to wear as well, and all in all, it didn't look bad at all.

He turned towards the Lieutenant and found her to be holding up a bright yellow halterneck dress with a skirt that would billow a fair bit when exposed to the wind. The garment was simple and the neckline stopped right before any cleavage would have been visible. It was a pretty dress, though Hawkeye looked just a bit surprised and almost uncomfortable. "I'll admit that this is a first for me, sir."

The two women were about the same height, though it would be the least professional-looking garment that Roy would probably ever see her wear. Even during his apprenticeship with Master Hawkeye, she had never worn anything that had had the potential to billow around her legs. They had always been tight and professional, unless she had been wearing trousers. This was knee-length and not in any way indecent, but certainly not something he would ever have imagined to see Riza Hawkeye wear.

Mostly because the dress could be considered 'cute'.

Roy held up his waistcoat. "I'm not exactly used to wear brown either, but I think we'll make do... Would you like to take the shower first? Your hair needs more time to dry than my own."

She nodded and folded the garment over her left arm and walked past him.

He couldn't help but think that it was odd to see her without shoes. Roy himself had been given a pair of black socks to wear afterwards, and he had spotted a pair of white ankle-length socks on top of the Lieutenant's dress.

And so Roy just removed his uniform jacket and hung it on one of the coat hangers in the wardrobe, and then sat down on his bed and rested his elbows on his knees, looking up at the basset on the wall, trying to let it all sink in.

It didn't feel real. And the thought of how he'd be staying in this room two days a week so as to visit his son as often as possible was ridiculous. But it was important that he did, and that he did so as soon as possible, because he wanted to at least bond with the kid from the beginning so that he'd recognise him as his father and have positive associations with him, rather than have him be some sort of disappointment every time Dean would be coming to visit him as he grew up.

He was very happy that Ava had given him a name that fitted him belonging to both of them. 'Dean' was a name that Roy would easily have agreed on had he been there upon naming him.

She was a nice girl, no doubt about that. Nice and patient, and yet with a sense of humour and a staggering amount of loyalty and patience. He kept trying to piece that night together, and he had this odd 'knight in shining armour'-feeling about it.

But it was still lost to him.

And the Lieutenant would still be gone for another fourteen minutes or so.

He got to his feet and made his way downstairs, finding Ava alone in the kitchen like he'd hoped. "Ava, do you mind if we talk just the two of us for a little bit?"

She looked up from where she was standing by the stove, straightening up after having put what appeared to be creamy potatoes au gratin inside the oven, judging by the scent. On the stove stood chicken fillets and they were obviously treating them to a nice meal. She smiled softly at him. "Of course, Roy, I don't start on the chicken before another ten minutes anyway."

Roy smiled slightly himself, but then it faded as they both sat down by the table, facing each other. "I'm sorry I don't remember you much, nor that night, and especially not even your name..."

She sighed mildly, folding her hands on the table. "I'm not insulted. In an odd way, I actually find it comforting that you didn't remember my name because it shows that you're still a kind man who would actually be a lot more affected by being on the battlefield than a single half-drunken night of distraction... You were thrown into war right afterwards, and that is a much more emotionally overwhelming and difficult situation than that one night."

His stomach clenched hard. "There were those that drank themselves stupid and ended up with a two-day hangover to numb the guilt and the horror by already feeling like crap... It was only about twenty-four hours after you left me at the hotel that I snapped my fingers for the first time... I was honestly already feeling bad about it and was regretting it before we'd even reached Ishbal... The disgust came soon after that..." He saw her slightly shiny eyes. Shiny and pained.

And sorry.

Roy sighed again before she could say anything. "My point is that I barely remember you and I can't deny that I still feel disgusted by my choices, and especially when it also means that there was a child born as a result... I have a son whose existence is mostly based on one of the biggest regrets of my life, and I don't know what to tell him once the time comes. I don't want to lie to him, but I don't want him to feel like some sort of mistake as well as an accident and as the result of the biggest regret of his father's life..."

Ava just sat still for a few seconds, obviously taking in the information, and so Roy decided to speak up once more. "But please don't get me wrong, Ava, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with either you or Dean. We're his parents and it's an important fact and I don't feel that it would be right of me if I don't address it as soon as possible. I would only be lying about something very fundamental in our relationship... I'm not saying that I regret either of you, but I regret my actions and logic at that moment because it feels like I was almost poking fun at those that I then killed."

"He's a little miracle, that's what he is," she said quietly after a few seconds, a soft smile on her lips and tears in her eyes.

Roy paused at her words, not knowing what to say to that.

"When you think about it, Roy, he helped give me a happy life, and he's going to grow up as a guide to you as the leader of this country... I'd say that that makes him a little miracle."

He spent a few seconds letting the words sink in. "That's not a bad way to look at it... I don't actually regret him, I just regret the choices I made that resulted in him..."

"Which means that we'll have to wait to tell him that for when he's old enough to understand... Till then, we'll just let him know that although Mummy and Daddy live in different places, they both love him very much."

Roy frowned at that, and felt both awkward and scared at the whole 'Daddy loves him very much', especially because that was logically what was going to happen.

He hoped.

Right now that little guy just scared him.

A lot.

He looked at her awkwardly, and she giggled a bit at him, obviously finding it endearing with his general state of being so lost. "Don't worry, Roy, it'll come as you go along..."

Roy just nodded a bit weakly. "I know that logically, but it's hard to... I don't really know how to actually phrase it."

She giggled at him at that. "It's going to be okay, Roy."

"Yeah, I hope so." He sighed heavily. "Listen, I'm still trying to piece that night together, and I've got that 'night in shining armour'-vibe about it all... Is that just some sort of weird thing I dreamt up or a misconception?"

Another soft smile, though this one highly amused. "You gave my friend a piece of good advice at the last minute so that she didn't go with the good-looking scumbag that you knew he was and who she didn't."

Roy nodded. "I see, that makes sense... But didn't we actually start out sober?"

"Yes, I'm certain we did."


...28 May, 1909...

Ava looked over at Peggy in apprehension as they walked inside the bar, feeling more than a little awkward and alarmed.

And excited and terrified, of course.

The room was classier than she had imagined, and there was a band playing in the corner of the room by the dance floor that was currently occupied by about twenty people. The rest of the floor was covered with large black and white tiles like a chessboard. The walls were painted a deep green and there were tables that were placed on top of the tiles; white tables on top of black tiles and black tables on white tiles. It gave the room a bit of a more sophisticated air to it and there were large booths lining the walls of the room that had white walls and black seats, but not vice versa, which was probably a wise choice. The bar was made of dark brown wood with wooden stools with black cushions.

It could definitely have been a lot worse.

"Wow... There's quite a lot to pick from today, wonder what it's all about," Peggy commented, looking about the room and at its many occupants with a bright grin. It made her deep red lipstick even more visible, and her dark brown hair and tight deep red dress seemed to spark a bit of interest from a few of the people there. Then she nudged Ava's left side with her right elbow. "The universe itself seems to agree with my theory about it being time for you to start mingling by providing you with such a wide selection of candidates."

Ava's stomach only clenched harder. She too had a few men who were admiring her light yellow wrapped dress that went to a few inches above her knees. "I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this."

"Us lesser mortals ought not to question the flow of the universe itself," Peggy teased. "My cousin's an alchemist, she knows all about that stuff."

"You can't honestly believe that if I left now, then I'd be defying the will of the universe?"

"Oh, definitely. This is obviously fate."

Ava just shook her head and looked about the room with more scrutiny. "The place looks nice at least."

"Oh yeah, it's very nice, they've even got their own smokers' room so that everyone can be happy whether they like the smell or not. The clientele's a lot classier here than everywhere else. There's three pool tables through that door over there to the right, as well as the two dart boards, just so that nobody's going to risk getting poked or shoved by a cue and there's plenty of room for the darts. There's a security bloke in there too, of course, but he isn't opposed to joining in on the games... So if that's what it takes for you to feel at ease, then that's where to go, and I think you should do it now before you've had more than one drink so that you'll have a good chance at beating the lot."

"Uh-huh..." Ava had to say that that didn't sound like a terrible idea, actually. It would give her some time to socialise and learn more about her potential...

...Date for the night.

She took yet another look about the room as they made their way towards a free white table and then sat down.

"Oo-hoo, tall reddish blonde at your seven o'clock," Peggy said suddenly. "Looks like's got a six-pack and likes the colour of your hair."

Ava paused, but then looked over her shoulder, seeing the pronounced cleft in his chin and turned hastily back to her friend. "No, he seems like a smug brat."

"A rich one. He'd treat you to a nice hotel."

"No."

Peggy sighed and shook her head and rolled her eyes to signal to the stranger that Ava wasn't interested as if it wasn't his fault. She looked around a bit more, but was interrupted by the arrival of a black-haired waitress in her late twenties who was clad in a tasteful, mid-thigh black-and-white chequered dress. She was smiling knowingly at them, and at Ava in particular. "Hi, would you like something to drink or some snacks while you wait for someone to offer you the next round? I'd recommend a smoothie, it seems to draw out those that are a bit more gentlemanly than most of them."

Ava looked at her in surprise. "Oh, that sounds perfect... What do you recommend?"

"You seem like the berry type, so I suggest strawberry and banana?"

Ava smiled slightly. "Sounds great, thanks."

"No problem, hon... And what can I get for you, Miss?" she asked Peggy after a warm smile at Ava.

"Cocktail number four with a slice of lime, if you've got it."

"We certainly have. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you," they said in unison.

They watched her leave, before taking in the sight of those around them again.

It was odd to be so terrified and yet excited at the same time.

She laid eyes on several men, some of which were too old, some of them noisy, some of them plastered, none of them interesting, and all of them making her nervous about what to tell them if they came over and how she was supposed to turn them down. She wanted to be polite and make it clear that she wasn't interested, but not in a way that would tell them that something was wrong with them. Or that they weren't good enough for her.

She definitely needed something sweet to put her more at ease.

"Calm down, Ava, I'm not gonna let some bastard take you away somewhere against your will, so just relax."

Ava nodded, unconsciously unzipping and zipping her handbag.

More people were streaming in.

The waitress thankfully returned with a large glass with her smoothie in it, next to whatever Peggy had ordered, and the waitress winked at them. "On the house, we've got a large group of soldiers coming in here, we'll definitely earn more than enough."

She leant down to whisper at Ava. "But be careful even so, some of them are very happy to use the way that they have a uniform to charm the ladies and get pretty cocky and 'invincible' after a couple of beers. An 'I'm serving the country so that makes me a bloody hero'-sort of thing."

Ava nodded. "Thanks a lot." Then she thought of something and quickly pulled out a few coins from her wallet, adding up to five hundred cens, and handed them to the waitress. "The drinks may be on the house, but I'd still like to tip you for the tips you've just given me."

The waitress looked at her and began laughing, taking the money from her. "That's the funniest thing I've ever been told by a visitor that hasn't been a chat-up line, thanks!"

The three of them laughed some, and the waitress left them with a wink, a 'good luck', and a 'don't be afraid to ask if you need anything else'.

And so Ava slurped her smoothie, which was one of the best she'd ever tasted, and she found that her nerves were being calmed somewhat by the way that the waitress would obviously keeping an eye on her whilst completely sober no matter what. That was a big relief.

Peggy began making suggestions in all directions, but Ava had no interest in any of them. Plus, Peggy liked the thought of slightly older men as she figured they would be more experienced and less likely to hurt Ava.

Ava, on the other hand, wasn't quite so sure.

But she still looked over her shoulder in the directions that Peggy suggested, but then paused, blocking out Peggy's endless stream of candidates.

"The one with the black hair and the grey waistcoat looks kinda nice," she said. The man was sitting there in the corner of the room on a white table for three. He had a grey waistcoat and trousers, a white shirt and a barely touched glass of beer on the table in front of him. He was gripping it loosely, but his mind was looking throughout the bar. And there was something in his eyes that she recognised in herself.

"Trust me, hon, you do not wanna go with him."

Ava looked around at her in surprise. "Why? He's got nice clothes, has barely touched his beer, seems classy and he's so far the only guy I've liked the looks of."

"It's like my mother used to say, 'black eyes, full of lies', meaning that he's bound to have STDs and only treat you like tonight's conquest. You do not lose it to a parasite who's gonna give you herpes or something even nastier."

Ava just stared at her, then looked back over at the black-haired stranger, and then shook her head and stood up. "I've got a good feeling about him, unlike the others, so I'm gonna give it a go."

Peggy looked terrified and pleadingly at her, and even went as far as to grab her wrist as Ava reached out to pick up her smoothie. "Ava, don't do this! I brought you here for you to catch a break, not to catch something from a bastard!"

"I'm doing this because I've looked in his eyes, rather than focus on their colour and base my opinion on a superstitious rhyme. Now let go of me before we create a scene. If I don't like him once we start talking, then I'll just tell him no or give you or that waitress a look so that you can come to my rescue, all right?"

Peggy looked extremely torn and scared, but let go of her wrist. "Please don't make a mistake here, Ava, or this is gonna be my fault."

Ava sighed. "Look into his eyes, and tell me that he seems like he'll be a bastard."

Her friend did as she was told, paused, bit her lip, then looked at her sternly. "I'm gonna keep an eye on you, you know. Don't sneak off anywhere or something like that without telling me."

"I won't. See you later."

And with that she turned around and walked towards the table with the stranger, his eyes landing on hers when there was about two metres left before she'd reach him. He briefly ran his eyes over her features, and Ava gave him a shy smile. "Hi, are you waiting for someone, or would you mind if I took a seat?"

The stranger smiled back. "No, I don't mind."

And so Ava sat down and held out her hand to shake. "Thanks, I'm Ava."

The stranger took her hand. "Roy."

Ava looked into his eyes, found that her initial analysis had been right, and smiled a bit less shyly. "Do you know how to play darts?"


"So Dean's an STD?" Roy asked with a slightly teasing smile, though still feeling a bit awkward about Ava's explanation.

Awkward and terrified, because Dean was a kid and he was Roy's kid.

His son.

There was a boy named Dean and he was going to grow up with Roy as his father.

It still felt like it couldn't be real.

Ava giggled. "Oh, trust me, I used that comment of hers for what it's worth. She's still trying to defend her words by her warning still applying as you weren't using protection, but then I pick Dean up and point at his eyes and she goes quiet."

Roy bit his lip and sighed. "Listen, despite the results being good in the end, I still feel like I should apologise for my carelessness."

"It's all right, Roy, really."

They heard the click of a lock and footsteps from upstairs, and Ava pointed up at the ceiling. "Now go on and get showered, I've got to prepare the rest of our dinner."


They began to hear crying from Dean's room about thirty minutes into their meal, their plates now emptied. Ava stood up, and so did Roy. If he would only be with his kid two days a week, then he should start building a good relationship with Dean as quickly as possible, especially as Dean was at the beginning of the stranger anxiety phase of his life. Ava had agreed on it being a good idea that he should at least join her so that Dean could get used to Roy's voice and presence, even if he didn't want for Roy to hold him.

And so Ava picked the boy up, shushing him.

And then something odd happened.

Because the baby turned his head towards him and smiled at Roy.

It was an exceptionally cute smile, slightly curious, and slightly like he wanted to make Roy smile like the rest of the world would.

And so Roy did.

And Dean began to laugh.

"You should try to hold him and see what happens, it could be that he likes you better because you fed him and you're now wearing clothes that he's familiar with, plus your scent's closer to Bill's after your shower," Ava told him.

Roy decided that he might as well try it, especially because of that little laughter the boy was producing.

Hughes was going to faint at the pictures.

And so Roy held out his arms and took the boy in them, and the laughter ended and gave way to confused staring at Roy's eyes, before he reached up towards Roy's face.

Then came the small smile again which Roy reciprocated.

Then came the little baby's laughter again as he pressed his hand on Roy's chin.

"He was playing with the mirror when I checked in on him while you were in the shower, I think he recognises your eyes and feels safer about you now."

"So we are bonding through our STD eyes?" Roy asked with a small chuckle, feeling odd. The hand felt odd.

His world felt odd.

Ava laughed. "It seems so."

Roy kept smiling down at this little creature in his arms. "You and me are gonna make Maes Hughes jealous, aren't we, little guy?"

Dean laughed even more as Roy bent his face down so that the baby could place his hand on his cheek instead.

It felt odd.

So, so odd.

And soft.

Odd and soft.

And warm.

And small.

Tiny.

There was a tiny hand on his cheek; one belonging to the boy whom he would be raising. Whom he would tell about boy's stuff sometime in just over a decade.

Because Roy was his father.

And yet Roy couldn't help but smile down at the little baby in his arms because of how he was smiling. Giggling.

He was holding his giggling son in his arms.

"Well, I think that you'll be just fine while I go visit the Elrics, then, though Bill will stay here in case something should happen," Ava said with a definite smile to her words.

Roy nodded, still smiling down at this tiny human in his arms. It was an odd kind of addictive, in a way. But that was how babies worked. They were cute, and then they'd smile at you and you just couldn't help but smile back and now there was a tiny, soft, warm hand on his cheek.

And a giggling baby that was looking right at him.

"Do you mind if I share the part about STD eyes with my associates when I get back to East City? Also, I've got a subordinate who's been complaining about how I keep stealing his girlfriends... Dean and I could jerk him around a bit over the phone while you're away, and I'd like to ask him anyway if he'd be willing along with another few of my subordinates to put in some extra overtime for the next few weeks and thereby also prepare them for it."

"Go ahead, I'm just happy he likes you," Ava told him with a giggle of her own.

Roy had to admit that looking down at this giggling baby in his arms, he was beginning to believe that this might turn out okay in the end.


"All right, little buddy, let's go mess with some subordinates," Roy announced as they waved Ava and the Lieutenant goodbye and headed for the phone. Hawkeye had had an extremely soft and slightly sad look in her eyes at the sight of him carrying Dean in his arms.

Roy had promised himself that once the time came for Dean to begin talking, he'd be making her into 'Auntie Riza'.

And so he called Havoc's dorm and the man answered after about ten seconds. "Jean Havoc speaking."

"Hey, Havoc, it's Colonel Mustang."

"Colonel, is everything all right?" came the slightly awkward and worried voice. And just a tiny bit intimidated.

"Yes, and I've got some good news for you, and a favour to ask."

"What are they?"

"First of all, my days of stealing your girlfriends have come to an end, because I have found myself a Dean here in Resembool."

He could practically hear Havoc pale and his eyebrows shoot up, and he smiled, making the boy in the crook of his arm smile even wider. "Which is why I'd like to ask that you and the rest of the team put in some overtime so that I can sort things out because I need to find myself a flat."

There was a lot of silence on the other end. "...Uh, are you sure you're not moving a bit too fast, sir?" came the apprehensive voice after a few seconds.

Roy looked down at Dean and began to chuckle, which Dean did too, and he held the phone close enough for Havoc to hear, before putting the phone back up to his ear. But he kept his face close to Dean's because the kid appeared to have a deep fascination for his eyes and was very happy when they were close. "He's seven months old, but it still means that I'm not exactly gonna make him grow up as 'Roy Mustang's mistake', even if the mother and I are just staying friends."

There was another round of tense silence. "So you're a father?"

"Apparently, yes." The words still made him almost feel dizzy. But he kept his voice calm as he smiled down at Dean who in turn placed his tiny, soft hand on Roy's cheek. It seemed to be one of his favourite things to do when in Roy's arms. His trust obviously stemmed from his fascination and familiarity with the colour and shape of Roy's eyes, and his hand brought him closer to them. "Which is why I wanna give my subordinates a heads-up because I'm aiming for taking the weekends off in order to travel out here and visit Dean and his family. Which further means that I think it's a good idea for me to warn you that I'll have a lot of work to do outside of work, so I could strictly speaking need some help to get everything to work out properly until I get some sort of arrangement set up. It complicates matters a lot when I haven't known about either Dean or Ava's pregnancy, so the paperwork will take some time to get in order and to have it verified."

"And you're sure he's yours?"

"He's got my eyes and the time fits, it would be a bit too coincidental if he wasn't mine. Black eyes aren't common, after all." It was a very non-smiling thing he was about to say next, but he just couldn't stop smiling at the little guy in his lap. "So, yes, my womanising days appear to be over. Ava's refrained from looking for anyone else and I think it's only fair that I do the same, especially with my reputation, or I'm gonna risk turning the mother of my child into some sort of floosie or previous conquest. Plus, it would be an insult to both her and Dean that I make her seem inconsequential. I don't wanna have my own son grow up as an accident who comes second to a load of strangers who've got nice looks, and I don't wanna make Dean not only grow up with parents living in two different places, but also having to deal with a second mother who may or may not be the same one from one month to the next. I won't really have too much time for dating anyway when I'm not gonna be working during weekends. And Ava has also asked that I prioritise Dean, and considering how he's her son too, I think that she has every right to ask that I do that because none of us want to harm Dean's self-esteem, nor do I want to give him abandonment issues. It's already complicated enough as it is, considering his origins and the way that he came into being, I could at least try to improve his self-esteem by making him see that he's worthy of my full attention."

It was three minutes later that Roy thanked his subordinate as Havoc agreed to go speak with Breda, Falman and Fuery, and then hung up the phone, looking down at this little baby that was cradled in the crook of his left arm. He still smiled at him as he reached out with his right hand and gently cupped the boy's cheek, carefully stroking it with his thumb. It was soft and warm, just like his hand. "You've changed my life a lot, you know, and yet you're just smiling sweetly up at me, not understanding a thing I'm saying."

"Oy," the baby suddenly went, making him freeze, eyes widening. Dean had been making a lot of different noises all afternoon, but he hadn't heard that one before.

And it wasn't exactly specific. It could be a noise. Most likely it was a just a nonsensical noise. It appeared in so many words and they were a couple of vowels. Easy to pronounce.

Yes, that was it.

Still, he probably ought to ask Bill.

And so he stood up again, lifting Dean up against him a bit more securely, and went to find Bill in the living room. He was reading today's newspaper in the armchair and had a coffee mug on the table in front of his feet.

"Hi, Roy, how did your phone call go?" Bill asked interestedly, putting down the newspaper with a small smile at the two of them.

"Oy," Dean said again, making them both pause.

"Is this normal for him?" Roy's voice was a bit weak as he spoke, and he shifted Dean so as to look at the baby.

"He makes a lot of noises all the time," Bill replied, though he looked a bit surprised and curious.

Dean reached up and placed his hand on Roy's cheek, smiling with a bit of curiosity in his eyes. "Oy."

Roy stared at him. "You're just messing with me, aren't you, little guy?" he said with a hint of exasperation, though unable not to smile at the warm hand.

Dean giggled. "Oy."

"He's been holding his hand on my cheek most of the time..." Roy explained awkwardly. "Maybe he's just mimicking some normal sounds. There's 'joy' and 'toy' and 'boy', after all."

"Oy."

It was odd how terrified Roy was of the kid potentially saying his name. It felt like it would be rude to his hosts in a way.

"I guess we'll find out in a few months when you can put a consonant before it," he told the baby in his arms.

"Babies imitate sounds they've heard, and he hears two-thirds of it several times a day, and 'Roy' and 'boy' have been mentioned repeatedly all afternoon," Bill said, and Roy was severely happy that he was actually smiling, rather than the opposite.

"Woy," Dean suddenly went, making them pause.

Roy looked back down at the infant as the boy patted his cheek twice. "Woy."

"He's heard it a lot today like you said, and there have been a lot of smiling and laughter, so he might be saying it because it's a happy sound or something," Roy suggested. "He's been fascinated by my eyes and he likes making me smile, so he's just saying it to me because I'm the one holding him and I'm the one with the eyes he likes and are drawn to."

"That sounds logical."

"Yeah."

There was a lot of awkwardness in the room even so.

"Woy," Dean stated once more, curling his free hand around Roy's waistcoat. "Woywoywoywoywoy."

"Sure, kiddo. Woy to you too."

Dean giggled.

Roy snorted slightly.


CallMeWaffle: Thank you so much for saying that! I hope that you will keep enjoying the story! :D

And please leave a review, but no flames as they can be quite discouraging ;)