We have had the time of our lives
Now the page is turned
The stories we will write
We have had the time of our lives
And I will not forget
The faces left behind
It's hard to walk away
From the best of days
But if it has to end
I'm glad you have been my friend
In the time of our lives
Aiden hurled into the toilet and groaned loudly. Fuck this stomach bug. She hadn't been this sick since Scar tossed her near the sewers, and unfortunately it'd been a week since it began. Her temperature wasn't too high but there was a noticeable difference between day one and day five. It was bad enough her stomach wasn't accepting much aside from toast, peanut butter (which arguably should've made it worse), and Ginger Ale. Her favorite coffee would make her want to hurl.
"That makes this day four-"
"Five-"
"-of having the same flu as half of military command. You sure you don't want to get the vaccine later today?"
Roy was leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom watching her with pity and the slightest hint of amusement. The bastard was one of the lucky few who got the vaccine earlier in the year and didn't have to suffer the consequences of being on the run and then in a hospital. Jed and Alphonse were also afflicted with the flue, which worried Edward more than he'd admit. The boys were at home in Resembool while Jed was probably locked away in his dorm heaving up his organs like she was.
"Fuck you and your needles," she replied ravenously.
"Don't want me to kiss it better?" he teased.
"You can take your kisses and shove them - hurk!" Aiden's stomach rolled and she heaved into the toilet once more, bodily shaking over the white bowl. Tears carved tracks down her cheeks and she whimpered when nothing came up. A sigh met her ears and Roy's hand rubbed up and down her back and arms.
"Please let me take you to the hospital?"
Aiden whimpered once more and she relented. "Okay." There was no way she wanted to or could handle another six days of this.
"Okay."
Roy helped her dress for the day as she stood on shaky legs, pale-faced and defeated. The ride wasn't too bad. It calmed her queasy stomach and dazed her mind enough to take the edge off.
It was unfortunate Roy had to go to work after he dropped her off, but he was able to stick around long enough to see her be sent to a room with a doctor. Doctor McCoy to be exact, and wasn't Aiden ecstatic to be paired with the doctor that'd overseen her recovery after Pride had impaled her. There was very little sarcasm in that sentence but the sentiments were the same.
"So," McCoy said as she sat on the hospital bed, "you've got that flue going around the military recently? That sucks."
"You're as eloquent as ever," Aiden replied drearily. Why wasn't she at home snuggled under warm blankets where no one but the shadows on the walls and Roy would judge her?
The man laughed and shrugged. "Well, what can you do? We saw each other at least four times a week for several months. I assume you're only in here as a last resort?"
The man knew all too well her stance on needles when he'd been slapped in her endeavor to get away. It was an accident and she stood extremely still after apologizing profusely.
"I can't handle it anymore. Just kill me and be done with it."
"One immunization coming right up!"
"Yay."
"But before we do that-"
"Why must you insist on prolonging my torture?"
"-we need to make sure your chart is up to date. Diet?"
"Healthy foods, junk food, the blood of my victims, more milk than is necessary but that's just me. Since I got this flu it's been whatever I can keep down for more than three hours. I ate spinach yesterday. I fucking hate spinach."
"Sounds normal." Aiden remembered why she loved her doctor. He didn't blink at the unnatural things she said and, in terms of her 21st-century self, vibed with it. He was just a chill man. "Exercise?"
"Hour jog in the morning, walking around military command gives what else I need throughout the day. Sometimes I spar the newbies."
McCoy nodded and scribbled something on the paper. "How's your weight?"
She shrugged. "The nurse that checked me out said I was heavier than I last came in but it's been a while so that happens. She didn't say by how much. It's kinda weird though, I've been barfing all day these past few days, you'd think I'd lose a pound or two. Hey, do you smell bacon?"
McCoy glanced up from his - or rather her - chart with a strange expression. He gave her a once-over. "I had it for breakfast."
"Aw, you could've shared." Aiden's smiley face grew pale and she held up a finger just as the doctor reached for a nearby bin. "I got it." McCoy watched her wearily, ready to spring for the trashcan at a moment's notice. Her shoulders slumped and he relaxed. "Okay, no bacon then."
As Aiden fought for control over her stomach doctor McCoy was frowning. "How's your monthly?" he asked.
"Fuck if I know, I never kept track. I was always missing-" Aiden's head shot up and her wide green eyes met McCoy's curious yet thoughtful blues. "Shit! You don't think?"
"A few ways to find out. Here, lie back and lift your shirt."
Her elbows wobbled as she laid on her back and McCoy rolled away on his tool to grab gloves. As he rolled back he noticed her tense posture and the ever so slight shake to her frame. It'd been there when they began but it was even more prominent now. Aiden's shirt was bunched up under her boobs and a fist was clenched at her side.
"Okay I need you to breathe in for me. In through your nose, slowly." Aiden took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes as she felt two cool hands press against her abdomen. "Out through your mouth." She let go and the hands followed her stomach as she exhaled. They pressed lightly, then a bit harder. "Okay again." This time as she let go of her breath the hands went just a bit upward and to either side, coming back to rest above where her uterus would be. The hands went away. "Lean up."
She did as she was told and sat up, pulling her shirt down. Her fingers tapped restlessly against her thigh and she still hadn't stopped shaking. God what if she was pregnant? How would she tell Roy? How would - why - she didn't - Aiden slapped herself across the face. McCoy looked rightfully startled and worried at the same time.
"Sorry, I was panicking."
The man sighed and shook his head. "Bad news is I can't tell for sure, but I'm leaning towards a yes. Good news is I know how we can find out."
"How?"
It wasn't like they had pregnancy sticks to use, it was the 1910s!
"Well first I'm going to give you a cup of water, give you a shot, and then ask you to pee in a cup for later."
Aiden grimaced at the reminder of her reason to visit the hospital in the first place. "Right."
The pain of being stuck with a needle wasn't as bad as she expected when her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. Maybe Roy's "kiss it better" method worked after all when your thoughts were going a mile a minute in the wrong direction. McCoy sent her off with a warning to drink plenty of fluids and a notice that he'd call when they got results back. She'd given him a shaky smile and set off to get back home and either die in bed or fall down the steps and die while a tragic yet melodic theme played. Either was preferable at the moment.
As she walked home she passed by the children's playground and general park. Several children were taking the Sunday to laugh and play while their parents rested in the shade beneath trees not too far away. Every few seconds she noticed a parent look up to check on their child, smile, and go back to talking with their partner or friend. Suddenly a child fell off a swing only to be caught by their father. The little boy giggled and was set back on the swing. Aiden felt a tug in her heart and she glanced away from the pair.
A sniffling drew her attention and she turned to the bench she'd been standing by. There was a woman with her knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around them as tears brimmed at her eyes. The woman had long white hair and Caribbean green eyes. Aiden could almost see a scar -
"Katy?" Or was it Iro? Didn't she go by that name when she last saw her in Truth's domain? Katy was easier.
The woman's head shot up as a single tear slipped down her cheek. Her head snapped to the side and Aiden barely had a moment to register her former subordinate's face as she was tackled to the ground. "Aiden!" Katy cried, wrapping her friend in a hug.
"Katy what-" Aiden immediately tosses the woman off her and rolls over to throw up on the ground. So much for her queasy stomach being gone. She pants and spits out any residue and glares at her friend. "What," she gasps, "the fuck?"
"Sorry," Katy apologizes. "Are you okay?"
"I will be." Aiden brushes the dirt off her shirt and pants and gives the woman a look. "Why are you here?"
"My son, he's missing," she began. "I know he's in Amestris, but I can't find him anywhere..."
Aiden's mind blanked but she nodded in understanding anyway. What were the chances - she stopped her line of thought right there. It didn't matter, things always happened to her no matter the chances. From Katy's pale face and teary eyes, she knew something was wrong. The fact that the goddess was in Amestris was enough to put her on edge. The woman never visited and it'd been months since their last interaction. Around a year.
How long had it been since Katy had seen her? Long enough to have a kid walking around and dimension-hopping. Wasn't that a nice thought? A kid not knowing the dangers of where he could end up and either dying or screwing up a timeline. On the flip side, he might end up a deity like his mother.
"Please help me find him, I beg you," she clapped her hands together and put her head down, begging the soldier in front of her, much to the black-haired woman's surprise.
"Uh - yeah! Sure!" she stuttered. Why was Katy bowing to her? Wasn't that an Eastern custom? "What does he look like?"
Katy sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose as she tried to clear her head enough to give Aiden a description. "Well, uh," she sniffled once more, blinking a few times. "He's about this tall," she motioned to her waist, "three years old, light green eyes, and golden platinum slash cream soda blonde hair, I guess, with a patch bright blonde? Like the color of my hair used to be, on the front of his head. His name is William but he answers to Will too."
Aiden nodded. So she was looking for a weirdly calico blond boy, honestly not the weirdest thing she'd seen or done. And really, she needed the distraction. "We'll check the police station first. Any lost, missing, or found child would be reported there."
Katy nodded and followed the woman away from the park. While Aiden would have loved to get there first thing, they took a detour asking any person if they'd seen William. As each negative answer came around the goddess visibly became more and more depressed. It didn't help when the military police informed them that no child close to her son's description had been reported.
Katy and Aiden walked away from the station with slumped shoulders, heads low. Katy was close to crying again.
Aiden slung an arm over her friend's shoulder and gently led her away from the station and to her house. "C'mon. You could use a drink."
"We both could."
The woman glanced away. "I'm not so sure about that."
"How so?"
"You can do pretty much anything can't you?"
Katy paused in her steps. "Within reason... Why?"
"I need you to check if I'm pregnant."
Katy stared intently at the ground for minutes on end and Aiden was almost concerned. Suddenly she laughed. "Aiden fucked the Colonel! Aiden fucked the Colonel! Aiden-"
The woman slapped a hand over Katy's mouth, face flushed and glaring. "Shut the fuck up," she hissed. "And he's a Brigadier General now!"
The hand was taken away but Katy still grinned. "That took forever! Did you have a secret wedding while I was gone?"
"No - we aren't... There was a military function that hosted a ball two months ago. And then... there were times after."
"No judgment here! And a ball? That's romantic to the fullest! Does that mean I can call you Cinderella?"
Aiden shook her head, biting her lip and glaring at her friend. "Can you check or not?"
Katy's teasing grin dropped from her face and she nodded. "Give me your hand."
Aiden did so and Katy's hands enveloped her own. She gasped softly as a soft green light emitted from Katy's hands. It tingled a bit and she suddenly felt a bit woozy, but the light died away and she felt fine. She glanced up as the hands were taken away.
Katy nodded, "Yeah. I'd say a month and a half, two months." Her stomach dropped and Aiden fell to her knees. Or, she tried to. A pair of arms caught her. "Easy there, tiger! You okay?"
A resolute shake of her head. The two restarted their walk in silence, turning around a corner. Somehow, with Katy assisting her, Aiden led them home.
"How come you didn't notice?"
"There's a stomach bug that's been taking a lot of the military and civilians into the hospital. I just thought..." Aiden's words trailed off and Katy nodded. She hadn't thought. That was it.
"That's rough buddy." A half-hearted glare was shot her way and Katy shrugged. What else could she say?
It was then that Katy noticed how they were nowhere near the apartments she knew Aiden lived in and had instead passed into the suburbs of Central. Had she moved? Aiden turned in at a gate and stopped at the front door of a two-story house.
It was bound to have been a slow day at the office with so many people out sick. Either he was home, or he wasn't.
"Don't tell him, please?"
Katy's attention snapped from the green grass and tree in the front yard. Tell him? Without any words Aiden walked in, a fake smile plastered on her face. She was about to call out that she'd made it home when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a pair of figures on the couch.
A chuckle bubbled in her chest as she gazed down at the small boy sleeping on Roy's chest. The man himself was sleeping soundly with an arm behind his head, the other around the boy to keep him from falling off, and his mouth was parted slightly. A part of her wanted to snap a picture.
Wait, whose child was this?
"What-"
"William!"
Roy shot up and Aiden jerked around, watching Katy scoop up the child from Roy's grasp and wrap him in her arms.
"Mom?" the boy yawned. True enough, the kid had weird calico blond hair.
"Loki-" Aiden's mind stalled for maybe the twelfth time that day, "-I found him... He's okay," Katy whispered, holding the boy tightly in her arms with her head resting on top of his, tears flowing down her face. Judging by the smile on her face and slight chuckle, Aiden could only assume she was happy she'd found her child.
Roy glanced between the reunited mother and son before shooting a questioning glance at Aiden. She shrugged unhelpfully. Katy rounded on the pair.
"MY KID WAS HERE THE ENTIRE TIME?!" she shrieked.
The Colonel blanched just as Roy, the Brigadier General, glanced between them. "It's not like I knew! I went to the hospital and took the scenic route home!"
"Who's that?" Roy questioned, pointing at the white-haired woman. It was obvious she was the boy's mother.
"That's Katy," Aiden said.
"The goddess from another... dimension? The one that saved your ass from dying? The one you set off several bombs with? That Katy?" Aiden nodded sagely watching the interaction. "She looks different."
Meeting an acquaintance that went missing nearly two years ago wasn't on his bucket list but he checked that off anyway. Along with meeting a god other than Truth. Shouldn't he have checked that off earlier? What was gonna pop up next?
"Thank you for your help," Katy smiled at her former boss. "I don't think I would've been able to find him without you."
She shrugged. It wasn't like she did anything, Roy had William, which they didn't know. "You would've found him eventually, so don't mention it. I'm always happy to lend a hand to a friend in need."
William stopped swinging his legs. "Oh! My birdy!" He wiggled out of his mother's grasp and toddled around the couch to the mantle above the fireplace.
"Birdy?" Katy repeated. Aiden was once more clueless about the actions of the child.
Their eyes were drawn to the small wooden figure on the mantle, far above where William could reach it. The figure was indeed a bird of mahogany. William reached for the object and pouted when his hands didn't grasp it. Roy smiled gently and walked over, grabbing the bird and placing it in the boy's palm.
"We got bored while waiting for you." Roy's smile was turned on William. "Take good care of it, you promise?" he asked.
"Promise!" William declared. He held out his pinky finger.
The two women watched as Roy wrapped his pinky around William's smaller finger to seal the pinky-promise. Katy leaned over and whispered to her friend. "You're marrying him."
Aiden nodded without thought. "How do I send an invitation?"
"Call out 'Jumanji' and I'll be there. Give us a warning first."
"How would I give a warning?"
The women chuckled as Roy led William away from the fireplace and back to his mother. As Aiden watched Roy interact with the child, she noticed how the man was gently shooing him away from the sharp corners of the coffee table and stand where they put the lamp. William hardly noticed the movements, too entranced with the bird Roy had made him. Aiden noticed. And so did Katy. The white-haired woman shot her a wink which she pointedly ignored.
From there they said their goodbyes and Katy once more disappeared from the country of Amestris. It was almost sad to see the woman go, but Aiden knew they didn't belong. They had family somewhere waiting for them.
Just like I do, she thought, glancing at Roy who pulled her onto the couch. She giggled even as her stomach rolled dangerously and she rested atop him.
Roy smiled down at Aiden. His head rested on the armrest, a cushion helping him not snap his neck at the difficult angle. "It wasn't so bad having him around."
She hadn't been the one to spend time with William. She hummed and listened to the rhythmic beat of his heart. "You think so?"
"Yeah." Aiden hummed once more and Roy played with the short strands of hair. Maybe he could convince her to keep it long. "How was the hospital visit. Do I need to kiss it better?"
Aiden laughed and shook her head. "Absolutely hated it. We did discover that I'm gaining weight though."
Roy scoffed at the idea. "Impossible. You jog every morning and spar the greenies. No way you could gain weight without me noticing and not being able to love every inch of you."
Aiden felt her heart melt. This man would well and truly love her no matter her state of being. "Well there is one way..."
Silence reigned and then Roy jerked upright, cradling her in his arms. "No. No way." His eyes were wide and she could feel his racing heart against her chest. His eyes darted between her eyes and her stomach.
She bit her lip and nodded shyly. "Yeah."
"I'm gonna be a dad?" The words were forcibly squeaked out and his black eyes grew impossibly wider.
"Yeah."
Suddenly the arms around her were tight and she was lifted from the couch. Aiden didn't realize she was being spun in circles until she stopped and Roy kissed her hard. Then he pulled away, grinning. "I'm gonna be a dad!"
It was quiet in the Hughes home as Elicia was napping and Gracia and Maes were happily chatting at the table. The phone rang and Maes only had to reach a few feet to answer.
"Hughes residence, this is Maes speaking."
"I'M GONNA BE A DAD!"
Maes winced and pulled the phone away from his ear. Gracia gave a curious look as the screech came across the phone loud enough for her to hear. It'd been a while since they'd heard Roy so excited.
Maes rubbed at his ear. "Are you adopting a dog?"
"NO! IT'S GOT LEGS!"
Roy is so excited he doesn't have the words! Hope you loved that last bit! I wheeze every time I look at it!
I never thought I'd have to look up the history of detecting pregnancies yet here we are. And I never used any of the methods.
Can you believe there's only one chapter left? How time flies.
The last update will come January 31st. See you soon!
