Chapter Two: Namesake
Pairing: Royai
Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang, Rebecca Catalina, Team Mustang, Elric Brothers
Rating: T
Summary: Roy and Riza find that all actions have consequences as they struggle to name their daughter.
It didn't take long for the rest of the Military to find out that Colonel Roy Mustang and Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye had welcomed a child into the world.
The first to visit the new parents outside of Team Mustang and Rebecca, who after a day and a half had convinced their nurses and doctors to allow the new family to recover together on the third floor, were the Elric Brothers, the elder pushing the younger in a wheel chair.
"Holy shit, Colonel Bastard has his own little hellspawn. I feel bad for the Lieutenant. She's stuck with you forever now." Ed scoffed.
"I'd insult you, Fullmetal, but I have better things to do then put my newborn daughter in danger." Roy glared, crossing his arms over his chest.
He and Al both perked up at Roy's words.
"Daughter? You guys had a girl?" Alphonse asked, turning to Riza with a smile.
"Yes, she's a little girl." Riza told them, as her and Roy's daughter slept soundly on her chest, Riza's hand slowly rubbing circles on her small back.
"Do people not know the gender?" Roy asked, surprised.
"Everyone we've heard it from said Miss Riza had a baby that looked like you. No one mentioned anything about the gender." Al explained.
"Personally we thought they were all just bullshitting us. So we came to see if it was true." Ed smirked.
"She's so cute." Al cooed, as Ed rolled him closer to Riza and the baby.
"Eh. She'd be cuter if she didn't look exactly like her Bastard father." Ed scoffed, giving Riza a smile that told her that he agreed with his brother.
"Go to hell, Fullmetal."
Their next visitior was General Hakuro, who arrived a few hours after Edward and Alphonse has said goodbye.
His appearance caused Riza, who had just finished nursing at the time, to clutch her daughter closer to her chest, angling her body away from the asshole General, as he marched his way over to the foot of Roy's hospital bed.
"I'd say I'm surprised by the fact that you had an inappropriate relationship with one of your subordinates, but if I did I would be lying." Hakuro spat, glaring daggers at Roy, not even bothering to glance at Riza and the baby.
"Technically speaking, she was under Führer Bradley's command when our daughter was conceived, not mine." Roy said, arms crossed.
You dumbass liar. You still lived in East City when your seed took root inside of Riza's womb. Just be lucky the doctors are basing your daughters gestation on her size or else you'd be both be in serious trouble! The voice in his head spat.
Hakuro scoffed, clearly not believing him. "You two better believe there will be a full investigation of... this." He said, waving a hand at the newborn in Riza's arms.
"And if I find proof that you two had any type of relationship outside of work while you two were Commander and Subordinate, I will be informing Führer Grumman and you'll both be Court Martialed. Do I make myself clear?" He snapped, causing the previously calm baby girl to begin to wail loudly in fear.
Riza began softly bouncing her daughter, cooing softly in her ear that she was okay and safe, trying not to notice how Roy's hands curled up into fists.
"I look forward to hearing what Grumman has to say about what I find out about your little... family." He scoffed, turning to look at Riza and the baby.
Riza glared daggers at the man, before informing the General of a key piece of information that very few people in the Military knew about.
"And I look forward to my Grandfather finally being able to come to Central to meet his first great-grandchild."
"I... I beg your pardon?" He yelped.
"Oh. General Hakuro, were you not aware that Führer Grumman's late daughter was also my Mother?" Riza asked in mock surprise.
"N-no." The older man stuttered, all the color draining from his face.
"Huh. I thought it was common knowledge." Riza said, turning to Roy, both of them knowing it was not common knowledge that her and Grumman were blood relatives.
"Guess only the people he trusts know." Roy shrugged.
Without another word, General Hakuro stormed out of the room, leaving both of them to exhale in relief.
"Grandfather is right. That man is a piss ass."
"Riza?" Roy whispered softly, turning to face her bed.
Based on her lack of response and her calm breathing, Roy could tell she was sound asleep. Of course she was sleeping, he should've been too. It had been hours since the nurses told them goodnight, yet he was still wide awake.
"I know you're sleeping, and that's okay. I'd rather get this all off my chest without worrying about you feeling guilty." He said softly.
"I know that you didn't know you were pregnant when you helped out on the Promised Day. And I know that thanks to that Mei girl you survived your injuries that you sustained on that day. But if she hadn't- and you d...died, and I later found out about our baby- our daughter- I would've been... I would've been angry. I would've been so god damn angry at you, Riza. I wouldn't have thought for one millisecond that you didn't know you were pregnant, and I would've blamed you for putting the both of you in danger. I would've... I would've hated you for choosing to help me over keeping our daughter safe, for deciding that a mission was more important then her getting the chance to have any sort of life. And as much as I hate to admit this, I probably would've taken my own life. I know that I have a goal to reach, but none of that matters if you're not there with me when it happens." Roy sighed, his voice barely above a whisper, as his hands gripped his blankets.
He turned his head towards where their four day old daughter was sleeping. All he wanted to do was hold her and see how beautiful everyone told him and Riza she was. But he couldn't. His blindness and the fear it brought consumed him. She was small and delicate and not even five pounds. He would rather not hold her until she was bigger then risk hurting her because he can't see what he's doing.
"Hey baby girl. Daddy loves you and your mom so much." He said softly, a sad smile on his face.
"Took you long enough to make me a great grandchild." Grumman cackled as he entered their hospital room.
"Hello Grandfather." Riza smiled at him, as she finished changing a very dirty diaper.
"How are you doing Sir?" Roy asked, pinching his nostrils shut.
"Fi- ho boy. I just got a whiff of that. What have you been feeding that child?" He gagged.
"Breast milk." Riza said nonchalantly.
"And what the hell have you been eating?" Grumman questioned.
"Hospital food. I use the term food loosely." She answered.
"Yuck."
"Sir, something tells me that you're not just here for a family reunion." Roy said.
"That's correct. I'm here to give you an update on your investigation." He sighed.
"I take it they've made a decision?" Riza sighed. She had been preparing since the moment she first laid eyes on her daughter for at least her to be dishonorably discharged for her and Roy's relationship.
"No, not yet. They're still digging. Hakuro and his proof is searching for any sort of proof that you two were in a romantic relationship while being commander and subordinate. And let me tell you, if they find any such proof, you'll both be discharged. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to help your careers. I can always play favorites for you two- despite the fact that you're family, Riza." Grumman said solemnly.
"I understand. I wouldn't want you to give me special treatment because I'm your granddaughter anyway." Riza reassured him.
"Now I don't know if you two have been together all these years, and frankly I don't want to know. I just hope if you were, you two were damn good at covering your tracks." He added, clearing his throat.
"Now hand over my new granddaughter so I can hold her." He said joyfully.
"She got a name yet?" He grinned, once Riza had placed her in his arms.
"No."
"Not yet."
"Julie?"
"No."
"Alison?"
"No."
"Tabitha?"
"No."
"Carmella?"
"Hell no!"
"Oh come on, you guys! You've rejected every name suggestion I've given you guys!" Rebecca whined, sitting at the foot of Riza's bed, a baby name book laid out on her lap.
"Your daughter is almost two weeks old! She needs a name!" Rebecca groaned.
"Oh get real Catalina! That kid will have a sibling before she has a name!" Breda cackled.
"Are you guys even trying to figure out a name?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes!" Riza and Roy both snapped.
"Nothing sounds right." Roy sighed, covering his face with his hands.
"The only thing we really can agree on is that we don't want her to be named after someone else. We want her to have her own name, and not have her worry about living up to someone else's memory." Riza sighed, watching her daughter sleep in the Moses basket between her and Roy's beds.
"Add that to the fact that most of the names we've come across we don't really like, it's making the situation difficult." Roy added.
"You guys do know that she won't be discharged from the hospital until she's named, correct?" Falman asked.
"It's not like either of us are getting out of here any time soon, so what's the rush?" Riza shrugged.
"As long as we have something picked out before we get discharged, we're not too worried about it. My doctors say I have another week before they're willing to let me leave, and I'm not even injured compared to Riza." Roy shrugged nonchalantly.
"So we're all pretty much stuck here for at least another week." Riza added.
"Dear God I thought Falman was lying." Olivier Armstrong grimaced at the sight of the tiny version of Roy nestled in Riza's arms.
"Hello to you too Armstrong." Roy huffed.
"What the hell were you thinking?" She snapped at Riza.
"You're a solider- and a damn great one too! And you just threw your entire career away. For what? Five minutes of mediocre pleasure with that?" She scoffed, motioning her arm to Roy.
"Hey!" He yelped, but was ignored by the older blonde.
"Just because you think children are a career ruiner, Olivier, doesn't mean everyone else does." Riza said with a glare.
"I'm not saying your child- is it a girl or a boy?"
"Girl."
"Thank God. One male Mustang in this world is plenty. I'm not saying your daughter is a career ruiner. I'm saying your choice of her Father is. And you! Have you not ever heard of a condom before?! Hawkeye should consider herself lucky you two's little escapade resulted in a child and not a disease." Olivier snapped.
"He did use one!" Riza crowd, defending him.
Liar! The voice in her head rang out. You've never made that man use a condom, not once. You enjoy the feeling of him filling you up too much to make him use protection or ask him to pull out. It's nothing less then a miracle that it's taken this long for you to end up accidentally knocked up!
"And who provided it?" Olivier asked.
"I did." Riza told her, still lying through her teeth to the older woman.
"Hmm. Well then. Guess the two of you have bad luck." Olivier shrugged, turning to look down at the newborn baby girl.
She was silently for a moment, staring at the tiny infant. She took a pen out of her pocket, grabbed a tissue from the box next to Riza's bed, and wrote a message down. She handed it to Riza and left without another word.
Riza glanced down at the message and smiled.
She's beautiful Hawkeye. Don't tell Mustang.
The day finally arrived.
Dr Marcoh had healed Jean's legs and was now about to heal Roy's eyes.
"Nervous?" Marcoh asked him.
The only ones in the room were him, Roy, Riza, and their daughter. Everyone else was busy bothering Jean in his room down the hallway.
"Scared shitless."
"Don't be. Your sight will be extremely sensitive to light, so I don't want you to immediately open your eyes. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Okay. Fair warning, Lieutenant Havoc felt pain on his spine during the procedure. Said it felt like he was on fire. Not saying you'll feel pain, but better to warn you before hand." Marcoh said.
"I can handle it." Roy said, closing his eyes.
"Alright. Remember to stay as still as possible. Three... two... one."
He wasn't exaggerating when he said there might be pain. Roy's eyes, forehead, and brain felt like they were throbbing. It felt like it was going to last forever. Eventually the pain subsided, and felt Marcoh's palm rest over his closed eyes.
"Alright, when I count to ten, I want you to slowly open your eyes."
"Got it."
"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten."
Roy opened his eyes and saw nothing. Just darkness. Trying not to show any disappointment, he exhaled slowly.
"Eyes open?"
Roy nodded slowly.
"Good." Marcoh said, slowly spreading two of his fingers that were still pressed to Roy's face. Roy tensed up when he saw the light shine between the doctor's digits.
"See any light?" He asked when he noticed Roy tense up.
"Yeah."
"Good. Okay I'm going to take my hand away slowly. Your vision will likely be very blurry for a few minutes."
Marcoh took his hand away and Roy glanced down, staring at his own while his vision slowly went back to normal. He exhaled, a smile on his face as he turned to look at Riza.
"Hey beautiful." He grinned at her. Riza smiles back at him, trying not to cry.
Roy glanced at their daughter, who was fast asleep on her mother's chest and facing his direction and chuckled.
"I thought everyone was exaggerating when they said she looked like me." He smirked.
Dr Marcoh then spent the next ten minutes examing Roy's pupils, watching as they reacted to the small flashlight he shown in his face.
"Now, there's a chance you'll need glasses in the future. Bare minimum you'll probably need them for reading. There's also a chance your vision will black out a for small periods of time for the first few weeks. Let me know immediately if the black outs last longer then an hour or if you're still getting them six months from now. Understood?" Marcoh informed them.
"I understand." Roy nodded, his eyes locked onto his daughter.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to tell your friends that you can see again." He told them, satisfied that Roy's eyes were healed as well as they good be for the time being.
Dr Marcoh left the room, strolling towards Jean's room. The rest of Team Mustang and Rebecca were ecstatic to learn Roy could see again, and after providing Jean some help getting into his wheelchair, made their way towards Roy and Riza's room down at the end of the hall.
By the time they got there, they could see Riza laying in bed next to Roy, as he held their daughter for the first time.
It took twenty seven days after her birth for Roy and Riza to finally decide on a name for their daughter.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Riza asked, laying on her side in bed next to Roy, their daughter laying between them like they had done when she was first born.
"Hope so. It's not like she'll have any choice." Roy reminded her, his finger tracing small circles on their daughters cheek.
Both of them had fallen in love with the first and middle names they'd chosen for her. In their eyes, her name was perfect.
Because it was hers.