"Well Elric," Izumi started, she was sitting behind a large oak desk and was flipping her way through Edward's research, "I am very impressed with your work." She continued, the sound of a page turning brought Edward back to reality, "I think you would be a perfect addition to the lab, what do you think, Alfons?"
Alfons was sitting in a chair next to Edward, switching between reading copies of Edward's printed work and asking to see samples on his laptop. Alfons nodded, "Yes, I think he would be a perfect addition." He agreed, looking up from the documents. "Mr. Elric, we are looking for both a professor and someone who would work in the labs." Alfons started, gaze drifting to fall on Ed. "Is that something you are interested in?"
"O-Of course," Edward stammered out, "I worked in the labs at the school in Resembol, I was set to teach this fall but then of course," Edward paused for a minute, fingers aimlessly playing with a strand of hair from his bangs, and he swallowed the lump in his throat, "Well, we moved and I wasn't going to commute from here to there and back each day."
"Understandable." Alfons agreed, looking back at Izumi who nodded. "Well, it's a physics professor we are looking for, and you are certainly qualified for it." Alfons said with a chuckle, "Like I stated on the phone, we would be more than happy to help you finish your PhD." He paused for a moment, "I'll let Izumi fill you in on that, as she's the one you would be working with on that and in the labs."
Izumi sent him another warm smile, "Yes, I'd be the one directly working with you on finishing the PhD." Izumi started, "I'm sure you know all the details that come along with a PhD so I won't go into too much detail."
On his lunch break, Alphonse had run Annelise's car seat over to Roy's office and had thankfully installed it. Rear facing just like last time, and Al even strapped the little velcro mirror on the head rest so Roy could see Annelise. Her seat was sandwiched between the boys, and Roy could only hope she didn't mind being smooshed in the middle.
When they picked the boys up they were excited to see Annelise and hear that she was coming over for a playdate already. Annelise only sent them warm smiles and leaned against Roy's leg. Luckily, the boys didn't care and they happily rattled on about their school day to Roy as they walked out to the car. The boys helped Annelise into her car seat, making sure she did her buckles the right way. And when Roy looked back at a stop light, he saw both boys were holding Annelise's hands and asking her questions about her day. In the mirror, he saw Annelise had a wide smile on her face.
"What do you guys want for a snack today?" Roy asked, trying to help the one sided conversations the boys were having, switching his turn signal on as he waited for the light to change.
"Oh, we could have the little cereal bars we got yesterday!" Roman said excitedly, Lucas nodding in agreement, their golden brown eyes wide with excitement, before turning to Annelise. "What do you think, Annelise?"
Annelise just nodded, "Ok." She replied softly.
Roy could only beam, he was so proud of his sons and how they were always so welcoming to Annelise - even when she was so apprehensive to them.
When they got home, the boys ran into the house as usual - throwing their shoes down by the door and dropping their backpacks on the bench before unzipping them and pulling their homework folder out. They rattled on to each other about whatever assignment their teacher had given them before sprinting off to the dining room. Annelise trailed behind with Roy - skipping slightly into the house. She sat her backpack and lunch box down on the bench, and then sat down on the floor and began to undo her velcro Mary Jane shoes. Roy just smiled down at her, "If you have any homework, bring it to the dining room and we will set at the table and do it together, ok?" Roy said as he placed his messenger bag on the bench, sliding his shoes off as well.
Annelise nodded as she stood up, grabbing what she needed out of her backpack before skipping off to the dining room.
Roy smiled, happy that Annelise seemed to blend in nicely to the after school routine. She was noticeably quiet, as she always seemed to be without Al or Ed, but she wasn't upset - just quiet. Roy wondered what she was like before her Mother had passed away, he imagined it had to be hard to loose her Mother at such a young age, and in a way he was glad his boys didn't remember the pain of losing their Mother. While it hurt that they were growing up without her and that they had no memories of her, he felt in a way - the pain was different.
"Dad, can we have our snack now?" Lucas called from the dining room, bringing Roy out of his thoughts.
Roy chuckled, "Yes, son." He answered as he walked into the kitchen, "You guys want the cereal bars, right?"
"Yeah!" Roman said, and Roy could hear the sound of pencils rolling around the table.
"You guys better not be making a mess." Roy said in a warning tone, grabbing the box of cereal bars from the cabinet and beginning to open them. He grabbed three before heading back to the dining room, where a homework explosion between Lucas and Roman had happened. Their planners were open in front of them, water bottles next to them and pencils littered the table and both boys were reading a packet. "Let me see one of your planners, please." Roy asked, wanting to know what they needed to work on tonight, Roman nodded and handed his over.
"My pencil box spilled open, Roman was going to help me clean it up after he read the directions." Lucas said quickly, trying to defend the mess in front of him and his brother.
Roy just shook his head, "Why don't you clean it up now, I promise we won't start working without you." He said as he read over the assignments, before setting the planner back in front of Roman. He sat two cereal bars in front the boys, "I'm going to see what Annelise needs to do while Lucas cleans up his mess." He said, before turning to the other side of the table. Annelise was sitting quietly, her take home folder and a small book sat in front of her,
Roy slid into the chair next to her, placing a cereal bar next to the book, "Alright, let's see what you've got to work on." He said, pushing the folder towards himself. There were reminder slips, the school lunch menu, and other little papers that he would make sure Edward took a look at. When he found the homework calendar, he saw that Annelise only had to do twenty minutes of reading. "Looks like you just have to do some reading, do you have a book in your bag or do you want to read one of the books we have upstairs?" Roy asked.
Annelise just shook her head, pointing to the book in front of her. "Is that the one you want to read?" Roy asked, and Annelise nodded, "Do you want to read it to me, or read it to yourself?"
"Read to myself." Annelise said softly, sinking slightly in her chair as she grabbed her book and began opening it up.
"Alright, if you need help or anything just let me know." Roy said, trying to put as much emphasizes on the fact that Annelise could ask for help. "I'm going to help the boys with their homework."
Annelise nodded, and darted her eyes back to her book and began to silently read to herself.
Roy chuckled slightly as turned back to Lucas and Roman's side of the table, with her nose stuck in a book Annelise looked just like Edward.
Two and a half hours later, the kids were in the living room watching some afternoon cartoons - homework already done. The windows were open, letting the cool mid-October air flow through the house. Roy was in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher and listening to the sound of the kids laughing in the living room at whatever they were watching and the quiet noise of the leaves ruffling in the early fall breeze. It was then he felt his phone vibrate, pulling it out of his pocket he saw it was Ed calling. He smiled as he hit answer, "Hey Ed," Roy said, balancing the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he placed the last dish in and closed the dishwasher.
"Hey, how's the kid?" Edward immediately asked, he sounded far away, like he was on speaker phone. Roy just chuckled, "She's fine, she's in the living room with the boys and they are watching some TV." Roy replied, "How'd the interview go?"
"G-Good," Ed stammered, "I got the job."
"That's wonderful!" Roy said, leaning back against the counter. "Congratulations."
Edward chuckled slightly, "Thanks, I'm shocked they hired me. I mean I don't have a PhD or anything so-"
Roy shook his head, ready to shut down any negative thoughts Edward had of himself, "No, they hired you because you are smart and have a brilliant mind." Roy said, "Plus, you have all you research ready to submit your thesis for your PhD, and your study is brilliant."
Edward was quiet for a moment, "Sure, if it helps you sleep at night we'll go with that." He said with a chuckled, "Anyhow, I'm on my way over now."
"Alright, I'll have Annelise get her things ready and we will see you in a little bit." Roy said, pausing for a moment as he watched the kids in the living room, "Drive safe, ok?"
"I always drive safe," Edward said with a smug tone, "see you soon." Edward replied, before hanging up.
The line went dead, and all Roy could do was smile as he set his phone back onto the counter. He let out a soft sigh of contentment before getting back to the real world. "Annelise," Roy called from the entry to the kitchen, he saw a little blonde head pop up and a soft 'what?' answered back. "Your Dad is on his way to come pick you up, why don't you start getting your things together?"
Annelise nodded, and Roy watched as she gathered her things from the dining room table and go put them in her backpack.
"Boys," Roy called, "I'm going to start on dinner, ok?"
"Okay, Dad!" Lucas called, brown eyes still glued to the tv. Beside him, Roman was zoned out and oblivious to the world. Roy just chuckled and shook his head, walking back into the kitchen to get a start on dinner. He was thinking pasta tonight….
Twenty minutes had passed, and Roy was deep in the process of making of making dinner when he heard the door bell ring. Annelise was standing next to him, having decided she wanted to help get things ready - her little blonde pigtails bouncing as she twirled around the kitchen.
"I'll get it!" Called Roman, jumping up from his spot on the couch and darting towards the door. As he opened the door, he saw Edward standing there, "Hi Mr. Elric!" Roman said, moving to the side slightly so Edward could come in, "Come on in - Annelise is in the kitchen with Dad."
"Hey Ed, I'm in the kitchen!" Roy called after hearing the door open, "Come in here, I want to hear how it went!"
"Daddy!" Annelise called softly when she saw her Father step into the living room. She ran over and hugged his leg, "I missed you!" She said, a wide toothy grin spreading across her lips.
"Hey kiddo, I missed you too." Edward said, pulling Annelise in for a hug and kissing the top of her head. "I'm going to talk to Mr. Roy for a few minutes, did you get all your things ready?"
Annelise nodded, pointing to the chair where her backpack and lunchbox were sitting neatly.
"Okay, well why don't you watch TV with Lucas and Roman then." Edward suggested, Annelise nodded and plopped herself back on the couch in between Lucas and Roman. Edward smiled as he watched her smoosh in between them, and the three of them together reminded Edward so much of him, Al, and Winry when they were young.
Walking into the kitchen he was greeted with the scent of pasta cooking, Roy was concentrating on cutting up some meat and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. "Hey," Edward said softly, leaning against the counter across from Roy, "Whatcha makin'?"
Looking up from the cutting board, Roy saw Edward - and good lord. The man knew how to dress up when he needed to, he wore tight black dress pants and a crisp white button up dress shirt adorned with a crimson red tie. His hair was tied up in a tidy bun, bangs framing his face and he had rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt to his elbows. The bandage was gone from his forehead, but you could still see a thin line of a scar forming. "Hey yourself," Roy said, setting down the knife, and wiping his hands off on a towel, "you cleaned up nice."
Edward blushed slightly, eyes darting to the floor, "T-Thanks, can't go to an interview looking like a bum."
"I'm making some penne pasta with a meat sauce." Roy answered, "Just have to cook the meat and it'll be ready."
"Smells good." Edward said, "As soon as we get home I'm making dinner, I'm starving," He said, "I was so nervous about that damn interview I couldn't eat today."
Roy had about a dozen thoughts running through his head, he wanted to ask more about the interview but one question flew off his lips, "How about you and Annelise stay for dinner then, I've made plenty." Roy offered, sending Edward a warm smile.
"A-Are you sure?" Edward asked, "I don't want to impose on you."
"Nonsense, I always make extra so we can have left overs." Roy answered, "It'll be ready in fifteen minutes, and you're hungry."
"Well, let me call Al then to let him know to just get something out on his way home." Edward said, pulling out his phone, "And if their's anything I can do to help, let me know."
Roy just nodded in reply, before returning to cutting up the meat. Edward took that as a sign he could make his phone call, and so he walked out into the dining room - wandering towards the large window that faced Roy's backyard. He had a wooden play-set outside with a swing set, and it reminded him of his home back in Resembol - he had grown up with a very similar play-set. Quickly dialing Al's number, Edward didn't have to wait long to hear Al's voice.
'What's up, Ed?' Al asked, and Ed could tell he was already starting to drive home.
"Hey, uh, Annie and I won't be home for dinner." Edward said nervously, beginning to play with a piece of his bangs. "So like, get something on your way home I guess."
'Are you guys eating out or something?' Al asked, sounding a little confused. 'And you never let me know how the interview went!'
"Oh sorry, it went well I got hired." Edward said quickly, trying to move past that, "But no, actually, when I came here to pick Annelise up Roy invited us to stay for dinner."
'What! You didn't tell me!' Al screeched.
"Sorry, got so busy with the paper work and Izumi kept asking me questions about my research." Edward said, "I can tell you more about it when I get home, but just wanted to let you know that we're eating here so we probably won't be home for a little while."
'Roy clearly knows the way to your heart, food.' Al said with a chuckle, and Ed could imagine the smirk on his face.
"I mean, it is pasta - how can I refuse?" Edward said with a nervous chuckle, "I hope you don't mind…"
'It's fine, brother.' Al quickly replied, 'Enjoy.'
With that, the call ended and Edward was left realizing that he was eating dinner with Roy at his house. Food that Roy had cooked, and he was inviting Ed and Annelise to stay and eat with him after he had worked all day, and then watched Annelise for him.
"Daddy, daaaaddyyy.."
Looking down, Edward saw his daughter looking at him with a confused gaze. He smiled at her, running a hand through her soft blonde locks, "We are going to stay here for dinner, is that alright?" He asked her, putting his phone in his back pocket. "Mr. Roy is making pasta."
Annelise nodded, a smile on her face and she wrapped her arms around Ed and buried her face in- and Edward wondered about the silence that seemed to surround her. He was going to have to talk to Al about it, and then probably reach out to her teacher - someone he hadn't even met or talked to. "Alright, well I think Mr. Roy is almost done with dinner so why don't you go play until we call you." Edward said, giving her a soft kiss on the head before watching her prance back into the living room.
"Hey, Ed?" Roy called from the kitchen, "Wanna give me a hand?"
"Oh, y-yeah." Edward replied, quickly walking back into the kitchen. Roy was standing in front of the stove still, turning all the burners off. When he noticed Ed, he stepped back and sent him a smile, "Wanted you to help me set the table if that was alright?" He said.
At dinner, Edward and Roy found themselves sitting next to each other - Roy at the head of the table while Edward was to his right and Lucas to his left. Roman sat next to Lucas, while Annelise sat next to her Father. They were rambling on about some science, while Lucas and Roman excitedly ranted on to Annelise about some stories from school. Annelise, who was much more talkative with Edward there, excitedly asked questions about their friends and such.
They ate in silence for a little while, mainly talking with the kids. Edward learned a lot about Lucas and Roman, who looked like mini Roy's with their black hair and fair skin. The boys played soccer, were really into power rangers, they loved history but weren't big fans of writing or math. The kids ate quickly, and asked to be excused before Ed and Roy had finished. They went off to play in the living room, and Ed could hear the three digging through a box of legos.
"So, are you excited about the job?" Roy asked Edward, who merely nodded since his mouth was full of food, "You never told me where you applied to, you know." He added, even though Al had slipped up and told Roy when he stopped by at lunch.
Edward chuckled at that, "Oh, sorry I was so nervous I legit thought I was going to pass out." He said, "It's at Central University, I'll be a Physics professor but also work in the labs and of course, submit my PhD." Edward explained, "My classes would probably only be a morning and afternoon class, well, maybe two morning classes, and then work in the labs for an hour two, I don't want to commit to too much with Annelise being so young."
Roy nodded in agreement, "That sounds wonderful, Ed." He replied, "I'm very happy for you."
Edward smiled shyly, taking another bite of the pasta Roy had made. "This is really good," He said, "Thanks for letting us stay for dinner."
"It's my pleasure," Roy said, a smile on his lips and his eyes held that look in them - the look he'd seen his Mother give their Father. The look in Roy's eyes made Edward feel warm all over, and he could feel the spark that was there between them. Ed was tempted to grab his hand, or run his hand gently on Roy's cheek - but that would be wrong, Winry hadn't been gone long enough for him to date yet - or even think about dating, right?
It had only been six months, after all.
Six months, twenty-six weeks, one hundred and eighty two days, four thousand three hundred and eighty hours, and oh god -
"Hey." Roy's voice, soft and warm, and he could feel a hand on top of his, "You have that look, come back." But, Edward could feel the rocks crushing his lungs, he didn't want this, why did everything always have to be so hard. Why did it always have to come when he felt like he had finally come out of the darkness?
But how had six months passed by, without him even noticing?
"Take a breath, it's alright."
He was trying to, but it felt like a whole avalanche of rocks had fallen on him and he couldn't breath.
He could feel soft fingers rubbing the top of his hand, another hand placed on his shoulder squeezed slightly - anchoring him back down to reality. "Just breath, you'll get through this." Edward took a deep breath, pushing against the rocks and it burned - taking a deep gulp of air, and he almost choked, it felt like he had been underwater for too long.
Ed blinked slightly, vision blurry, but he could see Roy in front of him - dinner seemed to be long forgotten. He looked worried, and quickly handed him a glass of water. Edward was quiet as he took several slow sips of water, the whole time Roy's hand never leaving Edwards - giving him reassuring squeezes every so often.
"Better?" Roy asked softly, thumb softly stoking Ed's hand.
"Y-Yeah, sorry." Edward stammered out, feeling rather embarrassed - it had been awhile since the pure panic had struck him. The nightmares has subsided, and he thought he was starting to get to the other side of the tidal wave of pain. "That, that hasn't happened in weeks." He could feel his body shaking still, and he was just so tired of this.
"Hey," Roy said softly, and Ed could hear the kids laughing in the living room, "It's okay, stress can make it come back." Roy sent him a warm encouraging smile, "You're probably tired, a lot happened today, it can be mentally exhausting to go back to normal."
Edward found himself just nodding, and he felt tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. He was tired of this, "I just want it all to be over." Edward said, in such a broken tone - one Roy hadn't heard before, throwing his head in his hands. "I should be happy right now, but I am just so tired."
Suddenly, Edward found himself enveloped in warmth as Roy pulled him into a tight hug. Arms wrapped tight around his shoulders, Edward was surrounded by the scent of sandalwood and mahogany. He was warm, and for a split second Ed stiffened - just due to the surprise, before he leaned in slightly. It was comforting, Roy was warm, and Ed found himself almost too content in the embrace.
"I know, you are so tired of this and it feels like it is never going to end." Roy murmured into Edward's neck, "But, you'll get through it and maybe.." He paused for a moment, and Edward could feel the soft tuffs of Roy's breath against his neck, "maybe, I could help you - I could shoulder some of the pain."
Edward felt frozen for a moment, trying to decipher Roy's cryptic words but he knew what Roy was implying. He was quiet, thinking over what to say. "It's a lot to shoulder, y'know." Edward murmured into Roy's collarbone, "There's more than what I've shared, a lot more."
The children are talking loudly in the living room, and Edward can hear Annelise squeal but a string of giggles escape her.
"And their's more to my pain than I've shared with you." Roy replied, and he can feel Roy cording fingers through the stray hairs that had left his bun, "But you don't have to share it for me to help you carry it."
Edward pulled back slightly, wanting to look at Roy. Their eyes locked in that moment, and Edward found himself lost in the deep blue of Roy's eyes. Leaning closer, Edward could feel the warmth of Roy's breath on his cheek, and they were so close, noses almost brushing against each other. Edward gently grabbed the back of Roy's neck, and softly pulled him closer - their lips colliding in a soft kiss.