Edited: April 21, 2018
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Chapter 8: الآب (Arabic: alab)
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Roy glared at the stack of papers in front of him. The damn paperwork followed him everywhere.
The day had started out great for him: the sky was clear and he could almost hear the metaphorical birds singing on the windowsill. He also had a beautiful woman sleeping beside him, flaxen hair spread out across the pillows in an ethereal halo.
Riza had gotten up a couple of times in the early morning to rush to the toilet and proceed to empty her stomach. The stew from last night must not have agreed with her even though she appeared to have enjoyed it as much as the rest of the family did.
That must have tired her out because she was not one to oversleep. And Roy could count with one hand the instances where he woke up earlier than the perfectly disciplined Hawkeye. So he let her sleep while he got ready for the day.
He had hoped to just relax and maybe sign a few budget proposals here and there. But Falman had entered his home office and was more than happy to ruin his day with folders upon folders of files he needed to look over and review and the draft for his speech at the upcoming political convention next month.
That was more than an hour ago and he had yet to make a dent at the towering stack.
The door clicked open and he quickly took the opportunity to slack off some more, dropping his pen and pushing away from the table. The door swung, revealing a freshly-bathed Riza carrying a tray of some food and two steaming cups. She looked so domesticated in a simple white sundress and with her hair down. Even her aura seemed different from the gun-wielding captain in their world.
"I brought you coffee and some biscuits," she announced. Even her voice lost some of the edge that always made lesser men shake and cower. "And I brought tea for myself, if you don't mind my company?" her steps faltered as if she was hesitating.
Roy hid his smile against his entwined hands. "No, not at all." He gestured for her to enter and sit on the sofa facing his desk. "I'm actually just about to take a break."
A blonde eyebrow rose as her eyes swept over his messy desk, and Roy just knew that she was wondering if he hadn't been taking a break all this time. She placed the tray on the coffee table near the sofa and carefully deposited its contents onto the flat surface of the wood.
He kept his dark eyes on her as she braced herself on one of the armrests before lowering herself to sit with a shuddering sigh. Her leg cast had been removed a few days ago and while walking didn't bother her much, standing or sitting were always a challenge.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, noticing the slight shaking of her hands as she took her cup of tea and took a sip from it.
She smiled to reassure him. "This is nothing I cannot handle." She sighed and relaxed into the softness of the sofa, a small smirk forming on her lips. "It seems like Falman has taken over my job bringing you your paperwork, General." She was changing the topic to keep him from worrying about her.
And it was working.
"Ugh," he groaned, depressed at being reminded. "Seems like paperwork and I are destined to be together forever."
They shared a laugh and both secretly worried how everyone was back home. There was little doubt that the office would be chaotic by now. Sometimes he wondered if Riza was thinking of ways to go back, or if they still could. She had adapted so well that she might as well be originally from here.
They knew it was alchemy that brought them in this world and, with Equivalent Exchange, he is assuming that they could go back through alchemy as well. And, being Berthold Hawkeye's daughter, he also knew that Riza had extensive knowledge of the science even if she didn't practice it.
Could she be researching on her own on ways to go back home? He knew he had to talk to her about it sometime soon since all he's finding are dead ends.
"Erm… what's that?" Riza pointed to the piece of paper Roy was perusing when she came in.
The man stood with the document in his hands and walked over to the sofa. He passed it to her and sat beside her. He watched as various expressions appeared on her face at certain parts of the speech and he half expected her to stop and giver her opinion midway, but she just kept on reading quickly.
He took the cup of coffee and looked over at the plate of cookies. 'Hmm… Chocolate chip,' he thought. 'My favourite.' He knew she baked them. These were the cookies she often baked for him during the winter nights at the Hawkeye manor after all.
"This is actually good, Roy," she complimented when she finished, giving back the paper. "Who wrote it?"
"If I told you I wrote it, would you believe me?" he said in between mouthfuls of cookies, causing her to grimace. He didn't even think about swallowing his food first.
"No," she replied in a flat voice and Roy's ego very visibly deflated at her bluntness as he sagged against the couch. She had to hide her laugh with a cough. "You were never this articulate, Roy."
He huffed in mock annoyance and slightly turned away from her. He heard a chuckle escape from her and he watched her from the corner of his eyes. She was nibbling on a cookie in between small gulps of tea.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, facing her again.
She tucked her hair behind an ear and put her half-eaten cookie on the plate. "Tired," she answered honestly. "And it would definitely help if I could keep my food down for more than a few hours."
Roy frowned in concern. "Have you eaten anything at all today?" He glanced at her cookie.
"Just this cookie here."
It was a little past noon already. And she had only had half a cookie to eat?
He abruptly stood up and he could feel her curious eyes on him. "C'mon."
"Where?" she questioned, but moved to stand up nonetheless.
"It's lunch time. And I have to feed you and Baby Mustang," he declared, wrapping an arm around her shoulders when she wobbled.
Her eyes widened at his mention of the baby and he could see the faint reddening of her ears. "Erm… But it's Baby Mustang's fault that I keep throwing up, so…"
"So, I'll have to feed you more."
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It was almost 3pm when a knock interrupted them and Roy was in the middle of practicing the speech for the sixth time. Both of them turned to see one of the househelps carrying Alphonse and with a frowning Edward clutching her skirt. Roy immediately went to Riza's side to help her stand.
"What happened, Amelia?" the blond woman asked worriedly.
Amelia walked over to the parents and Alphonse immediately reached out for Roy. "Miss Riza, the children were running home from school while chasing Black Hayate and Little Ed tripped and fell."
Edward hid further behind Amelia but his grumble was clearly heard, "I am not little!"
Riza ignored Edward's indignant comment before reaching behind the younger girl to pluck the child away. She gathered him in her arms and closely inspected his knees. "Does it hurt?" she asked. It should. His right knee had quite a large scratch. It was superficial, but it covered a large area. An ugly bruise was also starting to form around the wound.
Edward obviously tried to hide a sniffle but shook his head. "No, Mama. It's nothing. I am a big boy."
Somewhere in the background, Roy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Let's see if it really doesn't hurt."
He stepped towards the two blondes and extended a hand to Edward's knee. He gently poked just a few inches from the actual injury and wasn't really surprised when the four-year-old and buried his face in his mother's neck.
"See? It does hurt!" Roy announced triumphantly but immediately deflated when he saw Riza's evil eye directed towards him. "What? I just wanted to know if he really was fine."
"You're acting like an overgrown child, Roy."
Surely, she won't be court-martialed for insulting Roy here?
"Wha…" Roy looked like a fish out of water.
"Amelia," Riza faced the younger woman who watched the family with amusement. "Help me with Edward and Alphonse's baths." The girl responded with a 'Yes, Miss Riza' before taking Alphonse from a sulking Roy. "And, Roy, make sure you finish your paperwork soon so you can join us for tea. Maes and the men will be joining us for supper later and will be collecting those papers." Then she smirked at his distressed face. "So, really, you don't have any choice but to finish them now."
Riza turned and strode out the room, hearing Roy mutter, "You have got to be fucking kidding me."
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"Mama, do you like birds?" Edward asked out of the blue as she gently pulled his freshly washed hair into a neat braid.
She raised an eyebrow. What a random question. "Hmm? Why do you ask?"
Seated in a nearby chair, being powdered all over by Amelia, Alphonse gasped, "Brother, no!"
In response, Edward stiffened and she could almost see the gears turning in his brilliant mind. "Um.. Err… I saw a pretty bird earlier and I wanted to show you but it flew away and became a cloud!"
She smiled at the obvious lie and decided to go along with it. She just hoped that whatever the boys are hiding from her won't end up with her tending to any more scrapes than she already had.
"Yes, Edward. I like birds."
Encouraged by their mother answering, Alphonse was quick to follow up. "What color do you like?"
Hmm. They're definitely planning something.
She took a hair tie and finished braiding Edward's hair before turning to the younger child. "When I was a child, my favourite color was yellow. Then it became blue, but now my favourite color is black." Not really a favourite, just a preference. Almost all her belongings are black, with the exception of her military blues. They're just easier to clean that way.
"But, Mama! Black is not a color!"
"It's a sad color, Mama! Change it again!"
Both kids protested strongly, with Edward stomping his feet and Alphonse wiggling in his chair that Amelia had to pluck the child from his seat and onto the ground. The younger brother ran to his mother and tugged at her dress.
Riza directed her gaze to him. "Yes, love?"
"Will you please change your favourite color to yellow again?" Alphonse requested, and Riza swore he purposefully made his eyes wider and rounder for added effect. He even had a cute little blush on. "Because it's the same color as your hair and I like your hair because it's shiny and sparky and long like the girl from the story you always read for us during bedtime."
"Oh, Rapunzel?" She remembered the book Roy had pulled from the children's bookshelf the other week and has since been their go-to story of the family if they're having a particularly difficult time tucking the boys in.
Both boys nodded enthusiastically. And even though she was getting increasingly confused at the random questions the boys threw at her, they were having fun. And she wasn't about to be the spoilsport.
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A/n: Phew. I'll upload a new chapter within the next week. That is a promise, youknowbecauseRizahasaguntomyhead.