Ed got up with baby Izumi the next morning. He hadn't been anxious to stay the night in East City, and Annaliese had been willing to catch the late train back to Risembool. They'd gotten in only a couple hours before, so Ed had never really fallen into a deep sleep. He saw no reason to wake Winry when he was more than capable of taking care of the baby.
He was trying to see if Izumi would go back to sleep when he heard a crash downstairs. Baby on his hip, he went to see what was going on. In the washroom he found Annaliese pumping water into the washbasin. The sound must have been her getting it down from the shelf. She faced him, looking rather embarrassed. "I didn't mean to wake you up," she said.
"You didn't," he assured her. "What are you washing?"
"Just . . . my sheets," she said, looking away from him. "I, uh, I kind of wet the bed."
"Oh," said Ed. His first thought was that she was a little old to still be doing that. But then, she had been asleep when they'd gotten in and he'd laid her on the patient's cot - she hadn't really had a chance to use the bathroom.
"I'll clean everything up myself," Annaliese said quickly. "You don't have to worry about it. I do it all the time at home."
"Actually . . ." Ed crossed the room and turned the water off. "I'll show you a faster way. Hang on." He rummaged one-handedly through the cupboards until he found some chalk, then sat down on the floor next to Annaliese. She was looking at him curiously.
"It's alchemy," he explained to her. "The transmutation to get urine out of fabric is pretty simple. It won't take long for you to get the hang of it."
"You're an alchemist?"
"More or less. Here, take Izumi for a second."
She looked apprehensive, but Ed sat her sister on her lap before she could say anything about it. "Here's the symbol for water," he explained, drawing on the floor. He finished showing her all the symbols and how they went together before Izumi found time to get uncomfortable and start fussing.
"You think you got it?" he asked Annaliese as he took Izumi back and started bouncing her.
"I think so," she said.
"Only one way to know for sure - go try it out."
She was surprised when it worked on her first try. "That was a piece of cake! Why aren't more people alchemists, if it's so easy?" she asked him.
Ed chuckled. "Well, it does get a lot more complicated than that. Not to mention how many symbols you have to learn, and all the variations on them. It's like learning another language."
"You geek," Winry said from the doorway. "You haven't even known her twenty-four hours yet and you're already talking her ear off about alchemy."
Ed rolled his eyes. "Good morning to you too."
"I wasn't expecting you to be home so soon," she said.
"Nothing keeping us in East City, was there, Annaliese?"
"Not really," Annaliese said.
"Well, it's good to meet you, Annaliese. My name's Winry. I guess I'm your stepmother."
"Hi, Winry."
"Have you eaten breakfast yet, or has Ed already taught you to value alchemy over food?"
"I asked him to teach me, actually," Annaliese said coolly. "I would like something to eat, though."
Soon the smell of flapjacks and eggs roused the rest of the family. Henry and Ellen thundered downstairs and into their father's arms. "Daddy! You're home!"
"Ohh, I missed you gremlins." Ed hugged them tight. "Guess what?" he asked them as he turned them toward where Anneliese was sitting at the kitchen table. "I brought your sister Anneliese home."
"You have short hair like mine," Ellen said as Ed put her and her brother down.
"Yeah, I guess I do," said Anneliese.
"You gotta be on our team for football," said Henry. "You know how to play, right?"
"Of course."
"Good," said Ellen, "because Katie's the only other big kid who plays with us, so the teams are unfair all the time."
"One time we got Tony to play," Henry said, "but he works a lot."
"He's saving for that big model train set at the store."
Ed remembered how Anneliese had been taking odd jobs to support herself, not save for a fancy toy. He decided to change the subject. "I'm sure Anneliese will meet the other kids later. Now do you want strawberries or bananas on your pancakes?"
Anneliese had seen families with a lot of kids before. They'd seemed messy and the parents always looked tired. She didn't know how they all fit in one apartment. But it must be different here in the country. Ed and Winry's house was more than big enough for them, their children, and their grandmother. (Meeting Granny Pinako had been weird. She rarely got close enough to an old person that she could count their wrinkles.) Ed had to be tired from their late night, but he didn't show it. Henry, Ellen, and the babies were as clean as little kids could be, though as Henry and Ellen led her to an empty field, she was sure the three of them would return dirtier than they had left.
"Morning, Henry, Ellen," a farmer called out to them. "Who's that you got with you?"
"This is our new sister Anneliese," Henry told him.
"Another new sister, huh? She sure looks a lot bigger than the last one! But where are my manners? I'm Owen Nedbecker." He stuck his hand over the fence for Anneliese to take.
His hands were dirty, so Anneliese shook gingerly. "Nice to meet you," she said.
"Same to you, young lady. Where are you from?"
"East City." Anneliese would have left it at that, but she could tell he wanted to ask her more questions. (Maybe asking a lot of questions was a country thing, too.) She added, "My mom got sick, so I'm staying with the Elrics until she gets better."
"And Henry and Ellen are your brother and sister?"
Okay, so he wanted to know exactly how she was related to them. "Edward Elric is my father," she said.
"Really? And how old are you?"
Was she going to be interrogated by every grown up she met from this town? "Ten."
". . . Huh. Well, how do you like Risembool so far?"
"I dunno. I haven't really seen it yet. I got here late last night."
"You haven't seen it yet? Henry, Ellen, that means you gotta show her a good time, all right?"
"We're gonna go play football with Jenny and Lina and Max and David and Kate -"
Mr. Nedbecker cut Ellen off. "That sounds great. Have fun, kids!"
Country people were weird.
Winry hung up the phone with a bemused smile. "That was Mrs. Renner," she told Ed. "She wanted to congratulate us on the new addition to the family."
"Funny," said Ed. "I thought Mrs. Albright would call first."
"I think she's busy with her daughter's wedding," said Winry. "But she'll probably call anyway."
"I knew the neighbors would talk when I brought Anneliese home," said Ed. "But that's okay. She was born before you and I got married, so they can't say I was cheating on you. I just hope they don't . . ."
". . . realize the patient we handed off to Pitt is Anneliese's mother?" Winry finished.
"You know people would try to get her side of the story. Best case scenario, you'll look like the wife who threw a sick woman out of her house because she was jealous. Worst case . . ."
Winry could imagine how ugly Nora could make it. "Pitt knows to be discreet," she said. "I didn't give him all the details, but he understands not being able to treat a patient due to ethical concerns. He'll keep her well rested until she's ready to make the trip to Rush Valley."
"But Anneliese doesn't know her mother's here in Risembool. She'd be so upset if she knew we were keeping them apart."
"Ed . . ." Winry sighed. "Look. I didn't say anything before, because I knew you wouldn't see it this way, but Anneliese . . . you didn't have a choice about bringing her into the world. Nora's the one who has any real responsibility toward her. Not you."
"But she's not a good mother, Winry. She left her child alone for two months without making any arrangements to take care of her. Even if she was sick, she could've done something once she was well enough to make a phone call."
"Exactly. She's not a good mother, which is why you shouldn't feel guilty about keeping them apart. We don't have to say anything to Anneliese. She's gone this long without seeing her mother. She can wait a little longer. We can give her the home she needs."
Ed bit his lip. "I still don't feel right about this."
"Nothing's going to feel right, Ed. This situation is a complete mess."