October 6th, 1954
Sara couldn't decide if she was pleased or irritated by the fact that her child had decided that her actual due date was a great day to come into the world. It was convenient that she wasn't missing work, but annoying that she had lost an entire Saturday to contractions that insisted on being almost entirely in her lower back making it uncomfortable to sit or lie down. So she spent the morning and half of the afternoon pacing the apartment, stopping every few minutes to wait for a contraction to run its course.
She was once more grateful for Franz' attentiveness and caring and his apparent need to spoil her since she never let anyone else do it. He had been quietly supportive and surprisingly calm all day. He pressed her back to ease the tension during contractions, and rubbed her shoulders between. He made food and got her drinks of water, and didn't complain when she was no longer hungry or got so focused she forgot he was there at one point for a couple of minutes. He smiled when she got snippy, and stayed out of the way when she tried to keep distracted by reading, which lasted only minutes at a time.
When her water broke in the early evening Franz called the hospital. "Doc Gray said she'd be over soon," he assured her when he got off the phone. "How are you doing?"
She was finally at a point where she felt like she could sit. Sara shrugged. "Uncomfortable, but not too bad really." She had honestly expected even back labor to be worse. It felt sort of like someone had put a vise around the base of her spine and would squeeze it very slightly every few minutes. It was pressure more than pain, though it got a little more intense with every few contractions that passed. They were about five minutes apart now and she only hoped it wouldn't be more than another few hours.
"Can I get you anything?" Franz asked, rubbing her back almost automatically at this point.
"How about several hours of reprieve so I can catch a nap?" Sara asked with a smirk then shook her head, leaning against him. "No, there's nothing at the moment. Thanks anyway."
Franz smiled behind his glasses. "Hey, you know it's no problem, Belle."
"Are you sure you're for real?" Sara asked with a tired smile. She had asked the question before. Sometimes she still wondered.
"I hope so, or I'm hallucinating myself," Franz chuckled. "You're incredible, you know that right?"
"I'm not exactly doing much," Sara countered. "I sit here and try not to tense up while my body does what it does." It was a weird sensation to feel and watch her belly harden and then relax again, though it was pretty interesting from a scientific standpoint.
"You make it sound like nothing," Franz kissed her cheek. "In a few hours we'll be holding a baby; our baby."
"You're going to be as bad as Maes is about our child aren't you?" Sara realized rather belatedly.
"Worse," Franz grinned broadly. "I have no doubt our child, boy or girl, will be cuter."
"How do you figure that?" Sara asked. Even she thought baby Roy was an adorable boy.
Franz shrugged. "Because with you as the mother he or she can't be anything else."
Edward tried to focus on the book he held as he lay on the bed reading, but he couldn't seem to make himself focus on the words, and he knew it wasn't his vision, much as he disliked having to use reading glasses for small fonts. If he held the book up above his head he usually didn't need them. But that wasn't the problem. He gave up, put a bookmark back in the book and laid it down on the bedside table. Then he curled up on his side facing away from the door.
Why couldn't he forget about it? He had his answer, which should be good enough. He had learned his lesson and he would be an idiot to push himself any harder. They had proven what happened if he did. His heart couldn't take too much of that. So why couldn't he be happy and stop trying to think of ways to cheat that answer? Damn it. He didn't want to question anymore! It was just too ingrained in him now even though it was that drive that always got him in trouble.
"Ed, are you going to get ready?" Winry asked from the doorway.
Ready? Oh, right…ballroom. "I'm not sure I want to go tonight, Winry."
A moment of silence either meant Winry was disappointed or pissed off. "It's the last night, Ed," she replied calmly. "It's the dinner. Do you really want to miss out now?"
Edward had agreed months ago to Winry's suggestion that – since they actually did enjoy dancing together – they should take some actual lessons. He had been a little reluctant, but Winry had been excited and he had figured it would be worth it to make her happy. He actually enjoyed it most of the time, but the last couple of weeks he just couldn't seem to stir up enthusiasm for much of anything. "I'm not really in a dancing mood," he sighed. Tonight was the culmination event: dinner and dancing with a little friendly competition between all the different couples that had taken lessons at the school in the past few months.
He heard her feet on the floor – heels, she must already be dressed. Normal dinner time – at least what she'd whipped up for Ethan - had been over almost an hour ago so he supposed that made sense. "Turn around, Edward."
He obliged and rolled over… stopping dead about half way through and sitting bolt upright.
Red dress ….. That was the first thing that registered coherently in his mind. Winry was wearing the red dress he had bought her for dancing several months back, but had not yet let him see her in it until tonight. It … fit. The old adage about gloves took on whole new meaning as he took in how it clung to her in the right places, and flared at the hips, the way it accented the curve of her breasts and simply enhanced everything that was Winry.
Her hair was up and back, her blue eyes smiling. She wore red strappy heels meant for dancing and he had the sense she was wearing a make-up…but it was so well shaded that she simply looked enhanced. It wouldn't be much, she hated to wear anything heavy on her face. If she had ever been heavier, he couldn't have told from looking at her.
Ed couldn't help whistling. "You look fantastic!"
Winry bent down so her chest was level with his eyes, then lowered just a little more to give him a smoldering look that she only gave him on purpose, when she wanted to drive him absolutely crazy. "Are you telling me there is anything you would rather do than spend the evening with your arms around me?"
"I can do that here," Ed replied with a weak smile.
Winry leaned in and kissed him. "I can't dance without my partner," she added softly and Ed understood that she meant more than simply in the dancing sense.
Ed returned the kiss, warming to it easily. She was impossible to resist… and why would he really want to? "No you certainly can't," he chuckled. "I would have to kill anyone else who tried."
"Good," Winry chuckled stepping back. "Then you had better get dressed." She turned and pulled his tux out of the closet, grabbing the red tie instead of the black. "We'll match," she teased as she held it all up and out for him to take.
He knew what she was doing and he appreciated it. "Sure," Ed chuckled, standing up and taking the hanger than held the black and white outfit. "Let's go have a good time."
Sara had revised her opinion somewhat; labor really was work! It got more and more difficult to stay relaxed during contractions as they got closer together and the intensity increased. Doctor Gray's arrival – followed not long after by Ethan – was a relief.
"Well things seem to be moving along well enough on their own," Gray nodded after a quick examination. "Seven centimeters and counting. I'm a little concerned about the angle here," she pressed against Sara's belly gently with her hands. "Like we discussed before, the little one needs to turn a bit more."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Sara asked, trying to be patient, but it had already been nearly twelve hours since she had started having regular contractions and she would be very happy for this to be over with quickly! She knew the baby was turned a little sideways, but not in a way that should really be a problem.
"With a little external persuasion," Ethan commented with a chuckle.
"He's right," Gray nodded approvingly. "I'm sorry Sara, but this will be a bit uncomfortable."
Sara didn't ask what she meant, she merely did her best not to tense up and to keep her body relaxed as, over the next several minutes, Doctor Gray used external pressure at points to encourage the baby to shift positions so that he or she would be in the right angle to get into the birth canal. It was not pleasant, but she supposed there was no point to complaining. She just hoped that there were no more delaying factors.
Winry was definitely glad she had convinced Edward to come tonight. As she had mentioned to Elicia before, the only time he seemed truly happy lately was when they were doing something together; when he was entirely focused on her. It seemed like he forgot to think about other things at those times. Winry did not mind being a distraction from Ed's doubts and troubles. Lately very few things seemed to do that for him and she knew how Ed tended to obsess about things.
Ed didn't seem to be thinking about anything like that this evening. They chatted with some of the people they had met during the lessons before the friendly competition part of the evening. Then they danced; slow numbers, fast numbers, waltz, tango, swing, and half a dozen other dances. She had suggested the lessons partially as a way to distract Ed and give them time together in the first place, but really Winry had liked the idea because it was different from their usual routine, and because she had wished Ed would dance with her more!
He lost himself in dancing with her as easily as she had seen him fall into a fighting trance. He never missed a beat or a step; his moves were sure and confident. Put him in a tuxedo and well… he took her breath away!
They were not the best pair on the floor, and they did not go out expecting to win. This was for fun, and fun was what they had. When it was over, they stood on the floor, looking each other in the eyes, a little winded but happy.
That was something else Winry liked about dancing. It was an activity that Ed could do without over-straining himself even when he was putting his all into it. There was no fear in his eyes as he led her back to the table where they would be dining on what was actually a very nice meal. After all, the final banquet was being held in one of the nicer establishments in Central.
"I hope this tastes as good as it smells," Ed commented to her with a quiet chuckle as he pulled out her chair for her. "I'm famished."
Winry smiled and sat down. "Well they have never failed to please before."
"I don't think I've ever come in here starving before," Ed countered as he sat down beside her. He looked relaxed and surprisingly at ease.
Winry chuckled. Then it was a good thing they could afford it. One of the perks of having two well-paying professions, she and Ed could afford to eat out at someplace as upscale as this when they felt like it. Of course, that was something they only did on very special occasions.
Tonight, Winry thought, certainly counted as one if it meant they were both having a good time.
Pain. Pain was definitely not good. Pressure Sara could deal with; discomfort was an occurrence she rarely minded. Even some pain was acceptable; she had always had a rather high tolerance for it. But this…. This was a completely new sensation; a sudden sharp jabbing inside that made her cry out.
It had been a while since she remembered standing. Now Sara was on the floor, padded by a blanket and leaning back between Franz's knees, using his body as a back-rest. He was back against the couch and his arms cradled her. They had gotten the baby turned and she was supposedly progressing all right, but this was new, and it hurt worse than she thought it should!
"What's wrong, Belle?" Franz asked nervously, his head somewhere not far above her; she could feel his breath stir her hair.
All Sara could see was Ethan and Doctor Gray and the swell of her own belly. "Something hurts," she replied through a tight jaw, not trying to hold back the few tears that spilled from her eyes. "Inside."
Doctor Gray's concerned expression did not change as she merely nodded, looking displeased. "There's more bleeding than there ought to be," she informed them so calmly Sara almost wanted to hit her. She refrained. Besides, she could hardly move now if she wanted to!
"What does that mean?" Franz sounded mildly panicked.
"It could be a couple of things," the doctor replied. "Most likely we're looking at an early separation; the placenta tearing away from the wall a little before it's ready. Though there's no way to know for certain."
That didn't sound good. Sara guessed it probably wasn't from the momentary flicker of concern on Ethan's face. She knew her little brother too well to not catch his worry. "How bad is that?"
"Given that at worst that usually causes early labor, I think we're safely beyond that," Gray commented glibly. "However, the bleeding is some cause for concern, and we can't be sure that's the case."
Sara hoped it was, it sounded like it might be the least severe option! There was another jab of pain inside and she yelped. "Just tell me we're closer to pushing."
"Not yet," Gray shook her head. That was the frustrating part. Sara had been stuck at eight centimeters for hours. Her baby seemed disinclined to wedge its head where it needed to go; Sara had already assured Franz the big head must come from his family!
Sara felt momentarily dizzy and hot all at once as pain ripped through her with the next contraction. "Damn it!" she cried out, unable to stand it, the tears pouring from her eyes. She didn't care. She just wanted the pain to stop! It wasn't supposed to be there; the doctor had said as much.
"Can't you do something?" Franz asked with surprising forcefulness and anger in his tone. Sara had never heard Franz truly afraid before, or furious; at the moment he sounded both.
Ethan had been thrilled to be allowed to be part of his sister's delivery of her first baby. Doctor Gray had suggested it, and Sara and Franz had readily agreed. Now, though, he watched his sister – one of the strongest people he knew, and whom he had seen through plenty of life-threatening situations and on all sorts of missions – crying in agony and having what had already proven to be a more challenging delivery than Cassie's a few years back. That had seemed so easy and calm compared to this. So far there had already been turning the baby, and now its head seemed big enough to be causing problems, and with this…. This was serious.
He couldn't just sit by. As Franz glared at the doctor, Ethan didn't stop to think. He just moved. Sitting up and forward he pulled chalk from his pocket and sketched out a transmutation circle on Sara's night gown.
"What are you doing?" Doctor Gray asked, startled more than upset.
"Something I learned in Xing," Ethan replied, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Mei Xian had assured him that the technique could do no harm, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of messing up. "It should help whatever the problem is."
Franz looked like he was going to object, but Sara grimaced and nodded. "Go ahead, Ethan."
He had done alchemy on his sister before; surely he could do something to help her now! Ethan finished the circle, aware that everyone was watching him closely. He closed his eyes, laid his hands to the circle, and focused his mind and the direction of the alchemical energy based on his knowledge of anatomy as well as alchemy. He encouraged the body to heal whatever had happened that was causing his sister pain, and trusted the energy and the body to do the rest.
Ethan lost track of how long he focused on the transmutation. All he knew was that it was longer than anything he had tried before – even when Sara had been knocked unconscious in that building collapse – and when he opened his eyes he dropped back onto the hardwood of the floor with a light headed, dizzy sensation that told him he had pushed as far as he could. "How do you feel?" he asked, panting as if he had just raced his father on his best days.
Sara looked a little dazed and even more tired as well, but she nodded and looked relieved. "Like I did earlier," she replied. "It's not….as bad. No stabbing," she grimaced as another contraction tightened visibly, but she wasn't crying anymore.
"The bleeding has considerably lessened," Gray nodded, looking pleased and just as openly relieved. "Well done!" She had never seen him do anything other than very minor healing alchemy before. Ethan was glad that she was impressed.
Franz looked like he might faint if he weren't supporting Sara. "Thanks."
Ethan shrugged, trying to toss it off casually, though he was sure Sara could tell how much that had cost him better than the others. "No problem. That's what I'm here for right?"
October 7th, 1954
"I still can't believe they gave us second place," Edward chuckled as he held the front door, letting Winry go in first. "I mean, I know you were fabulous…"
"With you as my lead how could we have done anything less?" Winry teased him as he closed the door. She grabbed a hold of his lapels and pulled him close, kissing him warmly.
Ed felt the usual stirrings inside as he returned the kiss, embracing her. "They were dazzled by my partner," he insisted without pulling his lips away from hers. He was tired, but certainly not entirely spent. Winry seemed in a good mood. Maybe they should slip upstairs and….
"Hey," Winry pulled away suddenly and looked down.
Bounce was at their feet wagging her tail and whimpering incessantly in her Ineedtogooutnow dance.
Ed wondered if life would be simpler without the dog. He sighed. "Where's Ethan?" he asked, realizing that they were the only ones home. Otherwise Bounce would have been let out hours ago.
As they walked into the living room, Winry picked up a note from the table. Ed walked over to the back door and let the dog out, watching Bounce shoot out so quickly she flew off the deck without touching the stairs, and was soon happily relieving herself in the back corner. "He's at Sara's," Winry said as Ed closed the door. When he turned around she was smiling. "Looks like the baby's on the way."
"Right on schedule?" Ed chuckled. "That's a first for a kid in our family isn't it?"
"Ours all had your sense of timing," Winry smirked. "This note says he left hours ago. Do you want to call over there?"
"At midnight?" Not that Ed expected anyone to be asleep over there at midnight. Besides, if they were Ethan would have come home. "Sure. Why not?" He shrugged and went over to the phone. He was actually excited to know that the baby was coming, and wanted to know how Sara was faring. He just didn't want to call at an inconvenient moment either. The phone rang several times before anyone answered.
"Hello?" It sounded like Ethan.
"Hi," Ed replied. "It's Dad. We're home and we got your note. How are things over there?" Winry sidled up next to him as he spoke, getting close so she could hear as well.
"Slow," Ethan replied with a tired chuckle. "Kind of eventful, but everything's okay. If nothing else, we know the kid's as stubborn as Sara is."
There was something in Ethan's tone that made it clear a lot had happened in the last few hours, but Ed knew they would get the full story later. "So Sara's all right?"
"Yeah," Ethan said. "Hopefully it won't be more than another couple of hours. We're going on seventeen now all told."
"Seventeen hours?" Winry exclaimed softly.
"Like I said, kind of eventful," Ethan replied. "Look, I need to get back, but don't worry. Everything's all right. Don't expect me back before breakfast okay?"
"Just give us a call when it's over," Ed replied. "And I don't care what hour it is."
Ethan chuckled. "Sure thing, Dad. Talk to you later." The line went dead.
Ed hung up the phone. "Do you get the feeling we only know half the story?"
"I'm sure we'll find out all about it when it's over," Winry replied with a calm, knowing little smile. "Sara's fine, or Ethan would have said so straight out." She lay one hand on his arm. "Why don't we get back to where we were before we were interrupted and keep distracted till the baby gets here?"
Was she still offering? Apparently. As much as they had repaired their relationship, there were still hit-and-miss days when one or the other of them simply wasn't inclined to be physical. Usually that was Winry, but Ed didn't mind. He was more concerned with her well-being. His usual only limiting factor was tiredness. "That sounds like a great idea," he smiled. Tonight, he wasn't that tired!
After everything else that had happened in the past day, pushing seemed much less dramatic than Sara had anticipated. It didn't hurt nearly as much as she had expected either! Hugely uncomfortable and requiring enormous effort, but with the horrible pain gone from earlier, it almost seemed like nothing would ever be that difficult again… almost.
The soft high wail of a baby's cry was Sara's first clue that she had just finished delivering her baby. The second was the sight itself a minute later as Doctor Gray lay the crying pink child – cord cut and tied but little else – on Sara's chest. Sara put her hands up, tenderly wrapping them around the tiny crying being that filled her vision. Fresh tears fell in her eyes, but they were from sheer emotion; an overwhelming wash of love and protectiveness.
There was a soft thick fluff of dark hair on the baby's head, and behind her, Sara could feel Franz lose his breath for a moment.
Ethan was grinning as he draped a small baby blanket over her hands and the newborn, keeping it well away from the baby's face. He didn't speak though. He seemed to be waiting for Sara or Franz to be allowed the first words.
Sara felt the warm, damp skin between her hands. The hard thumping of the baby's heart in its chest, and little lungs working as it whimpered and cried. "It's all right," Sara smiled, speaking gently, surprised at her own depth of love she felt for the baby she had carried and fretted about for months. Then she knew she shouldn't be. Everyone was right; she could do this, and twenty hours of effort seemed a small price to pay for a new life that could be made no other way. "Mama's here. It's all okay."
"Beautiful," Franz choked, and Sara could hear the same emotions she felt thick in her husband's voice. "What… is it a girl or a boy?" he finally asked.
Sara almost laughed as she realized it hadn't mattered; she had almost forgotten to ask! The little life lying on top of her was precious no matter what it was.
Doctor Gray chuckled softly. "It's a girl. You have a lovely little daughter."
It was after lunch before Edward and Winry went over to the apartment to visit Franz, Sara, and their new baby girl. Ed was thrilled. Of course he loved all of his grandkids, but this was their first granddaughter, and it was Sara's first child; a special occasion all around.
Ethan had called a little after three o'clock in the morning after the baby had been born, and dragged back into the house at five. He hadn't emerged from his room again until Winry had lunch on the table, though he insisted on coming back with them to visit his sister. Doctor Gray had apparently stayed for several more hours just to make sure everything was all right. Ethan had filled them in on the full story over food.
Franz answered the door, looking bleary eyed and tired, but extremely happy. It was an expression Ed knew well! "You have good timing," he chuckled. "Sara's awake."
"The question is have you slept yet?" Ed chuckled as they went inside.
"I caught a nap," Franz shrugged, closing the door behind them. The living room showed few signs of the miracle that had happened in it just a few hours before. Ethan hadn't exaggerated about giving the place a thorough cleaning before coming home. Franz's grin broadened "But the Colonel and the Princess need me."
"So she's already taken over the place," Winry smiled.
"Of course," Franz said, leading them back into the bedroom. "She's ten hours old and she's already figured out how to tell us she's hungry, tired, uncomfortable, cold, warm, or needs her diaper changed."
Ed laughed. "It sounds like she's got you well trained." It reminded him of when Sara was a baby, though her first days had been very different.
"Me specifically," Franz agreed, opening the bedroom door. "Hey, Belle," he called inside softly. "Your folks are here."
"Well let them in!" Ed heard Sara's impatient reply.
The bedroom was lit only by the sunlight coming in the windows, and Sara was comfortably enthroned on the bed, curled up against a pile of pillows. Her long hair was pulled back in a loose tail that fell to one side and was damp but obviously clean. Ed realized he couldn't remember the last time he had seen his daughter with her hair in anything but the full braid she wore at Headquarters or up and twisted out of the way; never down.
His fire-starter, headstrong girl had changed. It was the same change he remembered in Winry when Sara had come into their lives, though it seemed more obvious to him now. She was still everything she had been, but now she was more; there was something different and special about mothers.
The tiny bundle cradled in Sara's arms, wrapped in a pale purple blanket, wriggled and a small gurgling squeak announced that their grand-daughter was also awake.
"You're staring, Dad," Sara laughed, breaking the moment.
Ed blinked and laughed self-consciously. "Can you blame me?" he countered, moving forward and coming around the bedside to see the baby. The little face peering up at him, unfocused but curious, had brown hair and eyes that, while blue like most newborns, were already darker, like they would probably change as she got older. "She's beautiful."
"She's opinionated, stubborn, and she has a big head," Sara countered with a smile.
"What's her name?" Winry asked. Ed could feel her looking over his shoulder. When Ethan had left, Sara and Franz hadn't told him if they had decided on a name or not.
Sara smiled up at them with a twinkle in her eye. "Trisha."
Ed felt something hitch in his throat, and he knew Sara had been wanting to see his reaction for herself. While he and Winry had given their daughter both of the names of her grandmothers, she never really used her middle name. Ed had refused to have another girl bear the name Trisha Elric. But this little one's last name wasn't Elric… "It's perfect," he smiled. "Can I hold her?"
"As if you even have to ask," Sara passed her daughter into Ed's arms, and he gathered her close.
Ed grinned broadly. "You do good work." Trisha blinked, yawned, and closed her eyes. "She even likes me better than you did."
"Oh?" Franz asked curiously. Apparently he hadn't heard the story.
Winry chuckled. "When Sara was born Ed was the only one who couldn't hold her without her crying loudly."
"Yeah," Ed smiled. "She didn't like the auto-mail I guess." He stroked the baby's cheek lightly with one finger and, even asleep, Trisha nuzzled his finger as if looking for milk.
"Hey it's not like I knew any better," Sara objected.
"Well of course not," Winry replied. "It was kind of funny. Well, at least I thought so."
"And no smart man argues with a protective mother," Ed joked, handing Trisha off to Winry, who was clearly as eager for a turn as he had been. Ed leaned over then and hugged his baby girl. "How are you doing?" She looked pretty good considering the details of the story Ethan had told them earlier.
"Beat," Sara admitted with a slight shrug as she hugged him back. "I think doing a full day of all-out alchemy combat would be less exhausting!"
"I'll be sure to tell Al you said that," Ed replied. His brother was still covering a good portion of the classes that used to be Ed's.
"Good, I'm going to need a good ass kicking to get back in shape," Sara smiled good-naturedly. Ed was glad to see it. She had been uptight and stressed for months, and he had quietly worried that she wouldn't be truly happy about having her baby when the time came. Obviously, his worries had proven unnecessary.
"Don't worry about that," Franz chuckled as he sat down on the other side of Sara and kissed her forehead. "I'm sure every subordinate you've barked at in the last nine months would be happy to take a few shots at you."
"I'm sure they would," Sara agreed. "But they can wait till I get back to work."
"And when will that be?" Winry asked as she gently rocked her granddaughter. Ed was wondering that himself. Sara had been so determined to miss as little work as possible, would she still feel the same way now?
"A few weeks," Sara admitted, looking slightly embarrassed, as if she knew what Ed was thinking. "Though not more than that; I just want to let life settle into a bit of a routine again before I try and add pushing unruly alchemists around back onto the list."
"Do you really think they won't mind you bringing her into the office?" Ethan asked curiously. That was currently the plan until Trisha was weaned.
"Kane knows the plan, and no one will argue with me unless they want to argue with him." Sara's eyes glinted dangerously even as she smiled, and Ed knew that anyone who dared try was in for quite a time of it! He pitied whoever it was because, eventually, someone would try.
Now there was a subject for the HQ betting pool!