Being 8 months and 1 week pregnant was not about to stop Winry Rockbell from serving her clients. She may feel as if she was the size of a planet, that her feet were as wide as logs, her back was as sore as an old woman's – but that would not prevent her from acting as she had always acted and doing the things she needed to get done.

However she couldn't lift what needed to be lifted.

Luckily for her, Edward had written to Garfiel in Rush Valley and it apparently had done the trick. On a Saturday, when all the students and teachers of the Elric Academy of Civic Alchemy (now open and in session) had the day off, Edward surprised his wife by delivering her former mentor and boss and one straggler, Paninya to help her with her work in the last weeks of her pregnancy.

Now, she still was able to do all her administrative work, see patients, design new pieces, and do minor tinkering that didn't require she use any physical strain. Garfiel and Paninya stayed in the old Rockbell house and helped Winry in any way they could, with much jest and taunting – as Garfiel was prone to do of anyone MALE in the area. This also allowed Winry extra free time with Maes as well as walking the hill at lunch to visit the school and spend time with Edward.

In the six months since the school's opening, Winry had become very attached to two particular pupils. They were the only pupils with automail – something she had not thought of originally when Edward had started recruiting students. One pupil was a young man, name Lear, who had lost his left leg during the riots in Liore. Now, at 15 years old, he reminded Winry uncannily of Edward with his massive sense of ambition, purpose, and love of fighting. He had jet black hair and was tall and lanky – that was the only real difference between Edward and this boy. Winry had replaced his leg for him within his first week at school. Due to his family not having much, or any money, he had been outfitted with very cheap automail that had already begun to rust despite only being a few months old. Winry corrected that for him for free.

The second pupil with automail was a young 12 year old girl named Clarissa. She was an orphan and had grown up in a very violent home. Edward, Alphonse, and Mei had tutored and counseled her individually since she had arrived and said she was recovering from a great emotional trial, but that she would not reveal the circumstances of losing her right arm. Edward suspected human transmutation, but the young girl still drew her alchemic equations as everyone else did (perhaps to hide what she had done). She was quiet, timid, and almost afraid of other people. However, as soon as she had met Winry, seen her growing belly, and learned that she could outfit her with new, better automail, her shell cracked open.

On this particular day, Winry had just finished consulting with a client from a neighboring village. She left Garfiel to continue working on molding and shaping some steel plating and Paninya and 2 year old Maes having a little picnic together on the Rockbell lawn. Paninya had made Maes a crown of white daisies and he marched around her in circles giggling like a hyena. Those two were getting along swimmingly. One hand on her swollen belly, she climbed the hill back up to her home and the school grounds.

Classes were still in session. Alphonse had his group of 7-9 year olds outside practicing drawing transmutation circles in the earth and feeling the weight of soil in order to transmute shapes out of mud. Some students were having a hard time of it and creating objects that were too top heavy – they broke and crumbled in the grass. Winry could also hear Dr. Marco from an open window, teaching the elder students the complicated formulas behind bio-alchemy and its uses for medicine.

She by-passed all this, and entered her namesake, Rockbell Hall, where her husband's office was. She let herself in though he was absent from the room for now. It was a mess. He had only inhabited it for one semester, but he had papers, books, exams, scales, calligraphy pens, and half eaten sandwiches everywhere.

"Oh, Edward." She sighed, and tried to straighten up a little. She cleared enough space on his couch for at least a few people to sit at and started organizing the shelves.

"Yes, Winry?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin in fright! There he was, in the doorway, watching her with a happy grin on his face. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked, raising one eye brow.

"This place is a zoo." She said frankly, and sat down on the couch, abandoning the effort. Boy, it felt great to sit down. She rubbed her belly protectively as she lifted her feet up onto his coffee table, trying to avoid the unmarked term papers that were littered there.

"I like it like this." He said sweetly. He came to sit across from her and let his own feet rest on top of hers. They sat and looked at each other for a moment, both trying to contain their grins.

"Clarissa is joining us for supper at our place tonight. She hasn't really taken to the dining hall crowd."

"That's fine. She needs to have some maintenance done on her arm. I'll do it after supper. Paninya and Garfiel can help if they like."

"Thanks. I should be done with lessons around 4. Alphonse has offered to put the students to bed tonight since Mei is scheduled for the girls his evening anyway." He sighed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Enjoying a quiet moment.

"That's good. You can watch Maes while I work." Winry giggled.

"Yes. It's been a while since I was able to put him to bed myself." Edward remarked happily. "How's the baby?"

"Hanging in there. She's only 3 weeks away."

"How do you know it's a she?" Edward said, color rising to his cheeks. It still made him incredibly nervous that he may soon be in charge of a little girl.

"I just get this feeling." Winry remarked happily, shifting her feet so they rested on top of Ed's. "You will be a great Father to a little girl, just like you are to Maes. Look how wonderful you are with Clarissa. She didn't talk at all when she first came here. Now, she talks too much."

"You don't see her with the other students though. She totally shuts down. She doesn't even like transmuting in front of them. I get this funny feeling. When she watches Alphonse or Izumi clap their hands during demonstrations, she gets this weird look on her face. Like she recognizes what they are doing."

"Be patient with her Edward. She'll open up with time."

"'Suppose so."

Winry felt a little kick inside. "Ah! Ed! Give me your hand quick."

She reached out and he met her half way. Taking his wrist in her hands, Winry placed his outstretched hand onto her belly, right where the pulsating knock was beating from inside her stomach. "The baby is moving." She laughed.

Ed's eyes grew large. He had done this several times before with Maes. But, this was the first time he had felt his child move from inside its mother's belly. It sent shivers down his spine. His lips expanded in a huge smile.

"She's strong." He said happily.

/

"How was your day at school, Clarissa?" Winry asked, as she organized the wrenches and tools on her tray, preparing for her work on Clarissa's arm. The young girl tied her strawberry blond hair back behind her ears and rolled up her uniform sleeves all the way to her shoulder. She shrugged, her face unchanging.

"I learned a moderate amount."

Winry grinned. She was so matter of fact for a 12 year old.

"I see. I'm always glad to have you at dinner. But, don't you want to eat with your friends in the dining hall?" Winry asked, pulling the arm towards her and slighting adjusting the tightness on the fingers.

"No. I don't like the noise." She said bluntly.

"Now, Clare, it's just as noisy at our table! With Maes throwing his food down on the floor every two seconds." The macaroni and cheese stain that currently graced Winry's dress stuck out particularly noticeable at this statement.

"I don't mind a baby making noise. It's people my age I don't like to hear talk."

"So anti-social!" Winry remarked looking at the young girls face sadly.

"You need to let people in Clarissa. It's part of being a human being after all. Nobody can carry the weight of the world on their own shoulders alone."

At that moment they heard the knocking for footsteps coming down the stairs into the work-room Winry had set up. They were slightly off balanced which meant that one of the legs making that noise was metal. Edward appeared from the doorway, carrying a tray of chocolate ice cream. "I brought you ladies some desert. Want some."

"Yes please!" Winry shouted, already hungry again though she had just ate dinner. Clarissa cracked a smile, probably the first of the day.

As they ate, Edward told Clarissa the stories about his own mishaps with his automail, much to Winry's consternation.

"And then, she tried to play it off like she HADN'T forgotten the screw, come to find out! She was gonna make me believe that the arm falling apart in the middle of a fight was my fault! I could've gotten killed easily!" he was saying, happy to see that he was making the young, serious student laugh with his dramatic rehashing of his fight with Number 48.

"Ouch…oh, ow." Winry dropped her bowl of ice cream and it went shattering to the floor. In an instant, his story forgotten, Edward was by her side as she suddenly crouched down, holding the underside of her belly.

"Winry." He said worriedly, "What's the matter?" Her face was wrinkled with pain, her fingers shaking on the surface of her swollen belly.

"Ah. I'm having this horrible pain…" she gasped. Something felt terribly wrong. She looked up to see Clarissa on her feet, eyes as big as city spotlight.

"Show me where, Winry. Where are you having the pain?" Edward whispered in her ear, trying to feel for any signs of danger on his wife's body. He pulled his hand away from her upper thigh but then gave a start. His hand was pink with blood that had soaked through his wife's dress in only a few instants.

Winry screamed.

"I'll go get Dr. Marco!" Clarissa cried, eyes fixated on Edward's bloody hand and in an flash, she was gone.

This was a crisis, and Edward tried to remain calm as his wife started to hysterically cry, holding her belly protectively in order to stop the floor of blood. Ed lifted her up and carried her up the stairs, through the kitchen and onto the sofa. Winry's screams had attracted Paninya and Maes from the kitchen. Paninya gave a cry in shock as she saw the reason for the screams.

"Paninya!" Edward cried, trying to comfort his wife as he laid her on the sofa, his hands patting her gently. "Paninya, go get Alphonse and Mei…take Maes with you. Hurry!"

He turned to look at his wife's tear soaked face. She looked to be in some terrible pain and he couldn't understand what could have possibly happened. He wouldn't let his thoughts trail to any other situation than the best. He couldn't even fathom why this was happening.

"It's going to be okay, Winry. It's going to be fine." He whispered softly, kissing her forehead. He begged for it to be okay. It had to be fine.

It just had to be.