Olivier had been on a rare shopping trip with her mother, Josephine, since she didn't have any summer clothes and got hot easily. After several hours of arguing over what looked good, what was practical, and whether or not to buy maternity clothes, they had plopped down, exhausted, into a booth at one of the fancier restaurants in Central. She'd wanted a drink so badly it hurt, but guess what? She couldn't drink because she was pregnant. Which put her in an even sourer mood as her mother ordered red wine, Olivier's favorite, for herself.

"Mother, I'm sure one glass will be fine. The kid's not even there yet."

"Olivier Mira, just because this baby isn't yours, that does not strip you of the responsibility of taking care of it. At least not while it's in your body."

Olivier held out her hands. "Not even one sip?"

"No!" Olivier rolled her eyes. If it weren't for the fact that her mother was always moaning and groaning about how they never spent any time together, she would have gone shopping by herself. She made a mental note not to listen to her mother's moaning and groaning from now on.

"There she is!" someone close by shouted. Before Olivier could look up, a man's arms were around her and wet lips were planting disgusting kisses on her cheek. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Olivier shoved the intruder away and scooted closer to the wall. "Get off! Who do you- Mustang? What are you doing here? I highly doubt you can afford this place."

"Olivier! Be nice," Josephine scolded.

Olivier turned to her mother. "Your eyesight must be going in your old age, or you would have seen that he deserved it."

"I'm sorry General, he's just excited." Riza appeared behind him. "And half-drunk," she admitted. Well, that much was obvious. Mustang's eyes were sparkling and looked a little glazed, his smile took up half his face, and he was swaying a bit.

"What's he so excited about? And why is he here? I thought he was in Ishval with Miles."

Riza nodded and leaned in a bit. "He was, but he took an extended leave so we could start our family."

"I wasn't aware you two were married," Josephine said, her brows rising.

Riza put a hand over her mouth. "We are," she whispered, "We had a ceremony in Ishval. Grandfather is working on getting the fraternization laws abolished, but there's a lot of red tape and paperwork that hasn't gone through yet so we still have to be careful. He promised us it would be finished by the time the baby's born though."

"Wait a second." Olivier felt the color drain from her face. "You told me the sperm was coming from a random donor."

"That'd be me!" Roy jerked his thumb toward himself. "Imma daddy gen'ral!"

The room was spinning. "Does that mean Mustang's the father?"

"Olivier!" they all hissed. "Keep your voice down!"

Riza must have seen the danger in Olivier's glare. She shrugged helplessly. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, but we were inside Central Command and couldn't take any chances. Besides, Grandfather and I were afraid you'd back out if you knew he was the father."

"You're damn right I would have backed out!" Olivier stood up. "I cannot believe you lied to me when I agreed to do you the biggest favor of your life." She felt like she would throw up. Not only had Riza, her long-term ally and somewhat friend, lied to her face, but now Mustang's DNA was inside her, growing and feeding off her. It was sickening.

Josephine sighed. "Olivier, stop being such a drama queen. It's only nine months. I was pregnant five times and I was much younger than you. Not to mention I actually raised the babies. You, my girl, don't have it nearly so bad."

"Yeah Gen'ral," Roy cheered, slurring his words a bit. "And then we're all gonna be a family!"

"Great," Olivier seethed. "Now go away. You're making me lose my appetite."

"How far along are you now?" Roy asked.

"Two and a half weeks," she spat. "Now go find someone who actually wants your company, if such a person exists."

Roy's eyes widened, ignoring the insult. "Already? Have you felt anything yet?" And then that bastard made the mistake of putting his hands on her stomach. It was rather unfortunate that the restaurant did not keep toothpicks nearby.

Olivier snapped out of her reverie at the feeling of something on her nose. She opened her eyes and couldn't hold back a smile at the sight of a bright red butterfly on her nose, staring her down. When it folded its wings back, she noticed it had company. There were butterflies on her hands, her legs, her chest, and her stomach. She guessed they liked the scent of her mother's flowery-smelling lotion she'd used that morning. They had been bred in the garden and hadn't learned to fear people like the animals she saw up north.

Olivier lay still for a while, watching the butterflies, soaking in the sun's warmth, a nice change from stinging winter winds, and enjoying her solitude. But after a while her feet went to sleep and her legs ached from being in the same position for so long, so she gently pushed the butterflies off and moved her legs, shaking her feet to wake them up. Then she frowned. There was one left. She hadn't noticed it because it was the same shade of blue as her clothes and blended in. It was beautiful. She'd never seen a blue butterfly before.

It was perched right on top of her navel, moving its wings back and forth and doing something with its legs (arms?). She admired the black stripes across its wings and its calm demeanor, then shifted slightly, hoping it would fly away. It didn't.

Hmpth. Stubborn thing. Well she would show it. Olivier got up, her bare feet sinking into the tall grass and soft earth. To her amazement, the blue butterfly was still there. She gently brushed it off with her hand, but it continued to fly around her stomach as though it were a flower. She paused. Was it possible the tiny insect could sense the life inside?

No, she thought as she moved inside and closed the door. It's just the lotion.