The Roy Mustang Guide to Babysitting

Summary: Babysitting Elysia isn't nearly as easy as it would seem…

Roy Mustang had a headache, and a pounding one. Elysia Hughes would not stop crying, and he really did not know why. The three year old always greeted him with a hug and a happy giggle, as she had that night.

Sitting here on the couch, a good two hours later, he had tried every method to get her to stop crying, having been at it for a half-hour straight. He never knew kids could cry so much, and he certainly did not know what to do with her.

He got up off the couch and went to the phone. Maybe she'll know… I hope. "Lieu- ah, Riza, I need your help. Very, very badly…"

TEN MINUTES LATER

"Sir, I have absolutely no skill whatsoever with children. What makes you think I can do this?"

"I have confidence in what you do, Riza. It's the woman I need. And anyway, you actually do have better skills with children than I do."

Sighing, Riza picked Elysia up and began to rock her and bounce her slightly. "It's okay, Elysia. Can you calm down and tell me what this is about?"

Taking a few hiccupping breaths, Elysia sobbed, "I want my mommy and my daddy!" and buried her head in Riza's shoulder again.

"They'll be coming back soon," Riza assured the child, making sure to emphasize "soon" as much as possible. "Don't you like Uncle Roy?"

Elysia nodded and wiped her tears with one of her hands. "B-but h-he's not Daddy!"

"Well I'm not your mommy, and you seem to be doing just fine with me," Riza told her, slowly smiling. "In fact, you're doing a wonderful job. I'll be sure to have Uncle Roy tell your mommy and daddy just how good you're being!" She started to hand the girl off to Roy to go, but Elysia clung to her shirt.

"Don't go! Stay until Mommy and Daddy come home! I like it when you and Uncle Roy visit, and since Mommy and Daddy aren't here… I just like it," She concluded, promptly popping her thumb into her mouth.

Roy and Riza exchanged a look. What do they say around her? Riza gently sat down on the couch, attempting to disentangle her shirt from Elysia's fingers, but the girl had one heck of a grip.

Taking her free hand from her mouth, Elysia tugged on Roy's pants until he sat, too.

"So… Auntie Riza, how are you?" Elysia asked after a few moments of silence.

Sending another look over the child's shoulder at Roy that clearly said, My evening was interrupted by you, and now I can't go home and do something else because she's clinging to my shirt, thanks very much, Riza let out an almost-exasperated breath and responded, "I'm fine, Elysia."

"Just fine?" Elysia repeated. "I guess that's okay, but… you aren't happy?"

"I-" Riza began, but was interrupted by the little girl.

"Daddy always says that to really be happy, you need someone with you a lot. And I know that the only one who's with you a lot is Hayate… and Uncle Roy, but not as much."

That did it. Riza could feel the heat rise in her face. Thankfully Roy was looking a bit too immersed in the intricacy of the carpet to realize, though he, too, looked like this was something of a surprise.

Before either of them could say another word, Elysia yawned. Thankful for the excuse, Riza put her to bed quickly, as the child simply refused to walk to her room, insisting that she was too tired.

Coming back, she was met by Roy at the door to the living room.

He looked apologetic. "Sorry about this."

Riza shook her head. "I wasn't planning on anything. The walk did me some good anyway."

"Anything I can do to make it up to you?" Roy wanted to know.

"Aside from doing your paperwork on time?" she joked.

"I try!" protested Roy as he attempted to look serious. "Anything else aside from what I really should do? Don't give me that look –I'm not trying to get out of paperwork, I swear."

Thinking for a moment, Riza decided, "Not really. It's really not anything to worry about. I really should leave before you have to admit to Maes and Gracia that you needed my help."

Roy placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. You'll be a great mom when you do settle down."

Riza busied herself with putting on a shoe shoe. "If."

"If…?" Roy was curious now.

Straightening from pulling the shoe on, Riza looked up for a moment to speak. "You have to admit, settling down isn't exactly conducive to our line of work."

Rolling his eyes, Roy gestured with a hand. "Think of whose house this is."

"The house of a desk worker." Not entirely true, though…

Roy told her, "I don't intend to make this go on for much longer. You can leave at any time, you know. I won't hold it against you."

Now Riza stopped dead and looked up as though she'd just been accused of slapping Elysia. "I can't; you know that."

A little miffed, Roy retorted, "There's a rather large difference between can't and too stubborn for your own good."

"Now if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black."

Both whirled to face the front door. Maes and Gracia stood in it, looking interested, and (in Maes' case) rather amused. Maes walked in and informed Riza, "And I resent being called a desk worker. I prefer 'paper-pusher extraordinaire'. Just so you know," answering the unasked question of just how long husband and wife had been standing in the door. "Now off with you before you're too tired to leave. I assume you both work tomorrow."

With a polite, "Thank you," from Gracia, both were on their way.

As soon as they reached the street, where they had to part ways, Roy grabbed her hand to stop her when she turned. "You weren't going to leave without saying good night, were you?"

Sighing, Riza conceded. "I suppose not. Good night."

Roy tightened his grip to stop her as she turned again. "Riza… just, think about it, okay? You don't have to do what you're doing. In fact, I'd rather you not."

Riza shrugged, a small smile making its way to her face. "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the people you love."

It was so fast that Riza could have sworn it was her imagination (as she would try to convince herself later as she attempted to fall asleep), but as she blinked for a moment, she thought she felt a pair of lips on her cheek. By the time she opened her eyes, Roy had dropped her hand and was muttering a quick, "Good night," before walking away.

I do think about it, really, I do. But admitting it blatantly? Not until this is over. Losing you is one risk I refuse to take.

A/N: Ohmigosh. I babysit this little girl who's almost three and she uses complete sentences and is usually a dream to babysit. Unless she throws a tantrum. I'm drawing on some of the stuff I've done to get her to stop crying. Of course, I don't have help when I do… :(

And on a completely different topic, I have NO idea how far apart these guys live. However, I've noticed that cars are used relatively rarely, so I would just assume that the walk to a given place would be no longer than a half-hour at a leisurely pace.

If you haven't read the rest of this, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING: I know this is turning more into romance, but babysitting a cranky 3-year old isn't exactly funny. I promise that the next few will have a bit more humor, though from the reviews, it looks like you guys like this as is. Still, more humor (and romance!) on the way!