Memories.
After the dinner was done, the kids almost immediatly began playing again.
After saying their thanks of course.
When he and his sisters had gotten in an argument about milk, Ed had ruffeld
his son's hair and said that he was especially proud of him.
Even on Christmas, milk somehow made at least one Elric snap.
But at least Edwin wasn't that rude.
The threat of not getting any presents was still effective against him even at
his age.
Maes had asked why his father was acting so calm when he had usually been the
most childish of them all and usually joined their games while they waited for
the first lady and the fuhrer to come over so that they could open their
presents.
Edward only smiled and gave his son the same treatment as his brother.
Edward felt his heart almost rapture by all the warmth he felt within it.
He sighted and put his hands to his hips as he looked at everyone in the house.
Al and Mei was helping Winry emptying the table while Winry began making the
dishes.
The kids were already running around.
The time in-between dinner and opening the presents was always so tense with a
feeling of anticipation and distraction.
Edward smiled and went to his own study and library on the second floor, but
just for a while, he wouldn't want to trade his family for the world.
Just the shear thought made Edward grab his heart like it was about to burst.
He knew what he wanted in his study.
A book.
A book that Edward always heald close to him.
A book that always calmed him down and could turn even his deepest frown
around.
A book that he held very close to his heart.
He found it at the place where it always was.
It was a hefty, black leather book crammed in-between two books that was taboo
for any of his children to EVER touch or open.
The day that he had told that, he had worded his words well enough to make them
avoid the entire bookcase whenever they wanted a book about alchemy. If they
even wanted a book from that case, it usually lead to them asking him first.
For once, Human Transmutation was useful.
It made your kids turn away from what you held the closest.
Edward grabbed the book and pulled it out and held his large hand firmly around
it and covered the title of the book carefully.
He felt his heart ache and burn again.
He breathed out.
Mei could prolonged it, but only that. She couldn't stop it.
He shacked the thought out of his head as he went out of his study and closed
the door behind him.
His concerned frown turned into a warm smile when he heard Al and Mei talk in
the kitchen with Winry saying something to the children that were still
playing.
He loved this.
And he couldn't be any more proud of it.
Edward sighted and went down the stairs, nobody even noticed him coming down
and nobody had even seemed to have noticed he was gone.
Edward smiled as he saw his wife stand at the kitchen, a spoon in her hands,
always ready to throw it at whoever caused the most chaos in the house.
Once again, that was usually Edward.
But not today.
Edward looked at the children running through the house and then turned to his
brother, his wife and his brother's wife.
He gave them an unnoticed warm smile.
Then he turned around and looked at the Christmas tree.
He looked below it at the very bottom.
There was many presents laid across the foot of the tree.
That was one of the benefits of having such a big family.
Always someone who cared.
Only difference this time was that most of the presents accounted for, was from
Edward himself.
He walked up to sofa, coffee table and one of the two reading chairs next to
them.
Edward sat down in his favorite chair.
The chair facing away from the door and posistioned so that whoever was sitting
there could see the stairs and most of the bottom floor rooms.
This was usually Edward's preferred spot.
Edward sat down, opened his book and filled himself with warm and pleasant
memories to his very heart's content.
Edward sighted.
He looked up from his book and looked at Winry, Al, Mei, Mia, Edwin, Clara, Maes,
Nina and Trisha.
He had never felt any prouder as he did right now.
He looked down at the book again and then he looked up one more time.
Then he breathed out and relaxed in the chair.
His shoulders slumped and he folded the book together, still covering the
title.
He allowed his arms to rest across the book and on the arm rests.
Then he put his head backwards and relaxed even more.
He closed his eyes and remembered all the good times throughout the years.
He heard Alphonse, Winry and Mei talk casually and he heard the children
playing cheerfully.
He felt himself making a small, yet soft and warm smile as he continued to
remember.
He had never felt any warmer.
And he had never felt any prouder.
Then he breathed out.
And then he stopped.
