A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see. Melissa like talk like caveman. It good way to avoid saying I. ...Anyway, we're sorry that we haven't updated in a while. We went to an anime con this past weekend and it was awesome! ^^ Lex cosplayed as Misa from Death Note and I was Yuuki from Vampire Knight. :D And we made some pretty awesome friends like John the vendor and the whole of our new group Team Star Card. We are star cards. Those are better than regular cards. Okay, I'm done talking about our epic weekend. We may continue this later. ;)
Special thanks to our favorite people in the world, our reviewers: Evalyd Yamazaki (Hi! We are discussing when Ed and Al will appear. It will probably be brief, but we agree that they must be in there. ^^), chocolvr (*shifty eyes* Maybe it's foreshadowing, maybe it's not. xD And we are glad that we are inspiring you! :D), Fire and Ice (We didn't update very soon, but still! There isn't any Elicia in this one, but there's some Charlotte and Brianna. xD We hope you enjoy them!), 4shadowedice4 (I'm glad that you like Alice. It seems that Ivy's the fan favorite. And thank you for commenting on our OCs. I was concerned that maybe we have too many, but you made me feel better. ^^), Charlie (Hi! We updated! No more torturing you! Yay! ^^ Read on, my friend, read on.)
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Though I totally saw Roy Mustang walking around in a Pocky box this past weekend and it made my life better. xD
A few days passed without consequence; Roy and Alice got together a few more times, growing closer by the day despite their various differences in personality. Ivy was bothersome as always, Jean dropped by once or twice (and Liz seemed to develop a total schoolgirl crush on him), and all her students came without fail. Benji asked her questions about Roy, but not the perverted kind that her nosy neighbor always did. The boy seemed genuinely concerned for their relationship, and Benji was quickly growing into a son for Alice.
A knock on the door late Saturday morning made Alice quickly rise to her feet; Roy was supposed to be coming over, but he hadn't specified a time. She rushed to the door, opening it without checking to see who was standing there -
And there stood Charlotte. Charlotte, and her little flock of children. Alice was ambushed by her niece, who immediately latched onto the woman's knees, staring up at the pianist and smiling widely.
"Surprise, Aunty Alice! Mommy said we were going to come meet your soon-to-be husband, but we had to keep it a secret!"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Brianna? Charlotte, what have you been telling her?" Alice turned to her sister with her brow furrowed.
"Oh, nothing, Alice dear," Charlotte responded in a sing-song voice as she let herself inside. "But speaking of your fiancee... Where is he?"
Alice picked Luke up and carried him into the living room. "Roy is not my fiancee, Charlotte. And besides, what makes you think that he'll even come here today?"
"Oh, he'll be here..." the look on the older sister's face could almost be mistaken for an evil grin.
As if on cue, there was a sharp knock on the door. Brianna ran to the door and opened it before anyone else could react.
Roy stood on the doorstep in his usual, everyday finery, expecting to see Alice on the other side of the door. Naturally, he was confused when he was greeted by a little girl (who looked very much like Alice) hugging his knees and babbling about how Miss Ivy described him perfectly. The little girl let go of his legs before grabbing his hand and leading the man inside. "Um, Alice? Why is there a tiny, talkative version of you here?"
Alice stood up quickly and greeted him before he could enter the room. "I can explain! But not now! You need to leave as soon as possib-"
"You must be Colonel Roy Mustang! It's good to meet you at last! I'm Charlotte, Alice's elder sister. I've heard a lot about you from Ivy!" If Roy was at all astonished, he managed to hide it quite well.
"Really? All good things, I hope." Roy leaned down, coming closer to the child's level. "What's your name, huh?"
"I'm Brianna! Alice is my aunty, and Mommy told me you and Aunty were going to get married so you could be my future uncle!" Alice's face went straight past red into a shade of purple, and she scooped the child up in her arms.
"Bri, sweetheart, Roy and I are only f-friends. I don't know what your mother told you," Alice shot a loaded glare at her sister, "but I'm not getting married anytime soon... Now, um, why don't you go play with Staccato?" Brianna's eyes lit up; she had only just met Staccato, and was dying to play with Alice's kitten. Bri leapt from Alice's arms - an altogether good thing, as Alice wasn't sure she could hold up the girl much longer, despite her small size - and chased after the ball of fuzz.
"So... I finally get to meet my Alice's older sister, huh? A pleasure." Roy gave Charlotte a smile, and Alice sighed, thankful the older woman wasn't being terribly overbearing. Then it registered that he had said that she was his Alice... the woman was stunned into silence. "I was looking forward to meeting you Mrs., uh..."
"Mrs. Lauden. But really, do call me Charlotte. Mrs. Lauden makes me feel horribly old."
"Charlotte then." Roy turned away to hang his hat up, and Charlotte looked to Alice with wide eyes, mouthing, 'Alice Ackerman, this man is beautiful.'
Alice gave her sister a look that could only translate as, 'Don't you dare say anything.'
When Roy turned around again, he saw two sisters smiling at him, though one was a bit on the red side. "So, um, would anyone like a sandwich?" Alice asked nervously.
"A sandwich? That's it? Why don't I cook something up, Alice? I'm sure I could find something..." Alice's eyes grew wide as her sister moved into the kitchen.
"B-but...d-don't..." she stuttered in fear.
"Charlotte," the woman turned at the sound of her name, "I don't know if Alice told you, but the stove is broken. It's not safe to use." Roy's expression was completely serious and his voice had a slight hint of authority in it. It was as if he were talking to Riza.
Charlotte stared at the man before laughing. "That's what she told you? The stove's broken?"
"Of course. Is there something wrong with that?"
"The stove isn't broken, Alice is just afraid of," Charlotte stopped when she saw her little sister's horrified face. She never thought that Alice would keep her fear a secret from her boyfriend. "Alice is just afraid of...burning food! Yes, that's it. She's never been good at cooking, and she's always afraid of burning the food and wasting it! Silly, isn't it?" Charlotte laughed nervously. "So, how about those sandwiches, Alice?"
Alice's head was resting in her hands, her breathing steadying only after Charlotte backpedaled in such an absurdly obvious way. Roy raised an eyebrow, clearly sensing that the two sisters were hiding something. Charlotte disappeared into the kitchen, giving Alice a look filled with pity as she passed. With the older woman gone, Roy gave the younger sister a smile.
"Something wrong, my dear fiancee?" The colonel sat down beside the pianist, and Alice's blush deepened with his teasing. "And why on earth would you lie to me about something as stupid as a broken stove? It's not like I give a damn about how well you can cook."
"Charlotte's so utterly ridiculous... I tried to get you out of here while you still had a chance, Roy. I'm sorry for anything she says." Alice tensed up as she glanced into the kitchen and noticed that her dear sister was turning on the stove; she had entirely avoided Roy's question, and was sure it was obvious. Luke was utterly content just gurgling to himself on the floor, but Alice picked him up, setting him on her lap and pointing to her dark-haired friend. "Luke? Sweetheart? This is a friend of mine, Roy." The little boy reached a tiny hand up, pointing at the man. Roy smiled softly.
"Y'know, Alice, you and your sister look a lot alike. Brianna looks very much like you, too."
"I've heard that before. When we were young, we were often mistaken for identical twins, even though she's almost four years older. As for Brianna, she looks and acts exactly like her mother. It's almost scary..."
Roy chuckled, "You can definitely tell that they're related."
"It truly amazes me that Ivy still believes that Jean is my brother. We look and act nothing alike. At least Charlotte and I look similar..."
"Aunty Alice! Aunty Alice!" Brianna trotted up to the trio on the sofa. "Will you play that song for me? It's been so long since you've played it for me! I almost forget how it goes!" When Alice didn't respond right away, she turned to the colonel, "Uncle Roy, can you help me get Aunty Alice to play for me?"
"Brianna!" Alice scolded softly, "You can't call people aunts and uncles without permission."
Roy chuckled at the little girl's crestfallen expression and Alice's stern one. "Well, what do you say, Aunty Alice?" he began with a wink, "Will you play the song for your niece and her uncle?" She wasn't off the hook yet; Roy was just putting off figuring out Alice's reason for not using the stove. Alice, however, sighed before standing up and gliding towards the piano. The woman sat down at the bench, and prepared herself to play, hitting the first note only before Charlotte yelled from the kitchen that the food was done.
Brianna instantly forgot her song, wailing to her mother that she wanted food before anyone else. Charlotte, in response, served Roy the first plate of the delectable dish she had made.
Alice had pulled Luke up onto her hip once more, and the boy was giggling, playing with his aunt's hair. "Where's Brent, Charlotte? Why didn't he come?"
"Brent? Oh, he had to work. Believe me, he too wanted to meet the Roy Mustang we'd heard so much about from Ivy." Alice rolled her eyes, making a mental note to speak to Ivy about keeping her mouth shut about her neighbor's personal life.
Charlotte motioned to be given the baby, and after giving Luke to his mother Alice got herself and Brianna food.
"It's nice to finally put a face with the man Ivy's been talking so much about," Charlotte continued.
"I'm glad to hear that Ivy thinks so highly of me," Roy responded with a slight smirk as he took a bite of food
"Well, God knows that we can't get any details out of Alice over here. She keeps insisting that there isn't anything going on between you two, but I know better!"
"Charlotte!" Alice protested
"But I don't see why she's trying to hide such a gentleman from us. It's as if she's trying to keep you all to herself. Well, it's a good thing we stopped by today. I'm so glad to finally meet you. Just wait until Brent hears about you! He was starting to think that you were too good to be true and that Ivy was making you up. I'm so glad he's wrong. You are just a pleasant man and I'm so glad that my sister found you. And you two look just so darn cute together! I can hardly stand it!" Roy smiled politely and continued to eat.
"And you wonder why I didn't want to expose him to you," Alice mumbled under her breath.
Dinner wrapped up, and every second that passed made Alice wish she was taking care of Elicia more than making sure her sister didn't embarrass her. Roy finally made out as if to excuse himself to go home, and Alice stepped outside with him, floundering for an excuse to get away from Charlotte.
"Keep it clean, kids!" Charlotte's voice rang out from inside.
"I... am so sorry. Charlotte's a terribly awkward person-"
"No. I'm glad I got to meet her." Roy leaned down, giving the shorter woman a kiss on the cheek. "I'll probably see you tomorrow, my Alice." As if it was a signature trait, Roy tipped his hat before turning and leaving for the night; Alice raised a hand to the place where his lips had touched her skin, and turned pink when he called her "his Alice."