December 3rd, 1995
Alyse Elric Fischer smiled as she watched the rugby players out on the field, even though she still winced a little every time their chairs collided forcefully, with metallic clangs and thunks and sometimes crunching sounds she knew weren't nearly as damaging as they sounded. She winced, because she didn't want to see Cal get hurt, but she smiled because after almost four years of playing, he had never been seriously injured, just a little battered and bruised, and because even when he was getting shoved up in the middle of the scrum, he was grinning with exhilaration.
That look was worth any concerns or anxiety on her part when she watched him play. As surprised as she had been to find out that they had an amateur rugby league specifically for players in wheelchairs, she hadn't been able to tell Cal no when he showed actual enthusiasm for giving the sport a try. It had turned into the motivation he needed to really push himself in his physical therapy the last four years, get back into the gym, re-engage with the world, and he had made steady improvements. They had even taken a lovely trip earlier that fall down to Aerugo, staying with Maes and Elena Mustang at their vacation house near the southern coast—though far about the flood levels even a tidal wave could reach. Cal would never fully regain the use of his legs the way he had before his injuries, but he was far better off now than he had been then.
"Here to watch again, ma'am?"
Alyse turned and smiled at Hans Brozik, the team's coach, who had come up beside her. In his late-thirties, and probably in better shape than most men Alyse had ever seen, he certainly looked the part of an athlete. She had heard he had plaid actual rugby for one of the professional teams before the accident that had paralyzed him in his late-twenties. "As often as I can. Oh, there's cookies and hot coffee on the table if you or the team want them after."
"As if anyone here would say no to your baking." Hans grinned. "You know, some of the boys wanted to vote you Team Mom, as often as you bring goodies."
"Better Mom than Grandma," Alyse chuckled, face flushed as much with pleasure as with the cold. She was grateful it was actually a fairly warm day for early December. The sweater she wore was enough without a heavy coat.
"I suggested Angel instead." Hans' smile broadened. "The vote was a near universal yes. Everyone except your husband agreed with me."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. He said you weren't an angel, you were a goddess, and we shouldn't demote you."
That… definitely sounded like Cal. Alyse's face felt warm even in the brisk air. "So, what was the final decision?"
"The next vote was unanimous, of course."
"Then I suppose next week's snack will have to be something particularly good." Alyse usually made it out to watch at least once or twice a week, and all the games. She brought treats because the whole team enjoyed them. She wasn't the only family member who came to watch, but some of the men on the team didn't have a wife, or a girlfriend, or any other significant other to come watch them, or children or grandchildren depending on their age. Alyse, and often Charlie or Shelby, would definitely make the games. Because it was an amateur league, there were multiple teams in Central itself that played each other most of the time. Though sometimes they played teams from other cities, but only near the end of the season. They hadn't brought any of the grandchildren to watch, because they all agreed they were still too young to watch, and they mostly couldn't sit still long enough to watch anyway.
In any case, Alyse was not the only one who came, but she was one of the few who brought snacks for the team, especially on a consistent basis. Given how much energy they were burning out there, they definitely appreciated it.
Though given how much a good practice or game could put Cal in a good mood, Alyse was grateful that they were decades past having to worry about unintended children themselves. His lust for life was much more as it had been ten or twenty years ago, and that for her as well.
Not that they would have time to indulge him this evening. Her parents were arriving in town this evening, along with Uncle Edward and Aunt Winry, for their first visit to Central in quite some time, and there would be a big family gathering tonight. Not as big as it would have been a few years ago, but that was because most everyone's children were grown and moved out, sometimes out of town. There would be several gatherings over the winter holiday season, as always, but it would be nice to see her parents. Of all of them, only her mother still seemed to travel with minimal discomfort. It was strange that the age difference between her parents was noticeable more now than it had been when she was growing up.
Of course, she knew the real reason they rarely travelled anymore, especially in winter. Aside from the fact that they were all far older than she wanted to think about, it was Uncle Edward who suffered the most, particularly in the cold and wet weather. The fact that he didn't gripe and complain only told her how much pain he was often in. Edward and Cal had that trait in common. They would gripe all day about the little pains and inconveniences, but real pain they kept quiet on, not wanting to bother anybody. They would just quietly bear that.
Alyse definitely preferred they keep on complaining.
"You'd think after all this time they could invent more comfortable trains," Edward griped as he stepped down onto the platform at the Central train station, as he had hundreds, if not thousands, of times before. The chill wind thankfully did little to penetrate his trench-coat worn over his traveling clothes. With his felt, brimmed hat firmly on his head, he was actually fairly comfortable for the moment.
Alphonse chuckled as he joined him, similarly clad. "You know, Ed, maybe we should just be grateful it takes half as long as it used to."
"Oh, let him have his fun, Al." Winry shook her head. "You know Ed just enjoys complaining."
"Almost a century and you can't give me a break, can you?" Edward rolled his eyes, though a moment later he winked at his wife, standing there looking elegant even in a winter coat and warm wool hat. "So, who's our ride this afternoon?"
"Sara," Elicia reminded him. "At least, that's what Will told me when I called right before we left. She had the most open schedule this afternoon."
"You'd think more of them would be sensible and retire," Edward quipped.
"Oh yes, because you were so good at retiring at a reasonable age, and staying that way." Winry nudged him lightly with her right shoulder, bumping him on the left.
"I've never claimed to be the good example." In fact, Edward was sure he had said many times in his life, to his own children, that they should definitely not follow his example in several key areas of their lives. Fortunately, for the most part, they seemed to have listened.
"That's good, because I'd have to call you a liar," Sara's voice carried to him as she appeared practically in front of him out of the crowd. She hugged Winry briefly, then him. "It's good to see you."
"I've missed you, too," Edward replied.
Sara moved on to hug Alphonse and Elicia briefly as well, then insisted on picking up a couple of the bags. "I've got us parked in the near lot, thankfully. There's a lot of traffic today. It seems like everyone decided to come into Central early for holidays this year. That or there's something huge going on I don't know about."
Which seemed highly unlikely. Edward had noticed that, even without her commission, his daughter was often incredibly well informed about a wide variety of subjects about which she should technically know very little. "No such thing," he commented as they moved through the crowds.
"Where are we going to first?" Alphonse asked as they reached the vehicle.
"Dinner tonight will be at Ethan's, but no one's home yet. Alyse and Cal are still out as well. You're all welcome to hang out at our place until dinner, and we can go over together."
"None of you know how to slow down, do you?" Edward asked as he got into the front seat beside his daughter. The rest got in back. He and Winry were staying at Ethan's, of course, in their usual room. Alphonse and Elicia had decided to stay with Cal and Alyse this year. Naturally no on would be home yet this time of day, not even most of the members of the family who were retired.
"It's not something we were ever taught." Sara winked at him. "Besides, what fun would that be?"
Tore would never stop appreciating being included as part of the Elric family, even though these days—by everyone's agreement—he was fairly quiet about that long-standing connection at Headquarters. Or at least, how tight-knit a part of that group he was outside of being the commanding officer for a few members of the extended family. There, the connection had to do with them all being State Alchemists. Outside of the State Alchemy program, most of the current brass had little to no idea that Tore's apparent loyalties to Franz Heimler as president was more than politically motivated. As those loyalties had transitioned smoothly to Anastas, most of them seemed to have forgotten, which was precisely the way Tore wanted it.
From a strictly non-political standpoint, he just enjoyed being included in family gatherings, such as tonight, as he and Charisa joined everyone who had converged on Ethan's house for dinner. None of his kids were with them tonight. Dare was still stationed at North City, Brandon was still out traveling the world studying international cuisine—though he was returning to Central in just a few days—and Camelia, who had moved out after high school to share an apartment with three of her girl friends from high school. She was currently working part-time at a restaurant, though she was working on getting auditions for parts both on the live stage, and over at Central Vision Studios.
Even without everyone in attendance, the house was crowded. Everyone who was available wanted to welcome the family heads back for a rare visit. It was quite the list: Sara and Franz; James and Krista and their two children, Aithne and the toddler Jeremy; Trisha and Roy and all three of their kids as well. Not that they were little. Little Sara was ten, Gabriel was sixteen, and Rosa was now nineteen and was the least likely to be available. While she had not become a State Alchemist like her parents, Rosa had become quite proficient and creative with her use of air-focused alchemy, and had taken that talent with her into joining the Central Fire Department. With a bit over a year in, she was still considered a rookie firefighter, but Tore had already heard a dozen stories about her ability to use alchemy to minimize dangerous situations and save lives, without violating any of the rules of the fire ground or messing up any parts of her job.
Ian and Bonnie were there with their two children, four-year-old Joanna, and two-year-old Zachary. Ted and Anika had come with their two sons. Nikolai was five, and their youngest, Eurion, was now one.
Coran and Gale had come over as well, though Tore rarely saw them as busy as they were with Rockbell Auto-mail. Their boys were not over tonight either. Now eighteen and twenty, they were in high school, and graduated, respectively, and Gavin had taken after his parents, and was now apprenticed to an Auto-mail shop in Rush Valley. Damian apparently was studying with friends tonight.
None of Ethan's kids were present, but that was because all of them were living outside Central now. Lily and Randy were still living in East City, playing and teaching music professionally, and raising the twins. Eamon and his wife were down off the southwest coast of Creta studying rare indigenous wildlife as part of a program funded by the Cretan government. Though Tore knew they were expecting their first child in a couple of months. Aeddan had finished college and taken a position coaching secondary school soccer for a high school in West City, where they also had him teaching health classes.
Alphonse's side of the family was there as well, of course, though the number of them living in Central was notably smaller. Will and Ren were there, though all three of their children now lived out-of-country. Minxia was still in Creta, of course, with Thrakos and their two children. Michio and his wife, and Kamika, were all living in Xing.
Alyse and Cal were here tonight, of course, and Charlie, Shelby, and all four of their children. Gloria and Alexei were still happily located in North City when they weren't traveling for a story.
A group of only thirty-nine people really wasn't all that bad for a family gathering, though it made Tore shake his head just considering it. The extended Elric clan was huge, particularly given that nearly a century ago, there had been just Edward and Alphonse, and Winry.
Tore was actually one of the older members of the family at this point. Not that he particularly liked thinking about the fact that he and Charisa had both turned fifty earlier that year. He wasn't sure how he felt about the number besides grateful to be alive, and a little unsure as to if he felt old, or not. It was sort of as if he was due for a midlife crisis, but didn't really know why he should bother. His life was great, and everything he really had ever wanted: respected Alchemist, General, a string of adventures to his name, married to Charisa, with three fantastic kids who had grown up into fine people. His younger self would never have believed it would turn out this well, particularly not during some of the rockiest points of his adolescence. The best thing to happen to him in his life, had been the day he foolishly decided to try and pick the pocket of the man he had not realized was the Fullmetal Alchemist.
A man who had already been older than Tore was now when he took Tore in, and already through just as much or more than Tore had been through in that time. It was weird to realize that the majority of the major wars Edward and Alphonse had taken part in had occurred at or after the age of fifty. Age was definitely relative.
Edward was also a man Tore almost had to fight to get through the crowd to see. It was a good thing that no one was attempting to sit around a dinner table, or stand on ceremony. As it was, they were still crowded with everyone who really wanted to see them, or have a word, or listen to a story.
Tore decided that outside of the brief hello on arrival, it would be best to wait until there were fewer people to try and have any meaningful conversation with Edward, or any of the others. Besides which, most of the things he suspected would interest Edward were things they couldn't discuss in a large group, especially full of civilians.
"You'll get plenty of time with him while he's here," Charisa spoke reassuringly and quietly beside him, as if she could read his thoughts. After this long, she probably could.
Tore gave her a squeeze with the arm he had around her shoulders. "I'm sure. Let's get some food before it's all gone."
It was much later in the evening, when most of the crowd had left, that Edward finally got to ask the questions burning inside him of the few people with whom he could have that conversation. He, Alphonse, Winry, and Elicia sat around the living room with just Ethan, Lia, Sara, Franz, Cal, Alyse, Will, Ren, Tore, and Charisa. Everyone with children had gone home, and while Edward would have appreciated insight from James, Ted, Charlie, Roy, and Trisha, he could get all the military information he needed from Franz and Tore. Charisa and Sara could likely supply all of the rest.
Though he definitely wanted to have a longer conversation with Rosa about her use of alchemy in firefighting at some point during their visit.
"All right, Dad," Sara said with a knowing smile. "We know you've been keeping a rein on your tongue all night, and I'm honestly impressed. What do you want to know?"
Edward did not bother to ask if it was that obvious. The answer was clearly yes, because everyone here knew him. "Well, the first thing I'd like to know more about is the reopening of the border with Drachma. Other than a possible timeline, the news has had nothing but hypotheses, and if there's that much being nosed around in the public then there's always more actually going on at HQ, and that means we're gearing up for talks with the G.R.I.D."
Edward had managed not to laugh out loud when he first heard how the name of the new Drachman over-government translated, which came out to the Government Representative of Independent Drachmas. Not that the four Drachman States all went by some variation of Drachma anymore, in fact, they had all chosen new names that were either references to old names of provinces, or new designations. Mihalov's western provinces were now the State of Meteli. Marskaya's eastern provinces were Vostoch. The northern provinces went by Severny, and the central valley provinces were now Dolinn. Petrayevka, situated at the point where all four ostensibly met, had remained the capitol, though to get there from Amestris, you would spend almost the entire train-ride going through the Dolinn valley.
Franz nodded, confirming Edward's presumptions. "We have been communicating with the Presidential Council to arrange in-person diplomatic talks now that the negotiations for re-opening the border are almost concluded. Mihalov assured Anastas just yesterday that they have chosen their new ambassadors to send to Central, and that they are ready to host not only a full new set of Ambassadors in Petrayevka, but would like to host a full delegation as a sign of welcome and good will."
"Which, of course, your intelligence checks out."
"Of course."
"Do we know who Anastas is planning to send?" asked Alphonse.
To Edward's surprise it was Charisa who answered. "We're working on it. Since diplomacy is not entirely a military matter, the Assembly has had a primary hand in choosing the new Embassy, as well as deciding who will be going as formal guests for the primary talks, which will be held first in Drachma, and then Amestris will host a Drachman delegation in return, with the larger Summit."
Tore grinned proudly. "The first thing they did was name Charisa head of the delegation."
"I can't think of anyone better suited to it," Edward grinned. After all, international diplomacy was precisely what Charisa had studied for and worked towards for years. Sending an experienced, and capable, member of the Assembly was precisely the way to go here. Her being Breda's daughter didn't hurt anything, but she had gotten here on her own merits. "Does that mean you're getting dragged along?" he looked at his foster son.
Tore shook his head and shrugged. "Nope. I think they decided that after how complicated things got the last time I was on a diplomatic mission to Drachma, they'd be smarter to leave me home. That, and anything short of a war we really can't leave my desk unoccupied that long." Tore sounded a bit disappointed, and Edward couldn't blame him. He half wished he could go, even though he knew there was no way they would send him, and as cold as it was now, he didn't think his body would handle it well.
As it was, he was grateful that Ethan and Lia were keeping the house a little warmer than usual, and had opted for a festive fire in the fireplace, just to keep him comfortable. Okay, so they all ached more in the winter these days, but they didn't have to say anything for Edward to know they were also trying to spare his feelings.
"What happened then was hardly your fault." Sara shook her head. "That all turned out to be part of the same plot that turned in to the civil war."
"True, but people don't seem to ever remember all the details." Tore shrugged. "It's fine. I can think of far more romantic places to go with Charisa that don't require multiple layers of clothes just to stay comfortable, and don't involve the risk of international diplomatic incidents."
"Anyplace where swimwear is comfortable is generally my vote." Cal grinned, and Alyse poked him in the shoulder.
"You can swim in Drachma," Sara chimed in. "But you'd better like it frigid, or live near a hot spring."
"Though we're getting far afield of the answers to Edward's questions," Charisa pointed out. "As far as what's been decided, the border will be reopening officially at the New Year, and citizens will be able to travel across the border again with new trip-specific papers, that need to be approved by the government at least a week in advance of departure, and approved by both governments. The border agencies have authority in most of these matters for general everyday travel, and for confirming trade is abiding by the new rules as they are established. More high-profile persons will require approval higher up the ladder, so there are no surprise visits from people of high authority from other countries."
"Like foreign generals." Ethan nodded. "Because we know how much any government likes having other people's military geniuses running around their countryside unsupervised."
Edward smirked. "Hey, we were supervised… usually."
"Some of us were even invited, eventually." Cal shrugged. "I've seen enough snow, ice, and mountain wilds to last me a lifetime."
"Don't worry." Charisa smiled at him. "You are definitely not being considered."
"At least families will be able to visit across the border again," Alyse pointed out. "I know Gloria and Alexei have been eager to go see Alexei's relatives again."
"Ted told me that Anika has already been asking about when they might be able to go visit her family." Sara nodded, sipping from her cup of coffee. "Other than letters, and a couple of international calls, she hasn't been able to speak to them or see them since the war, and she really wants to introduce the kids to the rest of their family."
"I'm sure the Marskayas are just as excited about the possibility of seeing her." Winry smiled. "And I bet the General can't wait to meet his other grandsons."
"Will they let Ted across the border?" Edward found himself asking. After all, he had caused a lot of very real chaos that both Marskaya and Mihalov knew about quite well when he had been there. Of course, it had mostly been in their aid and defense, so he might actually be in better shape there than one might imagine. "Or would the better question be, will Amestris let Ted cross the border?"
"It shouldn't be a problem now," Franz replied. "He's managed to be a model officer for long enough that no one's really watching him closely anymore outside of his own supervisor." He nodded at Tore, who picked up the rest of the answer.
"He survived without getting court martialed, and he and his team have handled quite a few handy little missions cleaning up the borders since then, and rounding up a few Zinovek remnants that tried to sneak over the border and hide or come through Amestris, as well as plenty of other more standard missions. Once the hold on any promotions ended and he made Colonel, things calmed down. At least, the upper brass stopped breathing down my neck wanting to check in on him even though he's one of my men." It was clear how Tore felt about that kind of interference with the State Alchemists. "There's no reason to deny them the paperwork to make a visit to see family. We just need to handle it carefully more because of who Anika's family is, than Ted, honestly. We've spent the past four years trying to make sure people forget that her father is the Marskaya sitting in one of the four most powerful spots in the Drachman government, just so they can have some peace as a family. It's tough enough still on the few Drachmans who have chosen to settle in Amestris, given there are still anti-Drachman sentiments among some factions of the population."
"Are people still bothering them?" Elicia asked, concerned.
Tore shook his head. "Not at Headquarters. At least, not directly. Especially once Ted made Colonel. Anika's also done an impressive job of blending in to the local population. Not that we're all that different from Drachma really, but she can almost completely cover her accent on command at this point. Though of course she's insisted the boys be fully bi-lingual."
"I noticed that this evening," Edward nodded. While the baby wasn't really speaking yet, Nikolai had been happy to babble at Edward in Amestrian and then—upon discovering his great-grandfather did understand and speak Drachman—had started jumping between the two languages with fluent ease. "I hope they get to visit soon." He sat back, and took a sip of his own cup of steaming after-dinner coffee. "Now, I know what we're doing, and honestly, I'm grateful to hear that things are going well with forging new relations with this new version of Drachma. The G.R.I.D. sounds like its doing everything we wanted the Drachman government to be doing for the past few decades. But that's just us and one country. When we helped end the Drachman civil war though, we made new alliances and agreements with several other countries. Are their plans towards Drachma the same, or is there going to be friction there?"
At that, Will winced. "I asked Minxia and Thrakos about that the other day, and their read on the current Cretan President is they really aren't sure, but they're skeptical. He's got much more internally-focused priorities, and has voiced skepticism about renewing trade alliances with a full Drachman state, or several of them. He's also not a fan of re-opening the border, so I don't expect they will follow suit immediately."
"That's what we're getting at HQ," Franz confirmed. "Honestly, I'm not sure how the guy got appointed. He certainly would never have had a chance of Argyros hadn't stepped down before the end of his normal term."
"Things are usually better for Amestris when there's an Argyros in the chair in Creta," Edward mused. Potential friction with Creta was definitely not something he wanted to have to worry about. Not that they were likely to come to blows over it, but there had been times in the past when similar Presidents had preferred not to have as much to do with the countries outside their borders, and had limited trade, or raised the border taxes on incoming foreign goods to ridiculous levels.
"We suggested to Thrakos that maybe he should consider running." Ren smiled. "Not that I think he would seriously consider it, with all their work that has gone into preservation of historical sites, and Minxia's anthropological research, on top of the kids."
"What did he say?" Alyse asked.
"He said cows would probably fly before Creta wanted him for a leader." Ren chuckled. "Though he didn't actually say no, and he certainly sounded thoughtful. Though given how slowly Creta seems to remove leaders once they are in office, even with the next election cycle coming up, it could be a decade before someone gets enough popular support to replace the current President."
"I'm not sure Minx was happy we suggested it," Will admitted. "Being the wife of the Cretan President would come with a lot of rules and expectations that would get in the way of her work."
"Being the wife of any president gets in the way of a lot of things," Sara quipped, though she smiled at Franz. "But it's not so bad. I'm sure Thrakos and Minxia can work out for themselves if they want to consider stepping that far into politics."
"Thankfully, Aerugo, Kartos, and Xing are still on board with re-opening borders with the G.R.I.D.," Franz routed the conversation back to the rest of Edward's awaited answer. "Kartos' agreements with Mihalov and the State of Meteli set up during the war have apparently already been extended to the rest of the new Drachman states, and so Drachma finally has access to a sea port to the West, without conquering their neighbor, and Kartos is going to make a tidy profit that the Drachmans are willing to pay."
"Excellent." Edward had a soft spot for the tiny country of Kartos, ever since their mission there years back.
"Xing is, of course, eager to have their own negotiations with Drachma, and an exchange of Ambassadors and government visitors," Ren took up the thread again. "There has apparently been some tentative discussion about putting in a new railroad line between Drachma and Xing directly, which hasn't been done in generations. The last one was allowed to fall into disrepair when the two Empires were both… less agreeable than they are now."
"And Aerugo?"
"Well, when we were visiting Maes and Elena this summer, they seemed pretty positive that things were going to go smoothly," Alyse answered him. "Elena's been working them around to make sure they keep agreeing with us, and since they don't share a border with Drachma, they aren't nearly as concerned about what deals we make with them as long as we don't promise anything on their behalf."
"Once the initial discussions are taken care of, everyone is eager to get together for the larger-scale treaties and agreements that will come with the Summit coming up," Franz added. "It's like the one when we all agreed to stand together to help end the Drachman civil war, only to include Drachma so we can make a few agreements that will help keep things stable across the continent for, well, hopefully more than a handful of years at a time."
Wouldn't that be nice?
"Any other burning questions, Dad?" Sara looked pointedly at him.
"Not about our borders," Edward replied, chuckling, though it was spoiled by a jaw-cracking yawn he covered with one hand. "I've got about a million questions about how the aviation program is going, but I'd like to pick Charlie's brain about that as much as anyone's, since he's the one actually working on the things." Though many of his questions were related to policy, current and future, and not just in Amestris. Edward might be old, but he still had his full faculties. He'd bet a fish could learn to sing opera before he would believe that the rest of the countries were not also involved in—if not already developing—their own aircraft. No one would be willing to just let Amestris have air superiority and the only planes.
His yawn set off a smattering of others around the room.
"It is getting awfully late," Alyse commented. "Are you ready to go?"
Elicia nodded. "Sleep sounds like an excellent idea. Yes, let's get back to your place."
"And that's our cue." Sara smiled. "Don't forget, Mom, Dad, dinner at our place tomorrow."
"We wouldn't miss it," Winry promised.
"See you tomorrow." Edward accepted the firm hug from his daughter, though he got handshakes from everyone else who was leaving except Alyse, who hugged him too. Not that Edward felt he needed a hug from his son-in-law. While he and Franz were on perfectly good speaking terms these days, there seemed to be an unspoken step of deference there ever since their big fight after the end of the war in Drachma. Edward wondered if Franz had ever fully forgiven himself for punching Edward in the face. Not that Edward really blamed him for it anymore either, no matter how much it had hurt. It wasn't that unusual for people to want to punch him.
Very quickly the only people left in the house were himself, Winry, Ethan, and Lia.
"Do you need anything else for your room?" Lia asked as she removed the last few coffee cups sitting around and took them towards the kitchen.
"No, I think everything's in place, as usual," Winry assured her. "If not, unless you've rearranged the closets recently, I'm sure we can find anything we might have forgotten to mention."
"Well, we did clean them out and reorganize them a year or so ago," Ethan replied, but he grinned. "Not that anything we kept really moved into a different closet. You ou should have an easier time finding anything as long as you look where you think it should be."
"It's been much easier now that it's just the two of us most of the year," Lia admitted as she returned. "Though I don't know how you did it, living here with just the two of you. It's been so quiet."
Edward couldn't help a short, sharp bark of a laugh. "That's because we never really lived in here alone. The emptiest the house ever got was while you two were living in Xing, and the only one here with us was Tore." That had been a very long time ago. "It wasn't until we built the house in Resembool and moved down there that we ever spent much time living alone, and then the house still almost wasn't entirely empty because we'd have family dropping by every day if we weren't over at Aldon and Cassie's." Then Alphonse and Elicia had finally joined them full time.
"So, what you're saying is we either need to adopt a random alchemist off the street, or we're not inviting enough family to town." Lia smiled. "I should have thought of that. This house just feels so big with only two people, and I don't think we're ever going to convince any of the kids to move back to Central full time and take up residence. Not anytime in the near future. Lily and Randy are fairly well established in East City and quite happy. Eamon and Viviana are loving their work in Creta, and they just purchased a lovely little house near the coast that Eamon can't wait to show us when we visit for the baby… and Aeddan's really hitting his stride with his coaching job in West City. He's got an apartment, and a roommate to split with, and he's made a lot of friends."
"Is that a romantic roommate or just a pay-the-bills roommate?" Edward asked curiously.
"According to Aeddan, it's just a friend from work," Ethan replied with a shrug. "He's not really looking for a serious relationship right now, and given the crazy hours he keeps with teaching, coaching, and games, it's a reasonable choice."
"But they're all happy where they are," Lia brought it back around to her original point.
"Are you thinking about moving someplace smaller?" Winry asked.
"We've sort of discussed it, in the few spare moments we have in a week," Ethan admitted. "But not too seriously. It's so useful for nights like tonight, when we want to have huge swathes of the family over all at once and need someplace to fit them, or when we do have family holidays where everyone comes to Central. If we sold the house and downsized, not only would it not be in the family anymore, but it would be a lot harder to fit everyone."
"Don't feel like you need to keep it for our sakes." Winry smiled gently. "It was a wonderful house to raise you in, and for you to raise your children in, but if no one in the family wants it, you don't have to keep it just for occasional convenience. Have you asked if anyone besides your kids wants it?"
Ethan shook his head. "Not yet. I admit I've thought about seeing if Ian's interested. I know they love that two-story apartment he's had for years, but with the kids, I don't wonder if they might not like more space, and a yard to toss them out in. It's a quiet enough neighborhood and you know no one would come around and bother him for being a celebrity. He'd just be another Elric in the house."
"That sounds like its worth asking about." Winry nodded. "Certainly, most of the other large families we know already have places."
Edward couldn't think of anyone else right off the top of his head either. Charlie and Shelby had Alphonse and Elicia's old place, which was even a bit crowded with the family of six but wasn't much smaller than this house. Sara and Franz were still living in the house that had once belonged to Maes and Gracia Hughes, with James' entire family of four. So that house was still pleasantly full as it should be. Ted an Anika had bought their cute house that, while a bit smaller than this one, still very comfortably fit their little family of four. "And if no one wants it, sell it and get someplace that fits your life better. At least, I assume you're still planning to stay in Central?" Not that he would mind if they wanted to say, come down to Resembool.
"Oh, we're staying," Ethan replied emphatically. "I have no intention of retiring from the practice yet, and the University would be mortified if Lia retired from training teachers in the near future."
"They'll be mortified whenever I retire." Lia looked pleased at the compliment though. "They already panicked when I told them I need a sabbatical this semester since we're going to need at least a couple of months just to get to and from Eamon's place, and be there when the baby comes, and to help out for a few weeks."
"And enjoy a long-overdue little romantic getaway in that lovely seaside paradise." Ethan slipped his arm around Lia's shoulders.
Edward grinned. "Definitely something you should make time for. Especially since I recall you have another huge project starting up this spring. Something about opening your own pharmaceutical production facility in Resembool." Of course, he knew full well that something, because Urey had been telling him before he left about how he and Ethan had decided that it would be productive to start their own full-time lab for additional research, patent, and production of further medical advances specifically when it came to pharmaceuticals. Ethan had gotten good money for the original formula for the drug he had produced that was Edward friendly, that was now out on the market in two or three versions from different companies. However, that was out. Right now, he had a limited deal, but had kept ownership of the formula for, the new adjusted painkillers designed to work on the more complex pains Cal had dealt with due to his partial paralysis. They wanted to design multiple variations, because the difficulty with pain for paralysis patients was that often it did not respond to traditional pain medications, or less effectively, and complex cocktails were not always the safest answer.
Safe and effective pain management had been a large part of Cal's ability to push through and improve over the last few years, and that medication had already proven effective in other patients as well. Though Urey's enthusiastic babble had included branching out from just pain medication to other forms of medicines—more natural where possible, but less dangerous in all cases—to help improve people's lives in both short-term and long-term situations.
Ethan nodded. "I'm sure Urey's been talking your ear off, but yes, we got permission from the Resembool city management office to build a small facility on land right next to the hospital, and if all goes well, we'll have the land purchased before we leave on our trip. Our old buddy Mars Leighton has already drawn up the architectural plans for me, and as soon as the weather's good in the spring, construction will begin. Once it's built, we'll hire appropriate personnel, and Urey will be our on-the-ground management in Resembool."
Which was what Urey and Ethan had talked about years ago, except that the original plan had involved Urey moving to Central. That, of course, had been violently derailed when his first wife had died giving birth to Yurian. A lot had changed for Urey since then. "It sounds great. I hope that means you'll visit a little more often." Edward grinned.
"I'm sure you'll see us down there a little more," Ethan promised. "Though I hope you know how happy we are you made it up here. It's good to see you."
"Well, we'd come more often if your mother wasn't such a worry-wart," Edward quipped, jokingly.
"I wouldn't have to worry if you would sensibly stop trying to act as if you're still thirty." Winry sniped back, though there was no venom in it. She just shook her head, and then covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. "Like staying up until all hours. Look at us. We should definitely be in bed."
"We will leave you to it." Ethan smiled. "Sleep well, Mom, Dad. See you in the morning."
Edward braced himself against the arms of the chair and stood before someone could try and offer him a hand up. Stiff or not. Aching or not. He was not about to be coddled.
Or at least, that was what he told himself, but it was kind of nice to find that they had pre-warmed the bedroom, and the bed, with an additional space heater and a warming bag under the blankets. "I'm not sure if I should just be grateful, or insulted that this seems necessary," he grumped a little as he changed into his favorite winter set of black-and-red plaid fleece pajamas.
"It looks to me like your son the doctor knows exactly what you need to be comfortable, and you should just accept it and be grateful," Winry insisted. "I know my joints appreciate the added warmth, and the fact that if your auto-mail isn't cold it makes sleeping better for both of us. But, if it makes you feel better, you can assume this is all for me, and not both of us."
Winry had already changed into a long, warm pale-blue nightgown before he was halfway done, and was crawling under the covers.
Edward sighed. "As usual, you make a good point."
"Just one?" Winry smiled coyly.
"All right, several." Edward pulled back the covers, turned off the lamp, and crawled in beside her. The warmth that washed over him as he settled in was delightfully soothing, even after spending the entire evening in the warm living room. "It's nice to know they care enough to go through all the trouble."
Winry snuggled in closer. "And because they care, I'm sure Ethan would tell you it's no trouble at all."
January 2, 2023 Author's Note: Happy New Year! New year, new story. Yes, this one has a fairly large time jump (almost four years) from the last one. Been a while since we did a jump that big, but the four years between were not offering up much in the way of gripping plotline. The jump revitalized things, and I hope you enjoy the ride. This story promises to have adventure, drama, danger, politics, along with the usual hints of slice-of-life subplots, though we'll have a little less of those than in recent story.