FINALLY, AN UPDATE!! Please forgive me for my delay on updating this story. There was basically NO time to work on this. At all. So, I will probably be revising this, and past chapters, a LOT. But I thought I would get this done as soon as I could when I discovered people were actually reading this (Thanks for the reviews, BTW!!). OK, enough of my rambling. Here we go.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, and all that.

Rating: PG-13/R in later chapters, eventually coming to M-rated lemony goodness.

WARNING: Male/male, angst, slash, Edward/Hughes

Plot summary: Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes has come to a horrifying realization: he has fallen victim to Edward Elric's undeniable charm, and is in love with him!! Now that he has discovered this, what will he do about Edward? Worse yet, he now has to return home to Gracia and Elicia…!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hughes stood at the foot of the stairs that led up to his front porch, feeling horribly inclined to turn around and flee back to Central. But the idea of going back to his office meant…gulp…possibly running into Edward. And he did NOT want to think or worry about things like that. So, he had no choice but to drag himself up the stairs, one at a time. His reluctance in going home surprised and worried him. Why should he not be happy to return home? He was going back to his wife and daughter, people he loved a lot and should have enjoyed returning to. Still…Hughes stopped on the middle stair…It just doesn't feel right coming home tonight…Once at the front door, he could already smell the amazing dinner Gracia had prepared for the occasion of her husband returning home after his absence. Is that…her quiche I smell? Hughes felt his heart sink even further than it already had. She knew he loved her quiche.

Sighing, he twisted his weary face into something like one of the silly smiles he normally wore when coming home. He knocked loudly, and called out in a terribly fake jovial tone, "Knock knock! Guess who's home?" He felt his heart race as he heard the thundering of his little daughter's footsteps coming down stairs and towards the door.

The door was unlocked and thrown open, revealing Elicia Hughes' adorable face. Her green eyes sparkled with delight as she bellowed, "DADDY! DADDY! YOU'RE BACK!" She laughed cheerfully as she launched herself into her father's arms. "I missed you," Elicia said, nuzzling into the warmth of his military uniform.

Hughes chuckled weakly, and held his small child, burying his face into her light brown hair. "Missed you too, princess," he forced out of his drying throat. Then he heard light footsteps approach. He felt like his heart would break as he looked up to find his delicate wife standing in the doorway, smiling warmly. "Welcome home, Maes, dear," she said, as she gazed lovingly at her daughter and husband.

"Gracia…," Hughes began, putting down Elicia. He stepped up to his wife, and embraced her, feeling his eyes threaten to well up. "I…I missed you," he quietly said, hugging his wife close to him. Why is this so hard? I feel…guilty…

Gracia smiled, and hugged her husband tightly, then pulled away and said, "Well, Maes, dinner's ready. I made quiche; I know how much you like it. You've been away longer this time, so…I wanted to welcome you back with something I knew would make you happy." She gestured towards the dining room. "Shall we?"

~*~*~

While Gracia's cooking was undeniably delicious, and he normally devoured every last bit of his meal, tonight Maes picked at his dinner, not tasting the food he was consuming. Every so often he stole a furtive glance at his wife, waiting for the dreaded moment when she would ask about his work. Waiting for her to look at him, make eye contact, and find out her husband's hidden troubles. Waiting for her to point at him accusingly, and question his sanity. Waiting…for something-anything-to happen! Instead, his wife ate quietly, eyes cast towards her plate, except for the occasional watchful glance towards Elicia, who was noisily eating her meal, crumbs decorating her face like freckles. Finally, Gracia looked towards Hughes, and made eye contact. Her green eyes shone in the dim light of the dining room. Hughes felt his hands start to sweat slightly, and he gripped his fork tighter. He smiled nervously at his wife, whose eyes closed as she tilted her head and smiled back. Hughes' eyes widened. That tilt of the head…just like…Edward…He gripped his fork even tighter, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. No…! Nononono…Don't think about him now, now's not the time to-

"-Maes, dear?" Gracia interrupted her husband's thoughts, "You've hardly touched your quiche…aren't you hungry?"

Hearing her mother's comment, Elicia looked up from the disaster area that was her plate. Seeing her father's uneaten meal, her eyes widened. "Daddy," she began, wagging her chubby index finger at her father, "you have to eat your dinner! Or else, you won't grow up big and strong." Pointedly, she shoveled a chunk of quiche into her open mouth. "See?" she said between chews, "Id's weawy dasdy." Gracia chuckled at her daughter's innocence.

"Oh, Elicia," Gracia chided, "Daddy's already all grown up. But you still have quite some growing to do. Right, Maes?" She turned to face her husband.

Maes felt his worries melt away as he looked at his adorable daughter. He chuckled. He said gently to his daughter, "Mommy's right, Elicia. I'm allll grown up, big and strong. You, however," he said while pointing to his child, "will grow much bigger than you are, into a young lady, then you'll grow up to be an adult." He smiled at Elicia.

Elicia's eyes widened in wonder at the thought of growing up to be "an adult". She giggled to herself, as she proceeded to consume her meal. Hughes pushed his chair out from the table, picked up his plate, and disappeared into the kitchen, thankful to escape the awkward meal. He breathed a sigh of relief, and rolled up the sleeves of the button-down he had changed into. As he was about to wash off his plate, the telephone rang. Hughes looked up. Who could that be…? He walked over to the phone and picked up. "This is Hughes," he said quietly into the receiver.

"Hughes. This is Mustang," Roy's voice spoke over the line, his tone clipped and professional.

~*~*~

Hughes blanched, his defenses suddenly up. "Mustang," he began, twisting the phone cord around his index finger, "what is it? I'm busy…"

He heard Roy sigh on the other end. "Come on, Hughes. You're at home, correct?"

Hughes nodded automatically, and then quickly remembered that he was speaking to Mustang over the phone, so he said quietly, "Yes."

"So…? What did you tell Gracia? Have you decided what to do?"

"…uh…"

"…Hughes…?"

"…"

Roy sighed again, his voice now condescending, like that of a mother teaching her child right from wrong. "Hughes. You have to talk to Gracia about how you're going to put an end to this at some point."

Hughes didn't like his superior's tone. Ugh. Talk about what? I haven't even done anything yet! "I'll tell her, I just…don't have to now..." Hughes whispered, still twisting the phone cord, "And you can't tell me when to."

Roy's eyebrow rose. "On the contrary, Lieutenant, I am higher than you in rank. Or have you forgotten?"

Maes gritted his teeth, thoroughly annoyed. "Why are you pushing this? It isn't any of your business."

Roy narrowed his eyes, "It doesn't have to be. I'll interfere in any way I want. You're the one going behind your wife's back-"

"-I haven't done anything yet!" Hughes raised his voice slightly, and then lowered it again, remembering that his wife and child were in the next room. "Regardless, I will figure things out with Gracia. Eventually…" Hughes finished, releasing the phone cord and running his now free hand through his black hair.

Roy snorted. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say, Hughes," he said. Then he hung up.

Geez. What's his problem? Hanging up on me like that… Hughes thought, hanging up on his side, and returning to washing off his plate. "Jerk," Hughes muttered as he worked on cleaning his plate in the sink…

…totally oblivious to the fact that Gracia had been listening to his side of the conversation from behind the kitchen doorway.

Thanks to the review of a certain someone, I put in some emotional depth for Hughes. Next chapter will include some contemplation on his side, I think…;) Anyway, so the drama of the Hughes family begins…Let's see what happens next…