Chapter 21

When Roy woke up he was alone. He got up to search for Flynn, finding her in his study at his desk. She was furiously scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad. Balled up pieces of paper littered his desk and the floor around it. Obviously she had been crying because her face was still streaked with tears and her eyes were red and puffy.

"Flynn?" he called, but she didn't hear him. "Flynn!"

"What?" she inquired, raising her sad eyes to him.

Damn, she was a wreck. He immediately wanted to whip the ass of the blond next door. Maybe two blonds, including the one who showed up on their doorstep last night to suddenly throw this woman's life into a tail spin.

"What are you doing?" he asked, walking over to her.

"I'm just trying to work this out. I keep going over this in my head, but I'm just so confused. I love him, Roy. I don't want to end things over one bad decision that happened so long ago. But I don't know how to deal with this," she said, laying her head on the desk.

Roy sat down on the desk, stroking her dark auburn hair. He wished there was something he could do to take it all away.

Flynn sighed when she felt the comforting gesture. She raised her head, rubbing her temples. Her head hurt from crying so much. The shock was beginning to wear off from the abrupt and unwelcome arrival of the past. The pain was starting to set in. It hurt so much she was actually having chest pains. After this, the numbness would arrive and that was what she longed for. To feel nothing at all. Then she could think – she could figure this out.

"I'll go home after Ed leaves and probably stay there all day until he comes home," she informed him in a toneless voice.

"All right, honey. Anything you need, just ask me," he said, cupping her cheek with his hand.

"When I figure out what I need, I'll let you know," she stated flatly, standing up. She was halfway to the door when she unexpectedly turned and walked back to him.

Roy stared at her when she shoved his knees apart and stood in between his legs. He closed his eyes as she leaned into him, pressing her lips against his. He placed his hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him. Temptation was knocking at his door and screaming for attention. It would be so easy to give in.

"Flynn, this is how it happened for him," he whispered in her ear. "Ed was hurt and needed someone. She just happened to be there."

Flynn unleashed a stinging slap against his cheek, jerking out of his hands to walk away. She screamed when he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her back into his arms. She couldn't move because he had her trapped in a bear hug.

"Let me go, Roy Mustang!" she screamed, struggling in his arms.

"I didn't say that to hurt you. You just need to understand."

"I understand, Roy, but it doesn't make the pain go away!" Flynn went completely limp in his arms. When he relaxed his hold on her, she dropped down to the floor to get away from him.

"Dammit! How did you do that?"

"It's a trick I learned from the kids. They would do that to me to get out of my grip. It's nearly impossible to hang on to someone when they do that. Speaking of kids, I'm going home. I don't care if he is there. I need to see my babies," she said, walking to the door.

"Good girl," he said to himself as he watched her go. He might be a manipulative bastard, but sometimes it was a good thing.

Flynn walked next door to her house through the backyard route Roy always used to come over. She used the back door because she knew it would be unlocked. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ed sitting at the table in the kitchen. He looked as bad as she felt with his hair a mess and dark circles under his eyes. She silently went to the coffee pot and began preparing coffee for them.

"Flynn," Ed called, his voice quiet, almost weak sounding.

Flynn refused to answer, busying herself with preparing breakfast. She felt his hand on her shoulder her body stiffening under his touch. Nausea tried to blossom within her, and she forced the feeling away. She shrugged off his hand and continued with her regular morning routine.

"She's gone. They left about an hour ago. I-I don't know what to do, Flynn," he said, still standing in the same spot behind her.

"That makes two of us, Ed," she responded coldly, slamming the oven door closed. "I'm going to wake the children up. Life must go on."

"Will it?" he asked, staring at her with his huge golden eyes when she turned around to face him.

"With or without you, it will," she stated with a hard edge to her voice.

"Please! Please don't do that!" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees in front of her and grabbing her around the waist.

"I'm not doing anything yet. Let me go."

The day was long and Flynn carried on with their usual activities. The daily routine offered some comfort with its mundane predictability. When Ed came home for lunch, she went outside to work in her garden while he and the children ate together.

"Mama, aren't you going to eat?" Keegan asked when he joined her later as she was fervently weeding a patch of flowers.

"No, baby. I'm not feeling very well," she answered which was the truth.

"Mama, is Daddy sick too?" he queried curiously.

"Yes, sweetheart. Don't worry. We'll get over it and everything will be fine," she assured him.

"Does it have something to do with that woman that showed up? Who was that little boy? Are you going to leave Daddy, Mama? Will you get a divorce?"

Flynn clawed at the ground, fighting to keep control. She wanted to scream at the child, but she understood his curiosity and panic. She hung her head to hide the tears that leaked out of the corner of her eyes.

"Keegan, sweetheart, please. All I can tell you is things will be okay," she murmured in a low voice.

"Mom! There's something wrong with one of Mirabelle's kittens," Alastair wailed, running toward her.

"Oh, god," Flynn moaned, getting up to see what the problem could be.

A big tear rolled down the strawberry blond's face as he held the small furry body between his palms. He was reluctantly opened his hands to allow his mom to see. He watched as she checked over the cold, stiff little body.

"Oh, no!" she gasped when she saw the two holes side by side in the poor little thing's neck. A snake! "Keegan! Get out of the garden!"

"What's wrong?" Ed asked, coming out the back door with Quinn around his neck.

"There's a snake around here somewhere. It killed one of the kittens," she said, showing him the pitiful tiny victim.

Ed put Quinn down at his feet, and she immediately attached herself to his leg. He took the kitten from his wife and covered it with both of his hands. A white flash went out from his hands and the sound of meowing could be heard from between his palms.

"Ed," Flynn gasped.

"Daddy!" Alastair yelled, taking the now alive kitten from his father. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"I'd do anything to make my family happy," Ed stated flatly, staring at Flynn.

"Too bad alchemy doesn't heal broken hearts or change the past," she said, glaring back at him. "There's a snake in the garden that needs to be found and killed."

Without taking his eyes from hers, Ed replied, "I agree. I'll get right on that."

"Where are you going?" Ed asked when his wife was about to walk out of the back door. They had just finished getting the children to bed, and it was late.

"I'm going next door to spend the night with Mustang," she answered bluntly. She had decided to leave the children at home to keep from upsetting their lives as much as possible. Her eyes remained locked on Ed's as he stared at her in disbelief.

"Are you serious? You're going to spend the night with him?" he inquired incredulously unable to believe what he had just heard.

"I don't want to stay here with you," she replied bluntly almost cruelly.

"You're still that angry?"

"Yes, I am. Ed, I spent my whole life devoted to you and only you. I loved you and no one else ever once we admitted our feelings for each other. I also know what it's like to do stupid things you regret when you're hurting emotionally. Not once in ten years did occur to you to tell me? Just tell me one thing, Ed, did you know? Did you know about the child?"

"Yes, I knew. She sent me a letter as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Flynn, what was I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, honey, I was upset over you being crazy as a damn loon so I screwed another woman to make myself feel better. And as if that weren't bad enough, she's pregnant too! Dammit!" Ed yelled when she was suddenly right in front of him. He covered his face, but it was too late; her fist crashed into his jaw with so much strength and force it knocked him on his butt.

Flynn swept out of the door, but didn't slam it behind her because she didn't want to wake the children. She took her time walking next door to give herself a chance to calm down. She sat down in one of the chairs on Roy's back porch staring at the full moon. What the hell was she doing here? Being here could only cause more problems. She was in grave danger of committing the same mistake Ed did years ago. Being with the wrong person at the wrong time; or maybe even being with the right person at the wrong time. It always led to relationship disaster. She was just getting up to leave to return home when Roy opened his back door and poked out his head.

"Are you coming in?" he asked, walking out to her. He was wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants.

"N – I, uh…yeah, I'm coming in," she replied, taking the hand he held out to her. This was the beginning of the end. Or maybe the end of one thing and beginning of another.

Roy silently led her to his bedroom. He knew why she had returned; there was only one reason. He turned her toward him, taking her face in his hands as he stared down into her gorgeous green eyes before he lowered his lips to hers. His kiss was tender and light, undemanding. He felt her hands rest on his hips, smiling against her lips when he felt her pinkies slide beneath the waistband of his low slung pajama bottoms.

Flynn hit the point of emotional numbness at the worst possible time. She could now completely convince herself that having sex with Roy Mustang was perfectly all right by using a logical argument. It might be flawed logic to some but cold hard thinking none the less. She was only doing what was necessary to get herself through this unexpected and terrible occurrence in her otherwise perfect marriage and perfect life. She and Roy had been circling around each other for years and the one time Roy got close to admitting his feelings, Ed got in the way. Edward Elric! Then that asshole not only cheats on her, but has another child, and tries to hide it. Thanks for the emotional atom bomb that you had been hiding for years, Ed. It finally exploded last night and damn the fall out. She actually felt bad for Winry and the child. They were innocent victims in this mess too. They had been left alone and deserted for all those years while he led a wonderful life. How could this possibly make Edmund, his first child, feel? Shunned and rejected while his father went on to have more children to completely forget about him. And Winry? Just used and tossed aside. Oh, my god!

"Flynn? Honey, where are you?" Roy asked, tilting her chin up to look at him.

"Oh, my god, Roy! Ed's an asshole!" she exclaimed as if it were some startling revelation she had just stumbled upon.

"You're just now realizing what I've known for years? You know, I might be a depraved jerk but at least I don't try to hide it. Oh, sweetheart," he murmured, pulling her against his bare chest to hold her.

"Roy, make love to me. Please, I need you tonight," she said, running her fingers through his hair.

Without a word, Roy lowered his lips to hers for a brief kiss. He pulled her dress over her head, revealing that she had absolutely nothing on underneath, not even a pair of panties. His fingers brushed over her nipples immediately making them hard and bringing a moan from her lips. His hands covered her breasts as his lips claimed hers again. He groaned when he felt her slide the rest of her fingers into his pajamas and push them down then use her foot to push the pants the rest of the way to the floor. He took her to the bed, laying down first then pulling her down on top of him.

Flynn held his gaze as she straddled his hips, feeling his member twitch and move under her. She raised his hand to her mouth, kissing each one of his fingertips. Her eyes remained locked on his which fluttered closed when she slid his finger into her mouth. She popped it out, moving his hand down to her breast and using it to trace her nipple. He watched with undivided attention, his eyes not moving back to her face until she dropped his hand and leaned forward.

"Are you ready? We've both waited for this for a long time," she said, kissing him briefly.

"Yes. I'm ready. You were worth the wait, Flynn. I just hated it had to happen this way," he stated sincerely. The moment was indeed bittersweet because he was finally getting what he wanted, but it came at the price of her broken heart.

Flynn moved to take him inside of her, easing down inch by inch as they watched each other's faces, curious to see the emotions there. She never imagined it would be like this with him. She always pictured it as a sloppy dirty event that would be purely animalistic and devoid of emotion. This was almost overwhelming and disturbingly poignant. She felt his hands on her waist, moving her slowly as he looked at her with gentle, loving eyes. He really did love her and it showed. She took over and began moving her hips because his hands could be better used somewhere else. Her eyes closed so she could concentrate solely on his soft hands moving over her body; caressing her breasts, stroking her neck, brushing across her belly. He was so sweet and tender with her, a completely amazing lover unlike the brutish almost cruel man she had imagined – that it sounded like he was all those years she had to listen to it through the wall. She felt his fingers clenching into her thighs, and she looked down at him. He was biting his lower lip and staring at her with a pleading, almost pained look on his face.

"Go ahead, Roy. You can make love to me again later and please me," she whispered, sliding her hands down his neck and chest. She watched as he closed his eyes, thrusting his hips up at her. Her eyes covetously drank in the sight of him as he came closer and closer to his climax. He opened his mouth to call out her name, his body shaking then convulsing uncontrollably under her. She watched the whole thing and she enjoyed it. Knowing she had done that to him as he lay beneath her trembling slightly and occasionally jerking as another ripple of pleasure wracked his body, thrilled her immensely. He had finally gotten what he had wanted all these years, and it was incredible. Next time it would be her turn.