Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Theme 041: Big Leap

His suitcase was slung over his shoulder, his foot tapping impatiently on the platform as he waited for his train to arrive. The dawn light was just barely cracking over the horizon but he couldn't bring himself to be fatigued with his gut twisting the way it was.

Winry hadn't called him and he was beginning to really worry. It wasn't like the mechanic to go back on her words so easily; she had always been the one out of the three of them to call back when she said she would. He knew it was Friday today, ever since the clock struck twelve, but the majority of the residents in Rush Valley began to function at seven o' clock sharp. It was currently two in the morning...

His train finally came to a screeching halt, the doors flying open as the conductors left the train to refill. He wasted no time entering, placing his luggage on the floor as he waited for the train to reload and continue on its path.

She had sounded terrible over the phone. There was a weakness in her words, a loud static that alerted him of her heavy breathing. He had been seriously contemplating just ditching Mustang's nightly lift to his apartment in exchange for a one-way ticket to Rush Valley when she, once again, read his thoughts and warned him against it.

The sun was just rising when he made it to Rush Valley and, for once, he hated the lag of the train as it slowed and prepared to open its doors. He had just barely restrained himself from running through the small crowd that had taken the early train to the same location.

His steps were memorized, every single one purposeful as the sun continued its ascend and the heat began to make itself known. The shop, thankfully, was just ahead, and he found himself nearly running to it.

"Oh, Edward!" Garfiel blinked sleepily, after a few loud pounds on the door had woken him. "Such a wonder that you're here so early this time! Come in, come in." The man yawned.

"Is Winry alright?" He asked, automatically.

"Winry? Why, she's just fine, why do you ask?" Garfiel rose a brow. "Something the matter with her?"

Ed frowned. He felt his stomach slowly begin to unwind. Garfiel practically lived with her, he would know if something were wrong, right? "Nah, she just sounded a little sick over the phone..."

"Aw, how sweet! Did you come all the way from Central to come see if my little Winnie is doing fine?" Garfiel gushed. "You're such a sweetheart!"

Ed scowled. "Yeah, yeah, save it for someone who cares!"

Garfiel pouted. "You're such a hard ass, too!"

"Hey! Watch who you're saying that to!" Ed snapped.

Garfiel rolled his eyes theatrically. "My apologies, Major Elric." He sidled up to Ed, causing him to go rigid. "You know, I do love a man in uniform..." He batted his lashes.

"I think I'm gonna' be sick..." Ed wheezed out, scrambling away from the laughing man and running up the stairs in his haste. Scowling when he still heard Garfiel's laugh, he fixed his black overcoat on his body and pushed through the door he knew led to Winry's bedroom.

The curtains were drawn, the room silent, and he was relieved to find her chest rising up and down rhythmically. He neared her, kneeling down and placing an un-gloved hand across her forehead. He frowned when he noticed she was running a small fever.

"Ed?" Winry blinked her eyes sleepily, becoming more awake when she realized she wasn't hallucinating. "Edward!" She sat up, holding her head against a rush of dizziness. The doctor had warned her she would have some sensitivity toward light, as well as a few more minor setbacks. The doctor had also said that the daily vitamin intake should relieve most of the unsightly symptoms of what she had been diagnosed with...

Her eyes suddenly widened, face draining of color.

"You're running a fever." He told her, voice disapproving. "Winry, did you go to the doctor?"

"Yes... I-I said I would, didn't I?" She mumbled.

"How come you didn't call back then?"

"Oh, I just forgot. I was busy." She dismissed, not meeting his gaze. "Sorry..."

Edward felt his lips tug into another scowl. He knew when she lied and she was lying through her teeth at the moment! "So? What'd the doctor say?"

"Just a stomach bug." She insisted, unsure she would be able to ever really tell him what the doctor had told her. "She just said to drink some stomach medicine and I'll be fine!"

"Really?" Ed said, skeptically. His hand reached for the bottle sitting on her nightstand. "Then how come you have prescribed vitamins right here?"

She stared at the bottle. She cursed Ed's perceptiveness. "Those are just for me!"

"You never took vitamins before, what's the occasion now?" He tossed the bottle between his hands, eyes trained on her intensely. Winry sat up straighter, her hand touching her stomach despite herself. She could feel her face betray her, start to twist into what one would identify as anxiety and fear, and Edward paused his game to scrutinize the expression.

"Win," he began, slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Just..." She swallowed, thickly. This was bad. "I..."

"Winry." All humor had drained, leaving graveness in its path. "What's wrong? Win...?"

"I..." She shakily breathed, looking like she was about to cry. "Don't be mad when I say it, alright?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" He shot straight up and kneeled over her bed, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Hey, whoa, what's with the tears? Winry? What's wrong? What did the doctor say?" He personally feared the worst. An old ache came back, his chest heavy with it as she struggled with the next words.

"I'm sorry, alright? It just happened! I know we were careful, but..." She bit her lip, fisting the sheets in her hands. "I...I'm pregnant."

There was a stunned silence.

He was scarily aware that this could fall over in one of two ways. He could make this out to be a bad thing, to express his anxiety and fear at the sudden responsibility that weighed on his shoulders. He could stand up, back away, get some air and leave her alone until he managed to sort his feelings on this dilemma.

Or he could make this out to be a good thing. He could jump for joy; he could grab her by her cheeks and plant a big one on her; he could step back, stunned, before bursting into delighted laughter. He could tell her she was amazing, he could simply lean over and embrace her...

This was his choice to make.

Pregnant...

It was all in his hands now.

She's...we're going to be parents?

He needed to choose wisely.

D-dad? I'm gonna' be a dad?

A rather mystified grin curled on his lips despite his shock. He sank back on the bed, gazing unseeingly in front of him as his brain registered the word: pregnant. That meant Winry would be giving birth to his child – their son or daughter – and he suddenly felt something close to glee explode in his chest.

"You're...pregnant?" He choked, a laugh bubbling up his throat. "You're pregnant! Holy crap you're pregnant!" He grinned widely, bringing her into a tight embrace. "That-that means we're going to be parents! I'm gonna' be a dad!"

"E-Ed?" Winry began, with plain confusion. "What are you doing?"

He ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief, laughter seemingly uncontrollable as he continued to digest the news she had just dropped on him.

"Alphonse! Oh, Alphonse – we gotta' tell Al! And he has to quit whatever he's doing in Xing to come here for a while! No way am I letting him miss out on this!"

"Ed..?"

"I can't wait until I rub it in Mustang's face! I'm gonna' be a dad! Ha!"

"Edward?"

"Who else, who else—PINAKO! We have to tell the hag of the news immediately! She'll be puffing on that pipe like the devils on her heels when she hears the news!" He smirked at the thought. Not only did he have a good job with an impressive amount of pay but he also managed to skip a rather crucial step in their relationship, marriage, and move onto the family-making deal by accident.

The best fucking accident in the world! Ed thought, delightedly.

He wondered how Pinako would take that...

"ED!"

Ed paused his excited rant, grin turning into a scowl at being interrupted. "What?"

"You aren't...mad?" She asked, unsurely. "You're...okay with it? You're okay with this?"

Edward clutched her by the shoulders, tone incredulous: "Are you kidding me? Do you know what we've just done? We've done what alchemy hasn't been able to do for hundreds of years! We created life!" His hand rested on her stomach, still sounding stunned. "That's nothing to be angry about, Winry!"

She felt an overwhelming emotion surge through her. Before she could stop it, it came pouring out of her lips, loaded and adoring, as her arms wrapped around his neck and his own squeezed her around the shoulders.

"I love you." She whispered into his ear.

Again, there was that strange jerk in his chest; that odd flutter in his stomach. His grip tightened, smile softening as she clung to him. There was no better timing, no better words, than the three that had intimidated him so much in the beginning: "I... I love you, too."

They didn't sound so intimidating anymore.

"You know... granny's going to be really angry at us. We're still so young..."

"Probably, but at least Mustang has to believe that I'm sleeping with you - OW!"

"Ugh! Ed! Sometimes I think you're in love with that guy! You talk about him so much!"

"Wh-WHAT? Hell no! That's sick, Winry - who the hell would love that guy, seriously? His arrogance is enough to grate on the nerves of Al! And Alphonse is the most patient person I know!"

Winry snorted, shoving him out of the way to make her way to the bathroom. "Yeah, I believe that since he had to put up with you all of these years!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Winry? Win - hey, wait up!"

"Go keep Mr. Garfiel company - I'm going to the bathroom." Winry shot him a warning look. "And be nice!"

"But - !" Ed flinched when the door slammed shut. He scowled and turned back to the staircase that would lead to that shameless man. "... if he makes one comment on my ass, I'm outta' here." Ed swore to himself, soldiering downstairs and screaming in frustration when Garfiel told him he had the cutest ass he had ever seen.

A.N: I know this borders on Crack! toward the end, but it made absolute sense to me when I wrote this a few months ago...

Scarlett.