When Edward woke up the next morning, he was cautious, moving slowly so as to not disrupt his stomach. He was planning on trying to get some breakfast in him, beat this stupid morning sickness thing, but Roy was waiting outside his door.

"Uhm…hi?"

Roy didn't beat around the bush. "It was Jean, wasn't it? He's the father."

If Ed had been drinking anything, he would have spat it out. As it was, he choked a little bit. "What are you talking about?"

"I was up thinking about it last night, and if it was just over two weeks ago when you got pregnant, you were here when it happened…which is in itself a weird thought. Obviously, you didn't fuck Al, and it wasn't me—" Oh, Edward was blushing up a storm right now…please don't let Roy ask about it… "—and the only other person who's been over here is Jean. He came over for drinks the day after you guys moved in, actually."

Fucking hell, did he really have to deal with this right now? He just woke up! How was Edward supposed to navigate such complicated waters—he still didn't know how he was going to tell the man the truth. "Okay, look, I'm still not telling you who the father was, but I guarantee it wasn't Jean. Seriously, I'll swear on whatever's important to you that it wasn't him. He's a good looking guy and all, but I wouldn't have him fuck me. I'm not some kind of whore, you know, jumping on whatever man will take me."

Roy seemed to debate this for a moment. "I never said you were a whore. And I suppose I believe you, but it still had to have happened here, so…"

"Technically," Edward responded, "it could have happened while I was out at work, or if I went out to eat I might have met a hot waiter. Regardless, can you just…drop it?" He felt his voice getting weaker. "I really don't want to talk about it…it's just—" But he didn't get to finish his sentence, as he got that puking feeling again. Sending Roy an apologetic glance, he rushed to the bathroom.

It was irritating how familiar this view of the toilet was getting.

When he was finished, Roy was waiting there again. "I'm sorry," the man sighed. "I keep doing that to you. I guess I'm just confused about the situation…and a little curious."

"Confused?" Ed turned on the sink, cupping some water in his hand and bringing it up to his mouth to wash out the taste. "That makes two of us."

Roy looked at him for a moment before mercifully changing the subject. "Anyway, about work…you know, eventually you're going to have to take off, right?"

"Yeah," Edward sighed. That was another thing he didn't want to think about. This whole pregnancy thing was really complicated. "I know. I'm going to work for as long as I can, though. I don't want everyone knowing."

"So you're not going to tell the team?" Roy's voice took on a surprised tone.

"No," Ed decided after a long moment. "Maybe later, but quite frankly, I want to get to the point where I understand and am comfortable—or at least as comfortable as I can get—before I involve too many people, you know?"

"I'm not going to disrespect you decision on that one," Roy answered after a long pause. "But don't feel like you can't tell everyone because they'll be disgusted, or something. Believe it or not, everyone there is quite fond of you."

Edward watched his retreating back and couldn't help but smile.

It was weird, but in the office, everything was so…normal. Ed felt different, but no one was treating him oddly at all—not even Roy, who had told him to be in front of his desk in ten minutes for an assignment not too long ago. It was incredibly refreshing.

Edward made his way to Roy's office, knocking and entering once he had been told to do so. Usually, he wouldn't have bothered being this polite, but considering the man's recent kindnesses, he decided against being a little ass.

"Okay, so, what's the assignment?"

Roy sighed, twirling his pen in his hand. "There's a group of Ishbalans rebelling in East City. We want to keep it contained, but because of the location, that's proving difficult. You need to go and calm them down. With force, if necessary, but if you can just talk it out that would be better."

Ed nodded; didn't sound too difficult. He wouldn't even be going up against other alchemists. "Right. When do I leave?"

The man snorted slightly. "Five minutes ago would have been good."

The minute Edward and Al stepped off the train, it was chaos. No Ishbalans were in sight, not yet, but the crowds were moving fast, panicked, away from where the riot was located. Ready for some action—again, it was nice to feel like everything was normal—Ed sprinted that direction, bucking the trend with Alphonse in tow.

It wasn't long before they spotted a few Ishbalans, shouting and chasing a small group of Amestrians down the street. Edward didn't hesitate; he dropped to the ground, clapping his hands, and caused a rock to give one of them a vicious right hook. The man went down, but one of his partners spotted Ed, glaring. Al surprised the third and last one, engaging him in hand to hand combat while the second came at Edward.

He performed another quick transmutation, forming his classic spear out of the ground in front of him. Just in time, too—the Ishbalan came at him fast, aiming for his head. But Ed was quicker, swiping the man's arm away and then twisting his spear so the side came crashing down on the Ishbalan's neck. He crumpled.

Edward looked to see that Alphonse had taken the third one down, and then was on the move once more.

Not a minute later, two more Ishbalans crossed their path. These guys looked more dangerous, both muscular, with one holding a broken pipe and wielding it like a sword. Still, they could take them.

Ed went for the one with the pipe, leaving the bigger man to Al. He swung his spear at his target's head, but he was blocked by that pipe. Well, fine. He clapped, grabbing the damn thing with his free hand and transmuting it into dust. Took care of that quite nicely.

But while he was distracted, the Ishbalan made his move, punching Edward hard, right in the stomach.

Pain flashed like white lightning in his mind, and he gasped, finding it hard to breathe. Instinctively, he took this opportunity to slap the man upside the head with the flat end of his spear. Ed was relieved when his opponent went down; he didn't have it in him to do anything else at the moment.

He collapsed onto his knees, hand pressed against his throbbing abdomen. Al ran over. "Brother, are you okay?"

What was he supposed to say? Yeah, he was fine, he'd taken way worse hits before. But this was his stomach. Until recently, that was it, but now there was a baby growing under his fingers, crazy as that may seem, and Ed was beginning to panic with the worry that he'd just stopped that process altogether. "He hit my stomach," Edward whispered.

That was the moment when it became real for Ed. It just…clicked. Before, the word "pregnancy" was just that—a word. But now…this was a life that was inside him. His baby. Roy's baby, though the man didn't know it. The thought made him oddly warm, but also cold, considering what had just happened.

And there was nothing he could do but see Ted when he got back, and hope his baby was okay.