Chapter 5 - Days 134-135

"Where did you get this?" Riza slightly moved her finger this way and that, watching the ring twinkle in the dim light. They hadn't come any farther than the bedroom. Roy had picked her up, climbed on the bed and never ceased cradling her with his every limb. She was just as far from letting go, her finger's movement limited with how she held on to Roy's shirt.

"I've… actually had it for quite a while… well before the Promised Day," Roy confessed.

"No, I mean won't the jeweller become suspicious if you buy a ring and never officially marry?" She glanced up at him with concern. He could easily see how it overwhelmed her, flooded her mind like a tidal wave the second the dreaded topic came knocking. It was frightening to see her frightened, his ever-stoic Captain and voice of reason. She knew he was too well-known for something this significant to stay gossip-free.

"Buy? I made this," Roy laughed. Her worried frown turned into surprise. "Alchemy." Roy grinned proudly. "Only took me 64 tries."

"64?" Riza's eyes popped a little. His grin mellowed into a smile. It was good to see her focused on something else; anything else. His mind was already racing with things he could keep her busy with whenever he had to go to work. His place was a mess, but he didn't want her spending her afternoons cleaning. "Is there no formula for a ring that anyone has ever tried and published?"

"Oh, countless." Roy shrugged. "But then it wouldn't have been… us," he gently squeezed her closer, "and I wanted it to be perfect. I did buy the stone," he jerked his head at the white sapphire, "because I couldn't settle for anything that wasn't top quality."

"Please don't spend so much money on me," Riza sighed. She had almost sounded like she did in the office, almost the normal mildly-tired-of-his-inevitable-bullshit kind of tone. It made his heart soar gladly.

"It's important to me. The same goes if you don't feel like picking up your stuff any time soon. I'll buy you something," he lowered his voice almost enough for her not to hear, "sexier…"

Riza elbowed his ribs. The corner of her mouth tugged upwards, a small spark of amusement in her still puffy eyes. "I'll just have to wear your things."

"With pleasure. By the way." Roy glanced over at his armoire. The doors were open, revealing a perfectly spaced array of hung white button shirts. "Did you iron my shirts?"

Riza hesitated for a heartbeat. Her little finger played with the ring. "And your pants," she admitted quietly. "I also redid your bed. You love sleeping in new sheets," she mumbled, disappearing more and more in his chest. Roy took a deep inhale. The expanding of his chest forced her out of hiding, earning himself grumbled protests. She sought asylum elsewhere, burying her face in his neck.

"I love you too," Roy chuckled. Her grip on his shirt tightened. "So much." He pressed a long kiss to the crown of her head. "I meant what I said earlier. I'm not letting you go—"

"Thank you," Riza whispered.

His gaze softened. "Letting you go back alone – anywhere, if you don't want to. Is what I was going to say."

"Not letting go sounds good." Riza ignored his clarification, nestling even closer, drawing her legs tighter over his crossed ones, hooking onto him in any way possible. Roy responded by wrapping her up as far as his arms could reach. She was destabilising, he could feel it. Her breath was flattening, trying to hide a stutter. Her lips clamped shut. Finally, he could feel the warmth of fresh tears coating her lashes where they tickled his neck.

"Riza," Roy breathed. She sobbed mutely. He loosened his hold ever so slightly. Immediately, she scrambled to find purchase. "Riza," he murmured, rubbing her back. "I won't let you go," he promised. "You won't have to do anything alone, with or without a baby." Almost violently and entirely too suddenly, she rocked with a hiccup, sobbing again, sniffling. He knew she was upset, but he wasn't prepared for just how severely it wore her out. Already sagging, Riza desperately, futilely suffocated her sobs against his skin.

He let her. For minutes, Roy stroked down her back and hair, whispered her name. She gasped, nearly choking on it when his hand wandered down towards her abdomen. Frozen apart from the steady quiver shaking her body, Riza waited. So did Roy. He could feel her stomach tense, escape inwards.

"It's alright," he retracted his hand when fearing she'd never breathe again, "let's get this out of your system first. Take your time," he said. As if on cue, she sniffled. She was trying not to, he felt, so he resumed rubbing her back, drawing the sobs up and out of her lungs. "You've been so strong this whole time. I'm honoured to have such a selfless, faithful friend, but I never want you to shut yourself out again.

"I want to help and be there for you. And… I also wish you'd tell me if you honestly hate me for what I did—"

"No," Riza brought out past a gasping sob. It was hardly comprehensible, her head shaking negative when she could only pant and whimper. "It was—"

"Your own choice, I know," Roy relieved her. "But it doesn't eliminate that fact that I betrayed your trust in the worst way possible. I can never make up for that, but I'll do whatever I can to support you. I'll be here now and until you're ready to fill your head with happy thoughts." He bent his neck to kiss her shoulder. "It will do the baby good."

Sure enough, the word alone had Riza collapsing, any resistance crumbling as she let herself cry. It took them until the sun had set, but eventually, Roy stopped caressing her back. His neck was sticky but not wet anymore. She lifted her face off. His heart throbbed sadly just from seeing her tearstained face.

It was dark outside, the streets calm. Hayate snored peacefully in his new bed.

Riza voice mirrored her looks, hoarse and raw. It must have hurt to use it. "Will I… call you 'Roy' from now on?"

"Absolutely." Roy smirked. She lowered her gaze. Despite the redness of her cheeks, they darkened faintly. Expecting a baby but shy about his first name. He adored it wholeheartedly. "And I will call you 'love'." He kissed the bridge of her nose. Riza let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "Or 'honeybun'. Or 'babe'." She nearly snorted at that, coughing instead. Roy laughed, waiting until she settled again. She promptly punched his arm. "Honeybun it is."

"Don't you dare," she rasped.

"How about some dinner? We can't sleep on empty stomachs." He gently rucked her up. She didn't take the hint. Instead, Riza wrapped her arms around his neck, chaining him to the bed.

"I'm not hungry…" she mumbled.

"I am though." He tried again, finally loosening her grip enough to crawl forward and collect her onto his back. "And I know just the thing that'll make you want to eat too."

"Another of your own favourite desserts?"

"Better." He carried her to the kitchen, Hayate on their heels. "My favourite dessert and my favourite main dish." Roy joked. She smiled into his nape. It wasn't a laugh, but it was already so much more than just the playful sparkle in her eye. He would get there, Roy thought to himself. Already, they were on the right way.

Riza crossed her legs at his waist, hanging over his shoulder while Roy worked at the counter. When at some point he noticed her to be adjusting herself more frequently, struggling to hold on, he spun her to his front. Riza stared at him, nose to nose. He smiled gently, winding his arms around her. He would simply have to cook behind her back, be the one to hook his chin onto her shoulder.

She interrupted his plans with a peck on his lips. Stunned, Roy could only give a muffled mmpf. He blinked, confused why she was suddenly gone. He smiled to himself. He could feel the heat of her blush where she was hiding against his collar bone. She hadn't gone anywhere, of course.

He snaked his finger up her spine beneath her shirt, earning himself a shiver.

"I can't wait to share my bed with you every night…" Roy kissed the side of her neck. She was anxious and confounded, but how she was being this timid when wearing his ring and expecting their baby… Roy thought himself very lucky, regardless of the circumstances. Once she was feeling better, he would have his jolly time teasing her about it.

Behind her back, he resumed slicing cucumbers, arranging them on a handsomely buttered piece of bread. He had been planning on noodles or potatoes, but to reach the stove, he would have to let go. When he had six sandwiches ready, he wondered if she was asleep. He needed to lean sideways to grab a plate.

"I can't stay," Riza muttered. Roy's ears perked. "It will be suspicious."

"It won't be," Roy assured. After all those tears and her desperate pleas not to be let go, he simply couldn't allow her to retreat into misery all by herself. "Not with the solution I found us."

"You have?"

"I hope," he admitted. It must have sounded confident enough not to make her ask further, or perhaps she was merely too far below him on the scale of faith that anything above would do. He also had the notion that with how much she was dancing around the topic, she might not have wanted to know; tried hard to ignore it for as long as she possibly could. The solution and only the solution. In place. Never talked about lest it brought a certain someone to attention. He could wait. He had to figure out the details anyhow.

Seeing as she was awake, Roy gently detangled her ankles from around him. Sliding his hands beneath her thighs, he picked her up one last time to deposit her on a kitchen chair.

"How did you come up with something so quickly?" Riza asked. She hummed shortly when he only left after having pressed a long kiss to the crown of her head.

"Well, I did spend two nights without sleep after figuring it out so… plenty of time." Roy grinned sheepishly.

"I'm sorry," Riza mumbled.

"No, stop, you," he leant back down to kiss her forehead, nose and temple, "you're not to blame. If at all, it's me but you know as well as I that we did our utmost to prevent it." He squeezed her arms for emphasis. "No blaming yourself." He sought her gaze. He had to kneel to find it. "Only solutions, okay?"

Riza nodded. Roy smiled but it wasn't enough to get her to copy him. He rubbed her arms, stroked her hair once before kissing it again.

Opening the fridge, he then took out what would become Hayate's improvised dinner – his Friday steak. Hayate wagged his tail when their eyes drifted to him. Roy let Riza do the deed, watching fondly how she signalled her dog to sit before handing over the meat.

"How are you this calm anyway?" she piped up after a moment. She had stayed on the ground with Hayate, her legs cold from the tiles but her lap full of fur and warmth. "You can't tell me it only took you two nights to come to terms with it when you weren't even sure." A hint of jealousy laced her tone.

Roy chuckled. "Wasn't it you though who always called me a dreamer?"

Riza paused. "You… wanted this?"

"Oh, for so long." Roy didn't look up from where he was arranging their dinner – now midnight snack – on plates. He could feel the heat creep into his cheeks. "Well, I guess I'd only ever played with the thought – you, my wife. A mini version of you on your arm, in the bath, being fed some unappetising goo." He grinned. His blush was undeniable now, a fuzzy stir in his stomach. Riza sighed in the place of a full smile. "I never thought about it so seriously; about the consequences. I'm sorry you had to be confronted with them so suddenly. I wish I'd been there." He turned.

"Sorry."

"I told you not to be." Roy came back to kneel in front of her. This time, she readily met his soft gaze, her own mellowing slightly, guiltily. The frown on her forehead disappeared when Hayate leant forward. Roy moved the plate in his hands out of the way, but it was too late. Hayate had gotten a good lick of cucumber and lemon. He writhed at the sour taste. "I suppose you're not sorry either," Roy grumbled. Riza scoldingly tapped Hayate's nose but smiled. Actually smiled. Roy knew that leaving Hayate at home with her couldn't replace his comfort, but it would be the best for when he went to work.

"Don't do that," he joined in with chiding. "I'm supposed to be the dorky mischief-maker here. You're stealing all the 'getting-away-with-it's for yourself." He put a hand on his hip. Riza gave him a look. It was still a mild one, but he relished its return nonetheless.