A/N: Here, instead of a TBAS update like I know you all want, have this fun little thing I whipped up for the occasion!

Disclaimer: If I owned FMAB do you think I would be making little ficlets? Seriously, this would all be a canon show if things went my way! Mwahaha

It's "Dad" Now

If Roy was going to be honest with himself he had been a bit surprised when Hawkeye stepped into the office that morning with a smile on her face as she came right up to his desk. After dropping a small load of paper onto the wooden surface to add to the decent sized one already there the woman mentioned that Edward and Winry had called to invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner the next week, and that Havoc, Rebecca, Alphonse and May would be there. The Major General had told the blonde he wasn't sure if he could because of all the paperwork he had, which had lead to Hawkeye telling him to make sure he finished all his work, because if he did he would be free for the holiday.

It was easy for Roy to see his Major wanted to go, so the man had worked tirelessly throughout the day until he completed everything, taking only one break for food when Riza had sent him death glares that told him he had to eat before she forced a meal down his throat. His efforts had certainly been worth it too, because when that day had ended he'd received the brightest smile from the blonde.

The rest of the week had gone by pretty quickly after that, what with everyone finishing up their work faster in order to start preparing for their own days off. Breda and Fuery had informed Roy they would be going home to spend time with their families, while Falman had mentioned something about heading up North- he hadn't said why, but if Mustang was going to guess, it was because he'd met someone up there during his time in Briggs, and that guess was based off the fact that he'd gone up North for holidays more than once in the last three years. Havoc had obviously already made plans to come along with the Major General and Hawkeye to the Elric household along with his girlfriend Rebecca.

Once everyone had gotten off though and it was finally time to board the train for Resembool, Roy realized he might just regret the decision to come. Because as soon as the four adults sat down, Havoc began going off happily about how he couldn't wait to show off Rebecca to Ed and Al -at which Rebecca just laughed- and how he was so glad they'd invited him too, because while he had always felt pretty close to the boys, he hadn't been sure they'd felt the same. The Major General swore the older Jean got the more he resembled Hughes in the energy department, and while it wasn't a bad thing, it was… not something he was looking forward to dealing with for the next six hours.

By the time they stepped off the train and onto the nearest wagon Roy was seriously weighing the pros and cons of cutting his ears off; really, how did Jean manage to find so much to talk about? Had he been waiting for months to speak about everything, or did every topic just suddenly manifest in his mind?

The man was only saved when they came to a stop in front of a long dirt path, to which at the end the four could see two houses side by side. The Major General recognized the first one as Mrs. Pinako's, but the second one… was a new addition. After paying the driver for his services -and a giving a little extra for doing it when he could have been home- the soldiers began their trek up the road. It took all of eight minutes and the sound of a dog -Den, if Roy remembered correctly- barking alerted those indoors of their presence.

It was May who answered the door and although the alchemist had only met with her briefly when she'd healed Riza on the Promised Day three years ago, Roy could still tell she'd grown a lot. Her face was not so round, her chest and hips more pronounced, and her hair, while still retaining the pigtail type buns and still containing an insane amount of rubber bands, was looped so it didn't hang. Her clothing was surprising to the Major General only in the fact that they were Amestrian, not the Xingese he half expected to see her in. All in all, the teen look good. When her face split into a grin and she looked over her shoulder to call for the others, Roy shook his head in amusement and continued walking until he was standing on their porch with the others waiting behind.

The second person to the door was a face Mustang certainly remembered and Roy smiled warmly as he greeted the eighteen year old. "Hey, Alphonse."

Al's own grin widened as he stepped forward and, to the alchemist's surprise, hugged Roy tightly. "Colonel! It's great to see you again! It's been so long." The blond pulled back and the dark haired man laughed lightly, agreeing while also informing the young man he was a Major General now, which earned him another quick hug in congratulations.

Alphonse went and shared his affections with the other three before leading them all inside where the smell of delicious cooking slapped everyone in the face and made them close their eyes a moment to soak it up. Roy almost choked on the fantastic scented air when he watched the kid twine his and May's fingers together and say something to her the man didn't catch that made the Xingese girl giggle. It made the man realize just how long it had been since he'd seen the younger of the Elric brothers. Even if it hadn't been in the cards to be around the blond because he'd been in Xing the Major General was coming to see pretty quickly that he had missed out on a lot of the young man's life. Granted, after the Promised Day Roy had not expected to see much of either the Elrics simply due to the fact that Alphonse had never been in the military, and Edward had retired since he'd no longer had a reason to be there, but still, part of Mustang had hoped both boys would visit more.

Roy could only recall seeing Edward twice during the summer, and that was when the kid had come to report he was back from his travels- something the alchemist was pretty sure the blond had only done it out of habit, but Roy had appreciated the visit nonetheless-, and when he had come down to Resembool for the Edward and Winry's wedding- something that still had him reeling, because he had not been expecting those two to get together as soon as they had. And while Mustang had secretly been hoping Fullmetal would come over a few more times, he'd understood when the young man had stayed away; they both had their own work to do, and besides, he was probably busy building his new life with Winry.

The wedding had also been the last time the man had seen Alphonse, and during that time, May Chang had been nowhere to be seen and Al had more or less flitted from one person to another, buzzing with excitement, and eating any and all food he was allowed. That meant Roy had spoken with the teen for maybe twenty minutes altogether before he, Hawkeye, and the others had to head back to Central. It was true everyone usually got together for Easter, Christmas and New Year's Eve, but Alphonse had been thoroughly dedicated to his research in a way even Edward hadn't been, and so while the man had seen the eldest of the brothers during those times, he hadn't had the privilege of seeing the younger.

Now though, the Major General was determined to catch up with Alphonse properly and get to know the girl who obviously held his affection while he was at it. But first, Roy and the others were given a grand tour of the house, minus the kitchen. It was very simple in design and felt a lot like Pinako's place at certain points, but there was one quality about it that Roy had not felt anywhere since the Hughes house during Christmas: It felt like the home he hadn't realized he'd been living without.

By the time the tour was over everyone's stomachs were growling silently -or in Rebecca's case, not so silently- and Alphonse brought the four of them into the living room, where they planned to chat until dinner was finished.

"Brother and Winry have been working to perfect dinner for years and have been working on it all day… although Winry has been doing most of the cooking. Brother is just there for moral support and grabbing the ingredients Winry can't reach, haha!"

That statement alone made Roy shake his head in wonder, because he still, even after three years, could not wrap his head around the idea of an average height Fullmetal.

"Well, it smells amazing." Rebecca sighed happily and both May and Havoc nodded in agreement. Riza opened her mouth to say something then, but was interrupted when a loud banging came from the one area of the house nobody had seen and Alphonse jumped to his feet and informed everyone he would check what it was.

A few minutes later the sound of clattering silverware and raised voices had the four soldiers and Xingese girl chuckling to themselves, knowing full well based on the rise and fall of certain pitches that it was more than likely Winry shouting at Edward, Ed shouting back in defense, and Alphonse trying to calmly defuse the situation.

They may have had Edward and Winry during typical holidays, but there was just something truly special about them being together and Roy smiled contently to himself as everyone around him continued chatting lightheartedly.

By the time everyone was seated at the dinner table it got quiet as food was passed around until all people had filled plates. Roy thought everything looked and smelled fantastic, and going based off the way the group else was eyeing their food and smiling at the cooks it was safe to say they felt the same too.

It wasn't until Edward went to take a bite from his food that May broke the quiet by shouting at him not to touch his plate yet.

"Why not?"

"Because," The black haired girl explained with a slight huff, "We haven't gone around the table saying what we are thankful for yet."

"Xing doesn't know much about the holiday and May was hoping to do it right since this is her first time," Alphonse explained for them and Riza nodded in understanding while Rebecca clapped her hands together from her position to Roy's right and piped up. "I think that's a great idea. I'll start! I'm thankful for my friend, Riza, who introduced me to the most decent man in Central I've ever met."

Roy groaned inwardly, already seeing where this was going, and when Havoc grinned from ear to ear the Major General wondered if face-desking into food was appropriate in a social setting. He was PDAd out since the first hour of the train ride and could hear the smooching before it even happened.

"Jeez, Becca, I'm gonna sound really cheesy now. But I'm thankful for you."

And three, two, one.

"I already knew that."

Roy rolled his eyes when he heard the telltale sound of Rebecca giving Jean a quick kiss before the next person was up was Alphonse. "I'm thankful for everyone here. You guys are like family."

May and Winry both hummed in agreement and the other two women at the table sent warm smiles their way. Next to speak was May, and the Xingese person, while never having done it before, seemed to already be pretty good at coming up with a reason to be thankful on the spot. "I am thankful for the warm welcome I'm always given when I come to this country… as well as Alphonse."

Big shock there, Roy thought slyly, watching Alphonse's face gain a pink tint to it that was priceless.

The next person on the list was Winry and Roy was smirking even before the young woman spoke, because he already had a good idea of what she would say. Sure enough, the blonde delivered. "I'm thankful for my idiot husband's help with dinner."

"Gee, thanks, Winry," Edward grumbled before his wife elbowed him in the ribs. "Or, right, it's my turn. Uh, I'm thankful for my wrench wielding maniac and Al. And I guess you guys too, cuz why not?"

How "wrench wielding maniac" came out sounding like a term of endearment, Roy did not know, but that and the last, hastily added on part, made him snort nonetheless.

Riza was the last person who would speak before him and Roy was suddenly very interested in what she had to say.

"I suppose I'm thankful for all of my friends. It's good to be with you all for the holidays."

Oh come on! You can do better than that! Roy bit his tongue to keep from saying that and instead hummed to show he at least agreed with the woman before he cleared his throat and tried to come up with something quick to say. In all honesty the man was thankful for a lot of things, but it seemed the goal of the whole sharing circle was to go with the most cliche thing, so the Major General dug deep. In the end though, sappy sarcasm just got the better of the cliche and the alchemist gave a theatrical sigh.

"I'm thankful for my subordinates, for without you, where would I be? Stuck behind a mountain of paperwork? Really, you two complete me, and I just don't know what I would do if you ever left me."

"That's too bad," Hawkeye said with an undertone of her own snark and Mustang looked at her curiously, "Because you're going to have to figure it out. I'm quitting next week."

Roy narrowed his eyes and countered her easily. "Then I guess we can finally get married and start that family. After all, better late than never, right?"

Riza looked completely unfazed as she went to answer, but was once again interrupted when Edward gave a sudden cry to draw everyone's attention to him. Roy raised an eyebrow at the nineteen year old, inquiring at the less than eloquent interruption.

"I almost forgot to mention, but that reminded me. Guess who's gonna be a dad?"

The silence that descended over the table was a touch disturbing in that while Roy and Havoc were quiet due to being shocked, the others were quiet because they were eating and seemed to be waiting for the two males to truly take the question in.

Havoc broke the silence by staring at Alphonse, who was directly across from an amused looking Rebecca. The blond was quick to throw his hands up and shake his head even while he laughed at the very idea. "Oh! no, not me!"

In his confusion of just what Fullmetal was insinuating, Roy turned to Riza for help but realized quite quickly the woman would be offering none as she continued to happily munch her turkey, seemingly oblivious to the looks the Major General was giving her. Unfortunately Edward took his attention to Riza as something else entirely and the blond snickered and elbowed Winry lightly whilst muttering, "Well, now we know what they've been doing in their free time."

"Ed!" Winry dropped her fork to smack the back of her husband's head harshly, eliciting a cackle from the young man. For his part Roy only sent a death glare the former alchemist's way, which only served to make Edward to grin wolfishly at him.

Winry calmed the situation before it could reach a boiling point though when she placed a hand gently over her flat stomach and softly said, "Roy, you're going to be a grandpa."

That statement had the teasing expression off of Edward's face in a split second as his and Roy both stared at the blonde young woman with no small amount of confusion. Roy wasn't sure where she'd gotten "grandpa" out of Edward's being a dad, but he wasn't too sure he liked the sound of it. And if the look Fullmetal wore was any indication, he seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Winry scoffed at them both of them and waved her hand in the air as if to clear away their likely dumb looks. "Oh come on, don't pretend you don't know."

"Know what, exactly?" Roy asked, still not understanding whatever it was Winry was trying to say.

Alphonse leaned forward on his elbows and answered for the woman. "You know, that you're like a dad to us."

That was a new one to Roy and he sat up a little straighter in his chair, sending a wide eyed look Ed's way. "What?!"

"Don't look at me!" Fullmetal all but shouted, throwing his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture much like Alphonse had with Havoc. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Roy sputtered, trying to figure out where that had come from. "Both your wife and brother knew this before I did, so by all accounts shouldn't it be your fault?"

As the two continued arguing over who's fault it was, Havoc laughed to himself as he poured a glass of wine and quietly said to Rebecca, "Aaaannd it begins."

The Captain shrugged, unconcerned as she scooped cranberry sauce onto her plate. "Oh, what's a holiday without a family spat?"

"True."

"Although," May chimed in, "No one knows how to do it like those two."

After coming up with no clear winner of "who's fault is it" by the time dinner was finished and the table cleared, Alphonse and May offered to do some of the dishes while everyone else came out of their food comas, and nobody objected.

They headed into the living room where Roy and Havoc were informed that the reason nobody else freaked out by Ed's revelation was because when Winry had called to invite them over she hadn't been able to contain her excitement. And obviously Al and May had known before anyone else. That only made Mustang roll his eyes, and mutter about the secrecy of women before going over to where Winry was working on building a fire. Roy came up behind the blonde and tapped her shoulder. "Here, let me." The man clapped his hands together before snapping his fingers and setting fire to the logs in the fireplace.

"Thank you," Winry touched his arm briefly before going to sit on the couch beside Riza and Alphonse. Roy muttered "No problem," and went to take a seat on the armchair beside the fire when he noticed the room was missing an occupant. The Major General went to ask where the blond was but caught a glimpse of the male in the corner of his eye when he turned towards the window. Since the others were talking amongst themselves, Roy took the opportunity to slip out of the room and head outside.

Edward was on the porch, leaning on his elbows against the railing and staring up at the starry sky. Roy hadn't realized it'd gotten so late until then, not that it was an important thing at the moment. The alchemist was more concerned with the reasons that had caused Edward to branch off from the others. It was a well known fact that the blond was not the most social of people, choosing to hang in the back and observe more when he could and interacting with people when he felt like it. And while the young man may have wanted nothing more than to get some fresh air after being cooped up in the house all day, Roy couldn't help but assume it was something different that brought Ed outside.

The man was pretty sure Edward knew of his presence before he even said anything, but that didn't stop Roy from clearing his throat as he came to stand beside the younger man. Ed didn't say anything, only lifting his chin to let Roy know he'd been heard. The darker haired male wasn't quite sure how to start a conversation so he just lead with the first thing that came to mind.

"So… dad, huh?"

"Shut up," Ed grumbled and under normal circumstances Roy might have glared at him for that but the man could see why the blond had said that given their previous chat during dinner. The fact that Alphonse at least, if not Edward, saw him as a father figure was something the Major General couldn't exactly wrap his mind around since he didn't know when he'd been put into that role by the boy(s?). The idea wasn't altogether a bad thing in Roy's head, but it certainly hadn't been what he'd expected to come out of Alphonse's mouth that night.

Still, it wasn't the topic for the moment and Roy got himself back on track easily, asking Edward the most obvious question for someone who had recently discovered they were going to be a dad. "You nervous?"

"Oh…" Edward went quiet for a minute, as if realizing that the alchemist hadn't been referring to dinner before while simultaneously thinking about what he'd been asked. From what Roy had gathered when Hughes had first found out of Gracia's pregnancy, it took about a week for the fact that one was going to be a father to fully sink in, and when it did, the man had a lot on his mind. Mainly thoughts on his wife and how life was going to change, and how they would even raise the child. Of course, Roy hadn't had the pleasure of learning these things firsthand, so he only had what Hughes told him to go off of.

"Probably."

Roy frowned at Edward's answer and raised a curious brow. "Probably?"

Ed shrugged and brought his gaze from the stars to the long stretch of land in front of them. "I don't know. I guess I'm supposed to be, but… maybe it just hasn't sunk in."

"Okay," Roy understood that to some degree and let the conversation end on that note, plunging them back into a silence much more comfortable than the first. Somehow though, the alchemist felt like there was still something that needed to be said, though what that was… he was still figuring that out.

It hit him maybe five seconds later and Roy spoke at a level no higher than a loud whisper. "Congratulations, kid."

A half amused, half happy smile curved Ed's mouth and the young man let out a puff of air that made Roy wonder if he'd been holding his breath in anticipation for those words. "Thanks, dad."

Those words made Roy's heart swell in a way he hadn't thought possible and without thinking the man reached over and gave the blond's shoulder a light squeeze. Ed leaned into the touch just enough for Roy to notice and the alchemist was half tempted to leave his hand there, but decided against it when Edward lifted his gaze so their eyes met. The smile slowly receded from the former alchemist's face and Roy figured it was a good time to switch topics. The Major General gestured over his shoulder with his head, suggested they go inside and join the others again.

"Yeah," Ed agreed, turning on his heel and walking at a pace comfortable for both of them.

It struck the man as suddenly funny how he had almost passed up the trip because he hadn't been sure he wanted to go, when as things were now, Edward had just said the one thing that made this trip the alchemist's official favorite.

Roy had never thought there was a title that could ever hold more importance to him than "Fuhrer", but as he walked close behind Edward back into the house full of laughter belonging to those they loves, the man decided he was wrong. Dad… I could get used to that.

A/N: So yeah, my sisters and I were doing our weekly (not really weekly) FMA bantering and I came up with this. While it was my idea, my sister Kaisaan came up with much of the dialogue for the dinner scene. Yes, she comes up with a lot of things for me. She can plot em and real life RP them, but she can't write em... go figure. Either way, a big shout-out and thank you to my big sister!

Leave a review and let me know what you thought. ;)

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!