Chapter Sixteen: Adult Life
After making some phone calls and getting an interview set up, Ed decides to go check on Winry. On his way to the bedroom he is stopped when the puppy Al had brought home runs up to him, nearly tripping him.
"What the hell?" gripes Ed, bending over and picking her up off of the floor. The puppy barks and licks Ed's nose. "Oh yeah. I forgot about you." The puppy wags her tail and begins licking Ed's whole face. Ed sputters as he pulls her further from his face. "Alphonse!" calls Ed.
Al comes out of his room looking flushed and when he sees what Ed is holding he looks surprised and sheepish. "I think I remember telling you that we would discuss this after the baby was born."
"Yes, you did, brother," says Al, carefully. Just then Al's cat Sunny walks into the hallway and begins rubbing against Ed's leg.
"You already have a cat, Al, and we already have Den," says Ed.
"I know, brother, but Den is old. And he seems to like her," says Al. "They slept together on the floor at the end of my bed last night."
"Al, we have a new baby now, we can't afford to feed all of these animals," says Ed, in exasperation. It wasn't really that he didn't want Al to have the puppy. Al deserved to have every animal that his heart desired, but what he was saying was true. They simply couldn't afford another pet at the moment.
"I understand, brother," says Al, forlornly. "Can I at least keep her until I can find a home for her?"
"I'll give you a week," says Ed. "But that's it! And then she's going to a shelter."
"Yes, brother," says Al. Just then Mei walks into the hall looking slightly flushed and trying to fix her hair. That's when Ed remembers that Al also looked a little flushed when he had come out of the bedroom.
"Alphonse," says Ed slowly, while giving Al a deadpan look.
"Yes brother?" asks Al, innocently.
"What were you and Mei doing when I called for you?"
"Nothing, why do you ask?" asks Al.
"Because you both look a little red and Mei's hair is messed up," says Ed.
"Nothing gets past you, does it?" asks Mei.
"We weren't having sex, brother," says Al, not meeting Ed's eyes, and blushing.
"Then what were you doing?" asks Ed.
"We were just kissing," gripes Mei, just as Billy opens the door a crack and pokes his head out.
"Um...Mr. Elric, I can't find the towels," says Billy, blushing.
"We might have taken them all into the bedroom. I'll go check," says Ed, apologetically. "Alphonse, I need you and Mei to start cleaning. Teacher is going to be here sometime tomorrow."
"Okay, brother," says Al. "Come on, Mei."
"But my hair!" whines Mei.
"We'll fix it," says Al, pulling her back into his room. Ed sighs heavily before going into his bedroom to find Winry feeding Tristan and talking to him softly. Not about anything in particular, just talking to him.
"Hey," says Ed, as he looks around the room for some towels. He finds a stack of them sitting on the chair by the vanity.
"Hey Ed. What are you looking for?" asks Winry.
"Towels. Apparently we took all of them last night and Billy took a shower but doesn't have any towels," says Ed. Winry giggles at Ed's explanation before turning her attention back to Tristan who was watching her. Ed walks over and kneels on the bed so that he can look at Tristan.
"Hey little man," says Ed, softly. "You're gonna grow big and tall, aren't you?" Winry smiles as she listens to Ed talk to Tristan. She could tell that Ed was already wrapped around his finger.
"Mr. Elric?!" they hear Billy call from the bathroom.
"Shit! Gotta go, little man," says Ed, giving Tristan a quick peck on the head before running out of the room, leaving the towels on the bed.
"Towels?" asks Winry, loud enough for Ed to hear from the hall.
"Damn it!" shouts Ed, before running back into the room, snatching the towels off of the bed, and running back out of the room. When he reaches the bathroom he knocks on the door.
"Yeah?" calls Billy.
"Towels," says Ed. Billy opens the door just enough to reach his arm out. Ed hands him a towel. "I'm going to lay the rest in front of the door. Could you put them away?"
"Sure," says Billy.
"Thanks," says Ed, before walking back down the hall. When he reaches the living room, the doorbell rings. Ed sighs heavily, he was too busy to deal with anyone at that moment. When he opens the door there's a sudden flash of light causing Ed to cover his eyes.
"What the hell?!" he grunts. Once the spots from the flash clear from his eyes he sees that there's a woman in professional looking clothes and a man with a camera standing at his door.
"Hello, Mr. Elric. My name is Rebecca and this is Mike. We came to ask you some questions."
"About what? I haven't done anything!"
"We received word that you, the former 'Fullmetal Alchemist' has recently become a father," says Rebecca.
That bastard! thinks Ed.
"Yes, I have," says Ed, trying to contain his anger at Mustang. It is so on.
"When did that happen? What was the gender? Who is the mother? What's his or her name?" asks Rebecca quickly. Ed groans. He didn't have time for this!
"Last night, my son, Tristan Von Hoenheim Elric was born to my wife Winry Rockbell-Elric," says Ed in exasperation. "Now if you will excuse me, I'm busy." That said, Ed slams the door shut before going to the phone and calling Mustang's office.
"Mustang."
"You bastard!" screeches Ed.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, you bastard! What gave you the right to notify the press about my baby being born?!"
"I figured that you would want everyone to know that you were now a proud father to a beautiful son. You sure seemed eager for me to know," says Roy. "Besides, I'm the Fuhrer, I can do whatever I want."
"I wanted you to know because it only seemed right! I did not tell you that so that you could tell all of Amestris!"
"Well the damage is done, Edward. So you're just going to have to deal with it," says Mustang.
"I don't have time for that! I have company coming tomorrow and they don't even have a place to stay yet! Plus there's housework and Billy and who knows what else is going to come up in the next twenty four hours!"
"Welcome to adulthood, Ed," says Mustang, bemusedly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." With that said Mustang hangs up, leaving Ed to stare at the phone.
"BASTARD!' he screeches before slamming down the phone and stomping into the kitchen where the rest of the dishes from the night before still sat in the now cold, dirty water they had been left in. With a sigh Ed gets to work running new water and finishing up the handful of dishes. As he's washing them Billy comes to stand next to him and begins drying the dishes.
"Mr. Elric, I have a question."
"Okay, what is it?" asks Ed.
"It's about my mom...," hedges Billy.
"Okay."
"Umm...would it still be okay if I saw her?" asks Billy. Before Ed could respond, Billy hurries to add more. "I mean, despite what Marc did, she was still a loving parent, and she did try to help me sometimes, but he was so much bigger and stronger than her."
"If you want to see your mom I have no right to stop you," says Ed. "But if that bastard, Marc thinks he can just walk into my house he's going to get an auto mail foot up his ass."
"I have no desire to see Marc. I just want to see my mom. Make sure he doesn't take this out on her," says Billy.
"We're going to get everything straightened out, Billy, and I'll do my best to make sure that you and your mother aren't hurt by the outcome," says Ed, solemnly.
"Thank you," says Billy.
"No problem. After this I'd like you to go into town with me to get groceries," says Ed.
"Okay," says Billy.
"I have visitors coming tomorrow so I'll have to figure out sleeping arrangements for everyone," says Ed.
"Who is coming?" asks Al.
"My teacher and her husband," says Ed.
"But I thought you dropped out of school," says Billy.
"She's my alchemy teacher. She also taught Al and I martial arts."
"Does Winry know?" asks Al.
"Come to think of it, I don't think that she does," says Ed. After the dishes are done Ed goes to the bedroom to find Winry looking out the window while holding a sleeping Tristan.
"Hey," says Ed, softly. Winry turns her head to look at Ed and smiles.
"Hey. I was starting to wonder when you would come back in here," says Winry. Ed smiles and walks over to the two of them.
"I was doing the dishes," says Ed.
"Who was at the door earlier?" asks Winry.
"Some reporters," gripes Ed. "I told Mustang about Tristan and he decided to tell all of Amestris." Winry couldn't help but giggle at the antics that went on between Ed and Roy. They really were good friends, even if both of them were too stubborn to admit to it.
"What's wrong with that?" asks Winry.
"I'm not the 'Fullmetal Alchemist' anymore, Win. I'm just a school teacher with a new family, and I'd have liked it to stay that way. No doubt that once word gets around we'll never hear the end of it," says Ed.
"You're so boring, Ed. Lighten up!" teases Winry.
"You say that now. Next time a reporter knocks on that door its all you," says Ed.
"Fine," says Winry.
"Oh, before I forget, Sig and Teacher are planning to visit tomorrow. Any ideas on sleeping arrangements?" asks Ed.
"Jut put two people in the nursery and put Sig and Izumi in Al's room, and someone on the couch," suggests Winry. "I'm sure Al could make a comfortable bed for on the floor in there and Tristan will be in his bassinet tonight anyway."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll put Al and Billy in the nursery and Mei on the couch," says Ed. He wasn't about to let Izumi and Sig know that Al and Mei shared a room, much less a bed. He was certain that Izumi would have something to say on the matter, and whenever she had something to say, it usually ended up painful for Ed.
Just then, Ed glances out the window and grins. There was another woman walking to the door followed by a second woman who was holding a camera. "Looks like it's your turn to deal with the reporters. I'll hold Tristan," says Ed. Winry looks out the window and sees the two women. She sighs heavily and hands Tristan to Ed.
"I'll show you, Ed. It's not that bad," says Winry, before leaving the room. Ed takes a seat in the chair Winry had just left.
"We shall see, Winry," he sighs, before turning his attention to Tristan who was now awake and looking at him.
"Hey little man. Finally decided to wake up?" he asks. Tristan seemed surprised by Ed's voice, but then had calmed down to listen more. Ed begins humming a lullaby he remembered his mother singing to him and Al, but he couldn't remember the words. Tristan seemed to be listening intently as Ed hummed, and Ed couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. "Do you like that?" he asks before going back to humming, and then he remembers some of the words.
Sleep, baby, sleep
Your father tends the sheep
Your mother shakes the dreamland tree
And from it fall sweet dreams for thee
Sleep, baby, sleep
Sleep, baby, sleep
As Ed is singing softly, Winry walks into the room and catches him. Ed was so caught up in his song that he didn't notice her, so she stays quiet and listens to Ed as he sings the rest of the song. She wasn't surprised to find that he had a very nice voice. She had always thought that he probably did, had he ever tried to sing. His singing voice was soft and soothing.
Sleep, baby, sleep
Our cottage vale is deep
The little lamb is on the green
With snowy fleece so soft and clean
Sleep, baby, sleep
Sleep, baby, sleep
Winry could remember her mother singing the same song to her as a child. It was a song that was well known in Resembool, and, Winry suspected, that most, if not all of the mothers sang the same lullaby to their children.
It isn't until Ed has finished his song that he notices Winry and his face turns red with embarrassment. "Winry!"
"That was beautiful Ed. And look, it put Tristan right to sleep," says Winry as she walks towards him.
"So I guess you really did hear," grumbles Ed, still embarrassed.
"Every word. And it was beautiful," says Winry.
End Chapter
A/N: It's done! Finally! I'm really sorry that this took so long to post...between work and life and projects that I somehow got dragged into...I've been kinda busy...Please review and tell me what you thought! Oh and I do not own the lullaby...I don't know who wrote it...but it wasn't me...I found it on a website...just thought that I should add that...Sayonara! =]