Due Date Ch.8 EdWin

His heart was pounding what seemed like two-hundred beats per minutes, and he was sure that his entire face gad gone completely scarlet. He could feel the heat spreading from his face down into his toes. It was maddeningly uncomfortable, but he was doing it. Finally this words he had been carrying for two years were going to come out into the open. Though when he did speak them, they weren’t what he had planned at all.

With all of his might, he pointed his finger to her and yelled his words, “Equivalent Exchange!!! I’ll give half of my life to you, if you give me half of yours to me!!!!”

SHIIIIT!!! Why did equivalent exchange come up?! That was wrong!! I didn’t mean that part! Damn it, can I get a redo?! Shit, what is she going to say?! She always hates it when I bring up alchemy into affairs where they didn’t belong! Crap, crap, crap, she’s gonna hate me!

“Ahhh, come on. Do you have to treat everything like alchemy?! The whole equivalent exchange thing is just nonsense!!”

“What’d you say?!” Oh, great response Ed!! I’m such a dumbass! I knew that she wouldn-

“I said its nonsense!” She moved her hand to her chest and said the words the she too had been waiting to speak, “How about I just give you my whole life?!”

Damn it I knew what she would….. he stared at her now reddening face, letting his brain compute with what she just said, wait whaaaaat?

Did she really just say that?

“Ah, ummm, er, I mean, maybe not all of it!!” she whipped out her fingers and started throwing out percentages, “Ninety, maybe eighty percent? Seventy? No, that’s not enough, but eighty-five, yeah that’s a good number!!”

He couldn’t help but burst out into laughter at her words, she truly was something else.

“Wh-what?!” She yelled in embarrassment, “SHUT UP!!”

“Ahahahahaah! I-I’m sorry really!” the laughter just kept rolling out of him.

“Edward!!!”

“You are just so incredible! You knocked equivalent exchange flat on its butt in just a few words!”

“S-so what? Are you making fun of me?” insecurity began replacing her embarrassment.

“Not at all.” He stood up from his crouched over position and went in to hug her, allowing himself to actually let down all of his barriers and be right next to her. His hand went to the top of her head, and slid its way down to the middle of it, gently pushing her head into his shoulder, pulling her into a goodbye hug.

“Thanks for cheering me up. I’ll miss you. Goodbye, for now.” He breathed into her apple pie scented hair.

“Hmm, come home soon.” Her hands snaked their way around his back, and he felt her mouth form into a smile against his shoulder.

For a few seconds he had actually considered staying with her, but he knew he couldn’t. There were still some things he needed to do, and he would be back soon enough. Reluctantly, but happy nonetheless, the two separated and Ed boarded the train.

Slowly, he made his way down the hall of the moving train and into his private room, planning to calm himself down. But he had no such luck.

“I know I said I was cheered up but…h-holy shit!!! Did that really just happen?!” His face had begun to turn red again, and his breathing was becoming choppy.

I need to call Al!! He ran over to the conveniently placed telephone inside his room, and dialed the number to the hotel Al was staying at in Central.

The phone rang a few times before the hotel clerk picked up, “Hello, this is the Central Hotel. How may I assist you?”

“Uh, yeah is Alphonse Elric there? Tell him it’s his brother, Ed.” He did his best to sound normal as to not scare the clerk.

“One moment please.” The monotonous voice on the phone disappeared, and a few moments later Alphonse was on the other line.

“Brother? What do you need? You should’ve boarded your train by now right?” Al’s tone held a slight note of confusion while speaking.

“Y-yeah! I boarded the t-train but that’s not the concern here!” His voice was all over the place, breaking in a few spots, completely hoarse in others.

“Brother? What’s wrong with your voice? You sound really weir-“

“ALLLLLLL!!!!!” Ed cut him off by comically crying out his brother’s name, “I have no idea what the hell I just did!!!!”

“What? Don’t tell me you boarded the wrong train brother.” Ed could almost hear Al place his hand on his hip.

“NO! I wouldn’t board the wrong train Alphonse! That’s not it! I… I think I proposed to Winry!”

“WHAT?!” Al’s voice exploded over the line, and back in the hotel lobby Al had scared everyone in sight with the volume of his exclamation, “This is such a huge and wonderful development brother!!” The smile in his voice was tangible, “With the way things were going, I thought you guys would be thirty before you even held her hand!”

“ALPHONSE!!”

“Alright, alright! Sheesh.” Al laughed, “First off what do you mean by you think you proposed to her? Did you actually say the words “Will you marry me, my beloved Winry?”

Al tried to hide the laughter in his voice while Ed exploded from embarrassment again, “N-no. I didn’t say that...”

“Well what did you say?”

“I-uh I laid out a deal through equivalent exchange?” He spoke his statement like a question.

“Ugh, brother!!” His tone turned into a scolding one, “How would you even do something like that? What did you even say?”

Damn it, now he’s scolding me! “Well, I said….umm; I said I’ll give half of my life to her, if she gives half of hers to me.”

The line went quiet for a few moments, “Um, hellooo? Al, you still there?”

“Pfft…. Ahahahhhahaha!!!!” There was nothing but laughter coming from the other line, but something seemed off. Wait a second! That’s more than one set of laughter!!

“ALPHONSE!!!! WHO ELSE IS LISTENING TO ME?!?!?!”

“Ahahahaha, I’m sorry brother!! Everyone else was here was here when you called, and they wanted to hear what you had to say, so I let them all listen!”

“What do you mean everyone?” Ed voice was menacing. If the Colonel or any of his men had heard him say that, they would never let him live it down.

“Well, umm-“

“Woooow Fullmetal! I didn’t know you had it in you to say such sweet things!!” His fears were answered. It was indeed the Colonel listening.

“Don’t listen to him Edward.”

“Ow! What the hell Hawkeye?! That hurt!!”

“Just remember the talk we had alright?” Hawkeye also spoke her involvement in eavesdropping with a smile in her voice.

“EDWARD ELRIC!!! LOVE IS SUCH A WONDEROUS THING ISN’T IT?!” He heard Armstrong strip over the line, “IF ONLY YOU WERE HERE! I WOULD BRING YOU INTO MY CHEST AND GIVE YOU MY ULTIMATE BLESSING!!”

“Nice going Fullmetal!” “Yeah way to go!” “You sure have some guts kid!” The rest of Mustangs and the Generals group yelled congratulations to him.

“What the hell is everyone doing there?!" Ed yelled to Alphonse.

“They all stopped by to send me off! I was really surpri-Oh yeah!” Al cut himself off, “What did Winry say brother?”

“Like hell I’m gonna say it with everyone listening!!!”

“Well just say it to me then brother! I’d very much like to know.”

“No way in hell!”

Al sighed, “Oh well. I guess we’ll just have to call Winry then!”

“N-NO!! J-just hold on a second!!” Damn it! I should’ve just kept to myself.

“Yes brother?” Ed heard small notes of laughter on the line as Al talked.

“Sh-she said…. she’d give me her whole life…” Ed’s voice was barely a whisper into the phone.

“I’m sorry, what’d you say brother?”

“I said… she’d give me her whole life….” Again, his voice was barely a whisper.

“What?”

“AHHH SCREW IT!!” He really didn’t have anything to lose at this point, so he just came out and yelled it, “SHE SAID, SHE’D GIVE ME HER WHOLE LIFE!!!!!”

Silence covered the phone line once again, and Ed’s words were left hanging in the air.

“There! Are you guys happy now?!”

“Brother…. That’s really great.” Alphonse began tearing up while speaking, “Really brother! You get what this means right?”

“That’s why I called you in the first place Al!! I’m screwed up right now! I don’t know what to think, and I’m seriously questioning whether that happened or not!!” Ed’s emotions began to run wild for the third time that day.

“Calm down brother. It’s alright! It’s great!” The only thing that could be heard on Ed’s line was his ragged breathing, so Al went on, “Okay, well let me ask you this. Do you think you it was a proposal? Would you want to marry Winry?”

“Of course.” Ed quickly covered his mouth, shocked at how blunt he had just been. But, it seems as though his bluntness snapped him out of his confused state. That’s right. That’s what I had intended to ask her anyway. Why the hell was I just so confused? Well, not like it matters now. He smiled to himself and let his eyes hold a look of sincerity.

“There’s your answer brother.” Al smiled into the phone. His brother had finally done it!

“Yeah. Thanks Al.” Ed breathed, his chest now feeling lighter than ever, “I’ll talk to you soon then. Be careful in the east okay?”

“I will brother. You be careful too alright.”

“Bye Fullmetal!” Mustang got in one last teasing sentence before Ed decided to put the phone back on the receiver.

“Shut the hell up Colonel Bastard!!” and with that Ed hung up, and took a long deep breath.

He walked over to his seat, and lethargically sat down. Already, he was beginning to wonder when he would be able to come back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ed awoke with a start, almost falling out of bed, and wiggling around to stay on until he finally fell.

“Shit.” He whispered, and looked up on the bed to Winry, scared he may have woken her up. The face she was currently making told him that she was still sound asleep, and he sighed in relief.

Silently, he climbed back onto the bed, but didn’t lie down just yet. Man, I haven’t had that dream in a while. He let a small chuckle out, thinking about how ridiculous he was back then. It was still confusing to him as to why he started freaking out in the first place. After all, he thought, it all turned out amazingly.

He looked to his wife’s sleeping face, and then down to her stomach, which was now a habit for him. Every time he looked at her, he couldn’t help but look there as well.

His hand migrated to her soft, messy hair and stroked it gently, pushing the strands that were blocking his view of her face behind her ear. Swiftly, he felt his face start to heat up and he gazed at her face. Damn, she’s not even awake and she’s still winning.

His eyes averted from her face and to the clock, giving a slight groan when he saw the time. It was currently five o’clock in the morning, and unfortunately he had to report into work that day.

“Oh well,” he hopped out of bed, careful to not wake Winry up, and walked into their bathroom, starting the shower, “guess it can’t be helped.”

Once she knew Ed was inside the shower, she allowed herself to blush accordingly. It felt blaringly obvious that her face was a deep red. Oh my goodness, it was all I could do to stay still! She moved her hand to her face and confirmed it’s redness by the heat she felt.

Wanting to get up, she lifted her torso off the bed and sat there for a few moments. “Why is he all sweet and romantic when he thinks I’m asleep?” she pouted for a moment and crossed her arms, lightly setting them atop her rounded stomach. Oh well, she laughed to herself, he'd get extremely embarrassed otherwise.

Her feet moved from the bed to the floor, and she began waddling her way downstairs. Damn it, I feel like a penguin! Even though her stomach wasn’t that big yet, the weight she wasn’t used to threw her balance off considerably. Knowing this, she had always made sure to hold onto the hand rail while walking down the stairs. Though it took longer to get down, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with.

“Oh crap!” she forgot to ask Ed what he wanted for breakfast, and luckily she hadn’t made it that far down the stairs.

She made her way back into the room, humming lightly to herself when suddenly, she felt something odd in her stomach. “What was that?!” When she spoke again there was another odd feeling. Wait a second, is that the baby kicking?!

“Oh my God!!!” Again there was another. “Edward!!! Get out here!!”

She heard the shower stop suddenly and then there was a loud bang that followed. “AGH. DAMN IT.”

“Ed!! You’re gonna miss it!!” She yelled again from in the middle of their room, afraid that if she moved the baby would stop.

The bathroom door flung open and revealed a towel waisted Ed, with soaked hair to match, “What?! What happened?!”

“Pfft, hahaha you look ridiculous!!” She bent over slightly from the laughter that was rolling out of her.

Ed just crossed his arms stubbornly, “Well excuse me! At least I’m not the one yelling like a maniac at five thirty in the morning!”

“A maniac?! Why do you even need to wake up at five in the morning?! Your train doesn’t leave until eight!” she retorted.

“It’s not my fault if I suddenly wake up around this time! I can’t control it!”

“Well maybe if you wouldn’t sleep so erratically, then you’d get a full night’s slee-AH!” Her hand flew to her stomach as the baby kicked again. Ha, it’s like the baby’s telling us to stop yelling at each other.

“What’s wrong?” Despite just yelling at her, Ed rushed to her side as he saw her hand go down to her stomach.

“This is what I was yelling like a “maniac” for!” She looked up at him and smiled, “Feel!” Her hand gripped his and she placed it on her stomach, waiting for the next kick.

“Wooah…” Ed’s eyes looked much like a child’s at that moment, “Is that really the baby?!”

“No Ed. I also have an alien residing within me. Of course it’s the baby!” She laughed at his behavior, and was reminded of the time they were at Rush Valley.

“It kind of reminds you of that one time we visited Rush Valley huh?” She asked with a nostalgic smile on her face.

“Yeah!” Ed’s face lit up at the memory, “Only now, it feels completely different when the baby we’re feeling is our own.”

“Mhmm, you’re right.”

Ed looked down at Winry who was practically glowing with happiness. He leaned his head down a couple of inches and gave her a sweet kiss, wanting to savor the moment.

Winry was more than happy to oblige, and wrapped her hands around Ed’s neck, signaling to him that she wanted to stay like that a little while longer.

All too soon, the two broke apart when they heard two sets of gasps behind their door that they had left open. “Crap, I forgot we had house guests!” Ed exclaimed quietly to himself, and quickly ran back into the bathroom, starting the shower once again.

“Al, Mei, you can come in now.” Winry spoke with a slightly sullen mood.

Two heads popped out from behind the door, with apologetic looks on their faces. “Uh, s-sorry Winry.” Al apologized, scratching the back of his head.

“We overheard that the baby was kicking and we wanted to feel too!” Mei exclaimed, trying to cover for her and Alphonse.

“Hahaha, it’s alright!” Winry’s sullen mood lifted with the sheepish looks on their faces, “Come feel! The baby’s still kicking!”

Al and Mei immediately ran over to her, and for a moment she was genuinely surprised by the pair’s height difference. They would look so cute together!

“Woow!” The two exclaimed, completely in synch with one another.

“The baby has such a strong life force!” Mei began conversing with Al as they kept feeling the baby’s kicks.

“You think so?” Al replied swiftly.

“Yup! I can sense it! You should be able to do that too Alphonse!” She gave him a slightly stern look, “What happened to all that training we did in Xing?”

“Oh! Uh r-right!”

“Umm, excuse me,” Winry cut them off before they could say anything else, “Do you think you guys could continue this downstairs? My feet are starting to hurt and I’ve still got to make breakfast.”

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Again, the two were exactly in synch.

“Why don’t you let me take care of breakfast Winry?” Al offered like the gentleman he was and rushed down to get started on it.

A few moments passed before Mei decided follow after him, “I’ll go and help!”

And with that, Winry was left alone in the room. I guess I’ll go too then.

Once again she began waddling down the stairs, until she remembered that she still hadn’t asked Ed what he wanted for breakfast. Sighing, she looked back up to the door to their room and slowly made her way back up.

“I really hate these stairs.”