A Cookie... you're all going to shoot me for how this end.
Nicholas’s back hurt. His ankles hurt. Everything hurt. And no one was doing what he wanted done. Victor was decorating the tree in completely the wrong way from how Nicholas wanted and Nina had the star at the top crooked. They were being too loud, and he was absolutely sure that every damned gift he would receive this year would be entirely baby-related.
Was it so wrong to want people to remember he was more than just an incubator who was too damned fat to get close to the Christmas tree without it poking him in the stomach. He didn’t know why they had to get a real one anyway. He was an alchemist. He could have done it with some basic materials, and it would have looked just as good as the real thing.
There was a knock on the door and the house that already too loud for Nicholas’s tastes, what with the radio going, Victor and Nina enjoying themselves without Nicholas as they decorated the tree, Kain and Frank cooking in the kitchen, and his dad and papa working on getting the lights working in one of the other rooms, though it sounded more like arguing and cursing at lights that wouldn’t untangle than actual work.
Nikki came in first. The little munchkin wasn’t quite so little anymore, but still she was endearing to Nicholas. Aideen held Fiona in her arms as Fletcher walked in with Oliver, who seemed to be very upset about a piece of plastic that dangled from his small hands.
“We are alchemists, Oliver, you know we can fix it,” Aideen said, her tone quiet.
“It wouldn’t need fixed if Fiona hadn’t busted it,” Oliver said.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Aideen told him. “She’s teething and biting down on everything. We’ll have it all fixed.”
“Do you want me to do it?” Nikki asked, turning back to her little brother, hands prepared to clap.
“No,” Oliver said, biting his bottom lip as he walked over to Nicholas. His hazel eyes looked up at the pregnant man. “Do you have something I can write with, Uncle Nicholas?”
“Do I get a hug first?” he asked, doing his best to look anything but put-out by this family celebration. Oliver gave a quick nod and then a hug that was nearly as quick. The boy wasn’t big on showing affection through hugs or kisses. He did it more in doing extra work or helping someone with a task.
With a smile, Nicholas handed over a marker, which earned some warning from both parents for Oliver not to mark up the carpet. The boy just rolled his eyes and began to draw. Oliver had deceived his parents for some time, unknowingly, into believing he could perform circleless alchemy. The boy had just always been so quick, no one saw him actually drawing a transmutation circle until they became more elaborate.
The boy with his pale blond hair began drawing the circle on the flattened ball as Nicholas tried to stand from the sofa. He needed something to drink, and odds were that Frank and Kain would be quieter than here.
Dismissing his lovers when they both offered to get something for him if he needed it, Nicholas waddled in as much of a dignified manner as possible as he made his way out to the kitchen. Frank was busy trying to loop a fake white beard behind Kain’s ears, despite the younger man’s protests.
“You’d make a perfect Father Christmas.” He grinned. “Your hair’s already mostly white.”
“You only tease because most of yours isn’t there,” Kain said.
“But what’s there is still black,” Frank said. He leaned in to kiss the shorter man, but pulled back sputtering. “Beard got in the way.” Kain grinned and pulled it off, finally noticing Nicholas was in the room with them.
“Hello, Nicholas,” Kain said. “What can we get for you?”
“I just wanted a drink. Some water, I think.”
Frank smiled and went to get it for the young man. “How are you doing?”
“Okay,” Nicholas lied. Everything seemed to be getting on his last nerve. The only plus was that lately, it had grown easier to catch his breath.
“And the babies?” Kain asked.
“Not as active as before, but definitely there,” Nicholas responded. “Jonas has decided my bladder makes a lovely bed, apparently and Gregory makes his presence known in his own little ways.”
The older men smiled. “Nina said you were going a bit stir crazy being stuck here at the house,” Frank said.
“A bit,” Nicholas said. Really, it was a lot. The reporters were everywhere hounding the house for a shot of the second ever pregnant man, scientists were constantly imploring him, his sister and his Aunt Raine to allow them to inspect him. Then there was the hate mail, the requests that he allow medical science to more or less dissect him. He felt like a goldfish in a bowl.
Frank gave him a sympathetic gaze as he handed Nicholas the glass of water. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Nicholas said. “You can’t exactly time a heart attack, Frank.” Really, Nicholas was just grateful to have the older man around. He’d make a great grandfather one day, well, one day very soon. He also appreciated the fact that Frank was very cautious with Nicholas’s moods. Kain was always cheerful and he just couldn’t bring himself to be nasty to his father-in-law, but thankfully, Frank managed to keep Kain under control most of the time.
Deciding that all personal space issues he was having at the moment should be pushed aside, Nicholas gave Frank a hug, awkward as it was with his very round stomach.
“We’ll have dinner ready soon,” Kain promised. “Lasagna just like you asked for.”
Nicholas thanked them both before walking back through his house-it was still new to him, bought to make room for the twins-and looked into the room that his parents were decorating with lights.
“That isn’t how you do it,” his papa said.
“It would be easier,” his dad replied. “Just clap and untangled.”
“You have no patience, Ed. There is nothing so bad that you can’t actually manage it by hand. If you would just listen to how I was telling you to do it.”
Nicholas popped his head in the room just in time to see his dad, who was up on a step ladder, as his papa’s knees weren’t the best, his dad generally did the things that involved climbing. His dad took one look at his papa and said. “Fine, then you do them all by yourself, your majesty.”
The younger man plunked the knotted lights on top of his papa’s white-haired head like a crown and slid down the ladder with ease and headed out of the doorway, stopping only a centimeter or two short of running into Nicholas’s stomach. His dad grinned up at him. “How are you doing?” Nicholas shrugged, willing to be a bit more honest with his father than most of the rest of the family. “Come on. Let’s get a bit of fresh air.”
“You just want to get away from Papa,” Nicholas said with a smile. Going back into the living room, he saw Oliver had managed to get his ball inflated, and as he glanced up from the toy to Nicholas and back again, he began to open his mouth to say something.
“Do not finish that thought, Oliver,” Nicholas warned.
Like the bright boy he was, Oliver kept his mouth shut. Of course, the same couldn’t be said for Fiona who looked at Nicholas and pointed. “Ball!” The little green-eyed imp grinned and pointed again, repeating the word. Aideen did her best to muffle her youngest child’s new favorite word.
Nicholas felt his dad’s hand on his elbow as he was lead from the room and out onto the front porch. For the 24th of December, it was surprisingly warm.
“How are you holding up?” his dad asked as he shut the door and led the young man to one of the porch chairs.
“I feel like I’m irritated at everyone,” Nicholas admitted. “How did you do this?”
“Nicholas, I was forced to go out on a secret mission that nearly involved getting you, your sister and myself turned into a Philosopher’s Stone. Circumstances are a bit different here,” his dad said, patting Nicholas’s hand. “You’ve been stuck in this house and yard for a month now. When was the last time you even came out onto the porch?”
“Normally, I can’t,” Nicholas said. “But Papa’s guards are here, so I can tonight.” The fresh air was nice for once.
“You know, you should be glad your hormones are just making you snappy,” his dad said. “Mine had me all over the place. I don’t know how many times I just cried, sometimes for no reason.”
“Sometimes for very good reason,” Nicholas said. “What with Papa injured.” He rubbed his hand over his stomach, trying to imagine being as far along as his dad had been when his papa had been shot. Both Nina and Victor had been out on separate missions with the military just a few days before, which was why they were getting such a late start on decorating.
Looking off in the distance, his dad said, “You were very stupid to do this, but incredibly brave.”
“No braver than you,” he said.
“Much braver than me. I knew I was going to save you and your sister. I had no idea what the result would be. You did-though asking your sister to carry would have saved you a lot of hassle, not that you’re not aware of that-and you still did it. I’m proud of you for that, at least.”
“Would you have still done it if you’d known?”
The older man looked pensive for a moment, the corners of his eyes crinkling just a bit. “I like to think I would have.”
“And no regrets?”
“About what? Some wide hips and the fact that I still can’t grow a decent beard?” He joked. “No, I have no regrets.”
Nicholas smiled. “I’m proud of you, too,” he said. “You didn’t apologize for being happy at mom’s expense like you used to.” His dad used to always say that he regretted only that their mother died. Nicholas knew that was still true, but he also knew that things would have been very different, he and his sister would have been very different if his mother had lived.
“Is it wrong of me to be scared?” Nicholas asked. “After everything we went through to get the boys?”
“Of course not,” his dad said with a smile. “What are you so frightened about?”
“What if Auntie and Aideen aren’t seeing everything and the boys aren’t healthy? What if something happens to them or to me? What if they are like Nina used to be?” Nicholas said. Questions like this ran through his head often, even if he didn’t like the fact that they did.
“If they are like Nina used to be as a girl, will you love them less?” Nicholas shook his head. “Do you think Victor and Nina would?” That was a no again. “And though I’m sure that Raine and Aideen aren’t missing anything, we would cope with any health problems. I also know you are part Mustang, part Hawkeye and part Elric. You certainly aren’t going to give up easily.” His dad pulled Nicholas down and kissed him on his head. “But you are free to worry because that is the first real taste of parenting.”
“So, did you two desert the party?” a voice asked from the walkway.
“Hello, Auntie,” Nicholas said, standing slowly, and with some help from his father, to greet her.
“Boy, you are nearing nine months pregnant,” his aunt said as she climbed the steps, Vato serving as her shadow behind her. “You can sit down and greet me from the chair.” She gave him a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Irritable and with a backache to kill,” he said. “Just throbbing pain.”
When his Auntie and his Dad both raised an eyebrow, he looked back at them strangely. “What?”
“Mind if I check something, Lionheart?” she asked as she placed her hands together and then on Nicholas’s stomach.
“What? Is something wrong with the babies?”
“No, they are healthy and strong,” Raine said. “But you are getting very close to being a daddy.”
Nicholas gave a nervous little chuckle. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“You’ll do fine,” Raine said. She smiled and gave Nicholas’s stomach a rub.
Together, Nicholas went in with his family and joined the remaining members. “Are you okay?” Victor asked when Nicholas slowly made his way inside.
The blond gave a nod of his head. “I’m fine.”
Nina came over to his side and wrapped an arm around him. “Come on, Dad and Father have dinner ready.” She held onto him and with Victor at the other side. He pressed his lips to Nicholas’s cheek, the goatee the slightly older man had grown scratching just a bit.
“Come on,” Nicholas said, “time for Christmas dinner.” He was trying as hard as he could to get into the spirit for his partners.
The meal went okay and Fiona was surprisingly cooperative as her parents fed her the lasagna. Oliver was carefully eating his own and Nikki spent the better part of her time talking rather than eating.
Fletcher pulled the braid from Aideen’s hair playfully when he tricked her under the mistletoe under the pretense of finding something in Fiona’s diaper bag. Of course, a kiss had followed.
Frank and Kain beamed at the praise their meal was getting and Frank did his best to regale the table with stories of Christmases on Earth, not to mention the first he’d really celebrated in Amestris.
Nicholas’s fathers seemed to be trying to help everyone at once. His dad was up and about, getting things for other people, helping to wipe Fiona off and getting batted away when he tried with Oliver who said he “didn’t need cleaned up.” His papa was busy giving advice and offering to take Fiona when she had finished, even though he hadn’t.
Vato sat with his arm around Nicholas’s aunt as they ate, and she seemed only matched in her conversational skills by her eleven-year-old niece.
Victor’s hand never left the back of Nicholas’s neck, rubbing small circles there while Nina rested her hand on his knee throughout the meal.
It really was a perfect evening until Nicholas clenched the table edge with both hands and let out a cry.
Aideen left Fletcher mid-second-kiss under the mistletoe to run to his side.
Nikki was silent and staring at him with wide eyes.
All four future grandparents immediately showed concern, asking what they could do to help, what was wrong, and rushing to his side.
Victor and Nina wrapped arms around Nicholas, panicking when he said, “It’s time,” in a breathless voice. “The babies are coming.”
At that, Oliver dropped his fork and splattered lasagna all over himself.
Auntie Raine looked like she had suspected and was calm and prepared.