(This takes place during Worlds Collide)

A Late Night

It was late when Roy got home, still sorting out the beginnings of a new government, his role in it, and how to properly promote those who'd been most loyal to him without insulting those with the years and experience who also deserved the high-ranking positions. He had just a bit of a headache and was honestly surprised that he was coming home to a completely quiet home. That hadn't seemed to happen since the twins had been born, or, honestly since Ed had begun to take up residence.

There was a faint light on in the kitchen. Roy glanced in to see there was a bottle in the pot on the stove, still with formula inside. Apparently, one of the twins hadn't gotten up yet for their nighttime feeding. He grabbed the bottle, looking at the symbol Ed had put on the outside. Roy had become the instant bottlewarmer, despite the fact that Ed was more than capable of doing it himself—he wasn't a prodigy for nothing. He saw a tiny light on in the corner of the study, Ed on that damned sofa he'd hardly left when he was pregnant, actually much in the position Roy'd seen him sleep in when he'd first walked by the dozing teen over a year before, save for the addition of a second blond head and a left hand curled tightly around the sleeping body of their son. Roy walked into the room, pulling off his gloves as he did, running his hand over the light blond hair, still downy soft, finally leaning down to kiss the little head, watching as a tiny mouth opened and closed with a deep breath.

He repeated the same process with the other young face, kissing Ed's forehead, brushing a few strands of hair that had been stuck to his husband's clammy forehead. He found a tiny blanket, covering Nicholas up as he did, knowing there was nothing short of a natural disaster prying their son from Ed's grip and it was best just to let his boy stay there.

He then made his way to the stairs, hearing the faint sounds of whimpering as he reached the second floor. Aideen was awake, but not yet crying, and if he hurried, he could keep her from doing so. He laid his fingers over the transmutation circle in the glass of the bottle, warming it to the right temperature as he walked down the hall.

He entered the yellow and green nursery, taking off his coat and exchanging the bottle from hand to hand to do so. He draped his fuhrer uniform coat over the rocking chair and walked over to the crib where his daughter slept restlessly. "Shh," he whispered as he scooped the fidgety five-month-old into his arms. "Papa's here."

He lowered the rubber nipple to the little girl's pink mouth, watching in that ever-present amazement as her little hands grabbed immediately at the bottle. He sat in the rocking chair, gently moving as he listened to the sounds of her feeding. "You're going to be such a worry for me," he said, softly, seeing a pair of gold and rust eyes look up at him momentarily before resuming their attention on the bottle. "That's right. I'm talking to you. You have to be the prettiest little girl to have ever been born. I know I won't be the only one to ever notice, and I think I'm going to have to take care of a lot of would-be boyfriends."

Roy pressed his lips to her forehead, all the while taking in that scent of baby shampoo and powder that lingered on the twins. "And you know, I'll probably do anything you ask me to. Little as those fingers are, I'm wrapped securely around them, both yours and your brother's."

He rocked a bit more, tilting the bottle up just a bit to keep her from sucking up any air. The sounds of her slowly draining the bottle stopped as she took a deep breath, tiny chest rising and falling in his arm. "Don't let your daddy know, but I like feeding you. When he was the only one who could, I felt left out. I like when I get this time wit you or your brother." The drinking didn't resume, and Roy figured that was his signal that she was done. He slowly put the bottle on the floor beside the chair, raising the growing baby to his shoulder, gently rubbing and patting her back until he heard—and felt—the sound of the tiny gas bubble that escaped.

He turned his head to look at her as he lowered her back into his arms. Her little hands reached up to his face, grabbing hold of his mouth first, fingers inquisitively moving inside, pulling on a lip, grabbing hold of teeth while he pretended to bite them. It was late, too late to be playing. He knew it, but he so rarely got to do this with his children, and he wasn't passing up the chance.

Then, the wet hands moved up his cheek to the patch over his left eye, pulling at the thing to the point it was nearly painful as the tiny, sharp fingernails grazed his cheeks.

"You're as persistent as your daddy." He knew she wasn't about to stop, so he slowly pulled off the patch, feeling the hands wet from his own mouth moving over the scarred flesh, not afraid, just constantly exploring as the baby always did. It took some time, but eventually she tired of looking at his face, and soon he was rocking her to sleep against his chest, talking to her in a low, rumbling tone, knowing that singing certainly wouldn't do it. Beneath his hands, he could feel her breathing slowing, and he carefully stood from the chair, trying not to disturb her, or worse, fall down as it rocked beneath him. It was designed more for Ed, and always seemed awkward for Roy to get back out of once he'd gotten into it.

He went back over to the crib, being as delicate as possible to place her on the soft yellow comforter, unable to eliminate the contented smile on his face. He was fuhrer, but never did he think that this would be the feeling that made him feel like everything he'd ever gone through was worth it.

It wasn't until he felt a hand on his arm he realized he wasn't alone in the room. He glanced over at Ed who was now standing at Nicholas's crib, tucking the little boy in. As they did when they found themselves in here like this, he and Ed swapped their places, each taking that moment to look admire and shower just a bit of affection on the other twin as they slept. Roy lightly traced his boy's features, so like his mother's, letting a tiny hand unconsciously wrap around his finger for a moment before pulling away to let the babies sleep and hopefully get a few hours himself.

He immediately grabbed the patch and replaced it, hating the idea of going into the weak light of the hallway as he was for Ed, possibly even Al in the next room, to see. Then, he took his coat, throwing it over his left arm and took it out into the hall, finding his other hand was not entirely empty, as a smaller, more calloused one quickly filled it. No words were said, even as Roy undressed and the two men quickly became nothing more than a single lump beneath their blankets, legs, arms, whole bodies wrapped together as sleep captured them as well.