Author's note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU and has already been posted in An Apple a Day.

Bad News

She knew something was up when she walked into the colonel's office to find him clutching the phone to his ear, frantically taking notes. He waved her into the room and motioned for her to shut the door. Setting the papers on his desk, she watched him carefully. This wasn't a "someone is dying" emergancy, but it was close. Unsure if she should remain, she turned towards the door only to have Mustang snag her elbow.

He continued to to keep a hold of her as he hung op the phone. She wasn't sure how to react to this.

"Sir?" That was always a safe word.

He pulled her into the circle of his arms and rested his chin on her head. "That was my half-brother's lawyer. Adolf and his wife are dead. Evie is supposed to take their children, but she, Rick, and Aimee are in Xing for another six months, so I get them."

She relaxed in his arms a little. No wonder he was tense. "How many children?"

"Three. Kurt's twelve. Wilhemina's eleven, and Roisin is five."

She mentally rearranged his apartment. They should all fit if the girls were willing to share a room. They'd have to pack up at least part of his study, but that was managable. They'd need to get furniture for the children unless they were bringing their own things. The colonel's schedule would have to be rearranged for the first month or so, and she would have to make sure the Colonel got his work done on time from now on so he could leave on time.

"Hawkeye?"

She realized that she hadn't responded in anyway. She gently pushed out of his arms. "When will they arrive, sir?"

"Next week."

She nodded. "Then you'd best finish up your paperwork for today, so we can start making preperations tonight."

He looked incredibly grateful. "We?"

She sighed. "Yes, we. Knowing you, nothing would get accomplished before they arrive."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Thank you, lieutenant."

They managed to get out of the office by six-thirty. She insisted they stop for groceries as knowing the Colonel as she did, the fare in his apartment would not be very edible. Roy could cook, in fact he'd taught her much she knew about the subject, but he rarely got around to cooking for himself.

She was not disappointed by the state of the apartment. It wasn't a pigstye, but it was cluttered in the manner of someone who comes home and drops everything and never bother's to deal with it. The clutter wasn't a health hazard, but if he was going to have someone else living here, especially children, there would need to be some changes.

Roy took the groceries from her. "Have a seat. I'll throw something together for dinner."

By the time he had returned with a pair of roast beef sandwiches, she had all of the various papers that cluttered the room sorted into neat piles. He smiled at that. She never had been able to stand a mess.

"What's our next move?"

She looked at him. "Am I supposed to have some store of knowledge about children that I don't know about?"

He had the grace to look sheepish. "You always were better with practicle things than I was. I have no idea how to start."

Hawkeye smiled. "We can started with cleaning this place. Then we'll have a better idea of what needs to be moved or stored and what items you'll need. Do you know if they'll be bringing anything other than personal items?"

"I don't think so."

"Well then, they'll need beds, somewhere to put their clothes, a place to study for the older two, and perhaps a bookcase." She pursed her lips. "We also need to make sure that anything the children shouldn't get their hands on is safely tucked away."

"Like what?"

Riza looked at him incredulously. "Roy, you can't leave things like alchol or alchemy research out where children can get their hands on it. Can you imagine what a drunk child with an alchemy array could do?"

Roy paled. "I see what you mean."

"Good. You can start with your study. When I'm done in here, we can start on your guest room. Once we have this place cleaned, we can see what will need to be moved.

They didn't get completely finished that evening. She left at elevnish after promising to come back the next day to continue their work. She made a mental note to check in with Gracia Hughes tomorrow. Maybe she had some ideas that could help. Riza wasn't sure how Roy was going to manage handling three children fulltime. Oh, he did well enough with Elysia, but the longest he had taken care of her for was overnight. Dealing with three children as sole guardian for the next six months was another story.

She arrived at work early the next day. Given the amount of work they typically had to get through, she thought it best to get a head start. After all, the colonel didn't have a lot of time to get ready, escpecially given his tendancy to procrastinate. They didn't quite manage to be done by six-thirty that evening, but they were out of the office by seven-thirty. Thankfully, there wasn't that much left before the apartment was clean. That just left them to figure out what needed to be packed up and put in storage before they went shopping for furniture.

Roy was rather put out when she declared that most of the study would need packed up and put in storage.

"But I need those books."

"You can do without them for six months, or you can move them to the office."

"I can't keep them in the office. It's not safe."

Ah, that type of books. The ones her father had used. "In that case, you can keep them at my place."

By the time she left that evening, they had gotten about half the books packed up. That just left them with moving and buying furniture once the rest of books were packed up. Once the physical arrangements were made for the children, they could start dealing the issues such as school and the colonel's schedule. The older two would be in school full time of course, but she didn't know if the youngest was in school yet. She would be about Elysia age if Riza remembered correctly. She shied away from that thought; Hughes had not gotten to see Elysia start kindergarten this year.

The next evening found them figuring out the logistics of where to put the three children.

"We should put the girls in the guest room since it's the larger of the two rooms you have available," she told Mustang over dinner. Once again he had offered to cook since she was helping him out. "That means we'll need to find another bed for the room though. You said the youngest was five?"

"Roisin. Yeah, she just started kintergarten this year. I think she's a couple months older than Elsysia."

"So we won't need a full sized bed for her. That reminds me, do you have plans for what schools the children will attend?"

He shook his head. "I know they attended private schools in Southern City. Maybe they have something similar here?"

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. You should ask Gracia. She did a lot of research before sending Elysia off this year."

Roy's shoulders slumped. "I'm never going to manage this. I have no idea what I'm doing."

Riza sighed and came to sit beside him. She understood his worry. They really didn't need further complications in their lives right now. It was hard enough working to overthrow the government without adding parenting to the bill.

"We'll manage. We always do."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "I hope you're right."

She smiled at him. "When have I been wrong?"

"Never, that I know of at least."

"Then stop worrying and help me figure out if we need to move this bookcase into the girls' room or if we can fit a desk in here without doing that."

By the Saturday of the three children's arrival, the rooms were set up and ready for their occupants. Mustang had found that the school Kurt attended had a branch in Central, and it had been easy enough to arrange a transfer. The girls' school had not had a branch in Central though, and so Roy had enrolled them at the same school as Elysia. Hawkeye had gone through his schedule to make sure he could have the next few days after their arrival free from work. She had also made herself available if he need her for something.

Mustang was grateful for her quiet presence beside him on the platform. As they waited for the train to arrive, he had to keep from figiting. The three children were making him more nervous that his recertification exam ever did. As the the train pulled in, he nervously straightened his jacket. Of the two of them, only Hawkeye was in uniform; she had thought he would be more intimidating in his.

Riza was busy scanning the crowd. "I think that's them, sir."

A conductor was herding three children towards them. Two had pale blond hair, but the younger girl, clinging to her sister's hand, was most definately strawberry blond. The boy looked surly, and the elder of the two girls was wary. The younger was just plain scared.

"Are you Roy Mustang?"

He smiled reasurringly. "Yes, that's me."

"These three are for you then. The porters will bring their luggage shortly."

"Thank you." He turned to his new charges. "Did you have a good trip?"

Hakewye's hand brushed his shoulder. "I'll bring the car around front and deal the porters, sir."

He didn't want her to leave him alone with them, but then he really had no choice. Finally, the youngest spoke. "Are you really our Uncle Roy?"

He smiled at Roisin, kneeling down so he could look her in the eye; she reminded him of Elysia. "Yes, I'm really your Uncle Roy. Are you ready to go?"

To his surprise, Roisin let go of her sister's hand and held her arms up to carried. He scooped her up then turned back to her siblings. "Shall we go?"

The older two followed him through the station without a word. He was a little bewildered by their silence. Hawkeye had their luggage already loaded into the trunk and was waiting for them. It was easy enough to get everyone in the car and ready to go. The only awkward moment came when Kurt rather scornfully asked, "She's driving?"

He had forgotten how conservative Adolf had been, and his wife, Roy had only met her once at and that was at the wedding, had been the perfect little china doll. Thankfully, Hawkeye dealt with the question with perfect alomb.

"Any officer that is a colonel or higher is required to have a driver. It keeps down the amount of wear and tear on military vechiles."

Roy bit back a grin. That was the polite version. The real reason had more to do with the amount of drunken accidents it cut down on. He also realized he had failed to introduce Hawkeye.

"This is Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, by the way. She's my aide and bodyguard. You'll probably being seeing her around quite a bit. Hawkeye, my nephew, Kurt, and my nieces, Wilhemina and Roisin."

Hawkeye smiled. "I'm pleased to me you all."

She got a tenative smile from Roisin. The rest of the trip was silent. Mustang wrote it off to exhaustion and new surroundings. He'd have a better chance to get to know his nephew and nieces onced they'd settled in. He knew next to nothing about his nieces and nephew. His brother had informed him about their birth, but that was about it. He had sent cards and birthday gifts for years, but he had never gotten more than the obligatory thank you note back.

He led the way into the apartment, carrying Roisin. Hawkeye had insisted on dealing with the luggage. Roy would have prefered to have her beside him, but she seemed to be trying to give him the opertunity to bond with his new charges.

"Kurt, this your room, and Wilhemina and Roisin are at the end of the hall. My room is just across the hall from you."

Hawkeye appeared with the suitcases. It was clear that neither Kurt nor Wilhemina needed or wanted any help with unpacking, so he took Roisin with him to the kitchen to help Riza with dinner. Roisin was perfectly content to help him with the salad while Riza made the rest of the meal. Once that was done, she turned to him. "I think you're set for the night, sir. I'll see you Monday afternoon to let you know how things are going in the office."

"I'll walk you to the car, Lieutenant. Roisin, can you go tell your brother and sister to wash their hands for dinner?"

"Yes, Uncle Roy."

He saw her out to the street. "Are you sure you won't stay?"

"You need a chance to get to know the children. You're intimidating enough on your own. They don't need another stranger in addition to that." She smiled and kissed his cheek. "You'll do fine, sir. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

He watched her head off then went back inside. Dinner was a fairly quiet affair, though Wilhemina loosened up some, and he learned that she liked to be called Mina and played piano. Kurt continued to be sullen and answered all questions in monosylllbes. Afterwards, everyone seemed to go off to their own devices. Everyone except Roisin. She brought Roy a picture book, climbed into his lap, and asked him to read. This at least was familiar. Elysia often did the exact same thing.

When they were done with the story, Roisin was yawning, so Roy sent her off to get changed for bed and to brush her teeth. He tucked her into bed then turned to Mina. "Is there anything you need?"

"No, Uncle Roy. I'm fine."

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

"Night, Uncle Roy."

On his way to his own bed, he checked on Kurt. The lights in his room were out, and Roy assumed the boy was asleep. And he was oddly thankful that the study didn't have a lock on it. Of the three children, he had a feeling that Kurt would be the most trouble. He almost would have prefered the boy to be a bit more like Fullmetal. At least then he would know when something was wrong. There wasn't anything he could do about it right now though. Maybe Kurt would warm to things after a few days. It could be that he was just feeling out of his depth. Anyway, about the only thing he could do right now was go to bed.

Sometime later that night his sleep was distrubed by his door opening. He reached under his pillow for his gloves when a small voice said, "Uncle Roy? I can't sleep."

"Roisin?" He blinked, making out the small figure in the doorway. He tucked the gloves back into place.

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure." He was too tired to really care.

Moments later a small warm body was curled up beside him. Roy shut his eyes, and it wasn't long before he was dreaming about little girls with raven hair instead of blond and amber eyes instead of blue.

Theme: Family