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“Of course the country’s first ever election would call for a recount.” Roy joked, the attempt at humor in his voice betrayed by the anxious way he jittered his foot as he crossed it over his knee. Riza saw through his façade with ease and placed a light hand on his shoulder.
“It will be alright.” She said softly, her calm demeanor washing over him. He placed his hand over hers and sighed. She gave him a reassuring smile before she slipped off towards where Gracia and Rebecca were talking in hushed tones. Roy lamented her absence but didn’t ask for her to stay; clinginess wasn't a good look for a potential president-to-be.
It was the quiet that was starting to get to him. A room full of his closest allies and friends tucked away in one of Madame Christmas’ more secret meeting spaces would usually have been a more animated affair, but at the present it was graver than a funeral. Safety had been a concern for all parties involved in the election and it eventually was decided that both the candidates—Roy and his primary opposition, Arthur Vance—and Fuhrer Grumman should not be present when the polling results were announced. Perhaps when the novelty of elections had worn off and the country was less high-strung it’d be safer, but for now they were all tucked away with their respective private parties, and there was nothing to do but to wait.
The air was oppressive with tension and Roy felt like he was going to lose his goddamn mind if something didn’t happen soon. He wasn’t afraid of losing, all he had ever wanted was for the people of Amestris to be able to make their own decisions, and if they decided they didn’t want him he’d accept that with grace. What he was afraid of was dying of stress before the announcement was even made. It was the not knowing, this liminal period of anticipation that made him want to crawl out of his skin.
“I think this is it, folks,” the radio personality suddenly crooned excitedly, snapping the party to attention. Fuery jumped and cranked the volume up. “Chief of Staff General Armstrong appears to have the final polling results. Following Fuhrer Grumman’s retirement next year in early 1924, our first democratically elected president taking office will be… She’s opening the sealed letter now… Roy Mustang! You’ve heard it here first folks, Roy Mustang will be Amestris’ first president! The crowd is going wild, you can’t even hear the general over the—"
The room exploded into chaos, people jumping up in celebration and cheering, crying, champagne bottles popping. Roy was pulled to his feet, despite feeling like his legs were about to collapse out from under him. He was being jostled between Havoc and Breda, clapped on the shoulder by Falman. Fuery was cheering by the radio, turning the channel to something loud and jazzy.
Ross and Armstrong were offering their heartfelt congratulations when Roy finally snapped out of his dazed state, running a hand through his hair and grinning wildly. He looked around for Riza and found her hurrying towards him, beaming. He met her halfway in the center of the room, lifted her in her arms, and spun until they were both dizzy and laughing. Riza grabbed his face and kissed him, a rare public display of their affections, over and over again.
“You’ve done it.” She breathed, her eyes glossy and bright. “You’ve done it, Roy, I’m so proud of you.”
-
It was well into the small hours of the morning when they finally were able to retire from the party and head home. They were exhausted and elated, stumbling through the front door like a pair of giddy drunks. They were almost dead on their feet but were too wired to retire to bed, so Roy pulled out the good wine glasses and filled two with the fanciest vintage they owned, ignoring Riza's protesting, before they tumbled onto the couch.
“This all feels a bit easy, doesn’t it?” Riza hummed warmly as she leaned against his side. Roy couldn’t help but scoff.
“You’re suggesting that anything we’ve gone through in the past eight years has been easy?” he laughed, incredulous. All the same, he draped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close, a kiss pressed to the crown of her head. “Reversing the tyrannical dictator regime of immortal monsters not enough for you, Hawkeye?”
“Well that’s my point, isn’t it,” she smiled up at him, a sly glint in her eyes. “That all was the hard part. This part, this whole presidency thing, seems so tame by comparison. Don’t you think? And you’ve always been one to chase a challenge...”
Roy met her grin with one of his own. “You’re scheming. I know you are, but I’m just waiting to see what it is you’re getting at.”
“How very dare you,” Riza stretched up to place a sweet kiss to his lips. “You could get me charged for treason with declarations like that, now.”
“Come on, love, let’s have it. What are you leading up to?” He gave her shoulder a cajoling little jostle.
Riza hummed and pulled back, tucking her hair behind her ears and casting her eyes down to her lap where she had pulled one of his hands to hold between both of hers.
“How’s this, then,” She met his gaze, and her eyes were burning with intention as she spoke. “Being Amestris’ first elected leader in modern history, and all the chaos and growing pains that come with it.”
“That’s the easy part, right?”
“Mmhmm. The challenge is this: all of that, with the added sleep deprivation and stress of a newborn.”
Riza gave him a shy, almost guilty smile while Roy’s brain worked to catch up.
“Ah?” he breathed, and it sounded like the wind had been knocked out of him—it looked a bit like it had been, too.
“I’m pregnant.” She continued softly. “I wanted to wait to tell you in case you lost, then it could be a consolation.”
Roy huffed a laugh at that, short and sharp, and took her face in his hands. “Wow. Such a vote of confidence—and from my own wife, no less.”
“Vance was a worthy adversary. He’s a doctor.”
“Of philosophy.”
“You’re going to make everyone with a PhD go after you if you ever say that in public. Plus, he had no ties to the old government, and that was appealing to a lot of people.”
“Alright, alright,” Roy laughed and sighed, kissing her forehead and releasing her from his hold on her face. “I yield. You’re right as always. Riza…”
A lot of things were falling into place as he thought back on the past couple of months. From the fatigue and nausea that she attributed to stress from the campaign all the way to her glass of wine sitting untouched on the coffee table. In fact, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her have a single drink all night and he wondered if any of their colleagues had caught on before he had.
“I know the timing isn’t ideal,” she began, in that tone of hers that sounded like an apology.
“No. No, the timing is perfect.” He insisted and kissed her before she could protest. “It is, love. We’ve waited long enough.”
Riza softened as he held her, the anxious energy dissipating from her now that his approval was given.
“Are you happy, Roy?” Riza whispered, tucking herself against his side and resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were warm and liquid as she looked up at him, and Roy thought that she had never looked lovelier than she did now, curled against him and positively glowing with life.
Roy bent to kiss her hair. “Of course. Riza, you’ve just given us something amazingly beautiful.” He felt breathless as the reality settled in around him. Riza smiled, an eyebrow quirked in amusement.
“Famously, it takes two to tango. You can take credit for approximately fifty percent of this.”
“Maybe so, but compared to nine months of growing and delivering a completely new human being, my contribution seems rather insignificant.”
Riza clicked her tongue. “Always the self-deprecating with you,” her tone was admonishing but astoundingly fond. “If you’re that worried, we can attend those classes where they make the partners wear weights strapped to them and put diapers on flour sacks.”
She settled one arm around him and placed her other hand idly over her midsection where she hadn’t begun to show yet—or maybe she had, but he was so used to seeing her that he hadn’t even noticed the gradual change. He considered his wife carefully, thought back on the curves of her body that he kissed over that very morning.
“How long have you kept this to yourself, you little sneak? Does anyone else know?” He asked after a moment.
“A few weeks,” her voice was airy, dismissive, like she was being vague on purpose. “I’ve only told Rebecca, though I think Falman has his suspicions. I suspect he started piecing it together before I even did when I began getting ill on the road.”
Roy winced and chuckled sheepishly at that. “How embarrassing that Vato figured it out before I did. It all seems so obvious now—I mean, you never used to get carsick.”
“In your defense, you were a tad bit preoccupied. We all were. I didn’t even think to see a doctor until I realized my cycle was over a month late. I just figured—well, we hadn’t had much luck beforehand, I guess I thought we were going to keep being unlucky forever.”
Riza gave a sad, nervous little laugh, suddenly dropping her gaze to look off at something past the coffee table. He could feel the way she tensed and shifted against him, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. Roy remembered just how long they had been trying, and that had been even before the months of campaigning. When they went on the road, they both agreed that it would be best to focus on their work, but they also certainly hadn’t taken any preventative measures. It figured that the universe had finally decided to cooperate after they stopped actively trying. Roy squeezed her firmly against him and buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the familiar scent of her.
“Riza, I love you so much. You’re going to be incredible. I can’t believe—fuck,” his throat suddenly felt very tight, but he soldiered ahead, a bit more softly. “I can’t believe we can have all this.”
“I’m still not sure we deserve it,” she lifted her head and pressed her nose against his jaw in a silent request for a kiss, which he dropped onto her waiting lips. “But we’ve long since learned to take everything we can get. Our child will be better than either of us, and they’ll grow up in a world that is safer and kinder… That has to be worth something.”
“I think it is.” Roy insisted, bumping his forehead against hers. And then he grinned, giddy, and laughed, completely blown away. “A president and a father, huh. What a night.”
“I hope you’re up for it all, Mr. President.” Riza teased.
“Like you said, I do love a challenge. At least this time we won’t have to deal with homunculi gunning us down.”
“Well now you’ve just jinxed it.”
Then Riza sighed and fell against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, nuzzling close and pressing her lips to his collarbone. She hid away against him for several moments, warm and grounding in his arms, and when she finally drew back it was with a playful, knowing smile. She set her sharp little chin against his shoulder as she peered up at him.
“You know… I think it was Aqroya.” Her eyes sparkled with insinuation and Roy’s neck prickled with heat at the memory of the debate that was held in that particularly beautiful city.
He remembered the glittering blue water and the gondola rides through the canals. Museums filled with beautiful art and historical artifacts. Streets filled with alluring sights and smells, music filtering through the air as musicians performed. And of course, he remembered the very, very lovely hotel suite the city had put them up in.
“Of course it’d be Aqroya,” Roy mumbled playfully. “I do distinctly remember how distracting you made yourself while I was trying to study up on my notes about fortifying waterfront architecture the night before my speech.”
“It was the end of the campaign circuit. We had a lot to celebrate.” She shrugged, completely unapologetic. Roy pulled her closer, his hands roaming low to flirt with the hem of her skirt .
“I wonder where that little number you wore went off to… We have a lot to celebrate now, too.”
Riza smiled, vixen-like, as a blush crept over her cheeks. Roy swallowed, the lust dancing in her eyes making his whole body light up, suddenly very aware of each point of contact between them.
“I think I might have some idea where it is. Carry me?”
Roy pulled her into his lap and stood with practiced ease, grinning at her wolfishly as she giggled and wrapped her legs around him. Riza kissed him solidly, making the act of maneuvering from the living room to their bedroom considerably more difficult—but then, he was more than down for the challenge.