Chapter 01 || The Picture From Mara

Mara gives Alphonse and Ayumi a present

When I watched my breath puff against the frosty wall of winter air, my heart froze in amazement.

 

The day-care in front of me was lifeless, even though there were plenty of children rustling amoung it's inner corridors. I turn my gaze towards the sky and examine the shade of the clouds. They're a pale grey colour. That means snow. I sigh as I run my fingers through my dirty-honey hair. I guess I'd better pull the snow shovel out of the garage later.

 

"You see it too, don't you?" my brother Edward calls from behind me. I fasten my scarf and turn to meet his gaze. "The weather? Yeah, who can't see it?" I say with a nervous laugh.

 

Brother sighs. "Koda's gonna get on my case about the sidewalk," he says, fixing the glasses sliding off his nose. I smirk. "Yeah? You know she loves you."

 

"Sometimes I wonder," he replies.

"Brother..."

"Yeah I know. I was just kidding. You should know that."

 

Brother and his wife, Koda, had been together for awhile now. Their love was strange. One could give the other the worst insult you could think of, and they'd just laugh it off and kiss each other afterwords. It was something to be envied by many, but not by me. After all, I had a wife of my own, who had her own adorable flaws that made me so very attracted.

 

I slip my hands into my pockets and shiver. The temperature was dropping, and you could feel it even as you stood there.

 

"Alphonse," Brother calls, and I nod. "Do you see Anna-Lee yet?" he asked, looking around for his daughter. I look around for any sign of lemon blonde hair poking its way out from past the winter wonderland around us. I didn't see anything, which meant that the children hadn't been dismissed yet. "No Anna-Lee," I call. Brother sighs, then whips out his pocketwatch and examines the time carefully, as if his will could bend time itself. "Ahh...later than yesterday!! Aiya, I dont see why Koda even makes me bring Anna-Lee to daycare. She can watch her, can't she? I mean, what does she do all day that keeps her so busy that she can't watch our kid?" he asks. I shrug. "Beats me. I haven't exactly been paying attention to what your wife and kid have been up to."

 

He shrugs, then fixes his glasses again as he stood up straight. I looked at him and took in his features: silk blonde hair that was tied in a neat looking ponytail, firey golden eyes that shrone in the grey light, strongly built muscles that emphasized his "manliness"...it was hard to believe we were related. In contrast, I had hair that was not as silky nor as neat, dirt brown eyes that seemed to have erroded over time, and thin spindly arms that had some meat on them, but not NEARLY as much as my brother. In comparison, it was obvious Brother was the more refined one. I shrugged and wondered why I was even able to get married in the first place.

 

I smile.

Because Ayumi loved me.

And because God said so.

 

I stare at Brother again, who's tapping his pocketwatch impatiently. I had never told him about my conversation with God. In fact, I never told anybody. Not even Ayumi (my wife, incase you didn't know this yet) knew, and she was the the reason I even talked to Him in the first place. People would think I lost the five droplets of sanity I had left.

 

A short bell rings in the dense winter air, and Brother exhales a quiet "Finally!".

 

Soon, children poured out of the daycare like rain, running towards their parents. We watched as a very confused Anna-Lee tottered her way over to Brother and hugged his ankles. I smile. "Hey Anna-Lee!" both Brother and I chimed in unison. Anna-Lee looks up at Brother and grins. "Papa!" she says, handing him a folded up piece of paper. He kneels down and meets her eyeline. "And what do you have for you Daddy today hmm?" he asked in a baby-tone as he unfolded the paper. "Ahh! Parent meeting!?" he says, his good mood shattered. I sigh as I look back to the clouds.

 

Anna-Lee only grins and clings onto Brothers waist. "Papa..." she coos delightfully, but I can see Brother isn't happy about his upcoming parent meeting.

 

I laugh. "Well Anna-Lee...Brother...I'd best be going. Ayumi wont be very happy if I'm late for dinner," I say. Brother nods, scooping Anna-Lee up and lovingly cradled her against his chest. "Yeah, and Koda wont be too happy if we're late either. Catch ya later, bro," he says, waving goodbye before turning and walking home. I see Anna-Lee throw her arms around his neck and press her cheek against his face.

 

Its a warm scene.

 

 

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"Alphonse, quick! Come look!"

 

The second I step in the door, Ayumi's melodious tone greets me. As I slip off my coat, I look to see our own daughter Mara sitting at the table in her high chair, scribbling meaninglessly on a piece of paper. I sigh. "Hmm? What have I missed?" I asked.

 

Ayumi only smiles as she placed a loving kiss on my lips. "Look, Alphonse, look! Mara drew this!" she said in that fake-loving parental tone. She shows me the paper, and immedietly am greeted by a rainbow-splashed paper. Green scribbles ran along the corners, while a black mass of crayon took up the middle. Red lines poked out of it. Ayumi beamed at Mara's work, as if she knew exactly what she had been trying to express. I stood, still trying to make something out of it. Then I smile and laugh. "Its beautiful!!" I shout gleefully, picking up my two-month old daughter and cradling her against my chest just as I had seen my brother do with his own daughter. Mara starts to laugh, and I smile. Her laugh was precious: it reminded me of everything Ayumi and I had worked for. We had worked to get married, to start a family like this. And now we had gotten it.

 

"Think she'll be an artist when she grows up?" Ayumi asks, pressing her finger lovingly against Mara's cheek. I smile and shrug. "Perhaps. After all, she got the talent from her very beautiful Momma," I say, leaning my head on Ayumi's shoulder. She giggles along with Mara, and I feel my heart swell with joy.

 

Family was everything.

And I loved my family.

Author's Note

SO! Here is my first chapter!! =D

Reviews

[Rae]

Terrific first chapter! I really do want to know about Al's job too. It must be very scary to be abusive. Also, in the bio Mara was said to be "Age 2 and a half months". I was wondering if that was a mistake or if you meant it to be like that. Thank you for writing this. ^^

[Keevan]

B'aaaaaww, need to know what Al's job is! XD

[MadeCheaply]

It's a great chapter!!! But may I add that in the character bios you said Mara was 2 years old, in this chapter you said 2 months old. Trololol
SO CUTE!!!