Winter, 1891, Eren Elric's Age: 1 month
Van Hohenheim faced many things in his modest life that lasted well beyond centuries. From dealing with the constantly aching guilt of his people's demise, to barely holding onto his sanity as he talked to the 536 329 Xerxian souls, learned their story and burned their names into his memory. He survived as the last of his people, with a beautifully kind wife he didn't deserve, living in the country-side of Amestris. It was so peaceful that it momentarily made Hohenheim forget about the monster residing only a train ride away.
One thing, he perhaps dreamed of so long ago, finally became reality. He had a family. Trisha (the only woman Hohenheim believed to be an angel) gave him a son. Truly, Hohenheim shed tears that day as he witnessed the miracle of life, all the more precious as he was part of the making.
It truly made all alchemy seem grey when compared to his son's beautiful emerald eyes and woven sunshine for hair. Yes, his son, Eren, was the only being Hohenheim could call "perfect" but that's probably what every father feels when they hold their child for the first time.
This was also currently his reason for panic.
Under Trisha's amused gaze, Hohenheim was awkwardly holding Eren (After one month of cowardly hiding in his office) "Uh..." Half-lidded eyelids barely covered the brilliance of Eren's deep emerald gaze, perhaps a combination of his own unique Xerxian gold and Trisha's forest ebony. Hohenheim couldn't help the conflicting feelings of joy and pain when Eren first opened his eyes. Joy for his son who was developing so quickly, a fondness that his son at least inherited one physical trait of his beloved mother.
But he felt pain as the loss of golden eyes, the famous trait of the Xerxians. Though it was a small throb at most.
Hohenheim, in the beginning, felt immense relief that Eren didn't turn out weird like he feared, not that he would love him any less, but his Homunculus status definitely left wonder if his offspring would be... "normal"
Eren looked as normal as any baby, perhaps immensely adorable in his eyes though that may be because he's made up half of his gene counterpart (Then again, anyone who glanced at Eren was equally charmed). His child was beginning to grow soft platinum gold hair, a shade paler than the common gold hair of the Xerxians. His skin was not quite as bright as a common Amestrian nor tan as a Xerxian.
Trisha was certain that Eren would have the appearance of an aristocratic noble when he grew up (She's been reading too many of her romance novels). The Alchemist of the West merely sighed and nodded along, thinking that surely her rose-tinted glasses were blinding with mother's love.
(Oh how he underestimated woman's intuition.)
Summer, 1891. Eren Elric's Age: 6 Months
After 6 months of careful observation, Hohenheim came to a conclusion: no weird abilities like extended demon nails or alchemistic immortality. A big sigh of relief. Hohenheim gave his son a small sincere smile. His son let out a quiet sigh, all the more delicate in his tiny frame,
An overwhelmingly smart fast developing baby? Check. Cue sudden worry.
The amount of heart attacks his son had caused him had made Hohenheim wonder if he will use up his philosopher's stone much earlier than he predicted.
Like that one incident...
"Oh, my g--" Hohenheim dived to be the cushion for Eren's sudden dive from atop the desk (how did he get there?!). He grunted in mild pain as his jaw met the floor.
He felt soft tapping on his back. Eren was patting his back like a master pleased by his dog. Hohenheim felt his bones snap in place as he sat up (He was getting old...), placing the baby on his lap. Eren looked up, his face showing no sign of panic of a fall that could have killed him.
They had a stare off.
"...I think this is the part where I scold you...?" Hohenheim said out-loud, hesitation belonging to an amateur parent (or any bloke with zero socializing skills). Eren didn't even bother to look at his saviour as his small body rolled off his father's lap and rolled away.
"..."
Hohenheim wondered if all fathers felt this confused.
Or that other incident...
"Dear! Come to the kitchen!" Hohenheim heard Trisha calling from downstairs. He reluctantly put down his pen, tidying his alchemy notes.
"It's Eren's first time eating broccoli, we need to be here!" Trisha said excitedly when Hohenheim entered the kitchen. Hohenheim eyed the green mush.
"Broccoli," he repeated. So this was another one of those moments where Trisha wanted them to experience all of Eren's first moments, apparently eating broccoli is also considered a "first."
Eren looked just as excited as he felt. The baby eyed the mush with hesitance which is an abnormal response from the usually confident baby.
"Open up~!" Trisha sang as the spoon slowly descended towards the baby's mouth. Suddenly Eren's eyes grew impossibly huge, tears threatening to fall.
Both parents were shocked at the amount of time Eren cried in his short life (4 months old) could be counted on one hand. And this moment threatened to raise the ring finger.
"...Y-You do it, Dear!" Suddenly a wooden bowl of mushed brocolli was pushed into Hohenheim's hands. Hohenheim's suddenly slow brain betrayed him as Trisha retreated to the end of the table before he could protest.
Eren looked pleased for a moment before inverting back to his blank state.
That day ended with Hohenheim wiping green bits off his growing beard with Trisha giggling hysterically in the background and Eren playing with his block toys with his standard blank expression.
Hohenheim still swears to this day that his son did that on purpose.
Eren was currently 6 months old and already able to walk (a bit wobbly). Hohenheim had high suspicions that Eren could talk as well, but the baby was always quiet by nature. He looked down to see Eren staring at him with unblinking emerald eyes.
Hohenheim stared back. He slowly lifted his hands behind his ears, doing jazz hands while his face did an impression of a monkey.
The baby's blank expression didn't change into laughter like Hohenheim hoped, instead Eren glanced to the side and let out a tired sigh.
Hohenheim had a feeling that the baby was not impressed.
Parenthood is going to be tough.
1895. Eren Elric's Age: 4 years old.
"Dear, hold the present! I'll hold the cake." Trisha whispered as she handed the present to her husband in all but law.
Hohenheim let out a yawn. "Why are we up so early...?" He whined a bit. Trisha pouted, "Eren has such an unpredictable sleep and wake up schedule. He sleeps till 3 pm on some days, and on other days he wakes up at 8 am, we need to be prepared."
Hohenheim blinked as he realized this fact. All the times he finally exited the study during the day, Eren always seemed to be sleeping but the Philosopher of the West always assumed he was diligently taking his daily naps...in very odd places, specifically in the tall tree in their backyard (How a four-year-old boy got up there, Hohenheim was scared to find out) .
Or the times he exited at night, Eren was active, doing strange activities no normal 4-year-old would do. This included:
- Work out routine with push ups and sit ups way to tough on a four-year-old in the middle of the night. (Eren wanted to raise his athletic stats)
- Reading numerous books looking a bit too thick for a child who should be learning alphabets at his age. (Hohenheim never looked at the titles though, he would be confused if he saw: How to be a Ninja 101, How to cook like Yukihira Soma, How to be a gentleman, the language of flowers, What not to say to a woman). (Eren was learning new skills)
- Doing a cucumber banana facial mask while reading Trisha's romance novels. (It was out of habit from Eren's past female life--And Trisha's novels gave him an interesting enlightening of what women of this world dreamed of.
- Doing weird mantis yoga poses (Eren was stretching)
- And about 100 pages of weird activities Hohenheim had the pleasure of witnessing his son do.
It seems that all these strange activities blinded Hohenheim from the fact that Eren's sleeping schedule resembled that of a military office worker on a deadline.
"Huh...Isn't that bad?" Hohenheim asked Trisha, who was superior in the knowledge of raising-a-child-ology.
Trisha placed a hand on her check in a worried gesture, holding the cake with one hand. "Yes, I thought so as well. But last time I took Eren to his daily check-up, the doctor said Eren was fine. Perhaps he still needs time to grow out of his schedule of sleep as a baby."
Hohenheim scratched a finger against his cheek as Trisha continued to ramble in motherly concern, "--And it might be just me, but I feel like that boy is becoming more restless and daring as he grows older.
The Philosopher of the West let out a chuckle, as he opened the door to their son's room. "I think you're just imagining thi--"
FWOOOSH~
The two parents were greeted with the sight of a window opened wide, the transparent white curtains swaying in the gentle breeze. The bedroom was obviously one child missing.
"..."
The present slipped out of Hohenheim's grasp and hit the floor. Luckily, it was nothing delicate.
Trisha wasn't so lucky as the chocolate cake splat on the floor which the brunette barely registered as her worried call echoed the house.
"EREN!!!"
Outside, Eren flinched at the frightened call of his mother.
~O~
An hour later, Eren's body swayed and his eyes were half-lidded. His sleeping schedule was off since he missed his usual morning nap time to deal with Trisha's fussing and 3-man birthday party.
That night, after an exhausting day of fussing and re-making the birthday cake. In the privacy of his study, Hohenheim decided that maybe Trisha's speculations of their son weren't all so far off after all. He made a note to self to place a mattress beneath Eren's bedroom window just in case (He dared not let his mind wander to how Eren escaped through a second-floor window which Trisha now barricaded)
Hohenheim should really stop expecting Eren to think and act like the few children he interacted with in his past.
His son was special after all.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Well, its the middle of the night and I have school tomorrow. Nothing to say, too tired.
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, comment and vote!
Not sure when the next update will be, I will upload the FMAB timeline in the next chapter. Until then,
Neko1290