Hughes! Best Memory for each individual family member! (AU inclusive uwu)
"You wanna know about my family? Where do I even start? They give me so many good memories every day, I don't even know if I can pick one!" he gushed. "I'll go grab a few photo albums and show you." Hughes immediately went to the shelf in the living room and picked out an armful of thick albums, setting them on the table.
"This one is from when Gracia and I started dating, and here's our wedding album. This one starts with the time that Elicia was born and shows the first few months we had her. I can't believe how fast she's grown! Even looking that far back, you can see how much she looks like Gracia. And here's our most recent album." After pointing toward each album in turn, his finger lingered above the last one. "These are pictures taken since Mary joined us, and I couldn't be happier to have her as part of our family! You should see how happy Elicia is to have a sister now. And Gracia and I have come to love her so much! Did you know that Gracia's planning to show them both how to make cookies later? I need a photo of the three of them working together. It'll be so adorable!" There were already photos of Elicia baking with Gracia, but how much sweeter would a photo of all three of the people he loved so much be?
But he had to stay on track and answer the question. His gaze flitted to the wedding album, and a nostalgic smile softened his features. "There are a lot of memories about Gracia I hold close to my heart. I think most people would expect my favorite memory of her to be our wedding day, but there's still one I wouldn't trade for the world. Gracia's letters were a major part of what kept me going while I was deployed to Ishval, and all I could think about was seeing her smile again. So when I got off that train back home and she was there waiting for me, there was never a more beautiful sight in my life. She was still there, no matter what happened. And that was when I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. At the time, I didn't know if I'd ever see her again, but here she was, in my arms, and nothing would tear us apart after that." There was still a lot about that time that he didn't talk about, but knowing that his wife would always be by his side through thick and thin and that he was the one making her happy made every difficulty worth it.
He turned toward another album and flipped to the first page, pointing to a photo of an infant wrapped softly in a pink blanket. "Call it cliche, but my favorite memory of Elicia was the day she was born. I'd always wanted to have a family for as long as I can remember, and those nine months waiting to see her for the first time were so exciting and terrifying while I tried to imagine what it would be like to be a father. But then I saw her angelic little face for the first time. I think of how lucky I am to have her in my life every single day."
Hughes closed the album and lifted a third, the one that contained photos of all three of his family members. "You know, there's still a lot I don't know about Mary, but when she called me 'Dad' for the first time, I knew that whatever was in her past, she was happy here with us. I still loved her as a daughter as soon as we took her in even, even before she called me that, but to hear her accept me as her father? There's nothing that could have made me happier. All I want for her is for her to live a happy, comfortable life where she feels safe, and hearing her call me that, it really feels like I'm able to give that to her."
