10It's a quiet day at the shop. A few orders being picked up, more being placed; it's the same thing as ever. When the shop closes at 5:30, the phone rings at 5:45, and for a minute, Izumi is irked. They're closed and preparing for dinner. Any orders should have been called in earlier. She answers the phone anyway.
"Curtis Butcher Shop," she says agitatedly.
"Hey, um, good evening, Teacher," a young man's voice says over the line.
It's a voice she can remember hearing for months on end, whining, questioning, laughing, yelling and talking. It's Ed's voice. He sounds rather nervous.
She leans against the counter and smiles a tad. "Ed? For a moment, I thought you were a stupid customer calling late," she mutters.
He laughs nervously.
She frowns. "What did you do? I'm not going to bail you out of any trouble." She grumbles. She can hear him wince almost.
"No, I wanted to ask a favor but not that kind of favor." He's uncomfortably quiet.
"What kind of favor?"
"We don't have to talk about that right away… How are you feeling?" He tries.
She rolls her eyes and humors him.
He can hear the annoyance in her voice and he falters a little. "I just haven't talked to you in a while and I was—"
"Really? I could accept that from Al, but not you. You're always rushing about calling when you remember."
Ed accepts the stinging critique and mumbles an apology. A young man in his early twenties who still fears his teacher from his childhood.
She chuckles a little. "You're still a little kid, aren't you? I'm sorry. What's on your mind?" She's softened up and Ed relaxes a little on his end of the phone.
"You know how Winry and I are engaged, right?"
She rolls her eyes and replies with a yes. She doesn't mention how happy she'd been to hear the news a little over a year and a half ago. And how exasperated Ed had used alchemy to ask her, she'd been amused as well. She must have drilled it into his big head a little too hard.
"Um… Well, the wedding's in a few months. This coming June…"
Izumi paused. "Uh-huh."
"Well, if you're coming down… "
"Of course, I am! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" She chastises warmly.
"Well, I was wondering if you and Sig would…um… Since Mom and Dad are… Well, if you'd…"
She blinks. The parents of the bride and groom were expected to be present and give their blessing at a ceremony.
"Teacher…?" Ed's voice was quiet and fearful.
She remembered the same wide-eyed voice questioning her in a similar tone whenever she was quiet or gentle…but she remembered it coming out of a little blonde boy; a tiny little mite who was always getting into trouble with his brother on his heels. She twisted the phone cord in her hand and shut her eyes.
"We'd love to, Ed… Thank you." She feels a pang of affection mixed with sadness… The day when two motherless children begged a childless mother to be their teacher playing through her mind. She exhales softly and smiles.
"You will?" Ed's voice is filled with childish delight.
She can picture his big dopey grin and she laughs. "How could I say no, dear?" She tacks on the endearment without a second thought.
Ed's rambling, the nerves slightly gone from his voice as he talks on about his upcoming wedding. "Winry's all in a frenzy, and Al's coming home from Xing as well. Teacher, you can't believe how much it means to me!"
He rattles on.
She humors him.
It feels wonderful to be his mother.
Oh, random fics, will you ever stop popping up? It's just a little thing I thought of. I really like the idea and, yeah, I cannot think of anything to say .w.
Hiromu Arakawa = The Most Amazing Mangaka ever—I mean, owner of FMA.
The biggest thanks To Dejiko001 who had decided to be my editor becuase i fail at formatting.