He wakes up.
His brother wakes up.
The next minute there's two different reactions.
One of them; His eyes light up. The other.. He slides back under his blankets as if he's ashamed of something.
Perhaps he is.. Or maybe not.
It's that day. THAT day. The one day on the whole earth that Ferb can't stand to wake up to, even though he knows he has to.
It's Mothers day.
Mothers day; Those words used to mean everything to Ferb when he was three years old. He can still remember the mornings when he rushes into her room, dives onto her bed and gives her as many kisses as he can to wake her up. She wakes up , is never a minute too soon. Then Ferb rushes back into his own room where he's been hiding his card for weeks, under his bed.
It's a drawn one, obviously. He tried his hardest for it to look perfect every year and he was happy when it made her smile. She used to pull him into a cuddle and kiss his soft green hair and tell him that she loved him very much.
She used to whisper the words into his ear... It's almost as if he can hear her voice right now, feel her gentle kiss on the top of his head..
But of course things have changed. He doesn't know why; He used to celebrate mothers day as normal.. Or as normal as he could.
But things still changed. He just stopped. He stopped facing this day, as horrible as it was for Linda, but he couldn't face the day..
Until today.
Ferb opens his eyes. He was asleep? But everything was so real..
He rubs at his eyes and peers over at Phineas's bed. Phineas is still asleep despite it's 7:00 on the dot.
But Ferb is relieved. He tiptoes out of bed as to not wake his brother up.. He wants at least a few moments to himself.
He pads across the hall in his feetie pyjamas - thankfully not making any sound as he does so. Down the stairs the boy slips, as quietly as he can. The whole ofthiwnstairs is silent.. Almost.
Faintly, oh so faintly is the sound of a teaspoon clinking on a teacup. And he knows she's awake. He runs through the living room, yelling 'MUUUUUUM!' as he does so.
And her head jerks up. A faint smile appears on her lips and she sits up moments before he flies into the kitchen and throws himself into her arms.
Linda puts her arms around him and he puts his around her. His face is buried into her chest as he whispers a muffled "I love you."
It's almost unhearable, but she'll hear it. There's no way she can't.
And he means what he says.. Not that he didn't mean it when he's said it countless time before, but he means it even more so now.
"Sudden affection much?" She asks him as quietly as she can.
Ferb doesn't know whether she's joking or not, but he doesn't care. He looks up and kisses her cheek.
"It's mothers day, silly." He says.
He still doesn't know whether she honestly doesn't know it's mother's day or is joking, but she seems to know something.
Linda pulls Ferb up and kisses his hair. "Of course it is, sweetie." She says as she kisses his hair again. She's near his ear, so he can hear almost everything she says.
"Oh, and I love you too." She giggles.
And he doesn't say anything. He's back into silent mode as he hears Phineas coming down the stairs. But it's not that he cares. He doesn't care if Phineas sees him, or how embarrassing it would be, or anything. All he cares about is that he wants to stay like this for a little moment longer.
Because it's almost like back then..