Vanessa's POV
"Mom?"
Vanessa looked up from the book she was reading, glasses balanced at the tip of her nose. A little brown-haired boy wearing purple and green pyjamas was standing in the entrance to the living room.
"Hey honey…Why you up so late?" Vanessa asked.
"It's the nightmares again." The little boy whimpered.
"Oh Timmy…" Vanessa got up and wrapped the boy in a tender embrace. "It's alright. You're safe." She said soothingly, and stroked his head with her hand.
"You know that you're always safe, right? I'll always be here for you."
Timmy's lower lip quivered. "Yeah..." He said, and pulled away from his mother.
Vanessa grinned. "Now go to bed you silly boy." She tickled his stomach, and he giggled.
"Moom!" He whined, though still smiling.
"Sorry! I forgot-you're too grown up for that kind of stuff."
Timothy puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips, making Vanessa laugh. She patted his head.
"G'night honey."
"Night Mom," Timothy replied, and he saluted. He marched into his room, as stiff as a soldier, and shut the door-much to the amusement of Vanessa.
When Vanessa saw the light turn off and the shuffling and rolling had ceased, she sighed. This wasn't normal for him…hopefully the doctors would be able to help. She sat back down and continued reading. She was just about to finish a chapter when the dingle of a text message interrupted the silence, leaving her on the dreaded "cliff hanger". Eh…that can wait. Vanessa thought. Not soon after though, another ding sounded, followed by another and another.
"Alright, alright." Vanessa grumbled, and she walked over to her cellphone.
Hello Vanessa
Check your email
Now
Don't wait
"Creeper…" She muttered, but did as she was told…
"Hey Vanessa. It's Ferb! Heheh…Hate to break it to you, but I'm dead now. I killed myself."
Vanessa's jaw dropped. She automatically lowered the volume on her phone in case Timmy heard. It couldn't be! Last time we talked was…two years ago…Wow. Has it been that long? The shock was overwhelming. Ferb…dead…
"Is this too sudden for you? Well, I'm terribly sorry, but you have to listen to this. It'll be short, I promise…Remember when we dated? We met in a bar when I was 22 and you were 25. We began chatting-old times and such. It hit off right from the start. It was a very happy time for me."
"Two years later, you came to me one night and said that you didn't feel the same way towards me anymore. I was distraught. I tried to convince you to remain here, but you were headstrong. Finally, I accepted this. You packed up your things, and left. Three years later, I saw you walking around the neighborhood, accompanied by a brown haired man with a unibrow. You were carrying a little boy. He was about…three years old! How queer is that?" Ferb's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Vanessa didn't know how to react. Monty and her always knew Timmy was…theirs…right?
"I walked over and said hello, and introduced myself as an old friend of yours. Monty…that was the man's name. Are you still together, or has he left you already?"
Monogram and Vanessa were still together, married in fact, even though he was often away on "business" trips. You see, after Major Monogram had retired, Monty took over as the division leader for the OWCA.
"Anyways. I visited you two years ago. Timmy was sitting in a corner, fiddling with some Legos. I asked you how old he was, and you said five. You expressed your worries about his shyness. I told you that he would grow out of it, just like me. Then it hit me. It should hit you in just a moment Vanessa."
She didn't want to admit it. It couldn't be true. It…it just couldn't.
"I am his father."
The audio clip ended.
Vanessa stumbled out of her chair, almost as if in a trance. She walked over to Timmy's room, opened the door, and looked into the face
Of the man she once loved.