Linda had seen her youngest son in the occasional, albeit uncharacteristic, funk, but never had she seen him quite so preoccupied. She knew that Phineas had outgrown the age where he was likely to share everything with her, but it still went against her motherly instincts to sense a problem and let it go un-nurtured. Fortunately, she managed to catch him before he could slink up to his room. "What did you get up to today, sweetie?" she asked brightly, hoping to mask any nosiness with a tone of typical Mom curiosity. "Spent time with Isabella, I assume?"
Phineas paused and sighed almost imperceptibly. "Mom, Isabella and I broke up."
Linda's heart gave a lurch at the distress her boy was inevitably bottling up inside. "Oh, honey," she bemoaned, cradling him in a soothing Mom hug. She felt him squirm a bit, but she responded by tightening her grasp. Finally he slackened and returned the hug in kind.
Drawing away slightly, Linda thought she might have spotted something else in her son's eyes. "Honey, is there anything else bothering you?"
He was a moment in answering. "No, Mom. I'm fine."