Summary: Riza should have known that something was up when Roy suggested she should have a relaxing weekend with Rebecca, but she never would have guessed what expected her at home. A story on why Riza truly deserves to be celebrated on Mother's day.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa. Maes is mine.

Please enjoy!

Riza should have known that something was up when Roy suggested she should take the weekend off of her motherly duties and spend some quality time alone with her best friend.

Well, she had to admit that the last few weeks had been very stressful for her family. A as of yet unknown group started to rebel against the Amestrian soldiers stationed in Ishval and it forced Roy to commute between Central and Ishval a lot to get things under control. He needed all the rest he could get whenever he came home, so Riza was practically alone with their eleven months old baby boy during that time. Additionally, being part of the restoration and Roy's adjutant, some of the meetings demanded Riza's attendance as well which forced her to also travel with Maes a couple of times.

To top all of it off, the young child was just about to get another set of baby teeth (his lateral incisors on his upper jaw) which lead to a number of restless nights for the not-so-young-mother.

In fact, her headaches made her feel like she was the one growing teeth again.

So while it was a very sweet (and not so unusual) thought of her husband's to make his wife feel comfortable and rested, it was quite unusual for him to be just as thoughtful of the woman he called "Harpy" on a daily basis.
The whole situation got even weirder when Jean suggested they stay at a spa hotel and knew the address and phone number by heart.
It reached the peak though when Roy proceeded to make reservations right away, insisting that he would take care of all expenses (even Rebecca's) in advance so the women wouldn't have anything to worry about.

A well rested Riza would have smelled the heap from far away.

Headache ridden, sleep deprived and slightly underfed Riza on the other hand didn't care about that. All she cared about was that she had finally ablactated Maes a week ago and that Roy was perfectly able to take care of the infant himself... and if need arose, Hayate was still able to get help.

Sure, Riza didn't miss that Roy and Rebecca didn't argue for once when he helped her lift her suitcase into the car and not even when Rebecca "accidentally" let it fall down his foot first, but she was more concerned with the boy clutching her blouse.

"Mommy will be back very, very soon, alright, my little boy?"

When she was faced with a pair of big, teary eyes, she looked helplessly over to her husband.

"Roy I can't go." She nestled her nose into Maes's thick hair and took a deep breath while snuggling him tighter.

"Of course you can, sweetheart," Roy answered with a smile and stretched out his arms to take over his son, but she wasn't ready for that, yet. "I'm perfectly alright in taking care of my son for two days. He's got three uncles that'll love to play with him and we can always visit his grandma and great-grandpa, right, pup?"

"I left the recipe book on the kitchen table," Riza started as Roy cautiously took his son into his arms, "if you don't get the hang of it, I bought a variety of baby food. But if you visit the Madame anyway, try to get her to help you prepare his yourself, I don't trust that jars if I don't need to. His toothing ointment is right next to his changing table, apply it before he goes to sleep. I put his teddy in the washing machine, but he should be dry by now, I hung him up on the porch. Now, if anything happens-"

"I've got your number. The Madame, Grumman, Jean, Heymans and Kain do, too. I even gave the number to Fullmetal in case I need to get to Ishval and have to drop off Maes in Resembool. I've got it under control, Riza. You can trust me."

"I know," she sighed with a frown and stepped up to her husband to caress her toddler's cheek, "it's the first time I'll be separated from him."

With a sympathetic smile, Roy wrapped his free hand around Riza's waist and pulled her into a big family hug, all three cuddling for a minute before Riza pulled back again.

"See you on Sunday, Maes. Be a good boy, okay?" She kissed his cheek twice and turned to her husband to kiss him on his lips.
"I love you. I trust you."

Roy smiled. "Enjoy yourself."

Rebecca did NOT enjoy her speeding their way home, she could tell so much.

She didn't care, though - something was amiss, she knew it. Whenever she called home, Roy seemed in a hurry and stressed. He assured her that everything was alright, that Maes was well (and he even got home cooked baby food by his granny), but she knew that he was avoiding her. Rested Riza could tell and did care.

And rest she did. She hadn't known that so many muscles of her body had been cramped up or that she could actually sleep 10 hours straight without as much as stirring. It was truly a great experience and it had been nice to finally have a girl's night out since before her pregnancy, but she couldn't shake off her mother instincts and she missed her baby boy way too much to stay after the breakfast. And she was only 10 minutes away from home, that was a plus.

"Riza, stop driving so fast!"

The curly haired woman on the passenger's seat turned her head sideways, "it's not like Roy will burn the house down. Even Jean didn't succeed in that yet and he's never walking around without a cancer sti-RIZA STOP," she shrieked as her best friend accelerated the engine even more.

"Your boyfriend probably spent the whole weekend with my husband and son," Riza answered dryly, her jaw in a hard line. "The probability of a fire just doubled. And I swear, if he smoked near to my son, he's a dead man."

It didn't take the women long to arrive in front of the large porch of the Mustang house, a small but cozy place not far off East City HQ. Riza parked the car just as smoothly as always despite of her state of distress and she jumped out of the car already before Rebecca even had unbuckled her seat belt.

"Riza, wait, not so fast!"

Riza didn't respond at all, instead, she rummaged through her handbag to grasp her keys and it gave Rebecca enough time to speed up to the woman in time with her opening the door.

"Roy?" Riza called into the dark hallway that split up into the second floor, kitchen and living room. She decided to head into the living room first, but the staircase caught her attention. It looked... clean. She hadn't had time at all to clean up before she went on her trip. What had just happened here? She grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, bracing herself for the worst -

"Happy mother's day!"

- but obviously not for the sight in front of her.

Standing in a half circle in front of her were not only her boys - Jean, Heymans and Kain - but also the Elric brothers; tall, handsome and most of all, healthy.

"E-excuse me?" Riza asked bewildered, unsure of who or where to lay her eyes on.

"Happy mother's day," Jean repeated with a grin, mouth free of cigarettes for once, "damn, did Becky chew off your ears or something?"

"Watch it, Jean!" Rebecca piped up over Riza's shoulder, but Riza didn't even hear her as she took in the rest of the room. Over 20 balloons floated near the ceiling and down every balloon hang a piece of string which a couple of paper-wrapped chocolates were tied into. Right behind Jean, in the dining part of the vast living room, a steaming hot apple pie was waiting to be cut. Every other surface she could see was covered in different kinds of flowers: Tulips, lilies and orchids were the only ones she could process before she shook her head.

"I don't understand."

"It's mother's day today, Riza," Heymans repeated yet again with a low chuckle.

"You know, even though there are just a few years between us, you always had that motherly attitude," Kain now spoke up with a smile and a soft expression in his eyes, "everyone in our Team knows they can come to you with any problem. I think without your encouraging words, I might have actually quit into the first week of serving." The bespectacled man blushed a little and received a friendly clap on the back from Heymans as an answer.

"So thanks, Riza, who knows where our little tech geek would be without you", Jean grinned at her and put his hands on his hips, "and the rest of us, too. Hell, Roy would have probably incinerated us a long time ago without you."

"Along with teacher, you are the closest thing to a mother we have."

Riza turned her head to her left and stared into a pair of golden eyes now and even though it became harder and harder for her to breathe, she awed a little at the sight of the young man who had spent a third of his life as a soul residing in his father's old armor. Alphonse smiled at her just as the others did and continued.

"You always had time to listen to us. Whenever there was a mission Brother had to do alone, you would listen to my fears and calm me down. I've never expressed my gratitude properly, so thank you."

"Alphonse, I-"

"He is right," Edward chimed in, his trademark grin on his face, "we never truly thanked you appropriately. You never held anything back. Many people treated us like children."

"Shrimp!" a cough came out of the Team Mustang corner and Edward's expression darkened momentarily, but another grin spread on his face immediately.

"Yeah. They treated us like children because of my height. And granted, we were children. But you also knew that we were young adults and that we could and had to handle truths ourselves. You put trust in us not many people dared to put into us. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel."

"Edward-"

"But let us not forget," a deep, familiar baritone caught Riza's attention immediately and the boys' half-circle parted to give room to the last two people entering the living room, "even though you always had a motherly streak - even as a 12 year old! - we found it weird to celebrate mother's day with you."

Roy's eyes locked with Riza's and it was apparent to anyone just how much those two communicated through glances alone when Riza's eyes slowly started to get glossy and shiny.

"But thanks to this little pup here, we can finally celebrate you!"

Roy knelt down on the floor and cautiously helped Maes stand on his tiny feet. The toddler was dressed in his best pants and shirt and Riza's favorite little clip-in bow she had bought for the military ball. In his right fist, there was a single rose, cropped of all its thorns to ensure Maes's safety, and Roy let go of Maes's arms slowly, though he was ready to catch the wavering baby any time.

"Go on," he encouraged his child with a smile, but his eyes were on Riza who had now covered her lips with her left hand, the ring on her finger reflecting the lights in the room in every color of the rainbow, "go to mommy and tell her a happy mother's day!"

The toddler grinned and took a shaky step forward and that was all it took for Riza to crouch down to and extend her arms, ready to catch Maes at any second.

"Mama! Mama!" Maes happily sang, and three shaky steps later, he let himself fall into Riza's awaiting arms, giggling happily.

Riza stood up again and squeezed her baby boy ecstatically. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you my little darling. And look at you, daddy taught you how to walk!"

She looked up from her son and caught her husband's gaze and there he was, embracing the woman he loved just in time for her to nuzzle her face into his neck so nobody else would be aware of the tears of happiness she shed. The pair stayed in the hug for a few more seconds until Riza caught herself and kissed Roy chastely on the cheek.

"You planned this! You planned this all along!"

"I couldn't have done this without the guys' help," Roy responded with a grin, his arms still around her hips so his son was comfortably nestled against both of his parents, "after all, you were supposed to relax. I couldn't let you come back to a dirty home, now, can I?"

Riza chuckled and shook her head at the same time. All of this trouble, all of the arrangements, the cleaning, the baking, the decorations, the weekend with Rebecca - everything just for her.
What had she done to deserve such awesome friends?

"Hey, no fair that Sparky's the only one who gets to hug Riza!"

Rebecca and Jean exchanged knowing glances and suddenly all of her guests had wicked grins on their faces as they approached the little family.

"Group hug!"