Motherhood (Part 2 - Tough Guy)

After 2 weeks of receiving the letter from the military, Riza left for the women military training campus at Gabur, which was the next to Riza's hometown. And like every mother, it was hard for her to leave her child with someone else even though Matilda was the one who took care of her through her childhood to her adulthood. Maybe it was because of newly found mother in her that was thinking that her child was only safe in her embrace.

When she joined at the women training campus, she used to get one holiday a week. And she used those holidays to come home and love her son which she couldn't do the other 6 days. Even after the tough competition among the newly recruited military women, she managed to top her batch, because the desire to give a better life to son fueled her. She did very well in almost all the activities, but her skill with guns was unmatched. The trainers who observed her considered that her precision and handling of guns was on par with the top snipers that ever lived in Amestris. Besides her dedication toward training, she also made some friends, thanks to her work experience at the flower shop. However, she never talked about Oliver with any of her friends. And nobody in the training camp had ever had the doubt that she was a mother.

Time kept on flying, and Oliver was now almost 2 years old. But, the civil war in Ishval was far from over. In fact, there were too many casualties on both sides. And then one day, King Bradley issued order 3066, which was to send the state alchemists into the front lines to act as human weapons. State alchemists were obviously a force to be reckoned with, but still, they needed some help to look after their back in the battlefield. However, the war had reduced the number of snipers drastically, so, the military took in some fresh snipers from various military training camp. And because Riza was the best sniper in her camp, it was inevitable for her to not get selected.

Before leaving for war, she went to meet Oliver and her caretaker Matilda without informing Matilda. Matilda was living in a small house where she baked cakes and cupcakes for a living. Like every day, that day also, she was baking some cupcakes and Oliver was playing with some toys on the ground. When Matilda put a set of cupcakes inside the oven and turned around, she found that Oliver was not there. She panicked and shouted "Oli…Oli" and ran outside the kitchen. As soon as she got out of the kitchen, she saw Riza was holding him in her arms, and giving kisses to him. Oliver was laughing with his eyes closed and bared teeth in his mother's arm. Matilda smiled when she saw the unconditional love of Riza for her child. "Did they give you a day or two off?" She asked.

"Kind of," Riza replied.

"I am glad that your training campus is in the next town," Matilda said.

"Yes, I am very lucky," Riza sat on the sofa present there. She leaned Oliver on her lap and looked at him with a duck face. "Ain't I lucky my baby?" She kissed Oliver on his belly button to make him laugh out loud.

She looked at her son's joyful face for a while. Then she left Oliver to play with the newly bought toys she brought for him. When Oliver got engaged with the new toys, she looked at Matilda and said, "I need to tell you something"

"What is it?" Matilda asked curiously.

"The thing is-" Riza lowered her head and hesitated to proceed.

The hesitation in Riza's voice made Matilda worry. She looked at Riza with widened eyes and said, "Don't tell me that you are pregnant once more."

Riza instantly raised up her head and looked at Matilda with narrowed eyes. "What! No," She clarified. She paused for a moment and averted her eyes before speaking the next sentence. "The thing is, the military needed some snipers at Ishval. So, I have been assigned to Ishval until the war is over," she said.

Matilda was shocked after knowing the truth. She couldn't speak for a moment, and after sometime when she spoke, she spoke very slowly and calmly. "So, you are going to war," she said.

"Yes, I have no choice. They needed snipers, and if I deny going then they will label me as a deserter and punish me for the same," She explained while still averting her eyes from Matilda.

Matilda got enraged, remembering the time when she was not happy with Riza joining the military. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OLI IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU?" She yelled.

Because of the shout even Oliver stopped playing and looked at Matilda with a curious face. Tears started forming in Riza's eyes when she thought about the possibility of her death and leaving her son an orphan. "Yes, that's why I have come to see you and Oli in case I never see you again. Please take care of Oli and raise him to be a good man if something happens to me," She spoke in a heavy voice and continued after wiping the drops of tears forming in her eyes, "and don't let him join the military."

Matilda looked at Riza's sad face and calmed down. "Why are you doing this to this child? First, his father left, he doesn't even know that he has a son. Now, you are going to a place from where you may never come," she said.

"I guess, I have also become the dog of the military just like him," She chuckled sadly.

There was a silence in the room for some time. Matilda sat beside Riza and held her hand. "So, when are you leaving for Ishval?" Matilda asked politely.

"Tomorrow morning," Riza replied.

"WHAT! WE JUST HAVE TODAY?" Matilda shouted out of surprise.

Next morning Riza was wearing her uniform, ready to leave for Ishval. She was holding Oliver in her arms while Matilda was standing in front of her to see her off. "Ms. Becker…please take good care of Oli, and if I don't come…you can reach out to my grandfather. Also…I have put my house's paper at the East City bank so that when he is old enough he will inherit the house," Riza said.

"Just stop saying stupid things already. I know you will come back," Matilda smiled.

"Sure I will," Riza smiled back and continued, "Wish I had a photograph of Oli."

And right at that moment, Oliver kissed her mother on her cheek which surprised Riza. She looked at him and started laughing, and after some time her laugh turned to tears. "I guess, memories are enough then," she sobbed mildly.

Then she kissed Oliver and gave him to Matilda but, Oliver was not ready to leave his mother. He kept on clinging to her uniform. Riza would never remove her son's hand by force, but that day she had to remove his tiny hands from her uniform. After that when she picked up her luggage, Oliver was still trying to reach his mother. Oliver was fighting desperately with Matilda to reach his mother, but Matilda was not letting him do so. When simply fighting didn't work, he started crying out loud while trying to reach his mother with both his hands.

The mere sight of her child to reach her so desperately, shattered her heart. "Don't cry tough guy," She sobbed and continued after few hiccups, "If you will cry, you are going to make mama weak."

After saying that, she turned around and walked away. She tried to wipe out the tears from her eyes, but the tears were not ready to stop anytime soon. It was the same on the other side where Oliver and Matilda were crying while sending off Riza.