Ashlee actually really loved working with the community threatre. It wasn’t something she had even gotten into before. Something with wasting her time with dance all year she needed to do something else in the summer.
But this year Ashlee was enjoying the freedom of it. Making her own decisions. And she wasn’t going to let Simba down with her in a lead. Though maybe Eilonwy might considering she had been gone for two weeks.
That was another story though.
Setting the music on for Honey Honey, Ashlee wanted to make sure she was getting all her blocking right even marking it off with books from her bag. And thankfully early enough no one was in quite yet. Singing along Ashlee moved with each mark. And moving off stage when the dads were supposed to come in but so focused on her steps she stepped back into her waiting spot her foot catching a loose cable sending her tumbling into some box full of wires with a small screech as everything tangled around her limbs. Struggling to get out the wires seemed to tighten more and Ashlee only stopped when she heard footsteps hoping that they hadn’t heard her though the music was still playing and her books were still on stage and it was so obvious she was mortified.
Ferb had not heard the music— for obvious reasons. And while his hearing aids were in his ears he usually turned them off during rehearsals. The solid wall of noise that was the music or power tool had been distracting. (And annoying. Music through his hearing aids may have been on beat and shifting in pitch, but the mechanical tones were often unpleasant after long periods of time with it constantly going.)
He had been just around the corner, the stage blocked by curtains and set pieces piling up and waiting to be painted, cleaning where he had been working. In fact, the only thing he had left to do was go get that box of wires he had left on stage and put it back where it belonged.
He didn’t think anyone was still around and had his eyes glued to his phone as he wandered back to the stage. When he passed over a few steps something caught his eye. Ferb looked up to find a book. And then another and then— Ashlee T. covered in the cords he had only just rolled up.
Ferb blinked, feeling pretty mortified himself. Then went to go help. Then stopped a few paces away from her and gestured— to himself, then at her, asking for permission or if she even wanted his help.
So, Mim wasn’t a big one for ‘can’t’. Maybe because it was a word she heard so often. ‘You can’t talk back to your teacher’ ‘You can’t go sneaking off’ ‘You can’t use the Coven’s tools that are meant for the Heir’ and blah blah blah. All it meant was that when she heard ‘can’t’ she became extremely invested in doing it.
“I could try a knot tying spell? Except I can’t do like, pretty bows or anything it does make pretty crazy knots.”
Was magic always the best solution? Probably not. (haha. not. like knot. get it.) But just the fact that it was a solution she could say openly meant she hadn’t gotten tired of it.
“Unless you’ve got a better idea.”
At first he panicked, though nothing about him would have telegraphed this. He hadn’t meant to ask for time out of her day to do something he had been tasked with. He also hadn’t meant to complain. He thought he had just told her what was up and then they would move on from there as it was uninteresting.
Ferb wouldn’t say he had a better idea, just another idea. One that didn’t involve magic, or Mim, or making her do his job.
But he didn’t want to make it seem like he was unappreciative of her or rude or like he didn’t support the use of magic— even in these day to day ways. He was also very interested to see her magic up close again, so, really, he saw no point in not letting her give it a try. Even if something went wrong he could take the blame, no problem.
So he shook his head and gestured to the plants to say, they’re all yours.
“Thanks, Lawrence!” Phineas shouted back, already charging ahead toward the cars. This was possibly the best gift ever, (except for maybe a huge interest-free loan for his own business. But Phineas could find that himself
Phineas was hit, suddenly, with a wave of affection. Lawrence hadn’t really known him for all that long, relatively speaking, and he had been thinking about that a lot ever since Andrea had shown up on the doorstep of the Flynn-Fletcher home. But Lawrence was a really, really good dad.
“Don’t worry, Mom doesn’t really care. If you see something cool, don’t hold back,” Phineas signed, though he knew that Ferb probably already knew that. Linda was super chill. He approached a beat-up looking mint green Volkswagen van. “Bet this could fit a lot of people, huh? Good for road tripping.”
Ferb nodded, giving a thumbs up, again knowing very well that he just was here for moral support. He would do what he always did— hang back, wait for Phineas to ask what he thought, give his opinion, but ultimately leave it in a way that Phineas had final say over. And not because Phineas didn’t make him feel welcome or like he wasn’t apart of it, (the exact opposite was true) but because Ferb rarely had any firm takes. He would have taken anything in this place and been content with the choice.
Although, the road tripping comment sort of made him not want to get the van. That would mean Phineas would be gone for more than just uni. During break and weekends, too. Road tripping! But that was a good thing. It meant he would be living his life and enjoying himself and— being happy. Which Ferb wanted. Of course.
“If it’s made from the 50′s to 70′s it would also be easier for us to fix since it could probably be taken apart and re-assembled with hand tools. If we do right, it may be able to outlive you.”
Yeah, Candace knew that Lawrence’s dad was the Flying Fishmonger. It was weird, but she supposed she couldn’t judge too much. Her own family was weird. After all, her grandpa had won the most famous hot air balloon race in history. And her own mom was a one hit wonder who still had a weirdly loyal fanbase, even though she hadn’t been active in years.
It was weird to listen to Lawrence talk about his family. It made him more…real to Candace. Which was dumb, because obviously he was real, but she liked to think of him as a strange man that she just happened to share a space with. Not, like, a friend, or even a human person of his own volition. But, thinking about him with siblings and parents and as a kid made it harder to do that.
(It made Candace realize that she actually didn’t know anything about her own father’s childhood. No stories she remembered him telling, nor any family that ever visited.)
She was pulled out of her musings and couldn’t help but snort at Lawrence’s comment about having a rambunctious era. Just like Ferb, she couldn’t imagine that. She actually glanced at Ferb, sharing the same kind of look with him she might with Phineas that said: yeah, right. Though, she didn’t know if he saw it, or would be able to decipher it.
It just happened naturally. Which was weird–and she didn’t want to think about it too hard.
“Yeah, okay,” Candace said and signed. “I seriously doubt that. Staying out late studying doesn’t count.”
Ferb caught Candace’s look, understood, and quickly looked back to his father before the man could catch on. Then he glanced away again as he realized what had just happened because things like that didn’t happen with Candace. His father, sure, Ms. Thompson had learned by now, and Phineas.
Huh. He blinked, unsure of what to make of it really, and, again, returned to the conversation.
“Oh, I did far more than that. I was young once, too, you know.” Lawrence insisted, sitting up now in his seat. “I don’t know how it is these days but back when I was in uni we would go out to find clubs. And at these clubs there were the bouncers— usually very burly looking gentlemen. I remember they would turn us away for any reason they could think of. I once got denied because I didn’t have collars on my shirt and when I said, Oh, no problem! I’ve got a shirt in my car, I can just go change, be back in two shakes, he told me, I’ll be honest with you, you’re never getting in here.
“Well, we started to come up with different ways of getting around the bouncers. More often than not we would ask a group of girls if we could go in with them in exchange for a first round on us and that would work. But this one time our friend had gotten invited to his friend’s party she was throwing at a club and the bouncer wouldn’t let us in because she was— posh. Upper class, her father was a very important fellow in the local government. Anyway, our friend was very interested in this girl. Had bought her this very expensive gift he’d been saving up for over the semester. We all knew he had no chance but of course you’ve got to be supportive of your mates. So, when we weren’t let in we knew we had to get him in, even if the rest of us were left out on the street.
“We ended up staging a very unrealistic car accident, you know. I was the driver, our other friend pretended to be drunk in the middle of the road. I ran into him right in front of the club and called the bouncer over to help me. And while we had him distracted our friend ducked inside. Then my friend, the one who’d supposedly been hit, made a miraculous recovery, we all got in my car, and got out of there before the police could show up.”
Mim knew that there were probably people who would be bothered by that kind of question. Honestly, from the wrong person or if she was in the wrong mood, she would probably be one of those people that were bothered by it.
The difference was that texting Ferb had shown her that he didn’t ask sarcastic questions. He was asking because he wanted to know the answer. Plus she still wasn’t sure how great her tone was in BSL, so it was easier to treat each question at face value and save potential ass kickings for later.
“Yep. I only ask questions when I care about the answer. Saves everyone time that way. So how’s it going?”
Ferb had fully expected her to accept the out he had given her and move on to something else since literally any other place in the theater would have been more exciting than where he was if simply because he wasn’t there to suck the fun out of it. Especially in a setting such as this. Theater was fun and full of life. Even when everyone seemed tired from rehearsals there was still some sort of joke to be made or game to be shared among one another.
But no— instead she said something perfectly logical that he couldn’t argue against it. (Not that he would have.)
Right.
Okay.
“Pretty bad.” He spread his hands motioning to the greenery he had been tasked with. “I cannot seem to tie anything properly and I am getting no where.”
As soon as the car pulled into the lot, Phineas’s face lit up. He had really been trying to contain himself the entire ride over and not ask too many questions, but… well, he did see the trailer hooked up to the back of the car. Whatever this was, it was something big. And now that they were in a Used Cars and Salved Parts lot… well, the possibilities were endless.
He glanced at Lawrence from the back seat, completely enthralled. And when Lawrence made his offer, Phineas practically jumped out of his seat. “No,” he said, an enormous grin taking up practically his entire face. “You’re kidding. You’re joking.”
Lawrence just grinned and shook his head. Nope. He wasn’t kidding.
“You are the best!” Phineas announced. Once they had parked, he tumbled out of the car and motioned for Ferb to follow. “We gotta pick a good one. Listen to the vibes of the car, you know? Where do you wanna start? Divide and conquer, or team up so we get two opinions?” he asked Ferb, signing rapidly. “This is basically gonna be your car, too. Since you’re helping me. Obviously.”
Ferb didn’t know about that. He would help, of course he would, but he didn’t want to take what wasn’t his. This was a gift for Phineas, not Ferb. It was very generous of Phineas to think so but, no, Ferb knew it would solely belong to Phineas. He may borrow it now and again or work on it when it needed repairs, oil change, new break pads, if asked, but it wouldn’t be his— and that was fine. He didn’t need it to be.
He didn’t say any of this, only smiled and followed beside, allowing Phineas’ kindness to not be swatted away and ruin the good mood.
“The what?” Lawrence asked, having to jog to catch up with the two boys. “Vibes? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of anyone picking a car by vibes. Usually it’s on mileage or space or— oh well, you boys know more than I. I’m just here to provide the finances.” A beat. “And to make sure you don’t bring anything home that your mother would disapprove of. So, keep that in mind!”
(Ferb wondered what that could mean but figured his father would tell them what was Linda Approved when they presented their findings to him in the end.)
“I’ll go speak with the owner while you two find something.” Lawrence branched off from the two of them, headed toward the front office’s entrance. “Have fun! Be careful!”
One of Pearl’s rules was to have friends in different circles. Sure, it might be a slight defensive mechanism but it was nice to have different kinds of drama or different things to do. Ferb wasn’t necessarily like super popular but he was still close to people, like how most Swynlake people were honestly. Also like, making fun of a deaf person was so not chill.
When she was bored, she could just call him up to study or whatever. So it was when she was thinking about prom and who she wanted to go to that she thought of Ferb.
It was inspirational honestly. The other option might be someone from NTO, but lowkey she figured someone there would invite her to the NTO prom. So this was honestly the best option. As long as he agreed, of course.
Pearl tapped on his shoulder, giving him a wave when he looked up. She already had her message typed out and showed her phone which had ‘How are you? :D ’ written out on it.
Ferb lifted his head calmly when he felt the light pressure at his shoulder, having been standing there anticipating the approach. His eyes flickered from Pearl’s face to her phone. He held up a thumbs up in response. Then asked aloud, “And how are you?”
A part of him hoped that was all this was. A social encounter. But he knew better than that. If she had just been looking for the answer to that she could have asked over the text. There had to be a reason to meet him in person.
He went over the variables. In person meetings meant a forced face to face interaction that texting couldn’t give, along with a nonnegotiable response time since you could actually see the person and not have to wonder if they were away from their phone. It tested willingness to step out of the everyday schedule to have the aside. It also didn’t allow for the absence of body language.
So, what did that mean? That she was going to tell him something that she needed to see him for? Or perhaps give him something? Or show him something that couldn’t be conveyed in a video or photo. Inwardly, the anticipation was eating away at him, but outwardly he remained his usual neutral self.
No, Candace was not rambunctious. At least, she never remembered herself being so. Most of the things from her childhood that she remembered was gut-clenching fear and this feeling like she couldn’t quite catch her breath properly.
She remembered chasing about her little brother who was constantly getting into things. Once, he’d caught a wasp that had gotten into their house and started crying when it stung his hands. Once, he’d tried to see what would happen when he strung up a rope from mailbox to mailbox across the road. Once, he’d caught a bunch of toads and wanted to keep them as pets and Candace had spent the afternoon putting them back in the creek down the street from their house. And if she wasn’t doing that: she was at singing lessons, or guitar lessons, or dance lessons, or acting lessons.
Candace didn’t have time to be a rambunctious child.
Which was fine, she supposed. She didn’t think she really wanted to be a rambunctious child. But now, she knew if she said it, it would just put a big neon sign above her head that flashed, saying:
I don’t belong.
So, instead, she just shrugged a bit.
“I dunno. You’d have to ask my mom, I guess. Though, Candace didn’t know how she felt about Lawrence talking to her mom about her. She picked at her hospital bracelet. “I think families can really only have one if they don’t want the house to burn down or something.”
Lawrence thought this over, nodding, and then the nodding became more convinced as he seemed to have that light bulb moment. “My word, I think you’re right. In my family it was the youngest, my sister. Who got it from my father. He used to be a daredevil, you know.”
Ferb wondered if there was anyone who had ever met his grandfather who didn’t know he used to be the Flying Fishmonger.
“But yes, me and my brother would have to keep her from tearing the house apart. Or, well, when it wasn’t football season. If it was then I think the whole town could have gone up in flames and Adrian would have only looked up when the telly’d finally gone dark.” He chuckled— then blinked at himself as he realized that, that was probably very true. (It was.)
The theory also held up for himself and Ferb before he had met Linda. Ferb had been an only child and Lawrence could only recall having to be stern with him a handful of times. The rest had been fine. Quiet. Nothing to be concerned about besides the occasional bump or scrap he came home from school with (but what child didn’t.) Except for maybe how often he stayed home rather than getting out into the world.
“I was the middle child so I didn’t have my rambunctious era until I was out of the house.” He turned when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye— Ferb had sunk a little deeper into his chair, long legs bending to compensate. “What? I did!”
This had been a very happy occasion, of course. Celebratory. The whole thing had been smiles and hugs and congratulations.
Ferb, while very happy for Phineas for being able to get out of secondary and onto bigger and better things, felt bittersweet about the whole thing. It was selfish, of course, which made him feel terribly guilty but— still. He knew this was just one step closer to the end. Soon Phineas would be off to uni and who knew where else with people who would be exponentially cooler. And Ferb would revert back to his factory settings.
Lawrence had woken the pair of them up early one morning a few days after school had been let out, saying it was a surprise for Phineas but that Ferb had to come along. They had been driving ever since with a trailer he knew they his father had definitely borrowed hooked up to the car, dragging along behind them, empty.
Finally Lawrence announced, waving and pointing for Ferb, “Here we are!” before pulling into a place that had labeled itself Used Cars and Salvaged Parts but that resembled more of a junkyard than anything else. They parked and Lawrence turned around in his seat to address Phineas. “Alright, here’s my offer. You pick it out, I’m buying— but it’s your job to fix it up to your standards. Deal?”
Mim looked down at the various sets of string and props that he had been working with. See, stuff like this was why her working crew was a bad idea. Because she didn’t really want to have to follow instructions about making stuff look a certain way when she could come up with an idea that was more fun.
But Ferb with his meticulous hands and his logical brain was a good candidate for that kind of stuff. Even if it did currently look like a big mess. “Cool. I don’t think its possible for me to kill fake plants so they’re probably safe around me. How’s it going?”
He made a mental note against what that probably meant for real plants to make sure, should the occasion ever arrive, he didn’t gift her with any.
At the question he hesitated, looking down at the lack of progress he had made in the twenty minutes he had been left alone with everything. Truthfully, Ferb couldn’t tell if she was asking to be polite or if she really wanted to know. He often lost context when people used sarcasm or a mocking tone and while he had tried learning facial expressions to help distinguish, he didn’t know Mim’s.
So, he figured, it was probably best to ask rather than give her the wrong answer and make her sit through something she didn’t really care about.
Candace watched warily for a moment as Lawrence and Ferb came forward, as if she was expecting them to start laughing and say syke. She didn’t know why this was what she expected, but it just felt like instinct. To imagine that happening before it did, so if it did happen, she would be prepared for it.
That wasn’t what happened. Instead, Lawrence kind of danced around like they were playing an incorrect game of musical chairs. It was actually kind of impressive how awkward the Fletchers could be. Despite herself, she did snort a bit in amusement at their hopelessness. Though, she schooled her expression as soon as they settled. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was playing with the ends of her tangled ponytail, so that she didn’t have to look at them. The last thing she wanted to do was start the conversation.
Her eyes flicked up when Lawrence started talking about being in the hospital. Despite herself, she was curious. Even more so when she caught Ferb’s reaction. One of her eyebrows raised a bit, but she didn’t say anything. Her gaze lingered on Ferb but she eventually looked at Lawrence as he regaled her with the story. Which was…interesting. Not surprising. Lawrence and Ferb were constantly working on some weird home project. Every time she was at the house for the weekend, it was something new.
It did make her laugh, even if it was a sardonic chuckle and she shook her head a bit in disapproval to go with it.
When Lawrence lifted his hand, Candace’s eyes searched over the scar and she felt something shift in her chest, like Agent P when she randomly got up mid-nap to turn around and go back to sleep. She realized it was that she was glad a bit of a shock and a little scar was the only thing they had walked away with. It was the same feeling she got whenever Phineas did something dangerous but miraculously came out of it alright. It did, also, make her feel a bit better about her own scars, even if hers were much worse than theirs.
“I wouldn’t say you are boring,” Candace said, dropping her hair she’d been fiddling with so that she could sign it too. “Most people’s–” she paused, her fingers faltering too as she tried to think of the best way to say what she wanted. After a second, she realized there was no getting around it: “–families don’t electrocute themselves. I’m used to it. I grew up with Phineas, after all.”
Ferb had hypothesized why he had turned out to be the useless, silent dead weight while his father made conversing with people seem so easy. The results had been inconclusive in the end, but Ferb was grateful that at least one of them could get by. Of course, he did have his moments of cringe (what parent didn’t) but he usually kept the same calm, polite demeanor. The only time Ferb had ever seen him out of sorts had been— well it had been when he finally fessed up to having met a woman.
Even now, in probably the worst circumstances they had ever been in, his father was getting on like they were all back in the kitchen having this conversation over some biscuits instead of in a hospital room. With Candace, someone who hadn’t seemed like she wanted to talk to them in the first place. Not that Ferb could blame her. She had told him it wasn’t their fault, but he didn’t know if he believed that to be a complete truth on her part.
“Yes! Yes, I suppose that’s true.” Lawrence chuckled fondly because while he may not have known Phineas in the context Candace was speaking about him in, he had heard the stories from Linda. And now that Phineas was here, he had been able to see it with his own eyes. Given that, he thought the only difference would have been had Lawrence not been involved or there to see what happened, he doubted Ferb would have told him about it until Lawrence asked, what happened to you hand?
“And what about you?” The safest option would have been to continue to talk about the topic of Phineas, but Lawrence figured this was the best opportunity to speak with Candace since she’d arrived. “Would you have considered yourself a rambunctious child?”
Watching Simba try to rehearse the Ashlee/Nemo scene was making her want to gag. She didn’t know anything about Ashlee (although she’d heard vague references to her other friends in hushed tones) and Nemo was still pretty cool with his club idea. But the two of them together rehearsing? All bad. They were getting literally no where and laughing at inside jokes the whole time.
So, she decided to wander back and see what the crew was up to. Maybe Ren was around and she could bug them into entertaining her. Or she could talk Cael into painting. Something.
But when she made it back there, she found something even better. It was Ferb! She’d heard he was helping out, but she hadn’t run into him yet before. She made a beeline towards him and then tapped him gently on the shoulder to let him know he was there. As soon as he turned to look at her, she signed ‘Hi! What are you working on?”
Ferb had been expecting Phineas when he turned to see who had tapped his shoulder, his mouth open, ready to ask if he could borrow a finger. It shut as soon as he found Mim there instead. His eyes flickered sideways as he tried to understand what she was going here. Or talking to him.
She had been very nice! Even after lunch, she really had followed up on texting him (and it hadn’t been a fluke of Swynlake’s magic). But it was summer now. Ferb had kind of been expecting their— he didn’t know if he could call it a friendship as he didn’t know her thoughts on the matter and didn’t want to assume anything. Anyway, he just thought her conversing with him would now be confined over text as the end of the semester approached and the break would soon begin. Talking to him during school was one thing. Texting him when no one else could see this was another.
Talking to him outside of secondary? In public?
He untangled his hands from the plants to sign. “I’m supposed to be tying these together.”
She wasn’t really giving them anything to latch onto. And they were awkward people in general. When it was just the three of them, or just Candace and Ferb or just Candace and Lawrence, there really wasn’t a lot of conversation that happened. Candace always felt prickly and weird, her anxiety making her clam up, wanting to only answer shortly. Lawrence, to his credit, had tried, but not hard whenever Candace clammed up.
So, this was not their ideal social situation. Candace expected them to say, great, just wanted to check in. Talk to you later. I’ll go find your mother.
Instead, Lawrence offered to stay.
Candace did not want to be alone. Now that she was awake, even if she was groggy, she did not want to be alone. The hospital room felt big and cold and there was nothing in it that was hers. The bed was uncomfortable. Everything was off-white except for the lovely sunflower.
She managed a little smile, her toes curling awkwardly. She wanted to pull her knees up to her chest, as she usually did when sitting on the couches at the Fletcher home, but she couldn’t, on account of all the bandages on her leg.
“Yeah, that’d–be fine,” she told them, signing it too, so Ferb would know he was welcome too. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank us for something like that.” Lawrence smiled at Candace for another moment before giving a curt nod and going about deciding where he was going to sit. He turned this way, but the chairs seemed to be that way, and made a huffy sound of amusement at himself as he and Ferb settled themselves in.
“You know, the last time I was sitting in this hospital was because Ferb and I had—”
Ferb’s eyes widened and a hand reached out to grab his father’s wrist. He glanced at Candace and then back at his father, shaking his head. Lawrence laughed, prying his son’s hand off. “It’s nothing bad! Is it?”
Ferb, who never really got embarrassed about anything, ducked his head now.
“He had been trying to rewire the kitchen lights for us. The switches used to not line up with the parts they were assigned to. Used to drive me mad when I flipped one and the garbage disposal would go, you know.” He shook his head, though smiled in amusement. “So he gets the idea that he’s going to fix them for me. I suppose the people before us had done quite a number in there because it was taking him a while to get it all straightened out. I was helping, of course, but I think we crossed the wrong wires at some point because it gave us both a good shock. Both our hands got burned and it took our power down with it.”
Lawrence raised his hand, showing Candace the back of it to point at the slight discoloration on the patch of skin between his thumb and forefinger. Ferb, who had gotten an elbow in the ribs, looked up and, sheepishly, showed his palm where a strip under his pinky was slightly more pink than everywhere else. “Other than that, we’re pretty boring, aren’t we?”
Drakken had no idea what to do with the kid standing in front of him.
All the rest had easily ticked him off with their lip or acts to disrupt class or just, over all, be the annoying little punks all teenagers were. Or, well, supposedly all teenagers. He hadn’t been like that because he had grown up very quickly. Even though it seemed like he was far less mature than the ones he taught now.
But, this kid didn’t fit that mold. He may have been communicating solely through text but he was still being polite. Used all perfect punctuation and grammar. As far as Drakken anyway, he wasn’t an englist. No attitude or rude expressions came through on his face. He had even let his tormentors get away without ratting them out. Now Drakken was learning that he was interested in science.
What the hell? Seemed a little too good to be true.
He handed the scope back over to the kid, making a note to himself to look up his name when he got the chance.
If you ever need help with that sort of thing, you can always ask me. I know my way around. He didn’t know why he was being nice or why he was suggesting that he actually take the time out of his day to help this kid when he had better things to do, like work on his plan to take over the world. But there he was, typing it out and not deleting it right after. And if those hooligans ever bother you again, just let me know. There are other ways to punish them.
Ferb took the oscilloscope and tucked it back into his bag for safe keeping, grateful that it hadn’t been damaged beyond total repair. He didn’t know what else to say here and figured that they could now part ways and Dr. Drakken could forget about his existence as Ferb faded back into the background where he belonged.
But then Dr. Drakken pulled out his phone again and started typing so Ferb had to continue to stand there. Waiting. Awkward. Nervous— getting more anxious as he watched the teacher write out a message much longer than he had been giving previously.
When it was finally turned toward him, eyes scanning over the screen quickly as he took in the words, they were surprising. Everyone always seemed to complain about Dr. Drakken, wondering how he got hired when all he did during class was go on to talk about his life. Or yell at everyone. Or both.
He seemed perfectly fine to Ferb.
It even brought a smile to his face as he looked back up, giving Dr. Drakken a nod. It wasn’t often that he met people in this town with an interest in stuff like this. There was Phineas and that was about it, to his knowledge. (At least, the ones in his viable reach.) So, now, there was Dr. Drakken. He didn’t type a reply, not wanting to get back on the subject of this classmates, and simply stuck out his hand. A thank you and an agreement that he would come to him for help, should he ever need it.
Now that everyone had been casted and the crews all divided up on the annual Swynlake musical, everyone seemed to be in full swing to get this thing put together.
Ferb, for the second time, was among them. He had liked helping well enough last year. It had been nice to actually get out of the house during the summer break (despite how much the heat bothered him). It kept him busy, let him spend more time with Phineas, and, Ferb always enjoyed seeing finished products. A whole moving musical, despite him not being able to hear what was going on, had been— nice. Back before Phineas, the only people Ferb made things for had been for his family and Ms. Thompson. But these days, the things he made had been seen by more eyes and helped more people.
At the moment, he was having a bit of a hard time. All he had been asked to do was tie some fake plants together and yet it was giving him trouble. The ribbon wouldn’t tighten enough, like trying to tie a bow without the finger to keep the center stabilized. He frowned at it— trying to think of a way around just short of using the toe of his shoe.
Candace watched Ferb set the flowers on the bedside table and felt–
Well, she wasn’t sure how she felt. Surprised? Touched? Generally emotional? Fatigued? Maybe all of these. Maybe none of them. Okay…definitely some of them. Definitely something. She felt the tears well up in her eyes again, though she bit at the inside of her cheek and curled her hand into a fist, clenching her blankets tight to stop them from falling. Candace didn’t want to cry. She could definitely be a big baby and didn’t even mind crying, she was a Cancer, after all. But, she also didn’t want to cry in front of Ferb and, especially, in front of Lawrence.
Suddenly, Candace wanted to be vicious instead: say that she didn’t want to see them. That they had no right to be here. They weren’t her family.
That would be cruel, Candace knew. Besides, it was a lie. Whether she wanted to acknowledge it out loud or not. It was a lie. The Fletchers were her family. Even if it was only because they were forced to be so. Maybe that was where part of her anger came from. This was just an obligation to them.
Instead, she just shrugged a little, sinking further into the blankets, like she could sink away from them.
“No,” she said, shaking her head so Ferb could see too, in case he didn’t catch the words on her lips. She swallowed roughly. “I’m just…” scared, “…tired.” She didn’t sign this, because it was for Lawrence. Candace didn’t really know why she said it. It just…came out. As if she wanted to tell him more but found herself struggling for the words. When her mom had come in, Linda had been white as a sheet and red-rimmed, teary-eyed and looking about a moment from falling completely apart. And Phineas had been shaken too, even if he tried to hide it behind misguided bravado about how cool her scars would look.
But Lawrence–he just watched her with that calm, steady gaze that he always seemed to have. Like he could–handle the drama of it. Better than her family. Or, well, the rest of them.
Candace’s line of thinking was probably true— Lawrence, and therefore Ferb by osmosis, had learned how to deal with this sort of thing. The Fletcher’s had grown up in Swynlake and while something from the lake biting someone had never been a concern before, he had his own way of reacting to seeing someone he cared for in a position of pain. Usually it was to become the grounded, steady touchstone for the person to hang onto and prop themselves up against.
There had always been that unspoken rule of having that stiff upper lip and working through the situation that held high stakes or could evoke volatile emotion. The worst had been having to watch his son come home everyday, growing quieter and quieter each time he came home from school. But sometimes Lawrence couldn’t help but appreciate that he could rely on knowing that Ferb was home instead of out at a party. At least he knew he was safe when things like dark magic enveloping the town or mass vampire compulsion took place.
The same could not be said for the ever so lively and sociable Flynn’s. Both coming home with bruises and sprained ankles and more trauma than anyone their age should have wrapped up inside of them. It was one of the things he had been hesitant to bring up to Linda, not only because he felt he had no authority over them like she did but— it was so difficult to talk about. The concept of one’s children being in pain, suffering, afraid.
“That’s perfectly understandable. Erm—“ He paused (both in speech and sign), palms pressing together as he thought of what to say. “Do you mind if we sit? We can chat or just sit here to keep you company. As you’ve probably noticed, we’re very accustomed to doing nothing together.”
Someone comes knocking on the Flynn-Fletcher’s front door and everyone (eventually) comes to see who it is.
@oh-phineas @i-want-candy ft. Linda, Lawrence, and Agent P
FERB
The Flynn-Fletcher’s front porch had been witness to many different things. When it had previously only belonged to the Fletcher’s it had seen several tests of patience as Lawrence Fletcher had locked himself out, the nail biting scenes of him trying to open the door while juggling too many things in his hands at once, all the hugs that had taken place on the threshold before bodies were ushered inside, and all the wipeouts off the steps after a freeze. It had watched Ferb grow up, walk in one day with brown hair and walk out the next morning with green.
And, when it had acquired the Flynn’s too, it saw as all the back and forth as boxes, bags, and various furniture were carried through its door. It got used to seeing more faces come knocking asking after Linda, Phineas, or Candace. After a year and a little bit more had passed, it felt like it knew what to expect now.
All except the return of a familiar figure it had not seen in a long time. A woman approached, the heels of her boots scritching the welcome mat as she stepped up to the door. Her eyes surveyed her surroundings with careful calculation— the place was not new to her but the details of it had changed and were being taken into consideration.
She rang the bell and then knocked twice, just to be sure someone inside would answer. When the door pulled back she already had a polite smile in place.
PHINEAS
Phineas was actually just heading out-- after being told by Linda that he needed to take more responsibility with Agent P, he was going to take the dog for a walk. So he was in the process of putting his shoes on when the doorbell rang. Weird. People didn’t normally call on them without warning, and it wasn’t door-to-door popcorn selling season. But Phineas, eternally trusting of strangers, didn’t hesitate to answer the door.
“There’s a rando at our door!” Phineas called over his shoulder, then sent a quick text in the family group chat before opening the door. He didn’t recognize this woman at all. “Uh, can I help you with something, ma’am?”
CANDACE:
“Mooooooom,” Candace called back into the house, “Phineas is opening up the door for strangers again!”
Of course, this was a rather common occurrence. Not that they had strangers knock on their door often, but Phineas was consistently putting himself in stranger danger situations. He’d been doing it since he was little. Always wandering off in the mall. Candace always chasing him down.
She did the same thing now as she came up behind her brother and squinted around his shoulder at the woman standing there.
FERB
She recognized the boy before her instantly from having spent several hours digging through his social media, as well as the girl who appeared behind him. They were the children of the woman Lawrence had married. (American, of all things.) Phineas and Candace Flynn.
“Hello! So sorry to intrude, I’m—”
“Andrea?” She raised her eye line, past the two children, to where Lawrence was standing. He looked older. She suspected he was thinking the same thing of her. Or possibly something much harsher. (He was.)
“Lawrence.” Her tone was light and airy, like her breath had been stolen from seeing him again. Her gaze flitted back to Phineas and Candace, then to her feet to hide her blush from her audience. Andrea cleared her throat, forcing herself to face them all. “Is this a good time? I should have called ahead but I— I didn’t know if you’d pick up, honestly.”
He hesitated, caught in a war between instilled manners and the instinct to slam the door shut. Lawrence looked to the children, too. He did not want to cause a fuss in front of them.
“No, no, uhm, of course not! Please, do come in. Phineas! I know you were on your way out but ould you be so kind as to put the kettle on? And Candace—” Lawrence placed a hand on her shoulder. He did this with Ferb when he was trying to communicate the gravity of a situation without giving it away. “Might I bother you to tell your mother we have a guest? Tell her Andrea Martin is here, yes?”
Ferb, having gotten Phineas’ text that there was a stranger at the front door, remained upstairs in their room. This was where he knew he would stay until someone gave the all clear that their guest had left.
PHINEAS
The first weird thing Phineas noticed was that Agent P was strangely quiet. Normally, when strangers approached, she went crazy, barking and jumping around and trying to lick the intruder. But instead she just stood there, growling softly. Phineas scooped her up, looking at her quizzically and then at Andrea in confusion. But Agent P didn’t really give a clear answer, and neither did anyone else.
The next weird thing was Lawrence’s face. And Andrea’s. Phineas wasn’t exactly the most perceptive person, but he wasn’t clueless, either. Something was up. They knew each other… maybe it was a long-lost cousin? There to tell them they had inherited a fortune? Hey, a kid could dream.
Phineas bit back his questions, though, and just nodded. “Yeah. Give me two seconds.” He headed toward the kitchen, filled up the electric kettle and turned it on, and then took Agent P out to the backyard. There was no time for a full walk. Phineas had snooping to do.
He pulled out his phone and started another text, this one directly to Ferb: hey dude do u know an andrea martin this lady just showed up and ur dad seems kind of shook about it
Once Agent P had done her business, Phineas crouched down and tried to look into her little eyes. “Do you know what’s going on, girl?” Phineas asked. Agent P just stared at him.
Phineas would have to start training Agent P to start acting like a real secret agent.
He sighed and tugged Agent P’s leash toward the house. “Uh… I can get the tea?” he offered once he was back inside. Phineas had to know what this was about. He hoped Ferb would have some answers.
CANDACE:
Candace could sense something was wrong too. It made her uneasy, looking at this stranger. Especially when Lawrence appeared. To her, it was clear that they knew each other. She wouldn’t claim to know her step-father super well or anything, but there was something about his demeanor that was--tense. She squinted at the woman, trying to get any context clues from her outfit but she looked...plain. Unassuming. A face she could have seen around town a million times.
And then, Lawrence put his hand on her shoulder. She tore her eyes from their guest (the intruder) and looked up at him. She felt the weight of his hand. It was warm and big and--it made her feel better while also tightening her stomach with nerves.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, though she hesitated another second. Part of her didn’t want to leave. Lawrence’s hand was surprisingly comforting, but she also knew that something was wrong and she felt both apprehensive and protective. She didn’t want to go get her mom, she wanted to go check on Ferb.
But, she did as she was told, ducking under Lawrence’s arm and heading into the back yard, where her mom was pulling weeds in the garden. (One of her newest hobbies.) Candace stood on the porch with her arms crossed over her chest, one hand raised like a visor over her eyes against the sun.
“Mom?”
“Yes, sweetie?” Linda called back, brushing off her hands on her jeans and sitting back on her heels to turn and look over her shoulder at her daughter.
“Uh, some woman is here. Lawrence told me to come get you.” Did her mom know this lady?
“Who is it?”
“Er, some lady named Andrea? Martin, I thi--”
“What?” Linda was on her feet at once, looking way too serious to be covered in dirt.
Right. So, something was definitely going on.
Linda crossed the yard swiftly, brushing past her daughter, though she stopped before she went inside. She looked like she was going to say something, but she just pressed her lips together and squeezed Candace’s shoulder.
Who the fuck was this lady?
Candace slunk back inside after her mom, heading to the kitchen. When Linda got there, she went immediately to Lawrence’s side, slipping an arm around his waist. Candace hovered in the doorway, leaning against the door frame. She glanced at Phineas, raising her eyebrows at him.
FERB
Beside him, his phone lit up as another text from Phineas came in. Andrea Martin. Huh. Ferb sent back, I’ve no idea. I’ll look her up.
Then, after plugging her name into Facebook and receiving hundreds of hits back, he followed up with, What does she look like?
Andrea stepped over the threshold for the first time in 17 years. (Now would have been about the time she left. The sun had been hot that day, only making her more irritated. Lawrence had shushed her. Why? She remembered yelling at him, It isn’t like it’ll wake him up!) The house looked like it had been properly lived in, very unlike it had when Lawrence had shown her around the rooms with excitement as he pointed to empty spaces to tell her what could fill it.
“I see you got that armoire you were always talking about.” She turned to smile at him over her shoulder as she touched the handle of it.
“Yes, well, it isn’t that exact one. It sold a long time ago.” Lawrence had crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t stop to entertain the conversation as he went right through to the kitchen. “My wife and I picked that one out.”
Her lips pressed together, allowing the intended sting of that statement to make its mark before she followed. “I take it she knows about—” She was cut off by the sounds of footsteps, both of them straightening up as another woman walked in. Her arm went around Lawrence and he returned the touch with an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.
“Linda, darling, this is Andrea. Andrea, this is my wife, Linda.”
“It’s so lovely to meet you! Like I was just telling Lawrence, you have a very lovely home.” She glanced at him, as if trying to gauge how much he had decided to tell her. They turned when Phineas re-entered and Lawrence nodded to him.
“Yes, thank you, Phineas.” He gestured with his free hand. “We can take it at the table.”
They all settled in, Andrea on one side while the couple took their place next to each other opposite. She sighed, as if sitting was a relief from a long and wary journey, but continued to smile, eyes following the children for a moment before addressing Linda again. “You have a beautiful family. My best friend as a girl had ginger hair, I always envied her.”
PHINEAS
Phineas took his time walking over to the kettle, trying to read everyone’s faces as though that would tell him what was going on. The only person he could really read was Candace, because he was pretty sure she was just as confused as he was, maybe a little perturbed, too. It wasn’t far-off from the face Candace made when she started to suspect that Phineas was up to something. Phineas just shrugged in response.
The text from Ferb popped up on his phone and Phineas pretended to take a Snapchat selfie, making sure to get Andrea’s face in the background. He sent it back to Ferb. Ring a bell? he typed.
They were just making small talk, so Phineas figured he wouldn’t miss much if he went to get the tea now. He grabbed mugs for everyone (including himself and Candace, just to try and assert that they were planning on staying) and all of the tea varieties he could carry, then took his time setting them out dramatically, like he was a waiter presenting the chef’s menu. “We have the finest of PG Tips, a fine Twinings Earl Grey, a soothing peppermint from Yorkshire, and this blend we got in London at that place,” Phineas explained theatrically. Part of the performance was just in his nature, but part of it also was also to prolong the inevitable shooing out of the room that would happen.
Phineas knew how “adult conversations” went. And he had a plan for eavesdropping when that happened, but for now, he was trying to gather as much intel as possible.
CANDACE:
Yeah, Candace didn’t like this lady. That much was clear.
Her mom didn’t like her either. She hadn’t even said thank you to the compliment about the home or her family. Linda was a bubbly, warm personality. Almost too bubbly, too warm, sometimes, if you asked Candace. She was a pushover. She rarely got mad. Candace didn’t even really know if she was mad at their dad for leaving or if she ever had been. They simply never talked about him. Eventually, Candace had stopped asking. But, otherwise, Linda enjoyed making her home somewhere the knitting club could come and where she could practice horrible recipes and feed them to her friends, while they sat around cackling and drinking red wine by the bottles.
None of that warmth was in Linda now as she sat next to Lawrence, her hand on his leg beneath the table. Candace still hovered in the doorway, not sure where her place was in this situation. She felt--protective, though she didn’t know of what or who yet. She tracked her brother as he set out the tea, wondering where Ferb was and why Lawrence hadn’t called his son down.
When Andrea spoke to her mom, Candace cut her eyes back, wondering what her mother would do.
Linda smiled and reached up to touch her own red hair. “Ah, well, it is something to be envious of, isn’t it? Lawrence says he loves it too, don’t you, sweetie?”
Candace raised her eyebrows slightly. Her mom and stepdad were, like, disgusting about how much they loved each other, but this felt...much more pointed than a casual tease about their affection.
FERB
Oddly, the picture of the woman did look familiar, but he had no idea where from. That never happened to him. His memory was like the ROM in a computer, storing everything away as it was when first saved until the user asked for it to be pulled back up. Here, when he asked for the information, the images were disjointed.
Ferb narrowed the parameters of the search (age, location, proxy to his father’s circle of social relationships) and— there she was. Andrea Martin. Lived in Manchester. Had a husband, two children, and a cat, the obvious favorite judging by photo ratio. Worked for an insurance company. Nothing interesting or alarming.
Still. He couldn’t shake the fact that she looked familiar. Ferb sent back a screenshot and link of the Facebook page and, Maybe we’re getting an appraisal on the house or car? and waited for a reply. The screen went dark in the time, his reflection blinking back at him.
“Very much so,” Lawrence told Linda, patting her hand before leaving his to rest on top. Andrea was grateful for the distraction of tea to focus on the table instead of the couple.
“Thank you.” She smiled as she watched Phineas— a showman in everything he did, not just a persona he put on for the camera then. That was good to know. She plucked a bag of earl grey from his display to put in her mug, her hands wrapping around it to absorb the warmth. (The only place it seemed to be offered for her in this house.)
“So! What brings you here, Andrea?” The question, while seemingly innocent behind his tone and accent, was a warning shot. They both knew the answer.
“I was wanting to check in. See how you were.” She lifted a shoulder and let it fall heavily.
“Why?” Lawrence was always so calm, so polite, so patient. It had driven her mad all those years ago. It seemed it still did.
“Do I need a reason?”
“Yes, I should say so. And a very good one at that.”
“I don’t know. Just to see you, and the town. And— Ferb.” Her eyes darted down to her cup of tea, the clear water having turned amber now. When she looked up her attention went to the Flynn’s to ignore Lawrence’s glare. Andrea gestured to the empty chairs at the table to the children, hoping they would take a seat as their presence seemed to be a nice safety net. “And to meet you three, of course! How have you been liking Swynlake so far? I’ve moved before but never from one country to another! It must have been quite jarring.”
PHINEAS
And Ferb.
Maybe Phineas was just protective of his brother (and Ferb was his brother, no “step” qualifier needed). Whenever he came up in conversation, with friends or at school, Phineas was ready to defend him or assert that he was the coolest person Phineas knew. No question about it. People made jokes about Phineas all the time, and he tried not to take them too seriously, because they were often pretty true. Phineas was full of himself, and he was kind of an idiot sometimes, and he could be a little dramatic. Fine, Phineas could take that. Maybe he’d act a little touchy about it sometimes, but he got over it. But if anyone made any comment about Ferb being quiet or weird, (or that awful comment someone had sent to the Spill making fun of Ferb for being Deaf) that brought out a different side of Phineas. A protective side. Ferb wouldn’t stand up for himself, so Phineas felt the need to stand up for him, and maybe sometimes he went kind of far with it.
But there seemed to be something in the way Andrea said it, kind of awkwardly, and the glare Lawrence shot at her in return, and the mildly pissed-off look on Linda’s face that was rare for her. There was a reason Lawrence hadn’t told Phineas to get Ferb the way he had told Candace to get Linda. There was a reason nobody seemed to like this woman very much. Phineas was going to take Ferb’s side in any situation, so even if he didn’t know what this lady’s deal was, he was cautious.
“Yeah, uh, pretty crazy, but totally worth it. We love Swynlake. And it’s nice to be with family and stuff,” Phineas said, glancing at Candace as though to encourage her to say something, to take the spotlight off of him. He sat down in a seat near the end so that nobody could see what he was doing on his phone.
Yeah, that’s definitely her, Phineas typed back to Ferb, zooming in on the photo. She didn’t mention anything about her job but she did mention u?? She said she was here to see u. Which is super weird if u never met her before. Are u sure u don’t remember anyone named Andrea at all?
CANDACE:
So, clearly Andrea and Lawrence knew each other. That much Candace had gathered. Now, she was just trying to figure out the how of it all. Her gaze kept jumping back to her stepdad, his normally lanky, almost awkward frame now ramrod straight. He was clearly uncomfortable. Whoever this woman was, she wasn’t a friend.
That made Candace nervous. Part of her wanted to scurry over and hide behind her mom and Lawrence, like the true coward she was. Part of her wanted to snap at this woman and tell her to leave. This wasn’t her home.
It wasn’t, really, Candace’s either. She hadn’t felt totally comfortable here, even if it had been almost a year. She was getting there, slowly, though she hardly admitted it, even to herself. It just still felt...so temporary. And she certainly didn’t trust Lawrence.
But right now, it felt very clear to her. The Flynn-Fletchers were on one side of things and this Andrea was on the other.
“It’s great,” Candace said, her voice flat, unfriendly. She didn’t offer any more. Instead, she allowed the silence to hang awkward in the air as she crossed her arms and glowered suspiciously.
FERB
Ferb had moved from his and Phineas’ room to their parents’. There was a drawer in there where Lawrence kept important things, like their passports, National Insurance Numbers, and— a copy of Ferb’s birth certificate. He had never looked at it. Had never had any need to, until today, because there it was. Under the Mother box was the name, Andrea Joan Martin.
No wonder his father was shook, as Phineas had put it. He was feeling quite shook himself. His phone lit up with Phineas’ text. Reading it made a sort of ill feeling take hold of his stomach. What was he supposed to do? Go down there? Meet her? Phineas had said she was here to see him but Ferb wasn’t very good with meeting strangers.
But everyone was down there, Phineas and Candace and Linda and his father— even Agent P. And he was up here, alone. Usually he wouldn’t have minded this, having become content with spending time on his own, but this time it didn’t hold that same feeling of safety. This time the only place he could think of where to find that was downstairs.
Apparently she’s my mother. I’ll be down in a second, he replied.
“That’s wonderful! I can remember when I first came to Swynlake. I thought it was pretty magical compared to where I’d lived before.” Andrea laughed a little, looking over the two of them. Phineas seemed to be more willing to engage with her than Candace but that was alright. “Are you still in secondary? Or is it uni for the both of you? I know Ferb will be finishing up secondary this next year.”
“I see you’re still proficient in math,” Lawrence chimed in, making her smile turn a bit tighter.
“Yes, well— his birthday isn’t a hard one to remember! It only comes around every four years.”
“And yet we’ve never heard from you when it does.” His eyebrows lifted briefly. “Too busy, I presume?”
Before she could even think of how to reply, movement behind Lawrence’s shoulder caught her eye. Andrea gasped, a hand raising to hover in front of her mouth. The look on her face made Lawrence twist around in his chair to find his son entering the room.
Ferb froze under the scrutiny, always hating to be the subject of attention. After a moment he raised his hand to sign, his right tapped three fingers twice against the palm of his left and then pointed to Andrea, his eyebrows were furrowed to indicate that this was a question. Lawrence sighed heavily but nodded all the same.
“Why is she here?” he signed.
“I don’t know,” Lawrence replied, not speaking aloud. “She hasn’t really said.”
“What is he saying?” Andrea asked, leaning forward, as if that would help her to understand.
“He’s wondering why you’re here.”
“Does he know—?”
“Yes. He’s quite smart that way.” Lawrence turned to give Phineas a fond yet exasperated look. “Though I am sure he had help.” He then waved for Ferb to come sit down (despite him wanting to dismiss all of the children from the table). Ferb did as he was told, taking his place catty corner to Phineas. “Candace, Phineas, I apologize for not being for forthwith, I had been hoping— well. This is Andrea Martin, she is Ferb’s mother.”
PHINEAS
Well, shit.
The text popped up on Phineas’s phone, the surprise showed on his face, and then things happened kind of quickly after that. Maybe a little too quickly. Phineas didn’t necessarily need to be in control of every situation, but for a second, he had a handle on this one. Now he had no idea what was going to happen.
And he couldn’t control the irrational feeling of defensiveness at finding out Andrea was Ferb’s mother. Phineas didn’t have the whole story. Parents broke up all the time and it wasn’t because anyone was a bad person. Phineas knew that. It was possible that Andrea had done nothing wrong. But there was that protective instinct again. And maybe Phineas was projecting a little bit. He didn’t know if Ferb resented his “mom” for leaving. They had never really talked about it before. But Phineas resented Fred for disappearing, at least a little bit. He tried not to think about it much. But it was true, and it was easy to put that on this Andrea lady that he didn’t know and everyone seemed kind of mad at her anyway.
Phineas frowned at Andrea distrustfully.
He signed as he spoke so that Ferb could follow. “Well, technically not, right? I mean, if you look at the definition of mother-- biological mother might be a more apt term to describe…” Phineas blurted out without thinking about it, in the defensive, superior tone that was usually saved for arguments with Pip. It usually didn’t come off very well, but from the look on Andrea’s face he could tell that maybe that had come off ruder than he had maybe intended. “Er, sorry, I just meant that we should probably make the distinction, since our mom’s here too.” He glanced at Linda. “Terminology’s, uh, important.”
CANDACE:
Candace, apparently, was the only one lost in this whole conversation. Ferb appeared and while she managed to pick up on most of the sign language exchanged between Ferb and Lawrence, she didn’t get all of it.
There was one simple reason that Candace didn’t understand what was happening before it was spelled out for her: she never would’ve guessed it. Even with all the pieces now laid out in front of her, the birthdays and the dig about never hearing from her, the woman wanting something from them...Ferb, obviously, being what Andrea was here about...Candace was a smart girl. She could have put the pieces together, but her brain stopped her because--
How many times had she imagined this scene for herself?
So many times.
In the first few years after her dad had left, Candace had imagined coming home from school to him sitting at the kitchen table just like this and she would run into his arms and give him a hug, so happy for him to be back. But, by the time she turned thirteen and started missing her father in a way that turned bitter and hard, when she imagined a reunion between them--she could only feel vicious. Like she had wanted to claw his eyes out. Like she wanted to scream at him. If he showed up on her doorstep now, she wouldn’t want him to be called her father.
That would imply he had raised her. That would imply that he cared.
“What? So you just think you’re gonna show up here after 16 years or whatever and be part of this family or something? You don’t even know BSL,” Candace said and signed this, as it felt only right that Ferb be able to follow along.
“Candace,” Linda said, her voice sharper than usual.
“No, Mom. This is stupid. She can’t just walk in here and not even apologize? How long has it even been? I bet he didn’t even know who you were until right now!”
FERB
Ferb, on the other hand, said nothing. Both Phineas and Candace had valid points. He had nothing to add.
Andrea’s eyebrows raised at Phineas and only gotten higher on her forehead when Candace spoke after. She had imagined that she was going to be putting up a fight against Lawrence, perhaps Linda had the man already told her his side of the story, but not her children as well. This was an oversight.
“That’s— that’s not why I’m here.” Candace was right about one thing, though. She had not learned sign. Lawrence had started as soon as the doctors had told them what happened but Andrea had refused to accept that for her child’s reality. Now, she still hadn’t learned and felt foolish. It meant that she couldn’t communicate to Ferb. She would have to rely on someone else and expect them to translate her correctly.
“Have you come up with an explanation, then?” Lawrence had sat back in his chair, eyebrows raised at her with expectancy. Andrea swallowed, her eyes flicking from one face to the next as she realized that it was now five against her one. She settled on Ferb in the end, hoping that he could at least see her face and know that she was being sincere.
“I came to apologize.” Her shoulders lifted, head shaking a little, helpless. “I know what I did wasn’t right. And that I shouldn’t have waited this long but I— I don’t know. The longer I waited the harder it became to justify coming back, I suppose. I have a life. You have a life— you all do. I didn’t want to disrupt that. Don’t want to disrupt that. All I want is to apologize and I know— I know you won’t forgive me Lawrence, but I would like the chance to prove myself to my—” She eyed Phineas and Candace. “To Ferb.”
Lawrence had stopped translating whatever Andrea had said after something about them both having lives? But Lawrence’s hands had fallen flat against the table’s surface. Ferb waited. Andrea waited.
Her brow furrowed until she looked at Lawrence's face. She tilted her head. “You would keep him from at least having the choice?”
Finally, Lawrence continued.
Ferb did not know how to respond to this. Or how to feel, really. He was indifferent to this woman. What could his forgiveness really have meant if he didn’t entirely know what he was giving it to her for. He looked at his father, then Linda, and then to Candace and Phineas as if he was asking for advice on what to do. It seemed like sort of a group decision, didn’t it? If she was going to be allowed back into his life it affected them, too.
PHINEAS
To Phineas, it was still all very simple. He was being logical about it. Objective. Real parents didn’t walk out on their kids without an explanation, and if Ferb didn’t even know his mom’s name or what she looked like, she wasn’t his real mom. She was a stranger.
And yes, maybe the Phineas Flynn Theory of Parents had developed through a lot of angst and grappling with what the hell it meant that one day he was trading knock-knock jokes with Fred on the way to karate and the next day he was just gone. No warning, no explanation, nothing. So Fred wasn’t his dad. And it was even easier to believe that now that he had a new dad, a better one, who would never disappear.
Ferb was looking at Phineas now, as though asking him what to do next. Phineas always knew what to do. He had to know what to do. And...he didn’t this time. Because what would Phineas do if the roles were reversed? He had no clue.
But one thing worried him. Ferb was too forgiving. A lot of people treated him horribly at school, or flat-out ignored him, and Ferb didn’t stand up for himself. When Phineas had screwed Ferb over back in January, Ferb had accepted it immediately. Phineas knew that Ferb had said it was his choice, but he still felt bad about the situation. What if this turned into another one of those situations? He didn’t want Ferb getting hurt.
“I’m, like, not trying to speak for Ferb here, and no offense, but it’s just kind of weird because none of us know you, Mrs. Martin,” Phineas said bluntly, glancing at Ferb as he signed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t even know what he’s supposed to be forgiving you for. Which kind of defeats the purpose.” He kept signing just for Ferb’s benefit-- which was probably kind of rude but oh well. I’ll back you up, bro, whatever you wanna do. Just be careful, Phineas added.
CANDACE:
Candace snorted at Andrea’s explanation.
Her mother glared at her, but she just raised her shoulders in a snotty shrug. She was wholly unimpressed with this explanation. She barely believed it. It was so flimsy. There was no real reason for it. And she wasn’t even teary eyed? In Candace’s opinion, she should be on her knees groveling for forgiveness. Even if she was doing that, though, Candace wouldn’t forgive her.
The thing was, she was worried about Ferb too. She remembered the conversation she’d had with him after Phineas’ asinine bathroom rave fiasco. How he refused to rightfully blame Phineas. He was basically a doormat when it came to stuff like that. And, look, Candace was still really resistant to call the Fletchers family, but she--did care about them, despite herself. What?! She’d spent almost a year now around them every weekend and sometimes during the week too. And they were like...fine. How could you not like them? They were both perfectly good people.
Which--just made her hate this Andrea person more.
“I think he’s supposed to forgive her for abandoning him,” Candace said, and signed (though, she had to spell out A-B-A-N-D-O-N-I-N-G), bluntly.
“Candace,” Linda snapped again but Candace just kept staring at Andrea.
“What? That’s what she did, wasn’t it? Just walked out?” Just like Dad.
Candace didn’t say this. Just set her jaw.
FERB
“No.” Andrea looked up from where she had been shamefully staring down into her mug. Her eyes were glassy now. “No, that’s not all I did.”
“Lawrence there has to be something we can do.”
“The doctors said—”
“I know what the doctors said, I was there, but they’re speaking from a medical point of view!” She followed Lawrence into the kitchen. The house still smelled like drying paint despite the windows having been open. It seemed like it had only made the house hotter. “We live in the only place around for hours where we could do something for him! You can’t say that you want him to live the rest of his life like this.”
“Well from a father’s point of view I’m telling you, there’s nothing wrong with him.” She could see in the way he went on grabbing his mug (they only had the two in the cabinets so far) that he was going through the motions. He wasn’t really listening to her. He already had his mind made up.
“How can you say that? They said he’s going to lose most of his ability to hear.”
“Yes, I know.”
“And you just—? What? Think that’s okay?”
“I think that it is the reality he will be living with. Plenty of people do.” He turned around after he had placed the kettle on to boil, arms folded over his chest. “Haven’t you read any of the articles I’ve left out for you? Or the book on—”
“No!” She yelled this, angry at how calmly he was just accepting this for their son. “No! I’m not going to read any of those! Not when I know there’s something we can do!”
“Andrea, please.” Lawrence stepped forward, hand raising as if to touch her but she jumped back. He sighed. “I know you’re upset, but he’s fine. He’s alive and well! He laughs and eats and carries on like any other baby. Just like he’ll laugh and eat and carry on like any other person when he grows up!”
“He can’t hear!”
He tried to shush her, again trying to close the distance between them. “Why? It isn’t like he’ll wake up!”
“Andrea! Just because he can’t hear doesn’t mean he won’t—”
“Yes! It will!” She pushed past him, violently enough to send him crashing back against the counter. If he wasn’t going to do anything about it, then she would.
“A few hours later I had returned home to tell Lawrence I found someone who could help. When he refused to let them near Ferb we fought. After that I knew that we weren’t going to agree on the matter so I packed up my things and— I left.” She waited until Lawrence had finished signing to dare look at Ferb. “I’m so sorry. I know I was wrong, I just wanted what was best for you. I always have! Even if that wasn’t me.”
He sat with everything for a long moment and then signed to his father. Lawrence blinked at him, hesitated, signed something back. Andrea watched until she couldn’t help but to ask, “What did he say?”
“He said—” Lawrence glanced at Ferb one last time, only for Ferb to nod. “He said, I forgive you.”
Andrea smiled, letting out a relieved little sigh.
“But,” Lawrence continued as Ferb did. “I also think Phineas and Candace are right. We don’t know you. You are a stranger. If my forgiveness is all you needed, then it’s yours. If you’re asking for something else then you’re going to need to do a lot more.” A beat. “Like call before you come to our house.”
PHINEAS
Phineas didn’t know how he felt about any of this.
On the one hand, he could kind of understand Andrea wanting to try out magic, and getting frustrated when Lawrence refused to consider it. But there wasn’t anything wrong with Ferb. He didn’t need to be fixed. Maybe this was one of those complicated adult matters, but the way Phineas understood it, Andrea was pissed because she didn’t get her way and apparently that was enough to make her leave. That was shitty.
He couldn’t help but wonder though… was it better never even to know your missing parent than to have memories before they disappeared? Was it better to have a complicated explanation that had a lot to do with you, or no explanation at all? And… how would Phineas feel if Fred showed up like this? It was… maybe too much to wrap his head around. Maybe he needed to stop comparing this situation to his own. Fred was gone and, as far as Phineas was concerned, he wasn’t family anymore so who cared what he did or why he did it?
“If we’re talking about terms, I think there should be an application process. Maybe an interview,” Phineas suggested in a professional tone, looking to Ferb to see his reaction, signing as he talked. He was saying it partially because he thought it could be a good idea, but also because he wanted to create as much red tape as possible. To protect the family. And Ferb especially.
CANDACE:
Candace pressed her lips together. Her arms were crossed tight over her chest and she was biting on the inside of her cheek to keep the tears crawling up her throat from reaching her eyes. On one hand: she was pissed at Andrea still. What kind of person just leaves a baby? What kind of person tries to change a baby?
For a moment, her eyes flicked to Ferb, watching him watch his father translate Andrea’s story in sign language and she wondered how he felt, being told that she thought a part of him was wrong. Not good enough. It wasn’t a good story. Not in Candace’s opinion. It was a horrible reason to leave. She couldn’t help but think if her father came to their doorstep and told her that he had left because of her strawberry blonde hair. (That was not a great comparison, but it was just as stupid a reason in Candace’s opinion.)
At least, she supposed, it was a reason. Which was more than Candace had ever gotten from her father.
She was jealous. The feeling boiled inside of her, hot and uncomfortable. It didn’t make any sense. What Andrea had said was nothing to be jealous of.
That didn’t make it any easier.
“Yeah, and pass a background check,” Candace quipped, her fingers signing clumsily on the words. She wished she knew BSL better, so she could have the words hit with the same sharpness. And also to flex on Andrea. “We have no idea who you are.”
FERB
Though his face did not betray him, Ferb was feeling very overwhelmed by this whole ordeal. Not only had he learned who his mother was but why she had decided to leave him and his father behind— it was all Ferb’s fault. Technically speaking, it was no one’s fault, but, nevertheless, that’s what it felt like. That’s what it always felt like when, just because he couldn’t hear, something became much more complicated than need be. Even things as simple as standing in line at the market and someone asking him a question, only to think he was ignoring them.
But Ferb forgave this woman because he didn’t feel as though he had been entirely wronged. Had she not left, there was no telling what would have happened. There were too many possibilities to fathom. The one he cared about was that if she had stayed with his father then Lawrence would not have married Linda. If he had not married Linda, Ferb wouldn’t have met Candace or Phineas. And without Phineas, he had no idea where he would be.
No— that wasn’t true. He knew exactly where he would be. Even if Ms. Martin had stayed it wouldn’t have changed the fact that Ferb had never had a friend before Phineas. His father had been a perfectly good parent, but having two of those didn’t mean his social life would have turned out any differently.
It also didn’t make sense to Ferb for him to hold a grudge. What was done, was done. She was only human and he figured it was fair to forgive her since she had apologized, no matter how much it had hurt to learn.
He nodded to Phineas’ suggestion and continued as he watched Candace’s. Just because she was his mother didn’t mean she had some sort of exemption from jumping from stranger to— whatever it was she wanted to be.
Andrea sat up, flicking her head to get the hair that had fallen in her face out of the way and to expel her teary eyes. She smiled, hope nestling in her chest, small but warm. “Of course! I completely understand. Um— I’m only here for a few more days but I would love to get to know you all more so we can remedy that! And maybe, after I leave, still be able to keep in touch?”
Lawrence eyed her but nodded. “Very well. If we’re all in agreement then I think that’s perfectly fair.”
“Thank you.” She pushed her chair away from the table. “Thank you all so much. I’ll get out of your way now. I suppose— Well, I suppose I’ll see you soon!”
Her eyes strayed toward where the boys sat at the end of the table, trying to ignore Candace’s glare and Lawrence’s narrowed eyes of suspicion. She waved to Ferb, gave a nod to Phineas, and then started to walk out from behind the table. When Lawrence started to stand she stopped him with a hand. “It’s alright. I can see myself out. Thank you all again.”
The front porch watched as she returned, shoulders jumping as she let out a happy sigh, grin on her face. It watched the familiar figure make her way back down the walkway, pulling a phone from her purse. She had crossed the street, but it could still make out her cheery voice. “I’m in. I should have something for us by the end of the week.” A beat. “See? I told you not to worry—”
A car passed, taking her words with it as she walked further down the street.
