A/N – So, I know the show belongs to Dan & Swampy, and they would tell us it's just a cartoon and not to be over-analyzed, but… In the recent episode, "Agent Doof," where Phineas and Ferb are turned into babies, there was some stuff that definitely clashed with what we've seen earlier in the series. I couldn't let it go, so…

Two Babies, One Photo

When Linda Flynn-Fletcher's phone chirped at the birthday party for Vivian's aunt's sister's landlord's son Evan's son Dexter, she was certain it was going to be Candace with some cockamamie story about her brothers building a giant atomic quesadilla maker in the back yard. It was a text from Candace, all right – but she had sent just a picture. A sweet, adorable picture of Phineas and Ferb as babies.

"Oh, they used to be so cute!" she cooed.

How sweet of her daughter, thought Linda. It must have taken Candace some effort to put this together on the computer. She actually had made it look like Phineas and Ferb were sitting together under the tree in the back yard, even though the boys had been an ocean apart when their photos were taken. Linda still remembered the evening she had spent with Lawrence, shortly before their wedding, when he had brought over his album of Ferb's baby photos, and she had dug out her pictures of tiny Candace and tiny Phineas, and they had cooed and chuckled and swapped stories of new-parenthood. She hoped that Candace had shown her charmingly manipulated photo to her brothers; they would have loved it. Phineas always had wanted a brother, from the time he was old enough to babble his first words. Linda was certainly glad he had one now, even if it had taken him nearly four years. Oh, he adored his big sister, of course, but it wasn't the same. That was why Phineas had been so attached to Frank.

Phineas had been about the age he was in this photo when Linda had taken him to Danny the Dinosaur's Baby Stuff Emporium one day so she could buy a present for Vivian's daughter Isabella's birthday party. Linda never had understood why 'Danny the Dinosaur' looked like a dragon, but she supposed a Big Green Lizard was a Big Green Lizard, and the store carried acres of toys and baby gear. Phineas had been so delighted by the huge piles of plush animals, she had let him pick one out for himself. He had glomped onto a stuffed lion, three times bigger than he was, and with a happy exclamation of "Rarrr! Grrrr!" had found the brother he craved. Phineas had named the lion Frank – although it had taken a few more months before he could pronounce it clearly enough for Linda to understand. "Fanh" was as close as he could get at first. Who knew where the name had come from? Phineas was born with an imagination, and came up with the oddest ideas seemingly out of nowhere.

Phineas insisted on bringing Frank everywhere with him. "Fanh budder," was his explanation, and her baby boy would get the saddest puppy eyes imaginable at the thought of excluding his "brother" from anything. Phineas didn't seem to mind being smothered in his stroller by his furry sibling, but before long, Linda broke down and picked up a simple double stroller from a neighborhood garage sale, so Phineas and Frank could ride side by side on their outings. Phineas would prattle cheerfully to Frank, waving his little arms as he translated all the wonders of the world around them, then he would stop and listen for a moment for Frank's response, and nod thoughtfully at whatever wisdom the lion had imparted. Candace had thought her little brother was being "weird," but Linda had pointed out her daughter's own attachment to her very best friend, Ducky Momo.

"But, Mom, that's different!" Candace had insisted. "It's like Phineas thinks that lion is real!"

Linda had laughed, "Oh, your brother just has an active imagination. It's really kind of cute."

Phineas had outgrown the stroller, but had kept his fondness for Frank, although he slowly gave up dragging the lion everywhere, and clearly could no longer fully convince himself that the well-worn toy was a satisfactory substitute for a real brother. Then, a certain green-haired four-year-old had been introduced into his life, and Phineas had gained a flesh-and-blood brother who had proven a perfect counterpart for him. And Linda couldn't have been happier for both of her boys.

Now, smiling at the sweet picture on her cell phone, and pleasantly surprised that Candace seemed to be handling her responsibilities calmly for once, Linda typed a message in return.

Thanks for the old baby picture.

THE END

A/N – I thought the creators had established a long time ago (in the "Little Brothers" song from the Reform School episode) that P&F were 3 or 4 or so (older than babies) when they met. I know, I know, it's like "Where's Danville," they're doing what works for the episode, and we're overthinking this stuff. But darn it, I just couldn't let the photo (and the double stroller) stand unchallenged! Oh, and why does "Danny the Dinosaur's" have a dragon as the mascot? Oh, and yeah, making the imaginary "pre-Ferb" brother a lion named Frank was intentional.