I lovew the feedback from this! Here's the last chapter.

I don't own Phineas and Ferb, and I thought it would be cute to see how they obtained a few things….you'll see what I mean.

I don't own Phineas and Ferb.

After I got back with Ferb, I wasn't quite sure how to approach my stepfather. Phineas solved that problem quite easily….

"Hey Candace!" Phineas called from the living room as Candace and Ferb walked in the door. Candace glanced down at her six year old brother and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think they're doing, Ferb?"

Ferb shrugged and the two headed for the living room.

Lawrence was on his back on the floor with his legs in the air, bent at the knee. Phineas was lying on them from his stomach down and Lawrence had a firm grip on his hands. Phineas was giggling like mad.

"Look Candace, I'm Superman!" he called, grinning from ear to ear.

Candace chuckled. "I can see that Phineas."

Phineas hopped off of Lawrence and raced over to Ferb. "Come on Ferb, let's go outside and play! You can tell me about what you and Candace did today! Thanks for playing with me Dad!"

The boy ran ahead of his brother. Ferb shot a small smile in Candace's direction and followed his very enthusiastic brother outside.

Candace was frozen to the spot, and she flinched when Lawrence laid a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Candace?" he asked in concern.

Candace looked up and nodded. "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine."

Lawrence sighed. "I know this is about Phineas calling me Dad."

Candace winced and looked down. "A little. I didn't think he'd say it so-I mean, you're great and all but it's just…never mind," she sighed.

Lawrence rubbed her shoulder gently. "I understand."

He started for the kitchen and Candace gulped. "Wait. Lawrence could we…I don't know, go to the zoo or something? Just…hang out and get to know each other better?"

Lawrence turned around with a smile. "That would be fun. Would you like to go now?"

Candace blinked, startled. "Now?"

Lawrence nodded. "Yes. Your mother is home, she's upstairs writing a letter. I'll go tell her where we're going."

Candace nodded. "Ok."

Lawrence disappeared up the stairs and Candace gulped. She had no idea how this was going to go.

The man came back down a few moments later, keys jangling in his hand. "Ready?"

"Sure," Candace said softly, following him out the door and hopping into the car. They rode in silence, not even the radio playing.

It felt like forever to Candace before they reached the zoo, but in reality it was only ten minutes. Lawrence parked the car and they walked up to the admission gate.

"One child and one adult," Lawrence said, handing the man money. The man let them into the park and leaned out the window after them.

"Make sure you check out the new Polar Bear exhibit!" he called.

Lawrence waved at the man. "Will do!"

Candace gave a small smile as they entered the zoo. Lawrence turned to her. "So. Where would you like to go first?"

Candace gazed around the area and hesitantly pointed to the Reptile house. Lawrence looked startled. "I thought you hated snakes?" he said, shaking his head.

Candace shook her head. "No. They're really neat. I just don't like it when they're on me. But I think snakes are pretty cool."

Lawrence nodded and he and Candace headed for the snake house. Candace darted inside and when Lawrence caught up to her, he found her with her face pressed up against the glass of one of the habitats, staring at a large python. She glanced back at Lawrence.

"Aren't they so cool?" she asked, pointing to the large animal behind the glass.

"You really like snakes, huh?" a man in a zoo uniform asked, walking up with a smile. Candace shrank back slightly and nodded. "Yeah."

The man smiled and leaned over. "My name is Austin. Would you like to see a snake that we haven't brought out yet? Her name is Lucy," he said, holding out a hand.

Candace looked up at Lawrence and Austin immediately straightened up. "That is, of course, if it's all right with your father."

Candace almost protested that he wasn't her real dad, but she shut her mouth and decided to let him think what he wanted. Lawrence nodded. "Of course, that's fine, as long as it's safe."

Austin grinned. "Oh, it's perfectly safe. Lucy isn't venomous, and she's really sweet. Come on."

Austin led the way to a door that was marked "Employees Only." He opened it up and showed them inside.

Austin walked over to a box at the end of the room and opened the top gently. "Lucy is an Eastern Garter snake," he said, pulling out a small green-ish snake. "She's completely harmless."

He stepped over to Candace and moved the snake so that she was at eye level. Candace smiled. "She looks really neat," she said, studying Lucy intently. Austin grinned. "Would you like to hold her?" he asked.

Candace immediately stepped back. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Isn't she slimy?"

Austin frowned. "No, of course not! Would you like to try?"

Candace bit her lip and slowly reached her hands out. Austin gently deposited Lucy into her hands and the snake curled up Candace's arm. The girl giggled. "She tickles," she said softly.

Lawrence smiled at Austin. "Thanks Austin. That was very kind of you."

Austin shrugged. "It's not often people are so interested in snakes. They get a bad rep, so it's nice to see people enjoying them."

Candace smiled and gently handed Lucy back to her handler. "Thank you Austin," she said, stepping back over to Lawrence. The young man smiled as he set the snake back in the box. "Any time, kid," he said, smiling and holding the door for them on the way out.

Candace smiled and stepped out into the sunlight. "That was really cool," she said, glancing up at Lawrence. The man nodded.

"Yes, yes it was. Where to next?" he asked.

Candace glanced around, grabbed Lawrence's hand, and pulled him towards the bears.

Almost two hours later, the two walked out from the aquarium and started for the car. They started to pass the gift shop and Candace held up her hand. "Wait here! I have some money, and I want to get something."

Lawrence stood outside and waited for about five minutes. Candace strolled out clutching a bag and a pile of change. "What did you get?" Lawrence asked curiously.

Candace glanced down at the bag as they reached the car. She hopped into the front seat and dug into the plastic bag. "Well, I got this for Phineas," she said, pulling out a stuffed platypus, "and this for Ferb," she said, pulling out a baseball cap with the words "I Love Platypi" on it, the love being a heart, "and for myself…" She held up a finger and showed Lawrence the tiny little platypus ring that adorned it. Lawrence chuckled and started the car. "Why all the platypus stuff?"

Candace shrugged. "Duh, because of Perry. Oh, and speaking of Perry…"

She reached once more into the bag and yanked out a collar with a bronze webbed foot attached to it. "I found this really cute locket specifically for a pet platypus. Weird, huh?"

"A locket?" Lawrence asked, glancing over briefly. Candace nodded.

"Yeah. It opens up and you can put three different pictures in it."

Lawrence gave a smile. "And how exactly did you afford this?" he asked. Candace shrugged. "My allowance."

Lawrence laughed and pulled into the driveway. He sat for a moment and then looked at Candace. "I had a lot of fun today, Candace."

Candace glanced down and realized that she had had a lot of fun today as well. "I did too."

They walked inside to find Linda, Phineas, and Ferb playing Skiddley Whifflers. Phineas grinned when he saw them.

"How was the zoo?" he asked.

Candace smiled and walked behind her brothers. She plunked the hat onto Ferb's head and tucked the stuffed animal into Phineas' hands. They looked up with smiles.

"Thanks Candace!" they both said.

Linda smiled. "So I take it that you had fun."

Candace handed her mother the locket for Perry and nodded. "Yeah! We saw the new polar bear exhibit, and the monkeys, and we saw a bunch of fish and sharks, and this guy in the Reptile house let me and Dad in the back to-"

She froze, realizing what she had just said. Linda raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Back to what, Candace?" Phineas asked.

Candace gulped and gave a smile. "This guy in the reptile house showed me and Dad this new snake they got named Lucy."

"Cool!" Phineas cried.

Candace smiled at Lawrence and then darted up the stairs with the boys. Linda chuckled. "You know what she just said, right?"

Lawrence had a grin on his face, and he looked as happy as Linda had ever seen him. "Yeah. Yeah I did."

I guess that on that day, my real dad finally said to me, "You need to move on." Even though I still really miss him, I have another dad. He doesn't replace my first father, and he never will. But he comes pretty darn close to being just as awesome.

That day has always been one of my favorites. Stacy really made me rethink how I thought about Ferb and my Dad, and I'm glad she did. Because if she hadn't, I would never have the family that I do.

So yeah, that was a hard time. But it was the best.

Candace grinned, saved her document without another word, and printed three copies of it to the den.

She walked in to grab them, and tucked one into a folder to give to her teacher tomorrow. She held onto the other two. If she got a good grade, she might just let her Dad and Ferb read them.

Two weeks later, Miss Melissa handed back their papers. She paused in front of Candace's desk and said in a voice loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Candace wrote one of the most touching essay's that I have ever read, and I have submitted a copy of it to the young writers contest going on here in Danville. I hope all of you follow her example in writing. Candace, would you mind if I read this out loud to the class?"

Candace was stunned. "No, of course not. Go ahead."

The teacher headed to the front of the room, leaned on her desk, and started reading.

In minutes, everyone was hooked.

Candace got home that night and went up to her room. She quietly stapled together the papers and left one on Ferb's bed and the other on her Dad's. Not one hour later, Ferb walked up to her and gave her the tightest hug in the world. She smiled and hugged back before he left to go play with Phineas and Isabella.

Her father had a similar reaction, though he had started crying while reading it.

Needless to say, Candace won first place in the writers contest, and only two people were more proud of her than herself.

So, it's true. You don't need to say anything to mean something. No words need be spoken when someone is in need. And as Candace has learned, time and time again, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Sometimes, she found, all that matters is what's on the inside.

Sometimes, all that matters is that there's a friend.

The End.