Lawrence went to his son's room. "Ferb?" He called. He heard the coughing, and fearing the worst, opened the door. Linda came over and knelt beside the pair. She placed her hand on the little boy's back. "It's okay." She said soothingly. Ferb buried himself in his father's sweater. Lawrence rubbed his son's back and spoke quietly.

Lawrence picked the little boy up and walked back into the main room of the apartment.

Linda prepared lunch for everyone. "Would you like something to eat?" She asked as she looked towards Ferb. The little boy shook his head and reached for a cracker. "What's your name?" Phineas inquired of him. Ferb just stood still and blinked. "Can you talk?" Phineas asked. Ferb nodded. "Do you want to play with me?" The red-headed boy asked. The green-haired boy shrugged his shoulders, all the while looking directly at the youngest member of the Flynn family.

Ferb grabbed another cracker and went to sit amongst the track pieces. He started putting some together. Phineas came over. "I was told your name's Ferb. It's okay if you don't talk. I'm Phineas." He said. Ferb lifted his hand up and gave a small wave.

After she finished her lunch, Candace tried watching some television. Linda and Lawrence sat down and talked, and Phineas and Ferb were playing with the cars and track.

"You can't make that many loops. It's not going to work, the car will just fall down." Phineas said as he saw Ferb attach five loops together and place them on the floor. Ferb stood up, bit his thumb then dragged a chair from the table over. He climbed on the chair and pointed to a loop. "Do you want this?" Phineas asked. Ferb nodded. Phineas handed the loop up to the boy on the chair, who placed it on top of a cabinet. Ferb moved the chair a little, climbed up and pointed to another loop. "You've done this before haven't you." Phineas stated. Ferb tilted his head from side-to-side. Soon the loops were placed at descending levels, two were on unused picture nails in the wall and the last two were on the floor.

Ferb turned to admire his handy-work and smiled, ever so slightly. He then grabbed two cars and the chair. He climbed up to the top of the cabinet and with wide eyes placed the first car. When he released it he overbalanced and fell off the cabinet. Phineas watched the car loop the loop to the end of the track. "That was cool! Do it again Ferb!" Phineas looked to the top of the cabinet. "Ferb?"

Linda saw the child on top of the cabinet. She was just going to pick him off when he overbalanced. She caught him before he hit the floor. "It's okay. You're safe. You shouldn't be climbing on the furniture, it's dangerous." Ferb turned and looked at her, then in a soft British accent he said "You're not my Mother." Linda placed him on his feet then replied "You're right. I'm not your mother, but I saw you do something dangerous and as a responsible adult I have to try to keep you safe." Ferb blinked at her then climbed back to the top of the cabinet.

Lawrence stood and stepped over to Linda. "I'm sorry. He's still upset about what happened." Linda turned to face him. "It's quite all right." She said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "He can be a bit stubborn at times." Lawrence remarked. "He's very independent." He finished as he looked to his son.

Phineas and Ferb were laughing at the cars going through the loops. Phineas brought more cars to Ferb and placed them on the edge of the cabinet.

Linda turned to Lawrence. "It appears as though he's feeling better." Lawrence glanced over to Ferb, saw him laughing, and nodded. "He looks happy. I've not seen him happy in months. Not since..." He trailed off. Linda came over and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I understand." The two adults looked at each other; they were standing close. Lawrence shook his head and turned towards his son. "Ferb. It's time for you to take a wee nap."

Linda turned to her children. "Time for us to head home. Phineas, you could use a nap yourself." The young red-headed boy stomped his foot on the floor. "I'm not tired. I want to play with my friend." Lawrence lowered himself to Phineas' eye level. "Ferb was very sick last night. He needs rest to feel better." He said. Phineas looked at his friend's father. "Can Ferb play later?" Lawrence looked to Linda and smiled. "I think that can be arranged."

Phineas ran to the other little boy and gave him a hug. "You're my best friend." He said. Ferb looked at him, blinked then smiled.

Lawrence closed the door after Linda and her children left. He then sat on the couch with his son. "Ferb." Lawrence took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry about last night. I just lost track of time." He said as he tried to give the three-year-old a hug. Ferb sat on the couch and let his father hug him.

"Do you think Linda is nice?" Lawrence inquired. Ferb blinked at him. "Do you think I'm trying to replace your Mum?" Lawrence asked. Ferb nodded. The elder male sighed. "I'm not trying to replace her, though if I were to find a substitute... would that be all right?" He said. The little boy looked at his father and raised an eyebrow. Lawrence chuckled. "A substitute is someone who is sort of a replacement, but not really." He said. How on earth do I explain this to a three-year-old? He thought.

Ferb got off the couch and went down the hallway to his room. Half way there, he started coughing. Lawrence stepped over to him. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked. The little boy shook his head. "Tell me what's wrong." Lawrence insisted. Ferb looked at his father. "You didn't come home. Just like Mummy." He then started crying.

A few days passed and Linda hadn't heard from Lawrence. "Mom, can I play with... Ferb?" Phineas asked over breakfast. Linda looked around to her son. "I'll see what I can do, honey."

While Phineas was getting changed for the day, Linda called Lawrence. "Good morning, Lawrence. I was just calling to see how you and your son were doing. Phineas was asking if Ferb would be able to play. We can meet up at the park in an hour or so. See you then."

Lawrence told his son to get ready to go to the park. "We're going to see Linda and her son today." He said. Ferb blinked at him, shrugged his shoulders and went to his room.

At the park Phineas was standing at the top of the slide when he saw Lawrence wander into the playground holding the hand of a child wearing a hoodie. "Mom!" He yelled as he zipped down the slide and ran to see his friend.

Linda looked to where her son was running and saw her friend. "Lawrence." She called as she approached. "How are you?" She then knelt down beside the little boy. "Hello, Ferb. Are you feeling better?" Ferb looked at her and blinked before his hand was grabbed and he was pulled away by Phineas.

Lawrence took Linda's hand and they sat on a bench. "How is he feeling Lawrence?" She asked. Lawrence looked at her. "He thinks I'm trying to replace his Mum. I don't know what to say to him. I don't want to replace her per se, I want... him to be able to trust again. The other evening didn't help, when I didn't come back for dinner as I said I would." He then looked to the ground. "Oh, Lawrence... I'm so sorry. When you said you had a son who chose to stay at home, I just assumed that he was older." She said sympathetically.

Lawrence nodded. "Many people would think that. Even I think that from time to time. I just wish he would talk to me. It's not that he can't, he does... he can be very articulate when he wants to be. He's just different from his peers. I feel sorry for him. He's got many challenges ahead." He said. Linda leaned into him. "I did notice that he doesn't talk. Did you ever get him tested?" Lawrence nodded and smiled ever so briefly. "Yes, he was tested last year. In England. Effectively, he's a ten-year-old trapped in a three-year-old's body." He said then Linda looked directly at him. "Were you given any advice on how to deal with that?" Lawrence shook his head. "I was told that I should enroll him in school at the appropriate age, and give him age appropriate tasks and chores. I should just treat him like a normal child."

Linda and Lawrence stood up and walked over to the playground where the boys were playing. "Hey Ferb! Watch this!" Phineas said as he climbed around on the monkey bars. Ferb just stood on the ground watching. He unzipped his hoodie and started to take it off. No sooner had he dropped the hood, another child on the playground looked over and noticed his hair. "That kid's got green hair!" Other children started looking in his direction. He pulled the hood back up as quickly as he could; everyone started laughing at him. He turned and ran away. Phineas saw this, he got down from the monkey bars and went up to the other kids. "How would you like it if someone were to make fun of you?" He asked.

That didn't end well for Phineas. He got pushed to the ground. "This kid has a funny shaped head!"

Lawrence lost his son in the crowd of people at the park. He saw the general direction Ferb ran, but couldn't find him.

Linda, along with a few other parents, were separating Phineas and the rest of the youngsters. "I want you to apologize to this little boy right now." One mother demanded of her daughter. "But Mom!" The little girl cried out. Another father grabbed his son's hand. "I want you to apologize to the other little boy."

Ferb ran fifty paces before he tripped over a skateboard that got away from its rider. He landed hard on the ground. Two girls were near by and went to help him. "Are you hurt?" seven-year-old Stacy asked him as she tried lifting him up by the armpits. Ferb kept his eyes cast downwards as he nodded his head. Her friend caught up to her. "Stacy, you run too fast." Candace said. "Get my mom. He might be hurt." Stacy said to her friend.

Candace returned after a moment with Stacy's mom.

Lawrence was looking around for Ferb. He tried calling the youngster's name a couple of times but he got no response.

"Are you hurt?" Doctor Hirano inquired of the little boy in front of her. He nodded his head and showed her his hands. There were four large pieces of wood from the playground embedded into his palms. "Let me help you take your sweater off." She said as she started to unzip the hoodie. Ferb shook his head vigorously, crossed his arms over his chest, stepped back a couple of paces and declared "No!".

Candace stepped closer to him. "I know you." She said as she pushed his hood back. She then looked around for her mother, or better yet, Lawrence. Ferb looked at her with fear in his eyes. Candace softened her expression. "Is your dad with you today?" She asked him. He nodded. "You stay here with Stacy and her mom, she's a doctor. I'll go find your dad."

Candace only had to turn around before she saw Lawrence. She ran over to him. "He's hurt. He's over here." She grabbed him by the hand and ran back to the Hiranos & Ferb.

Lawrence squatted beside his son. "What happened?" He inquired. Ferb showed his father his hands. "I can remove the larger slivers right now, the smaller ones would need to work their way out." Dr. Hirano said as she opened her purse and pulled out a pair of tweezers.

Stacy stepped up beside the little boy. "It's okay. My mom will make sure it doesn't hurt." Ferb looked seriously at her. "I don't like blood." He said in a soft British accent. Stacy couldn't help it, she gave the little boy a hug.

Ferb let Candace's friend's mother take his hand. She started to pull out the large slivers. "Did you move here recently?" Dr. Hirano spoke to Ferb. He nodded in response. "Where did you move from?" She asked. "London." He replied. "Do you have any friends?" Dr. Hirano continued to talk to the youngster. He continued to stare directly at the slivers in his hands. "Not really."

Candace looked up at that. "What about Phineas?" Ferb blinked in response. "What about me?" Phineas said as he approached with his mother.

Dr. Hirano patted Ferb's hands. "There we go. There are still some small pieces left behind I'm afraid." She said. Ferb nodded. "They'll come out on their own... I know." He said

"Come on Ferb. Let's go play!" Phineas said as he made a grab for Ferb's hand. The green-haired lad pulled his hands away and jammed them into his pockets. "Is something wrong?" The red-headed boy inquired. Ferb sighed, then started walking towards the playground.

"Is he going to be okay?" Linda asked Lawrence. He looked after his son. "I hope so."