I am updating again! :D I am slowly regaining my motivation for my stories, one at a time xD xD xD It makes me quite happy- but don't expect another update from me for at least a couple more weeks xP xP xP
I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE
(Perry's POV)
Grace's voice spoke up after a while. "Ellie wanted me to get you. Are you okay?"
Perry smiled and nuzzled his little girl. "I'm okay, sweetheart," he reassured. "Why did Ellie want me?"
"I don't know," admitted Grace.
"Alright, then, I'll go see." Perry slowly stood up, carefully minding Grace.
Elizabeth was waiting by herself in a room when Grace led Perry inside. Grace then, sensing that Ellie would feel awkward talking with her around, quietly left the room.
"What is it?" Perry asked curiously, turning back to his teammate after his daughter was gone.
Only a millisecond after he turned back around did he feel Ellie's lips touch his beak. After a couple seconds, Perry backed away and stared at Ellie in shock.
Ellie gasped and put her paws to her mouth. "Oh- oh my- I'M SO SORRY!" She burst into tears and raced out the room, leaving Perry behind thinking about what had just happened in the course of ten seconds.
Once he had wrapped his head around it, Perry stepped out of the room to see Grace with a concerned look on her face. "Ellie just raced out of the room and in that direction." She pointed in the area of the dorm rooms. "Is everything okay?"
Perry gave his daughter a small smile. "I just need to talk with her. You stay here."
"Okay."
Following the direction Grace had pointed out, Perry went after the echidna. He found the door to her dorm room closed. "Ellie?" He gently tapped his paw on the door. He didn't get an answer.
"Ellie?" Perry gently opened up the door to find the echidna lying on her bed, with her face on the pillow, and he heard her crying. "Ellie..."
He stepped closer to her and sat by her on her bed, gently stroking her. "Ellie..." he said again.
"I'm a horrible person," came Elizabeth's muffled and miserable voice.
"What?" Perry gasped. "No, you're not!"
"Yes, I am. You're getting over Fiona and going through all this stuff with Grace, and then I just come along and-" she burst into tears again.
Perry sighed. "Ellie, you... You're fifteen, aren't you?"
Ellis turned around to face Perry. "Yeah..."
"That explains it. Ellie, it's okay," he reassured. "Every animal goes through that age range of fourteen to sixteen. They could very well be the worst years of someone's life, depending on the person." Perry glanced at the ground. "They're especially tough if you don't meet the person who could very well become your mate."
"You were fifteen when we met, right?"
"Yeah. And you know what I went through that year."
Elizabeth chuckled. "Yeah, that must have been awful for you."
"Mm-hmm," Perry agreed. "It was. I mean, it would have been hard no matter what age, but it was even harder because I was directly in the middle of the range."
Ellie moaned as she thought about what had happened. "Still... I should be able to control myself..."
"Elizabeth... I'm not upset."
"Really?"
"Really," grinned Perry. "I'm not upset at all, and I don't blame you for what just happened."
He inhaled. "Listen, Ellie, I don't care for you in that way- and you know that. But that doesn't mean I don't care for you as more than a friend."
"Huh?" The echidna looked lost.
Perry chuckled. "You're like a little sister to me, El. And I want to help you through this."
Ellie sat up slowly. "Thanks, Perry," she smiled. Perry grinned and hugged her.
After a few minutes, Perry said bye, got up, and left the room. "Grace?"
"Yeah?" His little girl was still in the same spot she had been when Perry had first gone to the dorms.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Where?" Grace cocked her head curiously.
"Home," Perry grinned. "Does that sound good?"
"That sounds great, Dad!"
Dad. It would take Perry a while before he got used to being called that. "Then let's go," he smiled warmly.
(...)
"You live with humans?" Grace asked nervously.
The two of them had made it to the Flynn-Fletchers' house. "Yes..." Perry said slowly. "But not all humans are like the ones that 'took you in', Grace."
"I... I know," Grace replied shakily. "But I'm still nervous."
Perry gripped his daughter's paw. "Are you ready?"
"Y-yeah."
"Okay." Perry got onto all-fours and crawled through the pet door, carefully helping Grace through after him.
Grace looked around. "Why are we like this?"
"Just follow me," Perry instructed.
(Grace's POV)
"A-alright..." Grace padded up a staircase after her father and into a large, blue bedroom. Sitting on the two beds in it were two young men- both seeming to be in their late teens. One had a triangular shaped head with red hair, and the other had a rectangular head with green hair.
The redhead boy looked up as Perry entered the room, followed by Grace. "Perry! You're back!"
Perry grinned and closed the door before standing up on two feet- Grace carefully copied his movements, unsure of what else to do. "It's great to see you two again."
"He was only on that mission for a few days, Phineas," the boy with the green hair reminded.
"I know, Ferb," Phineas sighed. "But it felt like forever. Come on, you can't tell me you didn't miss him at all either."
A small smile came into Ferb's face. "You're right."
"Anyway, who's this?" Phineas had to peek around Perry slightly to see Grace, who had crept closer and closer to her father during the conversation.
Perry hesitated. "Well, she's..." He inhaled. "Do you remember Fiona?"
"Oh, yeah..." Phineas and Ferb exchanged a sad glance.
"Well... This is Grace," Perry introduced, gently nudging his little girl out from behind him.
Ferb raised an eyebrow. "And she is...?"
"Mine and Fiona's daughter," Perry admitted.
The boys' eyes widened. Phineas glanced back and forth from Grace to Perry to Ferb and back to Grace. "Wait... But she's... Fiona... I remember... What?"
"It's a...long story that I'm still trying to wrap my head around myself," Perry continued. "But, yeah, this is my little girl." He smiled at Grace, who timidly smiled back.
"She looks a lot like her mother," Ferb commented.
"Yeah... She does."
"What are Mom and Dad gonna say?" Phineas asked.
Perry hesitated. "That's why I came to you two first."
"You need us to help?" grinned Phineas. "No problem."
"Do you know where they are?"
"Well, Dad's at work, but I think Mom's in the backyard."
"Great! Can you boys come with us?" Perry asked as he got back onto four feet, Grace quizzically copying him.
"Of course," Phineas continued to grin. "Come on, Ferb!"
The four left the room and walked down the stairs. Grace would have been completely lost if she hadn't been guided by her dad and the two boys they were with. The group stepped outside, where a woman with red hair was working on a flower patch.
Perry padded over to her on four feet and nuzzled her leg before mindlessly padding away a little. This caused the woman to take off her headphones, and she smiled at the platypus. "Hello, Perry. It's been a while since I've seen you."
The woman turned back to the other three. "Oh! Boys! I was just... Wait..." She cocked her head with a smile. "Who's this?" The woman reached forward to pet Grace, who flinched away nervously. Her eyes flicked to Perry, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"Mom, can we keep her?" Phineas asked hopefully.
"Why?"
"Well..." Phineas and Ferb exchanged a glance. "We think she's Perry's daughter."
"Hmm..." The woman cocked her head. "I guess that would make sense."
"Doesn't she look like the other platypus who used to live here?" Phineas pushed.
"You're right," the woman agreed. "And even if they might not be related, they do look close... I'd hate to separate them... Of course we can keep her! Boys, what do you want to name her?"
Grace shot her dad a nervous look. Oh, please, please don't give me a different name.
But they didn't. "How about Grace?" Phineas suggested, exchanging a glance with Ferb.
The woman smiled. "Perfect." She turned to Grace. "It's nice to meet you, Grace. I'm Linda."
Perry shot Grace a grin. "Welcome home, sweetheart."
Welp. Things seem to be going along nicely, now, don't they? I:} I:} I:} But the story isn't done yet….