Vanessa had just turned twelve and was looking for her mother to help her with her new underthings. Charlene was talking to someone on the phone and didn't notice her there.

She was saying "Well, I admit he's really great in bed, and he was a decent husband, but I just didn't feel like limiting myself to only Heinz for the rest of my life. I certainly didn't want him to knock me up. The funny thing is, it wasn't him that got me pregnant. It was an accident with someone else."

Charlene listened to the phone and replied. "Oh, come on, Linda! Of course I didn't do the DNA thing! It would have proved that Vanessa isn't his! That would have screwed me economically."

After another exchange from the other end of the conversation she went on. "If it did come out, there wouldn't be any legal reason for Heinz to have a relationship with Vanessa. I'd be stuck with her every single weekend. I won't do that, I already gave up way too much of my life for her. No, Heinz will keep on being her legal father. It's better for me that way."

Vanessa silently retreated to her room, weeping.

Her Mom was a cheater and a liar who didn't really want her around. She'd suspected the latter for a while, but now it was confirmed. Worse, her Dad wasn't her Dad, and if he knew, he wouldn't want her around, either.

Life was nothing but people taking advantage of others, or being taken advantage of by them, Vanessa concluded.

She managed to put her bra on straight, then pulled all the bright things out of her closet and kept only what was black.

She never wore any other color again.

Vanessa stood there under the oak tree, arms around herself, her back to him. It had torn her apart, telling him the truth, but he deserved to know it. Even if he never wanted to see her again after discovering he wasn't really her father, she couldn't live with the lies any more.

After what seemed an eternity of silence she heard him speak.

"When your mother told me she was pregnant with you it scared me to death. We hadn't been married that long, and I was just getting my career as a composer off the ground, but it was still the best news anyone had ever given me."

Vanessa had never felt such misery, and wished she had stayed silent... not that she could have any longer.

"The day you were born... I freaked out completely, so most of it's a blur... until the nurse handed you to me. I saw two little sapphires sparkling in the sun, and they were looking right at me. Then a tiny little fist gripped my pinkie... and I've been wrapped around yours ever since."

Every word was a dagger in her heart. To her surprise she felt his arms wrap around her from behind as he laid his cheek against her head.

"What I'm wondering now... what on God's green Earth made you think I didn't already know what you've just told me?"

"You... you knew?" She turned and looked up into indigo eyes full of love, understanding, and sadness.

"Since you were five. I'd figured out your mother was cheating on me, and when I confronted her about it she dropped that bomb on me. It didn't matter to me if you were really mine or not, but I couldn't stay married to someone who preferred sleeping around to her family's well-being. That threat of hers with the DNA testing... well, that's why I'm the one getting alimony instead of her." He smiled softly. "It's a small price to pay for you, sweetie."

"Oh... oh, Daddy!" The dam of her emotions finally burst and she dissolved into tears, her face in his chest as she sobbed.

He held her until she had cried herself out, crooning softly as he stroked her hair. When she was done he gently wiped her face dry with a handkerchief and asked her "So what are we going to do now? Do we let your mother know we both know?"

"I... I'm not sure. Let's get back home first."

"Whatever you want, sweetheart, is fine with me."

Heinz looked at the sword as it lay in its bed of purple velvet. He'd cleaned most of Kenny's blood off of it, but the residue under the hilt needed scrubbing with a toothbrush. He wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.

"Curse my squeamishness," he muttered, and closed the case. Herr Merkel would arrive soon to take care of shipping the trunk and most of its contents to Danville. He and Vanessa were leaving in the evening to catch the morning flight out. Neither of them was in any real hurry to deal with Charlene, but school would start soon. It would be Vanessa's senior year.

Heinz realized with a pang that his little girl was almost grown. It made him want to have a family again... and the idea hit him. The regeneration tank was big enough, and he had enough chemicals and DNA samples on hand... it could work!

He put the though away for the moment and concentrated on the tasks at hand. Perry the Platypus would be waiting for him, and they had some catching up to do.

When Perry slipped in through an open window he was surprised to find no traps waiting for him. Instead, Doofenshmirtz was sitting on the couch, dressed all in black - even his lab coat! - with a vintage, honey-colored, acoustic-electric guitar, making it sing like the angels. He caught sight of Perry and smiled softly.

"Perry the Platypus... I'm sorry, I'm not up to anything evil. I got back really late last night and I just wasn't up to doing any real evil today. You can stay if you want, and tell Monobrow you beat me up as usual."

Perry didn't need to be told twice. He clambered up onto the couch to listen to Doofenshmirtz play. After a while he jumped up onto Heinz's shoulders and lay there as a neck pillow, purring happily.

The two frenemies sat there a long time, at peace with each other as the music washed over both of them.