Chapter eleven time! :)
Sierra-275: lol no I understand. And I agree... Mark should be punished! Grrr...
WordNerb93: Nope it's not as cruel like the last one... kind of sad though.
Lummie: Duuuude... lol, yes lot's of drama and action int he last one. More drama in this one...
AgentAsianAstro: Thanks so much. And don't worry, there will be some forgive and forget chapters. :D
MrsFerb Fletcher-inator: Aw... don't cry. :(
thewolfstar: Hm... well we'll see I suppose... xDD
StarrKiwi: lol thanks for the warning. :) As soon as this story is done, you can do whatever the heck you want with Mark.
Leopardlover1002: He's not just a piece of poop... he's a parasite on a piece of poop!
Pricat: Thanks for the waffle... yummy! :)
Hard Coaster: Yikes... someone hates Mark...
Okay I do not own Phineas and Ferb... just the OC's
~ Ferb's POV ~
I never did make it to Adria's that night, nor did I go back home. After awhile the rain stopped and I ended up falling asleep on the bench. When I awoke, it was the morning. The sun was starting to rise above the trees as I sat up. My side and cheeks hurt like heck, but it was my heart that hurt the most. I couldn't stop thinking about what Phineas said to me yesterday… about how badly I had hurt my father. When I go home, I am going to make it up to him somehow. I'm going to beg for his forgiveness and hope that he has it in his heart to do so.
I wiped my wet hair out of my face and looked around. I knew I should start heading home, Annie is probably wondering where I could be at this time. I stood up slowly and winced at the pain on my left side. I began the walk home, stopping every once in a while to grasp my side. I felt around and knew that none of my bones were broken, just badly bruised.
When I made it back to the house, I stepped inside and silently closed the door. I heard someone calling out from the dining room.
"Ferb Fletcher!" it was Annie's voice, "I know that I gave you the freedom to do whatever you want, but that doesn't mean you- Oh my… Ferb!"
She must've saw the look of pain on my face, either that or perhaps it's the deep cuts that were embedded into my cheeks. She gasped and walked over to me. She looked me over and spoke breathlessly,
"What happened did… did Mark do this… to you?"
I slowly nodded my head, while she moved my matted hair away from my eyes. She bit her lip and sighed,
"Go upstairs, take a shower and get changed. Then come back downstairs… I'll have cook make you up something warm. Then we… we need to have a talk."
I nodded my head again and walked up the stairs. When I reached my bedroom, I peeled off my soaking wet clothes and hopped into a hot shower. My cheeks burned when the water hit the cuts, but I didn't care. The hot water felt good on my injured body.
When I was done, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist before stepping out. I looked at my side in the mirror, and sure enough… it was all bruised and nasty looking. I sighed and began digging out some clothes. I put a clean pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt on, and ran my comb through my messy wet hair. After that, I exited the bedroom and walked back down stairs. When I reached the dining room, Annie was setting out a huge plate of hot pancakes. She smiled slightly when she saw me and beckoned me over. I sat down in front of the huge stack of pancakes and grabbed a fork. My mouth watered when I saw some chocolate chips sprinkled on top… just how I used to have it when I was much younger.
Annie sat beside me and watched me as I ate. I looked up at her and spoke,
"What do you want to talk about?"
She sighed and rubbed her temples, "Ferb I… I think it's time that you go back home now… you're real home in America."
I paused my eating and looked wide-eyed up at her. She didn't look at me, but I see sadness in her face.
I gulped down my bite and spoke, "But… the summers not even half over yet. You still have custody over me for a few more weeks."
She shook her head, "Darling I can't have you around if Mark is going to… hurt you."
I put my fork down and narrowed my eyes, "Why don't you leave him? Why don't you take Layla and Ash and get out of here? Surely his money isn't that important to you anymore. You must have plenty of it anyway."
"Ferb believe me, if I could I would-"
"Then do it! Pack up you bags, grab the kids and leave. I'll help you if you need me to."
"It won't matter anymore soon enough…"
"It won't matter anymore? Try saying that when you watch him beating up little Ash! Then ask yourself again if it still doesn't matter."
Her head shot up, "Ferb if I leave, I won't be able to take them with me!"
"But why? Why not?"
"Because I'm dying!"
At that moment, the room became so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop. The only sound I could hear at the time was my own beating heart. My mouth went dry and I was holding my breath. I could see her looking at me sadly before looking back down in her lap.
I gulped and whispered, "What did you say…?"
She placed her head in her hands, "It's true Ferb… I'm dying…"
I gripped the table in order to stop myself from falling. I began breathing heavily and my whole body started shaking. I looked back up at her and gave her a 'are you serious' look. She looked up at me and bit her lip,
"Two months ago I… I was diagnosed with lung cancer."
Oh my gosh… I felt tears welling up in my eyes. Annie… my real mum is dying from lung cancer? No, no this doesn't sound right… it can't be right. I gulped again,
"Who else knows?"
"Other then you… just Mark."
"You haven't told father?"
"What am I going to tell him? He doesn't care for me anymore… he probably won't even notice when I'm gone."
I looked straight ahead and shut my eyes. I couldn't believe this… I just couldn't believe this…
Her hand grabbed mine, and she gave me a small squeeze. She gave me a reassuring smile, "I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. I was hoping that I would never have to tell you while you were here visiting. I wanted you to have a good time here and meet your stepsiblings. Most mostly… I wanted to see you one last time."
I felt a tear forming in my eye, "That's why you wanted me here? You wanted to see me one more time before you…" I couldn't say the word.
"Ferb I've wanted you to come visit for a while now. I wanted to make up for everything that I have done to you… when I learned about my condition; I knew I was running out of time."
I sat back in my chair and rubbed my temples. This is just so much to take in, and I wasn't exactly prepared to hear this.
She sighed, "And now that I had a chance to see you again… you can go home and return to your life."
I looked up at her and surprisingly, shook my head, "No…"
"No? No what?"
"No I'm not going to leave you. You don't deserve that, I'm going to stay here in England and take care of you."
"Ferb…" she started coughing painfully, and then stopped to continue, "Ferb I'm getting worse as the days go by. The doctor gave me at least thirty days but… I have a feeling it's going to be much less then that. I don't want you to remember me sick, I want you to remember me as a good mother."
I grabbed her hand, "What kind of a son would I be if I just left you? No, I'm not going anywhere…"
"Ferb-"
"Mum please don't try to talk me out of this. I want to stay with you."
I realized that this was the first time I called her 'mum' in years. I always referred to he as just 'Annie'. She looked shocked at first, but then smiled sadly,
"You don't know how long I waited for you to call me 'mum'. I've missed hearing you say it very much."
I chuckled, "So sorry to keep you waiting then, mum."
She laughed and shook her head, "It's… it's fine dear, I understand. Now you'd better eat up while your pancakes are still hot."
I picked my fork back up and began eating. She spoke up again, "Oh and one more thing sweetheart."
I looked up at her.
"Please don't tell your father about this. I fear that he may try to home here and check on me and… if Mark sees him, there's no telling what he would do."
How could I hide something like this from my father? He had a right to know, but… it's not my secret to tell. I nod my head and she smiles.
"Thank you Ferb…"
As I ate up, I told myself that I have to tell Adria about this. I know sooner or later I'm going to break down and start crying, and I'll need her around before then. Reality hit me like a bolt of lightning…
As I sit here looking at my mum, I know that with each passing minute I am losing her. I am losing my real mum… and there's nothing I can do about it.
To be continued...
Poor Ferb, huh? Wonder what else I can throw his way to make his life more miserable... lol
Anyway thanks for reading. Review?
