Phineas stormed into the house, ignoring the knot in his stomach. After his talk with Isabella, he decided to go straight home and fix things with his family once and for all. If he failed at doing so, then so be it. It was about time someone in the damn house heard him. He was going to speak his mind and for once, they were going to listen.

He saw his mother standing in the kitchen, wiping down the counter for the fifth time that day. He walked straight over to her and spoke, "Mom, I know you're busy, but I need to say something and you need to hear it."

Linda looked up at him, taken aback by the firmness in his tone, and the slight anger on his face. She remained quiet, allowing him to go on.

"I don't know what happened between you and my dad. I don't know what he did to make you kick him out. I don't know why you never told me or Candace, I don't know why you told Ferb. I don't even care about any of it anymore! Whatever happened 18 years ago cannot be worth all of this!" He exclaimed, "You shouldn't have kept this a secret from us, you should've just told Candace sooner, maybe then she wouldn't be so upset now. But whatever happened, if you don't want to talk about it, then fine. I'm just so tired, Mom! No one in this house will speak to me, and I haven't heard from Candace in so long, I'm not even sure if she's alive!"

Linda frowned, tearing up at the sight of her son. He seemed so damaged. So broken inside. It was clear that he wasn't sure how to handle any of this. And it was all her fault.

Phineas calmed down after a moment, then sighed defeatedly. "You know what, if you don't want to talk, I understand. I just— I want my family back! I don't care about my biological dad, he hasn't come back once to see me so he must not care. I want you and Dad, Ferb, Candace! I just want you guys."

There was yet another moment of silence between them. Nothing but a solemn stare from his mother. Phineas frowned, knowing that was probably all he was ever gonna get from her. He shook his head and began to walk away. He knew it was pointless to try to get her to open up. But it was worth a shot.

Linda set the cloth down and walked around the counter, "Phineas, wait."

The boy stopped in his tracks immediately, shocked to hear her actually say his name. He wasn't sure anyone in his family had said his name in weeks.

"I— you're right." She said sadly, bowing her head, "What I did was wrong. It wasn't fair to keep you and your sister in the dark all these years. It's not that I wanted to, it's just..."

Phineas turned around to face her, "It's just what?"

Linda held up her finger, indicating for him to wait. She walked over to the stairs while Phineas watched her leave, curiosity flooding his thoughts. He stepped into the living room to wait for her to return, listening to the soft silence of the house. He assumed his stepdad was out at work again, or maybe running late night errands. And Ferb was most likely in their room doing nothing.

A moment or so later, Linda returned back downstairs with a familiar shoebox in her hands. She and Phineas sat down on the couch and opened it up, revealing all the same letters, photos, etc. Linda searched through the pile and eventually pulled out one particular letter, dated back to 2001.

"I didn't want to keep this a secret from you two," She said as she handed him the letter, "He wanted me to."

Phineas slowly took the letter and began to read the slightly lopsided handwriting. He read through it carefully, his lips unconsciously mouthing the words,

"Dear Linda,

I hope all is well with you and the kids. Still not too happy that I'm not allowed to see them, not even to meet my son. But it's your wish that I don't, so I will respect it. I'll stop asking from now on, and I'll only send letters to give you money and discuss child support. My one wish is that you don't ever tell our son what happened. I don't want him growing up thinking what you think of me. Honestly, I'd rather he not even know I exist. I prefer that than him thinking I'm a sick man who hurt his family.

Because I didn't mean to hurt you. Nor did I mean to cause sadness in our daughter. I want Candace to know that I love her with all my heart and I want her happy. And if that means forgetting who I am and never seeing me again, then so be it. My baby girl deserves the world, so I beg of you to take care of her and our son. Take care of them both, and never tell them what happened. Just let them forget my existence. That's all I ask of you, not as your ex-husband, but as an acquaintance. An old friend, even.

This will be the last letter I send for a while. Take care, Linda.

Yours truly,

Cameron Flynn"

Phineas closed the paper and stared off at nothing, taking in the words that his father wrote down over a decade ago. It all made sense now—other than why his mom even kicked him out in the first place. She never spoke of him and never explained what happened because that's what his dad wanted. And it had worked for a while. Candace forgot who he was, and Phineas didn't even know he existed.

"I would've told you and Candace everything. But the little respect I had left for your father told me to keep it a secret." Linda said, assuming he was finished reading, "He had a point, he didn't want you guys growing up resenting him. I didn't want that either. I wanted you two to be happy, and it seemed like you were when I married Lawrence."

Phineas sighed, looking over at her. "So you don't hate him?"

Linda shook her head, "No, I could never. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have you." She smiled softly, patting her son's arm, "Besides, your father wasn't necessarily a bad person. He just made some bad decisions."

"What did he even do?" The redhead asked, but only earned a nervous look from his mother. However, he wouldn't accept this as an answer. "Mom, I'm 17, I can handle it. I just wanna know why you kicked him out."

Linda sighed heavily, shrugging her shoulders. It wasn't like her ex was gonna find out if she did tell her kids what happened. After all, he hadn't contacted them in years, it wasn't like he was going to now.

She bit the inside of her cheek before explaining, "Your father and I, we've always had problems, even before we got married. And I think that was the problem. We decided to make a big commitment when we weren't really right for each other. The only reason we stayed together for so long was because of Candace."

Linda pulled out a photo from the box, an old wedding photo of her and Cameron. And then another one of her holding baby Candace in her arms. "Your sister meant the world to him, he'd truly do anything for her. We really tried making it work for her, which is why we decided to have another baby." She said, pulling out another photo, this time of her—pregnant with Phineas—next to Cameron on a couch. "But we were fighting so much, it didn't seem like it was gonna work out."

"Is that why you kicked him out?" Phineas asked. "Because you guys were fighting so much?"

"No, actually." She sighed, still gazing at each photo she pulled out. Most of them were of her and Cameron, and others were of Candace and her father with the brightest smiles on their faces. "I kicked him out because I found out that he wasn't the man I thought he was. He lied, kept secrets."

There was a brief pause before she finally admitted, "He was seeing other women, and I didn't find out about it until 8 months in my pregnancy."

Phineas' eyes went wide, a large frown appearing on his face. He never imagined it would've been that bad. Now he wasn't even sure what to think of his father. He never met him, he was supposedly a good guy according to Candace. But a good guy wouldn't fraternize with other women while married and expecting a baby.

Linda noticed the horrid look on her son's face, immediately regretting even saying anything. "Sweetie, all that I ask is that you don't hate your father for this." She said, "What he did was wrong, I know, but he loved you and your sister so much. He might've treated me wrong, but he didn't do it to hurt you or Candace. He never met you but he loved you, and trust me, he really wanted to."

Phineas nodded, "Mom, it's okay. I've never even met him personally so, I don't really have a right to hate him. I just wish he didn't hurt you."

She sighed, "Me too, sweetie. But what's done is done, and it was forever ago. It doesn't bother me anymore. I've got a husband that cares about me, all of us. I just wish Candace would understand."

Phineas frowned, pulling out a photo from the box. A small, low quality picture of Candace when she was about five-years-old, sitting in front of a Christmas tree with a goofy little smile missing a front tooth, while she was hugging a brown teddy bear that he recognized as Mr. Miggins—another one of Candace's most precious childhood toys.

He bit his lip and let a tear fall on his face. Linda noticed his crying and pulled him in for a side hug, kissing his face. "It's okay, sweetie."

He let out a soft sob and shook his head, his shaky hand lightly gripping the photo. Seeing his sister, even as a young child, sent overwhelming emotions through him. Three weeks of anxiety as to what she could've been doing, the fear that she might actually be gone for good. It was just too much to handle.

"I miss her..." He cried, hugging his mother tightly.

Linda sniffed over his shoulder, "I know. I miss her, too."