I do not own any of these characters besides Adam and Cheyenne.

The first day went pretty well for both Adam and Cheyenne. Adam managed to catch up with both Phineas and Ferb as they were ready to catch a ride in the boys' mother's car to their house.

While they were standing at the bus stop across the street from their school, they saw a van pull up, picking up Isabella and all 6 of her Fireside Girl troop, as well as an additional member, none other than Cheyenne herself.

Adam smiled. "Guess she's part of a team now."

"Yeah," Phineas added, "Isabella was desperate for an 8th member, and Cheyenne is a perfect fit."

Adam's gaze fell. "Yeah, glad that she's happy."

Phineas turned his head to the right, glancing over at his new dark-skinned friend. "What's wrong?"

Adam shut his eyes tight, trying to erase the memory that has been haunting him this time of year. Tomorrow would be the anniversary of that sad event. An event that had altered the lives of both him and his father.

Adam looked up at Phineas and spoke, "Nothing, just had a bad train of thought."

Phineas nodded, "We all have those sometimes."

Just then a car pulled up. An old station wagon stopped by near where the boys were standing.

"Alright, boys hop in!" Linda called out. The three boys hopped onto the back seat. Adam sat in the middle, with Ferb to his right and Phineas to his left.

Linda turned and smiled. "Hello, who might you be?"

Adam smiled timidly. "I'm Adam. You must be Mrs. Flynn." He spoke, holding out his hand for her to shake.

Linda accepted the handshake. "Well, aren't you charming?"

Adam giggled. "Thanks, and I've got to say, for a middle-aged woman, you do not look a day over 20."

Linda cooed as she pinched Adam's cheek. "Thank you. That's so sweet." Adam blushed. "Well, we can't wait to welcome you into our home. Wait until you meet my husband Lawrence and daughter Candace."

With that, Linda turned to start the car and began to drive off. As she did, Adam couldn't help but admire this woman. These boys were lucky. From what Adam could gather, they were lucky enough to have both their father and their mother. Adam tried not to acknowledge the ache in his chest of what had happened 6 years ago.

The day his mother walked out of the house.

The Fireside Girls had taken Cheyenne through the woods in the outskirts of Danville. Isabella had called her mother and canceled the plans for Cheyenne to meet Vivian just so the girls could take Cheyenne to her 'initiation' for her to be one of them.

As the girls walked up the hill with Cheyenne, Isabella led the way, speaking up. "Okay Chey', to become a Fireside Girl, you must complete a dangerous initiation."

The girls stopped at the top of the hill near the woods. The 6 other Fireside girls stood behind Cheyenne as Isabella presented a crate. Cheyenne shook in fear as she heard a heart-stopping hissing from the crate.

Isabella set the crate down and opened it, taking out a stunning organism. A yellow Albino python.

"Listen, this creature may seem scary, but he is incredibly depressed. Your initiation is to excite it. Lighten its mood."

Cheyenne smirked and crossed her arms. "No problem."

Isabella nodded and set the snake down on the grass. The snake looked absolutely depressed. It barely moved and the hissing sounded rather weak as if the snake had lost hope.

"I tightly doubt you'll be able to enlighten it," Gretchen quipped.

Cheyenne took her backpack off and rummaged through it. The other girls looked confused as Cheyenne pulled out a silver flute.

Within seconds, Cheyenne had bit playing a melody. It was soothing, but the snake still hardly moved. Cheyenne then decided to take it up the notch by blowing slightly harder in the flute, playing louder.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the snake began to rise, hissing louder, a sign that it was enjoying the soothing melody.

Cheyenne continued playing and the girls clapped along as she played 'Thriller' on the flute, hopping around the snake as it wiggled its body in the rhythm of the flute.

"I guess we have a new member," Isabella spoke as the other girls cheered for the newest addition to the Fireside Girls.

It was a great night at the Flynn-Fletchers. Adam worked with Phineas on certain assignments before they all went down for dinner. They spent some time in the backyard with Ferb, just chilling under the tree while chatting.

At dinner, Candace was out with Stacy, so Adam just ate with the standard four. He sat across Lawrence. The older man looked up at the boy and decided to spark up a conversation.

"So Adam, any family member back home," Lawrence asked.

Adam swallowed the corn before answering, "It's just me and my dad."

Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "Do you live far from here?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm from the South Side, in Danville City Apartments."

Lawrence widened his eyes and smiling. "Wow, those are really good homes."

Adam smiled and nodded.

"So what does your dad work as?"

"He owns an antique business with his friend. They're expected to open their shop this winter."

The entire dining room table was silent. Lawrence was stunned, Linda was speechless, while Phineas and Ferb tried to hide how awkward they felt about this situation.

Then, Lawrence smirked. "Your dad likes antiques, too?"

"Yeah, I heard you own a shop as well."

There was a moment of silence before Lawrence spoke up again. "You know, Adam, I have a feeling you and I are gonna get along just fine. You're welcome here anytime."

Adam nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Fletcher."

Linda nudged Lawrence's shoulder. "Oh Lawrence, you're such a tease." They both laughed before Linda turned to Adam. "So hon, you say you lived with your dad, huh?"

"Yeah," Adam answered before gulping his milk.

"What about mom?"

Adam nearly choked on his milk, but he managed to swallow it. He had no idea how to answer this question without looking awkward or igniting that saddening memory.

Adam stuttered with his words. "She's...She's no longer part of my life."

"What do you mean," Linda asked, raising an eyebrow, completely oblivious to her sons waving their hands, silently telling her to not push forward with any questions, as they knew talking about his mother was something Adam avoided.

"Um..." Adam looked at his watch before standing up. "Oh wow, look at the time," He spoke rapidly. "Gotta get home before my dad gets concerned."

"Wait, we can drive you," Linda offered, but it was too late. Adam ran out of the dining room and through the exit. He ran out of the house and down the neighborhood. He didn't care that his apartment was a 30-minute walk away. He could make it in 15 minutes if he ran, and he did.

He never wanted to speak about his mother. Millions of thoughts ran through his mind. Many of them consisted of different scenarios that would have occurred if his mother stayed with him and his father, or if he was never even born.

He made it to the building and burst through the lobby and up the stairs to his floor.

He burst through the front door of his apartment. His dad was home, sitting on the kitchen table reading a book when he was startled by Adam's rushing mood.

"Son," Moe spoke up, "are you okay?"

Adam stopped and looked at his father. He could never look at him the same way with that memory haunting him. Adam's eyes were just wet with tears as he pushed past his father, out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into his door.

He slammed the door shut and hopped onto his bed, burying his face into the pillow, groaning.

He just wished Cheyenne was here. Of all the times that he would have needed her, right now would have been one of the most important.

Thanks for reading. Yeah, Adam had a rough past. More about his mother will be revealed in the next chapter.