MerMay day three!

Guys... this chapter made me cry. As a mom with a very similar family structure to the Flynn-Fletchers, putting myself in Linda's shoes—saying goodbye to her youngest boy—hurt more than I expected. Thank goodness my youngest isn't even in school yet! Lol.

Oh I should probably mention that were going to start getting some overlapping timelines in the upcoming chapters. Each chapter is a different POV though, so it works.

Family - Linda

Watching as Ferb left with Lawrence, heading through security of the airport, Linda felt like a piece of her heart was leaving with him. She knew her husband would be back within a week, but her little boy… She didn't know when she would see him again—if she would see him again.

What if he never came back?

What if his birth mom was so wonderful that he forgot all about her?

Tears fell from Linda's eyes while she gazed longingly as the green hair of her youngest boy vanished behind a crowd of people. Her shoulders shook and she tried to take a breath, but it was like her lungs rebelled against the action.

Her daughter was keeping an eagle eye on Phineas as he chattered about Ferb's newest adventure. Candace had speculated that maybe Phineas would try to stow away in Ferb's carry-on, or slingshot himself onto their plane as it passed overhead, or some other frankly impossible scenario. Though the possibility of Phineas wandering off without Ferb's gentle stability to keep him grounded was rather high. Linda could readily admit that Phineas was as flighty as a butterfly…

Still, Linda fully expected Candace to be completely focused on Phineas, so it was a surprise when, through the waterfall of tears, she felt her daughter loop her arm through her left elbow and started guiding her towards the exit. After a moment, Phineas's voice slowed and Linda felt another arm reach around her right elbow, both of them giving her a bit of comfort as they headed to the parking garage.

Candace was full of surprises that day, because instead of letting Linda go at the driver side door, Candace led her around to the passenger seat. "I'll drive mom. It's okay," she said softly.

The tears, which had started slowing down in preparation for the drive home, came back twice as bad. Small shaking sobs tore from her throat as she relived the amazement and fear at seeing Ferb's transformation. The worry of Ferb having to go nearly a full week without a shower in case he transformed and couldn't revert back. The stress of the possibility that any liquids she gave to him might spill and would make it worse. The depression of having to say goodbye to her baby boy, not knowing if or when she would ever see him again. The likelihood of him forgetting her…

What was she going to do without his quiet thoughtfulness? His daily random facts? The good morning and goodnight hugs?

Candace must have done really well on the drive home. Either that or she kept her anxiety under lock and key, but she didn't require Linda's support the whole way.

And wasn't THAT just fantastic!

Not only had she lost her youngest baby, but now her oldest didn't need her anymore!

Making her way to her room, she collapsed on her bed, burying her face into her pillows and sobbing. She didn't even notice Phineas watching her with curiosity and sadness before he closed the door for her.

Lawrence came back a few days later and, while Linda had been up and about, going through the typical motions of her day and pushing down her sadness for the sake of her other children, he knew right away that she needed comfort.

As they lay in bed that night, Lawrence held her as she cried and told him all of her worries. And oh how she loved this man; he had a response to everything.

After pushing out every generic "what if" she could think of, from Ferb going hungry to him getting lost, she finally got to the heart of her anxiety.

"What if he likes it better there? What if he doesn't come home?" She fought a yawn even as tears trailed down her cheeks. Crying was exhausting. "What if he doesn't even remember me?"

"He will, my darling. And he will come back as soon as he can, I guarantee it," he answered calmly, kissing her on the forehead.

"How? How can you know that?"

"Because, while he is visiting the only woman who can teach him about his biology, you are his mother."

They didn't hear much from Ferb for a couple of years, and never anything directly. Someone, sometimes a different person every few weeks, would send a short update through email, just letting them know how he was doing and forwarding any specific messages from him. They answered back as best as they could, but it wasn't the same as actually talking to him.

After every email, Linda did her best to keep going as usual, but it tore at her heart each time. The scarce messages from Ferb did little to ease the ache, and the many emails without his words made her feel like something was standing on her chest. And as days passed without word from or about Ferb, a weight built on her shoulders until she could barely get up in the mornings.

Candace no longer yelled her name frantically, and Linda admitted quietly to herself that she missed it sometimes. Her daughter was doing most things as she usually did: going to the mall whenever she had some free time, hanging out with Stacy and Jenny, going out on dates with Jeremy—which was adorable. Sometimes Candace would yell at Phineas for doing something crazy or dangerous, but she was a bit more careful with Linda's feelings.

Phineas, on the other hand, changed a bit more drastically. Instead of the light and happy boy he once was, a sullen and preoccupied boy had taken his place. Phineas spent his days testing something in the backyard, and it sometimes was a battle to get him to eat. His nights were spent researching something or scribbling in a notebook. She had lost count of how many times she had found him passed out at his desk during those first two years after Ferb left.

Having lost one boy and then watching as her other pulled further and further away, Linda ended up crying herself to sleep more times than not—and her rest was never that relaxing either. Things came to a head when Phineas, after a day of working on something with Isabella, stormed through the house and yelled at her when she asked him what was wrong. She barely remembered breaking down, or how she got to her room. All she remembered of that moment was Lawrence forcibly telling Phineas to go to the garage.

She didn't know what they talked about, nor did she ever feel the need to ask. It was between father and son, and that was fine. Phineas started talking to a therapist about what was going on; someone he could rant to if necessary, so he was no longer bottling it up. Linda also started with her own therapist, and she wished she had begun with it years before.

Things were, slowly, getting better. It wasn't great—Ferb was still missing, the hole he left never closing even a little. But the edges of that hole smoothed out enough that it no longer hurt that he wasn't there.

Then one day, almost exactly two years after Ferb left, Linda got a ping on her phone about a new email. When she looked at it, she nearly dropped her phone with a squeal.

"LAWRENCE! PHINEAS!" she screamed, running through the house, holding the device in a death grip. "GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE OFFICE NOW!" If only Candace hadn't gone to the mall today!

She practically fell into the computer chair and, as she pulled up the webpage, she could hear footsteps running around the house and up the stairs towards her. As Phineas burst through the doorway, she had the call dialing. Three seconds after Lawrence hurried in, the call connected.

There, on the screen was the face of a changed but still familiar boy.

Her boy.

"Hi Mum!" Ferb greeted, a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

She couldn't say anything back. Her throat had closed up and tears trailed down her smiling cheeks. The best she could do was give him a wave.

He still calls me mom.

Zână

A Zână is the Romanian equivalent of the Greek Charities, or the more commonly known Fairy Godmother. These characters make positive appearances in fairy tales. They vary in size and appearance, though they can also polymorph to blend in with their surroundings for protection.

They give life to fetuses in utero and bestow gifts upon the children born, such as grace, beauty, kindness, and luck.

Yes, I will be doing other random mythological beings—all of which exist in some way in this story, though very few will be mentioned or even hinted to in any of the chapters.