A sudden shriek filled the room of a buck toothed teenager. The boy fell out of bed, heart racing as he scanned the room for the source of the noise before settling on a purple haired toddler. Looking at his clock Timmy Turner let out a sigh. There was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep now, it wasn't long before he was supposed to be up anyway. A pink haired woman appeared out of thin air beside the child while Timmy untangled himself from his sheets.
"Sorry Sport, Cosmo decided to mention the D-O-C-T-O-R visit in front of Poof. I doubt he realized how much trouble that would cause" turning to her son who had turned himself into a tightly shut clam, "come on now sweetie you just have to go for a quick checkup"
The woman's green haired husband appeared at the foot of Timmy's bed with a swollen jaw. Not fully understanding why he was in trouble the fairy tried to help console the toddler.
"Yeah, all he'll do is use this super long needle to give you a dozen shots then poke and prod you to make sure you're growing right"
Not only did this cause the young fairy to begin screaming but his tears also began to quickly fill the room. Deciding that saving her godson was more important than being angry at her husband Wanda transported both of them into the living room. Timmy found himself dressed in his signature pink shirt and hat, although barefoot, with his godfather who was now sporting a straight jacket and gag. As he had already wished for his room to be soundproofed due to Poof's many tantrums Timmy went about his normal morning routine. Cosmo spent a full twenty minutes struggling against the jacket before realizing his wand was in his hand and releasing himself.
Wanda poofed herself into the living room not long after Cosmo freed himself with Timmy's shoes, socks, and backpack. Apparently Poof was still throwing a fit about his doctor's appointment.
"Might as well head over there now before Poof destroys your room again Timmy. If things go well we should be back before you get home but-"
"But more than likely you won't get back until late tonight, I know. I'll be fine Wanda."
The fairy frowned as the past week hadn't been going so well for him. His parents had ignored his birthday several days before, Crocker seemed determined to force him to repeat the 8th grade to try and catch his fairies, and there were rumors Tootie was cheating on him. Timmy had been trying his hardest to act like it didn't bother him but none of it had fooled her. It seemed wrong to leave him alone at the moment but as much as she hated to admit it she needed her idiot husband's help to get through the appointment. With a last goodbye they left, leaving the boy to watch TV until his parents came down for breakfast.
His dad came down dressed for work two hours later. Since he was running late Mr. Turner decided to go ahead and start breakfast without his wife. Timmy made some waffles for them to share as well as some for his mom. As his father read the paper while eating, Timmy finished up some homework he'd forgotten about. It was surprisingly late when Timmy's mom finally came down and right away her family could tell something was off.
Her face was an emotionless mask but her body was tense. Without a word to them she walked up to table with a folder clutched in her hands, snatched the paper from her husband to replace it with the folder, and walked out of the house. Confused Timmy looked at his father who was reading over the papers in the folder. As he read Mr. Turner's face tensed up before putting the papers back in their folder.
"What's up?"
Mr. Turner looked at his concerned son with a false smile. His assurances that everything was fine didn't convince the teen but an explanation would have to wait. Knocks on the door announced the arrival of Timmy's band of misfit comrades who had decided to start riding their bikes to school together to avoid Francis. With the promise of a discussion later that night Timmy left.
All that day Timmy found it impossible to focus on anything. His friends began to ask questions after he failed to put in a single word in a Crimson Chin discussion but he just brushed them off. Not even a threatened pounding from Francis could keep him from thinking up theories as to the folder's contents. Each one was wilder than the next though the most obvious one was always on his mind. His parents were childhood sweethearts yet that wouldn't prevent his mom from seeking a divorce. Hoping his imagination was just running wild was all that kept him from ditching school to confront his dad at work.
One of A.J.'s review sessions for an upcoming exam delayed his return home by a few hours. Not that Timmy participated much unless the question was repeated a dozen times and he was yelled at. At the end of the session A.J. gave him twice as many review sheets as the others. The others also agreed to have another session on Saturday, mostly for Timmy's sake.
The car wasn't in the driveway when he arrived home which wasn't all the strange. In fact it made him hopeful that his parents had made up before he came home and decided to spend the night out on the town. By tomorrow the whole thing would be forgotten and things in the Turner household would return to normal. However after unlocking the door Timmy discovered several things were missing from the house, including most of the dishes, half the living room furniture, and all pictures of his parents together had been torn up. His heart seemed to vanish as he realized things were just as bad as he had feared. A quick look around his parents' room confirmed his fears. Some clothes from the closet had been thrown around the room while the rest were obviously missing and several dresser drawers were opened and empty. All of the clothes left in the room appeared to belong to Mr. Turner.
Timmy sat on the bottom of the staircase and waited for his dad to come home, feeling sick. Not long after the front door opened to reveal a distressed looking Mr. Turner. His son's eyes pleaded to be told that he was wrong about everything, that everything would be okay. The look in his father's eyes told him all he needed to know. Pulling the rim of his hat down over his eyes, Timmy Turner began to cry. Sure his family wasn't perfect but at least he'd known his parents loved each other and him, even if they did tend to leave him with a horrible babysitter a lot.
An arm wrapped around his shoulders as his dad sat next to him. Normally his father was as big an idiot as Cosmo and overly dramatic to boot but he seemed to be uncharacteristically calm. His son's wellbeing was becoming his top priority for the first time since before Vicky offered her services. After Timmy calmed down his father began to explain the situation.
Mrs. Turner wanted a divorce. She didn't want to fight over the house or any of their possessions so Mr. Turner had agreed to let her take whatever she wanted while he was at work. Recently she had been renting an apartment in the city to crash in when work ran late and would now be living there permanently with her boyfriend. Apparently the apartment was being used as a place for her to meet her lovers easily instead of sneaking around like she had been doing. This current boyfriend was just one of many she had had over the past eighteen months.
Timmy's dad hoped his son would leave it at that for the night. When Timmy didn't say anything his father figured that would be the end of it for the time being and began to climb the stairs.
"Dad?"
His father froze mid-step, filled with dread. He prayed that his son wasn't about to ask the question that would break both of their hearts.
"Am I still going to live here?" it wasn't the question but it was dangerously close.
"No son, you'll still live here with me."
"What about when I go see mom?"
Mr. Turner turned around to face his son who was now on his feet looking at him with red eyes. Timmy was trying to hold back a fresh wave of tears but he couldn't stop himself from shaking. They both knew the answer to the question, one hoped to be proven wrong while the other would have given anything not to say it.
"Timmy it's late, why don't we talk-?"
"Please"
Sighing Mr. Turner once again sat on the stairs, "Timmy your mom won't be fighting for custody."
"What?" Mother's hardly ever gave up custody unless, of course, they didn't care about their child anymore.
"She doesn't want you to be taken away from your friends" his father lied, hoping to convince the boy. It didn't work.
"Don't lie to me"
"I'm not-"
"Yes you are!" The teen's sadness was suddenly replaced by anger. Anger towards his mother for being so cold and anger towards his father for not being completely honest about what was going on. "She doesn't want me to live with her does she?"
"Timmy"
"Does she?!"
"Timmy I want you to listen to me carefully, whether or not your mother wants you to live with her is no reflection on you. None of this is your fault"
"Then why is she just walking away? Why didn't she talk to me or even say goodbye?"
Looking defeated Mr. Turner knew that tonight everything would come out. He didn't want it to be like this. He said something too low for Timmy to hear despite how eerily quiet the house was.
"What?"
"She's starting another family. Your mother is going to have a baby with the new man in her life."
That was more than Timmy could bear. The tears started flowing once again as the teen turned and ran out of the house. Ignoring his dad's cries Timmy Turner ran from his home. He had no idea where he was running to. A voice in his head told him to go to a friend's house for the night to distract himself until he'd calmed down. However his friends would either ask too many questions or loudly voice their feelings. None of them would just back off and let him think. In the end he found himself in the park by the playground. Not wanting to be found Timmy crawled into the tunnel of the jungle gym where he would spend the night wishing his fairies were with him. The next day he went home after his dad left for work to get his school bag. His fairies were most likely out looking for him but now he no longer wanted to see them. That day he was able to fool all of this friends and girlfriend into thinking everything was fine and that he had just been having an off day the previous day.
Later he returned home to begin a long discussion with his father about what life would be like for them now. At his father's request Timmy went to see his mother that weekend to meet her new boyfriend and to try and talk with her. It had proved to be a fool's errand as Mrs. Turner showed absolutely no intention of wanting to continue having a relationship with her son. She ignored him the entire time he was there, going as far as to lock him out of the apartment to spend time with her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend was a kid, nineteen at the most. He tormented Timmy. His mother did nothing about it and instead agreed with everything the man said about her son. The fact that Timmy still wore pink even after outgrowing all the pink clothes his parents had bought before he was born was the man's favorite topic. He doubted Timmy would ever be a real man as girly as he dressed, called him an idiot for his grades, began calling him rude names, and ended up taking his hat. That was when his mother finally intervened; the hat had been something she had bought in anticipation of a daughter. She coldly told her son that he had always been a disappointment to her right from birth. With that she burned his hat in the sink, ignoring her son's pleas to stop but when he began yelling at her that was when she snapped. His mother began to yell and scream at him, the things she said were horrible and completely destroyed his self-esteem and made him feel worthless. The boyfriend joined in since it gave him an excuse to hit Timmy. Grabbing his things Timmy left as quickly as he could and refused to go back for anything. Later he learned that his mother's boyfriend had threatened to leave her if she didn't cut all ties with her husband and son to focus on caring for their unborn child.
So where were his fairies during all this? On learning that he would be receiving far more shots than his father had said Poof went on a rampage in Fairy World. When the other fairies just about had him back under control the toddler turned himself into an insect to hide all over Fairy World. After a few days of searching he was finally found, given his shots, given his check up, and returned home with his parents after nearly a week. Cosmo and Wanda were devastated to find out what had happened to their godchild and despite Cosmo's hilarious antics Timmy refused to smile. Wanda looked through Da Rules to try and find some way to help him but there was no way to do anything without breaking some rule.
His friends did what they could to help but Timmy ended up just learning to fake it. He learned to fool his friends, dad, godparents, and girlfriend into thinking he was doing better. It wasn't until he was ready weeks later that he finally opened up but by then a few other things popped up. For one his girlfriend left him for Francis of all people, next he learned that he would have to attend summer school, and his father came out with a secret of his own.
As it turned out the Dinklebergs had an open marriage that included taking a mutual lover, Mr. Turner. This was a long time coming, although it had been nothing but casual flirting and hinting before the Turner's divorce was announced. That was what made Timmy's dad come right out and tell his son about his situation. At the time he spoke to Timmy nothing was going on between his father and their neighbors. After all his son was going through he had decided to come right out about it to see if Timmy was opposed to the proposed relationship. This relationship would include his father living next door but he would start spending more time with his son, just not at home. Knowing his father was just as depressed as he was the teen decided not to deny his father the chance to be happy again. That didn't mean it didn't disgust the boy some but well at that point he had honestly stopped caring about what either of his parents did. Timmy would have full run of the Turner house from then on.
All of that happened two years ago. Timmy Turner and his band of misfit comrades were now almost finished with their sophomore year of high school with only a couple more days of finals left. Things had changed drastically in that short time. For instance A.J. had been the smartest of the bunch with Elmer coming in second while Timmy had always been a solid C student. Summer school right after his parents' divorce turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to him. Studying had proved to be a good tool to coping with his family and relationship problems and now he was sometimes scoring higher than A.J. At first it had irritated his friend who still remembered the time Timmy had beaten him in everything due to a wish but now he realized that it was actually nice having someone to compete with intellectually.
Timmy now had a baby sister named Hope, a cruel joke on his mother's part as she was hoping this child wouldn't be as disappointing as the first. His mother was proving to be as neglectful a parent to her daughter as she had been to her son. Often she called her son to babysit his sister for weeks at a time only to keep her for a few days and give her right back. Honestly he didn't mind watching his sister, she was a real joy to have around, and it kept his sister from being around his mother's ever changing boyfriends. To his dismay his mother was going to have another child who she would most likely dump on him as well.
The situation with his father and the neighbors was as awkward as ever. They had family nights a few times a week and had barbeques with their neighbors and friends. Mr. Turner gave his son a lot of freedom as long as the house wasn't destroyed. It was still a bit strange for Timmy to come home to a house with no one but his fairies in it but that just meant they invited all the other fairies around. Poof was now in fairy school along with his evil counterpart and had proved to be a great playmate for Hope, at least until she was older.
His fairies were a touchy subject now. Timmy remembered when he wished himself into the TV were he discovered he would have his fairies until his eighteenth birthday yet he couldn't help but feel like that was no longer his future. Poof hadn't been a factor back then so what if that had somehow changed the future. He felt that it was a stupid idea and yet he couldn't shake off the feeling. Of course he never regretted his decision of wishing for Poof's existence. Lately he'd been contemplating if he should say the sentence that would send them away so they could raise their son without worrying about him all the time. Cosmo and Wanda were amazing godparents who had done all they could to help him through his parents' divorce. They'd helped ease the pain.
The only good thing that had happened two years ago was the departure of the evil redheaded babysitter Vicky. She'd somehow gotten a full ride scholarship to a college on the other side of the country, much to the delight of every child she'd ever sat, and hadn't been back since. Rumor has it she'd married some rich guy though there was no confirmation from her family. Tootie no longer talked about her sister but instead enjoyed being spoiled by her parents now that Vicky was gone. She was now dating Remy, Francis was with Veronica, and Timmy's childhood crush, Trixie, was dating Elmer. Tootie did let it slip that her sister had been expelled from her first college for sleeping with a professor for a grade. While Timmy wouldn't put it against his ex-babysitter to do something like that, he doubted her resentful sister was the most reliable source.
Excluding his fairies these were topics the teen was now comfortable talking to his friends about although at the moment A.J. was more focused on comparing answers to their English final. Chester and Sanjay were more interested in the party that night at Elmer's house. True their finals weren't over yet but it was going to be nice to have a night to chill. As Elmer tried to explain for the thousandth time that it was a study party that Trixie had turned into a hang out party Tootie walked by looking flustered. Ever since her ugly duckling to above average looks transformation she'd been hanging out with Veronica and Trixie, both of whom were trying to get her to talk about what was bothering her. Most likely she and Remy were having yet another fight over something trivial, again. It was a near daily occurrence now.
Once Timmy and A.J. broke up the argument everyone headed over to Elmer's to hang out. Much to everyone's dismay Tootie brought Remy along to continue their argument from earlier over the color of an expensive handbag he bought for her. Francis had brought some booze for those not interested in studying like Chester. A.J., Timmy, and Elmer were the only one's trying to study with one of the other's yelling out questions every now and then until someone slipped A.J. and Elmer booze to end the studying. Timmy was harder to trick but Elmer would drink anything his girlfriend gave to him while A.J. didn't notice until he already had a buzz going. That isn't to say Timmy didn't drink every now and then, he was just worried he'd abuse the stuff. So before someone could pressure him into having a drink Timmy left knowing that Francis only ever brought enough to give everyone a nice buzz.
Walking into his house Timmy dropped his backpack on the couch and kicked off his shoes across the living room. Suddenly tired he dragged himself upstairs to his room. On his bed was a note from Wanda about staying in Fairy World until Monday. As he crawled into bed and fell asleep it registered in Timmy's mind that there was light coming from under the guest room door but just before falling asleep he dismissed the thought.
