Phineas and Ferb
Baby Adventures of Phineas
Chapter 4: The Toy Store
Disclaimer: Phineas and Ferb does not belong to me. It belongs to Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh, who have done an amazing job with this show the past 8+ years. Here's to 8+ MORE years!
Linda pulled her car into the parking lot of the local toy store. She exited the car and went to the back seat to help Phineas out. The boy expressed giggles as he was held lovingly in his mother's arms. "Come on Candace." She called for her daughter.
As they all made their way to the entrance, Linda handed each of them a $20 bill. "OK, kids. I want you each to go and pick one toy for yourselves. Whatever you guys want."
"Thanks Mom!" Candace shouted as she ran off.
"Thank you Mommy!" Phineas followed as he ran off in his own direction. Linda went in her own direction to look around.
Some time later, Candace returned with a doll in her hands. "Mom, I wanna get this doll!" Candace showed Linda the doll.
"You do? Do you have enough money to buy it?"
"Yes I do! Yes I do!" Candace jumped up and down in excitement. It was clear she liked the doll so much, and Linda was happy to oblige.
"OK then, the doll it is." Linda happily took the doll from her and put it in the cart. "Now, Candace..." Linda reached into her pocket and pulled out another $20 bill. "You remember how Phineas got upset about opening those gifts on his birthday, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I think your brother would just really appreciate it if you bought him another toy." She handed her the money.
"You think so?"
"I sure do."
"Well...OK, but only because I don't like seeing Phineas get so upset. That scared me."
"Me too, sweetheart. I want us to show him that we love him so very much."
"But I thought parents weren't supposed to buy their kids' love."
"That's true, and I try not to do that with you two, but after what happened on his birthday, I'm willing to make an exception this time. So go on and buy him something nice from yourself. I'll do the same, but first I'm going to check on him." The two split and went on their way. Candace went to buy her baby brother a nice toy to say "I love you" and Linda went to see if Phineas decided on a toy.
She found her infant son a few aisles down near the stuffed animals. He was deciding between a stuffed puppy doll or a stuffed teddy bear. "Phineas?" Linda called. The boy happily turned his head towards her and beamed. "Have you chosen a toy yet?"
"No!" He rapidly shook his head. "I can't decide!"
"Can't decide what?"
"What toy to buy!" Little did he know that Candace was behind Phineas, eavesdropping on his talk with Linda. "See, I found this bear." He grabbed the little stuffed bear and hugged. "It's soft, and it tickles!" He giggled as he threw the bear around like a little toddler did. "I like the bear! But then I found the doggy!" He put the bear back and grabbed the stuffed puppy, and he threw it around like a child while laughing. "I like doggies. They love you and they kiss you and they make you feel fuzzy! So I don't know what to do."
"You're choosing between the stuffed bear and the stuffed dog?"
"Yes! And I don't want to make anybody sad. If I pick the doggy, then the bear will be sad. And if I pick the bear, then the doggy will be sad. And then I'll be sad because I made another thing sad. I don't want nobody to be sad."
"Aww, Phineas!" Candace shouted, blowing her cover. She picked Phineas up and started smothering him with hugs and kisses, much to Linda's delight. "Why are you so worried that somebody's always going to be sad?"
"I dunno...but I love you, Candy. And I love you, Mommy." He turned to Linda. "And I want to do a lot of things right so you all love me."
"But we do love you! Don't you understand? You don't have to do anything to make us love you. Don't you believe in unconditional love?"
"What's that?"
"It means we love you no matter what. We're family. And that's why we're here today. So we can buy you a toy and show you that we love you."
"She's right. In fact..." Candace picked up the stuffed puppy and handed it to Phineas. "Why don't you buy the stuffed puppy, while I buy you..." She then picked up the stuffed bear. "The stuffed bear!"
Phineas gasped, but then his face fell. "No!" Phineas yelled.
"What? Why not?"
"Mommy said...that I'm allowed only one toy!"
"I said that you could only buy one toy!" Linda countered. "But I told Candace for her to buy you a toy too, because I thought you deserved it."
"Why?"
"You got so upset at your birthday about getting presents and not wanting to hurt other peoples' feelings. We didn't mean to make you upset, and we thought maybe if we each got you another toy you'd feel better."
"But I don't want toys! I want to be loved."
"And people show their love sometimes by getting you gifts. It's nothing to resent, Phineas."
"It's not?"
"No."
"Ohhhhhh." Phineas's face beamed up again. "I'm sorry."
"And another thing. You don't have to always apologize because you don't do anything wrong. We'll let you know if you do something wrong. OK?"
Phineas looked at Linda and then at Candace. He hugged Candace. "OK. I love you."
"We love you too. Now what's say we go buy you your toys."
"OK!"
The three of them wheeled the cart up to the cashier. Linda had Candace pay for her toy first as well as the toy that she had bought for Phineas. When that was done, Linda had Phineas pay for his toy. "Go on, Phineas. Hand the cashier the money."
The cashier smiled as Phineas climbed up onto the counter with his toy. "$10 please."
Phineas simply looked at her. He was terribly confused; as he looked at his bill he realized -in his mind of course - that he didn't have enough money. He hadn't yet learned how to count. He started to whimper, thinking that he wasn't going to be able to buy his stuffed puppy.
"What's wrong, Phineas?" Candace asked.
"I...I don't got enough!" He shouted.
"What?"
"I don't got enough money!" He waved his $20 around trying to make his point. He had no understanding of how money or counting worked yet. Linda smiled and quietly took the 20 away from Phineas, handing it to the cashier and getting her change.
"Yes you do. See?" She kissed Phineas's forehead. "And now you can have your toy?"
"I can?" He cross-eyed again. "I don't get it."
"I'll teach you everything when we get home."
"OK, thank you Mommy." Phineas said as he blew a kiss to Linda.
"Your baby is adorable!" The cashier said, gushing over Phineas's cuteness. Phineas giggled.
"Yes, yes he is."
"Come on, Phineas! We can play with our new toys at home!" Candace shouted as she picked up her brother and held him in her arms.
"Yaaaaay!" Phineas cheered as they all left the toy store and returned home.
End of Chapter 4.