Word Count: 1,216

I like lesser known characters. Not that this one has any, but the last one did. :D
Based on the Guess that was Phineas & Candace's father was an architect, who died in an accident. Did I ever mention that these were going to vary between dark and happy? Well, I did now.

#33 (Expectations)
Linda didn't build up her son's perception of his father on purpose. Candace was a bit more realistic when she was younger (now though, Linda worried about her) and her image of her father was much closer to the real thing. Phineas had a big imagination and loved to have fun, so he took the few things that he knew about his father and ran with them. To him, Phoenix was a hero, a hard-working, never-give-up kind of guy. (which were both mostly true, but he was human, and he had days where he didn't even want to get out of bed)

It wasn't that she kept anything from the two of them – but how do you explain to your young son that his father was dead? And you couldn't easily do that, there never seemed to be a right time to tell Phineas. She couldn't just go up to him now – at twelve, Phineas was probably the most cheerful person she would ever know – and say, "Hey, do you want to know how your father died?"

After he'd died, and after everything started to be okay again, Linda resolved not to tell him or Candace what happened until they asked about it. Besides that, she'd answered whatever questions they had as truthfully as possible. Phoenix was an architect. He loved music and was good at it. He worked hard. And there were always the little things she added on to in her mind. He had red hair, which Candace inherited. He wanted to learn how to play the bagpipes. He liked cop shows. He was obsessive, but he always took time off his work for his family.

Lawrence had helped her through his death and the aftermath of it. He really hadn't been her friend beforehand (in fact, Vivian liked him more than she did at the time) but she got to know him when he tried to help. Apparently his wife had left him after she had their son.

"It's not the same thing," He'd mumbled, blushing, "but I know how you feel."

But as they grew, the questions didn't come. At least, not the ones that she was afraid of answering. At one point, they would. She knew that. But her own expectations had built up by now.

Suffice to say, she was a little caught off guard when she came home from her cooking class to find Ferb sitting on the sofa, the television on mute and colorful characters dancing across the scene, and her son (step-son, really, but he might as well be her son) sitting with a photo album in his lap.

"Ferb, honey?" She was a little confused, and a small part of her was worried. Where was Phineas?

"He went to Isabella's." Ferb stated, as if he read her mind. He glanced back at the photo album. Linda set her purse on the counter before sitting next to her green-haired son, who was still studying the pictures.

The later ones were few and far between. There were a few pictures of them – at Tiana's wedding, Candace dancing with Jeremy, Tiana hugging her nephews and niece, and Phineas and Ferb laughing at some joke that Linda couldn't remember now. Before that were Candace and Jeremy at that ball with the long name, and a few before that from past birthdays, Lawrence and Linda's wedding, and a few just because. Wordlessly, like everything he did, Ferb flipped through the pages back to the old ones.

The pictures were faded and some crinkled, but suddenly Linda was looking at herself, fourteen years younger and holding up a one-year-old Candace. Underneath it was, unmistakably Phoenix's handwriting. Candace Gertrude, One year old today! Followed by the date and day. Underneath it was a picture of him, holding Candace up to the camera, frosting smeared across his face.

Ferb flipped a few pages back, and paused at the wedding pictures. There was Tiana, sixteen years younger, in her bridesmaid dress. And Vivian and Jack, who'd been dating at the time (it was right before Jack met Janet, who he married shortly after he and Vivian broke up) and then there were her parents and Phoenix (a picture, Linda knew, that was taken by Tiana). More and more pictures filled the pages, showing Linda the past she rarely looked at now, but thought of often.

She was happy with her life. She wasn't glad Phoenix had died, but she was thankful that she had Lawrence, and Phineas and Candace and Ferb, too.

"His name was Phoenix." Linda said quietly, hardly thinking. The silence, which she was used to around Ferb, suddenly seemed too much. "Before Lawrence, he was…" He was what? Her husband? The love of her life? Those were both true, but how was she to explain this to Ferb, whose father was the love of her life now.

Ferb glanced at her, and she smiled sadly. She didn't have to explain it – Ferb was intuitive. "He died," She said, even quieter, wondering if this was how Ferb asked questions, or if he'd just been reading the photo album because his brother was at Isabella's.

"He was an architect. He always said 'safety second', which sounded silly until he said 'Family's first'." She laughed a little, more to herself, remembering Phoenix with his hard had and dirty face from working. "He worked with everyone else. He didn't just give directions. He liked to be a part of things.

"But he fell. An accident. You and Phineas were only a year old." She sighed. "They've never really asked about him." She was sure it wasn't that they didn't care, only that they never thought of it. Phineas probably didn't remember Phoenix, except for the pictures. Candace was a little too wrapped up in her life and the boy's to give it a thought.

"They think about him." Ferb said, surprising her. He was looking up at her, the photo album still lying open on his lap. He said it simply, as if he was talking about the weather. "They miss him, too, but you don't talk about him often." It wasn't said unkindly, but he had a point.

"Maybe I should," She said. "Talk about him a little more, then." They were old enough, now, to understand it a little better. To learn a little more about where they came from. She hugged her son close, smiling even though half of her felt like crying.

"He must've been a nice guy." Ferb stated after a moment. "If he's anything like Candace and Phineas."

Despite herself, she laughed. "He was." For a moment, she thought about how odd it was that she'd wound up talking about Phoenix to Ferb, instead of the kids who were actually related to him. Part of her wanted to say something about Ferb's mother, but Lawrence didn't talk of her too often, and she had no idea how she could claim that a woman who'd left her husband and son like that kind.

Her expectations had been very, very off. She smiled anyways, and said, "You want to see some baby pictures?"

He grinned.

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