Vacation
The Fletcher Family was gathered on one of the benches that lined the path toward Adventureland. It was late afternoon, and they had paused to treat themselves to a round of chocolate-coated ice cream bars shaped like the head of a famous Mouse. Mrs. Fletcher's ice cream was already devoured, and she was now gazing up at the Castle in front of her with a look of weary contentment, chocolate still smearing her mouth. A stroller was parked between her and her husband, and Mr. Fletcher was leaning over it. In one hand, he held a wooden stick with a last lump of vanilla ice cream on it, napkin cupped under it in his other hand in a valiant effort to catch the drips, as he shared the treat with his son. Victor Fletcher, aged 20 months, was wearing about half of his portion of Daddy's ice cream bar on his cheeks and hands. On the other side of her father, a young girl of seven was blissfully swinging her legs from the edge of the bench as she polished off her own ice cream. Like Mr. Fletcher's, her short, fluffy hair was an interesting shade of green, not too far off from that of the Kermit the Frog T-shirt she wore. When Kermit caught an eyeful of chocolate coating, Felicia Fletcher picked it off and popped it into her mouth before declaring, "Mum, I need a napkin!" Hopping off the bench, she darted around the stroller to her mother, then laughed as she noticed, "You need one, too! You're all chocolatey." Vanessa and Felicia cleaned up themselves and each other, as Ferb remarked, "Victor needs a bath." He passed the nearly-bare ice cream stick to his wife, who nibbled off the last bit of chocolate clinging to the handle before she put it in a napkin and added it to the bundle of empty wrappers and sticks. "Sweet Pea, take that to the trash, please," she handed the refuse to Felicia, who trotted to the nearest can.
Digging under the stroller, Vanessa took out some wet wipes and went to work on her Baby Boy. Victor was getting that little glower that said he was working himself up to be discontented about something, and she was fairly certain she knew of at least one thing that was bothering him. "I think I'm going to take him to the baby station," she glanced back over her shoulder toward Main Street. "He needs a change, and he could use a new shirt. Why don't you and Felicia go do a ride and meet me back here?"
Felicia jumped at this. "Can we, Dad?"
Ferb was on his feet, and ruffled her hair fondly as he answered, "Of course. Anything you want."
The moment those words began to leave his mouth, Vanessa's eyes flew to his face, and she winced ever so slightly. Ferb caught the look and knew, before the last 't' had crossed his lips, that he was sunk.
"Yesss!" Felicia exclaimed gleefully, reaching out for his hand.
Vanessa was smirking at him as she waited to see how he would worm his way out of this. Ferb went straight for the Big Guns: "Up for another go at Space Mountain?" he challenged, with a broad, encouraging grin. "Mum won't go on that, anyway," he pointed out, "so it's a good time to – "
"Nooo," Felicia shook her head at him with a knowing look of amusement.
"Mad Tea Party?" he countered.
"Oh, no," Vanessa interjected, "not when she's full of ice cream!"
Ferb gave her the look that said, Vanessa, my love, you're not helping, as he tried to turn this to his advantage. "Well, if Mum doesn't want us to do it, it must be good, come on!"
Felicia hopped on her toes as she giggled and tugged at him. "Noooo, Dad!" When he rolled his eyes and groaned, only half-playfully, his daughter reminded him, "You said we could go on anything."
"So I did," he gave in.
They all got up, and Vanessa took hold of the stroller. Felicia and Ferb headed off hand-in-hand toward the Castle, one heart filled with excitement and one with dread. Vanessa called after them in a voice dripping with cruel sweetness, "Have fun, you two! Don't forget to wave at the Platypuses!"
In a matter of minutes, Ferb Fletcher found himself seated in a long, low boat, his dear child beside him, all wide eyes and delighted smile as she gaped around herself. Well, the indulgent father supposed, it was a sacrifice worth making for her happiness. With a sigh and a little grin, Ferb surrendered as that song burrowed into his brain and set up shop there for a nice long stay.
It's a world of laughter, a world of tears
It's a world of hope and a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware,
It's a Small World After All…
A/N – I just got back from a fantastic vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida and felt like sending the Fletchers there. I really did sit on that bench on Tuesday afternoon and eat a Mickey Bar. And I actually like "Small World." (When you make the turn into the Australia section, there are 3 Platypuses right there! Hence Vanessa's "wave at the Platypuses" remark.) Felicia is wearing a Kermit the Frog shirt for a reason: On a freezing cold Sunday morning at Disney's Hollywood Studios, I went in search of the meet-and-greet for Phineas and Ferb. DHS has kind of a confusing layout, but I knew that once I could see Kermit above the Muppet attraction I was headed in the right direction, so I wanted to give Kermie a little shout-out. And yes, I met the Boys and got hugs and pictures! I also brought home a really cute Talking Ferb plushie.