Isabella woke up to Becky babbling in her crib in the next room over. Part of her wondered if Phineas's return last night had been a dream, but she knew better. Almost a year of hard reality had shown her the difference from dreamland all too well.
If it had been a dream, she would have leapt into his arms as he'd promised he'd never leave again. Instead, she'd been so mad when she saw him through the peephole that she almost didn't open the door, and she'd realized she didn't want him to even touch her.
She sighed and climbed out of bed, pulling on a pair of red sweatpants that almost matched her pink nightshirt as she went to retrieve her daughter. "Hey there, sport," she said, pulling the little girl out of her crib. "How are you today?"
"Ab ba ba," Becky said.
"Is that so?" Isabella lay her daughter on the changing table, slipping off her wet diaper and putting a fresh one on in its place.
"Da da."
Isabella stopped and stared at the little girl. "What?"
"Da da." Becky giggled.
Well, he made an impression on somebody, Isabella thought, bringing her over to the kitchen table.
She buckled Becky into her high chair, then tracked down breakfast for her daughter and coffee for herself.
"That was your Da Da that came over last night. Your Daddy. His name is Phineas," Isabella said as she started the coffee maker. "He'll be back tonight as well."
"Thbbbbmmmm," Becky said through a mouthful of oatmeal.
Isabella looked at the clock, trying to figure out if she had time to make herself breakfast before she went in to work. Deciding the time was too tight, she gulped down her coffee and a granola bar, then headed to take a shower.
The hot water temporarily washed her cares away, and she reveled in it. But all too soon, it had to come to an end, and she turned off the water. A quick check on Becky - still working on her oatmeal - and she went into the bedroom to prepare for the day.
No meetings today, she thought, so she could dress more casually. A pair of grey slacks, a light pink blouse, and black flats seemed like a reasonable choice, with a pink hair band to keep her long black hair out of her face.
Becky was just finishing her breakfast, so Isabella wiped her off and got her ready for the day. A quick drive took them the quarter-mile or so to her mother's house, where Vivian was waiting to watch her granddaughter for the day.
"Becky, you've gotten so big!" Vivian began, then giving Isabella an approving look, said, "I heard Phineas came back last night, and you sent him packing."
"I suggested that he stay at his parents' house," Isabella said without thinking.
"Oh? If he'd asked to spend the night, would you have let him?" Vivian asked sharply.
"No, not at all," Isabella said. "I know, I was hoping he'd come back and we'd just magically be a family again, but that's not happening. We've changed too much. He's coming back tonight to work on being a father, though."
Vivian snorted. "I still say you should find someone else for that job. It worked for Linda."
"I'm not Linda, in case you hadn't noticed. And Phineas isn't his biological father. Phineas came back."
Vivian sighed. "Si. He did. One measly point in his favor, against...getting you pregnant out of wedlock, not even proposing before the baby was born, and then running away two weeks later."
Isabella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't want to argue this one right now. The first had been accidental, and it hadn't been like he'd forced her into living with him. It had been her idea.
The second...she'd wanted it, but he'd been worried about it seeming to be just because of the child, and he wanted it to be clear when he proposed that it was because he really wanted to. They'd agreed to get engaged once Becky was born, until his disappearance sunk that plan.
The third, well, he really didn't have a defense there. But it wasn't like they were going to be a couple again. That was water under the bridge now.
"Mama, I need to get to work. Becky, be good for Abuela, okay?"
"Bwea," Becky said.
"Love you," Isabella said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Gracias, Mama."
She hopped into her car and headed to the office, trying to plan out her day.
Phineas walked through the glass doors of what was, apparently, still called Fletcher and Flynn Technologies. The clean modern lines of the office showed in the minimalist artwork on the walls, the visitor chairs, the low tables covered with pamphlets on the inventions created by the companies, and the front desk. Carla, the grey-haired grandmother who worked as their receptionist, still sat at the front desk, and she started as she saw him.
"Mr. Flynn! You're alive!" she shouted.
"I am. Ferb knows I'm coming; is he available?"
"I'll check. It's nice to see you back," she said, punching buttons on her phone. "Mr. Fletcher? Mr. Flynn is here." She listened for a moment, then said, "Of course. I'll let him know." She punched the disconnect button, and said, "He'll meet you in Roller Coaster."
The conference rooms had all been named after some of their favorite summer constructions; Roller Coaster was a small room near the entrance. Phineas walked into the office, slipping into the conference room unnoticed by the staff. He suspected that was why Ferb had chosen this one, instead of one nearer his desk like Mini-Submarine.
Phineas waited, looking out the window at Danville below. The office was on the top floor of a medium-height building near downtown; a few blocks away, he could see the odd shape of Ferb's father-in-law's building.
The door opened behind him, and Ferb came in. His eyes were watery, and he walked quickly over to Phineas. Silently, he raised a hand and slapped Phineas across the cheek, then took him in his arms for a crushing hug.
"Don't you ever do that again," Ferb whispered.
"I'll do what I can," Phineas said, "but it wasn't like I planned to last time."
Ferb let go and looked at him, sadly. "What happened to you? You look so thin - even for you."
"I've been homeless, Ferb. Food got scarce sometimes. I don't know if there's anything I can do for you here...I need a job, Ferb. Is there...anything?"
Ferb blinked at him, then a wide smile broke over his face. "You're still half-owner, Phineas. Of course there is. Come on, let's get you back to work."
Ferb pulled him over to HR to get him back on the company's insurance; Phineas found out he'd been placed on an indefinite leave of absence. After the paperwork was done, he went to tech support and got a new laptop and phone. His first message sent was to Isabella, giving her his new number and scheduling their meeting that night; his second was to his mother, and then his first call was to the therapist Ferb had gotten a recommendation for. They scheduled an initial appointment for the following Monday.
He was reintroduced to the company at lunch, to reactions ranging from grumbling to happy tears.
After lunch, he sat back at his desk - just the way he'd left it before he'd gone on paternity leave - and talked to Ferb about the state of the company.
"We're still growing, but growth is tapering off without new inventions in the pipeline," Ferb said.
"Sorry. Give me a couple days and I'll see what I can come up with. Where's the wood-metal fuser? I'll try to prototype some stuff with it."
"It finally broke," Ferb said with a shrug.
"Oh. Huh." Phineas frowned, then suddenly smiled as a thought occurred to him. "Then let's make a new one. Ferb, I know what we're going to do today."
By the end of the day, he had a working fuser, and the company's patent attorneys were busily turning his description into a list of patentable claims. He and Ferb would need to spend some time streamlining it and making it better, but the core of it was working now.
"You're staying with Mom and Dad for now?" Ferb asked.
Phineas nodded. "Going over to help with Becky tonight. I missed so much...need to make sure I don't miss more."
"Thank you for calling the therapist."
"Thank you for...everything, Ferb. I feel like the prodigal son, and you've slain the fatted calf for me. It's more than I deserve."
Ferb shrugged. "You're my brother."
"Isabella said you handed some of my share of the profits over to her to support her and Becky. Thank you for that."
"I assumed it was what you'd want."
"It was. I have...one request. Something that would take a load off of my mind."
Ferb nodded, then his eyes got wide as Phineas described what he wanted.
"You're sure."
"Yes. Do whatever you can, Ferb. This is important."
