Note: I've never been to Warren, Pennsylvania. I have no association with it, and didn't really even research it much. It was the town of the day on Wikipedia's Pennsylvania portal when I was looking for somewhere for Tim to send the letter from, and it was about the size I wanted. Any similarity between what's described here and the actual Warren is entirely coincidental.


Becky quickly learned that Daddy was more of a morning person than Mommy was, and after she moved into a "big-kid" bed, Phineas found himself frequently waking up to his daughter at his door, asking for breakfast.

He also found that living with Isabella was more difficult than he expected. She was so beautiful, and he found himself sensitized to her presence - watching her walk from the bathroom to her bedroom after a shower, even though she was covered by a robe; sorting out her underwear from the laundry they did together; hanging out with her in the evenings, sharing a couch as the TV provided background noise while they read or caught up with email.

He talked to Corinne about this; she asked what he wanted. Did he want a relationship with Isabella again? He admitted that he did, but was sure the feeling wasn't mutual. The idea was ludicrous. Certainly Isabella wasn't doing any of this to try to draw his attention. She was just getting on with her life, with him as a part of it only because of Becky. Corinne nodded as she cleaned off her glasses.

He mentioned this to Ferb one day; Ferb just shook his head and rolled his eyes.


"Isa, why did you let him move in?" Vivian asked one morning. "It's going to be harder for you to find a good father for Becky with him hanging around."

Isabella sighed. "She's got a good father."

"Fine. It's going to be harder for you to find a good husband for you with some strange man hanging around."

Isabella rolled her eyes. She really didn't want this argument right now.

Vivian frowned at her daughter. "You're going to take him back, aren't you? He abandons you for a year, and doesn't even propose, and you're just going to take him back? He doesn't deserve you. Here, let me introduce you to my friend Margaret's son Philip. He's in his last semester of law school."

"No, Mama."

"Let me show you a picture."

"No, Mama."

Vivian shook her head. "Fine. Be that way. If he leaves again, I get to tell you I told you so."

Isabella looked at her mother and smiled. "'If'? A month ago, you said 'when'."

Vivian's eyes got wide as Isabella walked over to where Becky was playing, kissed her on the head and said, "Te quiero, sport. Be good for Abuela," before heading to work.


Phineas returned from tucking Becky into bed, and tried to figure out how to phrase this without overly alarming Isabella. He'd been living there for two months now, and had integrated himself into their lives to a degree that scared him if he thought about it too much. "I need to go to Pennsylvania for a couple days. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off work, since it's about a day's drive each way."

"What's up?" she asked.

"Looking into what happened to Tim some more. There's a newspaper archive there for where his last letter was postmarked. If I can't find anything there..."

Her brow creased for a moment. "Want some company?"

"I'd love some, but what do we do with," he nodded his head toward Becky's room.

Isabella shrugged. "She comes along. She'd love the idea of a trip with Daddy."

He stared at her for a long moment. "I've only got one hotel room reserved."

"Two beds?"

"I assume so, yes."

"That's fine. You get one, and I'll share the other with Becky."

Phineas looked at her for a long moment. Well, if she thinks it's okay, I guess it's okay. "If you're willing, I'd love the company."

"Let me mail my team and let them know I'll be out."


They hit the road after breakfast Thursday morning. Isabella looked over at Phineas, driving along in the car he and Ferb had built in high school. Becky was buckled into her car seat in the back; she'd just hit the point where they had to turn her around, so she had a view out the front window between the two of them. Isabella pointed out things to her as they drove along, until she fell asleep an hour into the trip.

"You're really good at that," he said.

"You're getting pretty good at dealing with her yourself."

He looked over at her for a moment. "Thank you. That really means a lot."

They shared a companionable silence for a short while as he drove along the highway.

"So how are things going with Corinne? Learning good coping techniques?" she asked.

"Yeah. She thinks that now that I know what's going on, even if I did trip another breakdown, I'd just come straight back instead of continuing to run."

"That sounds good."

He nodded. "She's also trying to convince me that...well, that one mistake isn't the end of the world."

"And?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sold yet."

She laughed, and he cracked a smile.

"The world goes on," she said. "And you make what you can out of what's left."

He looked over at her wistfully, then turned back to the road ahead.


They'd checked into a small hotel in Warren, Pennsylvania. She lay in bed that night, Becky curled up with her bunny next to her, and listened to Phineas's slow breathing in the next bed over as he slept.

I always loved this part of spending the night with him. Listening to him sleep, the one time of the day when he's peaceful. That's been the hardest part since he moved back in. Going to sleep in that big empty bed, knowing he was so close, but so not ready to be any closer.

Maybe coming on this trip was a bad idea. Maybe I'm pushing too hard.

I forgot how difficult this is, wanting to be with him while he isn't ready yet.


Isabella had taken Becky to play in a nearby park while Phineas dug through the newspaper's archives. Becky was climbing up on the toddler play structure when Isabella looked up and found him running toward her, waving a sheaf of printouts.

"What'd you find?" she asked.

"It's not conclusive, but I may have found Tim. About two days after that letter was mailed, an unidentified man was killed trying to hop onto a train heading out of town. I need to see if I can find the police report and get more information on him."

"Oh, congratulations!" she said.

"Let's get some lunch before we hit the police station?" he suggested.

"Sounds good. Becky - want some lunch?"

The little girl came down the slide and ran over to them. "Lunch!"

Phineas pointed them toward the small diner they'd seen on their way over from the hotel. Becky trotted along the sidewalk in front of them, since she'd recently decided that strollers were for babies.

They were almost there before Isabella realized that somehow, when she wasn't looking, she'd ended up holding hands with Phineas as they walked. His hand was warm in the chilly March air, and he suddenly jerked as if he hadn't realized yet either. He looked over at her, concerned, and she tried to give him a reassuring smile even as he gently disengaged his hand from hers.


He lay in the hotel bed the next morning, thinking through the previous day. Based on the description in the police report, he'd probably found Tim, although what he'd found wouldn't help him at all. If he was right, Tim had died two days after sending the letter. He'd been trying to hop a train - possibly back to Danville, it was impossible to tell. The letter he was carrying had been shredded and unreadable, and no other personal effects were found. But, at least Phineas now knew why Tim had never tried to contact them. Maybe - just maybe - he'd died trying to come back.

His thoughts kept bouncing back to Isabella, asleep on the other bed. He looked over at her in the dim light coming through the curtains. She was so relaxed as she slept - morning was always one of his favorite times of day with her. All the worries of her job, her family, everything, they were all gone as she slept, and there was just the soft face of the woman he had loved, and abandoned.

He wasn't sure how they had ended up holding hands the previous day. When he'd realized, he'd expected her to be furious, but instead she'd looked...almost embarrassed. Like she'd been caught doing something she knew she shouldn't, but wanted to anyway.

Why would she want to? Could she possibly still love him?

Maybe one mistake wasn't the end of the world after all?

How did they go on from here?


After spending all of Saturday driving home, they spent Sunday running the errands they needed to deal with to get through the week - groceries and laundry and other essentials. Finally, it was time for little girls to go to sleep. Becky hadn't wanted to go to bed, but during a special reading of Snoozers, she'd finally passed out mid-story while helping him read I'm Not Tired.

Phineas brushed his hand through her hair and tucked her in, then turned off the light on his way out to the living room.

Isabella sat on a couch, reading a book, and he sat at the other end to join her. She looked up at him with an introspective expression, and asked, "Phineas? Is this...enough for you? Are you content?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," he said.

"You've got a wonderful relationship with your daughter now. She loves her Daddy. But do you want any more of a relationship...with me?"

Her eyes were starting to glisten with wetness, and he couldn't help but stare into them. "I...I..." he stammered. "I've already got more than I deserve. I don't think that what I want really matters here."

"It matters to me, Phineas. It matters a lot." She set down her book, then reached over and took his hand; the touch was electric.

He gulped. "I dream about being with you again. But...I don't ever want to hurt you again. I..."

"I know. I know you've been working with Corinne on ways to keep it from happening again."

He had to look away. "Not just Corinne."

"Oh?" she asked.

"Shortly after I got back, I asked Ferb to put a tracker in me. So he could get an alert if I wasn't where I was expected, and come find me no matter where I ran."

"Because...?"

"Because, even though I don't deserve anything with you any more, I need to give Becky the best chance of having a Dad that I can."

"What about what I deserve?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You deserve...better than me."

"I don't want better than you, if that even exists. I want you."

"But...I might..." he said hesitantly.

"You might. But you know what? I'd rather have what time I can with you and get hurt when you go, then get the hurt every day of not being with you."

He squeezed her hand. "You always were a risk taker."

"You're worth the risk, Phineas. While you were gone, I dreamed of you coming back, and it'd all go back to the way it was."

"It can't, though."

"No, it can't. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't make it the best we can. What's past is past. Let's worry about the future. Together."

He took a deep breath, and nodded. "I want a future with you. I love you, Isabella."

"I love you too. Messed-up head and all."

He slid closer to her, and she guided his lips to hers. As they kissed, their arms slid around each other.

With a pleased hum, he broke away, then picked her up and carried her into her bedroom as she curled against his chest.


Okay, we'll fade to black here to keep the T rating.

If you want the E (Explicit) rated version of the next scene, it's posted separately at AO3; link is in my profile. It is not necessary for any part of the plot. (The word "gratuitous" comes to mind.)