"Daddy?"
Phineas woke up and squinted at the clock, puzzled to find that it wasn't on the nightstand where it always was.
"Daddy?" Becky's voice was across the apartment instead of at his door like usual.
For that matter, the nightstand was gone. It was like he wasn't in his own room at all.
His eyes snapped fully open as he realized he was in Isabella's room. In Isabella's bed - what had been their bed. Rolling over, he saw her lying next to him, her eyes starting to open as well. The blanket had slipped down, revealing her bare shoulder, and he suddenly remembered what they'd done together last night.
"Mommy, Daddy gone!" Becky said from the doorway to the bedroom.
Phineas sat up, saying, "I'm here."
Becky started. "Daddy! This Mommy's room!" she said indignantly.
He started getting out of bed to feed her, then realized he was naked under the covers. "Um...why don't you go wait in the kitchen, I'll be there in a minute," he said.
Becky glowered at him, then turned and ran to the kitchen.
He looked back down at Isabella, and her eyes were dancing over a quirky smile. He leaned down to give her a quick kiss, then got out of bed and grabbed his pants off the floor.
By the time he got into the kitchen, Becky had climbed into her booster seat, and he poured her a cup of milk and a bowl of Cheerios. She took a sip from the cup, then said, "That Mommy's room! Silly Daddy!" and giggled. She pointed across the living room at the bedroom doors. "Daddy's room, Becky's room, Mommy's room."
Isabella came out of her bedroom wearing her nightshirt, and Phineas fought the urge to stare at her. "I think Mommy and Daddy are going to start sharing a room, Becky," she said with a smile at Phineas.
"Why?" Becky asked through a fistful of Cheerios.
Phineas looked at Isabella. She laughed and said, "Because we sleep better that way."
"Oh," Becky said. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Becky too?"
"No, I think Becky needs to sleep in her own room," Phineas said.
"Okay."
Isabella came over and pressed herself against him, giving him a lingering kiss. "I'm going to go get a shower," she said, and he watched her walk toward the bathroom before starting to set up the coffee maker for the day.
"Hi, Jamie," Phineas said, walking into Corinne's waiting room. "Thanks for fitting me in early."
"Not a problem, Mr. Flynn," he said. He clicked his mouse, and looked up at Phineas. "She's all ready for you, just go on in."
Corinne was sitting at her desk eating a sandwich, and waved Phineas to the chair. Swallowing, she said, "So what happened that you needed to come in three hours early for?"
Phineas sat and, unable to think of a better way to phrase it, said, "Isabella and I spent the night together last night."
Corinne paused, setting her sandwich down. "And?"
"And I'm terrified that I'm going to hurt her again."
"Does she know that?"
"Yes. We talked before...jumping into bed."
"Did she seem upset about it this morning? Did it seem to be a one-time thing for her?"
Phineas shook his head. "Far from it. She told Becky that we'd be sharing a room."
Corinne raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How did Becky take it?"
"Confused. Daddy was in Mommy's room."
She laughed. "That's not unreasonable for her age. So: what do you want, Phineas?"
"I want to know I'm not going to hurt her. Either her - Becky or Isabella."
Corinne pushed her glasses up and sat back. "I can't give you certainties, Phineas. I can tell you that, as long as you get some sleep every night and keep an eye on your stress, I do not believe you are likely to have another breakdown. I can tell you that you know enough now that if you did have another, you'd come out of it quicker and get home quicker.
"But I can't tell you you won't ever hurt her, because you will. It's part of being that close to someone - sometimes things hurt."
Phineas took a deep breath, and nodded.
"So, back in the world of attainable things...what do you want?"
"I want...I want the three of us to be a real family."
"It sounds like you are. You've got a daughter who has two loving parents, who are trying to make their relationship work. What's missing?"
Phineas sat back, thinking for a moment. "Just one thing."
Isabella headed out for a lunch break, telling her assistant that she might run late. On her way out of the building, she sent a quick text to Ferb:
Is Phineas around?
The reply came back quickly.
He said he had errands to run before his appointment with Corinne, and left just before lunch.
Can I stop by to talk for a minute? she sent back.
You're always welcome here.
Six minutes later, she walked in the front door of Fletcher and Flynn Technologies. She waved to Carla as she passed reception.
"Mr. Fletcher said to tell you he's in the Mini-Submarine conference room, Ms. Garcia-Shapiro," Carla said.
"Thanks, Carla," Isabella said, heading in and finding that room quickly. Ferb stood looking out the window, and turned when he heard her come in.
"Phineas said he asked you to put a tracker in him?" Isabella asked.
Ferb nodded, then held up two fingers.
"Two trackers? Does he know?"
Ferb shook his head.
"Why two?"
"So that if he were to remove one, the other one would activate a day later. I'd ask why he told you about this, but I suspect I know."
Isabella raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
"The tracker notifies me if he spends the night anywhere but his bedroom. So I had a message waiting for me this morning, saying he'd spent the night in your room."
Isabella blushed. "Ah. Yes, that would do it."
"I've updated it so it won't alert unless he's out of the apartment entirely. Are you two going to...be together again?"
"I think so? We'll talk about it some more tonight. Thanks, Ferb. For everything."
Ferb inclined his head in response.
Isabella's smile faded as she saw the look on her mother's face. She'd arrived to pick up Becky after the day at work, but it looked like Vivian had found out more than she wanted.
"Mommy and Daddy are sharing a room?" Vivian asked disapprovingly.
Isabella sighed. "Yes. As of last night."
Vivian shook her head. "You could do so much better, Isa."
Impishly, Isabella said, "Phineas agrees with you, actually. I'm convincing him I disagree."
"I'm stuck with him, aren't I?"
"If you want to deal with your daughter and grandchild, yes. What more do you want from him? He's doing everything he can."
Vivian's eyes searched her face. "If he loves you even half as much as you love him...there are women who live their lives without a love that strong. All I want is for you to be happy, Isa. Does he make you happy?"
Isabella gave her mother a soft smile. "Yes. Yes, he does."
"Then I will not stand between you. But a wedding ring would ease my mind, you know. At least then, if he leaves again, you aren't stuck begging his brother for scraps."
Isabella rolled her eyes. "We'll get there."
Becky had gone to sleep, and Isabella looked across at Phineas on the couch.
"About last night..." he began nervously.
"Don't you dare think I didn't want that," she said.
He fidgeted, running his fingers through his hair. "No, I could tell. We both wanted that. I've just got two questions. Do you want to...continue? You said to Becky this morning that we'd be sharing a room; is that still okay with you?"
"It's okay with me if it's okay with you. And I really hope it's okay with you."
"Okay. That depends on the second question, then. What is this relationship? Are we a couple again? Or is this just a friends-with-benefits thing?"
"I'd assumed we were a couple again. I love you, Phineas. I want to build a future together," she said earnestly.
"I love you too. In that case...I should have done this a long time ago." He slid a small box out of his pocket. "Let's start working on that future. Isabella...will you marry me?"
She jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him, whispering, "I will gladly marry you, Phineas."
