Finding Dad (Chapter 9)



~Phineas~

"I just got a text from Dad!" I exclaim. "They're coming here!" "Oh. My. God." Isabella responds. "How do I look?" I laugh a little. "Isabella, he's your dad! He'll just be happy to see you!" "I guess you're right, but I don't know if I'm ready!" I grab her hand and look her in the eye. "Isabella, you're ready." Just then, we hear a knock on the door. "Go answer it, Isabella. You're ready." Isabella goes up to the door rather timidly. God, I feel for her. She must be worried that her dad will reject her or not recognize her. She opens the door. Dad walks in, followed by a Mexican guy I assume to be Manuel. Isabella and Mr. Garcia just look at each other, similar to the way Dad and I did when we first got here. Dad says, "Manuel, do you recognize this lovely young lady?" "I think I do," Mr. Garcia says. "This can't be my Isabella, can it?" Isabella responds my throwing herself onto Mr. Garcia and bursting into tears. She's a girl, she gets the pass. Honestly, when I first saw Dad I wanted to burst into tears myself. But I didn't, because I didn't want Isabella to see me cry. "Dad, is that really you?" she says through tears. The two hug for the longest time. This sounds girly, but it's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Well, besides Isabella herself, of course. After what seems like ages, they separate. "M'ija, why did you come find me?" "Because, Dad, I wanted to." "But how did you get here?" In response, Isabella walks over to me. "Him," she says simply. "Him?" Mr. Garcia questions. "Wait… Phineas? Is that really you?" "Yes, that's me," He kneels down in front of me, so he's my height and he grabs me shoulders. "Thank you, Phineas Flynn, for bringing my Isabella to me safely. You have no clue how long I've wanted to see her." "It was nothing," I say, but once again Isabella won't have it. "Daddy, you have no clue the things he's done for me, just so we could find you both! He risked major trouble with Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher, we took a bus for hours, we hopped a plane, he beat up my stalker, he protected me from this pedophile in the airport bus, he had money to get us a room in this hotel, and he protected me from my stalker again. He really is amazing, Daddy, and that's why he's my boyfriend," she says, taking one of my hands. The only response I can think of to that would be to tell her I love her, but I'll wait until both of our dads aren't around. I will tell her before we leave New Orleans. I have to. "Wow Izzy," I say. "I had no clue I was that important to you. I mean, sure, we're dating, but still." "Boyfriend? Aye, aye, aye. My little Isabella is so grown up. And I'm sorry I missed it." I look at my dad, and he seems to get it. "Manuel, we should go get some food for the kids," he says. Mr. Garcia seems to get it too, because without another word he follows Dad out of the room. Oh good Lord, how am I gonna do this? I feel my palms sweat and my heart race. But this is Isabella. I've always been able to tell her anything. And, she deserves to hear it. I look at her. "There's only one thing I'm gonna say." "What is it, Phineas?" she says, wide-eyed. I decide to just get it over with. "I know we've only been dating for less than 24 hours, but I've wanted to say this for a while. Isabella Marie Garcia-Shapiro, I love you." She jumps into my arms and wraps me in a huge hug. "And I love you too, Phineas!" With that, we kiss again; almost sweeter than it was the first time. When we separate (that's such an awkward word for it), Dad and Mr. Garcia enter the room with no food in hand. "You know, didn't you?" I asked Dad. "Of course I did, Phineas. After all, you ARE my son." "Dad, Mr. Garcia, could you come with us back to Danville?" "I'm afraid I can't, Phineas," Mr. Garcia tells me. "I'm needed here in the city." "No Dad! I just found you!" Isabella screams. He hugs Isabella. "It's okay, m'ija. I'll come back when I can, I promise! I need to see your mom anyways; it's been far too long." "Dad, could you do me one last favor before we leave?" Isabella looks at me, almost asking why with her eyes. "We need to get back, as much as I would like to stay, because I can't run from Mom anymore. The longer we're here, the worse it's gonna be," I tell her. She nods, though I can see tears in her eyes. "Please don't cry, Izzy. I promise we'll call them all the time and it'll be alright." "Gosh, you two care about each other. I trust that you will take good care of my Isa, Phineas," Mr. Garcia says to me. "Thank you, Mr. Garcia. But I'm going to call Mom, and when she flips out, I would like Dad to help explain. She won't listen to me, I'm just a kid. Dad sighs. "Okay, Phineas. But I doubt that she'll listen to me either. I understand your reasoning, though." I can't begin to describe how afraid I am. Shakily, I press 3, which is Mom's speed dial. Of course, I saved #2 for Isabella. Anyways, she answers before the phone can even ring. Linda: "PHINEAS WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! AND ISABELLA TOO!?!?" Phineas: "Mom, I can explain everything, if you give me a chance." Linda: "PHINEAS DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'RE IN?! YOU LEFT HOME WITHOUT ASKING ME AND NEVER ANSWERED MY CALLS?!" Phineas: "Mom, will you just hear me out?" Linda: "PHINEAS ALEXANDER FLYNN, YOU LISTEN AND YOU LISTEN GOOD. WHEN YOU GET HOME YOU ARE GROUNDED FOREVER AND CAN'T SEE ISABELLA!" Phineas: "NO, YOU LISTEN MOM!" Linda: "PHINEAS, YOU WILL NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Phineas: "But you're yelling at me without even letting me explain." Linda: "I DON'T CARE, I AM YOUR MOTHER AND YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" At this point, Dad takes the phone from me because he can see that I'm not getting anywhere with Mom. Campbell: "Linda, could you calm down for two seconds?" Linda: "Campbell. I never thought I'd hear YOU again." Campbell: "Phineas wanted to find me and Isabella wanted to find Manuel. The reason he didn't tell you was because he knew that if you had WANTED him to see me, you would have taken him in the first place. And he knew that if he told you, you would have tried to stop him, am I right?" Linda: (sigh) "Yes…" Campbell: "Now, could you please have a rational conversation with Phineas? That's all he wanted." Dad hands the phone back to me. Linda: "I'm sorry Phineas. You have no clue how much I was worried." Phineas: "Oh, I think I do. I saw your ad. We were in Charlotte." Linda: "North Carolina? Phineas, where are you?" Phineas: "Promise you won't have a panic attack?" Linda: "Yes, I promise." Phineas: "New Orleans. With Dad and Mr. Garcia." Linda: "Phineas, I am disappointed that you ran off without telling anyone." Phineas: "Actually, Mom, we told everyone else. Ask Candace, Ferb, or Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro." Linda: "Anyways, I AM impressed that you managed to find them. Now come home please." Phineas: "Yes, yes we will. Don't worry." With that, I hang up the phone. I'm glad I could at least get in a rational conversation with Mom before I left. "Thanks Dad," I say. "I'm afraid it's time for us to head back to Danville." "Here," Mr. Garcia says, handing me $400. "You're going to need it." The four of us form a group hug that lasts for ages. But sadly, I take Isabella's hand once more, and we head to the lobby to check out.

~Isabella~

I can't help it, I start to cry. "Please don't cry, Izzy. I can't stand to see you cry." But a few tears are escaping regardless. We reach the checkout counter, and Phineas asks, "Is Valerie around?" The lady that was there goes back and gets Valerie. "Oh hey y'all! Did you find both of your dads?!" "Sure did," Phineas says, "and I asked for you just so we could tell you that. But we need to head back, can you check us out?" "Sure thing." She hands Phineas $95. "What's this for?" Phineas asks. 'Y'all were only here for two nights." Phineas and I both go over to hug her. "Thank you," I say, the first thing I've said since we left the room. We leave the hotel, catch the bus back to the airport, and harass the counter lady for tickets again. Before I know it, we're back on the plane. I take Phineas' hand again. "Scared?" he asks. "Nah. I just like holding your hand." He smiles and kisses me on the cheek, the first time he's done that. I lean my head against his shoulder and close my eyes. We reach Danville, but instead of just gently shaking me awake, Phineas whispers in my ear the things he loves about me. The first thing I heard was, "You're so beautiful and I've always thought there could be no one in the world prettier than you." That's when I woke up. "Why did you wake me up like that?" I ask. "Because I thought you would like it." He is so sweet! We step out of the plane and out of the airport, into familiar Danville, Virginia. Hand in hand, we walk down the streets we know so well until we get to Maple Drive. "Ready to face your mom?" I ask Phineas. "With you, I can face anything," he replies. We walk into Phineas' house and the first person we see is Candace. Both of us run up and hug her. "Phineas? Isabella? Gosh, I'm glad you're alright! I was so worried!" "Really Candace? I thought you always were out to "bust" me," Phineas says. "Yes, but you're my brother." Phineas whispers in her ear, "I think you might want to know that Isabella and I are dating." "Is that true, Izzy?" Candace asks me. I nod. "FINALLY!" she screams. "I thought it would never happen!" Both of us laugh and run upstairs to see Ferb. It didn't hit me until just now how much I missed Ferb. I can't control myself, I barge into the room and throw myself on Ferb. "Isabella?" he asks in his charming British accent. I know it's cliché, but I feel a few more tears come out. I hold him as tightly as I can and I can feel him returning the embrace. "God I missed you. You're my best friend, you know that right?" "I missed you too, Izzy. But what about poor Phineas over there?" he asks, releasing me. "Well," I say. "You may be my BEST friend, but Phineas here is my BOYfriend." "Told you so," Ferb says to Phineas as the two hug. Guys can hug too. It didn't last nearly as long as when I hugged him, though, for obvious reasons. "What do you mean, told you so?" I ask Ferb. "He IM'd me the night you were in Charlotte. Said he couldn't figure himself out. I was the one who told him he liked you, and as expected, I was right." I laugh. "FERB!" Phineas says, but he's laughing too. "Go to Mom," Ferb says. I look at Phineas and nod. "It's time." Slowly, but surely, we go to face Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher. Together.

~Phineas~

The door to Mom and Dad's room is open, and now it's my turn to be afraid. I tighten my grip around Isabella's hand, signaling to her that I am afraid. "It's okay, Phineas," she whispers. "Now it's my turn to be here for you." With that, we step into the room. Mom just gives me the staredown for a few seconds, then hugs me so tightly I think she'll end up choking me to death. "I'm sorry, Phineas," is the first thing she says. I return the hug, and Isabella and Dad join too. Yes, I think I'll still call Lawrence "Dad." It just doesn't fit to call him "Lawrence." "No Mom, I'm sorry. I shouldn't-WE shouldn't have left without your permission." "Phineas, I'm just glad you're safe." After our group hug is over, I say, "You guys should know that you'll be seeing a lot more of Isabella around here. She and I are dating." Both Mom and Dad gasp. "Quite a catch you got there, son," Dad says. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to get Isabella home." I take her hand again, when are we not holding hands? Not that I mind, though. We walk across the street and knock on the door. "Isa? Phineas? Is that you?" "Yes Mama!" "OH M'IJA!" Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro screams as she throws open the door and hugs us both. "Dad says he'll come soon." "So, you two found Manuel." "And we found each other," Phineas says, hugging me. "I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO! I ALWAYS KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME!" I find it funny how everyone knew that except me. I give Isabella a kiss on the cheek and head back home. I go into my room and flop on the bed. "So? Phineas? You and Isabella, huh?" I just hold up two fingers, knowing he'll get the message. "Twice? You sure got some!" "Yeah, missed you too," I say sarcastically. I talk with Ferb for hours before I finally go to sleep. I swear, I've never been happier.