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"Come back here!"
The yell had Ferb abandoning the vegetables he'd been cutting to see what the trouble was. He walked out of the kitchen just in time to see a bare-arse naked Simeon run across the hallway, a, thankfully, clothed but soaking wet Phineas chasing behind him.
Ferb wasn't sure he wanted to know how bath time went wrong.
"Ferb! Help me!"
Ferb glanced over his shoulder, back into the kitchen. "Love to, but I really must finish cooking."
"Simeon! No!"
A crash made Ferb flinch. He hoped that wasn't anything important. Though, he wasn't sure they owned any important yet breakable objects.
Nothing would burn if he went to help, but he'd handled bath time the last two weeks. As far as he was concerned, it was Phineas' turn to deal with Simeon's sudden declaration of hatred for baths.
Especially after his brother's repeatedly claimed he could take care of it.
He'd give it another minute.
"Ferb, get over here and help me with our son!"
That made Ferb do a mental double-take. He must have misheard. Phineas had never called Simeon theirs, they may be raising the child together, but he was always referred to as Ferb's.
Simeon came barrelling out of the room and down the hall, towards the kitchen. Though the toddler tried to weave around, Ferb managed to grab him. The boy twisted and wiggled in his arms as Ferb picked him up, but not a sound of protest left him.
Ferb wondered if his father had felt the same concern towards him when he was little and refused to speak.
Phineas walked into the hall. Seeing Ferb, he leaned heavily against the wall. "You got him. Good."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Phineas nodded. "Just chasing him wore me out more than I expected."
Adjusting his hold on the still struggling toddler, Ferb tried not to let his thoughts about that show. Phineas had made it crystal clear that he didn't care for Ferb mentioning his weight.
Instead, he changed the subject. "You called him ours."
Blinking, Phineas dipped his head slightly "Yeah, I didn't mean to, it just kinda slipped out. Sorry, I'll try not to do that again."
Ferb shook his head. "Do it all you wish." He smiled at Simeon, who was finally settling down in his hold. "He's as much yours as mine."
"But he's really not." The words were somewhat halted. "He's just yours. Literately."
"Perhaps biologically, but you're helping me raise him. To say that does not, in some way, make him yours would be the same as saying you're not my brother." It was a simplified view of the situation, but it made his point.
Phineas stared at him. "Really?"
Would he have said it if it wasn't? Ferb nodded. "Do you wish to finish bathing our son, or shall I take it from here?"
A hint of a grin flashed across Phineas' face. "If we team up, it might work." He paused. "But won't the food burn?"
Simeon started to squirm again in vain.
"It'll be fine." Ferb began walking towards the bathroom. "Do you see now why I moved up bath time?"
Phineas snorted. "Yeah, but I still think it should be after he eats dinner."