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Davey was skateboarding home when he saw an elderly triangle-headed man sitting on his front porch. (Not Davey’s front porch— the old man’s front porch. Unless the old man didn’t live there and was just sitting on some random person’s porch. But Davey was pretty sure it was the man’s own front porch.) The old man was staring sadly at a photograph.
Davey stopped and approached the old man. “Hey there.”
“Hello.” The old man looked up. “Do I know you?”
“Um, no,” Davey replied. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, I’m Phineas,” said the old man. “What’s your name?”
“Davey.” Davey sat next to him on the step. “You seem kind of sad about something.”
“Oh, yeah,” Phineas sighed. “It’s my wife. I just miss her so much.”
Davey remembered how his grandpa had been when his grandma died. He put a hand on the old man’s back. “I’m sorry. That must be so hard.”
Phineas nodded sadly. Davey looked at the picture in his hand, of Old Man Phineas and a white-haired woman smiling with their arms around each other’s shoulders. “Is that her?”
“Yeah.” Phineas smiled. “That’s Isabella.”
“She looks like a sweet little old lady.”
“Doesn’t she?” Phineas gazed fondly into the distance. “We met as kids. She would always poke her head through the gate whenever me and my brother Ferb were playing together. She’d always skip right up to me and ask, ‘Whatcha doooooooooin’?’”
“Wow, that’s a long time to know someone,” said Davey. “So you guys were childhood sweethearts?”
Phineas laughed. “Well… actually, no. Not really. She had a thing for me right from the start, but me, well…” He knocked on his temple. It made a hollow, cartoony sound. “I was a pretty bright kid, but I didn’t realize Isabella had a crush on me for years. It got to the point where she thought I would never notice how she felt.”
His smile faded. “She started to pull away after that. That was about the same time I realized I was in love with her. She started spending less time with me because she couldn’t handle being around me. So I thought she wasn’t interested in being my girlfriend.”
“So how did you end up getting together?” Davey asked.
“It was right after we graduated high school,” Phineas recalled. “My buddies and I were talking about college when right out of the blue, they told me Isabella had had a crush on me for years. I couldn’t believe it. I was lucky she stopped by my house to say goodbye before she went off to college. We told each other how we felt, and well… we ended up getting married a year later.”
“She sounds like she was something special.”
“Yeah…” Phineas sighed fondly.
“Did you ever have any kids?”
“Yeah, we had three,” Phineas beamed. “Summer, Paris, and Candy. They’re all grown now.”
“Do they visit you?”
“Oh, yeah, all the time,” Phineas beamed. “They brought their kids over last year to see Kermillian’s Comet.”
“Was that before…” Davey chewed his lip. “Did Isabella get to see it?”
“Yeah, she loved it,” Phineas sighed. “Back when we were kids, my brother and I lasered our faces into it as it passed overhead. We’d always dreamed of being able to show our grandchildren when it came around again.”
“That must’ve been something to see,” Davey marveled.
“One of the best nights of my life.”
They were silent for a while. Phineas’ shoulders sank. “I miss her so much with every passing moment. I can’t wait to see her again.”
“I’m sure it will be wonderful when you’re together again,” Davey said, looking up at the sky. “How long has it been since… Since your wife…”
Phineas swallowed. “Two hours.”
Davey blinked. “Did you say two… hours?”
A car turned around the corner. Phineas straightened immediately. “ISABELLA!”
Isabella stepped out of the car as her husband ran to her. “You’re back!” Phineas cried, embracing her. “I missed you so much!”
“I missed you more!” Isabella beamed as she squeezed him tight. “Sorry the traffic was so bad.”
She released him and cast her eye on their visitor. “Who’s this?”
“This is Davey,” Phineas smiled. “He kept me company while you were at the doctor’s. How was your checkup?”
“Everything looks good,” Isabella reported. “Hello there, young man. Would you like to come inside? I was just about to make cupcakes.”
“Um… sure,” Davey grinned sheepishly. “It’s… nice to meet you.”
“Next time you get a checkup, I’m coming with you,” Phineas said as they went inside. “I hate waiting rooms, but that was even worse.”
“Agreed.” Isabella kissed his cheek.