Serious

Epilogue

"Ewww!" Henry and Emily squealed, rolling around of the floor. "Gross!"

"Grow up," Josh huffed from his seat beside them. "It's just a kiss."

"Kissing is gross," Henry said.

"You're more gross," Emily giggled. Josh watched in disgust as his twin siblings wrestled each other.

"What happened next?" he asked, turning back to his dad.

Phineas laughed and reclined in his chair. "Well after that scene, Bryan and I switched places again. I managed to pull of that one section, but my knowledge of the play was limited."

"Was Mommy mad?" Henry called from on top of Emily.

"I'll be mad unless you get off me," his twin grunted.

Phineas chuckled to himself. "She was slightly surprised to see me there but she wasn't too mad. Besides, Bryan got the scholarship from the rest of the play so no real harm was done."

"I bet you had to knock him out," Emily grinned. "And tie him up so he couldn't steal your woman."

"Your mother is her own woman," Phineas corrected. "And Bryan was actually very understanding when I showed up."

"And then you all lived happily ever after!" Emily declared.

"That only happens in children's books," Josh replied. "Like the ones you read."

"You're a child too," Henry pointed out.

Josh puffed out his chest. "I'm eight," he boasted. "You stop being a child once your eight."

"That's not true!" Henry argued. "You're just as much a child as I am."

"Nope!"

"Well," Phineas interrupted before they got too carried away. "You mother and I had a talk after the show. We both knew that it was going to be hard to maintain a long-distance relationship while our lives were going in different directions so we agreed that we would wait until we'd both graduated and see if we could make it work."

"Did you make it work?" Henry asked eagerly. Josh groaned and Emily slapped her hand into her face.

"Of course he did, dummy," she moaned. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here!"

"Oh," Henry nodded slowly mulling it over. "Yeah that makes sense."

"When I graduated with a first degree in engineering from Imperial in London, your mother was on tour for her play."

"That's the one we watched last Christmas!" Emily informed her brothers.

"We know, dummy," Henry sneered. "The Island. I remember too!"

"Yes," Phineas confirmed. "She wrote it after graduating from the London School of Musical Theatre and it got picked up soon after. Once her tour was done, we met up and realised that there was still something between us and decided to give it a try. Next thing you know Josh was born and two years later you twins came along."

"Daddy," Emily raised her hand. "Why did you go to London for college?"

"Imperial is one of the best universities for engineering in the world," Phineas explained. "And I wanted to travel during my gap year and really loved the city. Also, your great grandparents lived in England and when I was studying there, it was nice to visit them."

"And then you lived happily ever after!" Emily declared again.

Phineas spread his hands. "Something like that, yes."

"I love listening to your stories," Josh said. "When I grow up, I want a love story like you and Mommy."

"Well," Phineas ran a hand through his hair. "It worked out better than ever in the end but it took work to get there. Your mother and I had to respect each other's different lives but also promise that we'd also always support each other."

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" The twins yelled together before chasing after each other downstairs to get the door. "Mommy!"

"Hey, you two!" Isabella said as the door opened to her youngest children. "We've got some groceries so Henry could you grab a bag?"

"Ok Mommy!"

"I'll get Josh and Daddy," Emily said before bounding back upstairs. A few moments later, Phineas loped downstairs with Josh on his tail. Josh went straight to the car while Phineas gave Isabella a quick hug.

"You know you didn't have to," he said taking one of her bags. "I was set to go after work tomorrow."

"It's fine," Isabella assured him. "There was traffic so I took the route by the groceries store and figured, 'why not'."

"Alrighty then," he called to his kids. "You know the drill, come on, efficiency is key here!"

Isabella hid her smile as she went into the office to put down the bags containing her files. The office took up the majority of the first floor besides the kitchen and was big enough for all five of them to work in their own space. When designing the house, Isabella and Phineas had agreed that while they needed space to do their own work, they could still do it together.

"Nice job everyone!" She heard Phineas say proudly. "That's an improvement on your last time!" The kids erupted into cheers. Isabella joined them in the kitchen and ruffled Josh's head.

"All done already?" she folded her arms. "I'm impressed." The twins high fived.

"How was your day, Honey?" Phineas asked.

"Long," Isabella sighed. "Hopefully once term ends, I'll be at home a lot more."

"That would be nice," he smiled. "I can't handle all these brats." The kids laughed and he scooped the twins up.

"I read online that colleges are supposed to have longer breaks that schools," Josh reported.

Isabella tilted her head. "Well as a lecturer I have to work even after the term ends. But when you go back to school in April, I'll still be at home."

"Mommy!" Henry ran over to her. "Daddy was telling us about how you got together."

"Was he now?" Phineas spread his hands innocently. "What else did you father tell you?"

"He said that you wrote play that we saw at Christmas after you graduated school," Josh said seriously.

"Well that is true," Isabella conceded.

"But that was..."

"Seventeen," Phineas put in helpfully.

"Seventeen years ago," Josh nodded. "How come it was on last year?"

"It was a reunion showing," Isabella explained. "They do that sometimes if it received a lot of praise."

"In other words," Phineas smiled at his wife. "Your mother is an amazing woman."

Isabella looked at him lovingly, then at her three children and knew that there was nowhere else she would rather be.

The end.