TnM - Birthday Splashdown Part 1

TnM – BIRTHDAY SPLASHDOWN PART 1

Phineas and Ferb had recently finished building a new indoor swimming pool at Ferb and Vanessa's house, just in time for Thomas's birthday. To celebrate, Thomas had invited Marie, Jasmine, Fred, Xavier and Amanda over for an overnight pool and birthday party – swimming, playing games, watching DVDs and more.

Just on sunset, Thomas, Fred, Xavier and Amanda were standing in the living room playing one of Thomas's virtual sports games. They were already in their swimming costumes, eagerly but nervously waiting to try out the new pool, when Marie and Jasmine arrived.

"Hey guys," said Jasmine, "how's the new pool coming along?"

"Just about ready," Thomas replied. "We haven't swum in it yet."

"I know this sounds crazy," said Xavier, "but isn't it a bit cold to go swimming at this time of year?"

"Yes, yes it is," Amanda reassured him, "but Uncle Ferb turned the pool heater on a few minutes ago so it should be ready soon."

"Tommy—" Marie started; Thomas put his hand out and said, "Marie, that's 'Thomas', okay?"

"Sorry," Marie chirped meekly before continuing, "Are you sure the water will be warm enough?"

"Trust me," said Thomas, "Dad knows how to make our new pool worth swimming in at any time of year."

"Have you tested the water already?" asked Fred.

"Well, not yet," Thomas replied.

"I think now's the perfect time to find out!" giggled Jasmine. Straight away, Jasmine grabbed Thomas's wrists and Marie scooped up his feet. "HEY!" shouted Thomas, "what are you doing?" to which Marie replied with a chuckle, "Just helping you test out your new pool."

"Not like this, please!" begged Thomas. Marie and Jasmine ignored his pleas and carried him into the swimming room, while poor Thomas struggled to free himself.

"Brace yourself, Tommy!" said Marie, as she and Jasmine swung Thomas back and forth towards the pool. "One..."

"Please let go!" said Thomas.

"Two..." said Jasmine.

"I don't know if the water's ready!" protested Thomas.

"THREE!" shouted Jasmine and Marie as they threw him into the pool, Thomas barely having enough time to brace himself before crashing into the water.

For a moment, Marie thought that she and Jasmine threw him in too hard. "What if... he doesn't come up?" Marie asked, worried. "Marie, relax," said Jasmine, "he does this at the beach all the time."

Jasmine was right. At that point, Thomas's head popped out from under the water. "Come on in, the water's fantastic!" he called, before adding somewhat sternly to Marie and Jasmine, "Oh, and don't do that again, okay?"

Minutes later, all the kids were swimming and splashing around in the new pool, impressed at how comfortable the water was. Ferb and Vanessa happily looked on as Thomas, Fred and Xavier swam around the edge of the pool giving it a rapids effect, while Marie, Jasmine and Amanda floated on the water and let the "rapids" carry them around.

Vanessa turned to Ferb and said, "You know, I think we can add a little more magic to the pool, right?" Ferb nodded and flicked a switch; at that moment, the inside of the pool lit up with a warm blue glow from the floor and sides. (Ferb had installed soft lights inside the fibreglass walls and floor of the pool, just for "that touch of Esther Williams magic" as he had put it.)

"Wow, that looks so amazing," said Marie.

"Yes, yes it does," Thomas agreed, while bringing a surfboard into the pool.

"Wait a second," said Xavier, "how can you use that in your swimming pool?"

"Just watch," Thomas smiled. He placed the board in the center of the pool, then carefully climbed up onto the board and knelt down at the board's edge. "Try and climb up on it, one at a time," he said.

One by one, all the other kids scrambled to get a space on the surfboard. It wasn't easy with their weight rocking the board from side to side, but they didn't mind; they were somehow enjoying themselves too much, laughing and screaming when they nearly fell off or the board nearly tipped over.

Half an hour later, it was time for dinner. Ferb ordered some pizzas and garlic bread while Vanessa and Amanda left to pick up Thomas's birthday cake from the local cake store. Meanwhile, Thomas and the other kids were playing Twister in the living room, and they were already well tangled up after just a matter of minutes.

"Let's see how you go now," chuckled Fred as he spun the spinner once more – "Left hand on green."

This is not going to be easy, Thomas thought to himself. He carefully lifted his left hand above his feet (one of which was on yellow, the other on another green spot) and spun slowly enough so he wouldn't topple over the others. He kept his eye on the others – Jasmine looked like she was almost sitting on the board, both legs stretched out; Xavier was practically sitting cross-legged, but also only just managing to avoid sitting on the board altogether; Marie only just managed to hold her awkward position, with one leg practically sandwiched between Jasmine's arms and one of her hands just leaning enough for her to keep balance.

Thomas suddenly noticed his hand was on the same spot where Marie's right foot was lying. He mouthed something to Fred, and Fred nodded while trying not to laugh. Marie saw Thomas looking down and said suspiciously, "Tommy, I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

"Try what?" said Thomas innocently.

"Just don't," said Marie, trying to move away very slowly.

Thomas said, "Oh – you mean this?" before tickling her foot. Marie squirmed, shrieked and overbalanced, knocking both Jasmine and Xavier over before collapsing on top of Thomas.

"What happened?" gasped Jasmine.

"Uh... just putting a bit of fun into the game," laughed Thomas nervously.

"You can say that again," said Marie, unimpressed.

"And now that I think about it," Thomas added, "it could be a bit of payback for what happened earlier. Are you hurt?"

"No, Tommy, I'm okay," said Marie.

"Glad you said that," said Thomas. "You can pay me back again anytime."

"I sure will," Marie replied, glancing at Jasmine; Jasmine knew Marie had something in mind already. But Thomas had some other ideas in mind...

(END PART ONE)