Memories of the Dance We Shared

A Goofy Movie Fanfic

By Auburn Red

Disclaimer: I created Trixie Goof, but the rest of the family belongs to The Walt Disney Company. Penny Pooch originated in the Minnie & Me franchise from the early 90's (and possibly in the comic books). However, I created her parents and her wealthy background.

I will also refer to multiple sources about Goofy, Penny, and Max including the early Goofy shorts, Goof Troop, Goofy Movie, Extremely Goofy Movie, House of Mouse, Once Upon A Christmas, and Twice Upon A Christmas (I do like Mona, but I only just saw 2UAC for the first time this past month and the story was already planned out with Roxanne so she will remain Max's wife and Trixie's mother. But Mona will be a part of the goings-on later).

Kingdom Hearts will not be referred to (It's kind of hard to shoehorn in Goofy becoming a knight, Mickey becoming a king etc. into the storyline), nor will Epic Mickey.

I am letting you all know, that I am not very familiar with the comics so I will not be referring to them at all except a reference to April, May, and June and that Penny's middle and mother's maiden name will be familiar to readers of the early Goofy comics.

The titles of the fanfic as well as the chapters are from country songs. Goofy always struck me as someone who is a country music fan (as well as a fan of mambo and disco, as we well know. :D) The title is a line from the Garth Brooks song, "The Dance" and the title of the first chapter is from the song, "Please Remember Me" by Tim McGraw

Oh and also for the most part I know Disney does a lot of parodies of names ("Amelia Airhead" for Amelia Earhart, "Kon-Ducky" for Kon-Tiki etc.). For the most part, I will use the real titles of things and I will only use the parody titles if they were already introduced by Disney beforehand. (Plus, in some of the more recent stuff they seemed to have foregone them and used real names and titles.)

Summary: An average day with his father and daughter becomes not-so-average for Max when he remembers his past and learns about his father and his late mother. Contains excerpts from the journal of Penny Pooch Goof.

Chapter One: Goofy and Max: Please Remember Me

Goofy looked outside of his house as the new shiny red car pulled up next to his old green jalopy. He joyfully waved at his two favorite people in the world, tripping over the door outside of the frame as he greeted them. He looked upside down as a little girl skipped up to her grandfather hand in hand with her father who rolled his eyes, shook his head, but laughed like he expected something like that.

"Hi ya, Maxie, Hi ya Trixie," Goofy said still seeing them upside down.

Max opened his mouth to correct his father once again, but had a feeling that his insistence would fall on deaf ears, so he just helped Goofy to stand. "Are you okay, Dad?"

"Right as rain, my boy," Goofy said. "I hit my head, probably my brain, nothing I would need." He gave his son a hug then leaned down to be face level with his three-year-old granddaughter. "And how's my favorite grandbaby?"

Trixie Goof laughed at her grandfather. "Gran'pa Goof, I'm your only gran'daughter."

"Well then that makes you my favorite, don't it?" He laughed. Trixie laughed back together doing the classic "Ahyuck!" laugh with her Grandpa. Max gave a small grin but laughed as well.

"And how's Roxanne?" Goofy asked about his daughter-in-law.

"She's fine," Max said. "She sends her love." Max's wife was out of town for her cousin's wedding. Max wasn't able to come with her, because of pressing issues at work, so he offered that he would look after Trixie. "Besides you know how nuts Dad is about her," Max reminded Roxanne. "We could visit him too." It was fortunate that they made this plan, because recent developments at work was another reason for Max to pay his father a visit.

"Well why don't you two come inside and have some fun," Goofy invited.

Max glanced through various drawers taking out any paperwork that looked like it could be his birth certificate. Goofy and Trixie were playing with Trixie's App Game "Lester's Possum Pals' Hunt." Max sighed embarrassed as the App character said in that annoying high voice, "Who's Your Favorite Possum!?" Trixie and Goofy answered, "Lester!" as Trixie began her game.

"Trix," Max sighed annoyed at hearing the game for the hundredth time. "Remind me to thank your mother for downloading that game for you." Of course Roxanne thought it was hilarious but Max not so much.

"I will," Trixie said joyfully as she returned to it. Max glanced fondly at his daughter playing the game. She had her father and grandfather's dark hair tied into a ponytail, but her mother's smaller face and eyes and was dressed in a yellow shirt and blue overalls. Beatrix Penelope Goof was a bundle of energy that seemed to bounce or skip everywhere she went. Sometimes her parents had to struggle just to keep up with her, but they loved her truly. They loved playing with the little girl, because she could take the smallest things and make a game out of them. Max remembered sometimes when Trixie would take out her father's socks or a piece of cloth and the two would engage in an amusing game of tug-of-war with Trixie grabbing one end and Max, the other, sometimes with their teeth.

Sometimes when Max looked at her, he couldn't believe three years had already gone by. It seemed like only yesterday when she was just a tiny red bundle brought home from the hospital wrapped in her little pink blanket needing to be changed, or fed, and laughing whenever her parents picked her up and held her. Until Trixie had been born, Max never understood why his father embarrassed him so much but now being a father himself, he could finally understand that wistful nostalgia of wanting your child to stay young forever.

Max cleared his throat before his eyes filled and he pretended to be focused more on the papers around him. "You know Dad, if you organized your files and paperwork or the rest of the house, things would be a lot easier to find." He looked around at the mess that was his father's house. It was completely disorganized with dishes in the sink and clothes on the floor. He glanced at the floor at some bills that had clearly been unpaid. He remembered that the previous month, he had to basically block the repo man from possessing his dad's car, before he could pay for it. Max would seriously wonder if his dad was getting senile, but he was always this absent-minded. When he was growing up, Max seriously wondered at times who was taking care of who. Without saying it out loud, that was why even though he had several good job offers after graduation, Max opted to remain in Spoonerville to continue to take care of his father as well as his Dad looked after him.

"Shucks, Max, I know where everything is," Goofy said. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"My birth certificate," Max said. "I'm up for a promotion at work and they want to have all my paperwork to process it, probably to make sure that I'm not an ax murderer or a member of ISIS or something."

Goofy stood up and crossed his arms defiantly. "How dare they say that my boy has problems with his eyes? Why your irises are just fine!"

Max was stunned. "What-? No, ISIS Dad, not iris! The terror- ah forget it, you know you could watch the news a bit more!"

"Too depressing for me," Goofy said. "Though your Uncle Donald never sent thanks for my text congratulating him on being President."

Max sighed. How could his father be that clueless over current events? "Not Donald Duck, Donald-Never mind!" He said figuring that it was a lost cause and frankly between the two, Max would have preferred his Uncle Donald becoming President over the alternative. But on the other hand, with his temper, Donald Duck would have declared war on the rest of the world before his four years up. (So in other words, possibly no change, Max wryly thought).

"Daddy's going to be on TV like Mommy," Trixie said.

"You don't say," Goofy said.

Max shook his head. "I might be on TV, Trix," Max corrected his daughter. He had been a news researcher and writer for one of the TV stations and would soon be possibly promoted. Roxanne had also been working to be on television too and had just become one of the lifestyle/human interest story reporters. "If this promotion works out for me, I will be one of the on air news reporters."

"Well I'll make sure I record every single episode," Goofy said. "Maybe I could be on television myself. You always said that I make news!"

"I didn't mean it as a compliment dad," Max said recalling the many times that his father broke things, caused accidents like fires, and other times. Rather than go into another diatribe about his father's clumsiness, Max reverted to the main issue at hand. "My birth certificate isn't in here."

"Well you were born, I'm sure of that. Your mother spent hours in the delivery room groaning in labor-"

"-Ahh," Max said jokingly putting his hands on his ears. "La lalala! Not hearing this! Don't want to hear this!"

Trixie and Goofy laughed. Max put his hands off his ears as he laughed too. "Max, if it ain't there, it's probably upstairs in the attic."

Max looked upwards. "Figures, the Room That Time Forgot."

"I can get it if you want," Goofy offered. "I think I know where it might be."

"No, I'll get it," Max said. "If I'm not down in 24 hours send a search party."

"Need any help, Daddy?" Trixie asked.

"Nah, I think I can manage," Max said. He leaned down. "Just make sure you stay out of trouble."

"I'll keep an eye on her," Goofy promised.

"I wasn't talking to her," Max said wryly.

It took a second for Goofy to realize what his son meant. "Touche," he said though he pronounced it "toosh."

Max rolled his eyes and offered a thin laugh. "I'll be back soon."

Dust hit Max's nostrils the second he opened the attic door as he gave a few involuntary coughs. He opened his water bottle and took a few gulps to quench his dry throat. He probably should have gotten a mask to cover his mouth and nose, but he just let the room air out for a little bit before he entered the room. The attic was so small that Max had to slightly crouch down before he entered and stood. He looked around at the sports equipment inside, skis, golf clubs, footballs, soccer balls. Max chuckled. His dad really must have tried just about every sport. He knew that the X-Games Championship Trophy wasn't up there, because his father told Max that it was in a special place on a case in his room. Max looked amused at the pile of books that lay next to the sports stuff. Mostly they were How To…books. Amused and curious, Max read the titles to some of them: How to Be A Detective, How to Dance, How to Sleep. (Really Dad, Max thought, Sleeping? That was a stumper for you?) He thumbed through some of them reading through some of the passages mostly from a very condescending author. Max also looked at some filmstrips that bore the same titles. He guessed they were the film versions of the books. Yeah people in Dad's day used to obey disembodied voices an awful lot, Max thought. He also found some copies of the movies that his dad and their friends made, many of which were edited with titles. He read the titles Knight for a Day, Motor Mania, Goofy and Wilbur, etc. Max rolled his eyes. His dad and his dad's friends sometimes acted like a bunch of cartoons when they were together.

He was about to head for another corner of the attic when his foot tripped against one of the ski poles. He tried to free his foot but he banged against the skis and other items as Max tripped into them. With a classic family, "Yahahahooey!" Max fell to the floor.

"You alright in there Son?" Goofy's voice called.

"Just fine, Dad," Max called. "Nothing hurt." Just my pride, Max thought.

Max brushed dust off his blue jeans and red hoodie sweat shirt, rose from underneath the mess and tried to put away the items as he found them. His eyes wandered to a small shelf with several photo albums and files. Max reasoned if his birth certificate was anywhere, it would probably be there. He moved aside his old stuffed teddy bear, Old Stuffed Bear, and took out several photo albums. He opened a photo album to see if he could find it inside. Most of the photos were of Max, Goofy, and their old friends such as Uncle Mickey and Uncle Donald. Max counted in his head that the last time they were all physically together was a Christmas a few years ago when they helped Mickey look for Pluto then spent the day singing Christmas carols. That was what? Six, seven years ago maybe? (It had to be. Max was still with Mona then. They had mutually broken up partly because Max realized that he was still in love with Roxanne, and also because their post-college plans were going to take each other on different paths. Max and Mona had remained friends and even attended each other's weddings, Max's to Roxanne and Mona's to another friend, Tank.)

Max continued to be Facebook friends with Huey, Dewey, and Louie and still kept up with them. He knew that the triplets had finally carved their own identities and worked in different fields. Though their individuality only went so far, they married three sisters. Huey and his wife, April currently worked for their Great Uncle Scrooge McDuck's business in Marketing and Public Relations, respectively. Dewey worked in Artificial Intelligence and his wife, May was a Genetics Researcher both under Professor

Ludwig Von Drake. While Louie discovered his talents in agriculture and veterinary science by inheriting his Great-Grandma Duck's farm and his wife, June, was excellent at making organic natural foods and products. Even though the triplets drove him crazy when he was younger, he had a lot of fun with them. The quartet could cause quite a bit of mischief such as that last Christmas when they were all together and Max and the trio sang the mondegreen parody versions of various carols such as "Police Got My Car" For "Feliz Navidad" and spent the night riffing on classic Christmas movies. (Such as while watching the CG Christmas Carol when Belle said her famous line, "Maybe you be happy in the path you have chosen," Max and the trio imitated Bill Murry from Scrooged: "Well I am happy in the path that I have chosen…!")

Max's best friend, P.J. was still an active part of his life as one of the camera operators for the TV news station. This promotion would not only benefit Max, but also P.J. as he could be an action camera operator working alongside his old buddy. P.J.'s wife, Passion, often welcomed her friends and husband at the café she owned, the Bean Scene where she hosted poetry slams, folk/alt/indy concerts, and other public events. Max also kept in touch with his friend, Bobby Zamurski, a standup comedian, who lived in Los Angeles with his wife, Stacy, an attorney.

He smiled at the thousands of memories with those guys, good and bad and how they stayed together through everything.

Max flipped a page to see a photo of Goofy with Mickey, and Donald their arms around each other. Under the caption in his father's handwriting Max read the legend: "The Three Mouseketeers Together Again." Max reasoned if he had a thousand memories of times with the triplets and P.J., his dad must have had about a million memories with Uncle Mickey and Uncle Donald. He knew what his dad had said about him and his two "bestest buddies in the world." That their friendship began because the three shared the mutual loss of being orphaned at young ages and bounced around from various relatives and foster homes, never feeling a permanent place anywhere until the day they met at the Ub Iwerks Children's Home so long ago. ("Gawrsh it feels like we have been friends for nigh on 90 years now!" Goofy always declared.)

With their penchant for pranks, getting into fights, and overall silliness, the trio were the bane of the existence of Mr. Oswald and Mrs. Ortensia, the children's kindly, but often exasperated children's home directors and Miss Alice, the Home's equally kind and exasperated assistant. However, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy considered each other the family that they never had or had, but felt unwanted by. Through school, countless jobs, romances, and adventures the three had shared an unshakable bond, like blood brothers, who would be there for each other no matter what.

Even the distance couldn't part them as Dad was still here in Spoonerville currently working at a children's day care. Mickey still ran the House of Mouse in Downtown Toon Town while his wife, Minnie ran Minnie's Bow-tique (and was a stockholder in the House of Mouse as well). Donald put his Naval experience to good use working in Duckburg, under his Uncle Scrooge with some top secret "hush/hush" defense contracts in Duckburg while his live-in girlfriend, Daisy was a TV National News Anchor. (In fact she provided recommendations for Max and Roxanne to get their jobs at the TV studio).

Max was so lost in the album that he almost forgot the reason that he was up in the attic in the first place. He closed the book and searched through the shelf again.

Max crouched forward as he saw a small manila folder with words in his father's hand writing: My Maxie: The Early Years.

"Bingo," Max whispered as he opened it. Several photographs and other things fell out. Max peered through them as he replaced the items. There were the typical baby things, booties encased in bronze, a plaster of his tiny footprints, baby teeth (prominently bucked of course). He picked up the photos one by one as he rolled his eyes in embarrassment grateful at least that his Dad still hadn't figured out how to use social media. Otherwise these pictures would be in front of the whole world instead of inside this attic.

He looked through them as he saw pictures that showed his first tooth (which he then obviously used to bite his dad's finger), his first step (inside a vase that Dad tried to get his foot out of it) and his first word (judging by the picture showing his Dad washing Baby Max's mouth with soap was probably something he learned from Uncle Donald or maybe P.J's dad. No wonder I never liked Life Boy, Max thought wryly). At the time, Max's hair was red, but he knew that it had darkened over the years. He also saw some other photos of himself slightly older getting into mischief, such as drawing on the walls, waving to his terrified Dad as he wandered off onto an amusement park at the beach by himself, pestering his Dad when he wanted to read the paper, and knocking down a block tower.

Max suddenly had a sense of déjà vu as he remembered a phone conversation that he had with his Dad only a few weeks ago. Exhausted by a particularly trying day with

his hyperactive daughter, Max listed his frustrations to his father: "She never picks up her toys when I tell her to…I think that girl spends most of her life in Time Out….She draws on the walls….Her mother and I can't sit down for one minute before she's off and running again usually into trouble…I think 'No' must be her favorite word…." After Goofy told his son to relax, Max interrupted, "Come on Dad, you have never known a more trouble making kid!"

From the other side of the phone, Goofy chuckled and simply said, "Oh, yes I had."

After that phone conversation, Max practically collapsed in his room when Trixie jumped out of her room and tackled her father with a big hug. "Good-night Daddy, I love you," She said.

Touched, Max smiled and held her as well, all frustration was gone. "Good-night, Trixie, I love you too to the moon and back."

Max returned to the present. "Aww Dad, I guess I deserved that," he said with a laugh figuring what goes around must come around. "Karma can be a real bitch."

Thinking about Trixie made Max wonder how she and Goofy were doing. Max crept to the attic door and held it open just a crack. He heard disco music playing in the living room as Goofy called "C'mon Trixie. Dance with your Grandpappy!"
Max chuckled softly as he heard his daughter giggle clearly enjoying the show. "Did you used to dance like this, Gran'pa Goof?"

"Sure, Trixie Belle, it was my jelly!" Goofy said.

Trixie laughed out loud. "You mean your jam, Gran'pa!" Max cowered embarrassed at his father getting the word mixed up. And the term "my jam" was officially pronounced dead at 5:00 PM, Max thought looking at his watch.

"I'll bet you like listening to that Powerline stuff," Goofy guessed.

Max could tell his daughter was making a face. "You mean that old stuff Daddy listens to no!"

Max playfully pretended to fall over in despair at his daughter calling his music "old." Of course he remembered that he had that "feeling old" realization when he read that Powerline had recently celebrated his 45th birthday. No no, Max thought desperately, no one I liked should ever be approaching their 50's or be described as an aging pop star, ever! Knowing that his music was now a fodder for 90s nostalgia or derision was a bit disconcerting and made Max feel more than a little old. Max laughed knowing that his father and daughter were having fun, so he returned to his search for his birth certificate.

As he returned the photos to the folder, a small brittle piece of paper caught Max's eye. He unfolded it and smiled. There it was: "Maximilian George Goof, Certificate of Live Birth." Max ran his finger through the names of his father: George G. Goof. He particularly traced the letters of his mother's name: Penelope Glorybee Libertee Pooch Goof. Max refolded the certificate and placed it in his pocket, pleased that the search was over. He was about to stand up to leave the attic, when another photograph caught his eye. It was face down, so Max had to turn it over. The picture he saw made his heart skip a few beats. He saw a beautiful red-haired anthromorphic dog woman in a green hospital gown holding a small newborn. Max read the caption: "Penny and Max, the Loves of Ma Life: First Picture."

"Hi Mom," Max said feeling his eyes mist over as he fingered the picture tracing his late mother's face. He could see the big smile on her face and the love shining in her eyes.

Looking at his mother's photograph made Max wistful and longing. He opened another photo album mostly of childhood pictures of his dad and himself including that Christmas when his Dad made him believe in Santa Claus again despite Pete telling him that it was "an urbane myth like the Loch Ness Monster."

It didn't surprise Max that most of the pictures were of him and his Dad, even when his mother was still alive. All of his strongest clearest memories were of his father making him laugh, playing with him, and rocking him back and forth when he had a nightmare or was frightened by a thunderstorm. He couldn't ever remember a time when his father wasn't there.

Dad explained to him once that Goofy had opted to be a stay-at-home Dad taking care of the house, doing all of the cooking and cleaning, and looking after little Max while his wife worked. "I wanted to have you by my side all the time," Goofy said. "Your Mama was the same way too, but she also loved her job and was good at it so we both agreed. It was the best job I ever had." While that was no doubt true, Max realized, considering his father's subsequent checkered employment history, there was also the practical reason that Goofy had difficulties holding down a steady job. It was much better that his wife would be the one working and bringing home a dependable income while her husband managed the household.

Max's memories of his mother were hazy at best like a face in a fog that he could almost make out. He remembered her holding his hand when Penny used to take him for walks. He remembered watching at the doorway waving good-bye to her, standing next to his dad, who was dressed in his frilly pink apron, while she drove away. He remembered her entering his room every night to give him a good-night kiss. It never mattered what time it was or how late she came home, she always kissed her son good-night. Then most of all that fateful day when his father explained that his mother wouldn't be coming home. He also recalled the days afterward at her funeral when everyone was dressed in black and looked so serious and sad, especially his father, Goofy, who just held Max the entire time. He also remembered the many nights afterwards when Max stared at his bedroom door and prayed and prayed that it would open and his mother would come in to give him his good-night kiss.

There were things that he wished he could remember of her beyond that, but he never asked his Dad too much about her because it always made him sad. After all this time, he still missed his wife (Which was probably why he and Sylvia finally broke up. Like Max and Mona, it was a mutual break up, but Max had a feeling that Sylvia realized that she could never compete with a ghost.) Whenever Goofy talked about his late wife, it was always in generalities, how beautiful she was, how kind and patient, and how much she loved her husband and son.

Those were nice things, but there was so much more that Max wanted to know about this woman who gave him life, but had never really been a part of it: What was she like as a kid? What was her favorite song, favorite movie? What did she want to be when she grew up? What did she think of the Goof she later married? Who were her friends? Who was her family? Did he even have any Libertee Pooch relatives? Hell, what job did she have that she apparently "loved and was good at?" What were Christmas or birthdays like when she was around? Would she have been proud of Max, upset with him for being embarrassed at his father, overjoyed about being a grandmother?

But apart from those hazy memories, there was nothing there in his mind to hold onto like he blocked her out, maybe like he deliberately blocked her out. No don't go there, Max told himself, The way that Dad talked about her, you know she was good and kind. The woman holding you was someone worth remembering. You were just too little. She died when you were too young to remember her, that's all. It didn't make Max feel better to think that way. Instead he felt angry and cheated.

Max wiped away the tears from his eyes as he placed the album back on the shelf when an envelope fluttered out of the pages. Max opened it to read the contents.

Another official certificate unfolded in front of him, only it wasn't as happy as his birth certificate. He read the title "Toon Town County Coroner's Office Official Certificate of Death." Once again Max read his mother's name and traced his finger along the letters: "Penelope Glorybee Libertee Pooch Goof." He read the coroner's description, so cold and so matter-of-fact about the injuries that she had sustained from a head on automobile collision with another car including internal hemorrhaging, numerous facial and chest lacerations, among others. The coroner's report said that "Death occurred instantaneously."

Max's chest constricted as he could almost recall something: He could see bright lights surround Mommy's car and could just hear Mommy's voice yell, "Maxie" before he got pushed forward his face smooshed by the driver's seat in front of him.

Max shook his head. "No," he said desperately "That's not what happened!" He knew it. He remembered it. He and his father waved his mother good-bye like they always did and later that night, his father came into his bedroom and said that Mommy wasn't coming home that she was going to live up there among the stars.

Max dropped the death certificate on top of the other part of the envelope. Max's hands shook as he picked it up. It was an insurance report that showed a classic yellow automobile completely destroyed. Max read the caption, as clinical and cold as the coroner's report: Saved for insurance purposes. Automobile Condition: Totalled. Cause of Misfortune: Collision. Occupants: 2; One deceased, other hospitalized.

The final words of the document ran through Max like a booming bell: Occupants: 2, one deceased, other hospitalized. The bright lights and his mother's scream once again ran through Max's consciousness. I was in the car with her, Max said, I was there when she died!

Max shook his head throbbing his forehead with his hands trying to block out the information that he had just learned and was beginning to recall. He hyperventilated and rocked back and forth. He tried to rationalize these thoughts. After the entire insurance caption just said there was another occupant. It may not have necessarily been him! Maybe he was getting this memory confused with all of the action movies and cop shows that he had seen over the years showing gruesome violent death scenes! Seriously Dad really should have forbidden me to watch them if I'm going to think of stuff like this, Max thought.

Max continued to rationalize as his eyes fell on Old Stuffed Bear glancing at him. Suddenly words came to his mind: He kept saying, "Mommy, Mommy look at me!" with his mother responding, "Not now, Max!"

Finally, he could hear his voice whining, "Mommy, get Ol' Stuff Bear!" as he pointed under the driver's seat where his friend had fallen.

He could just hear Mommy saying, "Max," then becoming angry as she turned around to look at him "Maximilian, I am trying to watch the road!" Just then she turned to look at the road and Max could only see bright lights and Mommy's arm in front trying to protect him. Then he could hear Mommy's voice yell, "Maxie!"

Max felt sick as he dropped the picture. He felt numb for a second as the truth hit him. "I killed her," Max whispered. He coughed and gulped nausea came through his throat. All of his emotions overpowered him at once: grief, sadness, guilt, despair. "It was my fault she died!" he said aloud as he ran from the attic.

Goofy watched the new Lester's Possum Pals show with his granddaughter while she drew a picture. He couldn't really get into this new style of computer animation. Why did animation companies feel like they had to improve on their creations by animating them this way? Was it all about money? In Goofy's mind, if it wasn't broke don't fix it. Trixie however loved the current Lester show a lot better than the old one. Sometimes she didn't always have the concentration to pay attention to the older program and she clearly loved the bright colors and fast movement. While he didn't like Lester that much at all, Max had his own opinion about the debate between newer and older animation styles. He understood both his father and his daughter's points of view. He liked the older styles because he grew up with him, but was fascinated by the improvements that current programs and movies were doing. Plus as he reminded his father, they were still the same characters and stories that people loved. What did it matter how they were done?

Goofy looked downward at his granddaughter's picture, as she put down her crayons obviously finished. "What's that you're drawing there, Trixie Belle?"

Trixie picked up the paper and showed her drawing in crayons. She pointed at three stick figures. Two were taller, one with dark hair and the other with red. Between them was a smaller stick figure with dark hair. "That's Daddy and that's Mommy and that's me!"

"Well I can see that," Goofy held Trixie on his lap. He pointed at another stick figure that was taller than the other three with very large buck teeth on the face and big ears. "Now, who's this here handsome feller?"

"That's you, Gran'pa," Trixie insisted.

"Why so it is," Goofy said proudly as he ticked the little girl. She laughed in her grandfather's arms.

"You like it Gran'pa?" Trixie asked.

"Why that's an art work worthy of my fridge," Goofy said proudly as he led her to the refrigerator and proudly placed it on the door with a refrigerator magnet of a grasshopper playing the fiddle.

Goofy was about to accompany his granddaughter back to the living room when he heard the attic door slam and could hear someone running downstairs. Having that parental sixth sense, Goofy could sense something was wrong. "Maxie?" he asked worriedly. As if in answer to his question, Goofy could see his son running through the house and out the door, coughing and sobbing all at once.

"What's wrong with Daddy?" Trixie asked worried.

"I don't know," Goofy said. Max ran out the door slamming it shut behind him. Goofy knelt down to be eye level with his granddaughter. "Trixie, could you be a good girl

for me and wait in the living room while I go talk to your Daddy?"

"I'm always a good girl," Trixie insisted. "Even if Mommy and Daddy don't always thinks so!"

"Yeah, I'd bet," Goofy said with a thin smile certainly recognizing that mischievous grin on both Trixie and her father. "I'll be right back, Trixie Belle. I'm sure Daddy's alright."

I hope so, Goofy thought.

Goofy opened the door to see Max huddled on the walkway rocking back and forth hugging himself across the chest. As Goofy walked closer, he could see that Max vomited onto the ground below. He continued to breathe deeply and gasp out sobs. His face was completely flushed with tears. Goofy didn't know what caused his son to be in this state, but knelt down next to him and held his son in his arms. "Take a deep breath," Goofy said. "Come on, keep breathing."

Max rocked himself and vomited once more, but he obeyed his father. He shook as his father held him tightly. "I know, I'm 30 years old," Max said. "I shouldn't be acting like this! Men aren't supposed to cry like this!"

Goofy shook his head as he held his son. "I don't know what rule book you got that out of, but that certainly ain't true. You just have a good cry now, son. Just cry it out, whatever it is." Max continued to sob in his father's arms. "Now what's the matter, huh, Maxie?"

For once Max didn't mind his father calling him, "Maxie," "I can't tell you!" What would he think of him if he knew that his son caused the death of the love of his life? That he had been responsible for the years that they spent missing her, Goofy shuffling from job to job, and all those years of not being able to depend on just about anything but each other?

"Of course you can," Goofy said worried to see his son so out of control, so vulnerable. Goofy had known all along, that Max was emotionally the stronger of the two always trying to be cool, rational, not wanting to give into emotional outbursts. He got annoyed and frustrated, but upon reaching maturity Goofy could never remember a time when his son was too emotional to cope. "It'll help you feel better."

"I just can't, I can't talk about it right now!" Max said. "Please don't ask me!"

Goofy nodded unsure of how to proceed. If something upset Max so much and he didn't want to talk about it, how could his father help him? "Okay, we'll talk about it later," Goofy said in a determined voice that indicated that they would talk about it.

Max nodded as his father helped him stand and led him into the house. Goofy walked his son upstairs into his old bedroom, lay him on the bed, and covered him up with a blanket.

As Goofy closed the door, he came face to face with a three year old girl whose big eyes were filled with worried tears. "Is Daddy sick?" She asked.

Goofy nodded. "Your Daddy's just sick and very sad and he's been crying."

Trixie's mouth dropped open concerned. "Daddies cry?" She said as though the thought were unheard of.

Goofy hugged his granddaughter tightly remembering how often he cried after Penny

died. "Believe you me, Daddies cry all the time," he said as he led Trixie downstairs.

Author's Notes:

It took a lot of thought wondering what the triplets' current lives would be like upon adulthood, but I was up for the challenge. After I thought of them following the career paths of various relatives, the ideas just sort of clicked. Huey seemed the more businesslike, Dewey the scientist, and I pictured likeable Louie becoming a farmer/veterinarian. I also loved bringing in April, May, and June since I always felt that they were criminally underused in the canon, hardly even shown in any of the cartoons. While I am aware that in 2UAC (and most of the cartoons), the boys are portrayed as a lot younger than Max, I enjoyed the attempts to age them between Ducktales and Quack Pack and wish that Disney had done more with that like they did with Max.

See if you can spot the numerous references to various Goofy shorts in the attic. There is also a blink and you'll miss it inside joke about another character played by Pinto Colvig.

The dialogue from the phone conversation that Max and Goofy have about Trixie is word for word from a commercial from the late 90s (I don't remember the product) where a young mother is complaining about her daughter to her mother. Some of the lines are directly from that including "No is her favorite word," and the ending bit where the mother says something like "you have never seen a more trouble making child" and the older mother looks at a picture of her daughter as a kid and says "Oh yes I have."

The comments that Max and the boys make on Christmas are real ones that my siblings and I have made over the years. I credit my brother-in-law for bringing the mondegreen parody, "Police Got My Car" to our attention and the MSTie mixing of Scrooged and A Christmas Carol ("Well I am happy with the path that I have chosen, you little bitch, I couldn't be happier!") is usually said by me and or all of my sisters when watching any version of Charles Dicken's classic.

The reference to the Terrific Trio, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all being orphaned was based on the thought that even though we see or hear about plenty of their relatives, their parents are often MIA. (Some of the comics, I understand mention Donald's mother and Scrooge's sister and in AGM, Goofy mentions his dad but as far as I know Mickey's parents are never discussed). So it figures that the Disney Missing Parent Syndrome would have started from Day One (or Character One). I hope fans and Disney historians will get a kick out of the names of the Children's Home and its staff.

I have to give credit where credit is due and the idea of Goofy being a "stay-at-home" Dad while his wife worked was not originated by me. (even though it makes sense considering Goofy's frequent unemployment) It was originally from Cool Steve's wonderful fic, "The Life and Times of Before and After" (read it if you want a good cry but bring plenty of Kleenex with you). Also Goofy's mangling of "my jam" for "my jelly" was from another terrific fic, SosaLola's "The Reunion at Duckburg"