"Ferb?"
"Yes, Isabella?"
"Phineas is still going to college…right?"
"Of course. Why?"
Isabella sat in front of her boyfriend's brother with confusion clouding her usually bright eyes. "He's been acting kind of strange this week."
Ferb was wonderful at poker, but still, he had to bite his lip to keep from grinning.
"Howso?"
"Well, Monday, he took me on a magic carpet ride. Tuesday, it was a romantic cruise. Wednesday, he flew me back to that deserted island we crashed on when we were kids. Then, yesterday, we went to Paris and tonight, he invited me here. He's not buttering me up so he can tell me he changed his mind about school and is going to take that NASA offer instead, is he?"
"Not that I know of."
Isabella opened her mouth to say something else when Phineas shouted up at the door.
"Hey, Izzy, could you lend me a hand with dinner?"
She was grinning again, put at easy by his smile. "Sure thing, Phineas. Thanks, Ferb."
She skipped out and headed towards the kitchen, while Phineas hung back.
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing, but she knows something's up. Are you ready?"
Phineas nodded as he left to meet Isabella downstairs. With quick instructions they got started making dinner, flirting as they worked in tandem and pausing occasionally to kiss. After a half hour, they had dinner on the table and were still laughing over something they'd said. They called the family in and ate as Phineas slowly grew more anxious.
"Mom, may Isabella and I be excused?" he asked, smiling to his girlfriend. When she agreed, he took Isabella's hand and led her to the backyard.
"It's going to be weird not being here every day, don't you think Phineas?"
He nodded. "We've had a lot of good times back here."
Isabella was about to say something when Phineas continued.
"There have been a lot of great adventures. But, you know…no adventure would be complete without you."
Isabella blushed. "Please, Phineas. You have an adventure every day."
"But you make every day an adventure, even if all we're doing is making dinner. And…I would like to have adventures like that every day."
Realization was just beginning to light itself in Isabella's eyes as Phineas pulled out the pink box and sank to one knee. She squealed, "Yes!" just as he was beginning the question. He chuckled.
"Oh, sorry. Go on."
Grinning, he asked, "Will you marry me, Isabella?"
"Yes!" she repeated louder, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her torso and returned the gesture.
His family—their family—began to cheer from their place behind the sliding glass door.