Many thanks to Sabrina06 for being a sounding board and poking holes in this, making it a better story.

Rated T for teen romance.

Contains Phineas/Adyson, Isabella/OC, and Ferb/Gretchen; background Ginger/Baljeet, Buford/Milly, and Candace/Jeremy; and eventually Phineas/Isabella. (You're all shocked at that last, I'm sure. It's so unusual for me.)

Timeframe: (after prologue) Freshman year of high school, age fourteen.

Prologue

Nine years ago

"So it's down to these two houses," Aaron Garcia-Shapiro said to his wife, Vivian as they sat on the park bench. "The ranch-style on Maple Drive, and the two-story on Cypress Avenue."

"Isa really liked Maple," Vivian said, nodding toward their five-year-old daughter, busily climbing the play structure. "But I'm not sure if it was the house or the boys that lived across the street."

Aaron laughed. "I didn't think we'd have to worry about boys for a few more years yet. And those boys looked kind of weird to me. Who lets their five-year-old dye their hair green?"

"The schools are a little better on Cypress, but Maple has a pool."

"I don't know if I want a pool. They're holes in the ground that you throw money into," Aaron said. "Cypress has that spare bedroom. It'd be nice to have a guest room for when relatives visit, or we could turn it into a home office for me."

"Maple would be a much nicer commute for you."

"Cypress has more space between the houses. More privacy."

"Maple feels like it's more part of a neighborhood, and we can get to know the neighbors better," Vivian countered.

"You like Maple better, don't you?"

Vivian nodded. "You like Cypress better?"

"I do."

They bounced arguments back and forth for a while, until Vivian laughed and said, "Enough. We're not getting anywhere right now. I don't think either of them is a bad choice. Let's sleep on it tonight and see what we think in the morning. But right now, we need to go get some dinner."

Something told Aaron that they should decide now, but he let himself be convinced to rest on it.

In the morning, he knew that his wife was right; Maple was a better choice. He told her so, and she called the realtor. Halfway through the call, her face fell. "Oh. Should we put in a backup offer, then? Okay. Let's make an offer on Cypress, then."

She hung up the phone. "The seller accepted an offer on Maple late last night. I guess it's Cypress after all."