Well, it's that time of year again... NATIONAL BIRD FEEDING MONTH! (Yes. That it is.) No, you all know I'm talking about Valentine's Day. And, once again, the Ferbellas are doing something! Yes! Last time was round-robin, I guess this time is like, Secret Santa, I mean, Cupid? Well, thank you to Spazzumtard, our supreme overlord in charge of this... because being in charge of Fourteenth of Feb was a whole lot of work. This one-shot is dedicated to bookgirlrt, (I'm your Secret Cupid!) who supplied me her list of gift exchange prompts to choose from (Girl, this was actually too fun when it finally came out). For the record, ha, maybe I'll take requests if someone has a great idea that they won't write themselves... although why not though, writing is awesome!
The tiny café was not extremely crowded, with the exception of one table. A table full of six beautiful young women, laughing and gabbing loudly. One with glasses and straight auburn hair and a little one with a brown puff. An African-American and a Japanese-American. A blonde and brunette. A whole clique of pretty, and loud, girls… enough to drive a guy crazy. It wasn't until the door opened and another woman walked in that they all squealed together in joy.
"ISABELLA!"
Isabella smiled to herself. "Hi guys."
The scooted around and hurriedly pulled up a chair for her. "Izzy!" Milly squealed. "You finally made it!"
"Sorry, guys. I got stuck in traffic." She said. "Why are you all so excited?"
"Just talking about Valentine's Day." Katie giggled.
"Because I got a date this year! Take that, MOM." Holly exclaimed.
Isabella laughed. "Mom still harassing you, Holly? What about the rest of you?"
"Most of us are single losers, Isabella. Not like you." Gretchen giggled. Isabella blushed.
"Well," Adyson blushed a little. "Django and I have been going steady for a few months. I guess he's planning something."
Katie groaned. "If I know Django… he went to Phineas for help." They all groaned together loudly. The redhead had never exactly been on-point with his love schemes – although that had never stopped him from trying.
Isabella turned to Ginger. "And you… Mrs. Tjinder?"
"Don't ask the old married lady." She giggled.
Isabella sighed. "What I would give to be the 'old married lady'."
They all sighed. "How long have you been dropping hints?" Gretchen asked.
"Forever! When will the stupid man just marry me? I never thought Ferb would be as oblivious as Phineas!"
Phineas and Isabella hadn't lasted longer than their first term of college and everyone was pretty surprised. Even Phineas and Isabella. But, when after losing touch with each other for so long, they realized that it was too late for them… their spark had died a long time ago. Of course, they were still friends, just… nothing more. Meanwhile, Ferb and Vanessa had a really bad break-up. A REALLY bad break-up. Then, Isabella decided to spend her year abroad in England. And, one thing had led to another and…
"Grr… stupid Ferb." Isabella groaned. "I don't even think the thought has crossed his mind! Once!"
"Aw," Ginger said comfortingly. "Well, he's Ferb. He's definitely going to do something nice for Valentine's Day."
"I know." She sighed. "We'll probably go somewhere nice. He always finds the best restaurants."
~~0~~
The restaurant was absolutely sparkling and glittering with everything done in its golden fashion. Ferb gently swerved Isabella, in her long black dress, into her chair, and without her looking, peeked into his pocket, checking out the tiny box that held the most important guest of tonight. He chuckled to himself. Well, she'll finally get what she wanted.
"Oh, this restaurant is so beautiful, Ferb! What's the occasion? Valentine's Day isn't for weeks!" Isabella said.
"Oh, no reason." He smiled. Just… wait until after dessert.
And they did wait… she had taken the very last bite of cheesecake and gently dabbed at her mouth, and he was about to reach for the box… when there was suddenly the little clinking noise of silverware on a champagne glass.
"Um, attention, everyone…" A sweet young man awkwardly said. "I have to say something. I think it's something I've wanted to say my whole life." And he got down on one knee. The girl he was with squealed… and Ferb groaned to himself.
~~0~~
"And, even when we're just at home, he'll still make it romantic." Isabella continued.
~~0~~
Ferb gently lit the candles around the dining room table. Perhaps not as fancy as a luxury restaurant, but more personal to do it in their apartment. And Isabella loved his cooking. Okay. Take two. He could do it this time.
"Babe," Isabella called, as she opened the door to their apartment. She gasped as she saw the dimmed lights, the candles, and the beautiful dinner set up for her. "What's all this?" He shrugged jovially. "Aww, Ferb." She kissed him. She sat down. "You spoil me."
I'll spoil you for the rest of your life, he thought to himself. If only he could get the ring on her finger.
"Isabella," Ferb began, when suddenly, the door opened, and four loud men came charging in.
"Isabella! Ferb!" Phineas cried.
"They cheated!" Baljeet exclaimed.
"What?" Isabella asked.
"They cheated!" Baljeet whined. "Buford and Irving cheated!"
"We didn't do anything!" Buford exclaimed. "They're just mad because they suck, right Irving?"
"Um…"
Isabella crossed her arms. "What happened, boys?"
"We were playing cards, and Buford was definitely marking them, and Irving was using cameras, and…"
"Um…" Phineas looked around. "Did we interrupt something?"
Ferb groaned again.
~~0~~
She giggled. "Sometimes, it doesn't always work out. There was a dessert fail earlier this month."
~~0~~
Ok, clearly, these straightforward proposals hadn't been working out so great for him. So maybe he should go with a classic. He went to the nicest bakery in town and ordered the most beautiful, expensive cake he could… red velvet, her favorite. And elegantly written on top… "Would you marry me?"
It was going to be delivered to the backyard, while everyone was just hanging out one evening. It was sort of a house party, so it would actually get eaten, ha. And beautiful Isabella would get all eyes on her.
Everyone was gabbing away, and it was almost time for the citronella candles to come out, when a food delivery truck pulled up.
"What's all this then?" Lawrence asked.
"Oh, I may have ordered something." Ferb said subtly.
"Um, I've got an order for… Ferb Fletcher." He signed for it and brought the box over.
"You open it." He said sweetly to Isabella. And say yes.
She shrugged and opened it. "Aww."
Yes, he said to himself. Third time's the charm.
"Those tiny finger sandwiches. They're so cute!"
"What?" Ferb responded blankly.
"Um, why did you randomly get these?" Adyson said, as everybody started devouring them. "Iz, your boyfriend is weird."
The next day he got a call… bakery mix-up. Figures.
~~0~~
"Mmm," She sighed. "But sometimes… the dessert is sooo good."
~~0~~
Forget subtly. Forget romance. Just go with… passion.
"Oh… wowwwww." Isabella sighed, as her head fell back down onto the pillow. "That was… oh… that was… oh… that was…"
"You're going to have to finish the sentence eventually." He smirked.
"Ferb," She giggled. "Just… let me catch my breath. Ooof. And the rose petals on the bed were a nice touch." Well, maybe a little romance. She ran a finger down his shoulder. "Any chance of me getting a round two?" She said seductively.
"God, tonight I'm giving you round four." He muttered to himself.
"What?" She giggled.
"I've been dying to ask you something." He whispered.
Suddenly, a horrible, unbearable shrieking noise started going off. "Oh my gosh, it's the fire alarm!" Isabella cried. "Something must be wrong."
Yeah, something was wrong. Someone up there must have it out for him.
~~0~~
"But, yeah, I don't think it's even crossed his mind. Do you know where our last date was? The park. It was nice and all, but, you know… oh."
~~0~~
Jesus Christ, ok, this time, he was not going to be involved at all! Maybe he was jinxed. Plan A, B, C, D… E! Plan E: Skywriter. "Will you marry me?" in the sky, for her. For Isabella. He would take her out, to the park, and it would be beautifully written in the sky for her.
She was clutching his arm as they walked in the frosty February weather. He waited until they got until the right spot and then he gently nudged her to the sky.
"Oh, ha," She smiled. "Look! That plane is writing something!" He smiled. Except, there was a lot of other junk in the sky. Including a tiny guy on a jetpack and purple blimp that said something "INC". Yeah… they were definitely going to be in the way!
"Will you…" It was so close… until the little jet-packed character started flying all through the plane's path. "…Perry? Ha ha. I think they mean 'Where's'." She laughed.
"Kill me." Ferb moaned.
"Hey." She said. "My joke wasn't that bad."
~~0~~
She sighed. "I just want him to propose to me already. I mean, come on! GOD!"
At that moment, marching into the café, came a tall young green-haired man. "Hi Ferb!" The girls waved.
"Babe, what are you doing here?" Isabella asked.
"Yeah…" He shook his head. "I can't wait any longer." And he took out the box. The girls all shrieked and everyone else in the café looked on excitedly and happily. As for Isabella, she was completely caught off-guard.
