May 5, 2000

Phineas sighed, fiddling with the parts in his hands. He had gotten very good at inventing, very quickly. He still very much preferred to do it with Ferb, however, which had baffled him at first. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact actually enjoyed building crazy, logic-defying things.

Once he had gotten used to it, however, Ferb began to build much more often. Oftentimes it was whatever idea Phineas had come up with that day, as Ferb enjoyed what the 3-year-olds creative imagination could come up with, and enjoying the challenge of building them. 'Hey, Ferbmister, I know what we're gonna do today,' had become the daily phrase for the morning.

Phineas' dog Bucky was present in many an idea, and Ferb had come to love the dog just as much.

Today, however, Phineas seemed to be deep in thought as he made his miniature airplane idea. He had told Ferb this was one he wanted to do on his own, so Ferb was not yet sure what the purpose of the model was… though it did appear to actually fly.

At Phineas' sigh, Ferb glanced up curiously and saw Phineas staring at the ceiling.

"Ferbmister," he said. "Why do our shared parents act so weird around each other?"

Ferb gave him a look of amazement.

Phineas turned to him when Ferb did not reply in any way, having gotten used to some sort of response, even if it was usually nonverbal. "What?" he asked.

"Phineas," Ferb said, speaking up for the first time that day. "They like each other."

"Well of course they do. I don't think they would be able to live together otherwise." Phineas pointed out.

"No, they like each other." Ferb tried to clarify.

Phineas stared for a second in confusion before it seemed to click in his head. He gasped. "You mean they grown-up like each other?!"

Ferb nodded, still trying to figure out how Phineas had not known. It was glaringly obvious.

Phineas shot to his feet faster than a bullet. "WE'VE GOTTA GET THEM TOGETHER, FERBMISTER!"

Ferb bit his lip in hesitation, which Phineas noticed.

"Oh come on, you said they like each other. Besides, I've always wanted to play matchmaker. It sounds like fun when Candy talks about it."

"People don't like it when you try to control their life." Ferb said quietly.

"We wouldn't be controlling it." Phineas said in surprise. "You said yourself they like each other."

Ferb bit his lip, not wanting to point out all of the many possible ways this plan could go horribly wrong. They could make things very awkward between them. They could get in trouble. He could bring up memories that they both possibly wanted to forget. Worst case scenario, things could blow up badly between them and Ferb and his father could get kicked out of the house. They had nowhere else to go.

None of these things seemed to cross Phineas' mind, however, as he was scribbling on a fresh page in his sketchbook. "Okay, so I'm thinking romantic dinner!" he paused. "Or is that too cliché?"

Ferb sighed inwardly. There was no talking him out of this, was there? He met Phineas gaze and gave him a meaningful look.

Understanding crossed his gaze. "It's classic." Phineas realized with awe, and Ferb couldn't help the chuckle that escaped at Phineas' amazement at anything and everything.

"Okay! Okay! Here's what we're gonna do…"

…

"And… voilà!"

Ferb glanced up to see Phineas' finished product. His airplane design was finished, and on it was a platter covered with food. Phineas turned to him with a giant grin. "Do you get it?"

Ferb shook his head, tipping it in confusion.

Phineas threw his arms up. "Here comes the airplane!"

Ferb's eyes widened in surprise. Then he realized he should have known. Phineas' mind worked in unique ways that should have been easy to predict, but you just weren't thinking outside the box enough. He smiled at Phineas— the first real smile he'd shown him.

And Phineas lit up too. "Hey!" he called. "You smiled! I've never seen you smile before, Ferbmister! You have a really great smile!"

Ferb blushed and looked away.

"Okay, okay." Phineas set the airplane down in the middle of the table. "You stay here— you got your suit?"

Ferb nodded, holding up his suit— expertly hand tailored by himself. He and Phineas were to be the waiters. Phineas was already wearing his suit.

When they heard car doors close outside, Phineas grinned and ran towards the front door.

Ferb glanced around the table to see the conversation coming from the front hall. "Hello, mother and Mr. Ferbmister's dad." Phineas said, bowing like a fancy waiter. Ferb quickly ran to the bathroom and changed into his own suit while Phineas was talking, and gave Phineas a wink when he came back.

Phineas grinned wider, and turned back to their shared parents. "Welcome to your romantic evening." he said excitedly, and grabbed their hands to pull them into the kitchen.

"Phineas, what is this?" Linda asked.

But Phineas had stopped in the middle of the kitchen. "Ferbmister, where's the airplane?" Phineas asked.

Ferb turned and looked at the table only to see the airplane Phineas had built was gone. He walked over to the table and looked around, then turned back to Phineas and shrugged, just as surprised as he was.

"But— this is just like the April Fools Day prank!" Phineas burst out. "Where did it go?"

"Boys, what's going on?" Lawrence asked.

Phineas turned to them and sighed. "We made you a romantic dinner, because Ferb says you guys like each other like grown-ups do—" Both of them blinked in shock and shared a look. "But now it's gone, and I don't know where it went." He sat down on a chair in disappointment and settled his chin in his hands. Ferb walked over and put a hand on Phineas' shoulder, and Phineas sighed. "Thanks Ferbmister. I was just really looking forward to showing them."

Linda and Lawrence exchanged a second glance that said both of them were touched and also a little amused.

"You know what, kids?" Linda asked. "That was very sweet of you. So how about you go make some fancy dinner and the two of us will sit here and talk about grown-up things."

Phineas looked up in surprise. "You'd wait for us to make you another one?"

"Well, sure."

Phineas lit up and grabbed Ferb's hand. "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

Ferb figured they were expecting something like toast and some fruit cups, so they would probably be pretty surprised when the two of them started lamb cobbler. Ferb knew the recipe by heart, and was surprised to find Phineas knew it pretty well too.

But since their shared parents had already gotten there and they couldn't cook it for the required hour anymore, they just did it for 5 minutes in a specially souped-up oven.

Phineas needed help this time in carrying the entire plate into the other room.

"Oh my goodness!" Linda burst out, leaping up and taking the plate from the boys. "You made this?"

"Yeah. We told you we were gonna make you a romantic dinner." Phineas said happily.

"I was expecting, like, toast! And maybe some fruit cups!"

Ferb knew it.

"Oh! So it surpasses your expectations?" Phineas said in excitement.

Linda gave Lawrence a baffled look, who chuckled. "Don't underestimate Ferb's abilities in the kitchen. If he says he's making you a romantic dinner, he means it. I expect the same is true of Phineas." Lawrence ruffled Phineas' hair.

"Well… wow. Okay then. Let's have some lamb cobbler."

"YAY!" Phineas yelled.