Isabella looked at her watch, and around at the young women lounging around the food court seating area in the student union, almost empty of people because the restaurants were closed while classes were not in session.

"So, chief," Gretchen began, "why do you think Ginger called us all here? We haven't had an all-hands-on-deck like this since Django asked me to the prom."

Isabella shrugged. "She said she had big news and wanted to share it with all of us at once. Maybe she finally pried Baljeet away from Buford?"

Adyson laughed. "Not likely. I saw the boys together about two weeks ago, and they were totally still a couple."

Milly pointed at the door. "There she is!"

Right on time, Ginger came in with a hesitant smile on her face, holding her left hand so it was covered by her right. As she approached, the other girls grouped around her, eagerly awaiting the news.

"So what is it, Ginger?" Holly asked. "Why are you hiding your hand? Did somebody propose?"

Ginger took a deep breath and revealed her hand, showing off the wedding ring.

Isabella sat back, shocked, as the rest of her former troopmates shouted questions.

"...a wedding ring?" "You didn't invite us?" "Who's the lucky guy?"

Ginger said, "I'm sorry you didn't get invited. It was a small family thing at the courthouse, because we had to do it quickly. Baljeet's father's visa was about to run out, and the fastest way to make sure he stayed in the country was...well...this."

Isabella smiled at the Japanese young woman. "Congratulations, then. You finally got him away from Buford?"

Ginger looked a bit wistful, and a bit embarrassed. "No. We're sharing him. Well, after this week. It's our honeymoon."

"Ginger," Gretchen said disapprovingly. "You told us that if you even considered getting back together with Baljeet while he was still involved with Buford..."

Ginger nodded. "You should kick my ass, yes. I know. Believe me, I know. It wasn't my ideal. What was I supposed to do, let them ship him back to India?"

"No, of course not," Isabella said. "So how's married life treating you so far?"

Ginger's face broke into a smile. "It's incredible. Being able to say he's my husband is just...the best thing ever. No worries about whether he's going to change his mind. No worries about what somebody suspects you're doing, or getting upset about it - both our parents know we're living together, and everybody's okay with that."

"Do they know about Buford, too?" Milly asked.

"Yes. You know Baljeet - no lies about what he's doing. Baljeet's parents aren't surprised. My parents are...coping. Buford's mother...well. Still the same." Ginger answered.

Katie spoke up. "Ginger...if you guys are on your honeymoon, what the heck are you doing here instead of...um...spending time with him?"

"We can't screw all the time. Tempting as the idea may be," Ginger said. "We're supposed to meet up in a bit for lunch, actually, and then we're dealing with his green card. But I needed to share this with somebody, and you all were first on the list."

"You know, Baljeet, if you'd asked people back when we were kids which one of us would have the most complicated love life, I don't think anyone would have picked you," Phineas said, straddling a chair in the Hirano-Tjinder kitchen.

"Actually, I might have," Ferb said. "He was always more interested in romance than the rest of us."

Phineas rested his head on his arms, spread across the back of the chair. "I suppose. I remember when we built that cruise ship that you took...what was her name, Missy?"

"Mishti," Ferb said.

"Right, Mishti, sorry. Took Mishti for a romantic cruise on. And I seem to recall you being interested in Isabella as well, now that I think about it." Phineas glared at Baljeet out of the corner of his eye.

"Phineas, you do not have to worry about me trying to steal Isabella. The last thing I need is a third partner."

Phineas laughed. "I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. It's only fair, after what you've done to the guys dating Ginger's friends. Like me."

"What do you mean?" Baljeet asked, puzzled.

Phineas turned to his brother. "How long until Isabella wants an engagement ring, do you think, Ferb?"

"Now," Ferb said. "Although it might help your chances of getting her to go along with your idea of sharing an apartment."

Phineas thought. "That's...a good point."

Baljeet gave the brothers a confused look.

"Isabella's going to Boston College," Phineas began. "I'm going to MIT, and Ferb's going to Harvard. We all had to stay in dorms last year, but Ferb and I were going to get an apartment in Cambridge next year. I was hoping to convince Isabella to move in as well, but..."

Ferb finished where his brother didn't want to continue. "She doesn't want to admit to her mother that she's sleeping with Phineas."

Phineas turned bright red. "We offered to get a three-bedroom so she could have her own room."

Ferb said, "Not even Amanda would believe you were sleeping separately under those circumstances. And she's not even a year old."

Baljeet shrugged. "I will note that once you are married, parental approval ceases to be a problem."

Phineas sighed. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

"I was not sure either," Baljeet stated plainly. "But now that I has happened, I do not ever want to give it up. Knowing that we have committed to each other, and promised to stay together...if I had realized, I might have considered doing this earlier. Part of why Ginger broke it off was because she was worried that I was not sufficiently committed to a relationship with her. The marriage makes it clear - I am."

Phineas asked, "How's Buford taking this? Since, unfortunately, you can only marry one of them. Legally, at least."

"I do not know for certain, as I have not seen him since the wedding dinner, but he seemed okay with it. We will actually be spending more time together this way than we usually did last year. His drive to school is somewhat worse, though, since Tri-State University is much closer to downtown. That will get difficult once hockey practice starts."

Ferb shook his head. "This would be so much easier if you could choose one of them."

Baljeet nodded sadly. "I am aware. But...I love each of them so much. Phineas - I know it is not quite the same, but if I were to tell you to choose between Isabella and Ferb, could you do it?"

Phineas looked at Ferb. "No. No, I couldn't. I get your point."

Baljeet arrived exactly on time for lunch, which pleased Ginger immensely. (Punctuality was on the list.) The food court at the Googolplex mall provided many options for them; Ginger succumbed to her weakness for Mr. Slushy Dawg while Baljeet got soup and a sandwich from the bakery.

"So how did they take it?" Baljeet asked.

"I am officially owed one ass-kicking, but we knew that already. Suspended sentence unless and until you do something that makes me run back to them crying."

"I have no intention of doing that, and now I have extra incentive not to. I would be a poor husband indeed if I got your very lovely ass kicked."

"Isabella is probably going to tackle Phineas about an engagement ring by the end of the week," Ginger reported.

"He suspected as much," Baljeet said. "I think that by the end of the week, he will have decided it is a great idea. We may have started a trend, you know."

"Hah. Our little courthouse wedding may cause a boom for local jewelers, wedding venues, and caterers? Because you know as well as I do that Isabella will not put up with two witnesses and a judge."

Baljeet laughed at the image. "Oh, no. I am quite certain she has had her wedding to Phineas planned out since she was twelve."

"Eleven, actually. She told the troop about it. This was back when he was still Mr. Clueless and she spent half her time in Phineasland."

"And yet he still figured it out before I did." He reached over to grip her hand. "Are you upset that you did not get the big wedding?"

"Oh, God, no. My mother wanted it, but I didn't, and neither did Stacy. I think Mom's just out of luck there."

She saw Buford enter the food court; he didn't notice them or look in their direction, but went straight for the pizza stand. Dammit. Do I call out to him and get his attention? Point him out to Baljeet? Pretend I didn't see him?

I need to live with him. I might as well get used to dealing with him.

"Hey, look, Buford's here," she said.

Baljeet turned to see, then looked back at her with concern in his eyes.

"Call him over, it's okay," she said. "Yes, I know we're still on our honeymoon, but I'm not going to make you pretend he doesn't exist."

Buford had just finished paying for his pizza and was looking for a table when Baljeet waved and caught his attention. He walked over like a puppy expecting a swat from a rolled-up newspaper.

"I'm sorry," Buford began. "I didn't mean to..."

"You're fine, Buford," Ginger interrupted. "I'm not trying to make you a non-entity for the week. How are you doing? Looking forward to moving in?"

Buford nodded. "Yeah. Getting my stuff ready to go. Hey, Baljeet, did you do that workout I sent you?"

Baljeet looked abashed. "No, I have not. We have been running in the mornings instead."

"That's great!" the large man said. "Thanks, Ginger. I ain't been able to get him to do that before. It took me months to get him to the gym at all."

Ginger looked at both of them. "What's this about a workout?"

Buford answered, "Since he couldn't make it for our usual workouts at the gym this week, I talked to the team trainer and got a workout for him to do on his own. Which he didn't do." He frowned at the Indian man.

"When's your usual workout?" she asked.

"Mondays and Thursdays, at least for now. We'll fix the schedule once everybody knows their classes for the semester."

She thought for a second. This is important to him. To both of them. "Would you mind if I joined in? It's okay if you say no and just want this to be something for the two of you, but I'd be interested in trying it."

Baljeet and Buford looked at each other; Buford shrugged. "Fine with me. Mind me runnin' with you? Coach wants me to run more often, but it's hard to get movin'."

"Deal," she said.

Because if there were no Phinbella in it, you wouldn't believe it was actually me writing it.