Chapter One
It was the day before Stewie's fifth birthday party and while Lois ordered the family around, making preparations for his party, Stewie stayed in his room. He wasn't especially excited for his birthday. Fifth birthday meant that in just a few months, he'd start going to kindergarten. He'd be away from home almost all day. Of course, he'd been to daycare before, but that was only for an hour or two at the most. Everything was changing. Peter seemed dumber every year, but maybe Stewie just got smarter. Lois was taking a job at a make-up counter in the mall. This fall, Meg would head back to college. She'd really come out of her shell in college. Being away from the family was good for her. Chris was starting his senior year of high school. He'd actually made the football team the year before and had spent the summer working out at the gym. He'd lost a lot of weight and toned up. Then there was Brian, Stewie's best friend since he was a baby. But even Stewie knew that dogs aged faster than people and every year he worried that Brian might be gone forever.
That was why Stewie had locked himself in his room. He was trying to figure out a way to get his birthday wish: that Brian would stick around. He had thought about using his time machine, but he didn't want to be back in diapers or not be able to talk again. But maybe he could figure out something. He just didn't know what to do. He loved Brian, even if he'd never admit it.
The next day, at Stewie birthday party, he didn't have as much fun as Lois had hoped he would. They had a bouncy castle, a water slide, lots of snacks, and cake and ice cream. Stewie played with the other neighborhood kids, but he was still pretty worried. Halfway through the party, Stewie said he was going to get a drink of water, but he slipped upstairs into his room.
He was disconnecting wires and connecting them to other wires, thinking, when Meg stuck her head in his room.
"Hey, Stewie," she said. "Why aren't you down at your party?"
"Oh, I'm just...messing around with this thing..." said Stewie, hiding the wires behind his back.
"Oh, that time machine toy again?" Meg asked. She laughed a little bit and then said, "You can play with that later. Come on, birthday boy. Mom sent me up here to find you. It's time for birthday cake."
"Okay," Stewie said, figuring he'd start worrying about his time machine later. He tossed the wires to the side and followed Meg downstairs.
The two of them went outside and Lois turned to him with a smile. "There's my birthday boy!" she cheered. She was overly cheery, but also a little teary. Her baby was getting so big. She couldn't believe he was starting kindergarten already.
Stewie sat down at the picnic table and all of the other kids gathered around. Chris came out of the kitchen, carrying a huge birthday cake. There were five candles already lit. Everybody started singing happy birthday and Chris set the cake in front of Stewie as the song ended.
"Make a wish, little man," said Chris, grinning at him.
Stewie smiled up at him. The older Chris and Stewie had gotten, the more Stewie looked up to Chris. Stewie kneeled up. He took a deep breath and blew out all his candles. Everyone cheered and Lois began cutting the cake.
Stewie took two pieces of cake and went over to the tree in the yard. He leaned against it and began to eat. Brian walked over to him and sat next to him.
"What'd you wish for, Stewie?" asked Brian.
"Well, I can't tell you," Stewie said. "I can't tell anyone or it won't come true."
"Was it realistic or did you wish to take over the world again?" Brian asked.
"None of your damn business," said Stewie. "Did you want some cake?" he offered the second piece of cake to Brian.
"Thanks," said Brian. "Hey. Happy birthday."
"Thanks," said Stewie, smiling.
It wasn't until he finished his cake and stood up to throw away the plate, that he noticed everyone was moving slowly. The sky had turned dark blue and violet colors and the clouds were rumbling with thunder. Stewie looked up at the sky and then hurried to Lois.
"Mom?" he asked. "Mommy? What's going on?" She was moving slow too, although she didn't seem to notice. "Mommy?" he asked again, tugging at her sleeve.
She slowly stopped walking and turned her head towards Stewie. She started to open her mouth to speak, when Stewie suddenly felt like he'd been tipped upside down. The world spun and thunder rumbled again. Stewie tried to catch his balance, but tripped and fell instead. In the fall, he hit his head and everything around him went dark.
Little did he know that the discarded wires upstairs in his room were sparking together, the dial of his time machine spinning, and the lights flashing.