I AM FINALLY UPDATING! So, so, so, so, SO sorry about that, guys! This chapter took a LOOOTTTT longer to write than I figured it would ;) It may seem like a litle bit of boring filler I could've skipped, but, trust me, I would have skipped it if I could've -_- -_- But don't worry, I should be getting back into my normal speed with this story. In fact, I'm already almost done with the next chapter…. So you might get two updates today! Yay! If I don't update again today, I will tomorrow

I DO NOT OWN PHINEAS AND FERB. ANY CHARACTER YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE IS PROBABLY MINE

(Michael's POV)

The next couple weeks passed by quickly, and I'm not sure whether to be grateful or wish they had lasted longer. I couldn't help but wonder how many people living in the house with me thought I didn't know what I was entering with my next birthday, but I did.

I'd be entering the worst possible age range for my current position- the range of fourteen to sixteen, in which most animals became mates. Mom and Dad had become mates at sixteen, but the most common age in that range was fifteen.

Anyway, even with those weeks thinking about it and preparing myself, I still wasn't ready for little Michael- apparently, he and I had become "big Michael" and "little Michael"- to shake me awake, aware of what the day was for me.

(Pixie's POV)

I was definitely nervous about the day, and Michael was probably even more nervous. It was his birthday; my son was turning fourteen. For us, he was basically becoming an adult. And with his complicated position right now... I just hoped Michael appreciated what we were doing for him.

We always made his birthdays a big deal, even though, as Lydia pointed out, Perry and I had only missed four of his. Emily didn't know about Michael's past, so she didn't understand why we always treated his birthdays so specially. I hoped that she didn't think we were picking favorites because we weren't. We were just trying to make up for the four years Michael was away from us.

"Happy birthday!" came the familiar voice of Lydia's eight year-old son. There was the sign MY son was awake.

Sure enough, Michael wandered into the kitchen a couple minutes later, dazed from just waking up. I smiled at him. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"Thanks," he muttered.

"What is it?"

My son sighed. "I'm fourteen now. That's the last thing I need with my current problems."

I cocked my head and gave him a small sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry you're going through this, Michael. But today's gonna be fun- maybe that will help."

(Michael's POV)

Just then, I discovered a delicious smell wafting out of the oven. "What's that?"

Lydia, who I just realized was in the kitchen, grinned. "Can't have a birthday without cake, can you?"

"There's two smells," I realized.

"Well," Lydia replied, smiling, "not all of us like worms and bugs. Some of us like regular cake."

"One cake was made all with magic," Mom said, smirking up at Lydia. "I think you can guess which one."

"Hey, I've touched a lot of gross things, but I'm never gonna touch- or cook with- bugs," Lydia responded.

"What'll Christine eat?" I grinned. "I don't think she likes either."

"If she doesn't like either then she'll probably just be quiet and watch everyone else eat," Lydia said. "I know her enough to know she won't complain. I'm still at war with myself over whether I'LL eat any or not."

Mom and I stared, and Lydia explained. "I don't really like cake."

"Seriously?" It wasn't until after I heard myself that I realized just how much I sounded like Mom then.

Lydia and Mom noticed, too. "Wow..." Lydia muttered. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the spongy-like texture of cake and cupcakes- and I don't exactly love the frosting, either. But, then again, that's only if it's store-bought."

I exchanged a jokingly shocked glance with Mom. At the same time, Dad came down the stairs. Emily wandered drowsily behind him, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Dad," she whined, "why'd you wake me up so early?"

Dad, who had already made it down the stairs, sighed and turned to his daughter. "First of all, it's 9:47 in the morning. Second of all, today's your brother's birthday- you are not about to sleep in."

My little sister just huffed and crossed her arms.

(...)

After several more "Happy birthdays" and another couple hours, Christine came over. Anyone could have predicted what she said. "Happy birthday!" And Pinky and Dr. Doofenshmirtz said the exact same thing when they came over.

Finally, we all sat down in the living room. I glanced around. Not many people. There was my family, Lydia's family, Christine, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and Pinky. I wasn't ever real close to Phineas, Ferb, or Candace, so their families hadn't been invited.

Dad knew that I wasn't exactly excited about turning fourteen. In an attempt to lift my spirits, he began a conversation. "A lot happened when I was fourteen."

"Like what?" Well, it obviously caught Emily's attention.

Our dad grinned. "Let's see... I met aliens, helped superheroes, traveled to Paris, went to another dimension, helped defeat thousands of evil robots in the Tri-State Area..."

Mom had seemed perfectly nonchalant- like she had heard all the stories before- until the last one. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

"I had assumed that the robots had made international news," Dad grinned.

"Not that I'm aware of..."

A thought seemed to strike me and Emily at the same time, but Emily voiced it first. "Wait a minute... Mom, if you're from Australia, why don't you have an accent?"

Mom grinned. "Technically, I'm American, sweetheart. I hatched in America, I just grew up in Australia."

"Your mother had a little bit of an accent when we met, but it's all gone now," Dad grinned.

Lydia suddenly teleported out of the living room, startling all of us- but Christine especially. She let out a little yowl and almost fell off her spot on the couch next to me. I couldn't help but smirk. "So cats being high-strung ISN'T an old wives' tale?"

"Shut up."

"Lunch, anyone?" Lydia suddenly called from the kitchen. "The cakes are ready, and we kind of need to eat an actual meal first."

"Becoming a mother has ruined you!" I called to her with a grin.

"Michael, I would have said that before I even met you." I could tell by the tone that Lydia was grinning as much as me.

Honestly, everything almost seemed to happen in a rush with Lydia after I reunited with my family. One day I thought she was single, the next we were getting invitations to her and Caleb's wedding. It was really cool getting to go to another universe, though, even if it was only for a day.

"Seriously, though," came Lydia's voice again. "Lunch is ready."

(...)

Ever since Mom and Dad had become mates, there had been two tables in the dining room. The original one, with was where the humans sat, and the smaller one in which us animals sat.

Christine was sitting across the table from me. We made eye contact, and she smiled. I smiled back, though it was partly forced. For some reason, looking at Christine made me think of my problem with Courtney. But how? Christine couldn't have been related to it, right?

Thinking of my problem kind of ruined my appetite, but I managed to finish my lunch. Then Lydia brought out the cakes. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me, which I actually quite enjoyed, since it was going to be the last time it was sung to me- I was actually lucky I got a party today, since I was becoming an adult.

There weren't any candles to blow out, which I was perfectly fine with. I had never been very good at blowing them; thanks to my stupid scar from L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, I didn't have all that much core strength.

I barely managed to eat lunch, so dessert was practically impossible. Basically, I sat at the table, my head resting on my paw, my other paw picking at my cake with my fork.

"Michael, are you okay?" Mom asked. She glanced over at Dad, who had gotten one slice from each cake, and shook her head when he shrugged.

"I'm fine," I muttered, picking at the cake more. Mom obviously didn't believe me, and I couldn't blame her. I certainly didn't believe myself.

While Mom and Dad were both concerned, Emily was just confused as to why I wasn't eating my cake; she ate her own in practically one bite. Christine seemed concerned AND confused, and I don't think Pinky noticed at all because he was easily chatting with Dad. Everyone else was sitting at the other table, so they didn't notice either.

Unlike most birthday parties, there were actually no presents at this one. Which was honestly because I wanted it that way. When I was in L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, the only present I had gotten all four years was the fedora that I'm presently using as an agent, and I had only gotten that because Dr. Doofenshmirtz managed to smuggle it into L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N's old hideout. Everyone took their families and friends for granted, while, for me, that was plenty.

The rest of the party went well; we talked and played a couple of games before Christine and Dr. Doofenshmirtz had to leave. Since Pinky lived right across the street, he didn't have to leave for another thirty minutes after Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Chris.

Everything kind of became normal again after the guests left. I ended up lying in my bed until dinner. Most animals got mates somewhere between fourteen and sixteen, and I was now fourteen. I had a crush on my dad's mortal enemy's daughter who seemed to hate me. Things were going to get even more complicated now.

Anyone fall asleep reading this? ….No one? Anyone think it was kind of rushed? Maybe it was…. Anyway, yay! I made references to different PnF episodes in the same paragraph! They include The Chronicles of Meap parts 1 & 2, Mission Marvel, Summer Belongs To You, and PnF: Across the Second Dimension

The next chapter's shorter, but there's a very important conversation at the beginning youll need to pay attention to… It should be a much more exciting chapter than this one was ;P