Mary admired herself in the mirror. Fifteen years old today, and she felt pretty accomplished. Her family had given her a surprise birthday party. Well, did she have a surprise for them! It was time that her family understand that monsters really do exist and that she wasn't just baby babbling years ago. She was able to get Mikey and Sulley into the human world to prove it. It took several minutes for the adults in her family to finally say something. The first one was her grandmother, who admitted that she was involved in a camp scare that was told to have had real monsters years before Mary's dad was born. Mary took note of how Mike and Sulley cringed at the mention of the camp scare, and reminded herself to ask of it later.

Later, Mary took notice of her closet door opened a crack and peered inside. It was the Monsters' Inc warehouse, but no one was on the other side. Until a familiar face materialized in front of her.

"Hello Nathaniel." Mary said, smiling a little.

"Happy birthday Mary." the blue lizard monster said, smiling back a little as well. "So you're fifteen now?"

"Yep. Don't feel any older though."

Nathaniel nodded in agreement, then the two went into a near awkward silent.

"The, uh..." Nathaniel started, "The CDA has given me permission when you're eighteen."

Mary was quickly elated.

"They let you?!" she asked, happy and surprised.

"Yeah." Nathaniel agreed. "They even gave permission for you to stay in our world for a few monster years."

"Seriously?!" Mary asked, completely elated now. When Nathaniel nodded in confirmation, Mary gave him a very happy hug. At the sudden embrace, Nathaniel blushed until Mary pulled away.

"We have to tell Mom and Dad!" Mary told him, holding onto his arms in delight. Nathaniel wondered if she might be so happy, she could faint.

"Better yet!" Mary then added, "We should tell Kitty! He'll be so happy!"

"He won't be the only one." Nathaniel reminded her.

"That's right!" she agreed. "Mike and Celia would be happy too!"

Nathaniel looked a little irritated and hurt. Mary noticed this and she knew why too, but it was easy to push his buttons. She pushed her way past him and into the monster world.

"Come on, let's go tell them now!" Mary shouted over her shoulder, nearly running into a monster that was setting up for the day's laugh routine. Nathaniel paused a moment, then slithered after her wondering what kind of kid it takes to mess up an entire 'before time' mind set that children were deadly and prove that all they know is absolutely wrong. It wasn't like Mary was the most liked or remembered. She had a pretty stable family and pleasant childhood that no one should ever forget. Maybe she was just a kid that was at the wrong place at the right time. Who knows? But she sure did make things interesting for the rest of them, that's for sure. For all Nathaniel cared, he didn't believe there was a true rhyme or reason for it. He just cared that he could spend time with one of the most interesting girls (of any species) he had met. And it was going to stay that way for a long time.