HELLOOOOOO EVERYONE! I hope you all had a happy New Year! I really enjoyed my holiday as well as my winter break, and I hope that you, my beautiful readers, did as well. Thank you to all of you who have followed, favorited, reviewed, or added Born This Way to your communities. I truly appreciate it all. So without further ado... on with the story!

(A-POV)

I blinked a few times, allowing my unit's words to sink into my head. As they all hugged me with big smiles on their faces, I still stood frozen, rooted to the ground. Forcing myself to breathe, I relaxed my body and made my lips curve into a grin. "Thanks, guys. I'll be honest, I completely forgot I was turning eighteen today."

"We know!" Lucas exclaimed. "That's why we took it upon ourselves to remind you in the best way possible. A-"

Lily interrupted her brother with her own delighted tone, "-Group hug!"

"Hey, that was my line," Lucas grumbled under his breath. I laughed at the twins' antics and attempted to shuffle out of the suffocating embrace. Sensing this, my friends released their hold on me. "I can't believe that today is already August 20th," I said. "Damn, time goes by fast."

"Yeah, soon you'll be walking like an old grandma," Alex spoke up. He then proceeded to hobble like the elderly. I rolled my eyes, which he saw. "Don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady," Alex began in his best impression of an old woman. "I'll have you know back in my days if I had done that to my mother she would have-"

"Oh my Lord, you're insufferable." Exasperated, I threw my hands into the air and started towards the couches in the corner of the Hangar. I plopped myself onto the seat while Lily, Lucas, James, and Alex copied my actions. Alex sat next to me, Lily and James on the couch across from us, and Lucas in the chair by the small glass coffee table. "So, how's you're back, grandma?" I questioned, glancing at my second in command.

"Oh, dear. Thank you for asking. It's getting worse and worse every day. Ah, when I was young and hip, as you children say nowadays..."

"Not this again," I mumbled and playfully punched Alex's arm. He yelped and rubbed the spot where I had made contact with his body.

"Oh, that didn't hurt." I snorted.

"I'll have you know it actually did."

I smirked. "Wimp."

He only stuck his tongue out at me in reply.

I chuckled and looked at Lily, James, and Lucas. "So, what do you guys want to do? We haven't hung out that much together these past few months. I was hoping we could do something, ya know, like the good ol' days."

"Well, lucky for you, we have a whole day planned," James answered.

"Like what?" I met my friend's eyes and cocked my head a bit. The corner of his mouth lifted and he pointed his chin towards Lucas and Lily. "Ask them. They made a schedule."

"So, twins. What's first?" I smiled.

"That's it." I threw my cards down and crossed my arms. "I'm done."

Lily laughed and followed my lead. "Yeah, this isn't fair anymore. James has won every single game so far." We were all sitting cross-legged, in a circle on the ground while playing many games of Uno. The corner of James's mouth turned up at our words and proceeded to place a reverse card onto the pile. "Uno." He declared and placed his last card, which so happened to be a +4. "What the fuck!" Lucas cried and tossed all his remaining cards into the air.

"I don't know how you do it, man," Alex said, amusement in his voice. James shrugged and dragged a hand through his hair.

"Can you tell us how you do it?" Lily asked, perking up at the thought of learning how to win for once. She's almost never won a game before. The only time she's ever beaten us all was when James wasn't present. It was hilarious. Actually, the only time each of us has won a game was when James wasn't playing.

I chuckled under my breath and leaned into the conversation. James took one look at Lily and he winked. "A magician never tells his secrets." Lily pouted and crossed her arms.

Lucas mumbled, "I wouldn't be surprised if you were using magic to win." My unit laughed at that, and I picked up everyone's cards and proceeded to shuffle them.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for another round." Once I dealt Lily, Lucas, James, Alex, and myself seven cards, we were locked into the game. Everyone became focused, all hell-bent on beating James this time. It seemed like forever until I finally had only one card left. "Uno!" I gleefully proclaimed, bouncing in my spot. Lily placed her card, then James, Alex, and then Lucas who had their turn before mine. He knitted his brows together. "I hope you don't have this card. Oh please, please, please..."

Lucas put down a two and I shrieked, throwing my yellow two onto the pile. "FUCK YEAH!" I jumped to my feet and pumped my fists in the air. "I won, I won, I won!" Bending down to James, who was grinning from ear to ear, I scrunched his cheeks together so that he looked like a fish.

"Oh, poor baby. Looks like you lost this time." He laughed and I moved onto my next victim.

Lily, who was visibly frustrated, yelled. "Okay, there's some sort of trickery to this. How do I manage to lose every single game?"

"Hun, it's because you're horrible," I replied. "You are the worst Uno player I have ever met in my entire life." Lily stuck up her middle finger and stuck out her tongue at the same time.

Alex copied in a singsong voice, "Yeah, it's because you suuuuuck." She only narrowed her eyes and pounced on him like a cat. I could have sworn she actually hissed. Completely not prepared for her assault, Alex had barely enough time to put his arms up. He was knocked back by Lily and tried to roll out of the way. Despite his best efforts, She was there, waiting for him. She took her hands and reached for his hair. A moment later, Alex cried out, "No, not the hair!"

Lily laughed evilly and messed his hair up even more. Once she felt satisfied with her work, she sat down and smirked. At that point, Alex looked like a six-year-old with his hair tousled. Some parts were sticking up, others flattened against his head. He pointed a finger at Lily and spoke, "I'll get you back for that. You better watch your back, Ward." She waved a lazy hand in the air, brushing off the threat.

"Does anybody know what time it is?" Lucas asked the group. I was the first one to pull my phone out of my pocket and glance at the time.

"It's 3:30. Crap, I can't believe we've been hanging out for, like, eight hours."

"You know what they say, time does sure fly when you're having fun," James added.

"And," Lucas added, "since time has flown by, it's time for the grand event!"

"What would that be?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes in his direction.

Lucas waggled his eyebrows and announced, "It's time for... drumroll please... presents!"

I sighed. "You know you guys didn't have to get me anything, right?"

"Oh please, as if we wouldn't get you stuff for your eighteenth birthday." Lily scoffed. At that exact moment, The Autobots walked in, along with the N.E.S.T soldiers who had accompanied them on the mission.

"Ah, right on time." My second commented. I threw him a confused look but he didn't seem to notice. My unit got up off the ground and collectively grabbed my arms, pulling me to my feet. We all walked over to the couches and they sat me down on one of them.

"Don't move," Alex commanded.

The Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes and summoned their holoforms. One by one, each group of people left the hangar until I was the only one there.

"Um, guys?" I called out. "What's happening?"

For a few awkward minutes, I sat there, drumming my fingers on my knees. "Well," I said aloud into the empty space, "this isn't weird at all."

My unit was the first group to come back, hands holding wrapped gifts. The Autobots came next. Sideswipe held one, and Ironhide another. My eyes widened in surprise. I didn't even know they knew it was my birthday. My unit must have filled them in. A couple of moments later the N.E.S.T. crew walked in with three people holding a two-tiered cake. I gasped, putting a hand over my mouth.

Epps and Lennox lead with grins plastered on their faces.

Everyone gathered around and the soldiers carrying the cake placed it on the table in front of me. One man pulled out a lighter and lit the candles. The lights overhead flickered off, and people began to sing the "Happy Birthday" tune. Of course, my unit had to do something special and sing off key, as well as at different times than everyone else. Towards the end of it, the song sounded... well, it was rough.

I snickered as the final note fell and blew out my candles. Everyone clapped and cheered. I couldn't stop smiling.

"Okay, okay, it's time for presents now!" Lily jumped up and down and grabbed a present off the pile that had formed. She and Lucas each grasped one end of an envelope and handed it to me. I pulled out a card and opened it. My jaw dropped and I glanced up at them. "This is way too much. I can't accept this."

" Nonsense. You need a new wardrobe makeover anyway. Besides, you barely have enough clothes on base to live here anyway. It's time for a new shopping spree."

"Yeah, and when we go to the mall I can scout for a boyfriend," Lucas said, wicked delight lighting his eyes. He shrugged. "Or a girlfriend. Whatever I'm into at that time."

Snorting, I watched Alex go next. He passed me three presents. Rapping my knuckles on them, I instantly figured out what they were. "Ah, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Crown of Midnight, and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas! Thanks so much! I needed these ones."

I unwrapped James' gift after. The smaller one was a framed picture I hadn't seen in a long, long time. "Oh, James. How did you find this?" It was a family portrait. At the time, I was only nine years old and holding my baby sister, with my tongue sticking out and my eyes crossed. My father was looking at my mother like she was the center of the universe while she was laughing at her children. Liam was at the end of his toddler stage and Becky was a newborn.

Tenderness was all over James's face. "I was unpacking some books you lent me and the picture fell out of one of them."

I opened the bigger present and almost cried out. It was a much larger image of the framed one. Except, it had been painted on a canvas. It was the most beautiful art I had ever laid eyes on. "Did you paint this?" I breathlessly asked as I held it up.

He nodded once.

"It's incredible. Have you ever thought about becoming an artist full time, or even going to college for a degree?"

A sheepish look. "I have, but I don't think I could-"

"Yes, you could. No artist that I know of would have done such an amazing job with this replica."

James crinkled the corner of his eyes. Thank you.

I winked. You're welcome.

Following that present, two gifts landed in my lap. I looked up to see all the Autobot's holoforms eagerly staring at me. "Can yous open the big one first?" Skids chirped.

I raised my eyebrows and responded, "Of course."

"Wow, thanks!" I held up the pair of leather boxing gloves for everyone to see.

"You have to wear those every time you work out," Ironhide spoke gruffly. "I don't want to see another case of split knuckles again."

I smirked and saluted. "Understood, sir." He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I picked up that last present and opened the box. "Is this... Cybertronian?"

"Yes," Optimus said.

"What does it say?"

"It is your name spelled in Cybertronian glyphs."

"Aw, guys!" I stood up and ushered every person, including the soldiers into a group hug. "Thank you for all the amazing gifts."

Ratchet pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket. "Actually, I have one more." He handed me the paper and I cocked my head curiously. I read the words and glanced up. "It says, solution."

The medic dipped his chin. "I figured out the solution to your problem."

"How the fuck did you do that?! And what is it?"

"It was actually simpler than we imagined." He shrugged. "Since you are becoming a Cybertronian, all we have to do is teach you how to conceal your energy signature. We have to treat you like you were a sparkling because, technically, you are. All sparklings receive this training when they're very young."

"Hold up," Lucas interrupted, "what does he mean by you're 'becoming' a Cybertronian?"

So I told them everything. When I finished I looked around at their shocked faces.

"When we go to the mall, we're gonna get you a nice mani-pedi or a massage to ease away all the stress you've had the past three years!" Lily declared.

A chorus of laughter at that. "So, did you have a good birthday?" Alex inquired.

"It was the best one I've had in years."

Hello again! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Don't worry, we will be getting back to business very soon, especially now that Alestia has the solution to her problem! Don't hesistate to leave reviews telling me what you like about it or if you have any ideas!