Perry came home, completely exhausted after the party Monogram had thrown him. He wanted nothing more than to just lie down and take a…
"SURPRISE!" Ferb shouted, jumping out of the bedroom closet.
"GAAH!" Perry jumped back. "Don't DO that!"
"You're an entire year older." Ferb said, handing him a balloon. "Happy birthday."
"You'd better not do that next year when I'm too old to withstand heart attacks." Perry warned.
"Phineas and I are treating you to dinner at Paul Bunyan's Pancake House." Ferb said. "We talked about it and arranged it this morning."
"Sounds good." Perry said. He smiled as he looked around the boys' bedroom. Ferb had decorated it even more in his absence. Teal streamers hung on the walls, and photos of Phineas, Ferb and Perry had been taped onto tons of wrapped presents.
"You've got two surprises this year." Ferb said. "I don't know if we already told you."
"Right. When are we heading to Paul Bunyan's?"
"Mum made you a cake." Ferb left the room.
"I guess after cake." Perry said to himself. He grinned and followed after Ferb.
...
"You have everything?"
"Yeah." Phineas headed toward the restaurant.
"Phineas."
Phineas turned around.
O'Riley held up a blue hoodie.
"Oh. Right." Phineas grabbed the hoodie and slipped it on over his head. "I always forget this sweater places. Once Ferb and I were on this ride, and I was wearing the sweater, and-"
"Do you need me to walk you in?"
"Danville's a pretty safe neighborhood." Phineas said. "Unless you count this evil scientist who lives here, but he and I are friends, so it's all good."
O'Riley nodded.
"Thanks." Phineas said. It had just burst out of nowhere. He didn't even feel like he needed to say it.
O'Riley's disdainful expression didn't change. "You're welcome."
Feeling furious with himself, Phineas turned and ran into the restaurant.
As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, he felt wonderful. He could breathe again. He straightened up and skipped over to one of the tables.
"Do they serve anything besides pancakes here?" Perry asked. "I mean, I get that it's a pancake house, but..."
Ferb turned around right as Phineas got to their table. He grinned.
"Ferb!" Phineas wrapped his arms around his brother. "Ferb, I missed you!"
Ferb hugged him back.
Phineas felt tears forming in his eyes. He wiped them away with his hand.
"It's all right, brother." Ferb said.
...
"I had no idea people could invent this many recipes involving pancakes." Perry said. "Pancake pasta, pancake shake, pancake corn-on-the-cob…"
"And don't forget the Paul Bunyan's special, the pancake-flavored pancakes with real crumbled pancakes inside." Phineas said.
"ATTENTION DINERS!" A man in a woodcutter's costume said. "THE PAUL-TASTIC RAFFLE WILL BEGIN SOON!"
"Paul-tastic." Perry said.
"Would you like a Chocolate Chip Pancake Balloon?" A woman asked, coming over to them. She was holding a bunch of balloons, each with a real pancake and chocolate chips in it. "Only three dollars."
"Sure." Perry said. "Why not." He paid and handed the balloon to Phineas, who shook it. The chocolate chips made a loud shaking noise. Phineas began to laugh.
"How pointless is this thing?" He asked.
"I felt bad for the lady." Perry admitted. "I felt like she wasn't gonna sell any of those."
"The raffle's starting!" Phineas said.
"Cool. Let's watch other random people win things." Perry said.
"We might win, too. I got us three raffle tickets earlier." Ferb said.
"AND NOW, THE ONE-MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE… GOES TO…"
A lady ran up when her number was called.
The next few prizes were DVDs, stuffed animals, books and CDs.
"AND FINALLY, THE CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKE BALLOON." The announcer said.
Perry sighed. "Of course. They're raffling it off. After we just bought one. And we're so gonna…"
"8790903, COME AND CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!"
Perry groaned and stood up. Phineas and Ferb were doubled over with laughter.
...
"Aside from the stupid balloons, this has been a pretty good birthday." Perry said, finishing off the rest of his banana pancakes.
"It gets better." Ferb said. "We still have that surprise for you tomorrow."
"A really awesome, big one." Phineas said. "It was gonna be an invention, but since I was gone, we didn't really have time to make anything. But you'll still love it."
"It's a monkey!" Perry joked.
"EVERYONE!" The Paul Bunyan employee in the woodcutter's outfit suddenly shouted. "TODAY'S A VERY SPECIAL DAY!"
"Is his last name Synonym?" Perry whispered to Ferb. "I think I know his wife."
"TODAY IS A BIRTHDAY!" The employee said.
"Oh no." Perry said. "You told them? Oh no…"
"AND SO IT'S TIME TO SING THE VERY SPECIAL PAUL BUNYAN'S BIRTHDAY PALOOZA SONG!" The man said.
He began to clap his hands. Everyone in the restaurant clapped their hands as well. A spotlight shone down on Perry's table.
"HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM PAUL OF US TO YOU, HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EAT LOTS OF PANCAKES TOO! HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL HAS AN OX THAT'S BLUE, AND HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FROM PAUL OF US TO YOUUUU!"
The man set down a plate with pancakes on the table, dripping with chocolate sauce. A candle was in the middle.
"Go on, Perry. Make a wish." Phineas said.
"Besides wishing that they'll never sing me that song again?"
"Besides that." Phineas said.
Perry smiled at him and blew out the candle. Everyone cheered.
"I'm glad you two are here." Perry said.
"We're happy to be here." Phineas said.
...
Perry and Ferb walked home alone. Ferb was holding one of the pancake balloons. He bopped it occasionally, and the chocolate chips made a loud noise.
"I hated walking Phineas back out." Perry said. "I can't believe Martin didn't just let him come home today. I mean, it's really nice of him to let him go back tomorrow, but... still. Phineas should get to choose."
"He's not even supposed to have him for any time at all." Ferb said.
"Right." Perry said. "He's not a part of his family. He's not a part of his life at all anymore. He shouldn't force him to randomly be away from his family."
"Well, yes. That, and... anger issues."
"…I had no idea."
"Phineas never talks about any of it. I found out through Candace's old diary after she threw it out." Ferb said. "Also, seven-year-old Candace really liked this boy named James. I wonder how Jeremy would feel about that.
"…Wow… I… didn't know… poor kid…"
"Cheer up." Ferb said, whacking him with the pancake balloon. "I didn't mean to make you sad on your birthday. My dear brother will be back with us forever and ever tomorrow. And," He added. "You managed to get TWO Chocolate Chip Pancake Balloons. No one else has two."
"No one else is dumb enough to acquire two." Perry said, but he laughed.
...
Perry watched the Carlos the Caring Clown dolls happily.
They were blasting into the air and exploding into many pretty colors.
It was the best fireworks show he had ever seen…
"Good morning!" Ferb said.
"Morning… why is it here already?" Perry moaned.
"Because it is."
"Too tired to get up."
Ferb picked him up. "Come on. We have to go."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"Do I have to bring anything? What am I supposed to wear?"
"You're a platypus. You don't have to wear anything."
"What if it's a black tie affair?"
"It's not." Ferb walked downstairs, carrying Perry under his arm. "I'm sleeping over at Baljeet's." He called to Linda as he passed her in the kitchen.
"All right, honey." Linda said. "Is Phineas going with you, or am I still picking him up?"
"He's coming. We'll be home tomorrow."
"All right, then. You two have a good time." Linda said.
"Your mom's so chill. Is Baljeet's sleepover a black tie affair?" Perry said.
"We're not going there." Ferb said.
Ferb opened the front door and they went outside. A giant yellow car was parked next to the mailbox.
"Hey, it's that all-terrain vehicle you guys built. Remote-controlled, right?"
"Yep. You don't have to worry about driving." Ferb opened up the door and helped Perry in. He hopped into the driver's seat and closed the door. "Now, hie we to rescue Phineas."