Hey everybody I'm finally posting the next chapter in the story of Simon and Marcy, I really hope everyone is enjoying it so far and will want more. For my first ever fan fiction I am getting some really positive feedback and I want to say thank you so much for your support. Maybe if I get enough support for this story I'll think of posting the chapters more often (totally not an obvious hint). Now this chapter was a little tricky for me to write and I'd be happy to go into details about it another time, but for now just enjoy it, and don't try to question to much about it if something is a little too confusing, so for now, enjoy!

Chapter 4: Marceline's Birthday

3 months had passed since Simon and Marcy had met, and now they were as close as father and daughter. They had only each other in this world and they were happy to be in each other's company. The night before the two had decided to stay in an abandoned house, and they gotten to sleep in actual beds. That night Simon was able to get a peaceful night's sleep, without nightmares or insomnia. That morning Simon had woken up refreshed and ready to take on the day. As he looked outside he saw that the sun was already high in the east, and realized he had overslept. When he went to go wake Marcy up he saw that the room she was sleeping in was empty. He quickly went downstairs into the living room and saw Marceline sitting on the floor playing with Hambo.

"Good morning!" she said, "You must have been really tired."

"Yeah I was, so how did you sleep Marcy?" he asked a little groggy.

"I slept great! It's really nice to have a warm bed to sleep in rather than on the cold ground in a sleeping bag."

Simon smiled, "Alright let's have us some breakfast, how does that sound?"

"Yeah I'm getting pretty hungry," she said rubbing her stomach

Simon walked into the kitchen and was about to grab some food from his pack until he saw a little calendar hanging on the wall. For some reason the calendar was set to October, this month and a little date was circled in pencil. Simon thought for a second. No one had been in the house before them, the whole place was covered in dust, and so shouldn't that calendar be a couple months late? He looked at the circled date, and then he saw a pencil on the table. Then Simon remembered.

"I'm six and three quarters," Marceline's voice rang in his head.

It was probably Marceline's birthday. He wasn't exactly sure if today was the day, it could be a couple days off, or a week or two, he hadn't really been keeping track. He could tell it was around October because of the cold weather and changing of the leaves. Marceline must have been thinking about it all week. Of course, she's just a little girl, and all little kids are excited for their birthdays.

"You saw that, huh?" Marcy said behind him, "We don't have to do anything special, if you don't want to."

Simon chuckled and turned around, "Well, of course we're going to do something! It's your birthday! And every birthday girl gets to enjoy their birthday. We're not going to have a boring old breakfast; we're going to have an awesome breakfast."

He then looked around and saw the stove. It was propane fueled and when Simon turned on the burner a little flame popped up.

"I saw a little convenience store just down the road, we can get what we need there," Simon said

Marceline smiled, "Thanks Simon, but I don't want you to have to do all this for me,"

"Nonsense, you're having an awesome birthday, whether you like it or not,"

Simon then put on his backpack and picked up Marceline to carry her on his shoulders. He walked a couple blocks until they had reached the convenience store. He set Marceline down to walk with him as he went to look at the cook books. Since they didn't have any dairy products, they'd have to find a recipe for a breakfast food that didn't require any. That's when Simon found a recipe for milk less and egg less pancakes. Simon ripped out the page and stuffed it in his pocket. He then went ahead and grabbed a basket for the supplies he'd need and proceeded to grab everything that he required. A mixing bowl, a whisk, all the ingredients for the recipe, a frying pan, birthday candles, a spatula, and syrup.

"Alright Marceline, we've got everything we need for your special birthday breakfast," he said

"Ok what are we going to have?" she asked.

"Oh you'll see,"

They made the journey back to the house and Simon set Marceline at the dinner table, put the frying pan on the burner, and turned it on. He then put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and stirred them together. Once he finished that he poured the mixture into the pan and cooked a stack of golden brown pancakes. He grabbed 2 plates from the cabinet, 2 sets of silverware, and set them on the counter. He then stacked the best of the pancakes onto one of the plates, placed 7 little candles in them, and lit them with some matches. As he carried the steaming stack of flapjacks over to Marceline he sang "Happy Birthday" to her and set the plate on the table in front of her. She blew out the candles and laughed with joy. Simon pulled out the candles and poured maple syrup on the steaming pancakes.

"Bon appetite, Marceline," he said with a smile

She hugged him so hard that it nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"Thank you so much Simon, you're the best!"

She began happily eating her pancakes as Simon ate some he had made for himself. Once he had finished, Marceline was still eating hers. He decided to go in the living room and sit down. Simon eased himself down into a chair and pulled his crown up from his side. He looked at the thing, utterly disgusted by its presence.

"Why do I even keep you?" he asked quietly.

"Because you need me to protect her," an icy voice whispered back.

Simon jumped; he looked around and saw that no one else was in the room.

"Down here Simon,"

He looked and saw the crown in his hands. It was talking to him. He was getting worse, now the crown was speaking to him without him even wearing it.

"Leave me alone," he whispered, "You torture me enough as it is. Without you on my head, I can actually get a moments peace."

"Don't be like that Simon, I'm your friend"

"No you're not, all you want from me is my mind, my sanity, and I won't let you have it."

"Now Simon, you're already too far gone, there's no going back, all you need is a little push into insanity, and I'd be happy to oblige."

Simon threw the crown across the room, filled with rage.

"You won't take what little piece of me that I have left. Without it I won't be able to protect Marceline!" he yelled

Marceline walked in and saw Simon

"Is everything okay Simon?" she asked, obviously scared.

"Yeah… yeah everything's okay" he lied "Don't worry, I just lost myself for a minute."

Marcy walked back into the kitchen, confused, as Simon went back to the crown on the floor.

"You won't take me away from her," he whispered

No response came from the crown

"At least… not yet."

He walked back into the kitchen and saw an empty plate in front of Marceline.

"All done I see," he grabbed the plate and set it in the sink. He turned to see that Marceline's mouth was completely covered in syrup.

"Ugh, Marcy," he said as he poured some water onto a wash cloth, "You're a mess; you look like a little pig."

Simon was trying to wipe her mouth but she fidgeted and giggled as he tried.

"Hold still little pig!"

"You're a pig Simon!"

"Well then I guess we're both pigs!"

Together they laughed and for the rest of the day they spent the time reading stories, telling jokes, and playing games. Afterwards Marceline had passed out on the floor. Simon carefully picked her up and carried her upstairs to bed. He pulled back the covers and tucked her in with Hambo, and kissed her forehead. As he was about to close the door he looked back and said.

"Goodnight my little princess," and then he closed the door, without so much as a creak.