(A/N: Here's a rather interesting fanfic. It's the story of the very first time Mario and Luigi celebrated their birthday in the Mushroom Kingdom. Let's get this story started and see just how that day went for our favorite twin brothers!)

It was the morning of October 11th in the Mushroom Kingdom. The weather was getting to be a lot cooler than it was in September, the leaves were changing colors and falling from the trees, and all of the Toads were getting hyped up for Halloween, which was right around the corner.

But October 11th happens to be a very special day in the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, this is a very special day for Mario and Luigi, the kingdom's greatest heroes. Say, why don't we head on over to their place and see what the Super Mario Bros. are up to on this happy morning?

At the Mario household (which had been expanded a few months back), Mario was just waking up from a good night's sleep. As he looked around his room, he felt really happy, like something super exciting was supposed to happen today. But what was it again? He must have forgotten overnight.

"I think I'd better check il mio calendario, my calendar. That should help me to remember." Mario said to himself as he got out of bed. He slipped his feet into his red slippers and walked over to the calendar that hung on the wall of his room. A quick glimpse showed him that today was the 11th of October. Now Mario remembered why today was a happy day.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Oggi è il nostro compleanno. Today is our birthday." Mario said with a smile.

(A/N: I read that the second issue of Nintendo Power magazine stated that Mario's birthday is October 11th. Since I'm going by the theory that Mario and Luigi are twins, October 11th is Luigi's birthday, too.)

Then Mario realized what he just said, and his eyes got really big.

"Mama-mia! Our birthday! And Princess Peach said she wants me and Luigi to come to the castle today because she's throwing a birthday party for us! Who knows what time she'll want us to be there?!" Mario exclaimed.

Wasting no more time, Mario grabbed some clean unmentionables, ran out of his room, grabbed a bath towel and washcloth from the linen closet, and hurried into the bathroom to take a hot shower. Once he was inside the bathroom, he closed the door, set down his stuff, and began stripping off as he turned on the water and waited for it to warm up.

It didn't take long for the water to warm up to a temperature Mario liked. When he stepped into the shower and stood under the hot water, he began to feel good. In fact, he was in such a good mood that he started singing "Birthday" by the Beatles as he began to take his shower.

However, Mario's singing was just loud enough to wake up his younger twin brother, Luigi, from his slumber. The younger birthday boy was not amused to find himself waking up to the sound of Mario singing in the shower. Luigi usually had no problems with Mario singing in the shower, but if he was still trying to sleep, then it was a problem.

"I guess I'm going to have to tell Mario to cut out that racket so I can get some more sleep." Luigi muttered to himself as he got out of bed and slipped his feet into his green slippers. Then he left his room and walked over to the bathroom door, ready to tell Mario to be quiet so he could get back to sleep.

"Yes, we're going to a party, party..." Mario was singing happily as he shampooed his hair. But then he suddenly heard what sounded like someone pounding on the bathroom door, cutting off his song.

"Don't come in, and quit trying to break down the door!" Mario called as he quickly began rinsing the shampoo out of his hair.

"Mario, it's-a me!" Luigi's unhappy voice replied.

"Oh, Luigi! Buongiorno! Good morning, bro!" Mario cheerfully replied.

"Mario, you woke me up! Now please stop that singing and go back to bed so I can get some more sleep. It's-a too early for this!" Luigi told him.

"Sorry, bro, but I can't go back to bed now, and you really should be thanking me for getting you up. Today is un giorno speciale, a special day." Mario said.

"Oh, is it really? And why is today so speciale?" Luigi asked. His mind was still in the fog of half-sleep, half-wake, and because of that, he didn't really remember what today was.

"I'll tell you why... in a song!" Mario replied, and he started singing, "You say it's-a your..."

"Mario, you don't have to sing me the answer! Just tell me!" Luigi said, clearly frustrated.

"Okie-dokie, you don't have to be so rude, considering the song was written by the Beatles..." Mario said to himself, before saying out loud to Luigi, "Buon compleanno, fratellino! Happy birthday, little brother!"

Hearing that caused Luigi to wake up more fully, and now he remembered that today wasn't a day for him to be mad at Mario. This was a day for celebration! It was their birthday!

"Mama-mia! Is today really our birthday?!" Luigi asked.

"I wouldn't be singing the Beatles' "Birthday" if today wasn't October 11th." Mario reminded him.

"Good point." Luigi said to himself. He then said to Mario, "Mi dispiace. I'm sorry for getting mad at you."

"You were still sleepy, Luigi, so I can't blame you for being mad. All is forgiven." Mario replied.

"Okie-dokie. So, when do we go to the princess's castle? You know she's throwing una festa di compleanno, a birthday party for us today." Luigi reminded Mario.

"I remembered that little fact as soon as I saw what day it is, which is why I'm in here right now. We'll go over there when she calls and tells us to show up, which will probably be around mid-morning." Mario said.

"Oh, right. She did promise to call and let us know when to show up." said Luigi. He decided that he may as well get ready to take a shower himself, so that he too would be nice and clean when they went to the castle to celebrate. But he had to wait for Mario to finish up first. In the meantime, he would make his bed. It gave him something to do, and if he did it now, he wouldn't have to worry about doing that chore later on.

Mario emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, clad in his red bathrobe and slippers. His hair was still a little damp, but it was clean and combed, and he also looked happy at the sight of Luigi standing outside the room with his unmentionables, washcloth, and towel in hand.

"You can go in now." Mario told him.

"All right. And buon compleanno, fratello maggiore. Happy birthday, big brother." Luigi said to Mario, smiling at him.

"Grazie. Thanks, Luigi. After I take my towel, washcloth, and pajamas to the laundry room, I'm going back to my room to make my bed and get dressed for the day." Mario said.

"You do that." Luigi said as he walked into the bathroom to take his own shower.

Mario dropped off his towel, washcloth, and pajamas in the laundry room, then walked back to his bedroom and looked in his closet. What should he wear today? Well, it was his and Luigi's birthday, so he figured they should be allowed to wear whatever comfy clothes they wanted. And Peach didn't say that she wanted them to dress up for the occasion.

"Then I guess I know what I'm going to wear today." Mario said to himself with a decisive nod. He pulled out a red, long-sleeved shirt and some blue overalls, which is what he usually wore, whether or not he and Luigi had plumbing work to do. Then he got himself dressed for the day.

Within minutes, Mario looked like he was just about ready to go over to the castle to celebrate this happy day, and the fact that he and Luigi were another year older. But he still had to make his bed, and then he had to have breakfast.

"I guess I'd better finish the morning work first." Mario said to himself as he began to make his bed. He didn't make his bed as neatly as Luigi could do his, but it was made nonetheless.

Mario had finished making his bed and was just about to head downstairs again when he saw Luigi emerge from the shower, clad in his green bathrobe and slippers, looking fresh and new.

"Mario, I forgot to ask: do you really think we should wear our usual attire today, or should we get dressed up?" Luigi asked, seeing Mario in his usual outfit.

"Well, if today is our birthday, then I think we should be allowed to wear the kind of clothes we feel the most comfortable in." Mario said.

"So, I don't have to dress up for the party?" Luigi asked hopefully.

"I don't think so. Not if you don't want to. As you can see, I'm not dressing up for it, and I don't think Peach would expect us to do that unless she was taking us somewhere really fancy. She didn't say whether or not we needed to dress up, so if you want to wear your usual attire, like I am, then fallo e basta, just do it." Mario said.

"Good, because you know how much I hate dressing up." Luigi said with a sigh of relief.

"I'm not too keen on doing so, either, Luigi, but if la principessa, the princess, says that she wants me to dress up, then I'll gladly do it for her." Mario said. He really liked that woman.

(A/N: This story takes place before A Super New Year's Eve, so Mario and Peach aren't boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but Peach has a monster crush on both Mario and Luigi, and they're crushing on her.)

"Lo so. I know. I guess I would do the same thing, if it would please her. Well, I'm going to get myself dressed after I take these to the laundry room." Luigi said, and he was about to make his way to the laundry room with his towel, washcloth, and pajamas.

"Hold on, Luigi. I'll take your stuff to the laundry room for you since I'm heading downstairs myself. You can go get dressed and ready for the day." Mario told him.

"Grazie! Thanks, Mario." Luigi smiled, handing his things to Mario.

"That's what big brothers are for, Luigi." Mario replied, returning his little brother's smile.

Luigi then walked into his room to get dressed, and Mario made his way downstairs to throw Luigi's things in the laundry room. When that was done, he went to the kitchen to start fixing breakfast. Now Mario wasn't usually the one to prepare breakfast. That was something Luigi usually took care of. But today Mario decided to cut Luigi a break and do that job himself. He got out the things he'd need to start making pancakes.

When Luigi came downstairs, dressed for the day, he made his way to the kitchen, trying to figure out what to fix for breakfast. Imagine his surprise when he entered the room and found Mario standing at the stove, fixing pancakes for their breakfast. Luigi hadn't expected this, for he was planning to prepare breakfast himself, as usual.

"Mario, you're fixing breakfast this morning?" Luigi asked in surprise.

"Sì." Mario replied, before asking, "Why do you ask? Is there something wrong with me doing the cooking once in a while?"

"No. I'm just really surprised to find you preparing the food, that's all. Normally, I do that, and I was going to do it as soon as I finished getting ready for the day." Luigi said.

"Yeah, well, I decided that today I'm going to do the nice brother thing and take care of that job for you. Besides, it is our birthday." Mario replied.

"Aww, that's really nice of you, bro." Luigi said with a smile as he went to the cupboard and took out two plates and two glasses and set them on the table. Then he got out two knives and forks and set them by each plate before walking over to the fridge.

"Mario, what do you want to drink? Juice, or milk?" Luigi asked as he looked in the fridge to see what they had.

"How about chocolate milk? I think it will go well with what I'm fixing for us to eat on this happy morning." Mario said as he flipped the pancakes.

"I guess chocolate milk does sound like a pretty good drink to have with pancakes." Luigi said as he got out the milk carton.

"Oh, but these aren't just your ordinary pancakes, Luigi." Mario began.

"Are they speciale?" Luigi asked.

"Very. These are chocolate-chip pancakes." Mario replied.

"Of course." Luigi said with a smile. What else would his brother want to prepare for breakfast? He quickly poured two glasses of milk, and then he added some chocolate syrup to Mario's glass and stirred it in order to fix Mario his favorite dairy drink.

A minute later, the pancakes were ready and Mario transferred the food to the plates. Luigi began to butter his pancakes, but he was more than surprised to see Mario decorating his own pancakes with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and more chocolate chips! He pretty much acted as though his pancakes were an ice cream sundae, sans the ice cream.

"Mario, I really don't think you need to turn your breakfast into a dessert!" Luigi protested as Mario licked his chops.

"And why is that?" Mario asked, looking up from his masterpiece.

"Well, it's-a more than likely that because Peach is una principessa, a princess, she might allow us to do that with our ice cream at the party. And she'll most likely have all the different fixings for ice cream sundaes, too, if we're lucky." Luigi said.

"Aww, come on, Luigi! Please let me have my fun?" Mario said, giving his brother puppy-dog eyes, something Luigi couldn't deny.

Luigi sighed in defeat and said, "Well, okie-dokie. You win. If you want to put all those toppings on your pancakes, then I suppose you can do it. But just for today, and that's because today is our birthday."

"That's right. And mille grazie, thank you very much!" Mario said, and he began to happily eat his pancakes. Boy, were they ever good! He felt like he died and went to heaven, and he felt that he couldn't eat them fast enough.

However, Luigi said, "Mario, I wouldn't eat our pancakes that fast if I were you because you could choke. Or even worse: you might make yourself sick before the princess calls us over to her castle. You don't want to be sick on a speciale day like this one, before we see Peach, do you?"

"No. But you don't need to worry; you're almost beginning to sound like our mama did..." Mario replied after taking a sip of chocolate milk. But he decided to respect his brother's wishes and ate his pancakes a little slower.

After they ate, the brothers quickly washed the dishes and hurried upstairs to brush their teeth, brush their now-dry hair once more, and run a comb through their mustaches. Now they looked ready to go to Peach's castle and celebrate their birthday.

"Well, I'd say we're ready to go. But the princess has yet to call us." Mario said.

"I know. But now I'm wondering: should we open our birthday cards and presents to each other now, or should we wait until party time to do that?" Luigi asked, eyeing the two wrapped boxes sitting on the coffee table in the living room. He couldn't wait to give Mario his present, and he also couldn't wait to see what Mario got him.

"As much as I love opening our presents, I think we'll open them at the castle, during the party. If we do it now, everyone might be wondering if we even bothered getting each other a gift." Mario said.

"You're right. Opening them now might raise suspicions and make the guests wonder if we even like each other at all." Luigi replied. He then said, "Okie-dokie, I think I can wait until then."

The Mario Bros. didn't know what else to do until Peach called, so they just looked over their work schedule together, looking to see what days they would be out doing their plumbing work. And they were also trying to figure out how easy or hard each job was going to be, and how much they would earn for it. They hoped to earn a lot so they could buy each other nice things for Christmas, which was still two months away.

Around 10:00 a.m., Mario and Luigi heard the phone ring, and they had a pretty good idea of who was calling them.

"I'll get it!" both brothers yelled, but Mario picked up the phone first.

The caller was none other than Princess Peach. She was asking Mario and Luigi to come to the castle, for it was time to get the party started.

Well, one can guess how happy Mario was to hear the princess's voice, asking them to come over. He told her they would be right over. When he got done talking to her, he hung up the phone and turned to Luigi.

"I know you were talking to la principessa, the princess, Mario. What did she say to you?" Luigi asked.

"She says it's-a party time, Luigi! Let's-a go!" Mario said with a huge smile on his face.

"All right." Luigi said as he picked up his gift for Mario, and Mario grabbed his present for Luigi. The brothers made sure the doors and windows were locked before leaving for the castle, ready to have fun.

What else happens on their birthday?! I'm not telling! You're just going to have to stay tuned if you want to find out!