(A/N: So the Mario Bros. know what's happening today, and they're all set and ready to go. Now it's time to join the princess, and see how preparations for Mario and Luigi's birthday party are coming along!)

At Princess Peach's Castle, everyone had been awake and hard at work since before sun-up, decorating the Great Hall and dining hall for Mario and Luigi's birthday party. Some of the Toads who lived and worked at the castle were talking to each other as they worked. They were wondering just why their princess was making a big deal over a couple of plumbers. One of them decided to ask her about it.

"You know well why this is such a big deal. Mario and Luigi saved me, as well as the Mushroom Kingdom, from Bowser and his minions. They deserve a nice birthday party as part of their reward. Plus, next to Daisy, they're two of my best friends." Peach replied.

"Hmm, you're right. They are special people to all of us." said the Toad, feeling like an idiot. The Mario Bros. were a very big deal to everyone in the kingdom, for stopping Bowser from ruining the kingdom and saving Peach's life. That was a good enough reason for the princess to throw a party for them.

The princess had herself a good look around the Great Hall, which was decorated with balloons and streamers, and they were in Mario and Luigi's favorite colors, red and green. Peach knew that little detail even without asking the brothers what colors they wanted.

There was also a huge, gold-colored banner several Toads were hanging up in the room. It said, "Happy Birthday, Mario and Luigi!" The words were in blue, but Mario and Luigi's names were in their favorite colors.

"Looking good!" Peach said, smiling her approval to the Toads as they worked. The Toads smiled back, but they were still focusing on the task at hand.

Peach then looked in the dining hall. Sitting on the spotless white tablecloth was the birthday cake. It was a big, three-layer vanilla cake, which Peach had baked last night (and several Toads had been present to lick the beaters, the scraper, and the mixing bowl before she washed them). Peach had allowed the cake to cool overnight, then she got up early this morning to decorate it.

The cake was covered with sweet, yummy vanilla frosting, and colorful sprinkles. Peach also used red and green icing to put on the message, 'Happy Birthday, Mario and Luigi!' And sitting on the top layer were red and green birthday candles, which would be lit when it came time to sing the "Happy Birthday" song to the Mario Bros.

Some Toads were currently in this room, setting fancy plates and silverware on the table, as well as fancy drinking glasses. Peach decided to lend these Toads a hand by getting out the napkins and folding them in a fancy way. She knew that the Toads often had trouble folding napkins the way that she could, so they usually left that job to her, and she was glad to do it.

Peach was really excited. She just couldn't wait for Mario and Luigi to arrive at the castle. She began to think back to when she first had the idea of planning this birthday party for her two favorite men, the Mario Bros. It wasn't too long ago, when September was coming to a close, and October was right around the corner...

(Flashback...)

It was the last day of September, and Princess Peach was out for a walk around the Mushroom Kingdom with her good friends, Mario and Luigi, better known to her and her subjects as the Super Mario Bros. The leaves were beginning to change colors as they fell from the trees, and the weather wasn't so hot, the way it had been in the summer.

"I do look forward to this time of year. All the leaves turn such pretty colors, and the cooler weather is always a welcome relief from the summer's heat." Peach said to her friends, relishing the cooler temperatures that September had brought to the kingdom she ruled.

"It sure is a nice season, Princess. And this time of year always gave me and Luigi something to look forward to." Mario said.

"Yeah. But I can tell you right now that what we weren't looking forward to was the fact that school would be in session again whenever fall arrived. Nobody really liked that fact, except for the parents, the teachers, and any would-be bullies, of course." Luigi said, sounding bitter about the last part.

"Did you boys look forward to fall being the start of the holidays?" Peach asked. She always loved the holidays, even though she often wished she had a real family to celebrate them with. Now even though she had the Toads and Toadsworth, it wasn't really the same as celebrating with your mom and dad, or even siblings.

"Well, as much as we love the holidays, the arrival of fall always brings something even better than that for us." Mario replied.

"Like what?" Peach asked.

"October 11th will be il nostro compleanno, our birthday." Luigi pointed out.

"Oh, that's very nice." Peach said. Then she realized what Luigi said and asked in surprise, "Wait a minute! Did you just say your birthday is coming up?!"

"Sì." Mario replied.

Peach felt like she could just slap herself. She had almost forgotten that Mario and Luigi had to have a birthday, like her and everybody else in the Mushroom Kingdom. She asked, "Your birthday is on the 11th of October? Is that what you said?"

"Sì." Luigi replied, nodding his head.

"I'll have to mark that date on my calendar, then." Peach said to herself. Then she asked, "Mario, do you and Luigi have anything special planned for your birthday?"

"No, not that we can think of..." Mario said.

"Our house may have been expanded over the past few months, but we're not really planning on having a birthday party or anything like that." Luigi said.

"You're not?" Peach asked.

"No." the brothers replied, shaking their heads.

Peach frowned. Whenever her birthday came around, the Toads always celebrated with a big birthday party, complete with all the bells and whistles to make sure it was a happy day. But she was the princess, and they probably figured she deserved that much. But Mario and Luigi were best her friends, and her heroes, and she felt that their day deserved to be celebrated, too. And so...

"Well, you know what? You two are my friends, and you saved me and my kingdom from that big jerk known as Bowser. I think you deserve something really nice for doing that. So here's the deal: I'm going to throw you boys a big birthday party at my castle." Peach replied.

Mario and Luigi looked at each other in surprise. They really weren't expecting something as nice as this from the kingdom's princess. But then they thought she might be throwing a party for them because she felt obligated to. They felt as though they should refuse, but before Mario could open his mouth and say anything about it...

"Oh, and I won't take no for an answer." Peach said, sensing that the brothers were about to refuse her kind offer.

Well, that settled it. Mario and Luigi could not stop Peach from throwing them a birthday party. There was no changing her mind when it was made up. If Peach wanted to do this, then perhaps they should just let her follow through with it. Besides, it's not every day that a princess wants to throw a birthday party for a couple of ordinary plumbers from Brooklyn, NY.

"Okie-dokie." Mario and Luigi said, deciding not to argue. It may not be a wise decision to argue with a princess when she wants to do something nice like this for ordinary people. It was obvious that she thought of them as extraordinary.

"And in this case, I think we'd better head on back to the castle. There I can start making the list of things we're going to need for this party to make it fun." Peach said.

"Yeah, that might be a pretty good idea..." Mario said.

So the group started walking back to Peach's castle.

"Where should we start?" Luigi asked.

"Probably la lista degli invitati, the guest list, but we don't know that many people here; just the princess and a few of the Toads. The ones who told us the princess was in another castle." Mario said.

"I'm quite sure all of my loyal subjects wouldn't mind attending a birthday party for the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes." Peach replied.

"Mama-mia..." Mario and Luigi thought, a little overwhelmed. They didn't save the princess or her kingdom for admiration; they did it because it was the right thing to do. But look what doing so (and being successful) had earned them: fame, and a good friend in the kingdom's beautiful and beloved monarch.

When the group arrived at the castle, they went right to the castle's sitting room, where Peach was quick to produce a pen and paper. She wrote at the top of the paper "Party To-Do List". She was ready to write down what she needed to do for the Mario Bros.' birthday party. The first thing she wrote down was, 'Write out invitations and send them to everyone'.

"Okay, what else are we going to need for the party besides guests?" Peach asked, looking up at Mario and Luigi.

"Well, there's always the decorations..." Mario said.

"All right. I'll make sure to get plenty of balloons and streamers the next time I go shopping, and I know just what colors to pick out: red for Mario, and green for Luigi." Peach said, writing it down on the list.

"You seem to know us well, Princess..." Luigi smiled.

"Well, it's pretty obvious, judging by the colors of your shirts and caps. Not to mention that the letters on your caps match the color of your caps. But most importantly, you guys are my friends. It's my job to know you. At least, I need to get to know you two a lot better than I already do." the princess replied with a sweet smile on her face.

Mario and Luigi looked happy and surprised that the princess had actually noticed such a little detail. If Peach really wanted to get to know them better, then maybe, just maybe, one of them stood a chance at winning her heart.

"Okay, now for the cake..." Peach said, writing that down.

"Ohhh, that's the best part of any birthday party..." Mario said, almost drooling at the thought.

"You really like that part, don't you, bro?" Luigi asked.

"Hey, as much as I enjoy the birthday presents, the cake has always been my favorite part of our birthday parties, and it still is." Mario said.

"That's completely understandable, Mario. I've always enjoyed the birthday cake a little more than the presents." Peach assured Mario.

"Grazie. Thank you, Princess." Mario replied, glad that she was on his side.

"You're very welcome. Now what flavor do you boys like the best for cake?" Peach asked, smiling at the pair.

It didn't take long for Mario and Luigi to come up with an answer.

"Torta di formaggio! Cheesecake!" the Mario Bros. said in unison.

"Cheesecake?" Peach asked.

"New York Style cheesecake!" Luigi added.

"Oh yeah! That's the best kind of cheesecake there is! It's-a so rich and delicious!" Mario agreed.

Peach made a slight frown when she heard that. She really wanted to make a birthday cake for the brothers, and as much as she enjoyed cheesecake, she didn't know how to make it. And even if she knew, she wasn't sure that she could make it New York Style, the way Mario and Luigi liked it.

"Um, Mario... Luigi... I was hoping to bake a birthday cake for you, the way I always do mine..." Peach said in a small voice.

Mario and Luigi heard her, and they realized that they never thought of that fact before. They didn't know that the princess liked to bake cakes. It seemed that they had a lot to learn about this special woman.

"You'd do that for us?" Mario asked.

"Yes. I'd like to, but unfortunately, I can't make you boys a cheesecake. I like it as much as you do, but I never really learned how to make that. I'm very sorry." Peach said.

"Va tutto bene, principessa. It's okay, Princess." Luigi said reassuringly, before whispering to Mario as quietly as he could, "In that case, we can always get ourselves a small cheesecake from the Toad Town bakery and share it after the party."

"Yeah, I suppose we could do that." Mario whispered back, before telling Peach, "Don't feel upset, Princess. We don't need to have cheesecake at the party. After all, it really isn't the same as a birthday cake covered with yummy frosting and sprinkles."

"Don't you worry about that. The cake I want to fix you will be frosted. I'll even add sprinkles, if you really want them." Peach said with a giggle.

"Grazie! Thank you!" Mario smiled, and even Luigi had to smile. Like Mario, he couldn't say no to sprinkles on the birthday cake.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' on the sprinkles." Peach said to herself, before asking them, "So, what flavor do you want the cake to be?" On the inside, she was praying that they wouldn't say 'carrot cake'. She wasn't a huge fan of carrot cake. She made it once before, but she didn't like it, except for the cream cheese frosting; that was the best part for her.

"Chocolate." Mario said right away.

"Vanilla." Luigi said at the same time.

"Um... which is it? Chocolate, or vanilla?" Peach asked. She couldn't make marble-cake (chocolate and vanilla together), either.

That didn't help. Mario and Luigi just broke into an argument over what flavor the cake was going to be, by shouting their favorite flavor at each other at the same time.

Peach tried to ask Mario and Luigi to stop arguing, but they wouldn't. She decided that she would have to make them shut up another way.

"I hate to have to do this, but I really have no other option." Peach thought. The princess produced an air-horn and blew it loudly, hoping it would get them to be quiet. And it did, because they quickly stopped shouting and covered their ears until the sound stopped.

"Princess, perchè lo hai fatto? Why did you do that?" Luigi asked, sounding unhappy.

"Because I can clearly see that you boys are having trouble agreeing on a flavor. If I could make marble-cake, which has both of those flavors in it, then that's what you would be getting, but I can't do that one, either. So let's decide like this: I'm going to flip a coin. If it lands on heads, the cake will be chocolate. If it lands on tails, the cake will be vanilla." Peach said, pulling out a coin.

"That sounds fair enough." Luigi said.

"What does the loser get to do?" Mario asked.

"He doesn't need to worry too much, Mario. He gets to pick out the ice cream. Speaking of, I'm afraid I can't make an ice cream cake, either." Peach replied.

"Don't worry, Peach. The cake doesn't have to be ice cream cake. And if the loser gets to pick out the ice cream, that sounds fair enough!" Mario said.

"Okay. Here goes!" said Peach, flipping the coin. It landed on tails, so Peach said, "All right. The cake will be vanilla."

"Yay for me, Luigi!" Luigi cheered.

"Okay, then. It looks like I'll be picking out the ice cream, and I already know the perfect flavor! It's-a gonna be chocolate, my favorite!" Mario said.

When Peach heard that, she decided she would also get some vanilla ice cream as well, for she suddenly remembered that people can be allergic to chocolate. She didn't really know if any of her subjects were allergic to the stuff, but you never know, and it was better to be safe than sorry...

"So, Principessa, Princess, what time would you like us to show up for the party?" Mario asked Peach.

"Probably mid-morning at the earliest. Tell you what: I'll call you boys and let you know when it's time for you to show up." Peach said.

"Okie-dokie." said Luigi. He could handle that. And Mario nodded, too.

"Great!" Peach smiled at the brothers.

(End flashback...)

After Mario and Luigi left the castle, Princess Peach had been a very busy bee that week, shopping and making sure that she had what she needed in order to make Mario and Luigi's birthday party a fun one. She also made sure to get Mario and Luigi birthday presents she knew they would like and appreciate.

"This is most likely going to be the first time Mario and Luigi will celebrate their birthday in the Mushroom Kingdom, so I want the party to be not just good, but a whole lot of fun for them, too." Peach said one day as she helped the Toads write out the invitations to the party.

"It really will be their first time celebrating it here, Princess. I remember that Master Mario and Master Luigi were barely a year old when their parents told me they were leaving the kingdom with the boys, to keep them safe should the Koopas show up again too soon, to finish what they had begun." Toadsworth said.

"Oh my goodness! Then I'd better make sure that their birthday party is good enough so that they'll be tempted to continue celebrating their day here!" Peach said.

As the days went by, the guests accepted the invitations, eager to celebrate the men who saved their homeland from the Koopas. And Peach had gotten everything she would be needing for the party. Even the Toads had gone with her to do some birthday shopping for Mario and Luigi.

But today was the day they celebrated Mario and Luigi. Peach was only hoping they would have a good time at the party. After seeing that everything was good to go, she hurried upstairs, checked her appearance in her full-length mirror, and then glanced at the clock to see that it was 10:00 a.m. She figured it was time for the party to begin. Plus, she had written on the invitations that the party would begin around this time.

She picked up the phone and dialed Mario and Luigi's phone number. Peach wasn't kept waiting too long, for she heard Mario pick up in the middle of the second ring, saying, "Ciao?"

"Mario, it's me, Princess Peach." Peach said.

"Oh, Princess! How are you doing?" Mario asked, sounding happy when he heard her voice on the other end. She usually had that effect on him and Luigi.

"I'm fine; thanks for asking. How about you and Luigi?" Peach asked.

"We're good. So, what's going on?" Mario asked.

"I want you to know that it's time to get the party started, so you and Luigi can come over to the castle now." Peach said.

"Right now, you say? Okie-dokie! We'll be right over!" Mario promised her.

"Okay. I'll see you soon!" Peach said. Then she hung up the phone and hurried back downstairs to the Great Hall, to wait for the arrival of the birthday boys. She hoped they'd like what they saw.

The Mario Bros. will arrive at their birthday party in the next chapter! Stay tuned if you want to find out how the party goes!