"Gooooood morning Nashville! Its 6:00 a.m on this lovely October day!" Michael then threw his pillow at his alarm clock waking him up to yet another day. But it wasn't any ordinary day. It was his birthday. The big 3-7 and oh how he dreaded it. Just another year older is all this day really was to him,but he never realized it was important to other people...such as...devoted fans?

Slowly,he got out of bed and got ready for another day of just hangin out with his Avaloners and family for his birthday. But...what if they forgot? That was likely to happen. They'd done it before,but...maybe they had finally learned their lesson not to forget again. He couldn't help but laugh thinking back to the shocked faces of his friends when he had told them it was his birthday last year. After his final morning preparations he headed out the door to his car and down to Jody's house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shantelle,Carissa,Aubra,Abi,Charisa,Ashley,Sara,Ambrie,Caleb,and more Avalon fans were now all crowded at Jody's door,their hands full of bags and wrapped goodies."Any time today Jo!"Carissa said with a laugh.

"Yeah!"Aubra said,struggling to maintain her hold of the mountain of wrapped packages in her hands."No hurry here!"

Finally the door opened to reveal Jody. "Hey everybody!" Then he stopped,shocked of all the people there were at his front door. "Whoa...how much stuff did you bring?!"he exclaimed.

"Just enough to make the day special for Mike is all Jody."Shantelle said,peering from behind her stack of stuff.

"Jody?"a voice called from inside. It was Jody's wife,Stephanie. "Hi everyone! You all sure have a lot of things in your hands! Come on in before you drop all that!"she said,opening the door wider for the incoming crowd.

"Thanks Steph. I was about to drop this whole bag of confetti!" Abi said,setting it down inside with relief.

"Now,what do we do with this 'We love you Mike' cake?" Ashley asked,as she and Sara walked through the door carrying in their delicate piece of artwork they'd slaved over last night.

"You can set it over in the kitchen."Steph told them,clearing a path for the girls."Did you all remember your 'gifts'?"she asked with a slight smirk.

"Yep! Mine's soooo interesting!"Caleb said,plopping down on the couch.

"Yeah,"Ambrie chimed in. "He only spent three hours looking for it!"

"What can I say sis?"Caleb turned to her. "It has to be the best."

"Well,mine is very delicate."Charisa said grabbing a chair to stand on so she could begin hanging up streamers. "I even put a fragile sticker on it at the airport."she giggled as she started her task.

"This is great guys. Mike's gonna love it!"Katie said,beginning to arrange the gifts in an organized mountain by the TV.

Jody then began to close the door with a smile as the last person finally stepped in when he saw a car begin to turn into his driveway."Oh no! Its Mike!" he shouted,letting everyone in the house know it.

"Ahh!! We're obviously not ready for him yet!"Cat pointed out.

"Jody,you've gotta distract him."Shantelle ordered."We won't be ready for him for at least another hour."

"But what am I supposed to do?! Just act like a clown and take him to the circus?"Jody exclaimed.

"Its a start."Stephanie said teasingly."Just take him out somewhere. Go to McDonalds or something! Just anywhere outside of this house!"

"But-!"

"Now Jody!"everyone else said in unison,their voices almost pushing him out the door,just as Mike was coming up to it.

"Hi Mike!Hap-! How are you doing this morning?"Jody said,catching himself before he almost said the 'give-away phrase'.

"OK I guess...how's Steph?"Mike replied,giving Jody an akward look as he was seeming to block the window next to the door.

"She's great! Just great! Just cleaning house is all. Nothing at ALL interesting going on inside MY house!"Jody beamed,still blocking Michael's view inside.

"Right..."Michael said in a 'not-so-re-assuring' tone. "Did you wanna-"

"Let's go grab some breakfast,ehh Mike?"Jody said,pulling Mike down the sidewalk.

"But I already ate breakfast..."Mike said,struggling to get his hand free.

"So? You can run off the extras later!"Jody exclaimed,jumping in his car. "Now get in! I'm starving!"

Mike rolled his eyes as he got in."You're always starving..."he said under his breath as they drove off.

Beka was watching the whole scene from a window,and couldn't help but laugh at Jody's performance."He'd be a natural at a professional clown."she said with a giggle,leaving her look-out to help with the deocorating.

"That's our Jody!"Amanda said,stifling a chuckle as she continued to help Charisa with the streamers.

"Now..."Shantelle said,standing in the center so everyone could see her. "This is how things are going to work. In approximately two hours Jody and Mike will be back,but Beka will let us know if she sees them,then that will be our cue to hide. And what have we designated as the hiding place Steph?"

"I think the closet will do..."Stephanie said with a smirk as everyone else went bug-eyed.

"You mean we're ALL going to fit in there?"Abi announced.

"Sure...we did it for Jody's birthday party!"Stephanie replied."Besides...ain't much place else to hide!"

"It'll have to do all...we'll just have to do some scrunching. Let's go take a look at its size shall we?"Shantelle said,pointing down the hallway to the closet,everyone else following her.When she opened the door,piles of books,paper,towels and other weird things fell on top of them.

"Oops....guess I forgot to clean that."Stephanie said scratching her head as everyone else was covered in 'stuff'.

"I think we noticed that..."Sara pointed out.

"OK...I need three people to help clean out this closet. The rest will continue with the decorating. Do I have any volunteers?"Shantelle said,pulling a towel off of her head.

"I will!"Caleb shouted.

"Me too!"Ambrie joined in.

"I'm soooo there!"Carissa said,with a beaming grin.

"All right...the rest of you...heh heh heh...back to your posts."Shantelle said as the rest of the gang laughed and returned to their tasks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ahhh McD's....man I love this place!!! Cheeseburger's galore!!" Jody said excitedly as he and Mike walked inside.

"But I thought you were getting breakfast?"Mike asked curiously.

"You mean WE are getting breakfast..."Jody pointed out,stepping up to the counter to order.

"Hello,welcome to McDonalds. May I take your order?"the lady said at the counter.

"Yeah,I'd like four cheeseburger's,two extra large fries,one twenty-piece mcnugget,and-oh wait...hey Mike..did you want something?"Jody asked,pulling out a twenty to pay with.

"You mean that was ALL for you?!"Mike said shocked. He knew Jody loved to eat,but didn't know he loved to eat THAT much...

"Actually..."the McDonalds lady began."...You can't order ALL that yet....Its still breakfast."she said,pointing to the clock that said 8:30 am.

"But-But this is McDonalds! Don't you love to see me smile?!"Jody exclaimed.

The next thing Jody and Mike knew,they were standing outside the McDonalds,Jody still shouting confusedly at the window,making a scene that Mike was more than embarressed about."Way to go Jo...you just got us banned from the Nashville McDonalds..."Mike said,slapping his hand over his eyes so he couldn't see any more of what Jody was doing.

"But all I did was order what I always get!"Jody proclaimed to the whole world.

"Tell you what Jo...you just stay here and wait for lunch while I just run far away..."Mike said,patting Jo on the shoulder and beginning to walk away.

"Hey...wait a second!"Jody said,turning Mike's direction."There's another McDonalds on the other side of town we could go to!"

Mike then held up his hand to Jody. "Anywhere...but McDonalds!"

"All right..."Jody said in a pouty voice,then perking up at a new thought."Taco Bell?"

"GAH!!!!"Michael exclaimed,jumping into the passenger's seat of the car.

"Fine...IHOP then!"Jody said,also getting into the car.

"That's more like it...actual breakfast food..."Michael said folding his arms as they drove off for the big blue sign.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"EEK!"Cat exclaimed,struggling to carry a package over to the pile of 'gifts'."What on earth are you ginving him,Shantelle?! This thing weighs a ton!"

"I bet its a block of cement..."Aubra giggled.

"Maybe...maybe not."Shantelle replied with a smirk,hanging up a collage that they had made,with funny Michael pictures,so kindly donated by Jody,Janna and Cherie.

"So when are the girls supposed to get here?"Sara asked,touching up the cake a little more.

"They should be here soon. I told them to come whenever."Stephanie replied,setting the table with flowers and confetti.

As they all continued in their tasks,Ashley and Sara decided to move the cake to a more 'hidden location'. When they had about reached their ideal spot,Sara's grip slipped and their creation fell on the floor,creating a masterpiece of white icing and sprinkles,followed by screams from the two girls.

"What?! What happened!!"Carissa exclaimed,running to the kitchen,the others close behind her to see Sara and Ashley on their knees next to the 'cake'. "Ohhh dear..."

"It...was marble and everything..."Ashley said,sniffling as she tapped away at the mound of icing.

"With...colorful sprinkles on top!!"Sara chimed in,burying her hands into the pile.

As everyone viewed the catastrophe before them,Shantelle had an idea. "An incident like this calls for only one person...Steph! Get me a phone..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Sing with me Mike! I-Hop to the shore! I-Hop to the sea!"Jody sang cheerily as Mike just sat there staring into his mirror on the outside of the car.

"Why me?"he whispered to himself,when all of the sudden Jody's cel-phone began to ring.

"Yello!"Jody answered in a happy tone.

"Jody! We have a code red! That's a C-A-K-E C-A-T!!"Shantelle yelled into the receiver on the other line.

"Dah!!"Jody screamed at the loudness of her voice,pulling his phone away from his ear. "Not so loud!"

"Jody...its an emergency! We've lost the cake!!"she announced,but not as loud as the time before.

"You what?!"he said,shock in his eyes,then looking to Mike with an 'assuring' glance. "How?"

"Sara and Ashley accidentally dropped it,so now its umm...just a mound of icing...so we'll obviously need a replacement for the cake..."Shantelle told him,a little quieter this time,remembering that Michael was in the car with Jody.

"Ok...so you want me to go buy a 'rake'?"Jody asked one more time,catching another odd look from Mike in the process.

"Yes...remember,this is a code red! We need it fast!"she commanded.

"Roger that Steph,I'll go get ya a rake! Bye hun!"Jody said as he hung up,looking to Mike who was beyond confusion. "Ya know...a rake?...It is fall ya know!"

"...Right...a rake...sure..."Mike said,nodding his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"...I still can't get over him calling you Steph!"Beka laughed in Shantelle's face. "Talk about a 'cover-up'!"

"Oh don't worry...I'll have a talk with him about that one later."Shantelle grinned,as the phone in her hand began to ring again."Dah!! It lives!!!"she yelled.

"Don't just stand there and scream! Answer it somebody!"Abi exclaimed,as Stephanie snatched it from Shantelle and answered it finally.

"Hello?"she said into the receiver.

"Yeah,Stephanie...its Janna...we have a itsy bitsy teenie tiny problem..."

"Oh great...the last thing we need...what's the problem?"Stephanie asked,everyone else in the house gathering in the living room to hear the conversation.

"Cher,Melissa and I are kinda in an ohh...what would you call it?"Janna said,looking to the other two girls in the car.

"A traffic jam you mean,Jan?"Cherie pointed out from the back with their 'stuff'.

"Yeah that's it!"Janna said,it all clicking to her at that moment."Which means,we're gonna be a little more than late..."

"Ok...well. We had a cake problem anyway,so we sent Jody to go get another one for us."Stephanie commented.

"Uh oh...BAD idea!"Janna shouted.

"Exactly..."Cherie chimed in."Never send Jody on ANY errands...its rare that you would ever see the thing you sent him after again...better make a note of that Melissa."

"Got it!"Melissa said,writing that down in her notebook. "Don't...send...Jody...on...

errands..."

"Anyway,we probably won't be there for another hour and a half."Janna remarked.

"OK...we'll be here...hopefully. Bye."Stephanie said,hanging up then looking to the gang with a knowing look."The girls are gonna be-"

"..Late..."everyone said in unison,hanging their heads at the same time.

"What else could possibly go wrong?"Caleb exclaimed.

"Bad idea to say that bro..."Ambrie said.

"Why?"

"Cuz you just might get your wish..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ok...I thought we were going shopping for a rake? Where do you expect to find a rake in a grocery store?"Michael asked as Jody dragged him in.

"Ya never know what you can find in a grocery store Mike! Ya just never know..."Jody said with a smile as the two stood before the aisles and aisles of food."Oh my...where do I start?"

"Why don't we split up? Whoever finds the rake announces the other's name over the intercom so the search can end."Mike suggested.

"Great idea! You go right,I'll go left. I'll see you in a little while!"Jody said,darting off to the left which just happened to be the way to the bakery. Mike shook his head and started off to the right,looking up and down the aisles for a rake.

"Gotta hurry! Gotta hurry! Gotta gotta gotta hurry!!!"Jody repeated to himself as he raced to the bakery,being stopped by the canned food aisle where a super-high pyramid of canned soup stood."Hmm...I've always wondered what would happen if I pulled out one of the cans from the bottom.."he thought aloud as he carefully pulled one out from the pyramid's base,the mountain shaking a bit as Jody gasped,then breathed a sigh of relief when the shaking stopped. He then set the can down on a shelf barely,and then the massive pyramid came crashing down in the aisle. Jody then screamed and darted off again to the bakery section.

"Cleanup on aisle three." a voice said over the intercom,haunting Jody as he ran.

When Michael heard the thunderous crash,he automatically knew who it was."What am I going to do with him?"he said to himself,roaming the frozen food aisle for no apparent reason. What was everyone up to? Everyone was acting awfully strange...Steph sending Jody out to go buy a rake...Jody racing off in a hurry to get it...it was all very peculiar to him,but he brushed it aside and continued to look for the rake. "....Mmm...bunny tracks ice cream..."he said with a smile,admiring the ice cream section.

Finally,Jody reached the bakery,and looked into the case full of cakes catching the baker's attention easily. "Can I help you?"the baker said.

"Yeah."Jody said breathless. "I need a cake..a birthday cake..got any marble ones?"

"Why you're in luck! I just made one!"the baker said cheerily,pulling out his creation to show Jody. It was a cool pacific blue colored icing cake with 'Happy Birthday!' written across its top.

"Its perfect! I'll take it!"Jody exclaimed."Now...how to get it outta here without him noticing? Do you guys have like a back door or somethin?"he asked.

"Nope,don't reckon that we do."the baker replied,putting the cake in a bag for Jody to carry. Quickly,Jody paid for the cake and again raced up the aisles to the front door. Hiding behind mountains and more pyramids of boxes and cans,knocking them all down.

"Clean up on aisles one,two,and four."the voice over the intercom again echoed as Jody finally made it out to his car,shoving the cake in the back seat and piling coats and books on top so Michael wouldn't see. Then,he darted back inside and met Mike at the cash register line,a rake in his hand.

"Found one!"Mike said with a smile,handing it over to Jody.

"Uhh...oh yeah! Great job Mike!"Jody said,remembering their 'purpose' for coming to the store. Swiftly,he paid for the rake and turned to Michael with a grin."Now...on home!"

"But what about breakfast?"Mike remarked.

"Ehh...I don't need the extra calories any more than you do."Jody said,pulling Mike out to the car again.

"Hey!"Mike shouted,sort of taking offense to Jody's comment.

"Just kidding."Jody said with a smile as he climbed in and drove off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"OK!"Carissa announced to all the house. "Closet's done! How are the decorations goin?"

"We're just about finished,just a couple more funny pictures to put up then we're all ready."Cat replied,taping a picture to the wall.

"Cake's all cleaned up!"Ashley and Sara said with a giggle,standing proud with their mops.

"Good...now it all just rests on Jody's shoulders."Shantelle said,almost nervously.

Beka was again at the front window watching for Jody's car,while everyone was finishing up the decorating and cleaning when to her astonishment she saw him come down the street. "EEK!! He's here!!"she shouted,hearing startled screams from the others.

"OK everyone! Move!!"Stephanie barked to the others,rushing them all down to to the closet.

"Ack! Who's bright idea was it to stuff us in here?"Shantelle said,pushing herself into the crowd.

"Well gee...wasn't it yours?"Charisa pointed,ducking her shoulder to make room for Ambrie and Caleb.

"Come on people! Scrunch! We gotta get us all in!" Aubra ordered.

"OK Steph...you're next."Ambrie said,making as much room as she could for her.

"Nope...I ain't goin in there..."Steph said with a smirk.

"She's right...she needs to be out and about to make it all look OK,and that we're not here."Sara said,moving into the space that Ambrie had created originally for Stephanie.

"Thank you Sara!"Steph said,closing the door.

"Hey! Don't we get a light or somethin?"

"Get your elbow outta my stomach!"

"DAH! You're pulling my hair!!"

"Ssshh!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

First thing when the guys had pulled into the driveway,Jody jumped out,grabbed the bag that the cake was in and threw his jacket on it,just as Mike was getting out. "Don't forget the rake."Mike said with a grin,preparing to walk over to his car.

"Hey wait! Why don't you come in for a bit?"Jody said,grabbing Mike's arm. "I bet Steph will make us lunch!"

"Yeesh..is your mind on anything else but food?"Mike asked,as he followed Jody up to the door. When they stepped in,the house was remarkably quiet and they were both suprised.

"Uhh..why don't I just take your jacket Michael and hang it up in the CLOSET,while you wait here?" Jody suggested rather loudly,nearly yanking off Mike's coat.

"Uhh...OK...but you've never made me wait before..."Michael replied,a bit confused.

"Its a new McBrayer household policy!"Jody said,sticking his tongue out at Mike as a joke and walking off towards the closet,but sneaking into the kitchen to place the cake. Then,he went down to the closet and opened the door and piles of people fell on top of him. "Dah!!"he screamed.

"SSHH!!"Caleb said quietly,hushing Jody with a hand to his mouth.

"What was that?"Michael said to himself,looking in the direction of the closet.

"Come on!"Jody said in a hushed tone."Get yourselves back in there!"He then started shoving them all back inside hearing some "oww's" and "eek's" from everyone.

"Jody...everything OK?"Michael called,heading down the hallway to Jody's aid,just as Jody had closed the door. "Gee Jo...does it really take that long to put a jacket away?"he said,snatching it and opening the door.

"SUPRISE!!"everyone inside yelled in unison as they fell on top of Mike and Jody.

"DAH!"Michael exclaimed as he fell.

"Happy birthday Michael!" Jody said,with a smile.

"I just knew you were up to something..."Michael said knowingly,standing up,and helping everyone else up to their feet.

"And there's even more buddy!"Jody said,pulling Michael into the highly decorated kitchen/living room area. When they arrived,Mike stood astonished at all the decorations and other cool stuff that surrounded him.

"And its all for you!"Ashley said with a beaming grin,and a giggle to follow.

"Wow! You guys...you shouldn't have!"Mike said,taking another glance at everything around him.

"You like?"Steph asked,showing him the cake that she had just perfected by writing his name on it with gel icing.

"Of course I do!" Mike exclaimed.

"Come on! Come open your 'presents'!"Carissa said with a giggle,pulling Michael into the living room. "Pull the gifts over here guys!" she told everybody as they brought the gifts over,Cat again struggling with Shantelle's package. Once all the gifts were next to Michael,and Jody had the video camera they began handing him one present at a time...first he opened a card which read :

Mike exchanged an interesting glance with Abi,and then opened the gift to see an empty packet of bubble gum..."Uhh...thanks..."Michael said with a smile.

"Yep! And there's more where that came from!" Abi said with a giggle.

"Mine next!"Carissa said,handing Mike her card and gift. He opened the card and it read:

Again,Mike looked at everyone with the most peculiar of confused stares as Carissa urged him to open his gift...it was several ankle braces and casts."Just a token of my appreciation Mike."Carissa said with a grin.

Next was Ambrie's gift,and Mike opened the card,not sure what to expect. It read:

Mike was now beyond confusion,but tried to play along and opened the package to see a basket with a whole in the bottom. "You could use it for basketball or somethin!" she said with a laugh.

"Me next!!"Caleb shouted,pushing his way up to Mike and handing him his gift. Mike once again opened the card,curious of what it would say which was:

"Open up the package Mike! Don't make us wait!" Jody said,zooming in on the gift as Mike opened it to reveal an empty can of Pepsi Twist. "Oh who brought Pepsi Twist and didn't tell me?!"he said with a laugh.

"Must've been Caleb here!" Mike said with a grin,looking to Caleb."Thanks man...if that would've been full,we know who'd be after it first thing."he then winked at Caleb,followed by laughter from the crowd. Mike continued to open all his gifts when he finally came to the last one which was Shantelle's. "Should I be afraid?"Mike said as he began to open the card which read:

With a laugh he opened the package,followed by histerical laughter from everyone...just as Aubra had predicted....it was a block of cement,but with Shantelle's foot print in it. "Made those foot prints with my make-me-tall shoes I'll have you know!"she said with a giggle.

"Thanks everybody...these were....interesting gifts."Michael said with a smile as the door opened to reveal Janna,Melissa,and Cherie.

"And the best is yet to come!" Cher said,dragging her stuff in as she carried gift bags and other goodies.

"Come out side Mike! We've got a suprise for you!"Charisa said,pulling Mike outside,everybody else following and when they arrived outside,he stood there with an enormous grin on his face. "Its the-"

"Michael's B-day Mobile!!"everybody said in unison. It was a miniature bus with the words :'Mike's B-day Mobile' written in blue finger paint and streamers hanging all over it.

"Courtesy of your friends at AFC!"Sara said with a smile.

"Wow..thanks guys..this is the best birthday ever!" Mike said,taking everyone in a group hug.

"Now...care to do the honors Mike?"Janna asked,opening the bus door and showing him inside to the drivers seat.

Eagerly,he climbed into his position and got a feel for the wheel and pedals. "OK everyone...hop on in! We're goin for a drive!"

"Woohoo!!"Beka exclaimed taking Shantelle by the arm and jumping in,everyone else following.

"Road trip!!"Aubra said with a grin as they drove off out to the main road,all of them singing songs that of course they ALL knew.

"So Jo..."Mike began. "What are you gonna do with that rake?"

"Well,"Steph started. "It IS fall ya know...so he can start by raking the leaves when we get back home."

"Aww man!....You and your big mouth Mike..."