a_boleyn - I was racking my brain to get in a prompt and the b'day theme inspire me to come up with this: The minions want to celebrate Grue's birthday by baking him a birthday cake ... of course BANANA is the best flavour. And it's Halloween ... GO!

Bob was a minion on a mission. Well, several of them, but at the moment there was just one thing on his mind. Gru's birthday. To those end, he kept the book well hidden, lest he bump into his boss between the lab and his destination.

He walked quickly from the secret underground laboratory, keeping to the shadows as much as a bright yellow minion could and made his way covertly to the kitchen. Agnes and Edith were waiting for him.

"Do you have the goods?"

"Si." Bob eased the recipe from behind the overalls bib where he'd hidden it for safe keeping. It was a little damp from his sweat and Edith made a face.

"Ewww…" She climbed up onto a stool so she could reach the counter.

"Paka tu," Bob mumbled and he unfolded it and smoothed the sheet out. It was the first time he'd really studied it and it seemed overly complicated.

"Put flour in a bowl with the baking soda and one tsp of salt," Agnes read slowly. "What a tsp?"

Edith ran to the refrigerator and opened the door. "And what kind of soda? We have root beer, grape, lemon/lime and banana?" She took out the can. It was bright yellow and it had a banana on the front.

"Manana," Bob murmured, almost reverently. His eyes glazed over and a bit of drool leaked from the side of his mouth.

Edith, a woman of action, jumped down from her stool and shook him. "Snap out of it, Bob!" She drew her hand back to slap him and Bob shrieked and ducked just has she started her follow through. Edith spun in place and looked just a little confused. "Hide that can! We'll use the lemon stuff. It's yellow, too." She adjusted her pink cap and got back up onto the stool.

Agnes nodded and stuffed the can behind a head of limp looking lettuce. No one would ever look there for it. She grabbed the can and carried it to the counter. "Does it say how much to use?"

"A half of tsp… and I still don't know what it is."

Bob opened the can and poured some into the bowl. "Come si?"

"I think so." She spooned in and equal amount of salt. "Okay, now I need flour. Agnes, go out front and pick something… preferably yellow."

"'Kay." She skipped to the front door where Kevin, complete in his maid outfit was polished the knob. He saw Agnes approaching and opened the door for her.

"Thank you, handsome Prince." She kissed his cheek and just the hint of a blush stained them.

"Poopaye!"

"Oh, I'll be back in a minute. I'm on a secret mission," she added the last sentence in a whisper. Kevin's eyes narrow and he snapped his fingers. Immediately two more minions, Dave and Fred, were there, both dressed in long trench coats that trailed behind them. "Not that secret. I'm just going to get some flowers."

The three all nodded wisely and another snap brought forth a minion, dressed in pale pink frock with a matching bonnet. He was carrying a flat basket and a pair of pruning shears.

"Jerry, you look lovely," Agnes said, with a sigh. "Just like a princess."

Jerry stuck his tongue out at Dave, who returned the gesture, and pushed past him. He held the basket out "Para tu!"

"Thank you!" Agnes skipped out the door, closely followed by Jerry, who was still exchanging faces and gestures with Dave.

It took her just a few minutes, but soon her basket was full of the brightest and yellowest flowers she could find.

"'Bout time," Agnes muttered as she came back in. "Me and Bob are nearly finished."

"Sorry." Agnew carried her basket to the counter. "These were the bestest I could find."

"Ew, they're dandelion."

"They're yellow."

"Daka cu."

"Yeah, it is true, they are yellow." She picked on up and pulled off the head and separated the yellow petals from the head." "It says two cps."

"What a cps?"

"I still don't know what a tsp is." Edith shrugged her shoulders. "We'll use 'em all."

Bob stirred until his little arms felt like they would snap off. The batter was sticky and didn't look appetizing at all.

"Okay, Bob, time for the secret ingredients," Agnes climbed down and pushed the stool closer to the stove. She turned on the oven, setting it for four hundred degrees. "Get the stash." For weeks, they had been collecting bananas. The smell of ripening bananas was nearly overpowering whenever the pantry door opened.

"De tash," Bob whispered and tried to not drool again. It was hard as the smell alone was so enticing. He glanced left and right and dash from the table to the kitchen island and eased his way around it, all the while being alert for a tail. He fell to the floor and crawled as best as minions could crawl to the pantry.

"It's gonna be baked by the time he gets there. Agnes, you better help him."

"Right!" Agnes saluted smartly and dropped to the floor to crawl after Bob.

"ARRRRR, I meant this year."

"Oh, sorry!" She jumped up and ran for the pantry door. She jumped up and managed to get it unlatched. It opened and several minions tumbled out. She shrieked and tried out outrun the wave of yellow, but to no avail. They swept her up and carried her halfway across the kitchen floor.

"Edith, I have a bad feeling our secret stash isn't a secret anymore."

Edith growled, long and low and several of the closest minions sprung to their feet and scurried away, which was had with a tummy full of delicious bananas. "What happened?" She looked around and spotted a particularly guilty looking minion.

"Walter, what happened?"

For a moment Walter's mouth moved, but nothing came out. Then he pointed at Bob, who looked very confuse.

"Luk at tu!"

"Po Ka? Nine tu!"

"Si, si!" Walter tilted his head to one side and made a pillow from his hands. He began to snore and then mumbled, "Cocina manana."

"No!" Bob shouted.

"You talk in your sleep?" Edith was dumbfounded. "Minions talk in the sleep?"

"Si." Bob dropped his gaze to the floor. Worse than the reality that he had ruined their lovely surprise for their boss, he was even sadder than he'd not had a single banana from their hidden stock. "Bi do."

Agnes ran to his side and hugged him. "It's okay, it's not your fault. Edith does, too."

"I do not!"

Agnes nodded sagely. "But what are we going to do now?"

Margo walked into the kitchen and made a face. "What's going on, guys?"

Gru sat back from his spot at the head of the table. The dining hall was bedecked with the best Halloween decorations Minions could buy. Between the paper pumpkins and cardboard skeletons, banners announcing Happy Birthday, Daddy! and Kampai, Boss! hung down from the ceiling. His wife sat to his right, along with Doctor Nefario and his girls sat to his left. Thankfully, his mother had bingo. Every remaining square inch left around the table was crowded by minions. He was truly a lucky man.

He stood and held up his hands. Immediately, the various conversations stopped and everyone's attention was on him.

"I want to thank you all for a truly unforgettable birthday!" He paused for cheers and applause. "When I was a little boy, I often did not get a birthday party because it was so close to Halloween." He didn't mention that he really didn't have any friends who would have come anyhow. That didn't matter, at least not now. "Today I feel very honored and blessed to have such a beautiful family and faithful minions. There is no gift that can compare to that feeling for me. This has been a wonderful evening"

"But wait!" Margo interrupted. "There's more." She clapped her hands and from behind a pair of swinging doors, a towering cake appeared. It was decorated with candy minions, most of them holding a marzipan banana. The candles were lit and Siegfried was standing by with the fire extinguisher.

Gru's mouth dropped open at the sight. Never before had he been given such a cake.

She took out a pitch pipe and blew a note. Immediately the room exploded in a chorus of happy birthday, each minion in their own singing in their own key.

The cake stopped in front of Gru as the last voice faded away.

"Make a wish, Dad!" She announced and that brought tears to his eyes.

"What could I possible wish for when I have everything I could ever want?"

Then the top of the cake opened and Bob popped out, dressed as, of course, a giant banana.

"Kampai, Boss," he shouted.

"Oooooo," the minions murmured back and Bob looked around nervously.

"Bello…" he trailed off as the nearest ones took a step closer to him. "No, no, no," he shouted and ducked from sight. Immediately there was a stampede towards the cake and Agnes took Gru's hand.

"We thought there might be trouble, so our pieces are in the kitchen."

Gru smiled down at his youngest daughter and lifted her up onto his shoulder. "Then let's go celebrate – Gru style."