Author's Note: Happy Independence Day, everyone! Guess what I have here? Oh, look... it's the obligatory "America's Birthday" chapter! XD Thank you to a certain guest reviewer for giving me the idea for this! It was super fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Heh, unlike the Canada Day chapter, I actually managed to get this one up on the actual 4th of July! And the 1st shall pass by unnoticed... *sigh*. XD Anyway, read and review, peoples! DO IT FOR AMERICA!

Chapter Summary: It's the 4th of July, and everyone knows what that means; the good old US of A is celebrating his birthday! With a great tradition of huge firework shows attended by millions of spectators to celebrate this glorious day, it's sure to be one to remember. But oddly enough, America has something just a bit quieter in mind.

"Come on, Ivan. You know it won't be that bad!"

"And why do you presume this? You have no idea what it will be like!"

"I've been to his parties before, Ivan."

"Yes, but not with me!"

Canada sighed, running his hands through his hair. It was the fourth of July, his brother's birthday, and he was still in the works of trying to convince Russia to go to the party with him. Now, the two weren't at each other's throats like they used to be, especially since Canada and Russia had started dating. But one thing Matthew knew for sure was that his boyfriend and his brother would never truly get along. And the less time they spent together, the less the odds that one of them would eventually snap. So normally, he didn't push the issue. But today was special; if Matthew didn't show up for Alfred's birthday, he'd be heartbroken. And the Canadian wanted more than anything to for Ivan to come with him. "You can't tell me you aren't mature enough to contain yourself around my brother for a few hours." He said, pulling out the big guns.

Ivan raised one eyebrow. "Mature? When did I say a thing about not being mature? Of course I'm mature, it is he who is immature!"

Well… Matthew couldn't really argue on that front. "I know, I know." He said. "It's just… he's my brother, and it's his birthday, and… I guess I'll just go alone." He faced the ground as he turned away from his boyfriend, going to fetch his keys.

"Wait!" He stopped when he felt Ivan's hand on his shoulder, and turned to look at him with his eyes as sad as he could manage. "I suppose…" Ivan sighed. "I suppose I could come with you."

Canada smiled, wrapping his arms around the Russian's neck and giving him a warm kiss. "Thank you so much, Ivan!" He said happily. "Now come on, let's get going!" He gave Ivan a little peck on the cheek before stepping away to grab the keys to the car, smirking to himself when he was sure the other couldn't see.

Check and mate.

A few hours later, it had only just begun to get dark when the two pulled up in their car in the parking lot of the park the party was being held at. There were multitudes of huge, dazzling celebrations of America's Independence Day all over the country, but funnily enough he never seemed to go to any of them himself. No, as long as Canada could remember he'd relished the classic backyard party; close friends and family, hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, sparklers for the kids (and the adults) and, of course, a good view of a fireworks show. The park they'd been coming to for the last couple of years had a good one set off each year in a clearing down the road, which the nations could sit and watch comfortably from picnic tables and benches. It was Americana defined.

Matthew hopped out of the car, Ivan following after, and they walked toward the park. It looked like most everyone else was here already.

"Hey, Mattie, you're here!" Matthew grinned when he saw his brother, coming toward him with a "Kiss the Hero" apron and a spatula in one hand. He was immediately gathered in a hug by the arm without the utensil.

"Happy birthday, Al!" Matthew said happily, before producing a package from behind his back.

"Ooh ooh, you got me something!" Alfred said excitedly. "Um… hold this!" He handed Matthew the spatula which he exchanged for the present. Tearing into the wrapping paper, his eyes widened when he saw what it was. "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD BEST BROTHER EVER!" He shouted, jumping up and down like a schoolgirl as he held up the t-shirt with the Captain America logo on the front. Canada smiled. To be honest he thought it was a little funny that his brother had such a huge fanboy crush on a hero who was literally named after him, but at least he had good choice in role models. "C'MERE!" The Canadian nearly had the wind knocked out of him when he was pulled into an even tighter hug, greasy spatula be damned. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOOOU!"

"Y-you're welcome!" Canada replied. "A-Al? Could you s-stop crushing me?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry about that!" America said, pulling away from his brother and rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Happy birthday, Amerika!" Both nations looked behind Canada to find Russia, having made his was from the car, walking up to the two of them with a grin on his face.

"Oh hey, you brought the boyfriend, huh?" America remarked, his grin seeming slightly forced now.

Russia stopped in front of the superpower, still grinning as he looked down at him. "You sound disappointed, Amerika! Could it be you do not wish to see me?"

"Hey, hey, of course not! The more the merrier, right?'

Matthew sighed, pressing the heel of his palm to his forehead. This was bound to go well… Suddenly, he was aware of an uncomfortable itching on his forearm. Looking down, he saw a little red bump already beginning to form. "Oh, maple… Alfred!"

Alfred looked up from his staring contest to glance curiously at his brother. "Yeah, Mattie?"

"Do you have any bug spray? I forgot ours."

"Oh! Yeah, gimme a sec!" The Russian all but forgotten, he bounded off to go find a bottle of the precious commodity. Matthew gave a sigh of relief and walked over to his boyfriend, taking his hand and leading him the rest of the way into the park.

It looked just like it did every year. Nations sat and leaned on picnic tables, chatting and eating from spreads on the tables themselves. Delicious smells wafted off of two separate grills, one tended by Ludwig and the other Matthew imagined was the one Alfred had left. Not too far away from the tables, Sealand Italy and Spain were running and playing with sparklers, while Romano watched them from the sidelines with his arms folded. Fireflies blinked every so often, giving off their own little show before the real fireworks started.

"Ah, mon petit Mathieu!" Matthew turned to see France, heading toward him with a smile on his face. He only had a moment to brace himself before he was enveloped in yet another hug.

"P-Papa! Hello!" Matthew said awkwardly, edging his way out of the hug. The Frenchman never did seem to know when to actually let people go…

He seemed unfazed by the minor rejection, however, and continued to smile. "I was waiting for you to arrive, Mathieu! Come, let me show you something." Matthew was taken by the hand and led over to one of the picnic tables, where France picked up large, white box and flipped the top for him to see.

Matthew gasped. It was a huge cake, decorated with white icing. On top, however, was a design

of strawberries and blueberries, laid out to make the American flag. There was even the right number of stars! "Did you make this?" He said disbelievingly. It almost looked too good to eat!

"But of course!" Francis said proudly, closing the box and setting it back down. "Just don't tell your brother, hm? I want it to be a surprise!" Matthew nodded, understanding. He couldn't wait to see Alfred's face. Suddenly the Canadian felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked behind him to see Ivan standing there, looking down at him with just a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Ivan, what's wrong?" He asked, looking worriedly up at the Russian.

"Matvey, what am I supposed to do here!" Russia lamented. "I do not know American traditions!"

Canada giggled. So that was it? "Well, you could-"

"I got it!" He was interrupted by the voice of his brother, who hopped up in front of him triumphantly holding up a bottle of insect repellent.

"Oh, thank you Alfred!" Canada said, taking the bottle.

"No problem! It's a hero's duty to help those in need!"

"Alfred!" They heard a loud shout.

"Oh shit, that was Ludwig… the burgers! Coming, dude!" The American quickly ran back off toward the direction of the grill to tend to his precious burgers

"Like I was saying." Canada said, beginning to spray his arms with the stuff. "You could have something to eat, you could play with sparklers, you could strike up a conversation…" Well, maybe not so much that last one, but he wouldn't say that for Ivan's sake.

Ivan put a finger thoughtfully to his chin. "The sparklers do look fun…" He mused.

"You want to do that?" Ivan nodded. "Okay, then. But you have to put on bug spray first!" He stepped over to him with the bottle, but a thought occurred to him. "Um… Ivan?"

"Da?"

"Don't you want to take your coat off?"

Ivan tilted his head curiously. "Why would I do that?"

"Well, it is July after all, and it's pretty hot out here… I'd think you'd be sweating like crazy by now!"

"I am fine, no need to worry." Ivan dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Matthew frowned. He could tell something was up. He shrugged as if to give up, then whipped his hand to the Russian's forehead.

"Hey!" Ivan protested, grabbing Matthew's wrist and pulling it down. But it was too late.

"Aha! I knew it, you're already overheating!" Matthew said. "Ivan, you need to take that off!"

"Nyet!" Ivan protested, folding his arms and pouting like a child.

Matthew sighed. "Why? It's way too hot out here to be wearing a coat that thick, why won't you take it off?"

Ivan averted his eyes, twiddling his fingers sheepishly. "Without it I look too… big." Matthew raised an eyebrow. Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? "With this on I can blame it on the coat, da?" Ivan continued. "But without it I'm just… fat." Matthew said nothing. Just walked up to his boyfriend and began undoing the clasps on his coat. "W-what are you doing, Matvey?" Ivan protested as the coat was slid off his shoulders and into the Canadian's arms, revealing the plain black t-shirt underneath.

"Ivan, it doesn't matter how big you are, okay?" Matthew said, looking up into Ivan's eyes to make sure he knew he was serious. "You are amazing and handsome and I love you. And if you ever talk like that again, I don't' know what I'll do."

Ivan looked shocked for a moment. Then smiled warmly, pulling the Canadian closer and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. "You are too sweet, Matvey." He said.

Matthew smiled. "You know what time it is now, right?" Ivan looked confused until the other held up the bug spray, shaking it pointedly.

Ivan sighed. "Very well." He said, before taking the spray and covering himself thoroughly. Because even the mighty Russia is not immune to mosquitoes.

"Iggy, dude, are you there?" America said curiously into the laptop in front of him. On the screen was a webcam display, showing the interior of England's house.

"Yes, yes, I'b here." England said, his stuffed nose interfering with his speech. He still tended to fall under the weather every year around this time, and had yet to actually attend one of Alfred's parties. But this year the American had had an idea; he would attend via webcam. So he'd brought a laptop (fully charged, of course) and webcam, and pleaded with Arthur to at least try it out. At last the Brit had relented. Now, with only a little while left until fireworks, Alfred had set the laptop up on a picnic table and tried calling his boyfriend.

"Yes! I knew this would be a good idea!" Alfred said proudly. "How're you feeling, dude? Still under the weather?"

Arthur sighed. "Udfordudadely, yes. By 'ead sdill hurts, and by dose is dribbing like dobody's bidness." Alfred began to chuckle behind his hand, to which Arthur glared indignantly. "Whad's so fuddy?" He asked, frowning.

"I'm sorry, Iggy, it's just..." Snicker. "That accent, with your stuffed nose!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Oh sod off." He said grumpily, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry." Alfred said, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry you don't feel well, really. Wish you were here."

Arthur cracked a small smile. "Yeah… I wish I was dere doo."

"Love you." Alfred said, leaning in close to the screen.

"Lub you doo..." Arthur blushed, to which Alfred only smiled wider. He was just so cute sometimes!

Over at the little clearing near the picnic tables, Ivan was being led over to the sparklers by Matthew, who was immediately greeted by a very enthusiastic Italian.

"Ah!" Feliciano exclaimed happily, remembering to leave his sparklers in a bucket of water near one of the tables before tackling the Canadian with a hug. "Ciao, Matthew! It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Feliciano!" It seemed hugs were popular today… Matthew was beginning to worry about the state his ribs might be in by the time he got home!

"Ah, Matthew! You finally got here!" Matthew turned to see Antonio, grinning over at the Canadian as he handed a freshly-lit sparkler to Sealand. "Are you having fun?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you for asking!" Matthew replied. "Hey, do you think we could have some sparklers?"

"Oh! Si, certo! Give me one moment!" Feliciano skipped off to find a few for them, handing Canada and Russia each two of the thin sticks, and a box of matches. Matthew lit both of theirs, and watched the Russian's face light up with joy at the sight.

"Look at this, Matvey!" Ivan laughed, waving the sparklers around in front of him. "This is amazing!"

"Here, you can make pretty patterns with them!" Feliciano said, showing him how to wave the sparklers around to create the patterns of light that lingered in the eye. Matthew smiled as he watched them. Others thought of Ivan as scary. Intimidating. Even sadistic. But he knew better. He knew that beneath that hard exterior, and beneath that falsely-childish demeanor, lay the heart of a true child. Not an unmarred heart, nor an innocent one. But a beautiful one. It was moments like this when Matthew could really see it.

"Matvey, are you not going to have fun with yours?" Ivan asked. Matthew looked down at the sparklers in his hands, figuring he should enjoy them while they were still burning, and stood to join the others.

The night went on like this for a little while longer, everyone playing and talking and feasting, until a shout from the middle of the park was heard. "Everyone!" A distinctly American voice shouted, causing everyone to turn and look. Alfred was standing in the middle of all the tables, with his hands on his hips and a grin on his face. "Okay, well, in case you didn't know, it's my birthday!" Everyone laughed, causing the American to grin wider. "Ahhh, shut up! Still, two hundred and thirty-eight years. I dunno about you, but I think that's pretty impressive! But enough about me." His face fell from a ridiculous grin to a sentimental smile. "All of you guys are here because you've done something for me. Maybe just once, or maybe over and over again, but all of you guys together are the reason I'm still here today to celebrate this. So yeah, happy birthday to me and all that. But I wanna say thank you to all you awesome guys and girls, all you amazing nations who, for some reason, never gave up on me completely. Here's to you!"

A huge cheer rose up from each of the nations in the crowd. Canada smiled fondly at his brother. Leave it to him to suddenly become philosophical at the oddest times. His thought was interrupted, however, by Francis shouting; "Who's ready for cake?" Feliciano, Antonio and Peter immediately rushed by him, dunking their sparklers in the bucket. Matthew did the same, though at a considerably slower pace, with Ivan following side by side with him.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" The song rang out across the park as Francis set the cake down in front of Alfred, with three lit candles in the top spelling out the number '238'. After all, two hundred and thirty-eight candles would have been pretty ridiculous, not to mention a fire hazard. Predictably, America's eyes lit up when he saw the cake. He looked to France, who simply winked and gestured for him to blow out the candles. He took a deep breath and blew hard, and everyone cheered and clapped.

"Habby birday, Alfred." England said from his laptop on the picnic table. "Whad did you wish for?" He asked.

Alfred winked, putting a finger to his lips. "I can't tell ya that, now can I?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, though he couldn't wipe the smile from his face. "You'll dever really grow ub, will you?" Alfred just grinned at him, reaching for a plate to put his cake on.

Once the cake was cut and everyone had a slice, (America promised England he'd bring him home a piece) It was time to sit and watch the fireworks. Everyone took a seat, some on picnic benches, some on blankets on the ground. America adjusted England's laptop so that he could see the fireworks from the screen, and Canada sat right next to him on the ground, with Russia on his left and his brother on his right. "Alright, everyone!" America called. "It should be starting any second now!" The nations waited one second. Then two. Then three. Finally everyone heard a whistling sound, and looked to the sky to see the first firework climb up into the sky, higher and higher until… it burst into a hot red flower with a deafening bang, fizzling as it scattered to the ground. More followed it, beautiful colors and shapes exploding in the sky and making a sound so loud you could feel it pounding in your very core.

"Leab id do you do hab the loudest birday pardy eber." Arthur remarked, barely heard over the noise.

Alfred grinned. "Aww, but it's pretty cool, isn't it?" He said, not daring to look away should he miss the show in the sky before him.

"Yes. Yes, I'd say id is."

Canada smiled as he leaned back on his hands, one hand intertwined with Russia's as they watched the sky together. It had been over two hundred years since his brother had gained his independence. Over two hundred years since that horrible, terrifying war that he'd been sure nothing good could ever come of.

He'd never been so happy to be wrong.

Author's Note: I feel kind of bad... I mean, America's birthday got, like, 3,000 words of me gushing about fireworks and freedom and America and such, and Canada's just got that little... thing. XD But you know what? Patriotism, my man. If I coulda been born in any country, I'm glad I ended up here! *waves flag and sings Star Spangled Banner*

What? Too much? Okay... XD