Author's note: Okay, I know, little late for a 4th of July fic. I started it the night before the Fourth, when I got inspired by some Al fan art. But it got too long to finish before bed and I knew if I rushed it, it just wouldn't have as much substance. ..and we all love Alfred, regardless of the time of the year. So while you're coming down from your Holiday weekend, those of you who are my fellow Americans, enjoy my vision of how Al spent his 238th Birthday...and if you're not coming down from a holiday weekend, you enjoy it too! :)

Year 238

Alfred F. Jones AKA America, of course, lived for the fourth of July. It was one of the proudest victories he'd ever won, after all….even if all victories did have their cost. But the price paid, be it blood or even a brother, made it all the more worth celebrating. It would be downright cruel to not make an absolutely ridiculous spectacle of the fourth every single year. Anything less would feel like sacrilege, particularly as about the only religion Alfred really adhered to was patriotism.

He started planning his celebrations at New Years and by the time the actual even rolled near, he had a formidable list of festivities in mind. Of course, all of the other Nations were invited. At least the ones he was currently on good terms with. And usually, though they wouldn't always admit to it, they had a hell of a good time. Even Arthur Kirkland, who was least likely to admit it of them all.

This year, Alfred was going to make sure Artie had the best time he'd ever had at one of his parties. One of the best times he'd ever had period. He was going to publically thank him for his contributions to American as a nation, something he had recently realized that he had never really done. Despite the fact that he and Artie had been back on good terms since the World Wars, even growing back into something similar to their old familial closeness, Alfred had never once really thanked Arthur for teaching him a lot of the lessons that made America so beautiful. Old as he was getting, he realized it was important to hear those kinds of things from youths. He honestly felt like he'd cheated Arthur and what better day to make up for it, than a day that the Englishman wasn't yet quite over.

He woke early on the fourth, at least early for him, at 11:30. He rose quickly from bed, throwing open all his windows to let in the sunlight of a new year. Because for Al, the new year always began on the 4th. He then hurried into his closet and took down this birthday's newly purchased outfit. As if most of his wardrobe wasn't already extremely patriotic, he went out and bought at least one new shirt to add to his collection each year. This time it was a white cotton T-shirt covered in red and blue stars. He'd also bought new converse sneakers emblazoned with his nation's flag, a white baseball cap with "merica!" written across it messy red letters, and a pair of ripped, blue jeans just because they made his butt look really good. After all, a certain girl was going to be at this party and if he was lucky. she may just look at him.

Once he was dressed, he quickly drank three cups of coffee while going through the massive seven boxes of fireworks situated in his back yard. Everything was there, so he checked the food from the party, made sure he had gas for the grill, and checked he had enough booze for like half the planet worth of nations. That last part was less of an amount problem and more of preference issue: Ludwig would not drink light beer, Gilbert wouldn't drink American beer, the Italies would not drink beer at all, Ivan only drank Vodka, Belarus only drank Russian Vodka…the list went on and on. He had it stuck to his fridge for his parties and when he hosted the World Meeting. Alfred checked it three times before he really felt safe. Good thing being a Nation came with a budget plan for keeping other Nation's happy, French wine was some pricey shit. At least to Al, who was a Budweiser kinda guy.

Once he had filled his backpack with the multi-colored sparklers he liked to hand out to kids who lived in his neighborhood, suburban Pittsburg, He rang Mattie to let him know what time to come over to help decorate. It took three calls before he picked up, Alfred had expected as much. Mattie's own birthday party, just three days before, had been a pretty damn good time. Francis had planned it and he was almost as good at having a party as Alfred. So, he had expected his quiet, little brother to still be recovering from all that sociality and drinking.

"Hey, Al" The Canadian Nation answered, sleepily. "Happy Birthday".

"Thanks, bro. You're always the first one. Prez hasn't even called yet. I just wanted to let you know that you can come over at like four and help me out".

"Okay…but I'm not letting Francis and Gilbert talk me into Ivan's vodka again. My head still hurts". Alfred laughed skeptically. Mattie would let Gilbert talk him into anything. It'd made all the international functions a bit more interesting as of late.

He spent an hour handing out the sparklers to every child who got on and off the city bus, absolutely glowing at every thank you. He then swung by Taco Bell for the late lunch his coffee and excitement riddled brain desperately needed. He was pretty burnt out on McDonalds here lately and he was like in love with the Cool Ranch Doritos taco shell. Those had been a glorious step forward for mankind. Everything amazing happened in America. He ordered a 12 pack, ate six and drowned an entire, large Baja Blast Mountain Dew. He was taking the other six to Mattie at the airport. Mattie loved the hell out of some tacos. They were one of his favorite things to eat in America, those and Wendy's chicken nuggets. He put maple syrup on the nuggets, which Alfred thought was pretty damn weird. So, he was bringing him tacos.

Alfred found his baby brother already waiting when he arrived at the terminal, holding a huge box of doughnuts covered in stars and stripes. Alfred rushed to hug him, which turned out to be a little more difficult than he'd expected. They were both holding boxes, after all. He then looked up to an unexpected Prussian smiling at him. He was holding an bundle of balloons in red, white, and blue.

"Hey!" American greeted him. "I thought you would come later, with the rest of the guys from Europe".

"I was still at Mattie's" the Prussian replied with a wink.

"No way! So are you guys like an item now?" Alfred inquired, excitedly. God, he really hopped so. Mattie needed to have more fun.

"Are we?" Gilbert asked, glancing over at Mattie. The Canadian blushed and Alfred just thought it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.

"Well…um, yeah" Mattie mumbled. The Prussian smiled deviously at him, kissing him on the cheek.

"This is such a cool birthday present, guys!" Alfred exclaimed. "Mattie's going to have so much more fun now"!

"Al!" Mattie snapped, half-heatedly.

The bickered harmlessly the whole drive back to Alfred's house way out in the suburbs, Prussia joining neatly in as if he had always bickered with them. Alfred wondered if he bickered with his own brother like that. He found it hard to believe that Germany could be so silly. Then again, he did spend a lot of time with Italy. Maybe his seriousness was all a big show.

When they arrived, Gilbert immediately began drinking. So, Matthew and Alfred both joined in. They all had a decent buzz by the time the house was covered with the contents of an entire Wal-Mart party isle and the doorbell rang for the first time. It was the other two thirds of the Bad Touch Trio, dressed from head to toe in Alfred's colors for the occasion. They were accompanied by the Italies in beautiful Prada suits and Germany all in black, beautifully contrasting his pale features. Gilbert immediately hugged his brother, mumbling something about how he'd missed him. Ludwig wiggled away, reminding him it had been less than a week. Alfred thanked them all for coming and got them their respective choices of drinks.

A half-hour later, the house was full, some of its occupants wandering out into the yard to play beer pong tournament. The Germans were dominating, due to pretty much needing beer in their systems to function day to day. Even little Liechtenstein was hardly missing. Alfred was glad he was preoccupied with cooking his annual smorgasbord of hot dogs and hamburgers. He couldn't afford to get his ass kicked on his birthday, not after just getting knocked out of the World Cup of Soccer.

By the time he had passed out the food and the sun was setting, everyone he had expected to arrive had arrived and had a few drinks, except for Arthur. But that always happened. He'd bounce in late, any minute, already drunk and with some ridiculously expensive gift. Alfred kinda secretly knew that he made himself come, but he'd never had the heart to ask him to do otherwise. Hopefully, after Alfred paid his thanks, everything would change. He was brooding on that when another expected guest arrived, his companion, the bald eagle whom he had dubbed Lincoln. The large bird swooped in to perch on his shoulder. He was always just dropping in to see Alfred and he always seemed to know when something important was going on. He stroked him kindly, feeling bolder by his presence. Off in the corner he heard a quiet "oooh" and looked around to see Germany urging little Italy come have closer look at the bird. He was staring at it with wide eyes.

"Come on over, Ita-chan. He don't bite" Alfred encouraged.

Feliciano walked slowly towards the bird, toting his German friend behind him by the jacket sleeve. When he was a foot away, Alfred extended his arm so that the bird was right in front of Italy's face. Ludwig picked up the Italian's hand for him, after watching him struggle for a moment, and made it stroke the bird. Lincoln only leaned into his hand and Feliciano let out an "oooh" of delight. Alfred and the German both laughed. Felicano was just too cute. Ludwig petted the bird once as well.

"It's an extraordinarily gorgeous animal" The German complimented, his little, Italian friend bobbing his head in agreement.

Alfred looked up to see Belarus walking over. The cold beauty had shed her usual thick clothing for a sheer, tank top dress in the hot, American summer. Alfred had very rarely seen her wear anything so revealing and he spent a lot of time looking at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention. Germany and Italy quickly got out of her way, leaving him alone with her and Lincoln.

"Happy Birthday, America" she greeted him, having not spoken to him yet. She fearlessly stroked the bird and it leaned into her hand as well. "What a fearsome creature this is".

"Yeah, Lincoln is pretty rad" he agreed, watching her long slender fingers.

Her long, sharply filed nails were painted metallic silver. She wore a dazzling, purple gem on her pinky finger. It was the same shade as her eyes. He really wanted to touch her hand. But he barely knew her. Alfred wondered if maybe tonight might be the time to make more than one confession. …one step at a time He mentally reminded himself. At least he knew that Arthur would like to be thanked. There was no knowing what Belarus would think of him being attracted to her. She's used to have that thing with her bother and if it'd passed, he'd never heard about it.

"Rad, what a funny word" she commented.

Her free hand was playing with a strand of her silky blonde hair, that was hanging just above the delicious, low cut of her dress. Alfred was looking at it, but he quickly made it out to be about his jeans, by acting like he was brushing them. Just then he heard Francis yelling "Angleterre!" across the yard and looked up to see that England had arrived, dressed finely in a white button down, grey pants, and long black boots.

"Looks like your old friend has decided to make an appearance, Alfred" Belarus commented in a way that almost came out like teasing. She was smiling beautifully and Alfred was too flustered to respond, before she walked away.

He quickly walked over to Arthur, enveloping the other man in a long hug before he had a chance to refuse. It warmed his heart when the Englishman returned it. He heard a clicking sound a glanced over to see Kiku had snapped a photo on his phone. The other nation smiled sheepishly. Alfred wondered dimly how long it would take him to text it to Hungary, who was only a few feet away. But too busy trying to beat Gilbert at corn hoe to notice the hug, which she and Kiku would over romanticize later. Silly, yaoi enthusiast.

"Happy Birthday" Arthur greeted him, warmly. His breath smelled like brandy. He shoved a package into Alfred's hands. It had a signed Beatles record inside, something they both loved and as ridiculously expensive as expected. He thanked him, enthusiastically.

"And actually, there are some other things I ought to thank you for" he managed, after summoning every ounce of bravery he had. "Why don't you have a seat at that table in the middle of the lawn and I'll draw everyone's attention". Arthur looked confused. But he nodded and walked towards the table. Alfred quickly grabbed his BBQ fork and a metal pan, banging them together for attention.

"What the hell is all that Fucking racquet"! Romano immediately snapped.

"I think Al is trying to play a song?" drunk Spain suggested.

"It's still better than Gil on the broom" Francis commented.

"Hey! I don't see you playin any cleaning utensils, you rose smelling bastard" Gilbert snapped back.

"Maybe, it's time for the fireworks!" Feliciano, suggested happily.

"ATTENTION!" Alfred screamed over the conversation.

When several people went on talking, Germany stepped in with his "shut-up the whole world meeting" routine. He screamed so loud that Alfred could have sworn that the glass on the table nearest him rattled a little. Everyone immediately ceased what they were doing and turned to look at Alfred. The American Nation sat down on top of the table that Arthur had seated himself at and cleared his throat. Ludwig mumbled something about everyone having the intention span of Italian soldiers

"Guys, I know I'm kinda killing the party right now" Alfred began. "But I need to take a moment and say something serious…that like, really ought to have been said a long time ago. But you guys know I'm a little self-absorbed and pretty easily distracted. Plus, you know it's hard to run a country this big….ugh! What am I doing? I'm just make excuses for something that would have been real simple and I'm a bit of jerk for not doing it sooner. So I wanted all of you, but particularly Iggy, to hear it.

"Here goes. America is beautiful, powerful, stunning country that I am just to-the-moon crazy happy about, even with all the bad stuff. Because there's always bad stuff, but without it you can't see the good. We've paid a lot of prices for our successes as a nation, a feeling I know you all can relate too. But tonight, I just want to talk about a personal price that I paid". He heard Artie gasp behind him, but he couldn't bear look around.

"People always say that it's nature for a kid to leave the nest. And I really did need to leave the nest. But I almost lost someone very near and dear to my heart in the process. That person was Arthur. We didn't see eye to eye about where America ought to be a goin and just like that we had be at each others throats because Nation is always first…even for a long time after that was over, we just couldn't bridge the gap. In fact, we never really could stand each other again until we had another battle to fight. That was as much, if not more, my fault than it was his. I was blinded by my ambitions and I…didn't even take the time to thank the person who taught me what ambitions are. I have never once thanked Arthur for his very important teacher's role in the Nation that I have watched over. …and I just think tonight, on America's birthday, that I ought to finally thank him. This nation would not be this nation without him and I just wouldn't be me. So, clap for Artie guys. I doubt I'm the only one who owes him a hand".

Everyone clapped, Francis whistled, and Antonio broke a wine bottle against the side of Alfred's house. The American Nation could hear Arthur sniffling behind him. He hoped the tears brimming in his eyes would stay there as he turned and gave his British brother the biggest smile he could manage. He was shocked when Arthur jumped on the table to give him a big hug. Alfred happily returned it. He heard the clicking camera sound again and Hungary gasping as well.

"That was one of the best birthday presents I've ever gotten, Alfred and it's not even my birthday" Arthur whispered. Alfred hugged him that much tighter. Eventually they ended their embarrassing, in front of the whole damn world, hug.

"FIREWORKS!" Alfred screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping from the table.

"And they're badass because they were made in my country!" Mexico added.

For the next hour, Alfred shot of a spectacular array of fireworks. All of them were red, white, and blue. Arthur came to help him, all the while complaining about how loud and foolish they were. But he knew the Englishman was having a wonderful time. All around them, the other nations were enjoying the show as well. China and Mexico were talking the very science of making fireworks, while Feliciano and Lovino were lighting sparklers. Belarus and Ukraine lay flat on their backs to look up at the sky, each on a different side of their brother. Hungary lay with her head in Austria's lap. The only mishap, and there being only one was kind of a record for Al, was when a bottle rocket took off in the wrong direction. It shot almost directly at Lovino Vargas, only missing him because Ludwig dove and rolled them both out of the way. There was a great deal of clapping.

"Could have done it myself, potato eater" Said a disgruntled Lovino. But he thought better of it, adding a gentler "But thank you".

"Yeah, Doitsu! That was amazing" Felicano added, tightly hugging the other man. Alfred saw Gilbert wink at his brother.

"Sorry about that guys!" Alfred called.

"Whatever, hamburger bastard" Lovino snapped.

"It's okay, America" Feli added.

When the show was over, it was close to midnight. Everyone made their goodbyes rather quickly, with their long trips home in in mind. Arthur was in a hurry, but he made sure to thank Alfred again and even gave him one more hug. The British Nation made him promise to visit soon. Mattie and Gilbert left holding hands. Alfred thought he saw Feliciano kiss Ludwig very briefly as the German helped the drunken Italian button his coat. He'd had a wonderful party, but he was rather sad that he didn't have anyone to go home with. He always felt lonely about how no other countries lived in his house. He didn't even get to see Belarus again before she left. But he was proud of himself for making Artie happy and that was enough for now. So, he decided to busy himself with his gifts. Kiku had given him a test copy of new Japanese 1st person shooter. He popped into his Xbox with the intention of playing until he passed out. He was interrupted by the distinct sound of high heels clicking upstairs.

He quickly grabbed his AK-47 rifle from under the couch and ran upstairs to investigate, choosing the element of rush attack over stealthily movements. But it was all needless because all he found was Belarus sitting at the top of his stairs in a silky black robe and red high heeled shoes.

I am not drunk enough to imagine this he thought, holding the gun up in surrender.

"You look surprised" Natalya commented.

"Well, um…I kinda am" Alfred stammered. She laughed in a lovely, dark way and her shoulders shook a little with it.

"I admit I wanted it to be a bit of surprise" she said. "It is your birthday, after all. And I think from all the staring you do, I have a rather excellent idea what you might want". He blushed.

"You saw me lookin' then?" He asked.

"America has never been a very discrete nation" she teased.

Her smile was gorgeous. So were her long white legs. He found it hard to believe something like this was happening and he kept looking for her to pull her famous knife. But all of that quickly melted away when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cold lips to his own. He quickly wrapped his arms tightly around her tiny waist, returning the kiss. Ultimately he had to break it, despite how amazing it was. There were just too many unanswered questions here.

"But why?" He inquired. He was terrified because he was sure rejection at this point would really sting.

"Think about being me, darling" she instructed, brushing her sharp fingers through his hair. "I am no world power like you. I spend most of my time in my beautiful, cold corner of the world. Most of my near-by companions fear me, except for the one that doesn't even consider me. I'm tired of wanting after men who do not appreciate me and feeling lonesome. It got even harder when I kept noticing a beautiful, charming man looking at me...there is no deception here, as I know you must expect. Here, let me show you".

Natalya stepped back away from him and dropped the robe to pool at her feet on the staircase. Her lingerie set was skimpy, red lace and there were no knives to be seen, nor anywhere to hide them. Part of him was still skeptical, but he knew how to hold his own and he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

It was his best birthday ever. He couldn't even wait to try to top it next year. He ran through a few plans of how he might the next morning, while Natalya slept peacefully on his arm. But mostly he just looked at her.

So how was it? This is my first time writing Al and I would love to hear your opinions on it.

Think I might write more AmeBel in the future. It's such a lovely pairing and I didn't explore it very heavily in this fic.

I love you, Hetalia fandom! Keep shipping those countries and "don't ever be ashamed of loving the strange things that make your weird, little heart happy".

If you enjoyed this fic, and you also enjoy GerIta, there are two such fics on my profile page. I would love love love to hear from you about any of my writing.

Thanks so much for reading! Again, I love you all and being part of this fandom brings me so much joy!