Sniff Sniff Sniff
Mathew awoke groggily, rubbing his bleary eyes with the heel of his hand. It smelled like something was...cooking? And not just anything either but pancakes. "Huh?" That was impossible though. Other than Kumatchi he lived by himself and the little polar bear didn't have thumbs so he couldn't cook. Placing his glasses on his nose, the Canadian lifted himself from the bed and made his way downstairs into the kitchen to find...a plate stacked with pancakes and a plate of waffles with card on top of those. Picking up the card, Mathew read.
'Happy birthday! I made waffles because you can put syrup on those too!'
Cocking his head to the side, Mathew flipped the card over looking for a name but found none. It was normally easy enough to examine the handwriting and determine who wrote it but this particular card was like a secret message-letters cut and pasted from magazines. "I wonder...?" The blond muttered to himself before setting the card down and made his way to the cabinet to collect some food for his pet before finding another card.
'Happy birthday! I already fed him so you don't have to!'
Looking down and over the card proved right; Kumaliro was sitting at his bowl already eating contently with a red and white bow tied around his neck. "Hey, Kuma, who was it that fed you?" The Canadian asked, bending down to pet the fluffy creature. Licking his lips the polar bear looked up, blinking once, twice then said
"Canada," Before returning back to his bowl of salmon. Mathew gasped, eyes wide. Did he...did he...With tears in his eyes Mathew picked the polar bear up and hugged him tightly to his chest.
"Oh Kuma, you remembered me!" He cheered happily, twirling around(if anyone saw him like this he would never live it down).
"Hungry!" Kumajirou complained, flailing his paws around uselessly.
"Oh, sorry." Canada apologized, quickly placing him back on the ground. "I'm just so surprised and so happy you remembered my name!" Today was turning out to be an excellent birthday! But a mystery still remained. Who had cooked the food? And who had fed Kuma for him?
Pulling out his large maple syrup bottle from the cabinet, Mathew returned to the table to sit and eat and think over who this could be. Gilbert maybe(He did love Mathew's pancakes and maple syrup). Or possibly Lars(The Dutchman did have a fondness for Kumajirou). Mathew ate quietly, pondering this quandary. If it were Gilbert he would have made his presence known as soon as Mathew came down the stairs. Though Lars was much quieter, Mathew noticed that the smell of weed tended to hang around him and linger in any place he had been. And as far as Mathew was concerned, his house smelled drug free.
"Canada," Smiling widely, Mathew looked down to find his furry pal at his feet, a card in his mouth.
"Thanks Kumariro," He said, scratching the bear behind his ear before retrieving the card.
'Happy Birthday! Hope you liked the food! Go the living room and play the DVD!'
Finishing up his food, Canada did as he was instructed-after putting the dishes away-and headed into the living room, turning on the TV and pressed play.
'"Hey, Mattie! Smile for the camera!" Alfred called behind the camcorder.
"Hello!" Mathew smiled gently, picking up one of Kumaji's paw's and waved it at the camera, giggling.
"Hey! I was going to save that camera for later!" Francis said, flicking his hair and winked when the camera was turned on him. "That is if Angleterre wouldn't mind making a movie with moi." He blew a kiss England's way who blushed red in return.
"Bloody frog! Like I'd like to do anything with you!" Arthur growled, folding his arms over his chest while the rest just laughed.'
Mathew smiled, giggling along with his family on camera. Even though they didn't always get along they made a plan to spend time together each year, that year taking a trip to one of Mathew's beaches-one of his favorite trips because it reminded everyone that it wasn't dreadfully cold all year long. "Hmm?"
Well it was Francis' camera so maybe it was him that had been doing all this nice stuff for him. Looking around he expected to be pounced on at any moment now but was surprised to see Francis no where in sight. "I wonder who could it be?"
All through out the day Mathew continued to received cards, putting him in different places around the house(The computer room for a slide show starring him, the bathroom with a bath already started-soap smelling of maple-, the basement with laundry all done and a new hoodie sitting on top of the clean clothes) and outside(three buckets of maple fresh from the tree sitting on his front porch, new flowers plotted out to look like his flag, and inside the garage he found new hockey sticks, ice skates, a face mask, and even his car had been washed-was it missing a small dent?).
With the day nearly complete Mathew wandered back inside the house, a never ending smile on his face. He still wasn't too sure who had been doing all this but frankly he was far too happy to care at the moment. It was a rare thing when someone remembered him, a bit more common for anyone to remember his birthday(he had gotten a few calls from other wishing him a happy birthday and even received some presents in the mail), but something of this scale had never happened to the normally quiet country. This day had been spectacular! And-according to the last card he had received after wandering to the back of the house to find a lone present-the best was about to come.
Going back in he read over the card one more time.
'Happy birthday! I hope this day has been awesome for you! This is the last card you're getting so prepare for the the best part of this day! Go the attic!
P.S. Don't open the present yet and don't shake it!'
Stuffing the card in his pocket, Mathew ventured up the stairs and pulled the string to allow the ladder to slide down to enter the attic. He paused for a moment, hearing his national anthem play softly in the background before going up. "Happy birthday!" Mathew gasped, stopping as he reached the top. His attic wasn't very small, but it wasn't exactly big enough to keep much in so it remained practically empty. Today it had been decorated with mini flags strung along the top, far enough to keep the candles that were lit all around from catching fire. Laid out in the middle was a large duvet a maple leaf in the middle and Alfred sitting there smiling his thousand kilowatt smile.
"A-alfred?" Mathew gaped, sitting the present down and looked around while he clambered in. "You...you did all this?"
"Yep! Everything! Even the food! Pancakes and waffles are really hard to make, dude. You should seriously consider making them easier to cook." Alfred nodded then patted the spot next to him. "Sit here then open your present."
Mathew did as he was instructed, taking a seat next to his brother then tore open the present. Inside was a cake, shaped like a sun with the words 'Happy Birthday Bro!' in the middle. "I was thinking about doing it like a snowflake because everyone always thinks it's so cold here but then I decided on the sun because we both know it can get hella hot around here!" Alfred explained, putting an arm around his shoulder. "You like it?"
"It's...thank you so much!" Mathew wrapped his arms around him, burying his face into his shoulder, feeling tears prick in the back of his eyes. "This is the best birthday I have ever had!" He squeezed him tightly, hearing a small crack that reminded him that he had about as much strength as Alfred.
"I'm glad you liked it." Alfred said, returning the hug. "It took me about two weeks to plan all this." Squeezing him again Mathew then grabbed his face and kissed him fiercely.
"You are the best brother ever!" He mumbled against his lips.
"I know," Alfred smiled, then pulled back, a twinkle in his eyes. "But this birthday's not over yet! I still have one more present."
"What is it?" Mathew asked as Alfred began to blow out candles.
"You'll find out," He whispered as the last candle blew out.
A/N: I leave the rest to your imaginations! I knew I most likely wouldn't be here for Canada's birthday-much less remember it(I know, I know) so I made this that way I could post it now and give myself a reminder to at least think of Canada on the first-writing things down helps me remember. So happy early birthday Canada from a girl down in America! Hope you all like it! And please don't be offended by the bit about Lars/Netherlands. It for humors purposes! ~Ciao! Love Stripes! =^^=