Birthday Parties
À la Canadienne
231
I just find that family stories are amazingly funny and cute. I prefer the pairing of UKxUSA, but for some reason having UK and France as the parents and USA and Canada as the kids always brightens my day. This also came to me when my friend and I realized that there were many Hetalia birthdays in July. The rest as they say is history. OH, and there will be four chapters to this!
Disclaimer: Homework be damned.
Birthday Parties
À la Canadienne
Some people went crazy with preparations during the Christmas holidays. Others went mental during the Thanksgiving season, but for one Arthur Kirkland, July was one hell of a crazy month. It just so happened that everyone that he cared for celebrated their birthday in this month. It wasn't as though the celebrations were scattered throughout the month, no, they were mostly back-to-back.
His youngest son was the first to get celebrated. Matthew's birthday was on the first of July and Arthur had been working on the celebration for a while now. Seeing as he had been banned from the kitchen, Francis and Alfred had left him in charge of the organization. Arthur didn't mind. After all, who would want to be pestered on the fact that his cooking was the equivalent of mud? And secretly, he liked the atmosphere that would reign over the kitchen when Francis cooked.
So while his living companion and their eldest were busy in the kitchen baking the cake, Arthur was adding the finishing touches to Matthew's birthday present from him. The birthday present in itself had been hard to come up with. What did one give to a nine year old boy? He had finally come up with the idea of making Matthew a stuffed polar bear that he would make with his own bare hands.
Of course, embroidery and actual sewing were two different things. He had spent many hours on the bear and he now had bandages on his fingers from the number of times he had pricked himself.
Arthur finished stuffing the bear and then stitched it closed. He found a nice red ribbon and tied it around the bear's neck. He looked at the finished product and smiled. He had done a fine job, if he could say so himself.
Arthur found the box he had picked and wrapped it up nicely. Once the wrapping paper was set and the party ribbon had been tied up in a nice, complex bow, the man put the present away for now and went to see how his partner and eldest were doing with the cake.
Francis and Alfred were adding the finishing touches to the cake when Arthur walked in. The cake was made of pancakes, crème Chantilly and fruit. There were at least twenty or so pancakes and between each layer, there was the filling of the cream with the fruit. It was quite a stunning cake and Arthur knew that he would have never managed to do something so spectacular.
"I made the decorations on top, look!" Alfred said when he noticed that his father had been watching them. Arthur walked to the kitchen counter and saw the puffs of whipped cream that were on the edge of the top later. In the middle, there was a picture made with icing that represented the younger boy. The words "Bonne fête Mathieu" were written in elegant cursive handwriting, which he recognized as being Francis' writing, on a "pâte d'amande" tablet. He then watched as Francis added the liquid sugar in elegant gestures so that it could harden and give a crystallized effect.
"You did a fine job, Al." Arthur said patting his head affectionately.
"Tu es un vrai professionnel."/ "You are a real professional." Francis added with a soft smile. Alfred beamed at them both.
"So, shall we start this celebration?" Arthur asked. The other two nodded and he went to get the birthday boy who was reading in the study.
Matthew was all excited about the party. He couldn't wait to have cake and open his presents. Every year, his parents managed to outdo themselves and he couldn't wait to see what they had done this year.
Arthur smiled proudly when he saw Matthew's eyes widen with surprise and joy when he walked into the kitchen and saw the many different dishes that were on the table.
"C'est fantastique! Thank you!"/ "It's fantastic!..." The boy exclaimed. He sat in his regular chair at the table and started pulling food towards him.
"Wait until you see the cake, Matt. Papa and me made it awesome!" Alfred told his brother, flashing him a grin. The adults took their seats as well and soon everyone was enjoying the meal and having a merry good time.
Once the dishes were cleared, Francis went to get the cake while Alfred got the presents. Arthur killed the lights and soon, the three of them were singing happy birthday to Matthew who was clapping his hands to the rhythm of the song.
"Papa, tu as fait tout ça pour moi?"/ "Papa, you made all that for me?" Matthew asked when he saw the cake. Arthur could see him salivating at the sight.
"J'ai aidé too, you know."/ "I helped…" Alfred said, but his brother wasn't paying much attention to anything but the wonderfully decorated and appetizing looking pancake cake.
"Juste pour toi, mon trésor."/ "Just for you, son." Francis replied with a tender smile. He set the cake in front of the birthday boy and the family watched as the youngest member of their family made a wish and blew the candles.
While Arthur cut the cake, (it was the only thing that the rest of the family judged he could do well), Alfred handed his brother the birthday presents.
Matthew eagerly removed the paper of the first present and he soon found a book and a handmade card from his brother.
"Thanks, Al!" The birthday boy beamed. He put his new book aside and took the next box. He tore at the paper just as enthusiastically and found some new paintbrushes, paints and a few empty canvases. The smile on his face got even wider.
"Merci, papa!"/ "Thank you, papa!" Matthew told Francis as he hugged him around the waist.
"Mais de rien."/ "You're welcome." The older man replied as he hugged back. Matthew walked back to his chair and took the last box on the table. He undid the golden coloured bow and then removed the red wrapping paper. He opened the lid of the box and pulled out the stuffed bear. He looked at it for a moment before his face became illuminated with joy.
"You made this, just for me?" Matthew asked incredulously as he walked to his other parental figure.
"Of course. Happy Birthday, Matthew." The boy hugged him as well before going to eat his cake. Arthur watched his family and couldn't help the proud smile that came to his face. He didn't see Francis approaching until he felt an arm around his waist.
"Nous avons fait du bon travail, non?"/ "We did some good work, no?" He whispered in Arthur's ear. The Englishman tried to wiggle away, but Francis' grip around his waist was firm. Finally, Arthur gave up and settled by putting his head on the Frenchman's shoulder.
"For now. You can tell me how fine of a job I've done when the month is over." Francis simply smiled and kissed the shorter man's cheek. Arthur blushed a very dark shade of red, but he remained where he was.
"Ne t'inquiètes pas, mon coeur, tu fais toujours du bon travail."/ "Don't worry, my love, you always do good work." He murmured to Arthur who only blushed even more. The two of them stayed in their embrace as they watched the children play together. Arthur smiled to himself; one birthday down, two more to go.
To Be Continued…
So, three guesses to who's the next birthday boy. (It's pretty obvious ahaha.) Ah, I love being multilingual. It's such fun! ~Vents, teehee.
Started writing: November 13th 2009, 8:53am
Finished writing: November 13th 2009, 7:57pm
Started typing: November 14th 2009, 10:26pm
Finished typing: November 14th 2009, 11:20pm