The day started with a loud alarm blaring throughout the almost empty house. Like every other morning, Kumajirou nestled his head further into the pillows and the owner of the house rolled out of bed and onto the floor in a tangle of bedding. He slowly untangled himself, rubbing his head, and glanced at the clock. It read 7:00 am, July 1, 2011.
He looked expectantly at his phone, but there was no sign of any text messages or phone calls. He sighed, mumbling to himself.
"Of course they don't remember. Arthur is already stocking up on alcohol so he can avoid everyone on the 4th, Francis is probably too busy with his sex life to call me, and I don't expect Alfred to remember any birthday but his own." He said, going into the bathroom to take a shower.
An hour later he was eating breakfast, pancakes with maple syrup like usual, when someone knocked on his door. He felt a bit of hope rise in his chest as he walked over to the door.
"Mattie!" a voice exclaimed when he opened the door. He was forced into a hug.
"Good morning Al, I didn't expect you to remember." Matthew said, smiling happily.
"Remember what?" Alfred asked, confused.
"What today is." Matthew replied, hoping to God that Alfred was joking.
"Today's the 1st, right? What's so special about it?" Alfred asked, walking past Matthew to the kitchen and sitting at the table and drinking Matthew's cup of coffee.
"Are you serious?" Matthew asked.
"Huh? Oh Mattie, I can't stay for breakfast, I hav'ta run." Alfred said, quickly exiting Matthew's home and Matthew gaping at him like a fish.
"He really didn't remember. I guess it's just you and me today Kumakichi." Matthew said to his polar bear, which was eating fish from his food bowl.
"Who?" Kumajirou asked, looking up. He didn't seem to see his owner and went back to eating his breakfast.
Matthew sighed, "Typical."
He ate breakfast and turned on the news. At least his own people were celebrating today, his birthday. The anchorman wished everyone a "Happy Canada Day" and promised clear skies that night for the fireworks.
"Happy Canada Day indeed." Canada said forlornly.
At one in the afternoon came a knock at the door. This time he didn't allow himself to feel any hope as he walked to the door.
"What is it this time, Al?" Matthew asked, opening the door. He was surprised to see Katherine there.
"Oh, where you expecting someone?" the representative of Ukraine asked nervously, worried that she had come at an inconvenient time.
"Oh no, I wasn't expecting anyone actually. Come on it, Katyusha." Matthew said, opening the door wide.
"Thank you, and happy birthday." She said, giving him a thin rectangular present wrapped in red and white paper.
"Thank you so much! Would you like some tea?" Matthew asked, smiling happily.
"I would love some." Katyusha said a bit nervously, as if thinking that she will be kicked out. But instead Matthew gestured toward the table and poured her some tea. When they were both sitting, he opened his gift. Inside was a hand-knit red scarf.
"Oh Katyusha; thank you so much!" Matthew said, looking at the patterns that Ukraine had knitted in.
"You're welcome." She said cheerfully, taking a sip of her tea. "But Canada, are you not celebrating your birthday today? Shouldn't your family be here?" she asked.
"They all forgot." Matthew said bitterly. Katyusha's smile disappeared.
"That's not right…I could have sworn…" she whispered to herself. Matthew didn't notice.
"Would you like to stay for the fireworks?" Canada asked after a few moment of awkward silence.
"I'd love to." Ukraine replied, happy that she had such a friend.
Ukraine's appearance had made Canada's hope for being remembered on his birthday return so he eagerly hurried to the door when someone knocked a few minutes later.
"Happy Birthday Ca—America! What are you doing here!" Cuba exclaimed upon Canada opening the door. He used the closest thing to him, in this case a nicely wrapped present, to hit Canada on the head.
"Ow! Wait! I am Canada!" Canada said after a few seconds of being hit by Cuba.
"What?" The Cuban squinted at him. "Oh sorry! Again! I'll make it up to you, promise!" He helped Canada up. "Erm, happy birthday Canada."
Canada took the gift and said thank you, leading Cuba into the house. When they reached the kitchen, Katyusha was on her feet.
"I heard yelling, is something wrong?" she asked, glancing around nervously.
"No, everything is fine. Katyusha, this is Cuba; Cuba, this is Ukraine." Canada said.
"Hello." Cuba said, starring at Ukraine's breasts. Canada stomped on his foot and pushed Cuba into a chair.
"Thanks for the present, Cuba." Canada said, opening the gift and finding an ice-cream making machine thing. 'No wonder it hurt so much when he hit me.' Canada thought to himself.
They spent the next few hours chatting among themselves, if Cuba trying to flirt with Ukraine while she tried to hide her discomfort by talking to Canada could be counted as chatting.
When Cuba had shown up, Canada had hoped others would follow, but hours passed and they didn't appear. He had lost almost all hope at 5 when the conversation turned to wildlife preservation and other such things. Suddenly, all the lights in the house went out.
"Hey!" Cuba exclaimed. "What's going on!"
"It it fine. It is summer time now, it is still light out." Ukraine said, though she sounded nervous too; she always did. Canada heard footsteps and quietly grabbed the hockey stick he had left in the kitchen when he came home from the indoor ice-rink yesterday.
The lights flashed back on and everyone in the room was surprised to see Alfred, Francis, and several other nations in the room holding cake and balloons and gifts; and Matthew stood in front of them brandishing a hockey stick. Alfred back away from the hockey stick.
"Woah Mattie, put that down, no one is gonna hurt you." He said nervously, eyeing Matthew like one would a skittish horse. Matthew put the hockey stick back into the corner of the room, looking around like he was in a daze.
"Happy birthday Matthieu." Francis said, handing Canada a small, elegantly wrapped, box.
"I thought you guys forgot." Canada said, looking at everyone. He saw Italy and Germany and Prussia; Russia and the Baltic's; the Nordics were there as well.
"How could we forget Mattie!" Alfred exclaimed, ignoring the fact that he forgot he even had a brother on a normal basis. Canada just smiled at everyone and let it slide.
"And now we party! I brought beer!" Prussia exclaimed.
By the time the fireworks began, most of the attendees were drunk. They sat on Matthew's roof and cheered for the show as Canada attempted to ignore the fact that he would have to burn the sheets and bedding in a number of his guest bedrooms and would have to install new flooring the next day. Instead he just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed his birthday.