America hummed as he looked over the list of things he had to do today. He was sitting in his office, with his pet dog Libby chewing a bone by his feet, and his cat Hero, who was sitting on top of his computer purring loudly.
"Ok, I have to pick up the birthday cake, wrap the presents, and pay for the movie tickets." He muttered as he skimmed the piece of paper in front of him. Grinning widely, he gave a satisfied nod. "Piece of cake!"
Checking his watch, he frowned. He was going to meet at his brother at his house for presents and cake, and then they were going to go see a movie. Unfortunately, due to being behind on work he was behind schedule. That meant he only had an hour to pick up the cake before the store closed, wrap the presents, and buy the movie tickets. Luckily for him, the internet existed, so he could buy the movie tickets online. Pushing his cat off his laptop, (which made Hero give a low grumble of irritation), he pulled up the movie tickets. As he skimmed through the times that the movies were playing, he didn't notice Hero playing with his cup of coffee on his desk.
To his dismay, he saw that most of the seats to the movie that he and his brother wanted to watch was sold out in all the time slots for that day. However, the latest showing had two seats left open right at the front of the theater. Deciding that it was better than nothing, he was just about to press buy when Hero knocked over the coffee cup over, and his computer was suddenly drenched in hot coffee, as well as all of his papers.
"HERO, NO!" America cried in horror as his computer made an alarming sound, and the screen turned blue. Picking up his laptop, he desperately tried to find something to dry it off with. Unfortunately, even after dashing to the kitchen and using a towel to dry it off the computer was beyond saving.
"Hero, why would you betray me like this?" America wailed as he desperately tried to turn on his laptop. Hero just gave his owner a bored look. Sighing, America gave up trying to save the device. Pulling out his phone, he pulled up the website again, only to see that someone else had bought the seats. Groaning, America banged his head against the wall. Well shit, Mattie had been waiting to see this movie, and he'd gone and screwed up. Ok, well they could go tomorrow, and he'd try and make it up with his brother.
"I'll just go wrap the presents." America sighed, walking into the other room where he had put his brothers presents. Thankfully, they were in perfect condition. He walked to his closet, and started to rummage through it. After a minute, he pulled out a thin box with wrapping paper in it. Rummaging through it, he pulled out his Canada Flag wrapping paper.
"Just enough to wrap the presents!" America said happily. He turned around to wrap the present, (a tin of homemade maple cookies he had made that morning and a book Mattie had wanted), and he was alarmed to see Hero batting at the tin. Rushing over, America picked up Hero and put him out of the room, closing the living room door behind him. "No, you already messed up one of the presents." America said sternly. There was a sad meow from the other side of the door.
"You have food and your kitty pan." America huffed as he sat down to wrap the presents. After he was done, he put them on the coffee table. Looking down at his watch, he was pleased to see that he still had a half an hour to get the cake.
Grabbing his house keys, America walked out of his apartment and down to the street below. If he ran, he could get to the store before it closed. Thankfully, he didn't run into any obstacles on the way, and just managed to get to the store with ten minutes to spare.
"Welcome!" the lady behind the counter said cheerfully as America walked into the store. "How may I help you?"
"I'm here to pick up a birthday cake order!" America said cheerfully. "It was under the name Alfred."
"Just a moment." The lady said, and she walked into the back. America amused himself by looking through the birthday cake designs. After a minute, the lady walked back in with the cake box.
"Here you go!" She said, handing America the cake. "Have a nice day!"
"Will do!" America said, walking out the door with the box. The box was a bit bulky, but it wasn't any trouble. Humming, America walked down the street, when he heard someone yelling behind him. Startled, America looked around and jumped out of the way of a bike zipping past him, nearly slamming into him.
"Watch it!" America shouted angerly. Just then, a kid ran past him yelling, "That guy just stole my bike!"
America froze. No, he did not need to get involved with this. Sure, he was a hero, but he was on a time crunch and he didn't need to be late. He was sure the police could handle it. But he really wanted to help, but he needed to be a good bro and-
The boy stopped running as the thief got farther away, and his shoulders drooped. Then he started to cry. "My dad gave me that bike!" He sobbed.
Well, that did it. America sighed, and walking up to the kid, he tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, could you hold this for a second?" America said, handing the kid the cake.
"Huh?" The kid said in confusion. "I don't think you'll be able to catch him, he's too far away."
But America was already sprinting as fast as he could, and to his amusement he caught up to the guy in just a few seconds. The thief looked alarmed when he saw America keeping up with him easily, and America grabbed the guy off the bike with ease and held him in the air with one hand. The bike clattered to the ground, and the thief gave America a fearful look. America just gave the man a large smile.
"Hey there, I don't think that belongs to you." He said casually, nodding towards the bike.
"W-what the hell man?" The man said shakily, dangling above the ground. "How the hell did you catch up with me?!"
"I just ran." America said with a shrug. "Now, I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'm just going to let you go. That is, if you promise not to steal anymore bikes. Okay?"
"Fine! Just put me down!" The man said. America dropped him on the ground, and the guy scrambled up and ran away. The little kid came running up to America, his eyes wide. He was still holding the cake in his hands.
"How did you do that mister?!" The kid asked in awe.
"Well, if you must know," America said with a smirk, "I'm actually Captain America."
The little boy's eyes widened, and he dropped the cake in surprise. America let out a cry as the box hit the pavement. As he picked up the box, the kid sputtered out an apology, but the damage was done. When America opened the box, he saw to his dismay that the cake was splattered.
"I'm so sorry!" The kid said, tears forming in his eyes.
America sighed, then gave the kid a bright smile. "Nah, its fine. Cake is cake, even if it's smashed. As long as I can eat it, I'm happy!"
"Really?" the kid asked unsurely.
"Of course!" America said, walking over to the kid's bike he picked it up and brought it to the kid. "But just do me a favor, and don't tell anyone my secret identity, ok? I don't need bad guys finding me!"
"Of course not!" The kid said nodding eagerly.
"And don't get your bike stolen again!" America said with one final wink. He turned around and walked back to his house with worried look. Crap, he wasn't going to be able to order another cake or make one in time for the party.
"Well, at least it's still edible." America grumbled as he pulled out the key for his apartment. "Maybe I won't let my ego get in the way next time." As he walked into his house, he heard a sound that made his heart nearly stop. The ripping of wrapping paper.
"No, no, no, NO!" America shouted, throwing the cake on the counter and running into the living room, where he saw a disaster. The book he had bought for his brother was unwrapped, and Libby was chewing on it. There was wrapping paper all over the floor, along with a good chunk of the book. America let out a yell of anger.
"Oh, come the FUCK ON!" He shouted. He ran his hands through his hair, willing himself to calm down. To be fair, Libby did have a bad chewing problem, and he should have known better than to leave out the presents like that. Thankfully, the tin of cookies was still good. After cleaning up the mess in his living room, America gathered up the broken cake, (Because it was still edible), and tin into a bag and left the apartment to meet his brother, who was staying at a nearby hotel due to a meeting in a few days. He had planned this party to surprise his brother, but everything was looking down. Nothing else could possibly go wrong.
About halfway to the hotel, someone with a sick sense of humor decided to prove him wrong, as rain started to pour down on his head. What the hell was this, a site com? As he walked into the hotel, America sighed. He was now soaked, didn't have anything for his brother except a broken cake and cookies, and no movie tickets. He got to this brother's hotel room, and knocked on the door. After a minute, Canada opened the door.
"Al?" Canada asked in shock, taking in his brother's appearance. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I thought I would surprise you on your birthday!" America said happily.
"My birthday?" Canada asked in confusion. Then with a look of realization, Canada started laughing.
"What's so funny?" America asked in confusion. "It's July First, right?"
"Al, today is Sunday."
"So?" America asked, becoming even more confused.
"Al, my birthday is on July first, except when it's July first on a Sunday. If it lands on a Sunday, I celebrate it on the second. You're one day early this year."
America felt his face fall. He was early? "Oh my god, your right! How did I forget that?" America asked looking upset. "And I ruined everything too! I couldn't buy the tickets for that movie you wanted to watch, I ruined the cake I got you, and my dog chewed up one of your presents. And I even forgot the date of your birthday!" America said, looking like he was about to cry. "I'm the worst brother ever!"
"Al, it's fine." Canada said, patting his brother on the shoulder sympathetically. "I usually celebrate it on the first anyways, even if the date has been moved. And hey, I don't care about the presents or cake or the movies. To tell you the truth, I'm just happy you come over. As often as people forget about me, you never fail to show up to celebrate my birthday with me. That means more to me than any gift."
America gave his brother a surprised look as his brother gave him a hug, then laughed. "You're such a sap."
"Shut up." Canada snickered. "Why don't you come in? Did you bring the Maple cookies this year?"
America scoffed as he pulled the tin of cookies out of his bag and handed them to his brother. "Like I'd let anything happen to these."
"Then this is the perfect Birthday." Canada said.
"Let's get this party started, old man!" America said teasingly.
"If I'm old, then you're not far behind." Canada teased right back.
A/N: Happy Canada Day! This chapter is for our friendly Canadian neighbors! Seeing as I'm also a twin, I would like to say birthdays are the best when spent with your twin sibling. (My sis just moved away, and I miss her, but she'll be back soon to celebrate it! Our birthday is on the 14th of July!) I am currently working on a few chapters, including the Broadway chapter. Hint on that, it may have a certain play you've been asking for, but before that, the next chapter will be about the 4th of July. I can't believe I've never written about it before now. You know, seeing as the story is focused on America and all.