Author's Note:
This is the sequel to the sequel to the story. Oo' Okay, that sounded weird...anyway, this is the July 4th fic. I hope you enjoy it. It is the sequel to the "Father's Day" fic. Sorry to say though, that this will be the last story in the series...unless I decide to write another one for Halloween or Christmas or something...Oo Okay, enjoy!

-Raven A. Star

It's Independence Day I'm free
And it's a strange place to be
I'm gonna break these chains
Unleash the changes in me

I see an endless road
I feel the restless wind
I've lost the fear inside
Cause I've got no choice
But to live or die

-Leann Rimes from "Suddenly"

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"Come on Emily! Please give me the sunscreen!" Emily giggled as she slid under the kitchen table with the bottle of sunscreen. Raven groaned and bent over and reached under to get her. Emily crawled out and ran over to the couch and dove over it, only to be caught by her father, Roger.

"Emily, that's not nice stealing the sunscreen."

Emily stuck out her lower lip and put on a puppy-eyed expression. Starfire walked in happily.

"Hello friends." She gasped. "What have you done to upset little Emily? You are horrible! Vile! Evil! Cru-"

"Starfire, we just asked for the sunscreen and she didn't want to give it up."

Starfire grinned. "Oops, my apologies. With the facial expression, she looks like she was about to cry due to something mean."

Raven rolled her eyes smiling faintly. She snatched the bottle out of Emily's grasp. "Thank you. I'll take that."

Emily cried out. Raven was about to walk away, so she grabbed a bottle of mustard on the kitchen table and handed it to the girl. "Here, just...don't cry."

Emily grinned from ear to ear and the dad nearly fainted when Starfire handed her a straw. Emily started sucking the mustard out of the bottle in loud slurps, which made her dad set her down and run to his room.

Just then Beast Boy walked in with a large cooler and medium sized basket followed by Cyborg who was carrying several lawn chairs. "You guys almost ready? We've got everything pretty much except for the blanket and sunscr--" Raven handed Beast Boy the bottle. He grinned. "Well, scratch sunscreen off and just search for the blanket. Actually, we should bring several and maybe a beach umbrella."

Raven raised an eyebrow as she dug through the linen closet. "Beach umbrella? Whatever for?"

"Well, in case if we can't find shade we can use that for it. It's going to be very sunny."

Raven nodded. She pulled out several large blankets and handed them to Beast Boy who placed them in the basket. She reached into the corner and pulled out the beach umbrella and Starfire took it.

Emily ran over and looked at the cooler. "What is in the cooler?"

Beast Boy grinned. "Lunch, snacks, drinks, and things you would need for a picnic while watching the parade." He opened it up and revealed a large stack of sandwiches on one side and several rows of drinks with cookies and other sweets inside.

Emily bounced up and down and grabbed Raven's cloak. "Hey Raven! I heard that there is some sort of festival in the park! Can we go there?"

Raven smiled faintly. "That was the general plan...unless of course you want to stay with me under a tree and read some depressing poetry..."

Emily made a face and ran over to Starfire and grabbed her hand. "Me and Starfire wanna ride the spinning tea cups!"

Roger walked back into the room with a smile on his face. "Well, are we ready to go?"

Starfire held up the umbrella. "We just need Robin to join us."

Raven held up a finger. "I'll get him." She walked down the hallway and ascended the stairway. She climbed the last step and walked down to the last room in the hallway. She knocked.

"Who is it?" A voice called from within.

"Raven, look Rob, we're ready to go now...you coming?"

"I don't know...I think I'll stay."

Raven glared at the door. "Robin, don't spoil the day for us. Emily wants everyone to go, and Starfire will be mad at you if you don't come with us. Bring some work to do...it won't kill you."

Robin opened his door. "Raven, you're going?"

Raven nodded. "Anything for Emily. Now come on, everyone's waiting. They'll kick your rear if you don't come."

Robin switched the light off and walked down the hallway. "Let's go then."

-----

"Are we there yet?"

"About five minutes more." Cyborg answered.

Emily bounced up and down in her seat. Opening her mouth, she asked again. "Are we there yet?"

Cyborg grumbled. Raven gave Emily a brownie. "Here, eat."

Roger chuckled. "Boy Raven, you sure have a way with kids…"

Raven closed the lid to the cooler. "What can I say? I live with him." She pointed to Beast Boy.

He took this as an insult. "Hey! I am not a kid!" Cyborg clenched his mouth tight. Beast Boy glared. "No snappy comebacks robot, got it?"

Raven rolled her eyes and looked out the window at the scenery passing by. Fourth of July flags and red, white and blue ribbon tossed everywhere. There were balloons of the same color hung everywhere to celebrate the holiday.

Cyborg pulled into a parking space close to the park and cut the engine. "Ready gang?" Everyone piled out of the car carrying something.

Robin led them to a spot that was fortunately near a tree. They began to set up the mini picnic. Beast Boy stretched his arms after a few minutes of the setting up. "This is a great spot to view the parade from."

Starfire reached into the cooler and pulled out a large bottle of mustard. "Agreed Beast Boy. This spot is, terrific? Yes?"

Raven groaned. "Alright, who packed the mustard?"

Emily giggled. "Me."

Raven eyed her. "You?"

Starfire handed Emily a smaller bottle of mustard and straw. "Would you like to join us Raven?"

Raven shook her head. "No thanks…"

Beast Boy tapped Cyborg on the shoulder. "Do you see what I see?" Cyborg looked to the festival.

"If you're talking about all the games down there, then yeah."

Cyborg ran down to the park with Beast Boy chasing after him. "We're going to the games! Be back in a few!"

Robin smiled. "Hey! Wait up!" He ran after them with his feet skimming the pavement.

Raven looked from the two girls slurping mustard to Roger. "So, what do you want to do?"

Roger cringed each time a slurping noise was made. "First, I wanna steal the mustard and hide it, then maybe go down and browse a little bit and see what they have there…"

Raven nodded. Using her powers, she stole the mustard out of the girl's clenches. There were several angry cries.

"Hey! Give that back friend Raven!" Starfire grumbled.

Raven shook her head. "Tisk tisk. We come here to have fun and all you two do is sit on your butts and slurp mustard. If I didn't know any better, I would think that I would be having much more fun than you two…"

Starfire leaped to her feet. "Fun! We must go and achieve fundom!" She grabbed Emily's hand who grabbed her dad's hand who grabbed Raven's hand. "Let us go!" She was about to fly off when Emily released her grip on Roger's.

"Wait! Some of us have to stay and watch the baskets!" Raven sighed. "You guys go, I'll stay here. Cause I don't DO fun." She sat on the blanket and pulled out a book and began to read. Roger shooed the two girls off and sat on the blanket next to Raven.

"She's a cute kid…so glad you took care of her when I wasn't there."

Raven nodded. "No problem."

-End of Chapter 1-

Next time:
The parade and fireworks! XD