A/N: So it's the 4th of July and I felt it was only right to post the chapter for the Ashiya 4th of July party. :D Happy Independence Day everyone! Hope you all enjoyed or are still enjoying your day! I had to work. LOL Which is actually where I wrote this, because the motherboard in my computer fried. Everyone pray it gets fixed soon! On to the chapter!

Chapter Eleven

The days slipped by in contentment. Almost every day Shizuki found somewhere to take Umeda. The doctor was enjoying the time with his boyfriend. He wasn't surprised anymore to find he was enjoying the time with Shizuki's family as well. At first, he had been anxious. It was always nerve wrecking to meet the significant other's family. Now, he felt fairly comfortable with everyone, even Mr. Ashiya. He was actually pleased to see Rio spending time with Gilbert. He was still worried about her being upset when they had to leave, but it was to late to stop it now. He, of course, had waited up for them when they came back that night after the day trip to the beach. She had rolled her eyes at him, but he was happy to see that Gilbert had been gentlemanly to her.

The days leading up to the Independence Day celebration about to overtake the city was somewhat insane. He'd had no idea that the 4th of July was such a big deal. Flags were going up everywhere. Red, white, and blue seemed to be on every surface in town. All the people seemed to be getting more and more excited as the day drew closer. Lawn chairs were lining the main street in anticipation of the big parade that would weave its way through town. According to Shizuki there was a whole schedule of how the day was supposed to go down. At least, according to the Ashiya family.

With that said, he should have been prepared for when Mizuki banged their bedroom door open on morning of the 4th yelling for them to get up. Shizuki was out of bed and moving in about 5 seconds flat. Umeda groaned in agony, pulling the pillow back over his head. He ignored the sounds of his boyfriend getting dressed and tried to go back to sleep. He raised himself of up, snarling angrily, when the blankets were ripped off his naked body.

"Come on, lazy! We'll miss the parade!" Shizuki grinned at his lover's expression.

"So?" Umeda's head flopped back onto the pillow.

Shizuki rolled his eyes. "Don't be like that. Come on. I'll make sure there's a fresh cup of coffee waiting on the table when you come downstairs." He disappeared out of the room a moment later.

Umeda sighed heavily before forcing himself to get up. He drew on his clothes with apathy. He staggered down the stairs barely away of anything in front of him. Shizuki gently guided him into a chair and pressed a mug of coffee into his hands. The conversation at the table buzzed around him. They were all more than used to his shitty morning attitude by now. They ignored him until he was aware enough to talk to people. He was fine with that. He managed to get down his cup of coffee and a slice of toast before they hurried him out the door. He wanted to kiss Mrs. Ashiya when she pressed a travel mug of coffee into his hand.

It seemed somewhat surreal when he finally found himself sitting by the curb in a lawn chair with Shizuki, his family, Julia, and Rio all around him. He blinked down at his travel cup of coffee and tried to remember how he got there. He didn't even really remember the car ride. He listened to the others chatter around him in excitement as he sipped at his coffee. Gradually he began to wake up.

"So when does this parade start?" he finally asked Shizuki.

"10:00am," his boyfriend replied, promptly.

Umeda glanced down at the watch on Shizuki's wrist. It read 8:55am. Umeda's eye twitched. "So we got woken up at 7:30?"

"We wanted good seats," Julia explained like it was obvious and she couldn't understand why that was such a problem.

The doctor rolled his eyes.

"Hokuto, don't," Shizuki patted his arm. "Relax and enjoy the parade."

"Fine," he sighed.

Admittedly the parade was pretty awesome. The college and high school bands were actually really good. He ignored the cheerleaders with their stupid little outfits. The police officers on horseback were mostly hot. For some reason, seeing a man controlling such a powerful animal was a turn on to Umeda. There were some pretty awesome cars that he wished Japan had more of or could import. It was fun to have Shizuki pointing out all his favorite things. He watched Julia, Mizuki, and Rio run into the street with the rest of the kids to catch candy. He was more than pleased when he got a fistful of candy pressed into his hand from his sister. He was surprised to find he was actually having fun.

When it was over Mrs. Ashiya rushed them all back to the house to set up for the party they had planned. Umeda was informed that it would be a lunch party so that they could go down to the Marina in the evening to enjoy the events taking place there as well as the fireworks. Chairs were arranged around the backyard. A fold up table was put up next the picnic table. Both were spread with checkered table clothes. He helped Shizuki make macaroni salad, while Mizuki and Julia made a potato salad. Rio was busy helping Gilbert bake cupcakes. Umeda didn't even know when the blond college boy had shown up.

It wasn't long before guests began to arrive around noon. Umeda was pleased to see Sarah, Crystal, Houston, Lisa, and Chris. The house and backyard was filled with chatter, laughter, and music. It was something Umeda had not experienced. He was used to events like his family Christmas party where he never had fun. It felt so forced. His relatives always felt like they were there to show off. It didn't have this carefree feeling that the Ashiya party did. People were here to have fun and enjoy each other's company. In less than half an hour, the picnic tables were loaded down with food. Amusingly, Mrs. Ashiya manned the grill and refused to let her husband touch it. It was the source of an ongoing joke through the guests of the party. There were more people than he would have imagined could fit comfortably in the house and the backyard. Yet, weirdly he didn't feel overwhelmed or annoyed by it.

Shizuki introduced him to family friends and relatives as his boyfriend, which pleased him to no end. He was even happier that most did not flinch or like shocked when he was introduced. Most of them were fairly accepting even the ones that didn't seem to pleased about it. They at least were polite anyways. Shizuki's friends made sure to keep dragging him into their circle to talk, laugh, and swap stories. He felt more and more that they were his friends now too, not just Shizuki's. Umeda was coerced into telling the tale of how he seduced Shizuki again only to a much larger crowd this time. Shizuki was teased mercilessly afterwards.

"Wait, you both know Akiha Hara?" Someone asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," Umeda rolled his eyes. "I went to high school with him."

"Wow, that's really cool! He's such a famous photographer. I'm jealous. I'd love to meet him!"

Shizuki coughed to cover up his laugh. "He's definitely one of a kind."

"So listen to this everyone!" Mr. Ashiya broke in, slinging his arm around Shizuki's shoulders. "My son is now a certified doctor! How about that!"

A cheer went up among the guests and calls of congratulations for Shizuki's achievement. Soon the food was announced that it was ready to be eaten. After a brief blessing there was a stampede for the picnic tables. Umeda waited until the rush died down before going up to make a plate. He regarded the tables with a bit of wonder. It was his first real view of an American traditional cookout spread of food. There were burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, all kinds of salads, cole slaw, chips, rolls, bowls of fruit, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and some things he didn't even know by name. He wasn't really sure where to start, but by the end of the table his plate was piled high.

"Think you got enough, Umeda?" Sarah teased.

"Have to try a little of everything, right?" He replied easily.

Chris nodded. "You have too. Everyone does. It's part of the tradition."

"There's a lot of weird traditions packed into this day," Umeda remarked before munching a burger.

"Well, ever family has their own traditions for all the holidays, but certain American holidays have unspoken traditions that go along with them. Like fireworks, parades, stuffing yourself until you're sick, and things like that," Lisa put in. "Wait that goes for most holidays."

They laughed.

"So basically it's the same as everywhere else in the world. Holidays are an excuse to feast and get drunk," Umeda said.

"Yes, exactly. Americans just perfected it," Houston grinned.

"Well, there is a reason everyone thinks Americans are lazy party animals," the doctor teased.

"Hey now, we earned that stigma honestly. It took a lot of hard work." Sarah laughed.

"Besides, the rest of the world wouldn't have hamburgers without us!" Crystal piped up.

They all looked at her then lost it.

"Burgers are important." Chris agreed with her statement.

The rest of the cookout seemed to pass by quickly. Umeda caught glimpses of the girls and Gilbert, chasing puppies across the backyard with a group of kids. He saw Rio sitting next to Gilbert later on with her hand in his. He watched Mr. and Mrs. Ashiya mingle with their party guests, smiling and happy. The atmosphere of the party was warm and pleasant. Umeda appreciated every moment he had with these people, friends and family alike (because now he did consider the Ashiyas to be extended family).

At about 4:30 the party began to break off. People began to say their good byes and head out to other places. Most were also going to the Marina for the events and fireworks. So it was more like the party was relocating, not ending. They hurried to clear off the picnic tables and wrap up the food. Shizuki's friends all stayed to help so they could all ride over to the Marina together. Gilbert and the girls left before they had finished cleaning up. It didn't really bother Umeda or anyone else. They were teenagers. It was expected.

They were soon on their way to the Marina as well. Umeda was amazed by how packed the place was when they arrived. Finding parking was an adventure in itself. It felt like they had to walk a mile just to get down to where everything was going on. Music was blaring; there were kids everywhere, laughter and talk, and the crush of people. He stuck close to Shizuki, not wanting to get lost. They all wandered through the craft booths together. Umeda was impressed by all the different kinds of crafts that were on display. There was so much to look at and Shizuki was more than willing to walk around to every booth with him, holding hands.

They were wandering towards where the band was playing (having agreed to meet up with everyone there at 8:00) when someone grabbed Shizuki by the elbow and yanked him around.

"Hey, Shizu, long time no see," a tall, jock looking type guy sneered down at the blond.

Umeda immediately felt his hackles bristle. This guy was no friend, judging by Shizuki's tense reaction.

"Not long enough, Blake," Shizuki spat.

Blake's eyes swept away from the blond to the mahogany haired man that was holding Shizuki's hand. He sneered at Umeda, making the doctor that much more edgy. "I see you finally stopped pretending to be straight. Always knew you were a fag, Shizuki."

Shizuki opened his mouth to snap back, but Umeda had already stepped in.

"At least he can admit it," the doctor remarked, glaring disdainfully at the wanna be macho man. "No one likes overly masculine men who are compensating for something. Everyone knows guys like that are secretly afraid of being found out that they like sucking cock."

Blake flushed angrily. "You fucker. I am not a faggot like you."

"Yeah sure, big guy. You keep telling yourself that when you're riding your dildo tonight." He arched an eyebrow up at Blake condescendingly.

"You motherfucker, I'm gonna-," the jock clenched his fists and began to move towards him.

Umeda stood his ground. "What?" The doctor's glare turned challenging. His fierce tiger eyes seemed to promise it would be one hell of a fight. Shizuki even had to force himself not to step away from his boyfriend. He'd never seen the man look like that. Blake stopped in his tracks—hands half raised. A moment later, the jock dropped them to his side as he backed off.

"You better watch your mouth," Blake snapped, clearly uneasy about the smaller man, yet upset at being forced to back down.

"Just go away. You've made yourself look like enough of an ass," Umeda spat dismissively.

Blake scowled before glancing around to see several other onlookers milling about them. A moment later, he stalked off—trying to look like he'd won the argument, not the other way around. Shizuki dragged his fingers down his face with a shaky sigh. "You didn't need to defend me." He muttered to the doctor.

"Yes, I did. You don't have to take that. And what would you have done otherwise?" Umeda asked, as Shizuki began to lead him towards the band and the dance area once more.

"I don't know. I don't have that 'I'm about to remove your balls through your ass' look that you do," Shizuki remarked with a smile.

Umeda grinned. "You'd never be able to pull it off anyways."

"Have you ever been in a fight?"

"Nope. Glare stops them every time. They don't need to know that I am the most pansy assed fighter ever," Umeda's grinned broadened.

Shizuki burst out laughing. "Amazing." He sobered after a few seconds. "Thank you, Hokuto."

"You're welcome."

They met the others just like they had planned at the band stand. There were already people out dancing on the 'floor.' The two smiled when they watched Gilbert invite Rio to dance. He looked a little nervous, running his fingers through his blond hair, as he asked. Rio agreed with a bright smile and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. The song playing had a good beat that Gilbert followed easily. Rio followed his lead naturally like they danced with each other all the time. It was amusing to see the relief on Rio's face when she realized Gilbert was actually a good dancer after only a few seconds out on the floor with him. He twirled her around with a laugh and she giggled as she spun back to face him. They looked happy, like the whole world had disappeared around them.

"You look envious," Umeda remarked to a certain girl standing next to him.

Mizuki jumped and blushed guiltily. "I miss Sano," she said honestly. That was what was making her a little sad at the moment.

"Ah," the doctor sighed. "I'm sure he misses you, but…"

She looked up at him. "What?"

"I think he'd want you to smile and have fun."

Mizuki smiled. "Yeah. You're right."

"Of course, I am. Now come dance with me." He smiled.

She laughed and took his proffered hand. "Ok!"

Umeda smiled down at her as he began to dance. She was a little rusty, but quickly remembered the steps. In a few minutes, her steps came easier and more gracefully. He began to try more difficult steps then to spin her. She followed his moves well and he was proud of her. She had grown up so much since he'd first met her. She really had become a beautiful young woman.

Julia pouted as she watched her two friends dance with gorgeous guys. "So unfair," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "Why am I always left on the side?"

"How about dancing with me?" Shizuki asked with a grin.

She smirked. "You sure?"

"Yes, I am. Come dance with me, Julia. We'll show them how it's done," he chuckled.

"Alright!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him out onto the floor. Shizuki laughed as she arranged his arms.

"You know I'm supposed to lead, right?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, c'mon!"

He shook his head before leading her off into a dance. She followed him enthusiastically, almost over flourishing her steps. He adjusted the distance between them and the placement of his arms so that he was more comfortable. In a few minutes, they were moving more in sync. "Just, just have fun."

"Ok," she relented with a little pout. It turned into a smile a second later. "Thanks, Shizuki."

"You're welcome."

"Well, sweetheart, it looks like the girls have all found a partner," Mr. Ashiya sighed.

Mrs. Ashiya smiled. "No rushing in to save the day."

"I wouldn't say that. There's still one lady without a dance partner." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Honey, you have two left feet." She laughed.

He mock scowled. "So? Come dance with me."

"Oh alright," she continued to chuckle. "Don't step on my feet."

"I won't." He promised, but of course he did. She didn't care.

"Looking good, Mizuki!" Julia called as Shizuki danced them closer to the pair.

Mizuki looked over with a big smile. "You too!"

"Wanna trade?"

"You don't like dancing with Shizuki?"

Julia rolled her eyes. "I do, but I wanna dance with Umeda too!"

"Hell no, crazy girl. You have cooties!" Umeda protested.

"Well, you have guy germs but you don't see me complaining," Julia replied.

Shizuki laughed, spinning Julia over to Umeda. His boyfriend caught her easily and sent Mizuki over to her brother. Julia looked extremely pleased to finally be dancing with the sexy Umeda. She'd secretly always wanted to get her hands on him just a little. What girl could resist a chance to be held in the arms of such a gorgeous guy—even if he was gay?

"It's been a long time since we danced," Shizuki remarked to his sister.

"That's because I was terrible," she laughed.

"You're very good now. What changed?"

"I wanted to dance with Sano at a party. I worked so hard to be good enough to dance with him," she admitted with a blush.

Shizuki smiled a bit sadly. "You really love him. He better be grateful."

A hand suddenly settled on the blond's shoulder. He tensed, fearing that it was Blake from before. Both Mizuki and Shizuki gasped in surprise when they heard a familiar voice break into their conversation.

"I am grateful. Do you mind if I cut in?" Sano stood smiling behind them.

"Oh my God, Sano!" Mizuki cried, launching herself at the boy she loved.

Shizuki stepped back with a smile as the two embraced. "Glad you could make it," the blond said when the two finally broke apart for a moment.

"I got a little lost on the way from the airport so I was a little late." Sano admitted. "But I made it here."

"Wait, Shizuki, you knew about this?" Mizuki gapped her brother.

Shizuki looked innocently down at his sister. "I might have bought his plane ticket here and told him when to meet us at the Marina on the dance floor."

Mizuki looked overwhelmed for a moment. She glanced between her boyfriend and her brother in astonishment before reaching over to hug Shizuki so hard he thought his ribs might crack. "Thank you so much!"

"No, Mizuki, thank you," Shizuki hugged her back. "This was a gift for supporting me and Umeda as well as helping me find the courage to confess my love to Umeda."

"You're welcome. I just wanted you to be happy." She replied with a sniffle.

"And I want the same thing for you. Now go enjoy your time with Sano," he released her and gently pushed her back into Sano's waiting arms. The music changed a moment later to something softer and gentler. He smiled as the two teens slow danced across the floor, completely lost in each other's eyes. He looked over when he felt Umeda come to stand beside him. The doctor slipped his arm around Shizuki's waist and squeezed gently.

"That was a great thing you did," Umeda remarked.

Shizuki looked over. "Yeah. I love you."

"I love you too."

For the first time in front of a crowd of people, Shizuki leaned over and kissed Umeda for all he was worth. Umeda thought it was absolutely perfect.

/

At 9:30 the fireworks started off the end of the Berkeley Pier to the sound of boisterous music and cheering. Shizuki and Umeda stood hand in hand, watching them light up the night sky in an array of colors—each more breathtaking than the last. Their friends and family stood around them so that they were cocooned in a crowd of warmth, love, excitement, and happiness. Umeda thought he could understand why the 4th of July was such a great American holiday tradition. Surrounded by good people, great food, and good cheer it was hard for Umeda not to enjoy it. The finale of fireworks exploded across the sky in a thunderous display of colors, flashing lights, and triumphant music. It was the perfect close to a great day.

Happy 4th of July!

/

Be a responsible reader and review!

I sincerely hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday! Sorry for the delay of this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it, because I loved writing it. Thanks for all the continued support for this couple and my writing. I hope to see you next chapter! Two more to go….

P.S- Dear Jumpingbean480, I too am surprised at the lack of angst in this story. I amaze even myself. LOL Umeda is usually so fun to torture, but this time around I felt he'd earned some happiness. I'll get back to the angst and Umeda torture next story. :D