A/N:
All the praise/criticism this story earns should be split between me and The Scarlet Macaw
This idea came straight from his mind. I am merely the one who put it together.
Don't forget to review. We both need it!
Enjoy, everyone...
Chapter 1:Isolated
Planet Earth was currently hiding the Southern Hemisphere from the face of the sun, plunging everything into the deep shadow of night. The countless numbers of cities spread throughout the darkened landmasses responded by cranking up their own artificial lights, allowing life to continue uninterrupted.
Rio de Janeiro was one of those cities, and it threw as much magical splendor into the night sky as it did in the daytime hours.
In the lush expanse of the rainforests around the city – which were completely dark, untouched by the hand of man – was a spot of light that seemed out of place. The building that created said disturbance was the Blu Bird Sanctuary.
Inside that ivory-hued building sat two Spix's Macaws and a red-headed woman, appearing to be preparing for a heated, desperate conversation. The woman, named Linda, was plastered at the kitchen table. The pair of macaws, known as Blu and Jewel, were perched on the table not a foot from her.
A small stack of notebook paper, along with a yellow-painted pencil, lay at the male macaw's feet.
"Go on," urged Jewel. "She needs to know what we plan to do. We need to see what she thinks."
"I have a feeling she's not going to like our 'idea,' if you could call it that. It's more like an 'atrocity.' "
Blu picked up the pencil and worked it into a comfortable position between the talons of his right foot.
He quickly scribbled the words: "Jewel and I have something very serious to ask you. It concerns the futures of our three recently born children."
He spun the paper around half a turn so she could read it. Linda peered down at the studious writing and pulled the pencil from Blu's foot.
She, in turn, wrote: "Since it's that important, I'll listen. Go ahead and say whatever you have to say."
She whirled the cellulose sheet back to him and handed him the pencil.
"Here we go, Jewel. Our little plan is about to go under the chopping block."
Jewel nodded resolutely and sank down until her stomach rested against the warm table. Blu focused back on the paper and poured out what was on his mind.
"We have two daughters and a son. Their names are Azura, Sapphire, and Cobalt. Since Tulio is so keen on saving our species, we've decided to include our children in that process. As soon as Jewel and I are done here, we are going to isolate Cobalt from his two sisters. Azura is going to basically live with a macaw couple and their three children. Don't worry, they're good friends of ours. Sapphire is going to live with two more of our good friends, a canary named Nico and a cardinal named Pedro.
While he is growing up, we are going to tell him that there are two female Spix's Macaws out there, and he is going to have to choose one of them to be his mate. As for the other, we'll have to worry about her later. I know that incest is a poisonous thing for us to consider, but if this is what it takes, then we'll just have to deal, and so will you and Tulio. I don't mean to be rude, but that's the situation. I apologize if this makes you unhappy or even angry with us. Nobody said that this was going to be easy, but we are going extinct here, and desperate times call for desperate measures..."
He turned the sheet around once again before dropping the pencil, and this time, Linda nabbed the paper and brought it up to her face.
Blu stared at Jewel while Linda read, her face contorted with worry. He wasn't feeling much different, and it was clearly conveyed to his wife by his expression.
He scooted close to her, at which point she rested her right wing on his back.
"I don't know how she's going to react, my love. I hate to do this to her. Worse yet, I hate to do this to our three little miracles. Oh, sometimes life is so tough that it makes you want to give up. Like there's no way to secure a happy ending."
He rested his head on her neck, causing her to pull her wing back and stroke his neck feathers tenderly.
"I know Blu. Life isn't always sunny days and smiles, but we'll get through this. We have to do it for them. For our children. Draw strength from that and let it push you forward."
"If you ask me to, I will. I love you, my precious Jewel."
"So do I, my handsome Blu..."
After one full minute of tense silence, Linda lowered the paper and straightened her glasses, catching the macaws' attention while she did so. She did not pick up the pencil. Instead, she cleared her throat and leaned closer in the direction of the confused macaws.
"I know that saving your species is important, but incest? I don't think it's a very smart decision for you to make. Talk about a complete disregard for morals and dignity! How is it in any way fair to your children to force two of them into that lifestyle, not to mention the third, who will be completely excluded. They've barely hatched, and you've already set their futures in stone before they can even talk to you?
I am incredibly unhappy with the both of you, but let me say one last thing: they're not my children. Although I want what's best for them, as well as their parents, I can't control your lives. You are both mature, independent, and happy macaws, free to make your own decisions. That is my opinion, and although you must respect it, you don't have to conform to it. That is all I have to say."
Blu took the time to soak it in, leaving Jewel anxious for him to explain, since she did not have any idea what Linda just said.
Blu had his eyes clamped shut for nearly a minute, and so Jewel nudged him pointedly.
He threw open his eyes and asked, "Yes, Jewel?"
"Could you give me a brief summary of what she told you? The language and species barrier makes it impossible for me to understand her."
Blu pulled away from the embrace and faced her head on, his back now facing Linda.
"She said that although she is really upset, and that incest is a terrible thing to force upon our little ones when they have no say in the matter, she can't stop us from making our own choices."
"I see. Well, should we go and console her? Perhaps try to ease her mood just a tiny bit?"
"It's the least we could do, honey. But we can't stay too much longer. Eva is probably growing sick of watching the chicks."
Blu and Jewel strode up to the human remorsefully and laid their wings on her arms, which were folded on top of the table. Linda's expression softened noticeably, and she gave each of the macaws a few gentle strokes on the head.
Blu then marched over to the paper and scribbled his conclusion, intending to close out the conversation.
"We are sorry for the distress, Linda. We hope that, in time, you'll forgive us. I love you very much, and I know that Jewel does too. The last thing I ask is that you reveal this to Tulio as soon as possible. This is a secret that should not be kept hidden from him, for the consequences are too dire to even imagine. Now, can you let us out, so we can go home and get a good night's rest beside our chicks?"
She smiled faintly and muttered, "I accept your apology, my big brave boy. And yes, I'll deliver your decision to Tulio as lightly as possible. But don't worry, time heals all wounds..."
Linda pushed herself from the oak table and crossed over into the living room, peeling the door open quietly so as not to wake Tulio and Fernando.
"I don't know about you, but all of this heavy talk has left me exhausted."
"I second that, Jewel. There are certain happenings in life that sap your physical and mental energy, and this is one of them..."
Blu lofted into a steady glide, with Jewel following just behind. They each gave her a restrained squawk as they exited the sanctuary, and once they were a short distance from Linda, they wheeled about in the moonless night and powered over the building.
They flew on side by side, their wings nearly touching and their voices silent. The dense spray of twinkling stars above seemed to whisper, "Everything will be alright..."
Blu and Jewel eventually found the clearing that sheltered their home tree, and as gracefully as they could they alighted in their hollow and scanned around quickly.
The dreamy bodies of Cobalt, Sapphire, and Azura were pulsating slowly in the nest, and Jewel was on the verge of crying as she saw them.
To the right sat the still form a comparatively large toucan, her chest rising and falling as she breathed.
Blu and Jewel drew some humor from the fact that Eva had been caught sleeping on the job, but also felt shameful that the toucan had been thoroughly exhausted by the duty of watching the macaw chicks.
"I wonder how long she's been asleep, my love." remarked Blu in a tight whisper.
"Why don't we find out, and then send her home?" replied Jewel nearly inaudibly.
The macaws inched over to the slumbering bird and tapped her very lightly on her shoulder. Eva twitched momentarily before sliding her eyes open and rising to her feet.
"Huh? What? Who is touching me... oh. Hey, you two."
"Please talk quietly, Eva," mumbled Jewel. "We're back now, so you can go on home. We're sorry if the chicks were too much to handle."
She snickered lightly and replied, "If I can take care of eighteen monsters without getting tired, three is nothing. Seeing them so peaceful made me drowsy, and so I fell asleep. I was only out for about an hour."
"If you're sure, Eva. Thanks for watching them, though."
"No problem, Blu. So, what happened over at Linda's place?"
"We'll... stop by tomorrow and tell you. We don't really feel comfortable talking about it right now. It's a very serious matter."
She shook her head lightly and replied, "Oh. Okay then. I guess... I'll see you later..."
She skipped over towards the exit hole and gingerly flapped away into the seductive night.
"Come on, honey, let's get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very depressing day..."
The male guided the female over to the nest with an outstretched wing, reveling the sensation as her feathers brushed against his. They climbed carefully into the nest, scrunching their chicks together to make room for their own bodies.
The babies squirmed about from the jostling – and although their voices were still tiny and undeveloped – there were no extraneous noises to block them out.
"M-Mama? Pa-pa?" asked Sapphire.
"I sleepy. L-leave me al-alone..." whimpered Cobalt.
"I... having g-good dream..." complained Azura.
"Go back to sleep, my darlings," chided Jewel. "You all need your rest."
The babies quickly succumbed to the sound of their mother's angelic voice and were asleep within seconds.
"Good night, Jewel. See you in a few hours."
"Likewise, handsome. Sweet dreams..."
Blu and Jewel released the resistance they had put up against the allure of sleep, and the soft sighs of their childrens' breathing only served to send them to sleep that much faster.
They were granted temporary relief from the trials and tribulations of that day, and they each knew that the inevitable sunrise would thrust upon them a very somber day...
When the sun crested the horizon, all five macaws aroused themselves and welcomed the new day.
For Blu and Jewel, the welcome was hollow, simply a charade to keep their babies from sensing that something was amiss with them.
Blu stayed behind and told them a short story about his life in Minnesota while his wife flew out in search of food. She eventually brought back two mangoes: one to be shared between her and her husband, and the other to be split between the three rambunctious offspring.
The family meal was splendid, and the five macaws giggled happily after making several food-related jokes. Blu even faked choking on a chunk of mango, and his children came to the rescue by bouncing up and down on his stomach.
Both fruits had been consumed in their entirety in the span of twenty minutes, and needless to say, they had all dirtied their faces with mango remnants. Thus, Blu and Jewel led their offspring on a trip to locate a suitable river to bathe themselves in.
They found one such river to the west of the clearing after a five minute search throughout the local jungle.
The macaw chicks refused to be washed by their parents, and so they engaged in a splash-fight that served a dual purpose: washing them clean and filling their bodies with joy.
Blu and Jewel bathed a few feet away, calmly rinsing their bodies not by themselves, but with each others help. Being as the chicks were so near, the macaw couple could only participate in brief bouts of intimacy.
Once all five of their forms glistened from a residual coating of water and their faces cleansed of sticky fruit matter, they took yet another journey, this time heading straight for the Blu Bird Sanctuary.
Linda had also thrown up a wall of deceit to shield the tiny beings from her true emotions, but a part of her was genuinely uplifted to be able to interact with them.
Being as it was one of Tulio's off days, he enlisted Fernando's help in a fairly intensive personal research trip into the jungle, and they had departed shortly before the macaws had arrived. Linda had not broken the news to her husband yet, but as soon as the macaws were no longer close enough to hear, she would make her move.
To keep the coming execution of their plan off their minds for as long as possible, Blu and Jewel stuck around the building for nearly three-quarters of the day.
The baby macaws had burned off their sugar-rush-fueled energy by around four o'clock, and so Blu and Jewel led their drowsy forms into the artificial jungle and put them to rest.
It was then that Blu departed to go warn the respective parties – Scarlet, Nico and Pedro – about the "gifts" they were about to receive, if two innocent chicks who knew so little about the world and were being adopted out could be labeled as such.
The announcement of Blu and Jewel's intentions to place Sapphire in their care came as a deadly shock to Nico and Pedro, who had no children of their own – for glaringly obvious reasons.
Scarlet and his mate – who possessed three children themselves – were still shocked, but they took it in stride and were only to happy to accept Azura as their foster child.
To both parties, Blu informed them that the time of the exchange was set for as soon as Sapphire and Azura had fallen asleep for the night. It was imperative, he told them, that the tiny females be told a web of half-truths regarding the whereabouts of their parents and their brother.
It was up to them to devise those half-truths to prevent the macaws from growing curious about their absent family and turn desperate to seek them out. Blu finished his rounds by saying that the ultimate goal was to allow one of the chicks to establish a permanent bond with Cobalt.
He drilled the goal home into Scarlet and the party duo using the exact same speech, and he pleaded with them to use any means possible to eventually make that goal a reality.
Once the logistics had been buried in their minds, Blu departed and skimmed back towards the sanctuary. Mid-flight, the full enormity of his and Jewel's coming act nearly caused him to fall from the sky and have second thoughts about the whole issue.
He managed to fight off his powerful subconscious and stand by his decision to place his daughters in the other birds' wings. Although it sickened him to think so, there was a chance Sapphire and Azura would lose their respective memories regarding their parents and brother.
It was possible, but not probable, and so Blu had no choice but to enforce the need for his friends to create webs of mystery.
He dashed back into the building, and seeing that his progeny were still dreaming, pulled Jewel from the aviary and recapped his mission. He spent a good twenty minutes doing so, and once he had finished, she admired his courage through a veil of tears.
She, too, had been afflicted by her subconscious, but Blu was there to comfort her and use his prior experience to break the hex.
While the male macaw was absent, Tulio returned and learned of the dastardly plan straight from his wife's mouth. He was initially very disturbed, but due to her constant oppression, eventually relented. The ornithologist administered a powerful dose of avian anesthetic to Sapphire, Azura, and even Cobalt, forcing their bodies to stay shut down.
Tulio's actions were revealed to Blu by Jewel as they settled in the aviary, and now that he knew his children would not wake until the following day, dozed off.
They whisked away the rest of the day in a deep sleep, but a sleep tormented by a string of beautiful nightmares.
Blu and Jewel's internal clocks awoke them at nearly nine o'clock at night, and after catching Linda's attention just before she went to bed, put the plan into action. They briefly returned to the aviary to clutch the drugged babies in their talons before flying out into the surreal darkness.
Linda left the door cracked slightly open to allow them re-entry once the transfer was completed.
Blu and Jewel bid quick farewells to each other before splitting apart and heading for their respective targets. Their hearts felt as though they were entombed in lead, but there was no turning back now, and so they flew on...
Blu landed softly in Nico and Pedro's hollow, and after laying Sapphire on the floor, walked over to the pair of napping birds.
"Hey guys, it's me, Blu. I brought Sapphire."
Blu's voice was more forceful than a whisper, but not quite at normal volume. They stirred rapidly and blinked their eyes open.
"Oh, hey Blu!" chimed Nico.
"Ready to get this over with?" added Pedro.
"I hate to say it, but yes. Is there enough room in the nest for her?"
The pair of birds looked down at their feet and studied the space left in the nest.
"Probably not. Pedro's too fat, man!"
"Hey! I ain't too fat..."
Blu chuckled humorously despite the circumstances.
"I guess I'll have to sleep outside the nest. I'll let Nico and the mini-macaw sleep together. She has to stay toasty, ya know."
"Alright then..."
Blu walked a few paces backwards and carried his daughter over to the bundle of twigs and moss, placing her in a comfy position next to Nico. He was hesitant to release his wings, as if it would be forbidden for him to touch her ever again.
As tears welled in his eyes, he planted a slight kiss on her head, allowing one crystalline drop to land on that very spot. He pulled back and wiped them away with his wing.
"Please... take good care of her. I know that your not exactly... cut out for parenthood, but do your best. Jewel or I will stop by when... she's not around and give you some tips."
Pedro rapidly rushed to his friend's side and patted his wing.
"Don't worry, Blu. We'll do it. It'll be okay, man. Just stay positive."
"Yeah. Me and Pedro got this down."
"I'll see you later, then. I have to check up on Jewel."
Nico flashed his yellow wing in a quick wave, while Pedro walked back towards the nest, slumped against the side, and did the same.
"Goodbye, my darling. I'll see you around sometime..."
With the tears still cascading, he lofted out of the hollow and found himself under the stars once more.
Cobalt is nice and safe inside the aviary, but I just can't leave him alone. Jewel will have to understand. I don't have the strength to witness another dreadful exchange all over again. I can barely think right now. I feel like... no, I will not give up. I can't, for their sake and ours...
In another area of the jungle, not far from Blu's location, Jewel drifted into yet another hollow, this one occupied by a Scarlet Macaw, a Military Macaw, and their three children.
Unlike Blu's encounter, the parents were awake; only the tiny red-and-green feather-piles were snoozing at this late hour.
"Hello, Jewel. We were wondering when you would show up." said Ashley.
"I expected to find you asleep, just like your little ones."
Scarlet snickered softly and replied, "We are very tired, but we'll stay awake a few minutes longer for you, Jewel."
"I better get her in the nest. It's pretty cold outside."
"Go right ahead..." replied Scarlet.
Ahsley was perched behind the nest, while Scarlet was the one providing warmth to his offspring. He scooted the chicks closer together, freezing until they stopped twitching from the disturbance.
Jewel plopped Azura down in the midst of them, the dark blue chick a complete contrast to the crimson-and-ocher feathers of the others.
"Raise her well, for me. Teach her all you know and help her grow into a brave young girl."
The tears began to flow freely as Jewel concluded her sentence, causing Scarlet's mate to weave around the nest and wrap her wings around Jewel.
"We promise, Jewel. She'll turn out to be everything you wanted her to be, and more. She may be in our care, but she's your daughter. Never forget that."
"I won't. Thank... you both for helping me. If there's any way I can repay you, just let me know."
"Nonsense, my friend," countered Scarlet. "We're glad to have another chick to raise, even if she's not our flesh and blood. Everything will work out, in time, Jewel."
She nodded resolutely and left Ashley's embrace, leaning down into the nest and passing her wing over Azura's tiny body.
"I'll miss you, my sweetie. Be strong for Scarlet and his mate. Maybe one day, you'll win Cobalt's heart, just like your father did with me..."
She stepped back, waved one final time to both macaws, and fled the hollow mournfully.
I'll bet Blu's already handed Sapphire over. He must be on his way back to Cobalt in the sanctuary. I better not keep him waiting too long. We need to pick our son up and head home. I'm so worn out. No doubt I'll have nightmares after dozing off...
Jewel made decent time back to the aviary, and although she had stopped crying, her face was stained with dried tears, her eyes puffy. She slipped past the small gap between the door and its frame before rising up to that all-too-familiar hollow.
She spied Blu in the nest with Cobalt, the latter half-buried in his father's belly feathers for warmth. She noticed that his half-closed eyes were puffy and red, just like hers.
"Did everything go okay, my love?"
"Yes. What about on your end?"
"Just the same. Tears and painful goodbyes..."
"I know it's hard, but with all three of us together, we'll pull through. Just think, one day, Cobalt will have a mate of his own."
Blu cradled his son in his wings and stepped from the nest, but the young macaw did not stir, for he had also been given a small dose of Tulio's sleeping draft.
"Let's go home now, Blu. I'm near the point of total exhaustion."
"Once again, I second that..."
After ditching the sanctuary, Blu and Jewel wound through the chilled atmosphere towards the clearing – with Cobalt cradled firmly in his father's talons. They streaked above the open ground and landed in their home sweet home, and without hesitation, skipped deeper into the hollow and clustered themselves in the nest.
Cobalt was tucked safely between his parents' bodies, comfortably sheltered but still able to breathe.
"Let us bring this downcast day to a close, honey. Once it is in the past, we can move forward and resume our lives."
"It's a good thing you're a nerd bird. Your intelligence may get annoying, but at times like these, it only helps."
"Indeed, Jewel. Good night, and sweet dreams..."
"Right back at ya..."
And so it was, in the hollow containing the depleted family of Spix's Macaws, moods were sullen. But, as they entered the dream realm, a ray of hope cut through the darkness.
They had rewritten the futures of their children, but it was not with ill intention. They had set a goal for Cobalt to fall in love with one of his sisters unknowingly, and so long as they were his parents, they would not let him down...
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years.
Cobalt, Sapphire, and Azura grew into strong, healthy individuals under the care of their respective parties. An added bonus is that each developed their own unique personalities. The traits they acquired were mostly from their genetic makeup, but those traits were also refined by the birds they spent most of their lives around.
Cobalt was wholly shaped by his parents, acquiring Blu's clumsiness and Jewel's need for freedom. He would accompany them wherever they went, always eager to spread his wings and basically glued to their sides.
When they did not feel up to leaving the hollow, or many times, when they were sleeping, he would leave and not return for hours, earning him scoldings on various occasions. Nonetheless, he loved his parents very much and did his best to redeem himself when he acted less-than-favorably.
Sapphire was bestowed with Jewel's straightforward personality, plus Nico and Pedro's party-oriented attitude. She was a very outgoing macaw and was hardly soft-spoken. She attempted to make friends with everyone she met, and was not discouraged when some of them refused her advances.
She lived her life on Cloud Nine, partying along with Nico and Pedro and yet still finding time to relax with them. It took the most dire of situations to get her spirits down, but her foster parents were always there to cheer her up, no matter how odd she thought it was that two males were raising her.
Lastly, Azura had grown to be a clone of her father, intelligent yet reserved. Under the leadership of Scarlet and Ashley, she developed a timid nature, hardly one to talk but always one to listen. She maintained strong opinions about many of the things her foster parents introduced to her, but she hardly ever expressed them, except when absolutely necessary.
She nurtured a small circle of friends from other birds she encountered in her early years, and they mostly possessed the same introverted nature as she. She also forged strong bonds with Tyler, Alejandro, and Kaigan, the children of Scarlet and Ashley, and she thought them to be the siblings she never had. Even though they appeared different on the outside, they respected her as she respected them, and so those differences were cast aside.
All in all, each of the three children could not be happier living their respective lives, greeting each new day with as much enthusiasm as the previous.
Blu and Jewel were still a part of Sapphire's and Azura's lives as much as Cobalt's, but they maintained a certain reserve around the females and avoided talking about Cobalt completely.
Time eventually erased the faint memories of their brother, and they thought that they were just a pair of sisters.
They never learned of Blu and Jewel's plan regarding their steadily approaching incest endeavor with Cobalt, and they were eventually introduced to their parents when the time was right. Naturally, a multitude of questions arose, and their parents answered them honestly.
The fact that they had been separated from their parents at birth, along with the fact that they had to remain that way for the time being, was tough for them to accept, but they were happy in their foster families, and so they coped.
By the time all three chicks were around seven years old, they had broken free from the chains of foster-hood and found their own homes. Cobalt established a strong bond with his parents, while Sapphire and Azura forged that very same bond between themselves.
Being as their children were reasonably aged, Blu and Jewel finally made the choice to instigate the last step in their plan as the year 2018 started.
All they needed to do was bring Cobalt's situation to light by informing him that two female macaws were living out in the jungle, and one of them was destined to become his mate.
On a cool March morning, after storing up some energy from a starfruit breakfast, the parent macaws set out in search of their son's hollow with the intent of setting the plan in motion...
"Good morning Mom, Dad! Would you like some breakfast? I brought home more than I could eat."
Cobalt shrugged sheepishly and pointed his wing towards the lone mango in the corner.
Blu and Jewel stepped deeper into hollow and hugged their son tightly, one by one.
"No thanks, son," said Blu. "Your mother and I had a rich breakfast right before we came over here."
"Well, I guess that's settled. So, what's up? Is there a reason you both came so early?"
When their faces turned hesitant and their beaks stayed shut, he leaned closer to them inquisitively.
"Is something wrong? You look... tense."
Blu and Jewel both sighed and trudged over to Cobalt's nest, turning around and settling down just in front of it.
Jewel patted the floor with her wing and said, "Come here, Cobalt. We have something very, very serious to talk to you about."
He obeyed his mother's lilting voice and nestled himself just in front of them,caught in a cross-fire between both of their gazes.
"What's going on?" asked Cobalt with an edge of worry in his tone.
"Before your mother and I get to that, have I ever told you about how we met?"
Cobalt had heard his parents' origin story several times, and he could basically recite it by memory.
What does that have to do with anything? he wondered.
"Yes..." he replied stoically.
"Good. Now, remember how I won your mother over by doing a heroic thing for her?"
"Yes..." he grumbled.
"That action is the background for our talk. Keep it in your mind."
"Sure, Dad."
Blu shifted his weight and asked, "Have you felt a strange sensation deep inside you from time to time? A certain pull, a desire to seek something out?"
"Well, last year I did. It was strongest during the first six months of the year. I think I feel it right now, actually."
Blu nodded and closed his eyes for a second. Once he collected his thoughts, he continued yet again.
"Do you know what that is?"
"Uh, should I? Is it a sensitive topic?"
"Well, if you want to live a fulfilling life, it is. That sensation is a drive to find a bird of the opposite sex, and to, well, procreate."
Cobalt stood up and inched closer to his parents, slightly bewildered.
"What does that mean?"
"It means to have children. You'll have to forgive your father's nerd talk."
"And so, what does that have to do with you and Dad's story?"
"We've waited seven years to tell you this, son," replied Jewel. "The only way for that feeling to be satisfied is if you find yourself a girlfriend and eventually make her your mate."
"Really? But... how? I thought we were the only ones left. Wait a minute, you don't mean..."
Jewel stood up and touched her son with her wings.
"There are two other female macaws out there, just like us. You'll have to get to know them individually, and when the time comes, choose one of them to share your life with. That is a tough choice to make, but our species is vanishing. If you could provide us with more children, we might have a chance."
Cobalt flinched back in shock; he had not expected a conversation of this magnitude.
What! They can't be serious! Two female macaws, just like me? Find a girlfriend? No, no, no. This can't be happening...
"Is this a twisted joke? I'm not ready to look for a girlfriend. And kids? That's insane! I'm perfectly happy with my life right now..."
"Please understand, son," pleaded Jewel. We want you to meet both of them in secret this month, if possible. Maybe by the end of the year, you can choose which one you like better. If all goes well, we'll have more chicks in the family by next year. Trust me, being a relationship with the one you love is an experience you don't want to miss. I know from experience..."
Jewel shut her beak and hugged Blu tightly, doing her best to hammer the point home.
"I... don't know what to say. This is all too much! I have to think about this in private. Please don't follow me..."
The deeply disturbed male fled the hollow, quickly lost in the glare of the Rio sunrise. He didn't know where he was going; only what he was going to do when he got there: think.
His parents had just forced upon him a seven year secret, and he was in no condition to accept or deny their request at the moment.
Why would they do this to me? Having to choose a mate based upon their intentions alone? What ever happened to my sense of freedom? Their idea gives me no freedom at all. Still, I'll have to give them an answer sooner or later. The mangoes have already been spilled. But right now, all I'm going to do... is think...