Chapter 3

The Performance

The original Three Amigos lead the way closely followed by the judges, and Diego and I somewhere in the middle.

"We are so dead if we lose." I muttered to myself as we flew. Sure I've got vigor when the adrenaline is pounding through my veins, but now it was wearing off.

"What?!" Elena buzzed up to my right wing, a slightly appalled look on her face.

"Did you just second guess yourself?" Ray came to my other side and steered into me a little.

"Well no… I'm just really nervous. I mean this is The Daring Duo, the birds that everybird goes to to learn how to dance. This is mom and dad." I just let the worries spill out of my beak. "And if we don't pull this off we'll be in more trouble."

"I don't know why you're worried." Aunt Nora hovered above me with the rest of our family close buy. "Nico and Sonny are in such a good mood they may even take off a day just because you were brave enough to skip school and challenge them." The hummingbird smiled warmly, then buzzed off to catch uncle Pedro. Her words earned affirmative nods, and noises from the rest of the birds.

"You chicks are great! You can definitely match them." Uncle Rafael said and soared under us. My spirits immediately brightened as we glided down to his level. I carefully landed on his back and he smiled bigger.

"That sounds amazing coming from the King of Carnival!" I hugged him. "You really think so?" I asked settling on his black feathers.

"Of course!" The toucan laughed, and rolled over, spilling me back into the air. "And I'm not a trolley!" We both laughed out loud and I performed a body roll.

"Hear that sis?" Diego and Gwyn spiraled around me and leveled out on either wing. "If the King of Carnival thinks we can, of course we can!" Both looked at me expectantly as Rafael continued laughing. Gwyn looked at me with nothing but her usual shy joy in her eyes, and Diego looked cocky as usual.

"Then let's do this!" I cawed and sped up my wing beats until we had almost caught The Three Amigos. Mom, dad, and Uncle Pedro caught on and began to fly even faster. Somehow, even though my wings were going so fast I thought I looked like Aunt Nora or Elena, I kept up right on their tails. Buy the time I saw the sign to the club I thought my wings were on fire. I was panting like a dog, and my heart was going so fast I thought it would burst. I soared through the door and flopped on the dance floor.

"Selena! Are you alright?" Mom was over me in an instant. She, Pedro, and dad were barely even winded.

"I'm…fine. Just… a little…out of…breath." I panted through my gasps for sweet, sweet oxygen. I heard dad laugh.

"See why I tell you that you need to go flying with us some days?" Dad asked with his usual smile, bottle cap crooked on his head, and twinkle in his eyes.

"I totally understand now." I smiled after I finally slowed down my breathing. "And count me in tomorrow." The whole club laughed at that.

"I guess we have to go first Nico." Mom shot him a sly look, after everyone got there, that seemed to make him get a little hot under the collar. He ruffled his feathers and managed to keep his composure as mom ran a flight feather up his chest and led him towards the stage with a flight feather under his chin.

"Wait!" Diego hoped up to my side "How about three on three? Selena, Gwyn and me, against you, dad, and Uncle Pedro?" Mom looked shocked, again, but dad and Pedro had a smile on their beaks.

"Looks like your Hot Wing abilities transferred into your little Hot Wings." Pedro observed with a laugh. Mom smiled as dad gave her a fond look and they wrapped a wing around each other, "Must be twice as much considering there's two of you crazy canaries." Our parents then shared a quick kiss then turned back to us.

"Alright chickies, you're on!" Mom crowed and zipped up to the stage. She nodded to her band-mates and they flew to the tin can drums. Uncle Pedro landed by his wing-made guitar and with another nod from mom he began to play. Aunt Nora took the kick drum to keep their tempo. Dad sang the first few lines.

"Tell me have you ever wanted someone so much it hurts? Your lips keep tryin' to speak but you just can't find the words? He flew from his perch on a green glass bottle and down to mom. "Well, I had this dream once; I held you in my wings." Dad pulled her in close for a tight hug. Then she joined him for the next part.

"She was the purest beauty, but not the common kind. She had a way about her that made you feel alive. And for a moment you made the world stand still." Then all three.

"Yeah we owned the night." The Three Amigos took center stage. "You had me dim the lights; you danced just like a child. The wine spilled on your dress but all you did was smile. Yeah it was perfect; I hold it in my mind. Yeah we owned the night! Oh yeah!"

Mom's turn; she was dancing around dad then he stopped and the spotlight centered on her sunny yellow feathers, and all of the other lights went black. "When the summer rolls around, the sun starts sinkin' down; still I remember you. Oh I remember you. And I wonder where you are; are you lookin' at those same stars again?" Uncle Pedro plucked his strings and the rest of the music stopped. Mom's light went out and a new one focused on dad, who was back on the bottle, on the opposite side of the stage. He perched there with his bottle cap held over his heart, and a dreamy look on his face.

"Do you remember when; we woke under a blanket, all tangled up in down? Not knowing in that moment we'd never speak again. But it was perfect; I never will forget…" Then they sang together and mom's light came on. When they saw each other their faces lit up and they zipped down to center stage. "When we owned the night! Yeah we owned the night! Yeah!"

With that shout the rest of the music joined in and the rest of the club helped with the last part. "Oh oh oh oh oh oh! Oh oh oh oh oh oh! Oh oh oh oh oh oh! Oh oh oh oh oh oh!" We stopped for the last set and listened to them hit the last note on the richest key they could. If fudge had a note, that's what it would have sounded like. Everyone went crazy, and we chicks zoomed into the air with hoots and hollers. Together we flapped to the stage for our turn.

"Step aside Sundrops. Let us show you how it's done." I said feeling a surge of confidence and placing a wing on my twisting hips.

"We'll just see what the judges have to say about that." Dad teased ruffling the feathers on the top of my head. I giggled and they left the stage and we got ready.

"Look at them up there." I whispered to my sunbeam as we found a spot on the dance floor, then turned back to the stage. The chicks were flying around making last minute adjustments. Nico wrapped his wings around me, and I rested my head on his chest gently. His oh-so-familiar heartbeat wafted into my ears and I smiled warmly, and closed my eyes for a moment.

"I know!" Nico murmured, and I opened my eyes to look up at him, "It seems like just yesterday they were standing on our toes and learning how to dance." Nico replied wistfully setting his own head in my shoulder. I echoed his sigh, imagining little three year old Gwyn clutching my wings and balancing on my toes in the hollow as Nico sang. She always enjoyed dancing a little more than singing like Diego and Sel did.

"I remember the night they were born," As I spoke I turned to face him, and we shared a tender smile, "It was so funny when you came through the door. Not five minutes earlier mom left to go find you."

"Five minutes?" Pedro gaped, "Wow. I'm willing to bet you a lunch at the fruit market that it only took Nico about thirty seconds to get to Canary Corner from the waterfall." He gave Nico a shove and we both swayed a little.

"Ha! You can't even open your beak, Pedro!" Nico scoffed, "When Nora was on the nest she had to shove you out of the hollow so that we could practice." My sunbeam then, with one wing still wrapped around me, returned the gesture.

"Alright! Alright! I guess you're right, bro."

"Excuse me!" Sel called from center stage, "You birds back there who are causing a ruckus," She looked right at us, with a look on her face that made me feel like I was looking in a mirror, "Will we have to have you removed?" All the chicks had to struggle to hold in their laughter.

"I apologize missy. We'll be quiet now." Nico simpered with a sly grin.

"Thank you. Now, everyone, enjoy the show!" The chicks started their beat; stomp, accompanied by the kick drum, then clap. After sixteen repetitions they clapped twice then continued on. We helped get the crowd involved. Diego started with his melodic voice which was almost identical to his father's, albeit a bit higher.

"Down a back road; long, hot summer! Couple kids runnin' loose in the wild! He kissed her;" He planted a kiss on the cheeks of each of his sisters, "She said mister, 'Take an inch and I'll give you a mile!'" Then it was him and Sel with a voice as feminine as mine, but just as rich as her father's.

"I ain't here to do anything halfway! Don't give a darn what anyone might say! I just want to free fall for a while!"

And then all five.

"Down there the moon is shinin'! Those stars burn like diamonds! Hell bent on chasin' down that crazy spark! I'll follow you you're leadin', to the first sweet taste of freedom! You got me runnin' baby, wild at heart!"

"'Bout midnight, he tells her, 'I ain't got no come-on lines.'" Back to Diego.

"Well, I love you, or I'll try to! We got nothin' to lose but time!" Sel took the solo like a champ.

"Stick your hand into my back pocket; light me up like a bottle rocket! I just want to free fall for a while!" Gwyn was dancing, which was her favorite thing to do, and she was doing amazing. Her brother came over and helped her out for some more complicated moves during the chorus. After that part they had a couple more lines; "Oh-o. Alright! Tonight's tellin' us we're way too young. Oh-o! That's alright! I've got forever now to take my turn!" They sang the chorus once more, and then all the music stopped except the stomping and clapping.

"Down there the moon is shinin'! Those stars burn like diamonds! Hell bent on chasin' down that crazy spark! I'll follow you you're leadin',"

For this part they pointed at each other,

"To the first sweet taste of freedom. You got me runnin' baby! You got me runnin' baby, Wild At Heart!"

With a few more stomps and claps they took a deep breath to finish out the song.

"Oh-o alright!" Diego, Sel, Gwyn, Ellie, and Ray drew out the last line enjoying the crowd's praise. In all honesty I teared up a little; they were our little hatchlings up there on the stage, singing and dancing like we had at their age. I blinked away the tears though, and shared a smile with my boys. Together we flew back up to the stage.

"Well done!" Pedro cawed.

"So was that worthy of a night of the club to ourselves?" Gwyn asked and all five put on their most innocent looks.

"I don't know… We need to have a conference." I turned and pulled Nico and Pedro into a huddle. "Whadda you guys say?"

"I think it would be good for them. They'll have a bit of responsibility and still get to have fun at the same time." Nico said with a nod.

"I agree. Plus it'll score them bonus points with their classmates." Pedro added with a shrug.

"It's decided then!" I said with a smile. We turned back around and stood wing to wing. "After thinking long and hard about this," The crowd chuckled, "We decided that that performance only got you halfway there." Nico and Pedro looked confused. I looked at them all and smiled. "You've got to prove that you can perform with us 'oldie goldies'" At that my boys fully understood.

Together we took to the drums and started our most famous song; starting with Nico sliding his flight feathers along the ragged rim of his bottle cap and saying, "Party in the Ipanima baby!" and shooting me the most seductive look he could.