A.N: Just a head's up, The formatting in this chapter is going to be a little different. It'll be like a montage in a movie, where the events take place over the course of a month. Plus, this chapter is going to be long.
Chapter 4
Coming Undone
Two days had passed since Sonya, Jay, and Luther migrated. Sam and Max came to visit earlier in the morning when Dylan left for work. The two turkey vultures tried to help console both macaws about their friend's leaving. Payton didn't come with them because he had 'business' to take care of. After the two pairs of brothers hung out for about half the day, Payton came and found Sam and Max. Apparently, the eagle needed their assistance for an unknown task. Disappointed, the vultures gave Wyatt and Brann a hearty goodbye before taking to the skies with the large golden eagle. Wyatt and Brann then decided to go back home and wait for Dylan to arrive home.
Dylan was a little surprised that he saw his two birds sitting at the front door when he came home about four hours later. He immediately shrugged it off and went into his bedroom to change. Wyatt and Brann then flew to different locations of the house. Brann went into the living room and intelligently found the T.V. remote and turned on the television and adjusted the volume of the speakers. After ten minutes of watching television, the macaw was about to switch the input of the T.V. so he could play a video game; however, he caught a glimpse of Wyatt writing something on a small notepad. Tilting his head in confusion, Brann slowly made his way to his brother to see what he was up to.
"Hey how's it going bro?" Dylan said happily through his cell phone as he trotted out of his bedroom and into the kitchen.
"Oh it's going pretty well. That bird Sonya that I took care of was finally able to go back in the wild. Yeah. Um...I released her about two days ago. Yep, I just hope she'll be fine in the wild. Oh hey Nick, how's the chemotherapy treating you? Oh that's good to hear. Yeah man, it's been a while, I should come visit you. I just have to save up on money first, I don't want to spend all of my savings. You know how much it costs to go to Rio de Janeiro. Alright then, I was just checking up on you like always big bro. I should let you rest a little. Love you man, bye." After the conversation with his brother, Dylan hung up the phone and lazily placed it on one of the counter-tops before scouring the fridge for dinner. Meanwhile, Brann realized that his own older brother was writing some sort of note to Dylan.
"Hi Wyatt, what are you writing?" Brann asked politely but curiously, putting on a large smile. With a stern look, Wyatt turned around to face his brother.
"Um...Brann there is something I wanna talk to you about." He said slowly, tearing out and crumpling the notebook paper while hopping off of the table he was on top of.
"Sure. Shoot." Brann responded cheerfully.
"Look, I've been thinking a lot lately. We've lived in this place for a long time now and I kinda want us to fly back home." Wyatt spoke wearily. Brann's gleeful expression then faded into a cross look.
"What? Why? You know this is our home! Dylan has taken care of us for nearly thirteen years now, we can't just abandon him like that! I sure as hell won't!" Brann exclaimed angrily.
"Well I know that Dylan's been there for us. That's why I was writing him this goodbye note. I'm sure he'd understand. Besides, don't you ever want to go back to Rio de Janeiro, our birthplace?"
"Yes, but I can go back to Rio when we visit Dylan's brother there. Don't pelt me with this homeward-bound crap bro! I know that you only want to leave to go see Sonya and get some tail with her!" Brann shouted, getting close to his brother's face. Upon hearing the last sentence, Wyatt became infuriated.
"How dare you Brann!" Wyatt shouted at the top of his lungs as he threw his wings up in the air, "I was being serious about this whole thing! I don't want to get any from Sonya, we're only friends!"
"Then why did you suck face with her?" Brann retorted loudly. Wyatt's beak dropped from shock.
"You saw that? Look it meant nothing, I know you liked her so I broke the kiss and apologized. You know I care about you a lot bro. I practically raised you, I would never do anything to hurt you. You know I love you man." Wyatt responded, lowering his voice slightly.
"Alright, if you truly cared about me, then you wouldn't have even kissed her! Sure you took care of me when I was little, but I don't need you anymore! You don't need to make my decisions okay! I can handle the big scary world. And You know what Wyatt? I don't even care about you and nor do I love you, now go ahead and leave to Rio...er I mean Mexico to see home...er Sonya." Brann continued to shout. His brother then shook his head in disgust after recovering from shock at Brann's last sentence.
"Fine, I see now you feel. I try to apologize for one mistake, and I get my own heart ripped out by my own brother. Ha, Sonya was right, you are an arrogant ass, and I'm your brother! She only liked you as a friend, never anything more. To think that I convinced her to look at your brighter side and give you that kiss on the cheek. I take care of you and protect you and love you and this is what I get! Whatever, I'm leaving tomorrow, with or without you!" Wyatt raised his voice again. This time, Dylan was able to her the loud squawking, and could tell that the brothers were fighting when he entered the living room. Brann's angry expression started to disappear into guilt
"Hey hey! I think you two need to be separated!" Dylan said calmly as he picked up Wyatt and put him in a cage in the garage. There was something about Wyatt's rant that bothered Brann. For the rest of the night, Brann contemplated what he had said.
'I am an arrogant ass...why did I say those things? I was just so furious about the whole Sonya thing...god I'm a horrible bird...but I can't go apologize now...I'll talk to him in the morning' Brann thought to himself as he entered his own cage in the guest bedroom. Brann was still in deep thought until two in the morning, which was when he finally passed out.
Brann slowly woke up the next morning at tiredly glanced at the clock. It read: 1:30 p.m. Almost instantaneously, Brann's eyes widened and he panicked to release the hatch on his cage. Once open, the macaw soared through the house to get into the garage, where he was planning to sit down and apologize for the previous night's argument. Just when Brann was about to mention his brother's name, he saw that his brother's cage was empty. Unwilling to believe that his brother left, Wyatt flew to every room in the house, squawking Wyatt's name as he did so. Brann was unsuccessful in his search. Defeated, he trotted to one of the windows and peered outside. Snow was falling heavily outside, making it near impossible to see anything in a thirty foot radius. Brann winced angrily, knowing that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Dylan walked up from behind and put his tattooed hand on Brann's head. The macaw turned around to face his owner slowly and sadly.
"Hey little guy. I know what happened. Um...well he is...uh on his way home now. He's probably quite far by now. As long as Wyatt...beats the...uh...snow storms...he'll make it to Rio unscathed." Dylan stuttered, venturing his eyes randomly as he spoke, "I now it's going to be tough, but you can't go search for him in this weather. It's snowing hard and it's only going to get worse for the next few days." He finished pointing at the window. Brann lowered his head in sadness.
In Rio: One day later...
Blu, Jewel, and all of their friends were hanging out together, but this time, it was only them. No parties. Everyone wanted to have one last reunion before the blue macaw family left for their month-long vacation to Minnesota.
"Yep. We leave tomorrow morning at seven o' clock. After four weeks, both Tulio and Fernando recieved their passports. Everyone's all packed. All we have to do is spend the night at the aviary, Tulio will pick us up about an hour or two before our plane flight." Blu noted happily, giving a smile to all of his friends.
"It's good to hear that everyone is ready amigo. The last thing you want is another 'adventure' while your on vacation...in the snow." Rafael laughed heartily as he nudged Blu with his wings. Everyone chuckled at Rafael's little joke.
"Oh by the way Blu, you should bring back some of that snow." Pedro piped in. Now it was Blu's turn at a hearty laugh.
"Pedro, you know that the snow would melt on our way back. I sure can bring you some water in a jar though." Blu teased, trying to hold in is laughter. All three of Blu's kids burst into laughter, which caused everyone else to giggle.
For the rest of the day, the group flew around Rio to some of their favorite spots, such as the Ipanema Beach and the Sugarloaf Mountain so that the blue macaw family could enjoy the sights one last time before leaving. They even ran into the marmosets, who fled quickly after Jewel gave them a sly look and taunted them. Blu, on the other hand, still didn't succeed so well on intimidation. After a long day of hanging out, the sun finally started to set behind the glistening sea.
"We better go to the aviary before it's dark and everyone leaves that building." Jewel told Blu. As if on cue, their children all started to moan simultaneously. After Blu explained why they had to leave, they gave their 'uncles' a hug.
"Y'all be safe now!" Nico shouted as him, Pedro, and Rafael started to fly away.
"We will. Oh and don't worry, we'll be back three days before Carnaval! So we can party it up when we get back!" Blu yelled back, waving his wings in the air rapidly before flying in the opposite direction.
In Mills: Two days later...
Dylan stood inside an empty kitchen to Keenan's Grill, a local restaurant that also contained a small sports bar. He was talking to the head chef and the owner, Keenan after closing hours.
"Look I'm sorry Keenan, I now I've been slacking recently, but a lot of stuff has gone done and it kinda stresses me out sometimes you know?" Dylan stammered slowly, fiddling with his chef's apron.
"I understand my boy. But Dylan Jackson, you know you still gotta pull through with work. I know that you still have troubles financially, and it doesn't help that I cut you pay by two dollars an hour, but this restaurant is dying too Dylan. You are my sous chef because you are one damn good cook, and when you slack off, it negates bad attention. It doesn't help when we are slowly losing customers. Plus, It's not like you either. That boy Fredrick has been really stepping it up recently. I've known you for five years now, and you are one great worker, but business is still business my dear boy, and although it would cause me great pain, if you still slack off after two weeks, I will have no choice but to fire you and make Fredrick take your place." Keenan explained solemnly. Dylan nodded respectably.
"Alright Keenan, I understand. I'll try to step it up."
"Thank you Dylan. Remember this conversation, I don't want to ruin your passion for cooking. Please take care and have a good night." Keenan said, shaking Dylan's hand. The young man nodded and gave a small grin before turning around and wiping off his forehead in relief. After navigating his car through the snow fall back to his home, Dylan immediately checked up on Brann to make sure he was coping well with the absence of his brother. The macaw gave him a kind and happy squawk and a large welcome smile before perching on his shoulder. Dylan smiled back as he scratched Brann's head. Immediately afterwards, he went to call his brother Nick to check up on him.
In Minnesota...(Whoa what a change)
When the plane landed safely in Minnesota, the first plan was to visit the old town of Moose Lake. Blu and Linda were immediately struck with nostalgia upon entering the small town. Hanging his beak wide open, Blu stared out of the window of the car that Tulio rented for the trip.
"Wow, So this is snow dad?" Isaac asked curiously as he and his siblings gawked outside at the moving ground, which was completely white. Blu nodded his head with a large smile, the nostalgia still flowing through him like a waterfall.
"It's so...white." Cobalt muttered, not moving his eyes from the ground. Isaac and Diamond both chuckled.
"Nah it's black you silly goose." Diamond giggled at Colby's obvious remark. Jewel was admiring the sight of the frozen Moosehead Lake as they made the turn to Linda's old bookstore.
"You know after living in Rio for quite a while, this town feels even smaller." Linda chuckled as they pulled up to the store. There was another lady, about Linda's age, standing outside of the store, waving frantically at them. "Denise!" Linda screamed as he jumped out of the car and hugged the woman. Tulio and Fernando left the car much more slowly and gave the woman a firm handshake. The lady was an old high-school friend of Linda's. When Blu and his family finally hopped out of the car, Denise yelped in joy and squeezed Blu.
"Oh I missed you so much Blu! Everything's been less colorful here!" Denise shouted in excitement, squeezing Blu even tighter. The poor macaw got hugged so hard his couldn't breath and his eyes started to bulge out of their sockets. Jewel and their kids started laughing at the sight.
"Missed...ya...too..Den...ise.." Blu wheezed through extremely short breaths. Denise then caught a glimpse of the whole gang of Spix macaw's and loosened her grip on Blu.
"Wow, you even have this cute little family. You sure got 'busy' Blu, did those dating books help at all." Denise said smugly as she narrowed her eyes at Blu. Once the message got into Blu's head, the blue bird blushed from embarrassment so much that his feathers were starting to turn red. Yet again, his own family starting laughing at Blu, even Linda, Tulio and Fernando.
"Come on Denise, you are embarrassing Blu. Oh we should probably follow you up to your house, these birds...and Tulio...aren't fit for this kind of weather. We'll have a large catching up conversation at your place. Linda chuckled as she nudged her old friend. Before Tulio could defend himself, everyone hopped in their respective cars, leaving the ornithologist to feel defeated.
"Okay fine...we can go..." Tulio muttered as he sat down in the driver's seat.
"Yeah we should go...this snow stuff and the air is really cold." Cobalt complained as he hopped back in the rent-a-car.
"That's Minnesota for ya Colby." Blu teased as he buckled up the three kids in one seat-belt.
"Don't worry, daddy will knit you a scarf." Jewel giggled, turning around to see her mate narrowing his eyes at her in offense. Once little peck on the beak fixed that angry expression.
In Mills: One week later...
"Hi Dylan!" Brann squawked to his owner as Dylan walked through the front door, some snow blowing into the house as he shut the door. Dylan grinned and gave Brann a little scratch underneath his beak, which made the macaw twitch. The young man plopped down on the couch and turned on the television. Almost eagerly, Brann squawked the word 'PlayStation' to his owner after seeing him turn on the T.V.
"Ah, you wanna play video games with me, my little feathered buddy? Sure, you choose the game." Dylan said as he slumped down into the couch. Brann's expression turned evil as he picked up a game that read 'Mortal Kombat.' Dylan's eyes widened in fear. "Um...you sure?" He stuttered. Brann only nodded slowly with an evil grin before inserting the disc into the PlayStation. "Here we go..." Dylan sighed as he picked up a controller. Buckets of virtual blood were to be spilled, bodies were to be sliced, beaten, torn, and even though Dylan knew the consequences, he was determined to beat his own pet.
"FATALITY!" The television speakers roared for the hundredth time. Dylan's jaw dropped as he watched his character brutally die on screen. Brann turned to his owner and gave him a sly look as Dylan narrowed his eyes at the macaw.
"You are using Jax! You know he's cheap!" Dylan pouted, flinging his hands into the air. Brann rolled his eyes and chose the Sorcerer fighter, Shang Tsung while his owner chose the God of War character, Kratos. 'Going down now bird-brain.' Dylan thought to himself. The match started, and immediately, Brann lower his beak onto the d-pad, his wing on the buttons, and his claws on the trigger buttons, yet still kept one eye peering at the screen. Brann performed combos after combos fluently while Dylan still was attempting to input his own combos. "FLAWLESS VICTORY!" The announcer bellowed. For round two, Dylan started to button mash, hoping to get one hit in. "FLAWLESS VICTORY! FATALITY!" The announcer bellowed once more. "This is sad." Dylan monotonously noted, still in shock. He then gazed at the calender in the living room. It was almost the end of the month. "Oh crap! I have to pay the rent in two weeks! I won't have the money yet, I have to extend the payment!" Dylan panicked as he leaped of the couch and ran into the kitchen towards the phone. Brann shrugged and continued to play Mortal Kombat.
"Yeah hi what's up Reggie? Um I wanted to see if I could get an extension for my monthly rent. Yes I'm aware that I've already done this twice. I'm also aware that I've skipped two payments yes. No no no...all I need is another week sir." Dylan chattered nervously, pacing back and forth in the kitchen, "Yes, only one more week, I'm only slightly short. You will? Thank you so much. Wait what? I'm sorry, did you say you'll kick me out if I forget this payment? Oh okay I understand, I'll have the money in by the due date. Goodbye Reggie." Dylan muttered as he finally hung up the phone. The young man then threw his fists into the table and sighed angrily. He eyed the violin tattoo on his hand angrily. Brann, overhearing the conversation, looked at him, puzzled and worried.
In Minnesota...
Blu and Jewel were playing with their kids in Denise's backyard, rolling the snow gently to form a tiny snowman. Despite that it was really frigid outside, everyone still had a great time playing in the snow.
"You know this place is really beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. I actually enjoy this snow." Jewel mentioned lovingly to her mate. The two were pushing a medium-sized snowball along the ground together.
"Yep. Not as beautiful as Brazil though. But both places have their own take on beauty. And yes, although I preferred to stay inside, the snow was always great." Blu said philosophically while increasing the tension between his body and the snowball. "Agreed." Jewel responded happily. The two then watched their children work together to form the body of the snowman.
"One...two..three...PUSH!" The three chicks shouted as they exalted all of their energy on the cold snowball. Their parent smiled at the cute display of teamwork.
"Oh and thanks for getting the scarfs and hats. They are surprisingly comfy and warm." Jewel quickly mention, lifting up her pink scarf and small black winter cap. Blu wore a yellow scarf and a red beanie. Their kids had green and red scarfs and had hats that would fit on dolls. Before Blu could open his mouth to respond to Jewel, he got hit in the back of the head with a snowball. Both Blu and Jewel turned to see two Canadian geese laughing hysterically on the fence.
"Nice shot Chloe!" One of the geese shouted. Blu shook his head. "Thanks Alice. Long time no see nerd bird! Wait...who are these guys?" The other goose, Chloe asked, pointing to Jewel and their kids, who now were staring at the geese.
"This is my mate Jewel. And these are my kids Diamond, Cobalt, and Isaac." Blu responded confidently, "Nice to run into you two again Chloe and Alice. Great to see you still throw snowballs like champs." He added in sarcastically, his eyes half-closed. After closing his beak, Alice threw another snowball, hitting Blu in the face. The macaw unenthusiastically shook off the snow.
"Wow looks you got 'busy' Blu. Can't call you a virgin no more." Alice remarked after snickering. Blu blushed again while Diamond walked up to her mother and asked what a virgin is. Jewel nervously told her it was nothing while Blu formed a snowball in his wings and threw it at Alice, hitting her in the face as well. Chloe tried throwing another one, but it missed Blu and hit Jewel. Smugly, the female macaw wiped off the snow and formed a snowball just like Blu did and threw it back. All of a sudden, a snowball fight broke out.
"Yeah we're going to see grandma tomorrow morning." Fernando noted to Denise while drinking a cup of hot chocolate.
"Yep. I'm pretty excited...and whoa...what are those birds doing?" Tulio said startled as he turned to see the snowball war going on outside. Denise and Linda both got up when they heard some snowball colliding with the glass door. Everyone was speechless. Outside, the whole Spix's macaw family started to pick up the medium-sized snowball and flung it towards the geese. The two geese fled in terror as the snowball crashed into the fence, chipping it and ricocheting powdered snow into the air. Blu and Jewel stared at each other before bursting in laughter and falling to the ground. Their kids started to cheer and laugh as well.
"That was awesome." Blu giggled as he stared into the sun.
"It was definitely fun...but it was a blast because we conquered them together." Jewel said flirtatiously. The two macaws then shared a passionate kiss. Diamond stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Um...it suddenly got colder out here." Isaac noted queasily.
"I'm with Isaac. Let's go inside and leave mama and papa to their business." Cobalt added before trotting inside with his siblings.
"I love you Jewel." Blu said lovingly as they broke from the kiss.
"Yeah." Jewel responded. Blu was thrown off a little bit by her response, but shrugged it off, before giving his mate another kiss.
In Mills: One week later...
Although it was a day off for Dylan, the young cook decided to work another hour for extra pay. After work, Dylan did a little shopping at the newly built supermarket. When he got home, he couldn't even open the door die to the fact that his hands were full. He kicked the door. A minute later, Brann managed to open the door for the young man.
"Thank you young gentleman." Dylan teased as he walked in. Brann bowed as he closed the door. Once he set down the groceries, he pulled out two new video game cases. "Guess what? I had a little extra money, so I bought L.A. Noire, and for you, I bought Marvel vs. Capcom 3." Dylan said eagerly as he held out the game cases. Brann's eyes sparkled and he started drooling over the later video game. The military macaw quickly flew over and took the fighting game out of his owner's hands.
A few hours had passed. It was one large gaming session. Dylan, yet again, got served by Brann at Marvel vs Capcom 3. The macaw was able to pick up the game almost immediately so he wiped the floor with his trainer. They then switched games and Dylan tried out L.A. Noire, much to Dylan's pleasure. After handing over the controller over to Brann, Dylan decided to do some sit-ups. The macaw was too excited about the games to be exercising with his owner, which he did by mimicking Dylan's workout. About ten minutes had passed when the phone suddenly rang. Dylan slowly got up, loosened up his shoulders, and retrieved the phone.
"Hello." Dylan greeted cheerfully. Almost immediately, his cheerful expression faded. His eyes and his mouth gaped open and Dylan rose one of his fists to cover his mouth. "Yes I'm fine...thank you...for...notifying me." The young man muttered slowly into the phone before hanging up. Dylan's lips started to quiver rapidly as he slowly made his way into a kitchen chair. Upon sitting down, Dylan broke down, crying loudly as he buried his face in to his palms. Brann glanced over at his trainer, who was shedding tears and shaking his head in denial for an unknown reason. The concerned macaw then flew and perched himself on the table in front of Dylan. His owner looked at him slowly. Dylan's face was streaming with tears and his the bottom of his eyes were red from crying. Trying to compose himself, Dylan leaned closer to his bird.
"Brann...my...my...br...brother...Nick..." Dylan sniveled between heavy breaths, "he...he...passed away..." Brann's eyes widened in shock and his beak fell open slightly as he felt tears of his own welling up in his eyes. He could not believe what he had heard. Brann knew Nick just about as well as his owner, and he loved his just as much. The two mourned together about this loss for countless hours.
In Minnesota...
The big vacationing group left Denise after the first week to meet up with Linda's mother. Blu referred to Linda's mom as Grandma Gunderson, although her name was actually Stacy. When they arrived at the house, which was located in Roseville, Fernando and Tulio gave Stacy a warm, welcoming hug and they both told stories of how they meet Stacy's daughter.
"You are such a charming little boy Fernando...and quite independent for your age. I see you becoming a powerful business man someday." Stacy spoke softly but welcoming to her grandson. Fernando itched the back of his head.
"I dunno grandma...maybe...but thank you for the compliment." He responded, giving her a large grin.
"And Tulio, you are a great man. Normally I was like a father with Linda's dating, never liked any guys she brought home. You on the other hand, are just so adorable and quirky and nerdy. Linda and you make a great couple." Tulio smiled as he drank a cup of hot tea.
"Why thank you Mrs. Gunderson. I guess I am one of a kind...but it's great that you don't hate me." Tulio announced awkwardly, putting on a haphazard smile. Linda rolled her eyes playfully as he brought over three cups of hot chocolate to the birds.
"Of course she doesn't hate you honey, why would she? " Linda giggled while walking away from the birds. "Jewel, you'll love this stuff. I know Blu does." She winked back to the Spix macaws. She put three colored bendy straws in one of the cups of the hot chocolate for Cobalt, Diamond, and Isaac to share.
"Careful, it's extremely hot guys." Blu pointed out before hovering over the warm, steamy beverage, "Man I can't wait...It's been too long. Yes! six marshmallows, the perfect ration! Linda remembers!" Blu exclaimed gleefully. Jewel looked at him funny and chuckled before taking in a sip. Her eyes opened wide from delight.
"Oh my...Blu this is amazing! This hot chocolate drink is delicious!" Jewel shouted, taking another sip. Blu rapidly nodded his head in agreement, displaying a wide grin, "Oh yeah it is!" He mentioned before taking a swig of the drink. He then looked at his kids, who were all hopping around in excitement.
"This stuff's great! We need to come to Minnesota more often!" Isaac exclaimed before flying up to the rim of the cup and pulling his straw down.
"Oh yeah...We should take this home instead of a jar of snow daddy!" Colbalt pitched in, following Isaac's motions. Diamond nodded in agreement while she too drank a bit of the sweet drink. Stacy then walked up to the birds and smiled.
"Linda...Blu sure has been busy. But it's so great to see him settled down like this." Blu almost spat out his drink upon hearing this comment. He frown in annoyance while gulping his drink.
"Why does everyone say that!" He pouted, Jewel wakled over to him and patted him on the back playfully.
"I know I'm so proud of him." Linda answered as she walked over to the birds again, smiling at Blu's stern face.
In Mills: One week Later...
"I'm sorry Dylan, I have no choice but to fire you." Keenan said softly to his employee as he hung his head low in shame. "Look, as I've said two weeks ago, business is business, and it doesn't help when you come to work and stare at the oven all day, letting the food burn and pissing off customers." The head chef looked at Dylan sadly. "No hard feelings? Even if I just screwed you over financially? Dylan nodded slowly.
"Yeah no hard feelings Keenan." Dylan muttered, not raising his head an inch. Keenan still stared at the young man sympathetically.
"I'm so sorry to hear about your brother dying. Look, I know that's what has been on your mind, but you still could tried to work. But I knew your brother well, and I really wanna help you out, so I'll finish your pay for the rest of this week, adding in those extra two dollars-per-hour you lost a few weeks ago, plus I'll send you a check for one thousand dollars to help so you can go see your old bro in Brazil one last time." Keenan said sympathetically, trying to smile at Dylan. This time Dylan raised his head to his former employer.
"Thank you Keenan. Sure I could've taken an emergency vacation, but I still needed the money to go. I know I've been a lousy worker and I shouldn't have screwed up, not matter what had happened. Still, no hard feelings, just maybe when I get back, do you think I can get another chance?" Dylan asked with a mixture of hope and sadness in his voice.
"Definitely." Keenan replied in a whisper as Dylan handed him his apron. "Good luck man." Dylan waved to his head chef while leaving the restaurant.
Dylan entered his house sadly, not greeting his pet. Brann eyed him suspiciously as Dylan immediately entered the kitchen and cooked himself some fried rice for dinner. After eating, Dylan silently grabbed the phone and walked to his room and sat down at his computer. The young man called a funeral home. "Hi there, this is Dylan Jackson, I live up in the United States, but my brother Nicholas lives in Rio and I wanted to put him in your funeral home for a week and have him embalmed since I still need to gather money to go to Brazil. I sent his body to another funeral home but I realized that the home wasn't connected to any church, therefore they couldn't help with a funeral plan." For the next two hours, Dylan talked with the lady at the funeral home and arraged a funeral plan and it's cost. After hanging up the phone, Dylan turned to see Brann staring at him.
"How was work?" The macaw cooed in human dielect to his owner.
"Not good Brann...got fired. We are still going to Rio de Janeiro though, but I'll have to wait another week for the money. Don't worry, things will get brighter one day." Dylan said as he pet Brann on his head.
In Minnesota...
Linda decided to take Tulio and Fernando snowmobiling while the birds stayed at home with Linda's mother. The blue macaws gather around the dinner table while Stacy gave them blueberry pancakes.
"Ha I know Tulio will get mad at me for this, you know, not being your normal diet and all, but you guys are on vacation! Just enjoy yourselves. The maple syrup is right here." Stacy told the birds as she placed a bottle of syrup down.
"Wow, Grandma Gunderson's food is delicious!" Diamond piped gleefully as she ate her pancakes.
"I want hot chocolate with this." Cobalt noted as he ripped apart his pancake.
"Cobalt sweetie, you know that Grandma Gunderson ran out of hot coco mix. We'll have more when she leaves to go to the store." Jewel informed on Cobalt's remark, "By the way, these taste better than the waffles Tulio made us when I was healing."
Blu heartily laughed, "Oh come on honey, you gotta give the man credit, although he shouldn't have put grapes in the mix, that was a little odd. But yes, Grandma makes great food."
After eating and Stacy left to the grocery store, the blue macaw family flew over to the couch and decided to watch a few movies. Blu helped out by making some popcorn, taking the last two bags. The first movie they played was the original Friday the Thirteenth. Blu ate his popcorn with no expression as the movie went on. He used to be afraid of the movie, but after watching it three times, he realized it was kinda corny. However, his family didn't think so. Upon the first death scene, The three kids mouth gaped and Jewel dropped her piece of popcorn on the floor.
"Holy Cow! This Jason guy is scary dad!" Diamond quivered in her seat.
"Ah! Too much blood! Why are we watching this?" Isaac shouted in fear.
"Mommy!" Cobalt yelled, covering his head in between the seat cushions. Jewel pulled his head out and comforted him. Isaac couldn't help but snicker at his brother, although he was still quaking.
"Not so tough now eh Colby?" Isaac condescended. Colbalt shot him a serious glare.
"Oh come on! This movie is so cheesy!" Blu laughed while eating his popcorn with ease, despite some blood getting spilled.
"Blu this movie is horrifying! It's gonna give us all nightmares!" Jewel yelled angrily in Blu's face.
"Come on Jewe-"
"Blu!" The father macaw sighed in disappointment as he ejected the movie and put in a more kid friendly comedy movie. Jewel was happier with Blu after the new movie was over. She cuddled up beside him and took a nap. Blu looked at her lovingly and smiled as he observed his kids through one of the windows playing in the snow once again.
One Week Later...
After watching Stacy draw a beautiful sketch of the Christ the Redeemer Statue, Fernando attempted to draw as well. Both Tulio and Linda watched over their adopted son while Linda's mother gave some tips. They could tell that their son had found a new hobby. While watching however, Tulio received a call from his smartphone.
"Hello this is Tulio Monteiro. Oh hi there Mr. Santos how are you?" Tulio greeted, Linda then turned around in confusion.
"Mr. Santos? As in...the person that helps fund our bird sanctuary?" Tulio only nodded, still listening to the man on the other end of the line.
"Yes. Umhm...yes the Spix macaws already bred. Wait...sir, that won't work. No no no it won't trust me, I'm an ornithologist. They can make more offspring from their own since they mate for life, but I'm sure they won't like it if we're pressuring them into it. Wait, are you being serious!" Tulio suddenly flared up, causing everyone, including the birds, to stare at Tulio. "Alright I'm sorry Mr. Santos but I'm telling you...neither of the birds will be willing to do that, but I guess we can give it a shot, despite the guilt factor I'm going to have afterwards. Alright bye then sir." Tulio finished, putting the phone back into his pockets. He let out a long sigh.
"What was that all about?" Linda asked worriedly. Tulio shook his head in crossly before replying.
"Mr. Santos is threatening to cut our funding." Tulio muttered under his breath. Everyone immediately flipped out. Blu, who was helping his family put together a puzzle, accidentally kicked up the whole thing in anger. Needless to say, they had to start over.
"What? Why? He knows we have one of the rarest birds on earth!" Linda shouted, becoming cross as well. Tulio took her hands and lead her outside (yet they weren't wearing anything to cope with the cold) to briefly explain so no one could hear. Blu and Jewel moved over to see Linda get progressively more upset as Tulio explained the phone call. Blu even thought he could see Linda mouth the words: 'Blu wouldn't do it.' As the two walked in, Linda tried to regain her previous figure.
"I still don't know what that man is thinking...but whatever..."Linda muttered angrily. Tulio just rubbed her back softly, trying to calm her more.
"Um...okay that was weird." Jewel shrugged. Blu nodded but still felt concerned.
"I think it has to do with us though."
"Dad I hate you...I think you lost one of the pieces with your flying ninja kick." Cobalt sarcassitly blabbered as he search through the pile of puzzle pieces. Blu chuckled nervously.
"Um...yeah...sorry about that." Blu apologized before searching for the piece.
In Mills...
Dylan sat in the kitchen with a mesy stack of paperwork and a calculator. He was started to get frustrated. "Damn these bills." He muttered as he looked at the cost of funeral in total. He groaned as he picked up the phone to call his land landlord once more.
"Hi Reggie. Look I need you to further that extension." Dylan said, getting straight to the point. "Two and a half more weeks. What? Reggie my brother just passed away. Yeah thank you. But I've spent nearly all the money from his life insurance and a forth of my savings for the funeral and I haven't even booked a flight to Brazil yet. I'll probably be using more of my savings and all the money on me for the trip. I'll only have about half of the payment by the time I get back. Yes thank you very much."
Meanwhile, Brann was using the computer in Dylan's room to listen to music. All of a sudden, he could hear his owner scream at his landlord. Startled and afraid, Brann decided to look back at the computer screen.
"So you are going to raise my rent! I understand that I have to pay for both January and February's rent but to raise us another thousand because I am asking another extension? I know I'm supposed to pay the rent in a few days, but I'm about to go flat out broke! If I pay your rent I can't go to my brother's funeral, that's how broke I am! Fine, listen, it will be done. Yes I know this is my last chance. Goodbye." Dylan finished, breathing heavily to try to blow off steam. Brann peered out of the doorway.
'Well he's mad...not angry...but mad...it's just bad timing that's all.' The bird thought to himself, trying to think of happier thoughts. Dylan walked in his room with a fake smile to try and lighten the atmosphere.
"Hey Brann. Mind if I get on the computer. I'm going to book us a ticket to Rio." Dylan spoke through his teeth, still a little upset about his previous conversation. Brann, still afraid, moved aside without questioning Dylan.
In Minnesota: One week later...
"Yep. It's odd, there's no straight flight from Minnesota to Brazil. We have to go to Wyoming first." Tulio informed Linda's mother.
"Well whatever the case, you guys have a safe trip back. Maybe I'll come and visit you next time." Stacy chuckled as she gave everyone a hug. The birds started squealing goodbyes to Stacy as Linda put them together in one large kernel for the plane trip.
"Bye grandma. I had a great time here. And I'm going to continue drawing, maybe I'll be as good as you." Fernando said as he broke from the hug Stacy gave him.
"Bye ma, and yes please do visit us. Or we'll visit again...I dunno." Linda said as she embraced her mother in a long hug.
"Now you better hurry on, you don't wanna be late for your flight." Stacy said, pushing Linda away softly so the hug didn't last forever. Everyone waved goodbye to Linda's mother as they entered the airport.
About an hour had passed, Linda, Tulio, and Fernando were waiting for their flight while the Spix macaws finally got onto the cargo hold of the plane. Another thirty minutes passed before the plane started to board passengers.
"Jeez...it's taking a long time." Blu spat out impatiently.
"That's because they still have to shovel the mountain of snow off the plane." Jewel joked as she nudged Blu. Her mate chuckled at the little comment.
Once the plane finally took off at reached elevation, Blu unlatched the switch on the kernel and the family walked around the cargo hold. Jewel spotted an oddly placed little window in the area, and she approached it.
"Goodbye Tinysota. It was nice meeting you." She giggled as she looked at the Minnesota ground one last time.
Once the Minnesota plane had landed, Dylan already had arrived at the airport in Cheyenne and sent off his luggage that were to be loaded onto the plane, included a small cage for Brann. Now all Dylan had to do was make it up to the flight gate in thirty minutes. As he walked pass the fast food chains, Linda, Tulio, and Fernando decided to grab something to eat. Ten minutes had passed and the kernel containing the rare birds was transferred into the cargo hold that Brann was on. Once the plane started boarding, Dylan looked at his ticket to see where he sat. He plopped down on the end seat to the three-seat aisle. Just then Linda, Tulio, and Fernando walked up to him.
"Excuse me sir, but you are in our spot." Tulio mention politely to Dylan. Embarrassed, Dylan looked around for his real seat before looking up at the family and getting up.
"I'm so sorry guys. It was a mistake, must've read my ticket wrong. Here just let me get my stuff." Dylan apologized as he grabbed his carry-on bags from the shelves above the seats.
"It's okay. Thank you very much." Linda told Dylan as she started placing her carry-ons on on the overhead bin.
Yet again, once the plane reached altitude, Blu opened the kernel door and the family wandered around. They searched aimlessly together when they came to Brann's cage, where the military macaw was sleeping.
"Hi there." Blu greeted loudly. Brann groaned and tiredly looked up to see five blue feathered birds several feet away from his cage.
"Hi." he mumbled.
"Want me to help you outta the cage?" Blu asked kindly. Jewel slapped Blu on the back of the head.
"Can't you see that the bird is sleeping?" Jewel questioned Blu sternly.
"Yeah...I'm kinda tired. Didn't get much sleep. Thanks for the offer though." Brann muttered slowly as he watched the Spix macaws wander around again. The military macaw then slowly shut his eyes again for rest.
A.N: Hey looks like you pulled through this extremely long chapter. This beast I believe is as long as all of the previous chapter combined!
Anyways...I'd really like it if I could get more feedback from more readers. Please if you read and have the time, just put a small review of what you thought, and if you really wanna go into a deep review...then shoot. Even if the comments are a little negative, I'll still manage.
After writing the beginning segment it was hard to put in all the references and humor (btw...I hope I did fine at humor). This chapter made me feel depressed. I hope the message in this chapter got through to readers. Sorry if this was tedious and if the mild cussing had offended anyone.
So again thanks for reading this long chapter! Please tell me what ya think of the story so far! Oh and if you spot a grammar problem, please point it out so I can fix it! BrokenMechanix out.