To keep this short and sweet, here's another hopefully fluffy chapter to the Monterio Family. So let's get the show on the road.
It was another warm, sunny day in Rio and almost a month since Fernando was adopted. As usual for breakfast, Linda, Tulio and Fernando were eating bacon, eggs and toast with tall glasses of mango juice. It was a little livelier today, since Fernando couldn't seem to stop tapping his fork against his plate, his glass and on the table, like he was keeping the rhythm of song. Linda and Tulio didn't really mind, both being used to constant noise; Tulio from the sanctuary and Linda from the music she'll often listen to while working.
As they began piling the dishes next to the sink, Tulio caught sight of the clock, "Seven-fifteen already? Time certainly flies."
"Don't forget your lunch, honey," Linda said as she handed him the lunch she had packed the day before. "Thanks, Lin," Tulio smiled sweetly as he kissed her, ruffling his son's hair as he left for work, making Fernando laugh.
After the dishes were washed and put away, Linda headed down to the bookstore and flipped the sign to open shop. The routine had always been simple for Linda and Fernando, even before the adoption; they would alternate between the register and shorting the books, until just recently when Fernando volunteered to advertise the store publically and since there had been an influx of people coming into the store that had taken Linda aback. Even back in Minnesota, she had never seen so many people coming into her store all at once, even if just to sit and read.
Just as Linda finished placing some new books on their appropriate shelving, she noticed Fernando was about to head out to advertise again, carrying his sign and a stereo that operated both as a CD and a cassette player, as well as a radio. This was a scene she had gotten used to, yet for all her logical thinking, Linda just couldn't figure out how her son managed to get so many costumers the more he went out with just what he had.
Not that she was complaining. She was just curious.
But today, her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her, so she just managed to stop him before he could get out the door, allowing her to ask, "Hey, sweetie, do you mind if I go with you?" At his inquisitive look, she explained, "I'm just curious how you got so many costumers." She mentally prepared for any kind of protest or panic Fernando may have.
But instead, he smiled and answered, "Sure, mom, the more the merrier!"
Linda smiled back in response and locked up the register before leaving the store with her son. But as soon as they closed the door, a familiar red cardinal and yellow canary with a bottle cap on its head like a hat flew in and perched casually on Fernando's shoulders, catching Linda off guard, while Fernando grinned at them with a familiarity and delight, "Hey, Pedro! Ola, Nico!"
"Ola, Fernando!" Nico greeted with a wide grin. "Hey, little dude, ready for another day of ruling the park?" Pedro asked grinning as well.
To Linda, all that came from their beaks were chirps and squawks, but for Fernando, it all perfect words. So naturally, forgetting Linda's presence for the time being, answered with enthusiasm, "You bet!"
Linda arched an eyebrow quizzically, wondering who her son just spoke to, before realizing it was the two birds and she then remembered what the social worker had told when she had pulled her aside. While in social services' care, Fernando had a very had a difficult time making friends with the other children, while animals of all sorts; dogs, cats, lizards, birds, even fish and the local monkeys took to him as if he were one of their own. It got to the point he was more comfortable with the animals then he was, even in the social workers' presence and was always found holding conversations with one critter or another.
Truthfully, it brought a pang to Linda's heart, every time she saw him in the sanctuary, laughing so carefree with the hundreds of birds, Blu included, and being so awkward and borderline timid with children around his age. It also fueled her anger towards those who had put him in the situation in the first place by murdering his parents.
She understood why she was approached with it first, since it was clearing sticking with him and she was possibly what the social worker would think to be the most sympatic and understanding, which she was. She didn't hesitate in telling Tulio about it the night after they had Fernando's party and he had been very understanding. In fact, if she didn't know better, she could've sworn Tulio was encouraging it.
Shaking her head, Linda smiled as she turned the sign and locked the door. In a matter of moments, they were at the local park. Kids were either playing or strolling with their parents while couples in general were either strolling about as well or were sitting on benches enjoying the beautiful day.
As Linda sat at a nearby bench, Fernando set his stereo down and began shifting through his CDs. It was then that his feathered friends noticed just how tense their whisperer was.
"Hey," Nico spoke up taking a gentle tone of voice, his concern showing as he fluttered into Fernando's view, "You okay, there, amigo?"
"Yeah...just...nervous, I guess..." Fernando tried to shrug it off, only to get the opposite effect. "Nervous? About what, dude?" Pedro asked incredulously, "You must've run out of new covers to dance to and ya practice so much, what so different about this time?"
Fernando bit his cheek as he glanced nervously over to where Linda was watching and waiting patiently a calm smile on her face as she waved at him. Nico caught this, however, and hazard a guess, "Is because your mom's here this time?"
"No..." Fernando tried to lie only to cringe under the dry, skeptical stares they were giving them and soon sighed in surrender, "Yes...I just...I don't want to disappoint her..."
"Dude, she's your mom!" Pedro said simply, "She'd never be disappointed in you."
"But she would be disappointed if you back out now," Nico butted in, hoping to give their friend some confidence, "So, are you going to show her a real reason to be proud or are you going to chicken out like a monkey on a downpour?"
Not at all thrown by the metaphor like most normal humans probably would've been, Fernando just smiled after a moment of thought as he took out a CD, "Thanks, amigos," He then set the disk into the right part of the stereo and smirked, "Now, let's hit it." They smirked right back.
As soon as Fernando took his beginning pose, Nico pressed his talon down on the play button, instantly, music began to play and a male singer's voice filled the air, startling both Linda and the closest bystanders:
You know I got it, I g-got it
You know I got it, I'm your guy
It was then Linda realized it was a male cover of 'I'm Your Girl' from that mini-series of Disney's Descendants.
Fernando began to dance in a sort of hip-hop type fashion that had a lean-sway step to it as he clapped to the beat as people began looking over. As this happened, Pedro were merely standing on the stereo, watching and bobbing their heads to the beat, wide smiles stretched across their beaks.
Every time you miss the beat,
And life pulls you under,
And when you need your rhythm back,
I'll be your drummer,
No matter where your comin' from,
I'll see your true colors
Pedro and Nico began clapping their wings as they joined the next verse as people began to smile and walk over to watch as Fernando got a little more intense with his dancing in preparation for the next part of the chorus.
Oh, ooh-ooh
Oh, oh, ooh-ooh
If you come undone, I'll be the one
To make the beat go on and on and on
At that moment, Fernando slammed his foot down on his sign, which had been in a seesaw position, causing it to fly into the air as Nico subtly raised the stereo's volume before he and Pedro swooped into the air. When the sign came back down, Fernando caught it with practiced ease and began spinning it around expertly as he continued to dance and as he did, Nico and Pedro skillfully flew around him, easily avoiding getting hit as they somehow stayed rhythmical with the chorus.
I'll be your A to the Z
Even if trouble's comin'
You know I got it, I g-got it (ah!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
I'll be whatever your need
Call me and I'll come runnin'
You know I got it, I g-got it (woo!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
As everyone watching danced a little in their spots with wide smiles, Linda was just sitting their gobsmacked in shock. Sure, she knew that Fernando was a die-hard fan of Disney as well as a hard-core fan of covers, but she never knew it either extended this far. And his dancing! It was utterly amazing, it just blew her away!
Slowly, but surely, she slowly started to smile just as widely as the bystanders, feet tapping to the song's beat.
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
At this point, Fernando resumed his previous dance style of leaning and swaying, only this time with a little hop in his steps and his sign tucked securely beneath one arm, as Nico and Pedro simply swooped and swayed along with him. No one noticed the local birds were peering out from their hiding places in the trees to see what was going on and a number of them were either tapping their talons on the branchs, bobbing their heads or swaying in place themselves.
I'm a little bit sunshine,
I'm a little bit starlight,
Sometimes when my halo slips,
I dance on the wild side!
No matter where you're comin' from,
I know what it feels like
With a graceful backflip mid air, Nico and Pedro rejoined their pre-chorus as the local birds started to grin.
Oh, ooh-ooh
Oh, oh, ooh-ooh
If you come undone, I'll be the one
To make the beat go on and on and on
As Fernando started spinning his sign again, everyone save for the young boy himself, were startled when the birds all launched out of the trees, joining the two popular singers of one of their clubs in the aerial dancing, adding a stunning aerial show as they flapped their colorful wings to the song, but none dared to sing in fear of ruining the song itself with an overwhelming number of voices. Miraculously, none actually hit Fernando, who seemed to be in his own little world, feeling the exact same pleasure and undeniable excitement the birds were feeling as the music filled his pores.
I'll be your A to the Z,
Even if trouble's comin',
You know I got it, I g-got it (ah!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
I'll be whatever ya need (whatever ya need!)
Call me and I'll come runnin',
You know I got it, I g-got it (woo!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
At this point, everyone in the whole park had abandoned whatever they were doing to see what was going on, Linda practically preened with pride when she realized many were either taking pictures or recording the performance on their phones. Though whether it was because of Fernando's amazing performance or because of the birds joining in, Linda really didn't care. She was grinning as she stood up, still clapping to the beat as her baby danced his heart out at this point with his avian friends, swaying to the song as she did.
And if the road gets rough,
Gonna be hangin' tough,
Ye-ah, ye-ah, ye-e-e-e-e-eah
Meanwhile, in his office, Tulio was humming quietly to himself, listening to one of the cover CDs Fernando let him burrow, shifting through his paperwork. A particularly interesting cover of 'Friend Like Me' by a female singer had been playing as he was finishing up a report about Blu and Jewel, when one of his colleges suddenly almost flew into his office, the concept of gravity and adhesion apparently failing him as he slid across the floor and rammed full force into the wall opposite of the door, making Tulio cringe as he hit his CD player's pause button.
"I really need to stop having these floors waxed so often..." Tulio muttered to himself absentmindedly as his college groaned in pain, picking himself up, before asking loud enough to be properly heard, "Si, Deigo?"
"You're son's really good friends with birds, right?" The college, Deigo, asked back as he seemed to bounce back from his collision with the wall with startling speed, "Especially that yellow canary and that chubby cardinal that keep coming and going as they please."
Tulio arched an eyebrow in both skepticism and confusion as he answered slowly, "Yesss...and...?"
Deigo suddenly shoved his Iphone nearly into Tulio's face, showing him the live feed of Fernando's performance, un-muting the volume as the song blared through, revealing another of his son's covers as the younger man commented, "Care to comment on this?"
If you get lost sometimes,
I'll be your neon-sign,
Ye-ah, ye-ah, 'cause I'm your guy!
Tulio just gaped at the screen in total shock, both at the abnormal bird behavior and at his son's performance, having no idea Fernando was such a good dancer.
You know I got it, I g-got it (hey!)
I-I-I'm, I'm your guy!
If you come undone, I'll be the one
To make the beat go on and on and on
Be the one to make the beat go on and on (woo!)
Fernando repeated his routine for the chorus as the cheers from the crowd got louder.
I'll be your A to the Z,
Even if trouble's comin'
You know I got it, I g-got it (ah!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
I'll be whatever you need (Whatever you need!)
Call and I'll come (yeah) runnin'
You know I got it, I g-got it! (I g-got it! woo!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
I'll be your A to the Z,
Even when trouble's comin' (I'll be your A to the Z!)
You know I got it, I g-got it (ah!)
You know I got it, I'm your guy!
I'll be whatever you need,
Call and I'll come runnin' (come runnin'!)
You know I got it, I g-got it (got it, got it!)
With a wild, one-legged spin, Fernando finished with both arms up, balancing the sign so the writing could be seen clearly as the birds all flew up in one big grand finale.
I'm your guy!
Everyone clapped and cheered as Fernando finished with a breathy-grin, "Come buy books at Blu' Bookstore!" A couple of people were actually either giving a whistling ovation or/and where tossing money. Nico and Pedro being the quick minded birds they were, quickly started grabbing the coins and paper-bills before they could be blown away as two green and yellow parrots held an old worn hat like a bag to put the money in, clearly used to this sort of thing as the other birds took their bows along side Fernando.
"That's my boy!" Linda shrieked happily grinning at whoever was closest to her, almost literally radiating with pride as she added, "That's my baby right there!" Which caused Fernando to blush as a few others who actually heard her laughed good-heartedly.
Meanwhile, Tulio was openly gawking at the screen as Deigo tried his best not to snicker, instead, the bright-haired Latino just said knowingly, "He never told you he could do that, did he?" Tulio just shook his head.
Later on that evening, after properly closing the store for the day, Tulio came home to find Fernando setting the table as Linda finished making dinner. As they began to sit down, Tulio couldn't help himself from asking, "Fernando, why didn't you tell us you loved to dance? Or were that good at it?" Linda shot her husband a pointed look, much to his confusion.
"Well, I guess mostly cause it never came up," Fernando shrugged, "And...I mostly didn't want to disappoint you..."
Both adults looked at him in utter shock and it was Linda who found her voice first, "Honey, how could you ever disappoint us?"
"Its' just..." Fernando shifted nervously, "Dancing is supposed to be something girls are good at, boys are supposed to be good at sports and things like that."
"You know, son, dance is considered a sport by a lot of people out there," Tulio said in effort to comfort his son, a dark glint crossing his eyes only momentarily, having a good idea who put that in the boy's head in the first place, "Besides, even if it wasn't, we'd never be disappointed in being good at something like it, especially if it makes you really happy."
Fernando looked up at them hopefully, "R-Really?" Linda and Tulio both smiled with nods, making Fernando smile widely, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Fernando never again started hiding his interests from them from that point on. Linda and Tulio started finding more CDs of all sort of covers, all over the house and in the cars, Tulio even found some left in his desk drawers. Amazing drawings of the different birds in the aviary were covering their fridge and and all over Tulio's desk at work.
And done, man that took forever! Hope you guys enjoyed this one! Till next time!