Again, to keep things short and sweet, I do not Rio nor any of its original characters, but, hey, a girl who grew up on these sorts of movies can dream, can't she? Anyways, here we go!
In hindsight, Fernando should have seen something like this coming. To put it simply, he noticed certain patterns of events with certain days. The worst the day started out, the better it got; likewise, the better it started out, generally, the worst it would later get. Don't ask him how he came to notice such things, he just did one day and he learned how to be prepared and observant because it. So when things got pretty even, it always made him really weary to leave wherever he had hunkered down to sleep. Saved his life a couple times, but that was besides the point.
The day had started relatively nice and had been just a few days since their day out at the beach and biking; his mom had made his favorite breakfast; blueberry pancakes and chocolate milk with orange slices. He couldn't remember the last time before he became apart of the Monterio family he had it so many times. Of course, like wise, getting distracted by Blu and Jewel's chicks, Linda ended up burning Tulio's breakfast of french toast and then spilled her juice all over herself when she went to grab some bacon for herself. But to be fair, they were rather small things and Fernando had been going a fair while without anything big and bad happening like before.
Tulio then nearly misplaced his tie and was almost late for work had Jewel not found it for him and he got out of the door just in time.
Despite usually spending most of their time at the aviary, Blu, Jewel and their chicks were pretty much free to go wherever they want and often visit the house, which turned out to be a stroke of luck for his dad. But from there, things just continued to teeter.
Fernando stubbed his toe helping his mom put some books away. Likewise, Blu, somehow, made everyone hot chocolate, don't ask anyone how, he still won't explain it to him...or Jewel for that matter. Then, Linda nearly fell down the stairs had Fernando not been in front of her to help catch and Jewel not been behind her to help him catch her, then business boomed when they got a big request for an entire book series by some american author.
It threw Fernando for a genuine loop, but he brushed it all off a little coincidences that just so happened to be balancing each other out.
Fernando and Linda were then getting ready to got to run some errands, beginning to run low on food and a few others things. In the master bedroom, Linda had given her hair a quick wash and rinse in the sink, unaware that her hairdryer got a little water on it while it was plugged in. When she tried to use it, it shorted, making her shriek, much to the birds and Fernando to jump.
Fernando instantly ran to the master bedroom, Blue hot behind him as they both called out, "Mom/Linda!" But only one was understandable for Linda's ears.
When they got there, Linda was, thankfully, find, thought the same couldn't be said for her hairdryer, as she assured with a cough, "I'm okay, sweetie..." But thankfully, a quick towel-dry and a hairbrush fixed up her hair just fine and the weather was quite warm so Linda didn't have to worry about a cold.
As mother and son got into the car, Fernando began to think about the strange amount of things that had happened all in one morning and voiced his concern, "Hey, mom, maybe we should stay home today..." At Linda's raised brow, he added, "Its just...a lot of weird things have been happening all morning and..."
"Oh sweetie, don't be silly, things are going just fine," Linda brushed off his concerns with a patient smile, "We're just going to the pharmacy and grocery store, what could go wrong?" Fernando wisely kept his mouth closed, not really wanting to think about it as he looked out the window as the car pulled out the driveway.
The interesting thing about the district of the city they lived in that aside from being widely a housing district, things like a grocery store and pharmacy, even a clinic were all in a relatively close distance, so some don't even have to drive. But at the same time, it didn't mean the streets weren't as busy as the rest of the city.
"Sweetie can you give me the lists please?" Linda requested Fernando, who was sitting in the back seat. "Sure mom," Fernando replied easily fishing the two lists of the things they needed to pick up out of Linda's purse, which she had put in the back with him. "Thanks sweetie," Linda smiled carefully reaching back for it while keeping her eyes on the road, when out of nowhere, a car cuts them off with sharp speed, making Linda shout in surprise as she uses both hands on the wheel to keep from veering off the road and wrecking, she honks the horn in anger, "Watch it, Monday driver!"
"Mom?" Fernando asked in concerned and she quickly calmed down. "Everything's fine, honey, just, not used to this sort of traffic," Linda assured with a nervous chuckle.
Soon they reach the pharmacy first. After parking and quickly checking her hair in the car mirror, Linda got out first, smiling when Fernando handed her, her purse.
"Okay we need a bottle of Tylenol and one of Advil, some band-aids and medical gauze, some more bottles of sunscreen, three ought to be enough for now," Linda read the first list, "Some toothpaste, under-arm for everybody and that's it."
"Okay mom," Fernando nodded. "Do you need anything while we're here sweetie?" Linda asked as she picked up a basket from next to the cashier, before immediately grabbing a few rolls of gauze and putting them in the basket.
Fernando seemed to think on it before spying the rack of normal prescription glasses and sunglasses, before asking, "Can I get a pair of sunglasses?"
"Are you going to wear them?" Linda made sure, at his nod, she nodded back, "Alright, but nothing over ten dollars!"
When he ran off, she quickly went down an aisle and picked up a rectangular box. At that moment, two women walked by and saw what she had grabbed, both of them started giggling, making Linda blush darkly. "Hey mom!" Fernando called, making Linda momentarily panic before shoving the box into the basket and hiding it with the medical gauze, she then turned to her adopted-son with a wide smile, "What do you think of these?" He was wearing a pair of sunglasses that still had the tag on one of the arms, the lens had an orange and red sunset-appearance with a black background.
"I think they're lovely sweetie," Linda said hoping her smile didn't look too forced. "Only seven dollars," Fernando told her. "Okay, put 'em in," Linda nodded and he excitedly put them in the basket, unaware that Linda had put something else in too.
It didn't take them too long to find everything they needed and as they approached the register, Linda remembered something and handed the car keys to Fernando asking sweetly, "Honey, why don't you go ahead and unlock the car for Mom, okay?" Fernando arched a brow, but didn't question her and only nodded his head obediently and lightly jogged off to do as she asked and Linda quickly took out the box she had grabbed earlier wanting it to be rung up and put into a bag first and further most before her son got back so he couldn't see it.
The clerk took one look at it and smirked a little at her, arching a brow as she commented, "A little late for these, don't you think?" Inclining with her in the direction Fernando had gone, making Linda blush like crazy.
"Wha-? No! No, he's-!" Linda stammered in embarrassment, "Its not what-!" The clerk just shook her head with a chuckle and rung everything up without another word, much to Linda's relief.
After that, they were on their way to the grocery store, when Fernando asked in curious-concern, "Hey, Mom, are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Linda smiled at him a little surprised by the sudden question, "Why?"
"You're face's been beat red since we left the pharmacy," Fernando answered tapping his cheek and in response, Linda blushed darker, "Did you forget to put sunscreen or something Mom? You know what too much sun in Rio can do."
"I gu-guess I just d-di-didn't put enough on," Linda stuttered slightly, trying to wave off his concern, "I'm fiiIIIINNNNEEEK!" She shrieked when, yet another impatient driver cut her off and she almost hit the breaks trying to avoid a wreck, "Fernando, are you okay?" She was worried he banged his head on the back of her seat, having her something hit something.
"I'm fine Mom," Fernando assured as he calmed his rapidly beating heart, "It was just one of the bags that fell." He reached down to get and noticed the odd picture on the box and rose a brow, but figured now wasn't the time to ask.
"Honestly, the drivers around here," Linda muttered upset, "You know honey, back in Minnesota, we don't unusually put up with this sort of thing, but I'm just going to let this slide once." Fernando wisely didn't say anything.
Once they got to the grocery store, Linda once again parked in the lot and this time, Fernando passed her, her purse before they got out, making her smile. As they walked in, she said, "Okay, we need five canned goods, two bags of chips family-sized, a gallon of milk, frozen chicken tenders, three boxes of pizzas and a box sodas," She looked to Fernando, who was pushing the shopping cart, "Is there anything you want to grab while we're here sweetie?"
Fernando glanced at the shelves as they passed before pausing to grab a cereal box that said 'Super Flakes', "Can we get this?"
Linda checked the price before smiling, "Okay, put it in the cart, and get the Super Strawberry Flakes while we're here." Fernando did so. Then they got the rest of the food, starting with the frozen food, then canned goods, then the milk and finally the chips and soda.
As they finished their shopping at the cashier, Fernando was loading the things onto the counter as Linda looked through her coupon book. Once everything was paid for, they loaded their purchases into the car, after which, they headed for home.
"After we put the food away," Linda was asking as they came to a stop at a red light, "Do you want to go and play some soccer?"
Fernando, who was reading a Marvel comic, answered, "Sure mom."
Linda smiled as the light turned green and started to drive forward, when a driver from the other side of the road went in front of them, much to Linda's annoyance and frustration as she shouted, "Oh come on!" Patience now snapped, she frowned, "You know what, that's it; Fernando hold on!"
Fernando looked around his comic, confused, "Huh?" But was too late to react as Linda practically slammed down on the pedal, going way above the speed-limit, much to Fernando's shock as he dropped his comic to cling to his door to keep from being flung about in his seat.
If Linda noticed, she was too upset at the moment to care as she caught up to the road rage driver and cut in front of them giving them the scare of their life as they tried to stay on the road. After that, Linda calmed down and slowed down, sighing with a satisfied smile, "Now that's much butter, right Fernando? Fernando?" At not receiving a response, Linda looked in the rear-view mirror to see Fernando was clinging to his seat like a cat that had the living daylights scared out of it, looking at her with a wide-eyed stare, breathing heavy from what had just happened.
"Now I know what you're probably thinking," Linda said returning her attention to the road, "But don't do what I did today; it was very personal for me."
Somehow, they made it home without getting pulled over by the police and started carrying their purchases into the house, where Tulio was sitting in the living room reading a book on Egyptian mythology, until he heard Linda call, "Tulio, we're home!" Marking his place, Tulio set his book down and went into the hall to greet his family.
"Hey honey, hey son," Tulio greeted with a smile, which then melted into a confused frown when he noticed how Fernando's legs were shaking as he carried things in from the car, and instantly got concerned as he recalled the roughness of his son's past, "Son, are you alright?"
"Yes poppa, I'm fine," Fernando answered despite how his legs continued to shake, as if ready to give out from under him at any moment, "Just trying to shake off the aftershock."
Now Tulio was lost as he turned to his wife for answers, "Aftershock?"
"Well, a couple of crazy road rage drivers kept cutting me off all day," Linda explained, shrugging, "So I might have given one a taste of their own medicine, that's all."
Tulio blinked for a second before realization set in and he said, "Ah." He then started to walk back to the living room, intending to finish his book.
"Hey dad," Fernando called suddenly as he handed his mother a bag. "Yes son?" Tulio replied pausing at the archway as Linda started for the bathroom.
"What are condoms?" Fernando asked curious and confused with an innocent tilt of his head, causing Linda to wide eyed and walk into a door from the shock, while Tulio lost his grip on the wall he was leaning on and fell over, both blushing intensely from embarrassment, much to Fernando's further confusion.
In the end, Fernando shrugged and headed for his room.
Now that was an eventful chapter I must say!
Just have to say it though, cutting people off on the road is not only dangerous, its stupid and irresponsible and no one should ever do it cause it can cause accidents.
On a brighter note, hope you all enjoy this one and that it was longer compared to the last one.
Please review!