"Happy birthday, Jane."
"Mary Poppins!" Jane exclaimed. "You came, you came!" The young girl bounced up on her toes in excitement.
"Why of course, Jane, why wouldn't I?" The lovely brunette stepped inside the Banks household and took a look around. The banister was tied up with ribbon, and a painted banner hung on the wall, accented with pink and yellow balloons.
"I've brought you something," Mary said, smiling and holding out a little white box tied with a yellow ribbon.
Jane opened it to reveal a silvery chain with a small porcelain star on it. She lifted it out of the box with one hand. "Oh, Mary Poppins, it's lovely! I'll put it on at once." Setting the box aside, Jane busied herself fastening the chain around her neck.
At that moment, Michael came running down the stairs at twice the normal pace. "I did the balloons! I did the balloons!" He said breathlessly.
"And are you bout of breath from blowing all of those up, or from flying down the stairs at dangerous speeds?" Mary inquired.
Michael laughed. "Both!"
"Well," said Mary, "In either case, you've done a lovely job with the balloons."
Michael grinned widely. "We're going to have cake," he said.
"Of course we'll have cake," said Jane in exasperation, "it's my birthday."
"Now Jane, be kind to your brother." Mary patted her hair to make sure it was in place.
"I don't have to. It's my birthday." Jane crossed her arms.
"Indeed it is," Mary agreed, "but contrary to what you may believe, that does not give you the right to do whatsoever you may please. You're growing into a young lady, and ladies must be considerate."
Jane pouted a bit, but brightened when there was a knock at the door. "Maybe someone else has come to give me presents!" She ran to the door, her new powder blue dress flowing beautifully around her.
"Where are your parents?" Jane asked Michael as Jane went to answer the door.
"Mum's helping in the kitchen," Michael offered, but lowered his head as if embarrassed.
"And your father?"
"…Said… he said he couldn't get the whole day off, but he'll come home early this evening." His voice was blank and robotic. "Jane was upset."
"I see." Mary put a finger to her temple in thought, but could not ponder long as Jane came prancing back towards them.
"It's for you, Mary Poppins!" Her eyes were bright and full of excitement—so much so that it was hard to believe that she'd ever been upset as Michael suggested.
"What? What's for me?"
Jane giggled. "The door! There's someone here to see you!"
"And who might that be?" wondered Mary aloud as she strode swiftly to the front door.
"Good day, Mary," said Bert, peeking out from behind a magnificently colorful bouquet of flowers.
"Oh my!" she exclaimed, and rightly so. The flowers were so bright and fragrant that they hardly seemed real. "Sweet of you to drop these by. But did I hear correctly that you've come to see me as well?"
"That's right. But first things first. A little bird told me that someone's having a birthday today."
Jane appeared at Mary's side. "Bert! How did you know?!"
The smiling man delicately placed the bouquet in Jane's arms. "Happy Birthday. I hope it's the best year yet."
"Oh, I'm sure it will be!" Jane declared. "That you so much!"
"No need to thank me, young lady."
Suddenly, something registered in Mary's mind. "Bert, did you say something about a bird?"
He tilted his head to one side. "No, I don't think I did."
"No, I'm sure you did. Just now."
He looked puzzled, but eventually it came to him. "Oh, right. 'A little bird told me.' Just an expression, right?" He winked.
"Bert…" she looked at him suspiciously. "If we might have word in private…"
"But of course. We could take a turn about the block I suppose."
"Well, I'm not sure if…" Mary looked to Jane, who was admiring her flowers.
"Oh!" Jane said. "You must go, Mary Poppins, you absolutely must. It's such a lovely day, and besides the party won't start until dinner's ready—"
"And the cake!" Michael chimed in.
"Yes, and the cake. I'm sure what Bert has to say to you is very important, so you really must go," Jane chattered on.
"Well, if it's alright with you, Jane, I see no reason not to."
All who were present smiled, except for Michael, who was quite intent in an attempt to snatch down on of the balloons tied to Jane's birthday banner.
Linking arms, Mary and Bert set out.
"Now, Bert," Mary said when they were quite out of range of Cherry Tree Lane, "do tell me what all this bird business is about. 'Just an expression' indeed!"
Bert chuckled. "He's come back, Mary. Good as new, too. You can't tell that the wing was ever broken."
Mary stopped, startled. "Not…not him, Bert, surely? The very one?"
"The very one."
"Oh, Bert! I'm so happy for you! But how can that be?"
"Well, Mary, would you describe me as unusual?"
Mary didn't know how to respond. "Well. You may be… generally atypical but… I wouldn't go so far as to say—"
"That's just it, Mary!" Bert said. "You're not the average person yourself, if ya don't mind my saying so. It only follows that those birds of ours wouldn't quite be run of the mill either, eh? They did come all this way in the first place, after all. Their kind doesn't live in London naturally, you know."
Just then, as if to confirm what Bert had been saying, the signature twittering sounded.
Overhead two small birds circled, and then landed, one each, on Mary's finger and Bert's shoulder. Bert's was bright yellow and nibbled affectionately on Bert's ear. Mary's was a more muted yellow, and sat still and pristine on Mary's outstretched finger.
"I still can't believe it, but you're right," Mary said.
"And there's one more surprise," Bert said with a wink.
"Of course there would be more. Nothing bad, I hope?"
"Oh no, not at all. In fact, I think it might come in handy, given the occasion."
--
The nine-year-old brunette couldn't help herself. The boy standing with his shoulders slumped by the walkway looked so very upset that she just had to stop and see what might be so disconcerting.
"Is something the matter?"
But she needn't even have asked. At that moment the wind blew and it became very apparent that a colorful kite was stuck in the treetops, its long tail being the only part free to whip round in the wind, and the rest tangled so thoroughly that it looked to be a lost cause, sad as it was.
"Made it for my mum," the boy mumbled. "Wanted to try it out first. Make sure it worked."
"Well, that's no problem," the girl declared. "We just have to get it down. It doesn't look broken, just stuck."
"I tried to climb up, but the branches're too weak. Can't hold me."
"Then send someone else up," the girl said casually.
He looked puzzled. "But you're a girl. You can't climb in a dress."
She giggled. "Not me, silly." She shoved two fingers under her tongue and let out a shrill whistle.
The immediate response was the boy covering his ears and a small yellow bird coming to rest and the girl's head.
"That's no place for you," she said. "I've told you that you ought to land on my hand. But no matter; I have a job for you."
There was a chirp in reply. The small bird rose again into the air and flew to where the kite was stuck. The boy watched, enraptured, as the bird untangled the string in a series of flits and darts. When it was finished, the small yellow creature tried to pull at the kite from one corner, but it wouldn't budge very far.
"Oh dear," said the girl, "it's just too heavy for her. I'm sorry about your kite. We tried our very—oh!"
She was unable to finish, because at that moment a second bird came in a blur of color to take the opposite corner of the kite in its beak. Together, the two lifted the colorful toy and dropped it right into the arms of the stunned boy.
The first landed this time on the girl's extended fingers. The second made a few playful loops in the air, and then perched himself with poise on the boy's shoulder.
"Teamwork," the girl declared delightedly. "Thank you for calling him. Lila couldn't have managed it on her own."
"Calling him?" the boy was perplexed. "I haven't called anyone."
The girl shrugged. "Then I guess he came on his own accord. What's his name?"
"I don't know."
"Well, he's yours now! You ought to name him."
The boy thought for a moment. "Edmund," he decided.
And Edmund gave him a grateful nip on the ear.
--
"Come in handy? Do tell," said Mary, interested.
Bert rubbed at the back of his neck as if embarrassed. "Well, they didn't come back alone, to put it simply."
"They've… brought their young?" Mary asked to clarify.
Bert nodded, slightly red in the face.
"How many?"
"Just one."
Mary's eyes lit up in understanding.
"We were about her age, weren't we, Mary?"
She seemed pleased that he'd remembered. "Indeed we were. And we hadn't a clue who these two were." She petted her bird tenderly on the head with one finger.
"You can imagine, Mary… how I felt when I thought he was gone."
She nodded solemnly, looking Bert directly in the eyes. "Not just you. I thought—or rather, she thought—that she'd lost a very dear friend."
"So… I s'pose we ought to give Jane another present, eh? From the two of us."
Mary smiled in agreement.
--
Jane and Michael came up the stairs at a pace just below a run, giggling excitedly.
"This was the best birthday ever," Jane announced.
"I used to like chocolate," said Michael, "but now lemon is my favorite kind of cake."
"You've got lemon cake on your face, by the way," Jane said.
"No I haven't!" Michael swiped at his cheek with his sleeve.
But when the two walked into the room, it was immediately apparent that something had changed. Jane's bed had been moved aside to make room for a table, atop which sat a large and glamorous-looking silver cage.
"Look!" said Michael. "There's a letter, and it's got your name on it!"
Jane rushed to the table and unfolded the letter.
"What's it say?" Michael demanded.
Jane cleared her throat and read,
"Dear Jane,
You've come a long way since we've known you, and it's time you gained a companion to make sure that you don't forget what you've learned, and at the same time remind you to stay young at heart. Open the window, whistle with all your might, then flip this note over and read the back."
Jane looked up. "Alright then." She marched to the window then pulled it open. But then her face fell.
"What's wrong?" Michael asked.
"I can't whistle."
"Oh."
Jane looked down at the letter, and to her amazement, new words scrawled across the bottom as if being written by an invisible pen.
If you don't know how to whistle, don't worry. Just put both your index fingers beneath your tongue and blow.
Filled with new confidence, Jane followed the written instructions.
She and Michael were equally surprised to hear a high, keen note sound from her mouth.
"You said you can't whistle!" Michael protested.
"I can't! Or I couldn't. I've just read how to do it, right here." She pointed, but before Michael could look, the siblings were distracted by a lofty twittering.
"Oh!" They exclaimed in unison.
A tiny yellow bird was perched on the sill, looking directly at Jane and chirping expectantly as if to say, Yes? You called?
Remembering what she had read, Jane flipped the note over and read the back.
"This bird represents and embodies the spirit of your childhood. Many cannot hold onto their childlike hearts for long, but I hope you will be together for a long time to come. Please give her a name and care for her.
Love, Mary and Bert."
"Oh, isn't she just precious, Michael?"
"You've already gotten presents from them," Michael pointed out. "The flowers. And that thing you're wearing."
"Somehow," said Jane, "I think this is different."
She smiled gracefully and carried her new friend to the beautiful cage. "Welcome home," she said.
Michael went to put out the light, and before long, all three were sleeping.
--
Author's Notes: How exciting! I was finally able to post this! I've had it written for a while now, but it was a matter of getting to a computer for long enough to type it up… Now that that's done, I can finally breathe. So, the bird thing was an idea I had from the very beginning, and I hope I was able to express it properly. I'm afraid the whole thing might have been a bit unclear, so if you have any questions, please message or e-mail me about it and I'll be sure to clear it up in the next chapter. There's a bit more to the concept, anyway. Oh, I also thought I would mention that this chapter turned out to be twice as long as it looked on paper! I hope that's a good thing…? I tend to prefer longer chapters in others' stories, but in my own, I'm afraid everyone will lose interest if I ramble on too long. ;;; In any case, I'll get started on the next chapter right away and do my best to ensure that you won't have to wait so very long for it. If you have time, please kindly review and let me know what you thought. Thank you!