Chapter 4: The Club

Another day in Rio had arrived. To be honest, sleep after such a long flight was something the whole family badly needed. Their sore wings managed to relax during this rest, which had been uninterrupted for several hours. The effects of the long flight were felt most by Jewel, as she was the first to fall asleep in her new temporary nest - literally Jewel immediately fell asleep after lying down in the soft nest and closing her crystal eyes! Even Bia and Carla were surprised at how their mum usually persevered and fell asleep so quickly. The two sisters decided not to disturb her rest and flew towards the nearest window to look at the Rio panorama while talking quietly to each other so as not to disturb their mother. The exceptions were Blu and Tiago, who were not worried that the others were most likely already asleep. They shouted practically all over the house until Linda had to make an intervention about it. Eventually, around 2.50 a.m., everyone in the house was already asleep.

After waking up, Jewel lay still for a while feeling that the day had already arrived, she could feel the sun's rays on her feathers passing through the slightly ajar window. The sun was already giving the first signs of its heat, it was after its rise. Her surprise grew even more when she opened her eyes and realised that she was lying alone in the nest! She looked around, there was no sign of anyone anywhere! She was clearly alone in the room.

"Blu? Tiago? Carla? Bia?" She asked Jewel hoping for an answer, but no one answered her. Hearing no answer, she focused on her surroundings, more specifically on the slightly ajar door from where the sounds of conversation from downstairs were coming from.

"Is everyone already up except me?" Perplexed Jewel thought. She felt strange - she was usually the one who got up before everyone else. She rose from her nest and looked around the aviary - no one was there. This gave her the cue to fly out of the aviary and fly down to the kitchen, where the rest of the family were most likely to be. And she was not wrong. As she flew down she could hear voices getting louder and louder, like someone was talking.

Flying into the kitchen, she found the sight of the entire Gunderson family and Monteiro at the table, with Blu standing at the cooker making his signature dish - pancakes with maple syrup.

"Hi mum!" Exclaimed Tiago, who was the first to notice his mum. Jewel, still with a bit of embarrassment, greeted and landed next to her children.

"Hello Jewel, nice of you to visit us! Just this year we have some cool plans..." Tulio started to say, but was interrupted by Linda hitting him gently in the stomach with her elbow, then whispered something in his ear.

"Hi baby," he greeted from under the cooker Blu seeing Jewel fly up to him and kiss the side of his beak.

"Hi darling. What are you doing up so early? You're usually the last to get up and you're still sleep deprived" Jewel asked curiously. She looked at the contents of the pan, there were 3 pancakes frying in it.

"I'm making breakfast...for all of us. We have a holiday, it's a waste of time to sleep! By the way, you were always the first to get up and today you woke up about two hours after us" Blu remarked. Jewel glanced at the wall clock - it showed 10.00 a.m.

"Well...I was tired after the flight yesterday and generally wanted to sleep..." Jewel explained.

"Oh, understandable. I'll finish the last of the pancakes in a minute and we can eat " Communicated Blu. There were already 10 pancakes on the plate next to her and 3 more were being fried by Blu. Jewel was impressed with how her husband was moving the pancakes into the pan turning them by tossing the pan and how he was taking care of them with a blush on his face watching them turn slightly brown. It looked so lovely that she didn't have the strength to point out to him that it wasn't bird food.

After 5 minutes Blu finished frying the last batch of pancakes. He put them all in one pile on a plate then poured maple syrup over them. He took the plate in his claws and transported it to the middle of the table.

"Enjoy everyone!" Communicated Blu proudly, after which everyone started eating breakfast.

The pancakes were as successful as ever by Blu, despite living in the jungle, he still remembered how to make them, he still had it in him. Despite such a long break, he still managed to surprise with the quality of his cooking! Tender toasted pancakes with a soft centre meant that the pancakes tasted good to everyone, even to Jewel, who was always against human food.

"Mmm... Blu, this is so delicious! It surprises me that despite such a long hiatus from cooking he still remembers the recipe and how to make them!" Said Tulio with delight as he finished eating the first pie.

"Oh, we used to make them almost every day in Minnesota, that's probably why he remembers how to make them...some things you don't forget right Blu?" asked Linda, to which Blu nodded with a motion of his head. He was proud that the breakfast he had prepared had tasted so good to them. He liked it too, but what can a chef say about his dish? The point is that everyone enjoyed it and ate it with relish.

After about 20 minutes, breakfast was finished by everyone and Tulio and Linda had to get together for work. Although the Gundersons had a holiday this was something Linda and Tulio could not say, at least for the time being, as Blu could hear between their whispers that this was their last day before the holiday. Before Blu had time to ask Fernando about it, the latter had gone to his room to talk to his friends.

"Ah this youth... It used to be different...but oh well. We'll be off to work now, we'll be back around 4 p.m., maybe slightly later. Just remember to come back in the evening okay? We have a surprise to give you" Linda communicated.

'There goes that surprise again' thought a curious Blu. He could see that Linda was blushing when she mentioned this surprise, so he couldn't wait to find out what it was. It was probably something bigger than some toy, wouldn't she react in such a way? Tulio couldn't hide his excitement either, but Linda forbade him to say anything about it, so he kept quiet about it.

Soon Linda and Tulio were ready to go to work, said their last goodbyes to Blu and his family and left the house, leaving them alone.

After they left, Blu gathered the plates into one pile and moved them to the sink to start washing them one by one, he poured dishwashing liquid on the plates, took a washing up sponge and poured warm water into the sink into which he put the plates and washed them.

"I'll help you Dad" communicated Bia, flew over to Blu, who gave her the other sponge, and at the same pace as her father began to wipe the plates. Jewel did not hide her embarrassment. Why was he washing the plates?

"Ekhm Blu...why are you washing the plates? I mean I know hygiene should be taken care of, but you don't have to do it...you're not the host" Jewel said somewhat uncertainly. She was never sure when she talked about things associated with people. In these matters she preferred to trust for Blu rather than her instincts, which were quite questionable in these matters.

"I know darling, but even before I came to Brazil with Linda we had this custom that whoever made breakfast cleaned up after everyone else, it teaches a certain kind of culture" replied Blu.

"Sure...you volunteered to do the cooking yourself today?" Jewel asked.

"Of course I did! I love cooking, in Minnesota I did it practically all the time! Come on honey, you don't have to worry," replied Blu reassuringly, winking at his wife.

Soon the plates were washed and all went to their place - the cupboard.

"Thanks for your help Bia, I appreciate it. Maybe let's go watch TV, maybe there's something interesting on," Blu suggested. He was about to take to the air when he was blocked by Jewel.

"Or how about we go to Nico and Pedro? I'm sure they're waiting for us to show up at their club opening the holiday season?" Jewel suggested.

"To my uncles club? Great!" Exploded Carla suddenly with full energy, which drew the attention of the whole family staring at her in surprise, which embarrassed her.

"I mean...good idea! We can get laid," Carla corrected herself quietly.

"Haha...although you can have a great time in the Amazon there are no clubs like here in Brazil. Fernando should take care of the house, let's fly!" Replied Blu laughing at his daughter. Before flying out, Blu looked around the kitchen to see if he was sure everything was switched off and buried. After making sure, the Gunderson family left the house and started flying towards the club.

Rio was awake and lively first thing in the morning. After sunrise, the city was already booming, it was getting warm, sunny, the people of the city were coming out of their homes to take part in games, go to work or sell something at the markets, which in Rio was very popular especially in the summer season. Blu probably loved Rio most for this - here there was something going on all the time, here you could feel the life, the pulse of life beating constantly, in Minnesota meeting someone on the street was happiness, talking to a passer-by on the street was practically unheard of! There, society was more closed in on itself, or simply less willing to integrate with each other, everyone preferred to live in their own little world rather than live with others.

When the Gunderson family arrived outside the club Nica and Pedro noticed that it was suspiciously quiet for the most frequented birding spot in Rio. Usually, samba rhythms could be heard from just a few hundred metres away, encouraging people to dance to enjoy life. When they stood in front of the entrance, there was complete emptiness and silence! Apparently no one was in the club because the entrance was closed.

"What's up... Nico and Pedro would never close the club for no reason!" Said a surprised Tiago. And he wasn't the only one surprised, all of them were embarrassed by what they found. This was not the welcome they had expected.

"Now what? " Carla asked perplexedly, looking at Blu, who was thinking of a plan. Looking up, he spotted a trolleybus that hinted at where he should go.

"Luiz should know something about it, let's fly over to him" Blu suggested. They didn't have a better plan, so that actually seemed to be the best option at the moment. They left the area around the club to go to Luiz, more specifically to his workshop, which was located not far from their friends' pub. The trolleybus showed them the way to their destination, which they reached after a five-minute flight.

The door from the dog workshop was open, to give a good sign for Blu.

"The workshop is open, so Luiz must be in there" thought Blu. Through the ajar door they peered inside the garage. They looked around, hoping that someone was inside after all, but their doubts were quickly dispelled when the workshop was also empty.

"Luiz! Are you here? Luiz speak up!" Called Blu, but the only thing that answered him was an echo. Everyone was confused about what was happening. Why is there no Nic, Pedro or Luiz? The club looked closed, as if no one was in it, if that was the case Luiz would most likely be in his garage and he was suspiciously absent.

"Suddenly everyone has evaporated?" Jewel asked ironically.

"Something's up. If they were to go somewhere it's doubtful it would be at Rafael's...because of the large number of children. Louisa isn't there , and that's the first place I'd bet on if they were to meet" said Blu thoughtfully. Something was wrong, one thing didn't play with the other, as if there were contradictions between the facts. Where could they have gone?"

"We didn't try to go inside the club. Maybe they are inside just the club is closed," Bia noted.

"Nico and Pedro would have closed the club? Impossible, you're talking silly!" Alleged Tiago.

"Bia could be right, maybe it's just that the club is closed and they are sitting inside" supported his sister Carla. In theory it was the only solution that made any sense in the current situation, but the theory that Nico and Pedro would have the club closed was still something abstract.

"Well...in theory we don't have a better idea anyway. We can fly and check it out if we don't come back later" Jewel communicated.

Being outside the club again, they noticed that the entrance to the club was slightly ajar - it hadn't been there before.

"Someone was here, I think Bia was right" said Blu. He swung open the sheet constituting the entrance to the wonderful club more, letting his wife and children pass in front of him, then went inside himself.

They were met by a dark view, almost nothing could be seen, only the outlines of crates and tarpaulins were barely visible. Both Blu and the others stood in slight perplexity, they had never seen the club in such a state. It looked abandoned and lifeless! This worried them a little, it gave them some indication in their subconscious that something might have happened to their friends, which would not be good news.

"Hello? Is anyone here? Nico, Pedro?" Jewel asked. However, no one answered them. It continued quietly, seemingly empty.

"Something is wrong..." Blu thought. Just as they were about to retreat, two strong streams of light fell towards them completely blinding them, immediately the voices of the birds around them rang out. It took a few seconds for their eyesight to adjust to the light coming down on them.

"Happy Anniversary Blu and Jewel!" Said everyone gathered in the club in chorus.