May I Speak To You For Just One Moment?

At the toucans' hollow, Jewel continued to spend time with Rafael and his family as she continued to wait for her boyfriend to return from his meeting with Nico and Pedro. As the afternoon began to slowly approach, Jewel started to keep her mind off Blu for a while until she heard a familiar voice from the distance.

"Jewel" called Blu as he was flying towards the toucans' hollow. "I'm back" he said as he landed gently on the ground.

Jewel looked at the horizon for a moment only to see that her boyfriend had returned after what was a very long morning. "There you are Blu" she said to Blu as she came running straight towards him. "What on earth took you so long?" she asked.

"Nico, Pedro and I were just about to wrap up our meeting when all of the sudden, we saw Tulio propose to Linda" answered Blu as he looked at his beloved girlfriend in a loving manner.

Jewel was shocked about the news that Tulio had proposed to Linda, but she was not surprised about it all because like Blu, she too knew that Linda and Tulio have become very close with each other since her recovery from an injured wing. "Did Linda say "yes" to him?" asked Jewel.

"Yes she did!" declared Blu in a happy manner.

The two spix macaws shared their excitement for their two human companions when all of the sudden Rafael, joined in on the moment as he shared their excitement about the engagement of Linda and Tulio.

"Do I hear something about your human friends getting married" asked Rafael.

"Yes Rafael, Linda and Tulio have just gotten engagement" said Jewel.

"I saw the whole proposal happen right before my own eyes" said Blu.

Rafael knew that Blu had spent the past fifteen years of his life being raised by humans and had become domesticated because of it. For the toco toucan to hear about his spix macaw friend's human companion getting engaged brought him so much delight to his heart.

"Wow my friends, that is wonderful that your two human friends are going to be getting married soon" said Rafael as he continued to feel delighted about news.

Then, Rafael's wife, Eva, arrived at the scene with curiosity about the situation.

"What's going on down there?" the kneel-billed toucan asked her husband.

"Eva my love" said Rafael directly at his moody wife in a romantic manner. "The two human companions of our spix macaw friends had just gotten engaged to be wed to each other".

"Really" asked Eva in an excited manner before Carlos, one of her children started to pull on her wings in a violent manner as it was causing her feathers to fall off. "Carlos!" Yelled Eva as she tried to shake her son off her wing "stop pulling on my wing like that you else I will kick your tushie!" she continued to yell at him before she managed to get him off of her.

"Argh, squawk squawkity squawk squawk" cursed Eva as she stressed over what her son had just done to her before she saw that her husband and friends were hearing her say it. "Oh" she realized "I'm sorry, I did not mean to curse like that in front of any of you guys because it's just that, its tough raising eighteen kids and it drives me insane".

"That's okay Eva" said Blu in a comforting manner. "Jewel and I know that it's very tough for you and Rafael to be raising that many kids".

…..

Then, Blu almost forgot about the boxed engagement ring that was in his possession and he realized that he needed to speak to Rafael about his plans for the night when he does propose to Jewel because after all, seeing Linda and Tulio getting engaged has now given him more pressure to get it right since Tulio managed to get his down perfectly.

"Eva" said Blu to the middle-aged knell-billed toucan who had just passed her little attack by little Carlos "May I please speak to Rafael for one moment?" he asked.

"What for?" questioned Eva in a puzzled manner.

"Well, I need to talk to him about something important that's between him and I" Blu said.

"Oh okay" answered Eva.

Then, Blu turned to his toco toucan friend in a very awkward manner as if he was trying to keep a secret that he did not Jewel to hear. "Rafael, can I have a word with you for just one moment?" he asked.

Rafael knew from based on what his earlier conversation with male spix macaw friend that the conversation had something to do with his plan to ask Jewel for her wing in marriage and it was very important that the conversation had to be kept between him, Blu, Nico, and Pedro until the big moment when Blu proposes to Jewel.

"Sure Blu" he answered.

So, the two friends went to a quite spot where Jewel and Eva could not hear or see what was going on between them.

"Is this about your plan to propose to Jewel" asked Rafael.

"Yes" said Blu.

Rafael soon eyed the velvet blue box that his friend was carrying with his talons as if it were a newly discovered object though he was not sure if it had anything to do with the proposal or not. "So what's with that little box you have on you" he asked.

"This box" explained Blu "contains an engagement ring that used to belong to Linda's great-grandmother when she first got engaged to her paternal great-grandfather". Blu was relieved that Jewel never asked him about the little box because if she were, it could have been a huge problem for Blu and he would have to lie in order to cover up the situation.

"You got an engagement ring?" asked Rafael

"Yes" said Blu "because I wanted to find something that would symbolize the love and union between me and Jewel as our two separate hearts will become one someday on our wedding day".

Feeling very excited about Blu's proposal, Rafael wanted to see what the old Gunderson family heirloom looked like. "May I see what this engagement ring looks like" asked Rafael.

"Okay" said Blu who now felt a little more confident that now things are going as planned. So, Blu gently placed the small blue box onto the toco toucan's wings for he did not the old heirloom to accidentally fall out of the box and break.

The box, which was now faced at Rafael, was now in his wings and was ready to be opened up just for this meeting between the him and Blu.

"Be very careful Rafael" mumbled Blu "be very gentle with it because it's old and fragile".

Rafael carefully opened the velvet box and when he did, he stunned by its appearance. "Blu, this ring is so beautiful" he complimented "For something that is just a very old heirloom, I think you did a very good job finding the perfect engagement ring and I am so sure that Jewel will love it".

"You think she will?" asked Blu.

"I am so sure my friend" said Rafael as he gave the blue box back to his spix macaw friend. Now that Rafael saw the ring that Blu was planning on giving to his girlfriend, he now wanted to know where he was planning to pop the question to her. "So where are you planning to propose to Jewel?" he asked.

"I plan to propose to her at the tree house where we spent our first night together after we escaped from the smugglers" replied Blu.

"That's a wonderful place to make a marriage proposal" praised the middle-aged toco toucan.

"Well, thank you very much" replied Blu "I spoke with Nico and Pedro about the location for the proposal and I wanted it to be a place that was both peaceful and served as a reminder of how it played a huge role in Jewel and I falling in love".

"Are Nico and Pedro helping you out with anything else?" asked Rafael.

"They are making flower bouquets and decorating the tree house with roses and orchids in order to set the romantic atmosphere" answered Blu in a very awkward manner.

"I knew that those two party animals would help you out" said Rafael "because after all, they may be a couple of wild party goers, but they know how to make proposals be the most memorable ones".

"Rafael" Blu asked in a nervous fashion.

"Do you need me to help you with the proposal?" asked Rafael.

"Is it okay if you can help me out with the date that I'm planning for Jewel before I propose to her?" requested Blu.

"I will be more than happy to help you out with this date" said Rafael as he gave his socially awkward friend a big friendly hug for trying to become more confident about his proposal.

The, the two friends then walked back to the toucan hollow felling more excited and confident about the proposal and it's outcome.

…..

Back at the toucan hollow, Eva and Jewel were in the middle of a conversation about Blu and his recent behavior.

"Blu has been acting so strange lately" said Jewel in a worried manner "I don't really know what's going on with him."

"Well, I think he's got something up his sleeve" said Eva "but if that is then, I know that he's planning something very special".

Jewel was puzzled at what Eva had just said regarding Blu's most recent behavior and she knew that she has been acting that way for a couple of days now. Jewel soon started having thoughts on Blu's behavior. It started the day before when Blu told Jewel that he was going to meet up with Nico and Pedro for a meeting. She would ask him why and Blu would reply to her as being something very important that was between him and their two party-going friends. Right away, the thought came right back at her like a lighting strike.

"What do you mean something special?" hostilely asked Jewel.

"Well" said Eva she began to shake her body in a nervous manner.

Just as Eva was on the brink of spitting it all out, Blu and Rafael return to the hollow.

"We're back" said Blu as he kissed his girlfriend in the cheek. "Sorry it took Rafael and I a while" he said apologetically.

"That's okay dear" Jewel said to her boyfriend as she began to snuggle on his neck with her head. "Eva kept me company by having a nice conversation with her".

The spix macaw couple had a moment together before Raphael interrupted them "Hey guys, I guess you guys have to go now?" he said.

"Yeah, I need to spend some time with my boyfriend over there because he kept me waiting for him all morning" said Jewel as she looked at her boyfriend.

"Very well, then" said Rafael "Eva and I are very glad that you guys came by to visit and I hope you two love birds enjoy the rest of your day".

"We will and thank you for everything!" exclaimed Blu as he and Jewel flew off from the toucan hollow to get back to their own hollow.

"Anytime guys" said Rafael "And Blu, don't worry about anything because I take care of everything for tomorrow".

…..

Just having to hear what Rafael had just said to Blu, things were soon dawning on her that Blu was planning some sort of date for her and him for she that what his words to him now meant and just as she was going to ask Blu, he had to ask her himself.

"Jewel" said Blu.

"Yes sweetie" she said back as they continued to fly back to their hollow.

"I just want to know that if you would like to go to the Samba Club with me tomorrow?" Asked Blu as he gave her a nervous smile.

"Sure Blu, I would love to go out to the Samba Club for some dancing with you tomorrow" said Jewel.

Hearing Jewel agreeing to this pre-engagement date that he had planned, he was relieved of his own nervousness and now had many reasons to look forward to the coming day that lied ahead "Jewel, thank you so much, and I promise you that this will the best date that you will ever remember" graciously said Blu as he kissed his girlfriend.

"Anytime my love hawk" she said back to him.

So, the spix macaw couple headed straight back for their hollow for the rest of the day as they looked forward for what is about to be the most memorable date of their lives (thanks to the big help from their friends of course).