Chapter 3

The Wisdom of Dad

We had finally made it home to Canary Corner at eleven o'clock, and everyone had washed up and fallen into their nests. Sonny and I had snuggled in, but she hadn't been able to fall asleep well the past few days. I had been singing her to sleep like I used to, but tonight my voice was shot after all of the singing at the party, and I wasn't able to. I was half asleep when Sonora spoke from where she was tucked under my wing, "There he goes again." She nudged me and I picked my head up off of hers and looked at her anxious eyes.

"What?"

"Diego is going on his midnight flight." Her voice was overflowing with worry as she pointed to our son's shadow sliding along the hallway wall. Of course he had to go out tonight to see who knows who, and do who knows what. Although as of tonight we had figured out the "who" part.

"Of course…" I grumbled and adjusted my bottle cap.

"I'll go stop him." Sonny said and stood.

"No," I objected quickly and pulled her back into the nest, "Diego and I need to talk about this. I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, sunshine," I murmured and kissed her forehead, "Go to sleep, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Ok," She agreed a bit hesitantly, "Nico, please don't be too harsh with him."

"Don't worry, if I could handle Manny today, I'm sure I can take care of Diego. Now go back to sleep." With that, and a nod from my girl, I silently soared across the living room and out the back door. After I made it outside I glided to the front door, and waited.

After almost a minute, a yellow flash bolted out the door and shot to the right. I zoomed around the tree to cut my son off, and was able to get just far enough in front of him for him to run smack into my chest. I smirked at how he avoided looking at me; scared out of his mind, and waiting for me to chew him out. But I wasn't going to yell at him, oh no, I was going to torture him a little.

But he spoke first, "Dad! Uh, wh-what're you doing out this late?"

I literally laughed out loud and narrowed my eyes, "I think I should be asking you that, don'tcha think?"

"Uh… no…" He shook his head, "I'm just gonna…head back inside now…" He stuttered. Then he turned to go back inside. I stopped him though with one of my least favorite tones of voice; the fatherly stern.

"Stop right there." As I stared at the back of his head curiously, Diego froze. He knew I never spoke to them or Sonora sternly; but when I did, they'd best obey and pay attention. I glided in front of my son, looking into his eyes. I knew he was expecting anger, but, if anything, I was curious. After a minute, I nodded towards the treetops, "Follow me."

He was still skittish, but he had no choice but to obey. Together we landed on a branch and I said nothing and motioned for him to sit. Again he complied silently. Now, sitting here with my son scared out of his mind next to me, I realized I had no idea what to say. Sure I had a lot of things to say, but I didn't know how. It was strange, I realized, because Diego and I hadn't had much one-on-one time; ever.

So finally, after a few more moments of thought, I asked softly, "Alright, what's her name?"

Utterly shocked, Diego looked at me with round, fearful eyes, "Y-you know about her?"

I smiled, "Diego, I'm your dad. I know things," I allowed myself a deep chuckle, "And on top of that, you do the same exact things that I did when I was a kid; it's not hard to figure out what you're thinkin'."

Diego looked away again, not saying anything. My smile faded, as I realized that this would be harder then I thought; but I just waited patiently. Finally, Diego replied with a soft whisper, "Lillie."

I raised my eyebrows, and chose to try and lighten the mood, "Cute name for a cute girl." I commented.

Diego looked at me incredulously, "You know who she is too?!"

I laughed, "No; that was my next question."

Diego sighed and looked away again. After a few more moments of silence, I spoke, "Look buddy, we can sit out here all night if you want, but I'm going to get some answers," I was trying to sound like I knew what I was saying, but Diego was still wary, "I'm not mad at you and I'm not going to yell at you; I just want to know what's going on. Okay?"

Diego made eye contact, and suddenly looked guilty. I think he was just realizing what I had; that we never really talked man-to-man. He then sighed and ran a wing down his face, the way I do when I'm flustered, "She's from the east side, her name's Lillie, and she's great…

"Where'd you meet?"

"Friend of a friend of Ray and Ellie's. Just ran into each other one day," at that thought, Diego smiled and his eyes glazed over as I knew he pictured every detail of his first moment he saw Lillie. I grinned at my son's face, remembering my own life-changing first encounter with Sonora so many years ago…

I thought for a minute, then asked, "What are her parents' names?"

Diego's smile disappeared instantly and his eyes shifted a little bit. "Umm…" He paused fishing for a way to reply, "I-I don't know…"

Frowning I asked, "You honestly don't know or you don't want to tell me?"

Diego hesitated, "…don't…want…to…tell you."

"Why?"

"Because…you…probably know them…"

I was confused, "And that's bad because?"

"Because they just… you- ugh! I don't know!" He threw his wings into the air and stood. Then he started pacing, and I stood as well.

"Alright, calm down!" I said and rested my wing on his shoulder. Diego turned and faced me, "Just… tell me their names and let's see if I really do know them."

Diego avoided eye contact and sighed, putting his head in his wings, "Carlos and Carmen." He mumbled.

I mulled over the names for a moment, then realization hit me like a merciless wave; I had to do everything I could not to even mumble something negative that would make Diego feel worse. Almost a year after Sonora and I were reunited when she recovered from her amnesia, Carlos and Carmen lived two trees down from Canary Corner. On a regular basis, the ever irritable Carmen would try her very hardest to get under Sonny's feathers. For instance, Sonora and Carmen gathered food at the same berry bush one time and Carmen threw a fit. Childish? Yes. But we had decided to take it with a grain of salt and try to be polite; what else could we have done?

The real conflict happened when Carlos got involved one day. Sonny was in a rush one morning and sharply turned a corner, running into Carmen. Carmen had completely lost her mind, drawing the attention of all the birds in the area, myself and Carlos included. I watched from the front branch as Carlos came out of his hollow. He said one rude thing, Sonora snapped back another, and things were starting to get a little heated. I was fuming on the branch, but knew that Sonny could hold her own, and would prefer to handle it. The straw that broke the camel's back, though, was when Carlos lost it and dared lay a wing on my girl and slapped her across the face.

I had shot off the branch and hit Carlos square in the chest, and we hit the forest floor moments later, me beating the tar out of the punk (at that point in time I had been overly protective of Sonora, as I had just gotten her back, so to say), and he trying to defend against my enraged attacks. By the time I was dragged off of him by Sonny, he had a broken beak and a sprained wing, and I had blood pouring from my beak as Carlos had been able to land one good punch. I growled some…very rude…insults as him as he followed his mate back to their hollow.

The next morning, Carlos and Carmen were gone, leaving a nasty note on the door of Canary Corner. We had read it, and then gotten rid of it. Carlos and Carmen hadn't crossed paths with us since, until now. Diego and Lillie, Carlos and Carmen's daughter, liked each other.

All this ran through my mind in a split second, and I sighed softly, running a wing down the side of my face, unsure what to say. Diego finally raised his head, but didn't make eye contact, "So now you know… I'm practically dating your worst enemy's daughter," He took a deep breath, "And only child I might add."

I frowned, "Well, I wouldn't say 'worst enemy'. That stuff was just petty…"

"Petty but enough anger to make them move." Diego mumbled.

"The only reason there was anger, was because he hurt your mother," I sighed and decided to change the topic's direction when Diego looked back down to the ground, "So where were you going?"

Diego still avoided eye contact, "The waterfall that divides the east side from the west."

"Why?"

"That's…where we meet."

"To do what?"

Diego shrugged, "Just to hang out. We honestly never see each other because she's on the other side of the forest." He stopped when he noticed my skeptical expression. "What?"

"Just to hang out? In the middle of the night?"

Diego knew where this was headed, "Yes! We just talk and stuff! We don't…do anything that wouldn't make you happy-"

"Definition of irony right there," I murmured and managed a smirk.

Diego stuck his tongue out at me and was able to smile, "Okay, so we sneak out from our hollows without our parents' permission in the middle of the night to see each other because that's the only time we have! I'm being honest so just trust me!" He nearly growled.

"Don't yell at me, Diego." I snapped, with an edge of authority, "I do trust you, but its part of my job as your dad to ask questions. If you want to go hang out with a girl, fine!" I grinned, "Heck, I did when I was your age! But tell me or your mom before you go, that's all I'm asking. If you want to go hang out after dinner or something, knock yourself out, but be back by ten, which means you need to take her home long before then because of flight time. I'd actually rather you be home before dark…"

"Before dark?" Diego whined, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Yes, because that's when the predators come out, if I may remind you?" I said sarcastically referring to me catching him earlier.

"…oh yeah."

"Oh yeah, you didn't think of that did you?" I placed my wing back on his shoulder and managed to get him to hold eye contact, "In all honesty, it was your mom who noticed you sneaking out every other night, not me. She about flipped because she didn't want to wake up one morning and discover you didn't make it home or something; she hasn't been able to sleep well either."

Diego looked away, utterly ashamed; I continued, "We want you three to have fun and enjoy life," I said truthfully, and lowered my voice, "but we don't want you to have to go through all the dangers we went through."

Diego finally made eye contact, remembering the stories that we had told them as they grew up. I'm sure he was thinking about Carnival two years ago as well. We had been through many dangers and were lucky to have survived them all. Sometimes we almost hadn't…

I sighed and added, "We don't mind if you take her out sometime but just…" I hesitated. "Try to talk to her parents before you do."

Diego's eyes widened in fear; "Have you even met the dude?" I made a face at my son with a smirk, making him add, "Recently?"

I laughed, "No, but… it's like Manny today. You know," I paused, thinking through my words carefully. "I'm skeptical…about Manny. But just for the fact that he had the guts to man up and ask me face-to-face if he could take Sel out is enough for me. It's a respect thing; Carlos might see you differently than he sees me. He might think, 'Heck, he's a nice kid and he's respectful! I'll give him a chance!' And if he does," Nico shrugged his eyebrows, "You've got yourself a girl!" I slapped him on the back and he blushed, and basically took my smirk and put it on his face. "The hardest part is watching your back so you can keep her…" I added wistfully, looking down to the hollow.

I could tell my son was surprised at my wisdom when it came to getting girls. Little do you know, my boy, I've got a certain knack with the ladies. With a laugh, he said, "I'm likin' all this info! Maybe I should talk to you about this stuff more often!"

I lightly punched his shoulder, "Yeah, you should. Your mom too; she deserves to be included."

Diego nodded, "Okay." It was then that I looked up at the moon's position; it had to be almost one in the morning. "Alright kiddo, go get some sleep."

Diego nodded again sleepily, and suppressed a yawn, "Kay…good man-talk!" With a last sleepy laugh, I followed my son into the hollow. Diego crashed into his nest on the other side of the room from where his sisters were, and, after making sure he was settled, I quietly rejoined Sonny. Gently I lifted her head off her own chest and lay it on mine, and wrapped my wings around her. I tried to be soft, and not wake her, but she stirred and looked up at me sleepily.

"Did you get him?" She murmured, snuggling into my embrace and smiling.

"Yeah, but go back to sleep, babe. I'll tell you about it tomorrow." I murmured nuzzling my face deep into the nape of her neck and inhaling her tropical scent, mixed with an extra dash of flowery essence from her perfume for the party. "I love you." I murmured and placed a kiss there on her neck.

"I love you too, Nico; you're such a good father." She replied and, if it was possible, snuggled even closer. Her words made me swell with pride, and I leaned down to kiss her fully. Soon we fell asleep to the sound of our heartbeat, and the thought of our chicks on our minds.

At noon on the following Tuesday signaled the end of the school day, and the chicks burst through the door to Canary Corner only minutes later. Nico and I looked up from where we were seated on the couch with wide smiles, and offered a "Hi!"

"Hey!" Sel called, and zipped into their room. Gwyn walked over and gave her dad a hug.

"How's my girl?" Nico asked playfully as he held our baby girl, but Gwyn just shrugged and made a face. Nico and I shared a look, but before we could ask what was bothering Gwyn, Selena shot out the door excitedly.

"Selena! Hold on a second!" I called quickly before she got out of earshot. With a frustrated rush of feathers she wheeled around and landed in the kitchen., tapping her foot impatiently. I put on a skeptical look and asked, "Don't we get to know where you're going?"

Sel just shrugged and replied, "Manny and I were just going out." Nico stared at her firmly, obviously peeved by her attitude, and waiting for her to continue. Finally our daughter sighed and nearly shouted, "We're going on a trolley ride!"

"Don't get sassy with me young lady!" I snipped back, with an edge in my voice that iced her temper immediately. "We only asked you a question; it's not our fault you didn't want to answer directly."

"Well it seems to me that you guys need to ask less questions…"

"Selena." Nico stepped in with a threatening tone of voice, that made myself back off, and Sel stop talking. She rolled her eyes though and looked away with her wings crossed. Nico continued with a level voice, "You know, the way you're acting right now I have half a mind to make you stay here." Selena visibly pouted, "But, since I told Manny at the party that he could take you out, I'm feeling gracious. Have a little respect for that and be thankful, ok?" Sel decided to push it and huffed, still not looking at either of us. "Go ahead." Nico sighed a bit reluctantly.

"Be back by ten!" I called quickly.

"I will mom! Sheesh!" She mumbled to herself and made herself scarce. After her sister was gone, Gwyn plopped down on a bottle cap bar stool as Nico sighed heavily. I noticed this and noted how he said nothing; he did his best to not talk about Selena's growing moodiness around Gwyn or Diego. It honestly drove him up the wall, but he didn't know what to do about it; neither did I for that matter.

I looked over at him and my eyes softened, "You handled it well, Nico." He avoided eye contact, leaning on the countertop with a frustrated growl. Pushing his bottle cap back he rubbed his forehead as he said, "I just don't know what to do about it anymore. She's just got to stop being so…grouchy!"

I smiled. Nico and I both had never been ones to appreciate grouchy individuals; it took the joy out of life, and we hated it. Now we were the lucky parents of one of the fore mentioned individuals, and we had to try and figure out a way to cope with it. We had let it go for a while because she was a teenager and we had all been moody then too; but now it was going too far. She would lash out at her siblings, and Nico and I for crying out loud, over the silliest things.

Nico huffed again, snapping me out of my thoughts, and turned to go to our room. Quickly I sauntered up behind him and grabbed his wing. When he turned I planted my beak on his for a quick, but loving, kiss. As we pulled back I said, "We'll figure it out, ok babe? Don't stress over it."

He smirked at me, pulling me closer and said, "Anything for you, sunshine." He gave me another little kiss and we walked back over into the kitchen. Subconsciously, I started cutting up a papaya for lunch, and reached for an orange for Nico.

"Gwyn, what would you like for lunch?" I turned and looked at her, and for the first time I realized how mopey she looked. "Hun, are you ok?" Nico took notice and walked over to a stool next to her, while I leaned on the counter.

"Hey, what's wrong, baby girl?" Nico asked gently. Gwyn didn't look up, and only slumped further down in her seat. I frowned and brought my chin to rest on my wing.

"Gwyn, you know you can tell us anything, right?" I asked gently and offered a soft smile. My daughter looked at me and slowly nodded. "Ok, so why don't you tell us what's wrong?"

She looked away for a moment, thinking. Almost a minute later she sighed, sat up, fiddling with her flight feathers over the counter, and launched right in, "Not like I'm being a big baby or anything but… I'm the only one who isn't like…" she threw her wings up and made quotation marks around the next word, "'dating' someone. I'm seriously not trying to be all mopey, but it's kinda depressing when your siblings won't shut-up about it because that's all that matters in life… It just makes you wonder… what makes you different from them that they have dates and you don't?"

I could only look at Gwyn sadly. I knew exactly how she felt. All through high school, up until senior year when I met Antonio and Nico, I hadn't had a single boyfriend. I felt like I wasn't good enough, like I wasn't pretty, and my dad had done his very best to console me. But in this moment I didn't know what to say. Nico, on the other wing, knelt down on the floor next to her, and made Gwyn make eye contact.

"Hey, listen to me ok?" He said firmly, but with a caring undertone. Gwyn looked uneasy, but didn't turn away as he continued, "You are a beautiful, smart, and spectacular young woman. You are no different than Diego or Selena; things just happen at different times for different birds. There is nothing in this world that makes you less special. I promise you that there is a great guy out there waiting for you; you just have to wait until you meet him, and when you do," Nico smiled widely, "Things will turn out alright, ok?"

I could tell, by Gwyn's facial expression, she was like me when my dad had talks with me; she hung onto the words like they were priceless golden nuggets of immeasurable wisdom. Finally her face broke into her familiar, bright smile, and she fell off the stool with her wings around Nico's neck, hugging him tightly. My papa bird's smile got even bigger as he hugged her back, as she whispered, "Thanks daddy."

That did it. Tears filled my eyes as I watched two of the greatest loves of my life there in the living room, wrapped in a loving embrace. Then they pulled back and Nico tapped the top of her beak and kissed her forehead, "Anytime, baby girl." Then I sniffled and they turned to me.

"Aw mom! Don't cry!" Gwyn turned and immediately wrapped her wings around me.

"You chicks are just so big…" I murmured into her soft feathers, and let the tears fall gently. Then Nico came behind me, I thought to comfort me, but he overlapped his wings with Gwyn's and they smiled.

"Mommy sandwich!" They cooed as they hugged me tightly. I laughed and hugged them back the best I could.

"I love you guys!" I smiled as the tears dried up, and I placed a kiss on Gwyn's forehead.

"Love you too, mom!" My little girl replied and pecked my cheek.