Panchito's P.O.V

I sagged into the couch as I heard Jose's muffled cries of sadness. I felt terrible. I didn't know how much he'd seen or heard but all of our friends we invited were going to be here soon. "Ok Panch…" Donald announced as he came out of the kitchen and took off his apron. "I finished cleaning the kitchen and the bakery called saying the…." He stopped as he saw me as he says 'down in the dumps'. "Hey Panchito what's wrong?" he sat down beside me and slung his arm around my shoulder. "Listen." I said. All was quiet except of the cries of a certain parrot. "Is that…?" Donald said looking at me. "It is." I responded as I gazed at the hat that hit my chest. "I feel so stupid Donald..." I sighed frustruatedly. Donald was silent for a moment then he spoke. "Do you know why he's crying?" he asked me. I just looked at him puzzled. Jose' ran out of the office crying and I had no clue why and so I answered truthfully. "No." Donald continued. "Then why do you feel stupid?" I looked down at my feet. "Because I made him cry." I finally answered. Donald was about to speak before we both heard a knock at the door. The mallard patted my shoulder and went to get it. It was Mickey and Minnie along with his half-brother Oswald and his girlfriend Ortensia. "Are we late honey bunny?" the black and white feline asked, her purple hat tilting a bit as it matched her purple skirt. Oswald hooked his arm around Ortensia's. "I don't think so my little honey dew." His blue shorts were similar to Mickey's but it had no buttons. His long black ears swayed back and forth with each step he took. "What a lovely home you have here Donald." Ortensia twittered softly. "Thanks." He responded before looking at the mice and greeting them with hugs. "Thanks for inviting us pal!" Mickey beamed with delight. "Thank you so much." Minnie added. "Anytime." He chuckled. My eyes wandered until they met with Oswald's. "How ya doin' buddy? The name's Oswald, Oswald the Lucky-Rabbit that is." He boasted as he stuck out his hand. I shook it before he pulled back automatically. "And this…" he said gesturing to his girlfriend. "Is my gal Ortensia." I took her hand and kissed it. "Oh my…" she squeaked as she blushed a little. "So what's your name?" Oswald asked me. "My name's Panchito. I'm the birthday boy's boyfriend." "Hey Panch…" Mickey blurted. "Speaking of your boyfriend, where is he?" I looked down the hall a bit as the memories of what happened earlier played in my head. "Uh Panchito…yoo hoo?" Minnie asked. I broke out of my trance as I stared at the group. "Oh he's uh, he's in the guest room." I said. I wanted to leave it as that so they wouldn't ask too many questions. "And as soon as the rest of our guests get here, we'll go get him." Donald cut in. A few minutes later, the guests finally arrived. "Ok Panchito, go get him." Donald instructed. I nodded as I took a slice of strawberry vanilla cake from the table and walked down the hall in front of the guest bedroom. I sighed softly and knocked on the door. "Jose'…?" I said. I heard nothing so I knocked again. "Jose'? It's Panchito." Dead silence. I turned the knob slowly and sure enough it was unlocked, then I opened the door. There he was, the one parrot who brought joy and happiness in my life, the one who wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and the one who I fell in love with, asleep on the bed he was crying on earlier. I saw his tear stained face and felt my heart break a little. I sat down on the edge of the bed and started to sing "Happy Birthday" softly. Jose's eyes fluttered open as he looked up a bit and saw me with the cake in hand. As I finished my song, Jose's sat up with a little groan before eyeing me coldly. "What do you want?" he muttered. "I brought you some cake to…to celebrate your special day." I explained. Jose' looked at me with disbelief. "You told dis person, whoever they were on the phone that I didn't deserve a party, that I would ruin everything!" I looked at him in shock. He thought I was talking about him but I wasn't and I felt terrible about it. I breathed heavily before saying," Jose' follow me. I want to show you something." I set the cake down as he followed. "There's no point in trying to cheer me up because…" "SURPRISE!" Jose' stood there, his eyes watering as he looked about the room filled with decorations and sniffled. I looked down as I felt all my hope rush out. "Is it that bad?" I asked him, almost on the verge of tears myself. Suddenly Jose' pulled me into a hug. "This is wonderful!" he cried. I hugged him back, sighing happily to see his spirits up. "I thought…earlier on the phone…" he started but I cut him off by putting my hand over his beak. He looked up at me as tears started to fall from his eyes. "That phone call earlier was when I was talking to Pete, he thought the party was for Mortimer…"

*Flash back mode*

"Hey Panchito! I heard you were throwin' a party!" Pete said happily.

I smiled in excitement. "Si we are but we need a little more time until it's ready for him." I beamed as my thick Spanish accent boomed with excitement.

There was a long pause before Pete responded.

"So…you're saying the party's for Mortimer Mouse?" he asked questionably.

"No way! Why would we throw him a party?!" I spat out.

"Calm down there Panch! I didn't mean to offend ya. I accidentally thought it was for him." Pete explained.

"No the Party's not for him!" I said again.

"How come?"

"Because he doesn't deserve one that's why!"

Pete cleared his throat and exhaled deeply.

"So…is the party for your little Brazilian pal Jose'?"

I sighed a little to calm myself down.

"Of course I'm talking about Jose'! Who else would I be talking about!?" I started getting mad again.

"I didn't know Panch ok?..."

"Jose'!" I said out of nowhere as Pete heard me on the other line.

"Panchito, is every…?"

"I…I'm gonna have to call you back." I whispered as I hung up.

*Present tense*

"So you see Jose', it wasn't about you. It was just a big misunderstanding." I said calmly. Jose' looked around to see yellow and blue glittered streamers hanging from the ceiling along with green and yellow balloons and a chocolate iced strawberry vanilla cake with the words "Happy Birthday Jose'!" written in blue and yellow and green icing. "Donald and I pretended to forget so that we could set up all dis." I exclaimed. Jose' walked up to me and Donald and hugged us both. "Obrigado." He whispered. We both patted his back and parted from the hug as the party got started. I smiled at everyone dancing and having a good time. This feeling of sadness overwhelmed me though I couldn't figure it out. I tried to ignore it but it wouldn't go away. So, I decided to sit outside on the swinging hammock that rested between two sturdy oak trees. The sun was setting as the pink fluffy clouds seemed to merge together like paint, mixing its colors with the purple-blue sky. A small cough interrupted me from my thoughts when I saw Jose' sit beside me and hand me a piece of cake. "I thought we could share." He chuckled as he held up two plastic forks. I smiled a bit and took the fork. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" he asked me as he ate some of the cake. "Just thinking, that's all." I responded. "About what?" I looked at him. "About what happened, when I heard you crying I felt terrible. I never meant to hurt you." I trembled as I looked away, tears forming in my eyes as I sniffled. Jose' must've sensed it because he put a hand on my shoulder. I rarely ever cried in public but due to the events earlier, I just couldn't forgive myself. "Panchito…" the parrot whispered softly. "It is not your fault. It was an honest mistake." He cupped my cheek as I looked at him. I sniffled as I felt him wipe my tears away. "And you gave me the best surprise ever." He added. "So…you're not mad at me?" I sniffled. Jose' chuckled a bit. "How could I be mad at you?" he wrapped his arms around my neck. "I love you mue amor." He whispered as he kissed me. I kissed back as a slight moan escaped from my beak. It was just me and him. Nothing else. Just the one bird I longed and cared for. Just us two birds of a feather. After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, we parted from the kiss. "Gracias Jose'." I told him. Jose' smiled as he put the rich pastry onto my fork. "Let's eat some cake." He said as the fork was in front of my face. I wasn't really hungry but Jose' kept persisting. "Come on." He chirped. I beamed as I leaned in and took the forkful. I closed my eyes with a pleasurable hum. "That is good." I laughed as Jose' laughed with me. As I went for my second forkful, I heard Donald call my name. "You two okay?" he asked us. I looked at Jose' as he looked at me. A small smile appeared on both of our faces. "We're fine!" Jose' remarked, not taking his eyes off of mine. Donald let out an "alright." As he headed back inside. I wrapped an arm around Jose's shoulder as he leaned his head against mine. "Si…." I whispered. "Just fine." I scooted his hat towards him as he placed it on top of his head. Jose' and I nuzzled each other as we both watched the sun disappear behind the clouds, hand in hand.