Hello there my dearly beloved fans! I see that you're back here checking out story number three...well I guess four now... And I want to tell you, this is now the edited version! haha! Just like the other two, there will be more detail, and other such frilly things that I hope to goodness you enjoy! Please, If you haven't reviewed before, tell me what you think, and if you have reviewed *HOLY GASP?* P.M. me to let me know what you think of the new and improved version!

Canary Corner:

The Chicks Story

Chapter 1

Grounded

"Diego? Where do you think you're going dressed like that?" Our son rushed out the back door in a whir of sunshine yellow feathers, and about five metallic chains around his scrawny little neck. Each had a charm that looked like a strange symbol. I had easily seen him from where I stood behind the kitchen counter getting their breakfast ready.

"Aw mom! All the cool birds are wearing them!" He whined and tried to fly further away, after hovering for a fraction of a second when I called him out. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Nico, who was eating a bowl of seed for breakfast. We shared a parent's telepathy look, he set down his bowl of seed, and took off out the door. There were a few grunts and very unhappy shouts from Diego, but when Nico returned he had a ruffled pile of bright yellow feathers in his claws. He tossed our son on the floor and stripped the chains off his neck; these my mate left in a pile by the door.

"Sheesh dad!" Diego growled as he tumbled across the floor and came to rest at the foot of the couch. Shakily he stood and brushed off his feathers. Then his eyes got wide, and his wings shot to the top of his head. He touched the feathers on the top of his head, which he had spiked up to look like a little crest, and sighed, "The Crest is ok everyone. We can all breathe now!" I rolled my eyes and allowed a chuckle to escape my beak as I took Diego's black sequined vest off its hook and handed it to him.

"You worry more about your feathers than the girls do." I told him as he took the vest from my outstretched wing.

"This is very true." Here came the girls; my beautiful girls, "Diego just needs more help." Selena sighed, in her fourteen-year-old way. A guilty little glimmer is in both Selena's sparky hazel eyes, and Gwyn's sweet green ones. They both had light sunshine yellow feathers like me, with a light cream patch of feathers on their chests with little flecks of light brown throughout them. Diego, on the other wing, was more of a deeper honey gold color, like Nico had told me his father looked like, with the same smooth cream color as Nico on his chest.

"Where did you chicks get these?" Nico suddenly spoke, from where he stood by the back door. He looked actually angry as he scrutinized the chains.

"Well…" Gwyn mumbled.

"Umm…" Selena tried.

"You know the other day when we went to the beach with the Toucan chicks, Ray, and Elena?" Diego rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous fashion, and looked to his feet, "Well, we didn't really go to the beach…"

"Really? I was wondering when the truth would come out." I replied with harsh sarcasm. Selena Quetzal, Feathers in the Night top agent, had followed our ever curious chicks to a monkey camp deep in the jungle. These monkeys are, in fact, carnivorous, and prefer little birds as their meals. Selena had silently protected them until they returned home, then told us, calmly, about the whole thing. Apparently the chains were gifts, so the chicks would return.

"You followed us?" Our chicks squawked in unison, beaks agape.

"No, I did not," I snipped and stood with my shoulders back in front of them, fixing them with my best "You are in so much trouble" look, "But you're very lucky Aunt Selena was watching out for you." I growled, my quick temper rising.

"Why would you get involved with those monkeys?" Nico asked quietly, walking up behind them. I could tell he was one twist away from losing his cap, and so did the chicks; they started to squirm a little as they noticed our anger.

"You told us the story about how they helped you escape from Phillip. We thought they were nice." Gwyn piped, hoping to save their feathers.

"And their music was way different than what we normally hear." Diego added getting only a callous glare from me.

"The group that helped us left this part of the jungle as soon as they had taken care of their business with Phillip." I explained, cooling down just a bit, "They wanted nothing to do with Rio."

"You could have gotten yourselves killed!" There went Mt. Nico. "Those simians eat little birds like you!" His sunny wings were clenched into fists, and the chick's eyes are wide with shock; Nico could normally hold his temper. But, like me, it wasn't anger, it was fear that brought on this emotion.

"Mornin' Canaries!" A cheerful and sunny voice called from outside our nook. Tia escorted all of the chicks to school, sort of like the long yellow cars I saw humans use. It was just an extra safety thing, and she made sure that all of the chicks got home before sneaking off to do Lord knows what.

"One moment Tia!" I called and iced my temper best I could. I then turned back to the chicks, "You're grounded for the next three days, simple as that."

"A day for each of you." Nico growled now back at the table.

"But mom!" They tried to protest.

"I won't hear it." I waved a wing and stepped to the front door, "Now go on." I ushered them out the door to where Tia was waiting.

"Good morning Canaries!" The crane called.

"Good morning Miss Tia!" They chorused politely, their chins on their chests from the scolding they just received.

"Mornin' Tia." I said from the doorway.

"Hiya Sonny!" She waved and smiled widely.

"Please make sure the chicks get home right after school as well." I asked, and she nodded. "Thank you!"

"C'mon Canaries! Let's go get the Toucan chicks!" Tia flapped her powerful wings and turned in the direction of Raphael and Eva's nest.

"WooHoo!" Our chicks crowed and performed some fancy flying.

"WAIT! Wait for us!" Pedro and Nora's chicks came zipping through the vines in a blur of red and purple feathers. Raymond looks exactly like his father; attitude, red head feathers, and all. His little sister, Elena, was so full of energy that even Nora had trouble keeping up with her sometimes. Being Diego, Gwyn, and Selena's cousins they always got into lots of trouble, and I'm sure they had received the same scolding as our chicks this morning. We still loved them all, no matter what.

"Pedro forget to wake you up again?" I called to Ray.

"Yea, uh, sure." He said and shared a nervous look with his sister, confirming my thoughts, "Mornings aren't his thing."

"But nights are! Especially tonight!" Elena passed her brother and flew into the wings of my girls. Diego and Ray shared a quick special wing-shake and chest bump. The parade for Carnival was tonight, and we were all going to watch it together then go to Three Amigos to wrap up the party.

"See you after school! Have a good day!" I called as they disappeared through the trees.

"Bye mamá!" They chorus with a wave. I waved back, now over my anger, and feeling so happy to see our babies flying off to school. It was hard to believe that fourteen years ago, Nico and I had become parents. I smiled at the memory.

Now for my little sunbeam, who was still fuming. "How could they do that? They could have been killed and we would have never known!" He nearly shouted as I shut the front door and turned back to him.

"We did crazy things when we were young," I tried to reason. "And I know you and Pedro got into your fair share of trouble before high school." I grabbed a wet leaf and started to clean the kitchen from breakfast.

"Yea, but that was different!" Nico puffed, throwing his wings in the air, and stalking out onto the back branch. I set down my leaf and followed him to the door. I leaned there for a second watching the love of my life while he paced and fiddled with that same bottle cap that I had given him after I sang for him the first time.

"I knew you would make the perfect papa bird." I said quietly and stepped out onto the branch to settle in a patch of warm sunshine.

"Oh yea," Sarcasm dripped off of every syllable of Nico's remark, "That was great! I completely lost it!" He flopped his bright yellow self down next to me making his hat slip down over his face as he lay his head on my lap. I took it off and placed it next to me as I looked into the raging sea of emotions within his gorgeous amber eyes.

"You lost it because you were scared for them." I placed my wing on his cheek, to make him look at me. He did and I ran my wing down his jaw as I spoke, bringing it to rest on his chest, "Remember how many times you were scared for me?" I knew it was a tender subject, for both of us, but I had a point to make. Nico's eyes grew distant as he pictured everything we had been through, and clutched the wing I held over his heart in his. I nearly saw a few tears well up there, but they were gone, when I leaned down and kissed him gently.

"I guess you're right," My sunbeam sighed and sat up when I pulled back, "I just don't want any of that to happen to them."

"I don't want that either," I sighed and lay my head on his shoulder. He rested his on top of mine as I continued, "But living in Rio makes every day an adventure. The chicks have the strength and love of family along with their own. That is always a plus, and a plus we didn't really have." I had grown up an only chick and the only birds I could have called my brothers would have been Pedro and Tadeo, but Taddy left when I was twenty one to be with his mate Arianna in Kingdom Paradise. I learned that family, and good friends, helped you stay the bird you really were, and helped you be strong.

"I'm glad for that," Nico breathed a laugh, "But we're not making it any bigger." He added. We laughed for a moment, and I looked up to him. Nico's eyes weren't stormy anymore; they were back to his warm, filled with love amber eyes that made my heart race every time I looked into them.

"That I'm ok with." I agreed, and looked deeply into my mate's eyes. "I just love you so much, you know that?" I asked quietly, and leaned forward. Nico chuckled and leaned as well connecting our beaks in a sweet, long, and loving kiss while cupping my face in his wings. I wrapped my wings around his neck, feeling like a teenager again as we kissed like we were the only ones in the universe.

"I just love you so much, ya know that?" Nico crooned as we pulled back.

"You can't use my line." I said quietly, and pecked his beak again.

"Alright, how about this?" Nico asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and a smirk on his beak. Quickly he jerked me to my feet, pulled me to him, and dipped me and kissed me more passionately than before. My eyes got wide, then fluttered closed as I relaxed and melted into Nico's strong wings. Then he pulled back and brought me back to my feet. "No line needed."

"Nope." I giggled, still a little drunk off of the kiss. Then he scooped me up in his wings and sat down, setting me on his lap. I wrapped my wings around his chest as we sat there in the sunshine, my head on his chest, as the morning samba danced around us. We were both humming along, when we were struck by the same idea.