The Super Secret. Melissa Perry Moraja
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arms tightly around me. “I’m so glad you are alive.”
“I’m fine, guys,” I replied. “But I’m not sure this little guy is.”
Madison released her grip. We all looked down at the baby raptor, unsure what to do next.
“That was one crazy bird’s mom!” chuckled Jake. “And I can’t believe a raptor’s poop landed right smack in your eye.”
“That was pretty gross,” said Madison.
“Did you know that there is a one in a million chance for that to ever happen to anyone?” stated Jake. “And if it does, you’ll have good luck!”
“Really?” I said.
“Yep!” replied Jake.
“I could use some luck after having all that green poop stuff splatter all over my face.”
Jake and Madison started to laugh. I frowned at first, but then started to laugh too. It was funny—but really gross.
I was glad I was wearing a green jersey. I tilted my head down and lifted the front of it, using it to wipe the stuff off of my face.
“Josh, you’re looking a little less green,” said Jake, chuckling.
“Ha, ha,” I sneered.
Klee. Klee.
“Aw,” I said, kneeling down and scooping the baby bird up.
“No!” Madison shouted in her sweet raspy voice.
But it was too late. I had touched a wild bird, which Mom had told us never to do. She said that once a wild bird has a human’s scent on it, it would never be able to survive in the wild again.
“Not cool, Josh,” said Jake.
“Now the baby bird is going to die,” whimpered Madison.
Jake chuckled. “That’s just a myth, Madison,” he said. “Mom told us that, so we don’t bring home any wild animals for a pet.
“Oh,” Madison said.
The little guy looked up at me as I was stroking the top of his soft feathery head. When our eyes connected, I felt as if he had always been part of my life.
“Come on. Let’s take him home and get him all cleaned up,” I said, walking to my bike.
“Mom and Dad aren’t going to be very happy,” said Madison, standing with her arms folded across her chest.
Jake shook his head and said, “Yeah, they definitely aren’t going to be happy that we brought a wild baby raptor home when we have two cats and an oversized goldendoodle.”
“Raptor or not, Mom will end up letting us keep it. Remember when we found the three-legged frog. Mom was so worried that it would get eaten up by some ferocious animal that she let us keep it as a pet,” I said.
Jake chuckled and said, “Yeah, Dad wasn’t too happy about that one.”
We headed home with Max. That’s what we named the baby raptor because all of us thought Max was a cool name. And it was the name that we were going to name my baby sister Isabella if she had been a boy.
CHAPTER 3
Mom Meets Max
“Do you think Mom noticed us?” I asked, carefully placing Max on my bed.
“No, she was too busy chasing after Isabella,” said Jake.
Jake fluffed the feathers on Max’s head, then opened one of his wings, and said, “If I were to guess, I’d say he’s a kestrel and is about a month old.”
“A kestrel? I thought he was a raptor,” I said.
“It’s a kind of raptor. Male kestrels have pretty, blue markings on their heads and wings, and black splotches under their eyes, just like Max.”
“Hmm,” said Madison, admiring Max’s colorful feathers. “He looks part parrot to me.”
“He does, doesn’t he?” I said.
Jake paused for a moment, gazing at Max. Then he put his right finger to his mouth and said, “You know. Mom might think it’s a parrot too.”
“Mom’s really smart,” said Madison. “She’ll never fall for that one.”
“Yeah, but Max’s colors and his baby size give you the impression that he is part parrot.”
Max was about six inches from head to tail.
I scooped Max up, raising him up so he and I were staring into each other’s eyes, and asked, “Are you ready to meet Mom?”
Max’s beak opened a crack and his little head bobbed up and down as if he understood exactly what I was saying and was cool with it.
Jake, Madison, and I quietly tiptoed downstairs and hid around the corner from the family room, where Mom was sitting.
I could tell Madison was nervous. Her hands were shaking.
I poked my head through the doorway, getting a glimpse of Mom. She was trying to read to Isabella.
My heart started to beat really fast.
I knew we just had to go for it.
I turned to Madison and handed her Max. Jake and I had learned over the years that if we wanted Mom and Dad to say yes, we had to have Madison ask them for things. She could give this puppy-dog look that made their hearts melt.
Before we entered the family room, Madison reached down and picked up one of Isabella’s blankets, which she had left in the hallway. When she wrapped Max in the blanket, he definitely looked helpless and really cute.
Madison stepped in the family room with Max snuggled close and said, “Hi, Mom.”
Mom’s eyes opened wide, zooming in on Max. Then she tilted her head, puckered her lips, closed her eyes part way, and asked, “Where did you find a parrot?”
We all grinned, knowing that Max had no parrot in him. But none of us were eager to break the news to her right away.
Jake, Madison, and I started to talk at the same time. Mom raised her hands in the air and said, “Whoa! One at a time, please. Jake first.”
She listened to Jake first, and then Madison got to share her side of the story, then me. None of us told her about the mammoth-sized mommy bird chasing us and then crashing to the ground. Instead, we skipped right to the most important part, when Max peeped his head out of the nest, his little body trembling as he stared at his mom, lying lifeless nearby.
“Mom, he was all alone,” my sister said. Madison’s face looked like a basset hounds. Her eyes were opened really big and wide, her eyebrows were raised, and the sides of her mouth were lowered.
Mom got up and walked over to Madison to get a closer look at Max. Then she petted his feathery head. That was it. He had become her eighth child. Jake, Madison, Isabella, and I were her biological kids. Although, you would think Isabella was adopted because she’s the only one with blonde hair in our family. But she’s not. Mom also considered our two cats and enormous dog her children. Max would make eight.
“Mom, can we keep him?” we begged. “Please!”
Mom sighed and said, “I have to talk to Dad first.”
Dad wasn’t a big fan of having indoor pets. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky and believed that all animals should live outside. Mom thought the opposite. She told Dad once that pets raised indoors teach kids responsibility and provide nurturing.
“Mom, we all will pitch in to take care of Max,”