Comforted Nightmares
Donald shot up in his bed in a cold sweat, hand clasped closed tightly against his chest. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes were opened wide as he tried to regain himself. It took a moment for him to adjust to the darkness of his room.
His feathers were damp in the sweat he woke up in, and chills went down his spine. Once he was finally able to realize where he was, his hand rose slowly over to his cheek, his fingers gently brushing against his cheeks which were stained with tears.
“Again..” He murmured only to himself, pinching the bridge of his beak to try and cease the tears from flowing anymore. That same nightmare again.. He didn’t know whether he was feeling worse about it, or if he was getting used to it. He also couldn’t tell which one would be worse.
Just as he was about to lay back down and attempt to fall back to sleep, his door slammed open, as if the person who opened it was in a frantic hurry to get in, unperturbed by anyone who might be trying to get a restful sleep in the room.
Donald growled in his throat, for a moment more annoyed than anything.
“Hey! What's the big id- “ His voice caught in his throat at the sight of his friends, Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. The three of them stared at each other, as the atmosphere in the room grew tense.
“Ahem..” Donald blushed softly, beginning to feel a weird bit of butterflies in his stomach at the unbroken eye contact, swiftly glancing away. He almost forgot that the two of them were sleeping over.
“Donal’!” Panchito cried, at last remembering why he and Jose burst so suddenly into the room in the first place. The rooster threw himself around the duck, squeezing him in a crushing hug, nearly sending the two of them crashing to the floor.
“Hey, hey! What happened?! Where are the eggs?!” Donald asked, his voice growing anxious. He barely noticed a growing blush creeping across his face due to the close contact.
“The eggs are well,” Jose explained calmly, his hands clasped together. His tone was soft, but Donald could see that same worry plain across his expression. “We bundled them up and tucked them safely into their cribs. We.. we wanted to check on you, my friend.”
“Check on me?”
Panchito separated himself from Donald after a few minutes, blinking away a bit of tears that had started to brim the corner of his eyes.
“Yes! Of course we wanted to check on you. We heard you from all across where we were, and you were.. Yelling! Incomprehensibly, and you seemed agitated. We were already concerned, but we got so worried when.. When we approached the door, you just fell dead silent. We...” The rooster rambled, the words tumbling out of his beak faster than he meant them to. The parrot sat himself next to him, placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder.
“We were worried something had happened to you!” Jose finished for him, and although he had made his friends worry, he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat at the sight of his friends concerned so much with his well being.
“Aw..” He sighed, looking to the ground. “I’m sorry, guys. I’m sorry for worrying you, it’s just.. It’s just a nightmare I keep having. About.. My sister.”
Jose and Panchito hushed, expression falling somberly into a more understanding expression, as they scooted closer to the duck, with Jose draping an arm over him.
“Care to talk about it?”
“I guess I’m just.. Scared. Scared of how I’m going to take care of these kids, scared that I might not be good enough for them. I’m SCARED of what happened to her, scared as to if she’s out there, hurt somewhere. Scared that she might be..”
He gasped, his sentence trailing off as his two friends each squeezed him into a tight hug, and Donald could feel the tears flowing down his cheeks.
“She’s not, Donal’” Panchito reassured him, his voice gentle.
Donald was silent, unsure on how to reply.
“Look at us.” Jose spoke, as the duck looked up towards the two of them, a lump still in his throat.
“I know it’s hard. We cannot even begin to imagine what inner turmoil you’re going through, and the stress. But what I do know is that when your sister, Della, finally arrives home she’ll be so proud of how you watched over her little boys.”
Donald felt his mouth quiver at the corner slightly, a small smile forming across his beak.
“You really think so?”
“We know so!” Panchito exclaimed, holding the duck’s hands in his.
“And until that moment arrives, we’ll be right beside you all the way. We’ve been birds of a feather, and we’ll stay birds of a feather. You won’t ever have to worry about taking care of these eggs alone.”
Donald’s eyes sparkled, shimmering with tears that were no longer sad ones. He couldn’t help but laugh softly, not thinking about what he said next.
“You guys are so thoughtful. It’s no wonder I’m in love with you both..”
The room fell silent, and Donald couldn’t help but feel like that maybe that thought wasn’t as private as he intended it to be.
His eyes glanced over once again to his friends, the two of them staring with bright red beaks, which were open agape.
“Aw, phooey. I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Donald said sheepishly, trying to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation. Though he only increased it, he felt.
“IN LOVE?!” Panchito screamed, almost shattering the windows in his excitement. Soon enough all three of them were flustered, unsure on what to do or say.
“Erm.. yes. I unfortunately did say that where the two of you could hear.”
“For how long??” Jose spoke at last, leaning over. “Are you for real?”
Donald sighed, knowing that he couldn’t hide or run away from this.
“I guess.. Sometime since college. I was always just too scared to say or do anything about it.”
“I can’t believe..” Jose shook his head, and the duck could feel his heart drop down to his stomach.
“I get it. You guys probably think I’m weird now. Let’s just forget this ever happened..”
“You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say, I can't believe we can finally do this..!”
Almost on cue, both Panchito and Jose pressed their beaks against his cheeks, planting a kiss on both of them, and Donald felt like he was going to quite literally explode, overwhelmed and flustered.
He held a hand against both of his cheeks when they pulled away, feeling it burning hot. He didn’t have to look at them to see their grins, and in almost a whisper his voice came through.
“You mean you guys..?”
“Yep! Since college, too.” Panchito chuckled, as Jose nodded in agreement. “Feels good to finally have it out in the open.”
“So.. what now?” Donald asked, “I mean, does that make us..” His voice trailed off once again, too bashful to say the words just yet.
“Mm.. how about we leave it here, and see where it takes us?” Jose suggested, leaning his head against the crook of Donald’s neck, as Panchito did the same.
The duck’s heart fluttered in his chest, as he took each of their hands in one of his own. He smiled, eyes closing, feeling content.
“I think I’d like that.”