Chapter Text
She was happy for Antonio. Beyond happy. He got an amazing gift that he deserved. A gift that she knew fit him perfectly. Antonio had found his place in the family. Antonio deserved his gift. Antonio made his family proud.
She was happy.
She was proud.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
She was fine.
Then why did she feel like she couldn’t breathe?
Why did her chest feel like it was about to pop? Why did her face begin to heat up? Why did she feel like running away? Why did she want to yell at her family? Why did she feel like crying?
Mirabel stood in Antonio’s room amongst the crowd of townspeople, watching as her family took a group picture.
Without her.
She watched as each member of her family showed off their gift for the camera. She watched as she was forgotten.
Again.
She felt the heat on her face begin to burn. Her vision blurred as tears flooded her eyes. Her mouth dried and oxygen began to become harder and harder to find.
She needed to leave.
She needed to hide
She knew if she cracked here Abuela would blame her for ruining Antonio’s special night. She knew if she broke in this room, tía Pepa would probably start thundering for ruining Antonio’s special night. She knew if she cried now Isabela would blame her for being selfish. She knew if she couldn’t hold it together, mamá would only pity her even more. Thinking about the consequences she would have to face only makes her want to shatter into broken pieces.
She did the only thing she knew how.
She ran.
She ran without a second thought, pushing past people in her way. Hot tears fell down her cheeks landing on casita’s tiles. She ran to the nursery ignoring casita’s attempts for her attention.
Mirabel ripped the door open, hearing it slam after her. She fell onto the bed, tears staining her pillow. Casita continued to move loudly doing its best to gain the girl’s attention. A scream from Mirabel halted all the movement in the room. Her sobs were the only audible thing in the room.
Mirabel’s sobs turned into hyperventilation. Her hyperventilation turned into choking.
She couldn’t breathe.
Casita’s movements picked up again, except this time frantic and unsure. The door swung open and the tiles moved quickly towards Antonio’s room. Mirabel so badly wanted to yell out for casita to stop. She was going to ruin her cousin’s night. She would fail the family.
Again.
But as much as she wanted to yell she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything but let her body fall as her knees gave out beneath her. She wasn’t in control.
She wanted to scream at casita for annoying her family with something as meaningless as her.
But she didn’t.
She wanted to crawl to the door and shut it so no one could possibly see her.
But she didn’t.
She wanted someone to see her.
She needed someone to be there.
She was tired of being so alone.
She was scared of what was going to happen to her when her family found out what a failure she was.
What a screw up she was
What a disaster she was.
What a mistake she was.
“Mirabel?” A quiet, shaky voice said from the door frame, causing her to look up.
“Tío Bruno.” she cried out. His face twisted with concern as he rushed to her side. Mirabel had little to no recollection of him other than the stories she had been told growing up. She opened up her mouth to say something but all that came out was a pained whimper as her body collapsed in on itself.
She knew what he was thinking. That she was weak. Selfish. Small. Jealous. Rude. Not enough. Stupid. Useless.
But what he did shocked her.
Without a second thought, he enveloped her in a hug. A tight, warm hug.
Not a pity hug like the ones that she had become so accustomed to thanks to her mamá.
A genuine, real hug.
“Te tengo niña. Estoy aquí. Y no voy a ir a ninguna parte.”
TRANSLATION Brought to you by google translate :)
Te tengo, niña. Estoy aquí. Y no voy a ir a ninguna parte. = I've got you, kid. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere.