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It was a day just after the home was finally built and magic came back, when right after breakfast Madrigals heard a knock on the door. Mirabel rushed to open the door to see a woman, probably just a little younger than her mother. She recognized Francisca, and was surprised. Never before has this lady come to their house, even not yesterday. She wasn’t stuck up, she would always be up to have a chat, she just seemed to avoid their house in particular.
“Uh- Hello?” Mirabel asked, feeling a bit uneasy. She wasn’t up for another mystery and hoped this wasn’t one.
“Hello” Francisca smiled “Can I see Bruno?”
Mirabel didn’t even have time to answer. As others heard the voice of lady Rojas, they went quiet. Bruno got up from his seat and slowly walked over. He pushed Mirabel with his shoulder to see the visitor clearer. His face looked sad, almost guilty.
“Francisca” he sighed “I-”
“Bruno…”
She hugged him tightly. Pepa came over and took Mirabel’s hand. When they were a little away, she started explaining.
Long ago, Julieta, Pepa and Bruno were young. That was no surprise. They would spend their days helping others, and while a lot of folks avoided Bruno, Francisca Rojas wasn’t one of them. She was a strong-minded young woman, who believed she could build her own fate, maybe even in spite of what Bruno would see and say.
It didn’t surprise the family, when Bruno announced that he wants to marry her. By that time both his sisters were married and had their first child, so Abuella was happy to have another person join the family.
But then, mere weeks before the wedding, Bruno disappeared. Francisca looked for him everywhere. There wasn’t a tree in a forest she didn’t look behind, no rock she didn’t look under. But she couldn’t find him, so she grieved. And since then she would never come close to the house that has almost become her home. And never got engaged again. To anyone who would try she would say “I am waiting for Bruno”.
Mirabel looked back at Bruno and Francisca. She was holding his hands and smiling, just smiling. And he was smiling back. She could see tears streaming down both their faces and just as she thought to herself that maybe there will be a wedding soon in this house, Pepa whispered the same thing to her, giggling like a little girl.
And they were absolutely right.