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His birthday. The one day Bruno hated with everything he had since he ran away and started living in the walls. It’s not like he hated it before hand, he just couldn’t sit bare to be near his family from behind the walls when his birthday came around without getting emotional. The first year or two he was gone, he cried on his and his hermanas birthday, struggling to cope with it even after they pretended like he never existed.
But now he was ‘back home’, not like he ever truest left, Casita being rebuilt and the magic being restored; it took time for him to feel able to fit in again, but after some time he got more comfortable being around his family again. But it would be a lie if they said the didn’t notice what that 10 years had done to him.
They noticed the salt over the shoulder, noticed the knocking motion, noticed the holding his breath when fingers crossed. Everything was noticed but rarely spoke about, including getting anxious around cracks and clearly avoiding them at all costs, and the ‘pretending’ to be Hernando and Jorge.
Nobody really questioned it, well they did but stoped when Dolores had informed them all they he started it years ago, when things started to get bad for him being alone and it was the only way he could cope with it all, how she heard him cry the first year and all his antics from behind the walls. Bruno overheard, and didn’t come out his room the next day, thinking he was being a burden to his much loved family…again.
As the triplets birthday approached, he only got more and more agitated, like every other year, Most people forgot it was his birthday too, only his mama, hermanas, Dolores, Isabella and Mirabel remembering about him. They would ask him what he wanted for his birthday and every time he just froze up before stumbling over his words and walking away, going to his room and talking to himself, Hernando and Jorge on the way up the many stairs.
When the day actually arrived, he didn’t want to get out of bed when he woke up, still being half asleep and forgetting he was home instead of in the walls again. He stayed in bed and looked at his rats which had crawled up beside him, he scratched Antonio, the rat, behind the ear with a small smile. (When her little brother was born, Dolores begged her parents to name him Antionio just like Bruno had names one of his rats, but she didn’t tell him that. And Bruno felt honoured by that)
It wasn’t until a while later he heard a knock on his door, had someone really climbed up all those steps just to come see him? He stayed still for a second before he sat up slowly and turned to look at his bedroom door. Isabella? He looked at her for a second, and before she could ask he moved to let her sit next to him and she did.
He used to take care of his sobrina when she was young when his hermana Julieta was busy, he helped her with her gift when she first got it, helped her with learning about it and she would spend lots of time with him as a child, but the older she got and the more that was pushed onto her, she spent less time with her Tío.
Bruno smiles softly at the memories for a second before feeling one of his rats, Catalina, crawl up his arm and sit on his shoulder. He looked at Isabella, his beloved sobrina,
“So what brings you here flor pequeña?”
“Tío Bruno I’m not that small anymore, I’m 21.” She smiles a little, giving a soft eye roll at the nickname she hasn’t heard since she was 7, pausing for a moment before speaking again, “you haven’t come downstairs, Dolores says she heard you wake up and we’re waiting for you to join us”
Great, another way he’s being a burden to his family, “I know your not small anymore, and I didn’t keep track of ages after I left…I just don’t feel like coming down today, just tired”
“…but tío, it’s your birthday. Do you really just want to spend your birthday in bed all day?” She frowned, somewhat saddened but also confused.
He looks at her and doesn’t say anything, sighing and looking away after what felt like an eternity “Listen I’m still getting used to being around the family again, and birthdays are overwhelming. I’ll be okay sobrina. Make sure to tell your mama and tía I said happy birthday okay?”
She nods and bit and gets up “if your sure, we’ll all be down there if you decide to come down” she smiles at him and makes vibrant flowers pop up on one of the walls “happy birthday Tío Bruno”
with that she left, he watched her walk out and heard her go down the steps, looking at the flowers and sighing before laying back down, either spending the day sleeping or talking to his rats, he wasn’t sure how much he did if either as soon the sun was setting and he had wasted the day.
At one point he was went downstairs and sat with them for not that long before the noise and atmosphere got so overwhelming he just went back to his room and tried calming himself down with his little things he did, which he never didn’t in front of family anymore, or at least when he thought they weren’t looking.
he sighs and sits up and realised it’s probably near dinner time as he heard his stomach rumble, nobody else had come to see him, and if they had he hadn’t noticed, but he doubted it. He looks at his rats and sighs yet again, having gotten used to the feeling of spending his birthday alone with nothing but his rats.
“Dolores, I hate to abuse your gift like this, but I know you can hear me. Can you tell me hermanas I hope they’ve had a good day? Enjoy dinner and the cake, all of you” he says it barely loud enough for the noise to be heard outside the room, he just sat in silence with his rats.
A while later he heard a knock on his door with the person in the other side panting, Isabella had used her vines to get up of course and everyone else had to climb, he felt stupid for not realising sooner, looking at the door, “yeah? Honestly just sit down I know the stairs are a lot”
Camilo walks in and sits on the bed catching his breath, Bruno finding it mildly amusing at everyone else being out of breath climbing up to his room where as he was completely used to it.
“Tío Bruno…come down for dinner…mama and tía…Juliet’s miss you” he manages to say in between pants. Camilo looking at him as his sobrino wipes the sweat of his forehead.
“Do they really want me down there? Not that I mind coming down just…” he lets his words trail and doesn’t continue, looking at Camilo shapeshifter into his hermana Julieta
“Brunito I went out of my way to make your favourite just for you, mama told me not to cook but now your back I wanted it to be special for you” Camilo said and it was clear it was the words of Julieta, words that had been said by her and she had meant it, hitting Bruno in a soft spot just for his family.
Bruno smiles a little before getting out of bed and stretching a bit “fine, but let me actually change first, haven’t changed since…ugh I haven’t kept track of days in years. Just go down a head if me I’ll be down soon”
Camilo nods and starts his journey downstairs. Bruno putting on his shirt and trousers, putting on his poncho on top and he looked just like he did any other day, he tried his best to do something with his hair but it was to much of a mess, putting on his sanders and letting his rats climb onto him and into their pockets.
He knocks on wood then a knock on his head, throwing a pink of salt over his shoulder and crossed his fingers and held his breath for a few seconds as he walked out his door and down the stairs. By the Erin’s he reached the bottom, so did Camilo, Bruno walking out his room followed by and out of breath Camilo.
“How do you do that so easily?” Camilo panted as he walked down and sat at the table
“I’ve had to walk those stairs since I was 5 sobrino, I’m…however old your mama and tía are” Bruno also sat down and wasn’t bothers one but, realising he wasn’t actually sure how old he was now.
Soon enough dinner was server, and like Camilo said, Julieta had made him his favourite, after the speech Alma gave, like at every dinner, he started eating, giving a small side plate to his little rat friends too, he didn’t speak much, only talking when asked something or when being included in the conversation at hand, talking more to Antonio who was saying about his new gift and how the rats really seemed to like Bruno, fascinated how he also shared his name with one of the rats.
After dinner he knew their would be cake, god he hated this part. So many bad memories with this, tears or tears and pain— he was in his own head before he heard Mirabel calling his name, he just simply looks at her.
“Since you stayed in your room most of the time we never actually got to give you your gifts tïo” she smiles and walks of to go get something. Gifts? They got him gifts? He thought they forgot about him like every other year. He watched Mirabel come back with some boxes, his part of the table being cleared and the boxes put in front of him. He just looked at them, still processing what was happening. “Go on Tío Bruno! Open them!”
He slowly picked up the first box and opened it, he looked inside and say a beautifully carved hourglass, made from wood, it was so detailed and beautiful and he loved it, he put it down and started opening the others a present from everyone in his family. There were things for him and things for his rats, he loved them all.
The last one he opened was from Mirabel, he was confused at first but when he took it out the box he stared at it, she had handmade him a new poncho, having gotten base fabrics and embroidered the same design as his current one onto it, also having put on lots of small pieces with different textures and feelings like beads and other types of fabric, as well as having more designs like the ones Mirabel had on her own dress.
He stood up and took his old and worn one off and gently sat it to the side, putting the new one on and playing with the beads and fabrics a little bit and smiling, tapping his foot quickly and excitedly, it wasn’t noticibke at first but the movement got more and more prominent but quickly stopped once he realised he was doing it, he sat back down and fidgeted with his new poncho under the table.
All eyes were on him, he wasn’t forgotten, they remembered him, they loved him, he stumbled for words, so many pent up emotions he had pushed down over so many years, so much he had forced himself to forget and not care about and it all just came back to hit him all at once, much harder than one of Pepa’s hurricanes or one of Luisa’s punches. All he could do was let out a simple thank you, so quiet and wouldn’t have been heard if everyone wasn’t quiet waiting on him to say something, just causing him to loose it completely and start crying.
Crying? Why was he crying? Everyone including Bruno himself was thinking the same question, everyone watching him break down into uncontrollable sobs and just crouch over and curl in on himself. He hadn’t said anything the whole time but a small thank you at the end. Nobody quite knew what to do but Pepa and Julieta got up and hugged him, not expecting him to hold onto them and just cry harder, the others went to leave but he just shook his head, trying to get himself to calm down.
Soon enough he calmed down to talk, but not daring to let go of his hermanas “I’ve not had a birthday in so long, i was behind the walls watching you all have fun and acting like I never existed, I cried the first year or two before forcing myself to forget I had a birthday. I was surprised any of you had remembered about me and then seeing the gifts was a shock, then opening them I just…” he stuttered and stumbled on his words the whole way, trailing off at the end as it got worse and couldn’t form any more words, sitting there for a few seconds before abruptly getting up and running off to his room a mess.
Nobody was quite sure how to help him, they put his gifts all in one box and Luisa carried it up and put it at his door to his actual room before going back downstairs. Bruno was a mess, sitting on his bed curled into a tight ball rocking himself, hitting his head and just breaking down completely. After a while he heard someone come in, forcing himself to suppress his emotions and not looking up, he felt two people hug him, and he knew instantly that it was his hermanas he just clinger onto them and sobbed, he eventually calmed down and just stayed quiet.
“Brunito, we’re sorry you felt that way. We thoughts we messed up bad and that you didn’t like your presents…” Julieta started,
“But now we know that we all messed up way worse, making you feel like that. We have no excuse for how we acted…” Pepa continued,
“But we’re here now, and we won’t let go of you” Julieta continued after that, knowing he needed this from both of them.
“Even if it means we’re here all night” Pepa finished, the pair hugging him tightly
They sat in silence for a while, not once letting go of him, there was a gently knock on the door and he heard the voice of his mama “Brunito?” She walks in and had a plate with 3 slices of cake on it, one for each of the triplets, plus a smaller price for the rats, she sat it on his side table then on his bed, gently taking his hands
“Brunito, I’m so sorry we made you feel that way, all I can ask for is your forgiveness. I understand coming back into the family has been hard on you and you have picked up some…habits, but we’re your family and we love you. I’ll leave you be but know you can come to me when you need to talk” she kissed his cheek before getting up and leaving.
The triplets ate their cake, all huddled up together, surrounding themselves in blankets and pillows, they cuddled the full time and had a much needed catch up session, they took care of each other and ended up falling asleep all huddled in to one another. For the first time since he left, Bruno felt truly happy, at peace and relaxed, he hoped they would be able to do this more often.
Needless to say, Bruno was never seen without his new poncho on, and whenever he went out, he was with one of his hermanas, he felt safe with them, and soon started to open up to some of the others in the family.
But that’s a story for another time.