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Palm trees flourished around ripples of water. The casita bloomed in all its glory, nourished with plants and wondrous flowers left by the unyielding elegance of Isabela’s graceful palms.
It had been only a few months since the casita fell, rebuilt by the Madrigals. It had been only a few months that Bruno spent in the company of his once lost family.
It was a celebrational night. Something with Dolores and Mariano coming to the casita to throw a grand feast- Bruno couldn’t quite recall the events as Mirabel had told him so enthusiastically a few nights ago. Nothing ever stuck with him, sure, he was happy for his niece finding the love of her life and whatnot, but thoughts lingered and nerves rumbled.
He remembered something about a pool party. Félix and Luisa had spent the past few days digging out a pool in the front yard, and all of the townspeople were invited.
-
Today was the big day. It came faster than Bruno would’ve liked- his mind was still running errors he’d tried to process days before. The whole family was gathered outside, together with all of the loyal citizens that helped bring their new casita back to life- all except for Bruno. With the reshaping of their home, he’d lost his spot in the walls, but never failed to squeeze himself into the nearest tight corners and edges to avoid any possible confrontation regarding this entire event. He didn’t want to be seen, let alone in any sort of swimwear. He’d heard Pepa and Julieta talk about it all morning, only enhancing his stress towards the inevitable even further.
-
“Where’s tío Bruno?” Camilo squeezed through the crowd of townspeople, half shifting into a particularly slim one along the way, popping back to reach Abuela. She lowered her gaze to meet eyes, before lifting them to scan the broad area that their ceremony covered. There wasn’t a trace of Bruno anywhere, not even around Mirabel; the only one who he’d grown some form of trust with.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s around..” Abuela mused, merely shrugging her shoulders. Bruno wasn’t a people person anyway- she knew her son better than anyone.
“I’ll check the nooks and crannies in the casita.” Camilo groaned. “Mirabel has been looking for him, and she’ll kill me if he doesn’t show up.”
With those being his parting words, Camilo left the front yard to walk up the porch and into their home, being greeted by rattling floor tiles and shingles as the casita automatically led him to faint traces of Bruno.
Following the tremble, Camilo ended up in the kitchen, where the cupboards flew open with a dramatic gush of wind to reveal Bruno sitting in one of them. The man reeled back against the wood and let out a beyond horrified scream, in which a cluster of rats flew out of the cupboard and scattered along the floor to run off.
“Camilo!” Bruno exclaimed, immediately flying up to his feet in an awkward manner. “What brings you here? I didn’t expect you to find me.” He gave the counter a hard nudge with his elbow at that, granting him a dramatic squeak from one of the cupboard doors. Going to fold his hands behind his back, Bruno pursed his lips in anticipation.
“Yeah, woah, hey. Mirabel is looking for you. I dunno why, but you better hurry up, I already pretended to be you and she wasn’t buying it.”
Bruno’s hands grew clammy at the thought. Mirabel wanted to speak to him?
“Alright, I’ll go see her right away.” Nervously shuffling out of the conversation, he made his way to the front door, scaling the wall to peer around the threshold. His body visibly flinched at the loud sound of chatter and water, shuddering. The noise wasn’t his thing.
“Loud, isn’t it?” A voice peeped from behind him, causing him to jump and screech a second time. Dolores came up by his side, holding her hands close to her chest. “I can hear every single thing they say. Mirabel is by the edge of the pool.” Turning back around, Dolores left with a final little peep.
Gawking as she left, Bruno shook his head and stepped out of the house. Everyone needed him today. Why today? Today was possibly the worst day for anyone to remotely see him.
As he crossed the front yard to their newly built pool, people stared in his direction. Mirabel spotted him, waved, and beckoned him over.
“Tío Bruno!” She called happily, holding a muted green piece of fabric in her hands. “Antonio and I got you swimwear, so you can join us too!”
Bruno’s face grew awry and pale as wide eyes examined the cloth, hands coming up defensively to dismiss the idea.
“Oh no, no no, it’s quite alright.” He assured, feeling the people’s gazes on him turn firmer. His stomach started to churn with despair as the situation finally dawned upon him, face growing sweaty with pure anxiety. Pepa and Julieta stared with obvious concern, exchanging a glance between one another.
“Oh come on tío Bruno! It’ll be fun! You don’t have to be scared!” Antonio reassured with a beaming smile, coming to press against Bruno’s leg- much like he often did with Mirabel. This only seemed to make Bruno twice as uncomfortable, stepping back and away from the touch.
“No, really, I’ll be just fine! I-” Before Bruno could finish his desperate rambling, a rat crawled up his leg, under his ruana, to pop out of his collar with delicate squeaks. Antonio perked up, jaw going slack as he stared directly at the peeping animal, then up at Bruno, only to jump up excitedly.
“You weren’t always like this?!”
“Huh? I mean, no, I probably looked different when I was younger-”
“No, no! Tía!”
Bruno’s eyes widened a little as the question settled in his brain, processing the now leaked information by one of his dearest friends.
“Oh- oh, that-that- yeah, well, it’s a little complicated-”
“Does that mean you got to play with two kinds of toys?!”
“Eh? I don’t-”
“Oh, oh! Did you have long hair like Isabela?”
Before Bruno could even come up with some kind of answer to that one, Camilo jumped in, shifting in a swift swoop to imitate his uncle, lifting the ruana and the brick brown button-up underneath to show two noticeable scars running horizontally on his chest. People gasped, all coming to glance at Bruno, who stood, blood gushing to his cheeks. Camilo had just single-handedly revealed the one thing he kept secret from everyone but his mother and his siblings.
He jolted as something came up behind him, squeezing him in a tight embrace, only to find it was Mirabel.
“I didn’t know…” She muttered softly. “But I am.. so proud of you.”
“Hey- come now, there’s no need-”
Julieta and Pepa joined in, coming to hug Bruno’s front. Antonio came to cling to his leg, while Luisa and Isabela stayed at a safe distance to observe with a fond smile.
“Hah! I knew it!” Camilo changed back, pridefully jotting his hands on his hips.
Slowly but thoughtfully, Bruno came to hug back the small portion of his family, head drooped down low in mild shame.
“Thank you.. I couldn’t have asked for a better family..”
“Except for you, Camilo.” Félix chimed in from the side. “That was uncalled for!” He grabbed Camilo by the scruff like a kitten, causing the boy to whine dramatically.
“ Papá!”