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It was time. Mirabel took a deep breath and strode out of her room, candle held firmly in her hands.
Gift ceremonies had changed in the last few years. While still a cause for celebration, they were no longer witnessed by the whole village. Now, just the Madrigals would watch their members get their gift, before joining the rest of the villagers in a massive party.
“Though, at this rate, the Madrigals will outnumber the entire village in a few generations.” Mirabel thought wryly.
Mirabel was older now, with wrinkles lining her face and hair shot through with gray. While her wisdom had grown with age and hardship, the youthful cheer was still present in her, and her desire to help and support others was as strong as it ever was, perhaps even stronger.
She paused at the top of the stairs in front of Oscar’s door, looking down at the courtyard where the rest of the Madrigals were gathered.
The family had expanded over the last few decades, prompting many renovations and expansions to the Casita. The door hallway was now over twice as long as it had been when Mirabel was a child.
Unfortunately, while the family had expanded in some ways, it had shrunk in others. Abuela had passed away when Mirabel was twenty, leaving her as the miracle’s protector and the head of the family. The Madrigals had grieved for their matriarch, but found comfort in the fact that she was finally with her beloved Pedro again.
Time passed, weddings occured, babies were born, and it had been many years before tragedy struck again. Bruno’s health had always been frail, no matter how much healing food Julieta had fed him, and so he had unsurprisingly been the first of Alma’s children to die. Losing him for the second time had greatly affected the family, but especially Pepa and Julieta.
Several years after Bruno went, Felix simply didn’t wake up one day. Pepa followed him only a few months later, and while the village doctor said it was a stroke, her children remained convinced it was a broken heart that had killed her. Julieta refused to slow down despite old age wearing her down, and she too eventually passed away, cooking for her family up until her last days.
Mirabel’s beloved Pa was still alive, the only one remaining of the older generation. Agustin was nearly blind and wheelchair-bound, but he still insisted on being part of the celebration. She could see him in the courtyard now, smiling up at her.
Standing next to him were Isabela and her partner Mia, both wearing vibrantly colored dresses and with streaks of color and flowers decorating their grayed hair. The two had become close in their twenties, and Mia had long since been accepted as a Madrigal.
Delores and Mariano were there, along with their four adult children. The twins, Ricardo and Roberto, were the oldest of their generation and had the gift of seeing through each other's eyes and hearing through each other’s ears. Then there was Mariana, with her gift of two colorful wings that emerged from her back and allowed her to fly, standing next to her husband Marco and holding their tiny baby Lucas. Lastly, there was Josefina, whose gift let her breathe underwater and as such preferred to spend most of her time swimming.
Luisa and her husband Matias, whose whirlwind romance was still a talking point in the village despite the many years that had passed, were beaming with pride, as it was their oldest grandchild who would obtain his gift today. Their eldest son Leonardo, a hot-blooded man with the gift of controlling fire, was still getting his son Oscar ready for the ceremony. The heavily pregnant Maria Jose was there with her husband Felipe, speaking silently to him with her gift of telepathy, and their young daughter Amalia fidgeted at their side. And there was Emmanuel, with the gift of emitting light from his body, softly glowing nearby.
Next to them was Camilo and their partner Valentino, whom they’d fallen in love with during their time traveling the land as a young adult. Valentino had been enchanted by the tales of Camilo’s hidden village and magical family, and he had insisted on returning with them to the village. The two had adopted a daughter together, an orphan girl named Blanca, and the day they had brought her home a new door had appeared in the Casita, much to everyone’s surprise. Blanca had taken after Camilo in her gift, though hers allowed her to shapeshift into animals, rather than other people. In fact, there she was now, perched on her fathers shoulder in the form of a toucan.
Antonio, the youngest of his generation, had never married, preferring instead to spend time with his animal friends. He was surrounded by colorful birds, leopards, capybaras, and the descendants of his Tio Bruno’s rats.
Mirabel herself had never married or had children, something she was perfectly fine with. As far as she was concerned, she had all the family she needed with her.
Mirabel’s nephew, Leonardo, walked up the stairs to join her. “He’s nervous, but he’s ready.” he whispered to her. “I had to give him a long pep talk on how I would love him no matter what gift he got.”
Mirabel smiled. “He’s worried about that? Poor Oscar.”
“He kept asking me, ‘Papa, what if I get a gift that hurts people?’ I guess the story of how I nearly burnt down the village really got to him.” Leonardo sighed. “He’s empathetic almost to a fault. I bet it’ll be a healing gift.”
“Well, the miracle has surprised us before.” Mirabel said.
The ceremony began, and out walked Oscar, wearing his dress clothes and looking a mixture of excited and nervous. He glanced up at his family members as he walked past, and they gave him encouraging smiles in return.
Oscar made his way up the stairs Casita had formed for him, and stopped in front of Mirabel and Leonardo. He was shaking slightly, but stood straight. The door with his name on the knob cast a soft glow on his face.
Mirabel bent down and held out the candle. “Are you ready, Oscar?”
“I-I am,Tia Mirabel.” Oscar said.
“Then, touch the candle, and open the door, and you shall receive your gift.” Mirabel said softly.
Hesitantly, Oscar placed his hand on the candle for a moment, and then Mirabel stepped aside to let him pass. The young boy reached up, and with a shaking hand, wrapped his fingers around the knob.
For a moment, nothing changed, and then something unexpected happened. Rather than flaring in a surge of golden light, the door dimmed, and then faded, slowly vanishing from the wall entirely.
Silence fell throughout Casita. Oscar turned to look at Mirabel, eyes wide with fear and confusion.
“Tia Mirabel? W-What’s happening?” he asked.
For a few moments, Mirabel could not answer. A few horrible memories had returned to her. Despite the decades since then, they had not faded.
She looked back at Oscar, and she saw reflected on his face all that she had felt on her fifth birthday. The realization that she had not received a gift, that she was not special, and that she had let everyone down and she didn’t understand why. She remembered every moment of it, and every bit of pain that had resulted from it. The subtle isolation, the looks of pity from others, the fallout within the family, and the gaping feelings of loneliness and inadequacy that plagued her for ten long years. Mirabel had forgiven and accepted all that had happened to her, but she still remembered.
No. It would not happen again. She would not let it.
Mirabel knelt down and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the tears brimming at the corners of Oscar’s eyes. “It’s okay, Oscar. Don’t cry.”
“B-b-but I didn’t get a gift…” Oscar stuttered, barely holding his sobs in.
Mirabel smiled at him. “Don’t you see? The miracle is telling us something.”
“What?”
“That you’re like me. You don’t need a gift, Oscar. You never did. And neither do I. Do you know why?”
“No.”
“It’s because we are the keepers of the miracle.” She held out the candle. “This is our gift. We watch over the candle, and we take care of the family. Instead of having a room, we have the entire Casita.”
Casita waved at Oscar with a banister to illustrate the point.
“And one day, when I’m no longer here, you will be the head of the family and keep the miracle alive.” Mirabel gently placed the candle in his hands, and it flared with a bright glow of magic.
Oscar gazed into the flame. “I’m gonna take care of it? And the whole family?” He looked up at her, worried. “Do you really think I can do that?”
“I know you can, Oscar. I believe in you, and so does the rest of the family.” Mirabel rested her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “You won’t have to do it alone. I’m here for you. Your father is here for you. The entire family is here for you. We love you, Oscar.”
The last vestiges of fear disappeared from Oscar’s face, and he smiled. To Mirabel, it was the greatest sight in the world.
Downstairs, the rest of the Madrigals burst into cheers and applause for Oscar. Behind Mirabel, Leonardo wiped his eyes before grabbing his son up and lifting him onto his shoulders. Oscar held the candle high and the applause grew.
Mirabel watched the festivities, a heavy feeling in her chest. On that day when her door vanished, it had been a shameful thing, with no cheers or festivities to follow. But now, Oscar was being celebrated and supported by his family, regardless of his gift. It was something she had dreamed about happening, ever since she was young.
Mirabel felt something disappear from her. The pain from her past finally healed for good. The Madrigals were far from perfect, it was true. But they would love and accept Oscar no matter what. Never again would one of their own be ostracized for something they couldn’t control. History would not repeat itself.