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Chapter Text

Chapter One: Dinner

Mariano observed as Dolores whispered something to Camilo, who quickly shapeshifted into Mirabel and then into who he believed was supposed to be Bruno, before shifting back into himself only with his eyes wonky and mouth ajar.

"Camilo," Felix snapped leaning over to his son, "Fix your face." No questions about what was wrong, just to fix his face. Were sudden transformations really that common? Camilo shook his face and his eyes and mouth returned to normal. Was getting stuck between transformations normal? There was so much he didn't know about this family and he was marrying into it.

Camilo leaned forward and whispered something into Felix's ear, causing him to spray water across the table. Mariano let out a squeak of surprise as he was hit. Alma Madrigal glanced at Felix, fixing him with a dark look before calling out, "Mirabel." she called out, "Can you pass the cream please."

Was it just him or had Mirabel jumped and appeared to shrink into herself a little when her Abuela called out to her. What was that about?

"Pa, the cream?" Mirabel sounded nervous, and Agustin certainly was nervous when he passed his daughter the cream, but why had Alma asked Mirabel to pass the cream when it was next to Augustin.

Mariano accepted the bowl of cream from Isabela flashing her a smile, even though he noticed that her's didn't quite reach her eyes. Something was obviously wrong. A sudden crash of thunder filled the air. Pepa was upset, angry even, as Alma snapped at her for the cloud. What was the problem with the cloud, she controls the weather with her emotions. Shouldn't she be asking her what was wrong, not yelling at her for the cloud?

Pepa leaned over and whispered something into her sister's ear. Mariano watched as she sent a concerned look towards her youngest, who… ducked under the table. Hiding? Pepa was upset, the cloud proved that, had Mirabel done something to upset her Tia? Was that what was going on?

"Mirabel?" he called out.

Mirabel jumped up, bumping her head on the bottom of the table before reappearing. So maybe she wasn't hiding? "Everything okay?" he asked, the way she had diverted her eyes when her mother looked at her, the way she had jumped when her Abuela called her name. The way she ducked under the table. Whatever was going on had something to do with her.

The way Augustine intervened, the way they quickly changed the topic, made him even more concerned, if he was going to become a member of the Madrigal family he was going to need to be let in on the family secrets. Mirabel had moved Isabela so that she was facing him. He could feel the tension, it was awkward. Something was going on.

He turned to his mother, wondering if she had any idea of what was going on. All she did was mention that he was planning on singing a song she even mentioned about everyone here having a talent. She then asked Luisa if she could bring over the piano.

You would have to have been blind and deaf to not hear the strain in her voice, the tears on her face and the concerned looks on Mirabel and Agustin's faces, or the way Mirabel insisted that he sing after, tipping him out of his chair.

He shrugged just going with it, was this just a Madrigal thing, if so what was he getting into? He started but paused when Mirabel did a head dive into the corner spreading out onto the tile floor, no doubt trying to hide the crack forming beneath her. Wasn't that what she was trying to warn Alma about yesterday during Antonio's gift ceremony? When Alma had insisted that Mirabel had had too much to drink?

"You're doing great, keep going," Mirabel insisted, gesturing at him to continue.

He turned back to Isabela, only to see her with an angry look on her face, an angry glare that she quickly hid behind her smile. He started to speak again when there was a sudden thud as Luisa showed up, dragging the piano, dropping it just inside the room before bursting into tears.

"No!" Mirabel screamed, suddenly diving under the table, and with that shout, all mayhem broke free. Luisa fell to the ground and just sobbed, lightning and thunder crashed overhead startling Antonio's toucan friends, which flew around in a panic.

Dolores clasped her hands over her ears before shouting, "Mirabel found Bruno's last vision, she's in it, she's going to destroy the magic, and we are all doomed!" she yelled.

The next thing he knew a plant popped up in front of him and punched him in the nose. He grabbed his nose in surprise as it throbbed in pain. Isabella shot up from her seat, stormed over to where Mirabel was standing against the wall, and slapped her, hard across the face.

"Look at what you did to Mariano!" she screeched, "I hate you!" she spun on her heels and stomped out of the room, sliding past Luisa, who was still on the floor and the piano still in the doorway.

"Isa…" Julieta started to call out, but Alma raised a hand, silencing her.

Alma shot her oldest a look, silencing her, before turning to her youngest granddaughter, "I don't know why you didn't get a gift, but that does not give you the right to hurt this family. You are to go to the Nursery, and you are going to stay there until you stop whatever it is you are doing! Do you understand?"

"But I'm not doing any… aah," Mirabel's protest turned into a cry of pain as Abeula grabbed her by her ear and dragged her away, "Please, Abuela, I would never hurt the familia, never."

If this was how the Madrigal family acted in front of guests… Mariano wasn't sure that he wanted to marry Isabela or be a part of the Madrigal family. He honestly wondered if Felix and Augustine realized how messed up the family was when they married in or did it get this messed up after they married in? No wonder Bruno left. He was honestly surprised that Julieta and Pepa hadn't left, considering what he just witnessed.

…

Mirabel stumbled as she was shoved, (Shoved!) into the nursery by her Abuela, who glared down at her, "I don't know why you didn't get a gift," she insisted, "But this has got to stop! You have no right to hurt the familia, to hurt Casita as you have."

"But Abuela…" Mirabel exclaimed, trying to scramble to her feet at the same time she was trying to get as far away from Abuela as possible, from the pure look of hatred pouring out of Abuela's face. Towards her.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses, Mirabel, I've put up with them for ten years now, they need to stop."

"But," Mira continued.

"You are to stay in this room, you are not to have any contact with the Familia until Casita stops cracking and Luisa's gift returns." Abuela pulled the door shut once more.

Mirabel stared in disbelief as she heard the distinctive sound of a key turning in the lock. She was locked in, how was she supposed to help the familia, how was she supposed to save the miracle when she was locked up in the nursery?

…

Abuela carefully pocketed the key to the nursery before turning around, to find her oldest glaring daggers at her.

"Mama, you are being way too hard on Mirabel," she announced, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm doing what I need to do to protect the miracle."

Julieta's eyes flashed in a way that Alma only ever had seen in Pepa's before, in a way that had always been accompanied by a loud crash of thunder, "Maybe you need to stop worrying about that… that… Stupid…candle, and worry more about your familia, because you already lost Bruno…"

"We do not talk about Bruno!" Alma interrupted.

"Well too bad, because I'm going to talk about Bruno and you are going to listen because I'm starting to think that he had the right idea."

"What are you talking about?"

"Leaving Mama, I'm talking about leaving," Julieta announced, "If things don't change around here, Agustin and I will take our girls and leave."

"What do you expect me to do? Just let Mirabel run wild and destroy everything I worked so hard to build?"

"I expect you to treat Mirabel like everyone else in this family," Julieta announced, turning on her heels, "Now if you don't mind, I need to talk to Agustin."

Julieta walked off, meeting the concerned green eyes of her sister who had a cloud over her head, great she had an audience.

"Juli?" Pepa asked, reaching out to her.

Julieta shook her head, "I'm sorry Pepa, this is just something that I need to do."

"Where will you go?"

"Agustin's Padre has invited us to come to stay with him," Julieta murmured, "You are always welcomed to come to visit whenever you want to."

"Mama won't permit it," Pepa insisted.

Julieta shook her head, "If it truly gets bad enough that I do leave, Mama is going to discover that she has a whole lot more to worry about than just me leaving."

"What are you talking about?" Pepa asked.

"Look, Pepa, you and I both know that the villagers didn't really care when Bruno disappeared. I'm the closest thing to a doctor this town has. They're going to notice my absence, and I don't need Bruno's gift to know that they will ask questions."

"Mama will just say that you didn't care about the family and left like Bruno," Pepa pointed out.

"That's why you'll tell them what is really going on."

"And what is really going on?"

"That Mama and I have had a major disagreement and until we can come up with a compromise, I will not be associated with the Madrigal family. If an emergency pops up they are welcome to fetch me at Senor Gonzalez."

"As long as your gift still works," Pepa muttered, "We don't know what's going on with Luisa's gift and now Camilo is having problems with his."

"He is?" Julieta asked, her brow furrowed, "Maybe, I might be grasping at straws here, but maybe this thing with Casita and the miracle, and Mirabel, maybe it has something to do with the way that we treat her."

"What do you mean?"

"The cracks, Mirabel saw them last night during Antonio's gift ceremony," Julieta explained, "And Agustin pointed something out to me this afternoon after he went to get the pictures developed. You know the family picture that we took inside Antonio's room?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Mirabel wasn't in it, and we don't really know what that vision was about, it just showed Casita cracking and Mirabel standing in front of it. What if Mirabel isn't what's causing the cracking but the way that we treat her?

"What does that have to do with Camilo and Luisa losing their gifts?"

"Mirabel doesn't have one, so… what if… they're losing their gifts to… teach them a lesson about what it's like to be without a gift."

Chapter Text

Julieta almost felt guilty as she felt her mother’s eyes burning into her back as she opened her bedroom door and slipped inside. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned on it, letting out a deep sigh, “Soy una hija horrible.”

She opened her eyes and blinked, Agustin was looking at her with wide eyes, with Luisa basically draped across him as she bawled into his shoulder, “How’s Luisa doing?” she asked.

“Upset,” Agustin confessed, “She seems to think that because her gift is acting up that she’s a…”

“I’m a loser, Mama, I couldn’t bring the piano to the dining room like I was asked to, Abuela must be so disappointed in me.”

“She’s not blaming you,” Julieta assured her, “Even if she was it isn’t your fault.”

“But I can’t help the community without my gift,” Luisa muttered, “I can’t gather the donkeys or move the church, or reroute the river, I can’t do anything, and that just means that I’m useless.”

“No Luisa,” Julieta said, sitting down on the bed next to her, placing her arm around her daughter’s shoulder, “It doesn’t. I think you’re working too hard, you need to take a break.”

Luisa sniffed, giving her mother a watery smile, “That’s what Mirabel said, earlier today, right before I lost my gift. Maybe if I had listened to her, I would still have it.”

“Maybe,” Julieta said, “anyway, I’m glad you’re here, I want to talk to you about something.”

“What?” Luisa muttered from where she had her face buried into Julieta’s shoulder.

Julieta looked over Luisa’s head and made eye contact with Agustin, “What would you say to taking a vacation, just our family?”

Agustin rose an eyebrow, “Juli?”

Julieta nodded, knowing perfectly well what he was asking, they had actually mentioned it multiple times, but Julieta had never actually done more than talk about leaving.

“What do you mean just our family?” Luisa asked.

“Well, Me, Papa, and Mirabel are going, and you and Isa are welcomed to come with us if you want to.”

Luisa shifted so she could look up at her mother, “Where would we go?”

“Your Abuelo’s ganja,” Agustin interrupted, “He’s invited us all to come to stay with him for a while.”

“How long will the vacation be?”

“Well, that depends,” Julieta confessed, “I cannot, I will not stay in the same house as someone who is willing to treat one of mi hijas, one of mi ninas the way that your abuela treated Mirabel tonight. We will be leaving sometime tomorrow, once we can make arrangements, and will return when Abuela and I come to a compromise, although your abuela is going to find out that I am not budging on this.”

Luisa frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Abuela is not to be left alone with Mirabel at any time, and if I find out that she’s been mistreating you and Isabela as well, then, well there’s going to be a lot of words exchanged between your Abuela and me while your prima is securely in her room. I don’t want the village to hear about how I cussed out your Abuela.”

Luisa chuckled a little, leaning on her mother’s shoulder, “While you’re at it can you tell Senor Valdez to close his stupid burro pen. Every single day, without fail,” Luisa cried out, “He’s as bad as Rev. Perez with him constantly asking me to move the church so that the sun is shining through the stained glass windows at all times. Why do I have to move the church three times a day, every single day? Even on Sunday! And why can’t they build a new bridge instead of having me move the bridge around constantly? And those leaning houses, they’re just going to keep leaning unless they do something to fix the foundation instead of having me pushing them into place, every few days.”

Luisa froze, blinking as if surprised at the flow of words that had spilled from her as if a dam had just broken and all of her words had spilled out in a flash flood.

Julieta arched an eyebrow, surprised at this admission, “Have you talked to your abuela about this?” At Luisa’s nod, she demanded, “What did she say?”

“‘You were given your gift to help the community, so stop whining and help them. Honestly Luisa, stop being lazy.’ Then she muttered, ‘It’s bad enough that your sister is useless,’ under her breath, I don’t think she realized that I could hear her.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?” Julieta asked.

“I tried to Mama,” Luisa exclaimed, “But every time I got your attention, a villager came up with a bruise or a papercut, or something, and you had to turn your attention to them and then Abuela showed up with a list of things that the village needed my help with and by the time I was done with that, it was really, really late and I was exhausted, and I just plain forgot, and if you worked none stop, every single day, then you probably would expect me to work none stop every single day as well.”

Julieta blinked, “Well, young lady, I happen to think that you have a point, it isn’t right, you shouldn’t have to bend to every little whim the villagers have, and neither should I. I am really going to enjoy telling people to suck it up and deal with it. Especially those that think it’s great fun to get drunk, get in a fight, and have me heal them up before their wives can find out,” Julieta chuckled softly as she draped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder, “I think that you and I are going to have a really relaxing time at your abuelo’s place.”

Luisa chuckled, “Yeah, a hammock, a book, and a glass of lemonade, sounds wonderful.”

“Good you’re coming with us, and I give you permission to tell anyone at any time no, and no one, not even Abuela, can tell you else wise,” Julieta insisted, giving her hija a squeeze before turning tear-filled eyes to her husband, “Soy una madre horrible.”

“No you’re not Mama,” Luisa insisted, “You’ve just been busy, just like I’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been so busy that I didn’t notice that my hija was being overworked,” Julieta confessed, “Or that Abuela was physically attacking your Hermanita.”

“Abuela didn’t slap Mirabel, Isabela did,” Luisa pointed out.

“And Isabela and I are going to have a chat about that,” Julieta insisted, “I don’t care about what Mama says, Isabela is not ready for marriage.”

“Doesn’t help that Isabela and Mariano are practically strangers,” Agustin insisted, “Dinner was the first time that I’ve ever seen them together.”

“Really,” Julieta said, “How come you didn’t say anything.”

“Abuela told me not to worry about it, that it was for the good of the Encanto.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me that Mama was marrying my hija off to a complete stranger?”

“I assumed you knew and were okay with it.”

“Okay, that is it,” Julieta announced, standing up, “I am going to have a chat with Mama, and Isabela.”

…
“Tomorrow morning you need to go to the Guzman’s house with some of your Madre’s cooking, offer an apology to poor Mariano for the disastrous dinner. Hopefully, we can salvage this,” Abuela said, patting Isabela gently on the shoulder as she sat next to her on the couch in her room.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door and a sharp voice calling out, “Isa, we need to talk, it’s important.”

Abuela stood up from the couch, smoothing the front of her dress before walking over to the door, “Julieta you can talk to Isabela later, we are in the middle of discussing tomorrow’s plans.”

“Well, let me inform you of what is going to happen tomorrow,” Julieta announced, “Tomorrow morning Agustin and I are taking Luisa and Mirabel and leaving. Isabela, if you wish to join us, please be packed and ready to go after breakfast.”

“Isabela doesn’t want to leave,” Abuela insisted, “why should she, she’s about to marry the most eligible bachelor in the Encanto.”

“Actually Madre, I refuse to allow mi hija to marry a complete stranger…”

“Everybody knows Mariano.”

“No, everybody knows who Mariano is, they don’t all know Mariano.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Abuela insisted, “She’s fine with this arrangement, if she wasn’t she would have spoken up.”

“Would you have listened, Madre? Because you sure didn’t listen when Luisa was complaining about the villagers taking advantage of her. Which, by the way, ends now, and if Isabela and Mariano do get married, I will be there and I will object to the marriage. You need to start deciding what really is important because I am not afraid to cause a family scandal.”

“I don’t understand why you would drag the Familia name in the mud like this.”

“I’m not,” Julieta insisted, “You are, as for scandals, Senora Guzman is known to be a bit of a gossip. I can just imagine what she’s telling everyone in the village right now.”

“‘Senora Madrigal just grabbed the poor nina’s ear and dragged her off just because she was in one of… her son’s… old visions.’” Dolores stated, stopping behind Julieta, “‘If she’s willing to do something like that in front of guests, what happens behind closed doors?’ It’s already spreading like wildfire. There’s talk about launching an investigation. Fortunately, or unfortunately, those who have the authority to investigate don’t want to get on Abuela’s bad side. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard,” she finished quickly, before letting out a little squeak and walking away.

“Sounds like they aren’t talking about me at all,” Julieta pointed out, “I hope for Pepa’s sake that they don’t investigate, I would hate for them to take away Antonio and Camilo.”

“They wouldn’t take Camilo and Antonio,” Abuela insisted.

“Are you sure about that? You physically attacked Mirabel for no reason, you’ve got Luisa convinced that she’s completely useless unless she’s bending to everybody else's whims, you’re planning out Isabela’s whole life without letting her put in any input, and you’re trying to manipulate me into staying. According to the laws that you helped make, that is constituted as abuse, which is ground to have children removed.”

“What do you want from me!” Abuela demanded.

“I want you to leave mi hijas alone,” Julieta shouted, “Until you can prove that you can treat them like actual human beings and not tools to keep that candle of yours burning, my familia will not be associated with the Familia Madrigal!” Julieta took a deep breath, “I’m going to my room to pack,” she announced, “I would greatly appreciate it if you would please leave my familia alone.”

Chapter Text

Isabela could not sleep, each time she closed her eyes she would see her younger sister's face, tear-stained as she pleaded with Abuela, "Please, Abuela, I would never hurt the familia, never." as she had been dragged by the ear to the nursery. She should be mad at Mirabel, she ruined her proposal, yet, the look on her face as Abuela had dragged her off by the ear was one of pure terror.

She sighed, pulling herself up out of bed, she was getting nowhere laying in bed, listening to her hermanita's pleas echo through her mind. Maybe all she needed was a cup of tea, her Mama always kept a special blend made up to help anyone who needs it to relax and sleep. And Casita always has hot water ready for them no matter how late it was, and as long as Dolores's door was closed she didn't have to worry about waking someone up.

As she stepped out of her room she decided to scrap her waking anyone, Casita was working hard trying to get somebody's attention. Its tiles were clanking loudly on the roof. This thought was further confirmed when the tiles beneath her feet started to move, sliding her across the hall to a blue door that swung open.

"Casita," Isabela hissed, "I'm not allowed to go in there, no one is without Abuela's permission, not even Mama," boy did Mama and Abuela have a row when she had been informed about that new rule. In fact, Isabela had never seen her mama so mad before in her life as she did that evening. Something in her madre snapped when that announcement had been made. Tonight was their last night in Casita. They were heading to her Abuelo Gonzalez's place first thing in the morning. Tomorrow, for the first time in forever, she would be free from the expectation of being a perfect golden child. The first thing she was going to do was find a mud puddle and jump in it.

Casita lifted its tiles up and physically pushed Isabela into the room towards the open shutters. Isabela caught herself on the windowsill her train of thoughts upruptly cut off, "Honestly, if Abuela finds out about this…" she trailed off, noticing the empty bed and white piece of paper sitting on top of it.

She snatched it up, scanned it, and let it drop to the ground, "Casita, where is Mirabel?"

The shutters opened and closed and the tiles on the roof clanked, Isabela peered out past the window. Someone was climbing up onto the top of Bruno's tower, despite Casita's obvious attempts to stop her.

Isabela reacts instinctively, sending her vines out, grabbing hold of the figure's legs, and pulling her across the roof to the safety of the room. The figure tries to stop her, tries to grab hold of the tiles to stop her from being dragged backward, only for Casita to move, forcing them to let go.

…

Mirabel was almost to the top of Tio Bruno's tower when she felt something wrap itself around her ankle and yanked. She was being dragged, down, back to the nursery, but no, she couldn't, she had to save the miracle, she had to get Luisa her gift back. She has to do this. No one else can do this for her. The prophecy said that she was the one destroying the magic, well, she wasn't going to allow that to happen anymore. So why in the world was Isabela stopping her?

She grabbed hold of the tiles only for Casita to lift them up forcing her to let go, her head whacking against them as Isabela continued to pull her back into the nursery.

…

Isabela grimaced as Mirabel's head hit the tiles, she had not meant for that to happen, but at least it seemed to have stunned her sister enough that she could quickly pull her back into safety without her fighting.

Unfortunately, Mirabel regained her senses as she was pulled out over her desk, and she quickly reached out, grabbing a pair of scissors from the desk, and flicking them open.

It took a little while for Isabela to realize what Mirabel was thinking, long enough for her younger sister to angrily swipe the blade of the scissors across her wrist.

"No!" Isabela gasped, grabbing hold of her sister's arms, "Mira, stop! What do you think you are doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Mirabel snapped back, yanking her hand away, "I'm saving the miracle!"

"This isn't the answer Mira!"

"As if you actually care," her sister snarled, snatching up the scissors again, "You hate me, remember?"

"If I didn't care, why would I have stopped you from jumping?" Isabela asked, grasping the scissors tightly, "Ever thought of that?"

Mirabel froze, blinking for a second, "I ruined your engagement," she muttered, "Luisa's power's failing, the miracle is fading, Casita is cracking, and it's all because of me!" by now she was shouting at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I don't want to hurt the familia, I don't, I don't, but I don't know what I'm doing to hurt the magic," she sniffled slightly, "Abuela told me to stop, but I wasn't sure what to stop, so I figured…" she sighed, her whole body was shaking, "It wasn't like anybody would care."

"Wouldn't care?" Isabela demanded, easing the scissors out of her sister's hand, "Wouldn't care? I cared, I was terrified that I wouldn't reach you in time," she slowly sat the scissors down on the table, "How do you think that Mama and Papa would have felt." she plopped down on Mirabel's bed, pulling her sister down with her, "What about Antonio? What if he had been the one to find your body? They would have been devastated." By now Isabela had managed to wrap her sister in a tight hug, firmly pressing her into her side, "We love you, Mirabel, and I'm sorry I haven't shown it properly. I'm sorry that I've ever made you think that I didn't care because I do. I really do. Te amo, te amo tanto."

Mirabel let out a sob, burying her head in her sister's shoulder, clinging tightly to her, "Abuela wouldn't have cared, she would have been happy that I was gone because that meant that I couldn't harm the miracle anymore."

Isabela held her sister tightly, feeling a knot twist itself into her chest because this time she couldn't argue with Mirabel, this time she thinks that Mirabel was right, and it scared her. Because if Abuela doesn't care about Mirabel, does that mean she didn't really care about her?

Isabela sat on the bed, holding her sister as she let all her heart sickness out on her shoulder, her nightgown would probably never be the same again, and she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the fact that her hermanita was sitting next to her, still breathing, heartbeat still going, if a bit erratically.

Finally after what felt like hours, but what was actually only twenty minutes or so Mirabel let out a single sniff, and pulled herself up, eyes bloodshot and cheeks tear-stained, "Lo siento, hermana mayor, arruiné tu camisón."

"Clothes are replaceable," Isabela insisted, "You aren't," Isabela shifted, taking a good look at her hermanita, there were marks on her arms from the scissors, her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot with large bags under them, and on her forehead, where she had hit the tiles on the roof, was a large goose egg, "Come on, that bump looks nasty, let's go get Mama."

"Are you going to tell Mama what happened?" Mirabel asked, sounding so small and afraid.

"One of us is going to have to," Isabela insisted, "This is serious Mira, Mama has to know."

"She'll be mad," Mirabel muttered, "I don't want her to get mad."

"All she'll care about is that you're safe," Isabela insisted, "That's all that matters."

Mirabel frowned, "Can we just not mention this to anybody."

"Lo siento, Mirabel, but this is serious, what would have happened if Casita hadn't gotten me?"

"I'm pretty sure that we already established the fact that I would have jumped," Mirabel pointed out, "Wish you had let me," she muttered to herself as her hermana dragged her up off the bed and out into the hallway.

"Don't worry, I'll do the talking," Isabela explained.

"Do we have to go to Mama?" Mirabel asked.

"Yes," Isabela insisted, stopping in front of their mother's door, "I have three good reasons to go to Mama, one, you're hurt; two, I can't trust you on your own, you'll just climb up again; three, I don't really know how to help you but Mama probably does."

Mirabel just looked at Isabela for a second, before nodding, as Isabela lifted her hand and pounded on the door, "Mama, Mama come quick!" she probably didn't need to add the last part, but she did know that this was an emergency and she really needed her mother before Mirabel changed her mind, she might not be able to talk her down a second time.

...

Julieta wasn't sure what woke her, probably Luisa shifting in her sleep on the trundle bed that they had pulled out for her when she had asked, quietly and meekly, if she had to leave the room, afraid of meeting her abuela in the hall. "She'll start lecturing me," she had muttered, "I just can't handle that right now."

Agustin had immediately pulled out the trundle bed and made it up while Julieta had escorted Luisa to her room, where they had packed her things up, Julieta hadn't even questioned her when she hadn't wanted to pack any of her dumbbells. Or when she had trouble picking what books to bring.

Julieta rolled over glancing at where the trundle was, Luisa was slightly snoring, an arm draped over a worn-out stuffed unicorn. It wasn't Luisa then.

"You awake Mi Amor?" a soft voice murmured next to her.

"Did I wake you?" she hissed.

"I don't think so, I just have this feeling..."

"That something's wrong?"

"Yeah."

"Mama," Isabela's voice called out as there was a sudden pounding on the door, "Mama, come quick!"

Julieta shot up, grabbing her robe as she rushed toward the door.

Chapter Text

“Mama!” Isabela’s voice filtered through the door, “Mama come quick!”

Julieta shot up, grabbing her robe as she rushed towards the door.

The loud pounding caused Luisa to stir, “What’s going on Mama?” she asked sleepily, sitting up on the bed, her stuffed unicorn dropping beside her.

“I don’t know, it’s your hermana,” Julieta explained, pulling on her robe before opening the door a crack, “Isa…” she trailed off, at the sight of her youngest huddled in on herself, “Mira, What’s going on here?”

Isabela shifted, “Mama,” she said, drawing her attention from her youngest. Her oldest was dressed in a nightgown, one that was decidedly wet and had green slime on one shoulder, as if someone had had a really good cry on it, “I just pulled Mira from off the top of Bruno’s tower, she was planning on jumping.”

“What!” Julietta exclaimed, grabbing her youngest, taking her in, she was still in her nightgown, her hair frizzing everywhere, her glasses askew with a large welt on her forehead and angry red marks on her wrists, “What were you thinking? What if Isabela hadn’t been around to stop you? Do you know how much it would hurt us if you had succeeded? It would have been worse than when your Tio left. Way worse.”

Mirabel found herself for the second time that night in a warm embrace, not a quick hug, but a warm embrace, something her mother didn’t often have time for, and she melted into it, warm, safe, and loved. She didn’t even notice when Isabela joined the hug, letting out a large sob once she was safely tucked into their mother’s side.

Neither one of them noticed their mother pulling them into her room. Or her signaling to their father to close the door.

Mirabel did hear, however, her father’s voice, “What’s going on?”

“Isabela just stopped Mirabel from jumping,” Julieta whispered, glancing down at the two girls tucked in at her side.

“What!” a sharp voice drew all of their attention to Luisa, whom Julieta had forgotten was in the room at the moment she had been handed this newest family crisis. Was this her reward for always playing Mediator between Bruno and Pepa when they were kids? All the family drama heaped onto her side of the family because she didn’t get involved in it as a teenager?

Julieta released Mirabel from her grip before Luisa could accidentally hurt her as she yanked her away, “Are you okay?” she demanded, “Why didn’t you talk to me, you always talk to me about these kinds of things, I could have talked you out of it again.”

Julieta stole a glance at Augustin, did Luisa just say again? They were going to have to question her about that later, once things calmed down some.

“I couldn’t,” Mirabel insisted, “Abuela told me to stay away from you because I was causing you to lose your gift,” she sniffled, “I was going to save it, but Isabela stopped me.”

“I’ve already told you, that wasn’t the answer!” Isabela snapped.

“Then what is the answer?” Mirabel demanded

“I don’t know, I just know that throwing yourself off Bruno’s tower isn’t the answer.”

“Isa’s right,” Luisa spoke up, squeezing her hermanita tightly in her arms, “That wasn’t the answer.”

“What exactly happened?” Julieta asked, turning to her oldest who was angrily swiping at her eyes.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Isabela confessed, “So I was going to make myself some tea, but when I stepped out into the hall, Casita pretty much threw me into the Nursery and there was a note on Mirabel’s bed and she was climbing up to the top of Bruno’s Tower, so I sent my vines up after her and pulled her down. Once I got her calm enough, I brought her here."

Julieta's whole body trembled as Agustin wrapped a supportive arm around her, "What are we going to do, Mi amor?"

"I don't know Juli," he murmured, before turning to his youngest, who was still cuddled in her sister's arms, "Miraboo," he called out softly, kneeling down next to the trundle bed so that he was face to face with her.

Mirabel wanted to turn her head, look away, anywhere but at her papa's pained face, tears streaming down his cheeks unchecked, but she couldn’t because while that pained look caused her insides to twist into a knot with guilt, it also made her feel warm and wanted. Her parents really did care.

"Why?" Augustin's voice cracked as a sob broke free, "Why?"

"Abuela told me to stop," Mira muttered, "I wasn't sure what I needed to stop, so I kind of figured that I'll…"

"Stop everything?" Augustin suggested, reaching over and gently wiping a stray tear from Mirabel's cheek.

"Yeah, if… if I was gone, you and Mama wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. I wouldn't be the useless, pathetic excuse of a Madrigal."

"No, Mira, hush now," Agustin insisted, wrapping his arms around his youngest, “We love you just the way you are, comprender?”

Mira sniffled, leaning back against Luisa, “Comprender,” she muttered, “Te amo Papi.”

“Te quiero cariño.”

Julieta took a deep breath, trying to force her swirling brain into forming some sort of intelligent thought. Her oldest was clinging onto her, her breathing suddenly hitching now that she was not the adult in charge of the crisis that she had prevented. Her youngest was curled up in her father’s lap, allowing him to gently rub her back as he muttered sweet things to her.

“Mama?” Luisa’s voice quivered as she climbed out of the bed, “Are you okay?”

And then there was Luisa and what she had said, “I could have talked you out of it again,” as in this wasn’t the first time Mirabel had contemplated suicide, might not have even been the first time that Mirabel had tried.

"Mama?" Luisa asked again.

"I think I'm going to go make us some tea, and maybe something to eat," Julieta said her voice quivering. There was something therapeutic about working in the kitchen. It always calmed her down and helped her think.

…

Pepa stared absently into the cup of tea in front of her. It was cold by now, but she really couldn't be bothered to dump it out. Julieta was leaving sometime tomorrow, and just like that, she had lost her only remaining sibling. She knew her Mama, she had immediately initiated the “We don’t talk about Bruno,” the moment it become clear that Bruno was gone and not coming back. They weren’t even sure that Bruno was alive. Now Julieta was leaving, and she was certain that the moment that Julieta walked out the door, Mama was going to announce that ‘We don’t talk about Julieta.’

She took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh. She and Felix had talked about leaving on multiple occasions, but they never actually set a date on which to move or told her mother that she was considering it as Julieta had. She had her reasons to stay, her siblings, for one, but that excuse was gone now, and Dolores. Dolores relied so much on her special room to manage and coop with her gift. If they left… they’d either have to leave Dolores behind, something she refused to do, or take away the one place in the whole world where Dolores could relax.

“I don’t know if I should be glad or upset to know that I’m not the only one having a long night,” a new voice announced as Julieta entered the room, her graying black hair loose around her shoulder.

Pepa sighed, “There’s a lot to think about, what with you and Agustin leaving tomorrow.”

Julieta nodded sighing as she plopped down next to her hermana, “We probably aren’t going to come down for breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Boycotting breakfast, Mama’s not going to like that.”

“I’m passed caring what that b**** thinks,” Julieta insisted, “As far as I care she can make her own breakfast.”

Pepa blinked large green eyes, was that actual venom in her sweet older sister’s words, “What’s wrong? I know that you are upset with Mama, but I have never heard you swear before in my life.”

“And I’ve never had Isabela knocking on my door in the middle of the night after stopping Mirabel from jumping off the top of Bruno’s Tower before.”

“What!” Pepa shouted as thunder crashed overhead, a black cloud forming over her head.

“What’s worst,” Julieta confessed, “From what Luisa said, this wasn’t a one-time thing. Luisa knew that her younger sister was dealing with suicidal thoughts for who knows how long, and she never told me.”

They were sitting in their own little thunderstorm, soaked to the bone. Pepa couldn’t believe this, “Why didn’t Luisa speak up, why didn’t Dolores?”

“I don’t know, but I can guess,” Julieta said with a sigh, “They probably tried to tell me, but I was so busy I didn’t really listen to them, and Ma… Alma has them conditioned not to talk about certain things.”

Pepa let out a low whistle, calling their mother by her first name was the ultimate form of disrespect, “That bad huh?”

“You might want to have a conversation with your family, I’ve only really had a heart-to-heart with Luisa, and what I’ve heard… Pepa, I’m thinking about pressing charges. She’s been emotionally abusing Luisa, and we both saw her physically attack Mirabel, I haven’t talked much to Isabela, Ma… Alma intervened before I could, and I haven’t talked to Mirabel at all, except about what just happened. I know that there won’t be much done with the charges, not with Alma basically owning Encanto. She probably won’t get more than a slap on her hand and a stern, ‘No, no,’ but…”

“But at least they’ll listen to you, somewhat, and do something, Dolores told me that the Guzman’s informed the authorities and they refused to do anything about it.”

“She told me that as well,” Julieta confessed, “That’s kind of why I feel like I have to do something. I mean I know what everyone is going to say. ‘How dare you take your own Madre to court’, but somebody has to, and it’s starting to look like I’m the only one in this entire Encanto that isn’t scared of her.”

“No,” Pepa announced, “To be honest, Felix and I have talked many times about leaving.”

“Why haven’t you, I know how hard Ma… Alma has been on you.”

“I didn’t want to leave you, especially after Bruno left,” Pepa confessed, “That and Dolores’s room, it’s soundproof, the only room in the entire Encanto that is. If we leave, Dolores won’t be able to escape from the noise.”

“Maybe you can figure something out, you’re Ma… her golden child now, you have to be, you’re the only one that isn’t causing grief for her.”

“As if I’m not going to cause grief,” Pepa snorted, “Juli, I’m with you a hundred percent, I’m not staying in Casita for Mama, but for Dolores, and don’t worry about if they investigate, I’m laying down some new rules tomorrow morning that Mama isn’t going to like.”

Chapter Text

As soon as Julieta left the room, Agustin turned to his youngest, "What did Luisa mean by 'again'?"

Mirabel shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at her older sister, “This wasn’t my first attempt.”

“What was?” Agustin asked, gently stroking Mirabel’s back.

“You’ll get mad,” Mirabel insisted.

“No, Mira, I promise, I won’t get mad at you, but I need to know. When was your first attempt?”

“It was my tenth birthday and everybody forgot!” Mirabel wailed.

…March 6th 1944…

Mirabel jumped up out of bed eagerly, she couldn’t wait for tonight, sure her birthday wasn’t as big of a deal as the other kids' birthdays, not even that of Camilo three months ago, but that was okay. She didn’t really have any friends to invite for a birthday party even if Abuela offered her one. Which wasn’t going to happen, but Mama always made her a cake and she always found a little present in her room at the end of the day besides what Mama and Papa gave her. She didn’t know who the mystery gift giver was, but it was nice, to say the least, that they remembered her.

She quickly got dressed, throwing on her dress and glasses, before racing downstairs, she’ll grab some breakfast, help make her lunch for school, and head out for the day. It was a simple enough routine, and through it all, she will accept the good wishes of her family.

Mama wasn’t in the kitchen, Abuela dished her up a bowl of oatmeal and dropped it in front of her plain, Mama always added a large dollop of honey in her’s for her.

“Where’s Mama?” Mirabel asked, poking at the gray blob in the bowl with her spoon.

“Helping your Tia,” Abuela snapped, “Now eat that all up and get to school!”

“Is it the baby?” Mirabel asked, eyes sparkling, “Is it coming, is it a boy or a girl?”

“Don’t be so stupid,” Isabela snapped, “It’s way too early for the baby to come, it would die if it did.”

“Isabela, a lady doesn’t use the word ‘stupid’,” Abuela insisted, “As for your Tia, the baby is having some trouble, she’ll probably have to stay in bed for the rest of her pregnancy.”

“Oh,” Mirabel said slowly, “I hope the baby’s going to be okay.”

“Eat your breakfast.”

There had been no happy birthday wishes throughout breakfast, but that was okay. It was still early, they had time to remember, but just in case.
“Luisa, do I look different today?” she asked as she trudged next to her older sister on the way to school.

“No, why, did you add something more to your skirt?” Luisa asked.

“No,” Mirabel said with a sigh, “I was wondering if I look… taller… older maybe?”

Camilo snorted, “Why do you want to know that?”

“I just do.”

“She has a crush on Juan,” Dolores announced, “Probably wants to look nice for him.”

Mirabel groaned, why or why did Dolores have to bring that up, Juan was twelve, he was cute and nice, one of the few people in town that was nice to her, of course, she had a crush on him. That didn’t mean that her prima should have brought it up in front of everyone on the way to school.

“As if you have a chance with Juan,” Isabela scoffed.

Camilo snickered, transforming into the older boy, “Oh Mirabel, I don’t care if you’re the most useless, most pathetic of all the Madrigals,” Dolores slapped her brother on the upside of his head, “Ow, why you did that for.”

“Do you want me to tell Mama that you’ve been bullying Mirabel again?” Dolores asked, “We need to set a good example to the village, remember, everyone looks up to us because we’re Madrigals.”

Just like that, everyone’s attention was off Mirabel as they ignored her. Luisa wandered off to help someone move a wagon, Camilo went to the aide of a tired mother. He wasn’t allowed to be alone with anyone younger than him, even if he was in the form of someone else, but all she had needed was a few minutes on her own to open up shop for the day. Isabela decorated the square with her perfect flowers and Dolores went to help find a little toddler.

“Can you tell my teacher that I’ll be late,” Dolores whispered as she hurried away, leaving Mirabel to walk to school alone. Mirabel hated being alone, especially in town, that was when things got bad for her.

…
By the time she had gotten to school, her homework had been stolen from her by Carmen, and her lunch by Pedro, she also had a black eye thanks to Carlos, who assumed that the reason that the sky was stormy was because of her, not because her Tia was six months pregnant at the time.

She told the teachers that the others had got hung up in town, which was totally fine and couldn’t be helped. When Camilo finally showed up for class, he had just been able to slip into his desk and borrow the notes from his friends. It must be nice having a gift, the few times she had been late she had been made to stay in at recess. All Camilo had to do was flash a smile, say he was helping out around town, and skip merrily out to recess. Mirabel had been forced to stay in because she had not turned her homework in and was forced to redo it instead. 

Well, she couldn’t really call this a bad day, this was pretty much a normal day, but she had hoped that she would have a good day.

…Present day…

“Getting your homework and lunch stolen and having to stay in from recess was a normal day?” Isabela interrupted.

Mirabel shrugged, “Pretty much, I’m use of it.”

“You told me they stopped,” Luisa gasped, “Why would you lie to me?”

“You… were making things worse, they would wait for you to be busy elsewhere, and… you couldn’t protect me all the time, and when I wasn’t with you it was worse, way worse.”

“Why didn’t you tell Mama or Papa?”

“They told me to ignore them, or avoid them,” Mirabel said, giving her shrug once more.

Agustin felt sick to his stomach remembering well all the times Mirabel had complained about bullies. He had assumed that they had just been some of her classmates saying mean things, but this. Sure Carmen was her age, but Pedro was Isabela’s age, so would have been sixteen when he had stolen Mirabel’s lunch, and Carlos, Carlos was Mariano’s age, he would have been twenty years old, a grown man, picking on a little girl. If he had known it was a full-blown adult… no it shouldn’t have changed things, Mirabel had gone to him for help and he had turned her away. No wonder she didn’t feel like she could tell him about what was going on in her mind. Thank goodness for Luisa, but… “How did Luisa find out? From the way she was talking it sounded like she knew for a while.”

“Well,” Luisa paused long enough for a loud crash of thunder to crash overhead, “Tia knows,” she commented off-handedly, “Anyway, it was that night…”

… March 6th, 1944…

Mirabel fidgeted in her chair, this had to be it, after dinner there would only be a couple of hours of free time before it was time for baths and bed, surely now that Mama was done helping Tia Pepa, who had been told to stay in bed, for the time being, she would bake her favorite cake, wish her a happy birthday and present her with her birthday present. She hoped she got that cross stitch she had her eyes on, It would turn into a beautiful quilt with different colored butterflies flying around. It was all she had asked for because it was the only thing she knew she would get. 

Yet, Mama and Papa didn’t wish her a happy birthday, and they had enchiladas for dinner, with mushrooms, Mama knew that she didn’t like mushrooms, but that was okay, she hadn’t had time to ask Mirabel what she wanted for her birthday meal. There would still be dessert, a triple chocolate fudge cake like she had every year for as long as she could remember.

“Okay,” Julieta said, pushing herself away from the table, “Who is ready for dessert.”

Mirabel perked up, here it came, her cake with ten cheerful candles burning, and everyone would sing happy birthday to her and it would be wonderful.

Julieta soon returned with coconut fudge cookies, fresh from the oven. Mirabel’s heart dropped, as she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from forming, coconut, coconut, she was allergic to coconut. The last time she had eaten coconut had been two years ago when she had a coconut candy. She had broken out in a rash, and it was hard to breathe, and Mama had shoved an arepa down her throat as fast as she could and had told her to stay away from coconut from then on.

Her Mama knew that she was allergic, that’s why she always had a different treat for her when she did make something with coconut for the other kids.
“Here you go,” Julieta said, placing the tray down. No sooner had it touched the table did Camilo climb on top of the table to grab one.

Julieta turned to look at Mirabel, “Oh, Mirabel, I’m sorry I forgot.”

Mirabel straightened, at this point, she would settle for a happy birthday.

“I didn’t make anything for you, but I believe that there might be some of those chocolate chip arepas left over from yesterday, you can have one of those.”

Mirabel’s face dropped, her Mama had forgotten that she was allergic to coconut, that was understandable, she had a lot of other people to worry about.

“Honestly Julieta, it is high time you stop giving Mirabel special treatment, either she eats what the rest of us eat, or she goes without. She’s almost nine years old, she needs to stop being so picky.”

Almost nine, almost nine. They had forgotten her birthday, Abuela didn’t even know how old she was.

“Mama, Mirabel is…”

Whatever it was Julieta was going to say was cut off as Mirabel got down from the table, “It’s okay Mama, I didn’t want dessert anyways.”

They had forgotten, the whole family had forgotten that it was her birthday. She rushed out of the room, if her mama caught her crying she would ask what was wrong, and then Mama and Papa would feel guilty and Abuela would call her selfish and a cry baby to care about a little thing like a birthday.

She crumbled in the kitchen, crying, she knew that Dolores could hear her, but she didn’t care, in fact, she was careful so that she didn’t let on what was really going on. She wanted to be remembered, not pitied.

“Right,” Abuela said cheerfully, “It’s Abuelo’s birthday next week, Julieta, I want to go over the menu, okay?”

“Yes, of course, Mama,” Julieta agreed, “Let me just clean up here, and then I’ll come find you.”

Abuelo got a birthday and she didn’t? That wasn't fair, he was dead, and she was just a little girl. Well, not too little, but still. How was Abuelo any different than she was. He never had a gift and he was dead. Yet Abuela and everyone she knew loved him. Just like they used to love her, yet he was dead and she was alive. Maybe that was the key to it all. They loved Abuelo because he was dead. If she was dead they would love her as well!

…Present day…
Isabela burst into laughter, “That is the worse reasoning I have ever heard.”

“Hey, I was ten alright?” Mirabel protested, “I know better now, but I still sometimes wonder…”

“Laugh all you want Isa,” Luisa interrupted somberly, “That reasoning’s how I ended up finding her with a rope tied around her neck prepared to jump off the upstairs balcony.”

“What?”

…March 6th, 1944…

Luisa should be reading her new library book, winding down after a long day of school and chores, but she couldn’t take her mind off Mirabel, she had looked like she had been about to cry when Mama had brought out the cookies, and she knew that Mirabel was allergic to coconut, after all, she had been the one to give her that piece of coconut candy when she had had her bad reaction. But Mama always offered Mira something else when she couldn’t have dessert. 

Had Mirabel decided against having dessert because of what Abuela had said. Surely she knew about the allergy? Mama had gathered all of the children together and told them all what allergies were and what they did, and told them that they, especially Isabela and Dolores as the oldest two, needed to make sure that Mirabel didn’t get any coconut. Surely Mama had done the same with the adults.

In fact, she knew for a fact that Mama had told the adults because she remembered seeing Tio Felix stopping Mirabel from buying the tropical cream obeleas, before asking what was in it. Then he had guided her into buying a strawberry and cream one instead. So why didn’t Abuela know?

She sighed, shaking her head, before glancing at her calendar, when was that book report due anyways? She stared at the calendar in alarm, she just solved the mystery of why Mirabel was so upset at dinner. This was horrible. She had to be the worst Hermana Major ever. She had forgotten her Hermanita’s birthday. She even had a present for her. All wrapped up and waiting for the birthday party. A birthday party that never happened.

She glanced at her alarm clock, it was still relatively early, eight o clock, everyone was having some downtime while the two youngest got ready for bed. Maybe, due to the fact that it was her birthday, she could have a sleepover with her in her room.

Leaving her room, no one was about, everyone was relaxing in their rooms or downstairs finishing up chores or doing homework, except for someone who was doing something to the balcony railing just outside of the nursery.

“Mirabel,” Luisa called out, walking up to her, Casita adding her in speeding her up, which wasn’t a good sign, “What are you doing?”

“Making people love me,” Mirabel announced, tugging on the rope to make sure that the knot was secured.

“How are you planning on doing that?”

“Simple, everybody loves Abuelo because he’s dead, so if I was dead, everybody would love me as well.”

Luisa’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, she did not just hear her little sister say that. Oh please have Dolores hear that, please have her send Mama up. She didn’t know what to do. Think, Luisa, think, “You do realize that if you die you won’t ever be able to come back, right? You won’t get to meet the new baby, or…” Luisa paused for a moment, “Or have a fun birthday sleepover in my room tonight,” she announced, before leaning forward, “I’ll even let you ride the big roller coaster,” she whispered, “And we’ll do this anytime you start having those thoughts okay. Anytime you start thinking that the familia will love you more if you were dead, or if you start thinking that we’ll be better off without you, or anything like that. You come get me, okay, and I’ll help chase those thoughts away. Because those are bad thoughts okay.”

…Present day…

“Luisa, why didn’t you come and get us?” Agustin asked.

“It wasn’t Luisa’s fault,” Mirabel piped up, “I asked her not to tell.”

“I promised her that I wouldn’t tell as long as she didn’t attempt suicide again.”

“And have you attempted Suicide since then?”

“I can answer that question,” Isabela said.

“I meant before tonight?”

“Well, um, maybe?” Mirabel said slowly, “I really was crossing the river on some stepping stones and slipped, but I didn’t really try to get out. I kind of wanted to drown, you know, I just figured it would be better than having to deal with Abuela afterward,” Mirabel shuddered at the mere thought of a confrontation with her grandmother. I had just made up my mind that I should just drown when Tio grabbed me and pulled me to shore.”

“She told me later that night that she wished that she had drowned, but we talked about it, everything was good,” Luisa had insisted.

“And what if Tio Felix hadn’t been there, Luisa?” Agustin asked, “What if Casita hadn’t gotten Isabela tonight? Mirabel could have killed herself and we wouldn’t have known what was going on.”

“I thought that I had it under control,” Luisa insisted.

“No Luisa, you should have told us, there are some things we could have done to keep Mirabel safe.”

“Like what?” Mirabel asked.

“Well,” Agustin said, “I’m sorry Mirabel, but I can’t trust you to be alone at all. Once your mama gets back, we’ll work out a schedule so that someone is with you at all times. At least for the next little bit.”

…

Julieta shifted the tray she was holding so that she could give her sister a quick side hug, “Thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder,” she said.

Pepa nodded, muttering clear skies as her cloud over her head started to rain again, “What are sisters for, if not for emotional support in the middle of the night?”

“Well, I better go see if Agustin figured out what Luisa meant by ‘again’, though I don’t think I’ll like the answer.”

“You probably won’t,” Isabela insisted, appearing behind them in a fresh nightgown, “Is it okay if I sleep with you guys?” she asked, looking up at her mother.

Julieta nodded, “I’m sure we can find room for you and Mirabel as well. Come on Corazon.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Six:

Agustin woke up to a face full of dark curls. He spluttered a little before waking up enough to realize that it was Mirabel sleeping next to him, sandwiched between him and Julieta. For a second he was confused about what happened and how Mirabel ended up between them. Then it hit him. The dinner with the Guzmans, Dolores blurting out about the vision that Mirabel found, Alma physically attacking Mirabel. Luisa’s mental breakdown and confessions, and Isabela knocking on their door at one in the morning, Mirabel in tow and a confession that sent their world crashing down.

Agustin snatched his glasses off the nightstand and put them on and glanced down on the trundle bed next to him, Luisa and Isabela were both still fast asleep. Good, they had all had a horrible night and deserved to sleep in for once in their lives.

“Aggie?” Julieta asked sleepily, stirring on the other side of Mirabel, “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing Juli,” Agustin insisted, “I was just wondering, would you like me to go to my Padre’s place and ask him to bring the wagon? I’m not sure that we can carry all of the stuff that we’re taking, especially if Mirabel decides to take that sewing machine of hers with."

“Might be a good idea,” Julieta confessed, “Once we leave, I don’t think Ma… Alma will let us come back.”

“I’m sure if the door’s shut there’s always the window,” Agustin insisted, climbing out of bed.
…

Alma had gotten up earlier than normal, she figured if she got up and made breakfast for Julieta then Julieta would be less likely to actually continue with this foolish idea of hers to leave the family.

However, Julieta never showed up at her usual time, the table never got set, which made sense, Mirabel was still locked in the nursery, she would have to find someone else to do her chores until she stopped whatever it was she was doing that was harming the miracle. Honestly why was Julieta making such a big deal about this. It wasn’t that much of an ask. Stop harming the miracle, that was all.

Upstairs, Dolores appeared out of her room, paused for a second, and then knocked on her brothers’ doors. She then herded them into her parents room. That was strange, but to be honest she usually was one of the last people up. She was elderly, she needed her sleep. Maybe Pepa and Felix always have their children go into their room in the morning.

She remembered a time, when her own babies were little when they would burst into her room first thing in the morning, racing to see who could get to her first.
It was hard to believe that the same people who had fought over who got to their mama first were now threatening to leave. She had done everything in her power to keep the miracle strong. It wasn’t her fault that Julieta just couldn’t handle the truth.

Where was Julieta anyways? There was no sign of life upstairs now that Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio were securely in Pepa’s room. Well, she might as well let Mirabel out to use the bathroom well no one else was up. She didn’t want her to effect any more gifts after all.

She went up the stairs to the nursery, reaching into the pocket of her dress for the keys. Casita swung the door open.

Alma blinked at the opened door, she knew from experience that Castia could lock and unlock doors at will, but she always assumed it would only do so in emergencies or when a family member got locked out at night. Not unlocking the door to the nursery when it was locked for a reason.

The nursery itself was empty, there was no sign of Mirabel anywhere. “Honestly, Mirabel, you are far too old to play silly hiding games,” Alma called out, “You are allowed to go to the bathroom, but you must be back in the nursery in ten minutes.”

There was no response.

“Time starts now!”

Nothing.

Alma frowned, scanning the area for any sign of her granddaughter. Sure her granddaughter’s clothes were in the wardrobe, her sewing machine in the corner, but there was no sign that her granddaughter, who should have been locked in the room was there. Finally her eyes landed on a piece of white paper laying in the middle of the room as if it had been dropped.

She picked the paper up and started to read it, “Dear Familia, By the time you find this I’d have saved the miracle. Luisa’s gift should be back by now, and Casita should have stopped cracking. Mama, Papa I’m sorry I had to resort to such means as this, but I can’t allow myself to hurt the miracle, hurt the familia, even subconsciously, for I would never willingly, knowingly hurt the familia. Please don’t mourn me, I’m sure I’ll be happy with Abuelo, happier than I’ve been for a very long time. Take care of each other. Papa, watch out for those hives, and Mama, try to take a break from the kitchen every once in a while. Tia, it’s okay if you need to storm, keeping your emotions all bottled up isn’t good for you, just look at what happened to me if you don’t believe me. Tio, take Tia dancing, keep her happy, and do what you always do. Luisa, for goodness sake, learn to say no, I’m pretty sure that your gift going on the fritz is because you were overworking it. I’m sorry I broke my promise to you, but you see, this isn’t a bad thing, I’m doing it to save the familia. Dolores, please, speak up, you have an opinion and feelings just like the rest of us, you don’t just have ears, you have a voice, use it. Tell people what you want to tell them, not what they want to hear. Camilo, stop trying to be someone you’re not. You’re an amazing Primo, I’m sorry that we’ve drifted apart from each other since my gift ceremony, I don’t blame you. So don’t you dare blame yourself. That leaves Antonio, sweet sweet Antonio, the best roommate I could ever ask for. Don’t you ever change, and don’t listen to a word Abuela says, she likes making our lives miserable. Well I guess that I should address the rest of the familia as well, Tio Bruno, I know that you won’t ever read this letter, and I won’t be surprised if I meet you on the other side, but I understand perfectly what you went through. Isabela, I don’t really know what to say, only that I still love you, even if you hate me. Abuela, well, at least you don’t have to worry about me getting underfoot anymore. Well that’s everything I can think of to write, and I won’t get a chance to write again so, I guess this is good bye. If you want to find my body it should be on the ground near Bruno’s tower. Love, Mirabel.”

The letter slipped out of Alma’s hand, she couldn’t believe what she was reading. How dare Mirabel make her out to be a villain. What would the villagers say when they found out that Mirabel had committed suicide. From what Dolores said last night, they already were talking about what happened at dinner with the Guzmans, this could very well destroy her reputation.

Are you really more concerned about your reputation over the fact that Mirabel was so unhappy that she felt like the best course of action was suicide?

“Alma,” a voice asked as Agustin entered the room, “What are you doing here?”

“I figured that I would let Mirabel out to use the bathroom, and I found this note,” Alma said, handing it over, only then did she realized that Agustin had addressed her by her first name something he had never done, while he was dating Julieta, he referred to her as Senora Madrigal, when they first got married she was Mama, and then when the children arrived she was Abuela, never had she been Alma to him.

Agustin took the note, pocketing it, without so much of giving it a look, “Thank goodness for Casita’s quick thinking,” he announced, “He got Isabela in here in time to stop Mirabel.”

Mirabel was alive, thank goodness for that, that disastrous dinner with the Guzmans had ruined her reputation bad enough without having her granddaughter committing suicide on top of that. Why is your reputation so much more important than your granddaughter’s well-being?

“What are you doing here?” Alma demanded, trying to compose herself, “I thought I made myself clear, no one is allowed in the nursery.”

“I’m a grown man, Alma, I don’t need you to tell me what to do.”

“As long as you live under my roof you will live by my rules!”

“Well, that won’t be an issue after the next two hours,” Agustin said, “I’m headed to my Padre’s place, I’m bringing back his wagon. we’re loading our things up and headed, then none of us will have to listen to you again.”

…

It was a brisk half hour walk to the far side of the Encanto and Agustin wasn’t planning on wasting any time on it. However he was stopped almost immediately by one of Encanto’s resident drunks, “Hey, when’s your pretty wife going to open up her stand today?” he asked, “I can’t let my wife see me like this,” he insisted, pointing to a black eye.

“I’m afraid that Julieta’s not planning to open up her stall today,” Agustin confessed, “Family emergency you know.”

“Well, what am I suppose to tell my wife?” the drunk demanded, “She’s going to lecture me about getting drunk and picking fights. I need an arepa before she finds out.”

“I’m sorry, but Julieta made it quite clear last night that she was not opening the stand today. You’ll just have to deal with the consequences."

“We’ll see about that,” the drunk grumbled, “Where’s Senora Madrigal, when I tell her that Julieta’s being lazy, she’ll set her right.”

“Good luck with that,” Agustin muttered, “Warn Alma that Julieta is furious with her at the moment and to tread carefully,” he insisted, “She might just get a black eye to match
yours, and if you happen to make the mistake to be with her when it happens. Well, you won’t have to worry about your wife anymore, or anything at all.”

“Come on, this is Julieta we’re talking about, not Pepa.”

“I know.” Agustin insisted, “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

…

Senor Gonzalez was just finishing his morning chores, gathering eggs, milking the cow and feeding and watering all of the animals when he heard a shout out front, “Papa, you here?”

He frowned, recognizing the voice of his only son anywhere. What was Agustin Madrigal doing here? Normally he had to go over to that fancy home of theirs and beg them to come visit outside of the few days in the year that they always come for a visit, Father’s day, his birthday, his dear wife, Ana’s birthday, and the anniversary of Ana’s death, four times a year wasn’t too bad when you consider who they were and how busy they are. He was certain those Madrigal’s never took a day off, not even on Sunday or Christmas.

“Hijo? Is that you?” he asked, exiting the barn and heading to the front yard.

“Hi Pa,” Agustin said softly, sticking his hands awkwardly into his pockets, “You know how you’ve always told us that there will always be room for us here, if we ever need it?”

“Yes, son I do.”

“Well… when was the last time you went into town?”

“For the gift ceremony,” he confessed, “How is Mirabel doing? I know that it must have been pretty hard on her, but trying to ruin it for her Primo?”

“Actually, she was telling the truth, the whole dining room was cracking during the dinner with the Guzmans last night,” Agustin sighed loudly, that dinner with the Guzmans.

“That bad huh?”

“You have no idea,” Agustin said, “like I said the room was cracking, everyone’s gifts were acting up and, well you have to understand Mirabel found one of Bruno’s visions right before dinner, one involving her and the house cracking. Dolores overheard us talking about it, of course, and told everyone in the middle of dinner, that, let’s see, ‘Mirabel found Bruno’s last vision, she’s in it and she’s going to destroy the miracle and we are all doomed.’ That didn’t exactly go over too well.”

“That girl has no tact.”

“No, Pa, she doesn’t,” Agustin agreed, “But that isn’t the worst part. When Abuela heard that, she… well, she attacked Mirabel, dragged her off by the ear. Then Luisa had a mental breakdown, and long story short, we discovered that Alma was emotionally abusing the girls, as well as some physical abuse with Mirabel. Julieta is furious with Alma, especially when she looks back and realized that she had been abusing her the same way since she got her gift. She’s back at Casita helping the girls finish packing. We were wondering if we can stay with you, at least until we can figure out what to do next.”

Jorge Gonzalez let out a low whistle, “Of course son, any time, you want me to get the wagon?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“So,” Jorge asked, as he led his son over to the barn, “What about Pepa?”

“She’s planning on talking to her ninos this morning, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds out that there was some emotional abuse and manipulation going on with her side of the family as well. Unfortunately she can’t really do anything about it.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because of Dolores, she relies heavily on her room, it’s soundproof you know, It’s the only place she can truly relax and Pepa and Felix are reluctant to take that from her, or to leave her behind. However, Pepa mentioned something about laying down some new rules, so who knows.”

“But as long as they live under Alma’s roof, they have to obey Alma’s rules, anything else could be considered mutiny.”

“Maybe Dolores’s gift will fade like Luisa’s has, then they will be able to leave as well.”

…

“If you go with your mother, I will make sure that no young man would want you for a wife,” Alma informed her oldest grandchild, “You’re throwing away your future by going along with this.”

“Alma,” Julieta called, “I thought I made myself quite clear when I told you that I would not allow you to have any interactions with my hijas.”

“What did you just call me?”

“You heard me, Alma.”

“I’ve never been so insulted in my entire life, I am your Madre.”

“And I find learning that my own Madre has been physically and emotionally abusing my children to the point that they are actually considering suicide to be insulting. You have lost all respect from me, Alma. You should be grateful that I’m calling you by your first name and not what I called you when I was talking to Pepa last night. Unfortunately I make it a rule not to swear in front of my children.”

“You know, ‘Abuela’ I was going to leave even if Mama stayed,” Isabela announced, “I had my bags packed the moment you announced that Mariano was going to propose. If Mama hadn’t exploded and announced that we were leaving, I would be on the other side of the mountains right now and Mirabel would be gone because I wouldn’t have been here to stop her last night.”

Just then the town drunk stumbled into the room, “I need to talk to you,” he said, pointing at Alma, “Look at my face, all I wanted was a quick healing, and you know what I’m told, I’m told that Julieta isn’t going to go into the village at all today, and here I am in pain just wanting a quick fix.”

“Of course Senor, Julieta, stop this nonsense and get this man something to eat.”

“It’s a bruise, he’ll live,” Julieta said, before turning to her daughters, “Okay, what else have I been missing, Mirabel’s suicidal, and Isabela was on the verge of running away, Luisa, what have you not been telling me?”

“Umm, nothing?” Luisa insisted.

“That doesn’t sound like nothing to me,” Julieta said.

“Julieta,” Alma snapped, “I demand that you make this man something to eat this instant.”

“Shut up you ****,” Julieta snapped back, “I’m talking to my daughter, Luisa, you can tell me.”

“I don’t want to say it in front of her,” Luisa insisted, pointing at Alma with a shaky finger.

“Well, your Padre should be here soon with the wagon, but I will be learning what’s going on. You’re not in trouble, I just need to know so that we can help. No more secrets, that’s probably why Casita is falling apart anyway.”

“I’ll tell you later, I promise.”

“Good,” Julieta said, peering out the window, “There’s your Papa, come on let’s get the wagon loaded.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: A Look on the Other Side of the Family

Pepa shifted, glancing at the clock, “Do you think Dolores is awake yet?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

“Go back to sleep Mi Amor, you had a rough night last night,” Felix muttered, “We’ll deal with this later.”

“I’d rather deal with it now,” Pepa insisted, “Dolores, if you’re awake can you get your brothers up and meet in my room please,” she sighed, yawning, “If she isn’t here in the next ten minutes, then I’ll go back to sleep,” she promised.

Dolores knocked on the door five minutes later, Antonio on her hip and Camilo trailing behind her, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Mami,” Antonio cried out, squirming out of his sister’s arms and throwing himself into his mother.

Pepa chuckled, bending over and pressing a kiss on the top of his head, “I’m sure you are all aware of what is going on with Tia and her side of the family, right?”

Camilo and Dolores nodded their heads, but Antonio shook his head in confusion, “No, what’s going on?”

Antonio shifted uncomfortably as the whole family turned to look at him, “What’s wrong?”

“Tonito,” Pepa said, cupping his cheeks in her hands, “Your Abuela has been treating your primas really badly, Mijo, and Papi and I need to know, has she ever treated you badly, too?”

“What do you mean by badly? Like hitting?” Antonio asked.

Pepa and Felix exchanged looks, She couldn’t have, not Antonio, he was just a baby. Felix took a deep breath, steeling himself for the answer he feared he was going to receive, “Exactly like hitting,” he confessed, “Has Abuela ever hit you?”

Antonio shook his head, “No, but she hits Mirabel all the time, and she told me that I better be good and not be like Mirabel or she’d hit me too. I was so scared that I wouldn’t get a gift because Mirabel told me that’s when she started hurting her, when she didn’t get a gift.”

Pepa took a deep breath, that was not what she had been expecting, but it was still bad, really, really bad. Threatening to punish her son for something he wouldn’t have been able to control, punishing her sobrina for something she couldn’t control. That was bad, really bad. She hadn’t even realized that she had started to rain until Felix pulled out an umbrella for her.

“Did I say something bad?” Antonio asked, glancing at his two older siblings.

Dolores shook her head, “No, Antonio, you didn’t say or do anything wrong,” she whispered, “Abuela did. She should never had hurt Mirabel, or threaten to hurt you.”

“Yeah,” Camilo agreed, “I say we go with Tia Julieta, I can’t say that I’ll miss Abuela, Casita sure, Abuela, not so much. I could use a break from all her nagging. I’m a growing Teenage boy, I need food, using my gift makes me hungry, stop complaining that I’m eating so much of Tia Julieta’s food. It’s her fault I’m starving anyway, why can’t I help out the community as me, why do I have to be someone else all the time? And don’t give me the, the babies will be more comfortable in their own mother’s arms, because it doesn’t work that way. They figure out that I’m not their mother because I don’t hold them exactly the same, or I don’t sound exactly like her, or I do something different from the mother. Then they start fussing, but Mirabel can take that fussy baby and calm them down and have them asleep in two minutes flat. So why can’t she help with the baby sitting, she’s better at it than I am?”

Pepa rubbed her forehead, she had been expecting this, really she had, but to actually hear her son say what he was saying, it was heart breaking, especially when she had to ask the one question she knew she had to, “Have you told Abuela that using your gift made you hungry?” she asked.

“More times than I can count, she just told me to stop eating all the food and get use to it, that it wasn’t an excuse.”

“Well, that is a very good excuse, we’ll figure out a solution later,” Felix assured him, “What about the fact that Mirabel is a better babysitter than you are, what did Abuela say to that.”

Camilo shifted on his feet, before taking a deep breath, transforming into his Abuela, “Mirabel,” he screeched in a false alto voice, “Mirabel, why in the world would anyone would want Mirabel to babysit when you are available, at least you have a gift.”

Camilo returned to his regular self, shaking his head, “Abuela seems to think that because Mirabel doesn’t have a gift, she can’t do anything to help the community. Even when I point out the one thing that she does better than me. I’m stuck doing it just because I have a gift. Sometimes I wish I can just get a refund.”

Dolores nodded her head, “Same, Abuela’s rule that we can’t tell the Villagers no has put me into some really awkward positions. Who asks a six year old about their husband’s sex life? And Abuela made me answer them because we don’t say no to the villagers, we are here to help.”

Pepa hummed silently, That “We don’t tell the villagers no’ rule had been brought up by Luisa, and that expectation of just doing what you are told without question, being someone you aren’t just because that’s what expected of you, “Well, as you all know, Tia Julieta is leaving today. They probably aren’t coming back.”

All three children nodded their heads, they knew that, they wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in town knew that by now, after all the villagers loved to gossip.

“Camilo suggested that we go with them,” Pepa continued, “Unfortunately, we have to consider Dolores’s gift, and her reliance on her room. That is the only reason that we are staying.”

“Mama, you don’t have to stay because of me, I’ll manage without my room, honest I will.”

“You shouldn’t have to manage,” Felix insisted, “However, leaving is still on the table, we want to lay down some new rules. If Abuela refuses to honor them, well, we will deal with it then.”

“First off, that rule that you don’t say no to the villagers, it is gone. Dolores, Camilo, you are both old enough to decide how you want to use your gifts. Antonio, you can’t use your gift to help others unless Papi or I are with you and tell you that you can, okay?”

Antonio nodded.

“Second,” Felix continued, “We don’t want you talking to Abuela and we don’t want you in a room alone with her, understand.”

“Third,” Pepa said, “If you overhear something or are told something, especially if you hear that someone is either hurting themselves or others, you come tell Papi or I right away.”

“Fourth,” Felix continued, “We have the power to veto any other rules Abuela has made, but we get to decide what rules to veto. If you feel like a rule is unfair, ask us about it. Do you guys have any questions.

Antonio rose his hand, “Does the ‘We Don’t talk about Bruno rule count as an unfair rule. Because it doesn’t make sense. Why can’t we talk about him, he’s our Tio?”

Pepa was about to announce that they were welcomed to talk about Bruno any time they wanted, but was stopped as Dolores rose her hand slightly before whispering, “Does knowing where someone is hiding away from everyone for years count as endangering themselves or others?”

Pepa took a deep breath, “Yes to both those questions, hiding away from everyone can be dangerous, if that person were to get hurt no one would be able to help, and yes, Tonito we can talk about Bruno, what do you want to know?”

“How tall is he? Camilo said that he was seven feet tall, but that isn’t true, he wasn’t much bigger than Mirabel.”

“He’s actually pretty tiny, he’s the smallest of the three of us, always has been, shorter than Julieta even,” Pepa explained, that was a strange question, but what was she to expect when she just abolished the ‘We don’t talk about Bruno’ law in front of her son who never knew him. She was about to turn her attention to Dolores’s question when Antonio’s statement finally registered, “he wasn’t much bigger than Mirabel,” as in the fact that he had met Bruno, but that meant.

“Antonio, do you know where your Tio Bruno is?”

“Yep,” the five year old said proudly, “The Rats told me everything last night.”

Pepa let out a groan of frustration, “Tonito, Corazon, where is your Tio?”

“He’s...” Antonio began, before throwing his hands over his mouth, “I promised not to tell,” he confessed.

“He’s in the walls and has been since Mirabel’s gift ceremony,” Dolores piped up, “You get in behind the painting by my room.”

Camilo gave her a look, “You can’t keep the fact that Mirabel found Tio Bruno’s vision for one hour, yet you can keep the fact that he was living in the walls a secret for ten years?”

“Well, um,” Dolores hummed softly, looking up at her parents with wide eyes, “You see, Abuela didn’t want to hear about where Tio Bruno was, and she would have wanted to hear about the prophecy.”

“So,” Camilo asked.

“Call it self preservation,” Dolores insisted, “If Abuela finds out that I didn’t tell her something that she thinks is important, she gets mad, really mad,” Dolores shuddered, covering her ears, as she was certain on what her madre’s reaction was going to be with what she said next, “My ears were ringing for a month after the last time that happened. I still don’t know why I needed to tell her that Carlos Garcia had the sweets for Valentina Gomez but apparently I did.”

“Did she ever hit you?” Pepa asked, thundering.

“No, but she did drag me by the ear up to my room while screaming into it that I was suppose to report that kind of stuff to her.”

There was a flash of lightning as Pepa curled her hand into a fist, “Well, I hope you understand that my no talking to your Abuela overrules her tell her everything about everyone rule.”

“Si Mami,” Dolores said, her hands still over her ears.

Pepa took a deep breath, forcing herself to control her emotions, she needed to wait until Dolores wasn’t in the room and her Madre was, “I’ll take care of that later when I tell Mama about the new rules,” she announced, taking a deep breath, “Anyway, you’ve known where Tio Bruno is this whole time he’s been missing, and Tonito, you found out… when exactly, after your gift ceremony right?”

“Yep yesterday,” Antonio said, “You see, yesterday morning, Picco overheard Dolores and Mirabel talking. Mirabel was asking her about the magic, and Dolores told her the only ones worried about the magic was her and the rats talking in the walls. Which, if you think about it, is kind of weird because Dolores can’t understand animals, that’s my gift. Anyway, when I saw a bunch of rats in the dining room after dinner last night, I questioned them and they told me everything,” he shrugged as if that was it.

“Okay, ninos, one last question,” Pepa announced, “Where is my brother?”

“He’s hiding in the walls,” Dolores announced, “You get in through an opening that is hidden by the painting by my room, “You follow it down to a secret room behind the dining room wall. That’s where he is, But be careful, there’s this one spot where there isn’t any floor that you’ll have to jump across.”

“Of course there is,” Pepa groaned, standing up, “Well, I’m going to go inform Julieta that you know where Bruno is, then I’m going to drag him out of hiding, and then we are all going out for breakfast.”

“But what about...” Camilo started before stopping, “Okay,” he agreed.

“I’ll talk to your teacher, tell her that there was a family emergency and that you won’t be at school today.”

“Yes!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Of Visions and Secrets

Luisa glanced wearily at the sewing machine, trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes, how was she supposed to get that to the wagon? What if she dropped it? If it broke, what would Mirabel say? After all, that sewing machine had been the only present she had gotten on her fifteenth birthday.

"Luisa," her father called out, causing her to jump, bumping the sewing machine and nearly tipping it over. Luisa barely caught it in time.

"Yes Papa?" she called out, dreading what he was going on.

"Bring down Mirabel's sewing machine and let's go."

She had been afraid he was going to say that. She grunted, picked up the sewing machine, table and all, and headed out of the nursery.

Casita was helpful, turning the stairs into a ramp for her, but even then she had to sit it down at the foot of the stairs because it was too heavy. What was wrong with her?

She took a deep breath, shaking her shoulders slightly to loosen them up, and was about to pick it up again when it hit. It hit hard and fast, threatening to bring up what remained of last night's dinner. Her stomach heaved. She didn't know what to do.

There was a hand on her shoulder, and something that smelled delicious was being thrust under her nose.

"Eat Luisa, it will help," Dolores whispered.

Luisa grabbed the arepa devouring it in two bites, immediately the stomach stopped lurching and calmed down.

"Thanks, Lolo," she said, sighing in relief.

"You have to be more careful, if Abuela ever finds out..." Dolores shuddered, rubbing her ears, thinking of the consequences that this secret would have for her.

"I know, I'm… I'm going to tell Mama, once we, you know, leave, but..."

"Tia Julieta's reaction has got to be better than what Abuela's reaction is going to be."

"Doesn't mean I want to deal with Mama and Papa's reactions either," Luisa insisted, picking the sewing machine up again.

This time she made it outside to the wagon before her strength gave out, she sat it beside the wagon and looked around, "Where's Mama?" she asked.

Her father shrugged, "I don't really know, your tia showed up thundering at the same time as she had a rainbow, really strange weather, and informed your mother that she knew where your Tio Bruno was. Apparently, he's nearby, they went to talk to him. I think he's coming with us. That will mean that the three of you will have to share a room though."

Luisa shifted slightly, "I'd rather have my own room, if possible."

"It will only be for a couple of months while we build our own place," Agustin insisted.

"Tia Pepa's invited us to go out for breakfast with her, we're going to the Encanto Diner," Mirabel announced poking her head out of the wagon.

Luisa's face grew warm as she picked up the sewing machine and stuck it into the wagon.

"Are you blushing?" Mirabel asked, "I think you're blushing. Pa, Luisa's blushing!"

"I am not."

"You are too, and I bet it has something to do with that cute, mysterious waiter at the diner, what's his name?" Mirabel paused for effect, "You know the one from outside of the Encanto who showed up three years ago with nothing but the clothes on his back and his infant daughter in his arms. Tomas Rivera? Is that his name, his daughter is Sofia, yes?"

"Shut up Mirabel," Luisa growled through gritted teeth, her face as red as her hair ribbon.

…

Bruno was dozing in his chair, there really wasn't anything to do right now, he didn't dare make any noise while his Madre sat in the dining room on the other side of the wall. It was kind of odd that Pepa and Julieta and their families weren't there, but after last night maybe they all just decided that it would be best if they gave Abuela some space.

He was not expecting his door to be slammed open with a sudden gush of wind and a shout filled the air, "Bruno Jose you get up this minute! No more hiding, you hear me."

"What in the world are you doing in here, Josefina Emilia?"

"You did not just call me Josefina Emilia? Juli, he did not just call me Josefina Emilia, even Mama doesn't call me that."

"That's only because you struck her with lightning when we were teenagers when she insisted on calling you Josefina."

"Ug, don't remind me," Pepa groaned, "It took me months to convince her that she shouldn't call me that."

"Well don't come bursting into my room using my full name and I won't go about using your full name."

"Well, don't go hiding in the walls and I won't go bursting into your room using your full name!"

Julieta rose her hands up in the air, "You two haven't seen each other in ten years, please don't start a sibling fight already."

Pepa and Bruno turned to their slightly older sister, "We'll fight if we want to!" they snapped in unison.

"

Sometimes I wish I was an only child."

"Hey," Pepa cried out.

"Not nice Juli, not nice," Bruno said, sticking his lips out in a pout, "I thought you missed me."

"Every day Brunito," Julieta announced, wrapping her arms around her brother before frowning,

"You're too skinny, you haven't been eating well have you?"

Bruno shifted uneasily.

"Well, that doesn't matter," Julieta stated, "I don't know if you've heard, but I'm moving in with my father-in-law, and he's informed me that you are welcome to move in as well. You're coming with me and I am going to make sure that you eat properly."

"Don't I get a say on the matter?" Bruno asked.

"No!" this time it was his sisters who spoke in unison.

Bruno sighed, "But what about my rats, I'm not leaving them behind."

"Bring them with," Julieta sighed, "If it means you'll come, but keep them out of my Kitchen."

…

Abuela frowned as she watched Isabela and Agustin finish loading the last of their stuff in the wagon. Luisa was at the side, with Mirabel in a headlock, "Just knock it off already," she pleaded, releasing her sister.

"Luisa and..." Mirabel sang out.

"Mira!"

"Sorry," Mira muttered, before saying something quickly under her breath that got her a dirty look.

Abuela wondered what that was about, but she knew that Agustin would yell at her if she got close enough to Luisa and Mirabel to hear. It didn't matter anyway, she could just ask Dolores about it later.

Speaking of which, there she was now. "Dolores, what are Luisa and Mirabel talking about."

"I'm sorry," Dolores said softly, glancing nervously at the door, "Mama told me I'm not allowed to talk to you."

Abuela frowned, stepping closer to her, "Dolores it is your job to keep me informed of what is going on in the Encanto, now what is going on with Luisa and Mirabel?"

Dolores glanced behind her, nervously raising her hands up to her ears, "Uh, I told you, Mama told me that I can't talk to you."

"This is my house, you will do as I say!"

Dolores clapped her hands tighter over her ears as there was a crash of thunder behind her, "Stay away from my hija," Pepa snapped, stepping between the two of them, "There are some new rules in this household, Mama, rather you like it or not. You are not allowed to talk to or be around any of my children unless Felix or I am there. You are not to tell the children what to do, and they are allowed to tell anyone they want no. Also, they are allowed to talk about Bruno."

"Thanks a lot Pepa," Bruno muttered from where he stood next to Julieta, "I was perfectly fine with the 'We don't talk about Bruno' rule and you just had to put an end to it."

Alma paled, turning around to see her son standing awkwardly next to his sister.

"Bruno?" she asked nervously.

"Madre," Bruno said tipping his head to her.

"Come on," Camilo called out, appearing in the doorway, "I'm hungry, let's..." he paused, taking in his tio, "Huh, I remember you being taller."

"Well, I remember you being shorter," Bruno countered.

Julieta and Pepa exchanged looks, before smiling, a rainbow forming over Pepa's head, it was good to have their brother back.

The three siblings headed outside where they found Luisa carrying Mirabel like a sack of flour.

"Will you stop teasing me?" Luisa asked.

"Never," Mira confessed in a fit of giggles.

"Suit yourself," Luisa said, flinging her over her shoulder, "I'll just carry you to Abuelo's place like..." she trailed off, noticing the three adults, and carefully slipped Mirabel off her shoulder, "Tio Bruno!" She exclaimed, scooping him up into a crushing bear hug.

"Hola Luisa, boy you've gotten strong."

"Thanks," Luisa said, dropping him onto the ground in a tumble of fabric and limbs.

Bruno straightened his rauna and turned to look at Mirabel, "Mira, you, my vision, the thing with them, they are really easy to misinterpret, even if you see the whole thing. You missed understood what the vision was about. You aren't harming the miracle. It's up to you to save it. Although, if I were you, I'd just let that candle blow out. It will be so much better."

"How do I save the miracle?"

"I don't know," Bruno confessed.

"We'll deal with your prophecy and the miracle later, right now we need to heal and bond as a family," Julieta insisted, "And if the Miracle goes out before then, oh well, we'll deal with it."

…

Alma pressed her back against the door, away from the rest of the family, her head spinning in disbelief, Bruno couldn't possibly mean that. Mirabel couldn't possibly save the miracle, she didn't have any gift! But if that is what that prophecy meant, then… She was going to have to get Mirabel back on her side, but how?

…

Bruno nodded at Julieta's statement, "Oh, okay, if you insist Julieta, I'll ignore Mirabel's prophecy, although, Dolores," he turned to the girl in question, who let out a nervous squeak, "Your prophecy, the one I gave you when you were ten? What was it again?"

"That the man of my dreams would be just out of reach betrothed to another."

"Well, that's the thing, all I saw was him proposing, doesn't mean she said yes."

"Mariano started to propose to Isabela, but never finished… Isabela never said yes," Dolores whispered, fidgeting with her hands, "That's what you saw in your vision, it's come true, and he's still available," Dolores paused for a second, tilting her head to one side, "He's in town this morning, I could, but..." Dolores let out a squeak.

"Wait," Camilo asked, "So, Dolores has been secretly crushing on Mariano this whole time."

"She can have him," Isabela insisted, "I'll introduce you."

Dolores was still sputtering, fidgeting, as her face grew a bright red.

"I think you broke Dolores," Luisa said, grabbing her head with a large hand.

Bruno chuckled, shaking his head, young lo… his eyes flashed green and he lunged forward, barely catching Luisa as she suddenly pitched backward.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine
Luisa slowly came too to someone frantically calling her name, she blinked, her Tio Bruno was leaning over her. When did he get back and what was he doing in her room. Then she remembered, that she had been helping load the wagon. Or, well, she was supposed to be helping load the wagon, but Mirabel had been teasing her, and she still had no idea how she knew about Tomas. Then Bruno had been there. He had been talking to Dolores about Mariano, and she had suddenly felt light-headed, and… She couldn’t remember what happened after that.

“What happened?” she asked, pulling herself up from the ground.

“What happened,” Luisa could count on one hand the number of times she heard her mother get that upset, well, until last night that is, “What happened, you passed out, that’s what happened. I think you better tell me what’s going on. Healthy nineteen-year-old women don’t just pass out.”

Luisa scanned the crowd, eyes falling on Dolores, “Abuela?” she asked nervously.

“She headed upstairs,” Dolores said, “She overheard Tio talking to Mirabel about his vision, and...” she shrugged, “She can’t hear us, I promise.”

Luisa nodded, took a deep breath, and rested a large hand on her abdomen, “You’re going to be an Abuela Mama.”

“What?” Julieta asked, blinking, she had to have heard wrong, “You have to be joking. What do you mean?”

“Well,” Luisa rubbed the back of her neck, “I’m… sort of… kind of… pregnant?”

“But how? Who? Why?”

“Mama, considering you’re the one who taught me about the birds and the bees I think you can figure that out.”

“Mami,” Antonio asked, tugging on his mother’s skirt, “What’s pregnant?”

“It means Luisa’s going to have a baby.”

“What does that have to do with birds and bees?” Antonio asked, confused.

Pepa glanced at her sobrina as a strong wind picked up, great, just great, how was she supposed to explain that comment to a five-year-old, “I’ll explain when you’re older, okay.”

Antonio shrugged, “I guess I can ask Pico, he’s a bird, he’ll know.”

Pepa paled, shaking her head, “We’ll talk later,” she promised, great, she really wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation with the five-year-old. Yet he was going to ask questions.

Luisa got up off the ground, her face bright red as she stared at her feet, she could feel eight pairs of eyes looking at her, and she really didn’t like being the center of attention.

“Luisa,” Julieta said slowly in a steady voice that only sort of covered the alarm in it, “Who’s the father?”

Luisa glanced up a little, Antonio was looking up at her with big round eyes, and Camilo was staring at her like she had just grown a second head. Isabela was just standing there her mouth hanging open. Agustin and Julieta were clinging to each other for support. Felix and Bruno both looked like they would rather be anywhere but there. Pepa had a look on her face like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to kill her or hug her. The weather above her head shifted constantly to show her confusion.

Then there were Mirabel and Dolores, who seemed unfazed by her announcement. Dolores wasn’t a surprise, after all, she had been the one who had told her that she was pregnant in the first place, but Mirabel. What exactly did Mirabel know about her relationship with Tomas?

“Luisa,” Agustin spoke now, his voice low and breaking, “Were you… hurt?”

“What is he talking about Mira?” Antonio asked, hoping that his favorite prima would answer his questions.

“You’ll understand when your older,” Mira insisted, scooping the little boy up and placing him on her hip as if that was where he belonged.

Luisa shook her head, “No Pa, I wasn’t hurt, I promise, this was as much my fault as… Tomas’s.”
“Tomas?” Julieta repeated, “Tomas Rivera? He’s the father?”

Luisa nodded her head, “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Bruno interrupted, “but who is Tomas Rivera? The name doesn’t sound at all familiar.”

“It shouldn’t,” Julieta said, “He’s from outside the Encanto, showed up about three years ago, about Isabela’s age, isn’t he?”

“He’s twenty-two,” Luisa muttered, shifting slightly, “and he’s sweet and funny and he doesn’t care about my strength at all, and he’s so nice, and he’s such a good father to Sofia, and… we messed up, I know that Mama. I’m sorry.”

Julieta frowned, “Does he make you happy?”

Luisa nodded softly.

“Good, because the two of you need to make this right, do you understand.”

Luisa sighed, “We’ve talked about marriage, but Abuela has a long list of reasons why I shouldn’t marry him, and Reverend Perez refuses to wed us without Abuela’s approval. We’ve been talking about leaving the Encanto and finding someone who will perform the ceremony, but I kind of wanted you there, and Tomas had to think of Sofia, she’s only three, and it is a long journey just for a piece of paper saying that we can be together.”

“You should have come to me mija,” Julieta groaned, “I’ll deal with Reverend Perez.”

“And I need to have a chat with Tomas about how he is to treat my little nina.”

“Papa!”

“So… now that we’ve established that Luisa has been in a very… active, relationship, can we go eat?” Camilo asked.

Luisa sighed in relief, “Can we please?”
…
“I’m making your wedding dress,” Mirabel announced as the family trailed behind the loaded wagon.

Luisa shot her a look, “Mira,” she said with a warning tone in her voice.

“I’m serious Luisa, I’ve made a quince dress before, a wedding dress can’t be that different. You’re getting married, you should look nice doing it. Consider it my wedding present.”

“So...” Camilo said, turning around and shifting into a tall man, just shorter than Luisa with golden-brown hair and large blue eyes, “Luisa, mi Amor, mi...” he tripped over a rock and was thrown out of the shift.

“Please, Camilo,” Luisa pleaded, “When we get to the diner, can I please talk to Tomas alone, he… he doesn’t know about the baby yet. I only found out two days ago,” Luisa admitted, giving Dolores a look.

“I’m sorry, but when I hear a baby’s heartbeat in my unmarried prima’s belly, I confront them. Especially since I had no idea she was seeing someone at the time.”

“I waited until you were in your room before sneaking Tomas in. Tio Bruno lived in the walls for ten years without anyone noticing him, that tells me no one would notice me sneaking Tomas in and out of Casita.”

Julieta pinched the bridge of her nose, “You knew that Tio Bruno was in the walls this whole time?”

“Yes?” Luisa said slowly, with a shrug, “He nearly caught me sneaking Tomas in one night.”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

“It’s not like I knew as long as Dolores.”

“That’s not what we’re talking about,” Julieta insisted, “I know that it was Abuela who placed the no sneaking boys into the house rule, but it is one that I fully supported.”

“And one that I’m not overruling,” Pepa added, “No boys or girls over at the house after bedtime, Camilo.”

Camilo opened his mouth to protest but didn’t get a chance to say anything before Bruno grabbed him by the rauna and pulled him back as a little girl rushed forward with a loud shout, “Lulu, Lulu!”

Luisa’s face colored as she knelt down and allowed the toddler to run full force into her arms, “Hola, Sofia,” she said, smoothing golden curls out of the little girl’s face, before scooping her up, allowing her to sit balancing on her shoulder, “Mama, Papa, everybody, this is Sofia, Tomas’s daughter.”

“Wait,” Bruno said, slowly, “Tomas is married?”

“Divorced,” Luisa confessed, “It’s one of the things Abuela doesn’t like about him. Don’t really see why everyone is making such a big deal about it. He’s not married now, so why can’t I?”

Bruno looked at Julieta, as the town healer, she would be the one to answer his questions. Julieta sighed, “Tomas has been very secretive about his past, this is the first time I’ve heard that he was divorced. All I knew was that the mother was no longer in the picture.”

“Okay, so I’m starting to see what Abuela has against him, a divorcee?”

“Tio,” Luisa said sharply.

“Tio,” the little girl repeated from her shoulder, giggling slightly as she peered at Bruno with large blue eyes.

Luisa immediately turned her attention to the girl, who was light enough that she didn’t even notice that she was there on her shoulder, “Where’s your Papa?”

“Working,” the little girl said with a giggle, swinging her legs back and forth against Luisa.

“Who’s supposed to be watching you?”

“Tia Carmen,” she said with a giggle.

Luisa groaned, “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Hey, Sofi, where’d you go?” a new voice called out as a woman stepped out from the alleyway, dressed up in a low-cut blouse and heavy makeup.

“I wanna fly!” Sofia announced, “Please Lulu?”

“Fly?”

Luisa shot Camilo a look before removing the little girl off her shoulder and placing her belly down on her hands. Sofia squealed, spreading her arms out like wings as Luisa slowly moved her arms up and down as she spun in a circle, “Sofia, you have been cleared for take-off,” she announced, picking up speed, “Watch out, we’re heading for some turbulence,” she cried out as she moved her arms slightly jiggling her slightly.

Sofia squealed with laughter, “Faster, Lulu, Faster!”

Luisa picked up speed for one spin around before slowing down, “We are now approaching our destination,” Luisa announced, slowly lowering Sofia to the ground, “There, how’s that.”

“Again, again!” Sofia exclaimed, waving chubby little hands up in the air.

“I want a turn,” two Antonios announced in perfect unison.

“Honestly Camilo?”

One of the Antonios shrugged, transforming into Camilo, “Worth a shot.”

“Sofia, I wish I know what your middle name is, Rivera, come out this instant,” the woman called out, “Running away is so not cool,” the woman stepped up to the group, “Hey, Donkey Girl, don’t you need to go lift something?”

“Actually, I have the day off.”

“Why would you take a day off?”
“Because she works hard and deserves a break every once in a while?” a new voice called out as a tall, golden-haired, blue-eyed man, the same one Camilo had shape shifted into earlier.

“Tomas,” the woman exclaimed, “Are you done working? We can grab a bite to eat. Your daughter is so much fun.”

“I’m not interested in you Carmen,” Tomas insisted, “I’ve told you that already.”

“Papi, Papi,” Sofia cried out, racing forward with her hands up.

“Hey Princessa, what’s happening?”

“I play Lulu.”

Tomas glanced up, blue eyes met brown, “I hope Sofia wasn’t being a pain, Senorita Madrigal.”

“You can drop the act, at the moment, they know more than you do,” Luisa insisted.

“What are you talking about.”

“We need to talk,” Luisa insisted.

“And once the two of you are done talking, I need to have a word with you as well young man.”

“Papa!”

Chapter Text

Tomas lead Luisa over to an alleyway just off to the side of the Encanto Diner, where they had often stolen a couple of minutes from their workday to say hello and catch each other up on what was going on. Luisa sighed, leaning against the wall.

Tomas sighed as well, leaning on the wall next to her, "So your familia knows more about our relationship than I do. That has me worried. Especially since your Papa wants to talk to me. What's going on?"

"Well, something came up last night, and pretty much everyone's darkest secrets were revealed. Including our relationship."

"That still doesn't explain how they know more than I do."

"Well, you see, you know how Dolores can hear a pin drop? She can also hear a baby's heartbeat before most women know they're pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Tomas repeated.

"Yes," Luisa admitted, blushing bright red, "Dolores told me a couple of days ago. I just haven't had a chance to tell you yet. What with everything that’s been happening.”

“So do I need to pack my bags, is your Abuela going to throw me out of the Encanto for despoiling her granddaughter?”

“Abuela doesn’t know, and won’t know. Mama’s promised to talk to Rev. Perez about performing the ceremony. If we get married soon enough, people will just assume that the baby was early.”

“So I guess I do need to talk to your padre, huh,” Tomas asked, “He’s going to want to know what happened to Sofia’s madre,” he sighed dejectedly.

“Hey, none of that,” Luisa ordered, gently cupping his face in a large hand, “What that woman and her father did to you had nothing to do with you or my feelings for you. If you ask me those two are right up there with the men that killed my Abuelo.”

Tomas nodded, “So, how would your father react if I ask for your hand in marriage?”

“Well, Mira’s already started planning my wedding dress, so I think you’re safe, if you can survive Papa’s interrogation, believe it or not, I’m still his precious little girl.”

“I totally understand because you are my Precious Sapphire, the princess of my heart, and not even a magical candle can change that, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life by your side and be your knight in shining armor.”

Luisa smiled, her face turning red as Tomas kissed her softly.
Tomas sighed, breaking the kiss, “I need to get back to work, but I get off at four, maybe I can sneak into Casita…”

“My familia is staying at Senor Gonzalez’s farm for the time being, and I’ll be sharing a room with my Hermanas so… maybe it would be better if you come over earlier, with Sofia. Maybe have dinner with us?”

Tomas smiled softly, “I’d like that, it will be nice, being allowed to be seen with you out in public for once. I’ll see you later,” he pressed a chaste kiss on Luisa’s lips and was about to head into the diner through a side door when Luisa said softly, “Probably sooner than you think, we’re going to the diner for breakfast.”

…
Alma had blown it, she had been so focused on keeping the miracle safe, that she had pushed away the only thing that could save it. She had thought that Mirabel had been a threat to the Miracle. The prophecy from last night had seemed to confirm that. She then had taken the necessary steps she needed to do to protect the Miracle.

Those very steps she had taken had cost her her family and could cost her the miracle as well. Unless she did something. She had to get Mirabel back. But how? There was no way Julieta was going to let her anywhere near her. Not after what she did last night.

…

Luisa stepped out of the alleyway to find her entire family looking at her expectantly, “What?” she asked.

“Did he kiss you?” Isabela asked, waggling her eyebrows at Luisa, “My baby sister’s all grown up,” Isabela swiped at a pretend tear.

“Great, not you too,” Luisa groaned, “It’s bad enough that Mirabel teases me all the time, now you.”

“I thought we were going to breakfast?” Camilo demanded, “The diner is right there,” he exclaimed, pointing to the building next to them, “And I’m starving.”

Several family members chuckled before Pepa and Julieta herded them all into the restaurant.

Tomas was the one who sat them, pushing three tables together to make one big enough for all eleven of them.

“I call seating next to Mira!” Antonio called out, “Mira where are you going to sit.”

“I don’t know, down?”
“Wait one moment there Tonito, you can’t call dibs of seating next to Mirabel, I call dibs,” Isabela insisted, “Mirabel and I really need some sisterly bonding time.”

Mirabel squirmed away from underneath Isabela’s arm that she had thrown over her shoulder, “Honestly, you complained that you had to sit next to me just yesterday.”

“And I’m mending my ways,” Isabela insisted, “hench I have to sit next to you.”

“I called dibs first!” Antonio declared.

“I’m older so therefore my dibs over rules your dibs.”

“You guys do realize that you both can sit by me, right?” Mirabel asked, plopping down in one of the chairs, “Antonio on the right and Isabela on the left, no need to fight.”

“But what if I wanted to sit…” Isabela started to whine.

“Isa, you are twenty-one for crying out loud, stop picking fights just because you want to,” Julieta snapped, “honestly, you take after your Tia!”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Pepa demanded, flashing green eyes glaring at her sister.

“Nothing Pepa, nothing,” Julieta said with a smirk.

Their food arrived, and everything was quiet for about three whole minutes before Luisa turned to her younger sister, “Just how much of my relationship with Tomas did you know about, you didn’t seem all that surprised to find out just… how serious… we were.”

Mirabel didn’t say anything, but her face turned bright red, as she quickly took a sip of her hot chocolate, “So, um, wedding plans, yes, we must discuss the wedding plans,” she insisted.

Isabela gave her youngest sister an understanding look, “You walked in on them, didn’t you?” she asked.

Mirabel nodded miserably.

Camilo, who was sitting across from Mirabel snorted loudly, milk coming out of his nose as he roared with laughter.

Dolores, who was sitting next to her brother, slapped him across the back of his head, “You won’t think that is funny if it ever happens to you,” she hissed, before turning to Mirabel, “But how in the world did you walk in on them? Luisa admitted that she was always certain that I was in my room before she snuck him in. For you to walk in on them… it had to be at least…”

“Two in the morning,” Mirabel admitted, “It was two in the morning, and the thoughts…”

Luisa paled groaning, face palming, “I told you that you could come get me whenever you needed me,” she muttered.

“Normally I’d have just woken you up, but you were…. Kind of busy…” Mirabel muttered, her face still bright red, “Can we please talk of something else, anything at all, please.”

“I hope it’s okay, but I… kind of invited Tomas and Sofia to cena tonight.”

“Good,” Agustin insisted, “I need to have a word with him.”

“Papa!”

“So wedding plans,” Mirabel insisted, “Mainly outfits, who’s going to be in the wedding party, what are your colors, and how long exactly do I have to finish them.”

“He hasn’t even proposed yet.”

“But he’s planning to propose tonight,” Dolores announced.

“Let’s just hope that this doesn’t go as bad as the last proposal in this family,” Camilo insisted, rubbing his head as Dolores slapped him, “What, last night was a disaster, I can’t call it a disaster?”

“I can’t plan the wedding without Tomas, but I’m thinking that Isabela will be my maid of honor, Mirabel and Dolores will be bridesmaids, Antonio can probably be the ring bearer, and Sofia can be the flower girl. I’ll need to ask Tomas about who he wants to be his best man and groomsmen.”

“What’s a ring bearer?” Antonio asked.

“At a wedding, you carry the rings up to the people getting married,” Mirabel explained.

“Oh, but I thought Isabela and Mariano were getting married?”

“No, Luisa and Tomas are getting married.”

“Wow, Abuela really is determined to marry you off. Isabela yesterday and Luisa today, does that mean that Dolores is going to get married tomorrow.”

Bruno snorted and started to cough so hard that Julieta had to pound him on the back to help him.

“Ay, si, Antonio,” Isabela said, dramatically, “I’m afraid you have learned of Abuela’s scheme to marry off all of her of-age grandchildren. Luckily for me, I have managed to escape the clutches of an arranged marriage, and shall forever be free.” She spread her arms wide as if to emphasize her statement.

“Isa, careful,” Mirabel exclaimed, “You almost knocked my cup over.”

…
While the rest of her family was laughing and enjoying each other’s company, Alma Madrigal sat in the chapel of the church, waiting for the Reverend to show up. She wasn’t sure what to do. She knew now that the miracle was in trouble, and she had probably just chased away the one chance she had to save it.

“Senora Madrigal?” the surprised voice of Rev. Perez filtered through the room as he approached her, “What brings you here on a weekday?” or at all, he added silently, knowing perfectly well that the Madrigals weren’t churchgoers, especially not the Matriarch.

“I feel like I might need some advice,” she confessed, “You see I think…” she paused, Dolores, as well as the rest of the family, was on Julieta’s side, so she had to be careful about what she said. What would Julieta want from her? She would want her to admit that she was wrong, because obviously, she was wrong, “No,” she corrected herself, “I know I was… a bit hasty on the way I dealt with Mirabel last night, and now well Julieta has left the family completely. What do I do?”

“Does this have anything to do with the allegations of child abuse that Senora Guzman brought to me last night?”

…
Dolores snorted as she took one last swig of her tea, “Great, Abuela’s at the church talking to the reverend about what happened at dinner, and how it was a one-time thing and how she had reacted out of fear when she saw the prophecy. She’s making it sound like we’re the bad guys not forgiving her simple mistake. What about all those times she did that exact same thing to me, huh, she knows how sensitive my ears are.”

“I’ll deal with Mama and the Reverend, I need to talk to him anyway,” Julieta insisted, pushing her chair away from the table, “I’m going to run some errands here in town. I’ll meet up with you back at Abuelo’s place.”

Chapter Text

Mirabel watched as her mother and Tia left, arms linked as they headed toward the church. She jumped up as well, clapping her hands excitedly, “Right,” she announced, “Luisa, you and me have to go to the fabric store to pick out what I need to make your dress. Dolores, you have to come too, because, I really, really want to hear what Mama tells Abuela and the reverend, and Isa, as the Maid of Honor you should come with too.”

“Eh…Yuck,” Camilo gagged, “Girl’s day, come on Tonito, let’s go somewhere else. Before they try to put flowers in our hair.”

“But I like flowers…” Antonio protested as Camilo dragged him away.

Bruno looked around, and rubbed the back of his neck, “Um… I think I’ll help unload the wagon, on the far side of the Encanto. As far away from the church as possible.”

“Agreed,” Agustin and Felix announced standing up with him.

…
Sofia giggled as she followed Lulu and her sisters out of the diner. Her Papi had told her to stay close, and play in the corner of the kitchen that had toys and stuff for the young children of the diner workers, but playing alone was so boring. Especially when Lulu was around. She liked Lulu. She should she was her Mami after all. She did all the gross stuff like all the other mamis did to the other papis. She said the same things. She even treated her like the other kids. She had even tried to call her Mami once, but she had been gently told that her name was Lu..sa? It was too hard to say, so she just called her Lulu. She wished that she called call her Mami. After all, all of the other kids her age had a Mami.

“Hey, Luisa,” Dolores giggled, “I think you have a shadow.”

Luisa sighed, “Yeah, I’m not surprised, I’ve been with Tomas as long as she can remember. We actually had a problem with her calling me Mami once.”

Isabela let out a very unladylike squeal, “She called you Mami?” she demanded, “Oh, that is just so cute, why did she stop?”

“Abuela heard her once and freaked out,” Dolores explained, “Luckily Senora Hernandez, you know she does that daycare for young children, insisted that at that age all grown-ups are Mami and Papi and that she’ll grow out of it,” she paused for a second, “That conversation alone should have tipped me off that you and Tomas were still seeing each other.”

Isabela was no longer with them, having fallen back and was now crouching in front of Sofia.

Luisa took one look at her and groaned, “Please tell me she isn’t…”

“She totally is.”
“She just offered her a special treat of her choice if she calls her Tia Isa from now on,” Dolores announced, as Isabela scooped the three-year-old up in her arms.

Luisa groaned, “Isa, my relationship with Tomas is a secret,” she hissed.

Isabela shrugged, “I don’t care, I’m a Tia now, and I’m going to be the best Tia in the world. Isn’t that right Sofia?”

The little girl nodded her head, “Tia Isa,” she exclaimed proudly, before looking around, she knew Mirabel too, “Tia Mira!” she exclaimed, she wasn’t quite sure what Tia meant, but Tia Carmen liked it when she called her that, and Tia Isa promised her candy if she called her that. Maybe Mirabel will sing her special song and dance with her if she called her Tia?

“Don’t get too smug Mira,” Lusia insisted, “She calls everyone Tia. Even me.”

“You no Tia, you Mami.”

Mirabel and Isabela snickered as Luisa snagged the little girl into her arms, “That’s right,” she announced, giving her a soft squeeze, not wanting to hurt the little girl, as her whole face glowed from her large smile.

Sofia giggled as Dolores rolled her eyes, “Well, that’s one way to let people know about your engage…” she trailed off, her eyes growing round as she turned around. Her primas followed her glance, they could see the church steeple and the large cloud forming over it.

“Tia is not happy,” Mirabel announced, folding her arms over her chest as she tried to shrink down into herself, her eyes wide with fear as she scanned the area, her whole body shaking.

…
Pepa had insisted on going with Julieta to the Reverend, mainly because Julieta had her ‘I’m going to kill someone' look, and she wanted a front row seat to any beatdown that Julieta gave. Mainly because for Julieta to get to the point of a beatdown you know that the anger had been simmering for a very long time. Most often years.

“Julieta is a mother,” the reverend was saying, patting Alma on the shoulder, “She’s just protecting her daughter from someone she perceives as a threat, I’m sure once she calms down she’ll be willing to accept your apology.”

Thunder crashed overhead, causing the two of them to look up and see the Madrigal sisters standing there.

“She nearly cost me my daughter’s life,” Julieta insisted, “It’s going to take a whole lot more than a simple apology to make up for that.”

“And this wasn’t a one-time, in the heat of the moment thing,” Pepa added, “She’s done the same thing to Dolores multiple times, and according to Antonio, she’s hit Mirabel multiple times for no reason other than the fact that she didn’t get a gift.”

“What!” Julieta screeched, “Pepa, why haven’t you told me this before? Mi pobre bebé.”

“I found out this morning when I had that talk with the ninos this morning that you suggested,” Pepa explained, “Right before I found out that Dolores and Antonio knew where Bruno was, and well, I kind of forgot after they revealed that.”

“Typical.”

“Wait,” Rev. Perez said, touching his wig nervously, “Bruno’s back?”

“More like he never left and we are all oblivious,” Pepa said, “We didn’t know that Bruno was living in the walls, we didn’t know that Mirabel was suicidal, Dolores was crushing on Mariano, Isabela couldn’t stand Mariano, Camilo was passing out from hunger multiple times a day, and Luisa was…

“Overdoing it,” Julieta added, shaking her head, she really didn’t want to tell her madre about her daughter’s secret life just yet, “Totally overworked, and you contributed to that. I hope you like this location because I forbid my daughter from picking up another building ever again.”

…
Isabela stared at the rows and rows of fabric, watching in awe as Mirabel glanced over them, pulling a couple of them off the rack to take a closer look before sticking it back on.

“How do you even know what you’ll need for a wedding dress?” she asked, “Have you ever made one before?”

“No,” Mirabel confessed, frowning, “Senora Silva has though, I can always ask her.”

“Pretty,” Sofia announced, pointing a chubby finger at a little mannequin dressed in a beautiful flouncy blue dress, similar in style to Isabela’s.

Mirabel glanced at it, “Yeah, I can make that, just pick out some fabric and I’ll tell you if it will work for the dress or not.”

“You don’t have to make her a new dress,” Luisa protested.

“She’s my sobrina, it is my duty as a tia to spoil her rotten.”

Dolores snickered, “You do realize that Tio Bruno said something similar when you were that age. Right after he gave you that cookie that Tia Julieta said that you couldn’t have.”

“So Tio Bruno is the best tio ever, hands down,” Mirabel insisted, before turning to Dolores, “Just don’t tell your Papi I said that.”

Dolores shook her head, “As if Isabela didn’t tell him that when we were little.”

“Wait seriously?” Mirabel asked, turning to her oldest sister.

“Hey, I’m not wrong am I? Tio Bruno worshipped the ground we walked on, even if I was being loud and messy,” Isabela insisted.

The door to the shop opened, causing a bell to ding, as Luisa stiffened, stepping towards Mirabel whose face had drained of color.

“It’s just Jaun Silva,” Dolores explained, “Coming back from making deliveries for his mama.”

Luisa let out a sigh of relief, as did Mirabel, Isabela, however, frowned, “Why did you get so tense when Juan walked in?”

“Tia’s storming,” Mirabel whispered, “There are some in town who always blame me for her weather, and sometimes they… well, they sometimes get violent.”

Isabela glanced at Luisa and Dolores, who both nodded at her. She shuddered, “I didn’t know that.”

Mirabel shrugged, “That’s because I can handle it myself,” she muttered, “I don’t need you and Luisa hovering over me all the time.”

“Mirabel has always been independent,” Juan insisted.

“And Useless,” Mirabel muttered, “Don’t forget that.”

“You aren’t useless Mirabel,” Jaun insisted, “You’re actually really smart, in fact, I have something for you,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a green square of paper and handed it to her, “Here, you’ve officially won twenty free obeleas, so we all chipped in and bought you a punch card. Should have known better than to bet against a Madrigal when it comes to gifts. I’m sure you all knew what your gifts were going to be weeks before your ceremonies.”

Mirabel took the punchcard, staring at it in confusion, “How did I win Twenty Obeleas?”

“From the betting pool at school?” Juan said slowly… “Winner got a punch card from the Obeleas stand in town. You bet that Antonio was going to be able to talk to animals.”

Mirabel frowned, she clearly remembered the weeks leading up to the gift ceremony several people making bets on whether or not Antonio would get a gift, and what it would be if he did, but she could not remember entering the contest., “I don’t remember entering the contest,” she confessed.

“It was kind of weird, your eyes went all out of focus and you simply said that he was going to be able to talk to animals, and then you just walked away.”

“It’s true, you did say that,” Dolores offered.

“Wow,” Isabela said, “You’re three for three, Luisa, Camilo, and Antonio.”

“What are you talking about?” Mirabel asked, “I was just a baby when Luisa got her gift.”

“Your first word was, ‘strong’, when we were talking about Luisa getting her gift. Then you didn’t say a word until you said Tio three months later, then you wouldn’t stop talking.”

“I did?”

“She did?”

“You can ask Mama about it if you want,” Isabela said, “Although it’s kind of weird, I never connected you saying strong and Luisa getting her gift before now. Or what you said to Camilo before his gift ceremony to his gift ceremony.”

“What did I say to Camilo?”

“That it wasn’t fair that he was going to be so much better at dress up once he gets his gift.”

“Wait are you saying that I can see the future like Tio Bruno?”

“No it’s something different from that,” Isabela insisted, “Because he never could see what gifts we would get, and I can’t remember you ever predicting something outside of a gift. We have to talk to Mama about this.”

“Once she’s done talking to Abuela and the Reverend,” Luisa insisted, “I’ve never, ever seen Mama as mad as she’s been the past couple of days.”

Chapter Text

Julieta accepted the cup of tea from the reverend, trying her best to push down the anger and other negative feelings from bubbling up, and being released on the reverend. She knew that right now was not the time or place to murder her madre.

Her sister on the other hand was storming as hard as she possibly could while glaring at their madre.

“Perhaps you should tell me your side of the story,” the reverend suggested.

Thunder crashed over Pepa’s head, as she snarled, “I’ll tell you what’s happening,” she growled, jabbing a finger at Alma, “That woman’s been abusing our children, that’s what’s happening!”

The Reverend turned to Julieta, “Perhaps you should start at the beginning? Senora Madrigal suggested that you had a major disagreement last night?”

“In my opinion, a disagreement is putting it lightly,” Julieta confessed, “Alma Madrigal’s behavior is unacceptable and she nearly cost me all three of my hijas.”

“Come on, Julieta, that’s an exaggeration,” Alma insisted.

“Is it Mama?” Julieta snapped, “You were with me when Isabela confessed that she was planning on leaving the Encanto, and it was only Isabela’s interference that prevented Mirabel from committing suicide last night.”

“You’d still have Luisa!” Alma insisted.

Julieta jumped up from her chair with a growl as Pepa took a dainty sip of her own tea, this was the whole reason she had come with after all. It wasn’t every day when she was the calm triplet.

“Just because you didn’t care a ******* **** when Bruno disappeared doesn’t mean that having my one daughter disappear and my other daughter kill herself isn’t going to affect me. Not all of us are cold-hearted ***** you know.”

The Reverend blinked, he had never, ever, ever, heard Julieta swear before, she was always the calm and collected one, yet here she was, swearing and scowling at her own madre.

“Well, you said you would have lost all three of your hijas, and you only mentioned Isabela and Mirabel, what about Luisa?”

“She’s been thinking about leaving the familia…” Julieta confessed, “Maybe even the Encanto… I will not let you chase mi hijas away like you did my hermano!”

…
“I really don’t see how my being able to guess Antonio’s gift can be called a gift,” Mirabel insisted, flipping through the wedding magazine, a notebook open beside her as she jot down patterns that she thought might work with Luisa’s build.

Isabela frowned as she watched her sister take another note, “I didn’t know you were left-handed,” she muttered.

“What?” Mirabel asked, glancing down at her hand in surprise, “Oh, I forgot,” she said, carefully setting the pen down and picking it up with her right hand before she started taking notes again.

Luisa frowned, “Why did you change hands?”

“Left-handed people are evil and of the devil,” Mirabel insisted with a shrug, before turning back to her note-taking.

“So you write with your non dominate hand?” Isabela asked, glancing at their cousin.

“When she was younger Abuela got after her a lot for using her left hand, and that was before her gift ceremony,” Dolores confessed.

No one bothered to mention what she hadn’t said, that was before Abuela truly started cracking down on everyone, especially Mirabel.

“It’s fine, I can write just as good with my right hand as I can my left,” Mirabel confessed, “I’m ambidextrous.”

“Am… bee… what?” Isabela asked.

Mirabel rolled her eyes, “Ambidextrous, it means that I can use both of my hands equally. Probably because Abuela and my teachers were so hard on me about being left-handed. I had to learn to use my right, but that doesn’t mean I’m not more comfortable using my left hand. I do whenever I’m alone, or I forget, like today.”

Luisa looked over her shoulder, “Wow, you’re right, I can tell that you switched hands because your handwriting changed a little, but wow… what else can you do?”

…
The Reverend frowned as he sat his own cup of tea on the table in front of him, both Julieta and Pepa had finally told their side of the story, despite the fact that Alma Madrigal had kept interrupting them. He could see the problem. The major one was that all three women were extremely stubborn.

“Let’s get this straight,” Rev. Perez said, “Last night, Alma Madrigal attacked Mirabel for no reason…”
“I admit that I was hasty when I went after Mirabel last night,” Alma interrupted, “but you saw Bruno’s vision, what was I supposed to think?”

“Geesh, I don’t know,” Julieta snapped, “Maybe remember that Bruno’s visions were often complicated and that only shows one part of the vision? Stop and think about what it could mean?”

“How was I supposed to know that Mirabel was supposed to save the miracle?” Alma snapped, “It showed her in front of a cracking Casita, what else was I supposed to think?”

“Maybe remembering that Mirabel is a really sweet and caring girl, who absolutely adores the familia and would never hurt it,” Pepa snapped, “Honestly, why should she save the familia with the way we’ve been ignoring her. You’ve been abusing her for the past ten years, you’ve been abusing my children since they were five, abusing me since I was five. Why in the world would Mirabel want to save your stupid miracle? Honestly, I agree with Bruno, we will be better off if it just goes out.”

Alma shifted uncomfortably, after all, Pepa was right, why in the world would Mirabel save the miracle, especially if her own children don’t care about it.

“That Miracle is the last thing we have of your Padre’s and you just want to destroy it.”

Pepa stood up, leaning over, “I’m not sure I made myself clear earlier, the only reason my family isn’t packed up and leaving too is because of how much Dolores relies on her room. Should the miracle go out or her gift fades like Luisa’s did, then I’ll be leaving as well.

…
“I think this dress will look the best on you, Luisa,” Mirabel said, pointing to one of the pictures in the book, “Only thing is, it has a lot of beading, and I’ve never learned how to bead before,” Mirabel frowned, her left hand tapping her pen against her leg. At the insistence of Luisa and Isabela, she had returned to using her preferred hand. Which was kind of weird, because she hadn’t really used it outside of the nursery in ten years, but it was nice that she could use it without being yelled at.

“Maybe I can help you?” a new voice offered as Senora Silva stepped out of the backroom. She had poked her head out of the room when they had returned but hadn’t bothered them. Mirabel was her most loyal customer, and she knew that if she needed help she would ask for it. Often times they would talk for hours. Until Senora Silva had insisted that she head home before her family started to panic. Mirabel had always left reluctantly. Now she knew why and she felt terrible about it. All Mirabel had wanted to do was get away from her abusive family. Well, now that she knew about it, maybe she could help. “I was actually going to talk to your parents about you maybe becoming my apprentice. If you’re interested.”

Mirabel’s eyes lit up, “Really?” she asked, glancing at Luisa in disbelief, why would anyone want her around every day?

Luisa’s eyes narrowed, “I know that look, Mira, and it isn’t true, you are an amazing seamstress, and I’m sure that Mama and Papa will be willing to allow you to accept the apprenticeship, and we don’t have to worry about Abuela.”

“Abuela would have been thrilled to have me out of the way,” Mirabel muttered, shaking her head, “I can’t be bothering those with gifts if I’m working in the seamstress shop.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Isabela insisted, beaming at her younger sister, “We are officially free.”

“Yeah, I guess so, I’m interested to see what else you can grow now that I’m pretty certain that you are about to go feral on all of us.”

“What are you talking about?” Dolores asked.

“Isabela’s been growing the same flowers every day since she was five, yet her gift kept growing with her. She’s only tapped into like a tenth of what her gift can actually do,” Mirabel insisted.

Mirabel blinked, finding her sisters and prima staring at her, “What?” she asked, “Is this about me being left-handed?”

“You just told me that I can grow a lot more than just flowers,” Isabela announced, “Like not even a full minute ago, how can you forget about that?”

“I did?” Mirabel asked, confused, before her face lit up in remembrance, “I did just say that, and it’s… True, you really have been only using a part of your gift. Which is kind of sad, you should use all of your gift.”

“Okay this is getting creepy,” Isabela insisted, “We’ll talk about the wedding and apprenticeship later, I have to check this out,” she said, dragging Mirabel out of the dress shop.

“Wedding? What Wedding?” Senora Silva asked softly, “I thought that Mariano never ended up proposing?”

Dolores smiled, “Luisa and Tomas are getting married, that’s why Mirabel dragged us all in here, to pick out a dress for her.”

…
Isabela pulled Mirabel out into the streets, “So, sis, what exactly can I grow?”

Mirabel tipped her head to the left, thinking before nodding her head, “Just about anything. It’s kind of like Tia Pepa’s gift, it actually can be affected by your emotions. Just, grow what your feeling, I guess.”

Isabela let out a squeal as she actually stomped her foot, a cactus popping up in front of her.

…
“I think that everyone is wound up and overreacting, what everyone needs to do is take a step back, calm themselves, and not make hasty decisions,” the Reverend suggested, “This doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, Julieta, sure last night was a scare with Mirabel, but she’s fine, it’s all in the past. Honestly, what would your poor Padre say if he was here. Fighting with your Madre like this?”

“If you ask me, Padre will be disappointed in her,” Julieta announced, glaring at Alma, “I mean, these are his nietos we are talking about. He was willing to do anything to protect his children, and I am following in his footsteps. When he deemed that it wasn’t safe for his children, he took his family and left. And so am I.”

Julieta stood up, heading towards the door, before pausing, “I almost forgot…” she announced, turning to the reverend, “Luisa and Tomas are getting married, and either you are going to wed them, or I’ll be forced to leave the Encanto to find someone willing to do the ceremony, and there is a good chance we won’t come back if we have to leave. So decide, do you really want to drive away the closest thing to a healer this town has?”

Rev. Perez blinked, “I can’t perform such a union, not without the permission of…”

“I am Luisa’s Madre, and I give full permission to for her to get married. She’s over eighteen years of age. She’s old enough to make decisions on her own. Unlike you apparently, I didn’t realize that Alma Madrigal can decree who can marry who.”

Before Rev. Perez can say anything more though, Camilo and Antonio burst through the doors, “Mama, Tia,” Camilo shouted, “Isa’s gone rogue!”

“What’s rogue?” Antonio asked, blinking his eyes up at his brother.

“She’s gone completely wild, and Mirabel’s with her, and they’re dancing on the rooftops and it isn’t fair because we aren’t allowed on the rooftops,” Camilo turned to his mother, “Are we?”

“No!”

Chapter Text

Pepa had to admit seeing Isabela and Mirabel jumping from roof to roof while random plants, ninety-nine percent of which she didn’t know the name of, popping up randomly, looked like fun. No wonder Camilo was complaining about them having fun without him. She couldn’t help but laugh as a bloom popped up punching Osvaldo in the nose. From what Dolores had told her the other day, he deserved that.

“What in the world is Mirabel doing!” Alma exclaimed from behind her, “See, this is what I’m talking about, that girl is out of control!”

Julieta shot her madre a glare, “One more comment like that and I will slap you.”

Pepa turned to the reverend, “You know what, it’s nice, being the calm triplet for once, it usually doesn’t happen, I have a very short fuse. I mean, I thunder a bit, then I feel better. Bruno is more of a punch-the-wall sort of guy, and Julieta. Julieta is the calm one until she boils over and then you have to watch out. She’s a whole lot scarier than I ever can get,” she finished, “Apparently waving a cleaver around is a lot scarier than lightning strikes. Then again, I thunder and have lightning strikes all the time. Julieta’s only got the cleaver out twice, both times were amazing to watch. Too bad she packed her cleaver in the wagon huh?” Pepa asked with a huge smile on her face.

The Reverend was a little unnerved by the smile on Pepa’s face, it was obvious that she was looking forward to her sister getting violent.

“Come now Julieta, look at what she’s doing, what will everybody say about that? Your youngest is a bad influence on her sisters.”

“I’m pretty certain I saw Isabela dragging Mirabel along with a vine,” Camilo offered, “You can’t accuse Mirabel of being a bad influence if she is an unwilling participant, can you?” he glared at abuela long and hard, “Well?”

“I am your elder, you should respect me!” 

“The only reason I haven’t climbed up on the roof to join Mirabel and Isabela is because Mama and Tia both said no. If you had been the only one to say no, I would have totally joined them.”

By now the two girls were getting closer and closer. Their laughter filling the air as they jumped from one roof to the other, Isabela using her vines to keep the two of them from falling off.

A pile of colorful blooms formed at the foot of the steps to the church as first Isabela and then Mirabel launched themselves from the roof across the street and fell into the peddles giggling happily as she did it.

“What in the world is the meaning of this!” Alma’s voice bellowed out over them causing both girls to scramble to their feet. Isabela gently pushing Mirabel behind her in an attempt to protect her from their abuela’s wrath. “Mirabel you ought to be ashamed of yourself, just look at your hermana mayor.”

Julieta saw red, her hijas had been having fun, bonding together, and Alma had to yell at them for it.

“We were just having fun,” Mirabel muttered, glancing down at the ground, “Is that so wrong.”

“Fun! Fun! Fun! You punched Poor Osvaldo in the nose!”

“He totally deserved it after what he said to Mirabel the other day,” Isabela insisted, studying her pollen-stained dress with a look that totally told her that she was done talking to her.

“This is what I’m talking about,” Alma declared, “If I wasn’t around, Julieta would just let her hijas run wild. She’s ruining our famiIa’s reputation. What will the town say about this!”

The cracking sound of a hand hitting flesh rung out as everyone stared at Julieta who still had her hand up while glaring at Alma who was cradling a red mark on her cheek, “Shut up you ******** ****, you can’t talk to my hijas like that.”

Isabela and Mirabel looked at each other, they had never seen their mama slap someone before, especially not their abuela.

“Still wish she had her cleaver,” Tia Pepa muttered.

Isabela blinked, okay that was weird, since when was Tia so into bloodshed, anyway, time to change the topic, “Did you know Mira’s left-handed?”

Mirabel turned to her older sister, “Seriously?” she demanded, “We just found out that I have a unique bond with the miracle, and you’re freaking out over the fact that I’m left-handed?”

“What are you talking about,” Alma demanded, “Mirabel stop claiming to be something you aren…” Abuela stared at the large plant snapping at her face.

“Finish that sentence, I dare you,” Isabela insisted, glaring at her abuela.

“Isabela, you shouldn’t talk to your elders like that!” Alma insisted, “People will think that I didn’t teach you manners.”

“I’m sure people are wondering if you even know the meaning of good manners,” Mirabel insisted, examining her nails slightly, “Anyways, I have a connection to the miracle, it let’s me know stuff, like the fact that Isabela’s holding back on her gift and Luisa is overworking herself, and in her con…” Mirabel trailed off as Isabela nudged her, nodding towards Abuela, “She needs a major vacation.” she finally confessed, “and Tia really needs to start letting her emotions out. If she keeps bottling them up like that she’ll never see Antonio’s tenth birthday. Which is really, really concerning, because the miracle can prolong our lives so that we’ll live until we are at least a hundred, unless of course some outside force is involved. 

Pepa turned to Julieta, “What in the world is she talking about?” she demanded.

“You need to take your emotional health into consideration,” Mirabel admitted, “Bottling up your emotions are a key reason that you’re fighting depression and you don’t have the best coping mechanisms.”

Both mother and aunt looked at her in complete confusion as Isabela slowly backed away.

“Yeah, see this is what she does,” she said, “She just says something totally random. Like she mentioned that I was going to go feral,” she gestured at the plants around her, “Which I was actually planning on doing, sorry Mama, but as soon as we get to the farm, I’m jumping in the first mud puddle I find.”

Julieta chuckled, “I was kind of expecting that,” she admitted.

“I’ll make it for you,” Pepa offered.

“Why in the world would you do that!” Alma demanded.

“Because you’ve been holding me back and robbed me of my childhood,” Isabela accused, “Honestly you’re lucky my little pets haven’t eaten you yet,” she said, stroking the large carnivorous plant that was right in front of Alma.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to get use to the new Isabela. Which is great, I couldn’t stand the old one,” Mirabel insisted, “And great news, even if I was adopted, and yes Abuela, I was aware of the rumor that you started that the reason that I didn’t get a gift was because I was adopted, I should have gotten a gift because Sofia’s going to get a gift in a couple of years. She’ll make a great Madrigal.”

…

Luisa looked up from where she was standing while Senora Silva took her measurements, “Are you alright Lolo?” she asked, concern in her voice as her prima spluttered and gasped for air.

“Yeah, but Mama’s not,” Dolores explained, “Mirabel just told her that if she keeps bottling up her emotions she’s going to die within the next five years.”

“Does she have Bruno’s gift?”

“I don’t know, some of the things she’s mentioned are about the future but other things are… she mentioned that Mama is depressed and her coping mechanisms aren’t the best. That’s present knowledge that she obviously didn’t have before because Mama is scared of the fact that she knows that. Although she also mentioned that Sofia will get a gift when she turns five.”

Luisa gasped turning to her future stepdaughter, who looked at her, “Gift? Like birthday? I four?” she held up four fingers eagerly, smiling up at the tall woman.

“Not exactly, Sofi,” Lusia said with a chuckle, “Gift as in Magic, like my super strength, or Tia Isa’s flowers.”

“Tia Mira sing?”

Dolores snorted, as Luisa shot her a look, “No, Mira just likes to sing.”

“I don’t know about that, she was singing about our family the other day, I didn’t hear anything new with what she said, but I didn’t listen to the whole song, "You don't think she has Tio Bruno's gift, do you?" Dolores asked, "Everything she's done so far seems to be predicting the future."

"I don't know Lolo," Luisa muttered, before turning to Sofia, "No, Sofia get down, you're going to fall and hurt yourself." 

Sofia, who had gotten bored and was climbing the shelves of the shop giggled happily as Luisa grabbed her and pulled her into her arms.

"Mami," she giggled happily, wrapping her arms around her neck, at least to the best of her abilities, her little arms unable to wrap completely around her.

"Anyway," Luisa insisted, shifting Sofia onto her hip, "You heard Mira when she was talking to Isa, she said that she was only using part of her gift. Tio would tell her that she could grow so much more. Not how much of her gift she actually was using. I don’t know what is going on, but it isn’t the same as Tio Bruno’s gift. We pointed out earlier that he couldn’t see what gifts were. Trust me, I’m sure that Abuela would have canceled Mira’s Gift Ceremony just so she didn’t have to deal with how it ruined “Her reputation” if she had known she wasn’t going to get a gift.”

“But she obviously has some sort of gift, if she didn’t get it from the candle, where did she get it?”

“I don’t really know,” Luisa confessed, “But maybe Mama or Tio Bruno knows, he always has great advice. At least from what I remember of him, I was nine when he disappeared.”

“Yeah, I remember his advice as well,” Dolores admitted, “And he always told the best stories…” Dolores trailed off, “He knew that I knew he was there, whenever he could tell that I was overwhelmed, he would start telling me stories, from the walls.”

“So you knew from the very beginning that Tio Bruno was in the walls?” Luisa asked.

“Yeah, when did you learn about him being there? You mentioned that he almost caught you sneaking Tomas in one night, yet the reason you started to sneak him in was the fact that no one noticed that he was there after all these years.”

“Before I started sneaking him into Casita, I was sneaking out,” Lusia confessed, “As I was sneaking back in, someone was in the kitchen. I was all prepared to come up with this far-fetched story as to why I was out so late helping someone when I realized who it was. I’m actually surprised that I recognized him after so many years, but I knew it was him.”

“Probably helped that he fled to the walls,” Dolores pointed out.

“Yeah that did help.”

Chapter Text

Julieta smiled at her girls, “So where did you leave your hermana at?” she asked.

“Senora’s Silva dress shop,” Isabela explained, “She’s helping with the wedding dress.”

“I thought Mirabel wanted to do it?” Pepa spoke up.

“Oh, I do, but get this,” Mirabel said, her face lighting up, “Senora Silva wants to talk to you and Papa, Mama, she wants me to be her apprentice! Can I, can I?”

“I think an Apprenticeship is a wonderful idea, turned that hobby of yours into something useful,” Alma interrupted. Only to step back as Isabela’s ‘Pet’ snapped at her.

“Nobody asked you,” Isabela snapped.

“I think it is a wonderful idea,” Julieta insisted, “but only on two conditions, this can’t affect your school work, and it can’t take up all of your free time. You’re a kid you should have time to have fun.”

“Okay, I promise,” Mirabel said, earnestly.

“Good, I’ll talk to Senora Silva about the apprenticeship after I talk to your teacher about your change of address, and learn what exactly I need to do to get a restraining order,” this last part was directed with a glare at her mother, “Why don’t you get Luisa and head over to the farm and help unpack, I’ll be home in a little while.”

“Okay Mama,” Isabela said, “Race you back to Senora Silva’s,” she called out, before sprinting down the road.

Mirabel watched as she got further ahead.

“Aren’t you going to chase after her?” Antonio asked.

“Nah, I figure I’ll give her a head start, she’s wearing heels, that dress was not made for physical activities, and I’m the star of the Encanto’s school’s Cross Country Team. I also know a shortcut.” Mirabel insisted, “Okay, that’s a good enough head start, see you guys later!” With that, she was off. None of them had really realized just how fast Mirabel was.

Mirabel had just caught up with Isabela, who was bent over gasping for breath when she ran straight into Senora Pezmuerto who gave her a dark glare, “Shouldn’t you be in school?” she demanded.

“Uh,” Mirabel said, backpedaling quickly, Senora Pezmuerto was the Truancy Officer for the school, “I don’t know, Tia Pepa and Mama told Camilo and me not to worry about school.”

“Your Mama and Tia can’t just decide not to send you to school,” Senora Pezmuerto groaned.

“Senora Pezmuerto,” Isabela said softly, approaching the two while holding a hand against her side, “If you please, we’re dealing with a lot of personal problems going on today. Mama wants to talk to Mirabel’s teacher before she goes back. She’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Exactly,” Mirabel agreed, “Come on Isa, we’re supposed to be fetching Luisa and helping Papa with the wagon.”

…
Jorge Gonzalez pulled on the reins, stopping the horses in front of his house. A woman came running from the house, brown hair coming out of the bun at the back of her head.

“Papa there you are!” she called out, rushing forward, “I got the kids off to school, and headed over to pick up some eggs, but you weren’t here? Aggie, what are you doing here?”

Agustin rolled his eyes at his youngest sister, “Hola Carla, good to see you too.”

“But you never come to visit.”

“Julie had enough of Alma’s treatment of her and the girls, so we’re moving in with Papa until we figure out what to do next.”

“Finally,” Carla sighed, shaking her head, “What finally convinced her to leave that controlling *****, anyway.”

“Alma got physical with Mirabel in front of us,” Agustin explained, “And Luisa had an emotional meltdown, and a whole lot of stuff happened last night that ended in a long night.”

“Well, I’m glad you guys are finally doing something about it. If I was you, I would have left ten years ago, when Senora Madrigal started blaming you for Mirabel’s gift ceremony.”

Agustin snorted shaking his head, “Yeah, you’re right, we should have left earlier,” he admitted with a sigh, “I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”

“Don’t worry,” Jorge said, “You are.”

Agustin nodded, going to the back of the wagon, where he grabbed a box of stuff, only for Felix to grab it from here, “Let me help you with that, don’t want you breaking a bone, they get brittle in old age you know.”

“I’m three years younger than you,” Agustin pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’m not an abuelo am I?”

“Ugg, I’m not even an official abuelo yet,” Agustin pointed out.

“I honestly don’t think that Julieta agrees with that statement or your girls,” Bruno said, climbing out from the wagon.

“Wait,” Carla questioned, “Two things, “When did you become an Abuelo, and when did he,” she pointed an accusing finger at Bruno, “Get back? Why is he here? He’s not staying here, is he? After what he did to Mama, and Valentina, and…”

“I don’t cause things to happen, all I did was see what was going to happen,” Bruno muttered, “Besides, what happened to Julio was his own fault, he knew what would happen, but he did it anyway.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Jorge insisted, before turning to his youngest child, “Yes he predicted that your Madre and Valentina would die, and he predicted the rockslide that killed Julio…”

“I told Julio about the rockslide, he knew where it was, but he still insisted that he had to go hiking in that area,” Bruno pointed out.

“Stop,” Jorge instructed, “Carla, I hold no grudge with Bruno, as does Maria, he is my guest and will be treated as such. Now would you please help your brother unload his things since you are here and obviously have nothing better to do?”

…
“Well,” Abuelo said, opening a door, and usering Agustin’s daughters into the room, “This was your tias’ room when they were little, try not to fight over beds or anything.”

Isabela nodded, as she looked around the room, it was kind of small, around the size of the nursery she figured. There was a large window on one wall with a desk underneath it and a bed on one side and a set of bunk beds on the other. There was a wardrobe at the foot of the bed and a chest of drawers with a mirror on top of it against the wall right next to the door, and a bookshelf pushed up against the wall in front of the bunk bed.

“I call the top bunk,” she called out, tossing her box of clothes and stuff on the top bunk.

“I’ll take the bottom, I guess,” Mirabel muttered, glancing at Luisa, “Unless you want the bottom?” she offered.

“Nah, I’ll probably whack my head a million times trying to get in and out of the bottom, or top bunk,” Luisa insisted, “Besides, I’ll move in with Tomas after the wedding, so, if Mama and Papa haven’t got a place by then, you can have the other bed.”

“Where does Tomas live anyway?”

“He rents a room, he doesn’t really make enough at the diner to afford to buy a house,” Luisa shook her head, shrugging a little, “and since I don’t make any money, well, we’ll have to make do.”

“You work all day, every day, for free?”

“Abuela doesn’t allow us to charge for our services, ‘Our gift was given to us to bless the community, and we should do that for free,’” Isa quoted with a snort, “Of course, that isn’t quite true as the taxes that Abuela has on the town go towards the family and we were getting a stipend from that.”

“Yeah, as if Abuela’s going to give us any more money after today,” Luisa pointed out, “We’re going to have to cut back on our spending until we figure out how to make money.”

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem,” Mirabel muttered, “I never got any pocket money.”

Luisa and Isabela gave her a look, “You never had spending money?”

“The only reason Abuela would talk to me was to yell at me,” Mirabel insisted, “Every once in a while Tia Pepa and Tio Felix would buy me a special treat as a thank you for watching Antonio, or Mama would give me some to buy something I needed, but yeah, I never really had my own money, unless of course, I sold some handkerchiefs, but that usually went towards my sewing supplies.”

“Let’s change the topic,” Luisa pleaded, “How are we dividing the drawers?”

Mirabel glanced at the chest of drawers, six drawers, three on the right, three on the left, “Each of us gets two drawers, top, middle, or bottom, what do you want?”

“I’ll take the top drawers,” Luisa offered.

“I’ll take the bottom,” Isabela claimed, opening a drawer and dumping her box of clothes into it.

Mirabel shook her head as she went through Isabela’s drawer folding the clothes and shaking out her dresses before hanging them up in the wardrobe. After she finished organizing her sister’s drawer, she moved on to her own.

“Where did Isabela go?” Luisa asked, hanging her things up in the wardrobe.

“I don’t know,” Mirabel muttered, grabbing her sewing kit from her bed and putting it in her second drawer, “Odd, my sewing scissors are missing, I had them right here.”

Just then Isabela reappeared, “Are we done here?” she asked, “Cause I have a mud puddle with my name on it.”
Luisa and Mirabel looked at each other, staring at Isabela, judging by the drastic haircut, which was super uneven, she was the one who took Mirabel’s sewing scissors.

“Did you just use my scissors to cut your hair?”

“Do you like it?”

“Not really,” Mirabel confessed, “I think you might need to ask Mama to help even it out.”

Isabela let out a sigh of disappointment, “I guess I should have asked Mama for help, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, you should have,” Mirabel said, “And find something else to wear, it will take forever to get the mud out of that dress, and I’m not going to try getting all of that pollen out.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll get Mama and ask for some help,” Isabela said, shaking her head, before disappearing out the door.

Mirabel and Luisa glanced at each other, “Well, at least she won’t have to worry about Abuela yelling at her anymore. I don’t think anyone will recognize her once she’s done with herself,” Luisa said.

“I don’t think she’ll even recognize herself after today,” Mirabel pointed out, “You should have seen her with Abuela earlier, she was amazing! She sicced a carnivorous plant on her.”

“You mean Hector?” Luisa asked.

“What?”

“She named it Hector,” Luisa explained.

“When did you learn that?”

“When you went looking for your sewing supplies,” Luisa confessed, “She actually has it in a pot in our room. I’m surprised you didn’t see it, it’s right there.”

Mirabel blinked her eyes at the large pot with the plant in it on the desk, “How did I not notice that?”

Chapter Text

Mirabel smiled softly as she watched Luisa collapse onto the couch, a fantasy novel in her hand. It was so good to see her older sister finally relaxing.

Sofia looked up from where she was playing with some toys that Abuelo had pulled out of a closet, saw Luisa, and climbed up onto her with a giggle. Mirabel stifled a laugh, the ninita was very open with her love of Luisa, and it was easy to tell that she was going to fit right in with the family. Well, maybe not Abuela, but that was Abuela’s fault.

“I ‘ungry,” Sofia announced, grabbing hold of her stomach.

Luisa smiled softly, “So am I Zafirita,” she insisted, “Let’s see what Abuelo has for snacks around here, shall we?” she asked, placing her book down and scooping Sofia up onto her hip.

“But we aren’t allowed to have snacks,” Mirabel insisted, “Abuela gets mad when we do.”

Luisa reached out, cupping Mirabel’s shoulder with a large hand, “Abuela isn’t here, remember, it’s just us and Abuelo. Certain rules that we grew up with no longer apply. Besides, I need to eat before I get sick again.”

“Right,” Mirabel insisted, “I forgot about that. Do you really think we can go into the kitchen and get a snack without getting in trouble?”

“There’s only really one way to find out,” Luisa said, getting back up with a groan, she had after all just sat down, “Come on, Mira, let’s check out the kitchen.”

Mirabel shrugged and made her way slowly towards the kitchen, unsure about what to expect.

“Anyway,” Abuelo was saying as they entered the kitchen to find him with two middle age women that looked a lot like their father, “Agustin and his family are staying with me for a while well they figure out what to do.”

“They’re lucky that you haven’t sold the farm yet,” the older of the two women insisted, “Because as much as I would love to help out there is no way I can fit their family in my house as well as you.”

“I still can’t believe that you’re letting Bruno Madrigal stay at your house, Papi, he’s nothing but bad luck. I mean look at what he did to Julio,” the younger one insisted.

“Bruno told him if he went to the mountain, he would be killed in a landslide. I told him not to go. Bruno told him not to go. His parents told him not to go. Mama and Papa told him not to go, that finding a way out of the Encanto wasn’t worth it. He still went, even with the knowledge that there would be a landslide. As much as a miss him, Julio’s death was his own fault. He had plenty of opportunities to choose to not go, and he didn’t,” The older of the two insisted.

“How can you say that about your own husband, Maria?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it,” Maria demanded, “Blaming Bruno for it would be like… blaming Noah for the great flood. Have you ever thought about that, huh, Carla, besides, the good bible says…”

“Enough with your bible,” Carla groaned, “I get it, love thy enemy, bless those that curse thee. I know, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”

Luisa shifted uncomfortably, she had forgotten how religious her Tia Maria was. The Madrigal family were not churchgoers, but that does not mean that she didn’t know a bit about religion. She read enough Christian Literature to know that Tia Maria would be just as opposed to her situation as Abuela would be.

“Well, maybe if you’d actually attend church once in a while and pray to learn forgiveness, God can…”

“Stop telling me what to do Maria, I’m forty years old, stop acting like you’re the boss of me.”

“I’m just trying to…”

“I don’t need your so-called ‘Help’.”

“Girls,” Abuelo snapped, “Stop this fighting at once, you are both grown adults, try to act like it.”

Their tias grumbled and looked like they were about to start fighting again when they noticed the three new people in the room.

“Hola Ninas,” Abuelo said brightly, acting as if he hadn’t just been forced to break up a fight between his two living daughters, “Do you need something?”

Mirabel fidgeted a little, ducking behind Luisa as she rubbed the back of her neck, “I was just wondering… um… when’s lunch?”

“Not for a little while Luisa,” Abuelo confessed, “If you need something to hold you over, or if Sofia needs a snack, I believe that I have some arepas in that cupboard over there, help yourself. That goes for you as well Mirabel, okay?”

Mirabel poked out from behind her older sister, “You aren’t mad? Abuela hates it when I go into the kitchen without permission.”

“Well, Mirabel, in case you haven’t noticed, I am not, and never will be Senora Madrigal, and should I ever start acting like her, just kill me on the spot,” Abuelo insisted, wrinkling his nose in amusement.

Mirabel wrinkled her nose back at him, smiling up at her Abuelo, “Okay,” she said.

Luisa helped herself to the leftover arepas, giving one to Sofia, before eating a couple herself, “I think that I’m going to go find someplace to read and just enjoy not having a list of chores a mile long.”

“I go you,” Sofia insisted.

“Of course,” Luisa said, taking a deep breath, “You know how much I love spending time with you. It’s so nice, being able to spend time with you without worrying about what anybody says,” Luisa turned to head out of the kitchen, before pausing, “Mirabel…?” there was no denying the question there.

“I’m with Abuelo, Tia Maria, and Tia Carla,” she pointed out, “I’m pretty sure that covers Papa’s requirement that I not be left alone.”

“Okay Mira,” Luisa said, “But if you need anything, come find me okay.”

“Sure Luisa.”

No sooner had Luisa left with Sofia did Maria ask, “Isn’t that Tomas Rivera’s little girl?”

“Si,” Mirabel confessed, “Luisa and Tomas are getting married.”

“They are?” Carla asked, “You know, with how much the town loves to gossip about the Madrigal family you would think that I would have heard that Luisa was engaged.”

“Well, nothing’s official yet, but Dolores told me that he’s planning on making it official tonight when he comes to dinner, and everyone knows that if you hear it from Dolores it’s the honest truth.”

“Good for him,” Maria insisted, “It can’t be easy, raising that little girl without the proper woman influence, although I doubt that Luisa could be called a proper young lady in the traditional sense of the term.”

“Maria,” Abuelo growled.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Tia?” Mirabel demanded.

“Well, she doesn’t really care about her appearance and she’s always lifting things. I get that her gift is super strength, but she still uses it way too much. Then again, Sofia would have Isabela as a Tia, so not everything will be lost.”

Carla snorted along with Mirabel, “Ay, if you want Sofia to grow up as a proper young lady, you should keep her away from Isabela,” Carla insisted, “That girl is wild.”

“Tia Carla is right, Tia Maria,” Mirabel pipped up, “Isabela is actually very much a tomboy. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not out in the fields right now, jumping in mud puddles.”

“Oh, she is,” Carla confirmed, “I gave her an old pair of overalls to wear first, so you don’t have to worry about mud on her dress.”

“What, but she’s always so put together?” Maria protested.

“Abuela forced Isabela and Luisa to wear masks. Isabela had to be a perfect princess that grew perfect flowers, and Luisa couldn’t be anything but the strong one, that’s how the whole village saw them. I kind of expected you, as our Tia, to see past the masks, but I guess that was expecting too much from you huh Tia.”

Maria looked red, obviously not expecting to be called out for not knowing her sobrinas as well as she had thought she had.

Mirabel suddenly felt nervous, Tia Maria looked just like Abuela right before a beating, and she didn’t like that at all.

Abuelo looked at his hija and then at his neita, “Maria, Mirabel has a point, you obviously don’t know Agustin’s hijas that well, luckily for you, this is a great opportunity to get to know them better. Tonight’s going to be hectic, what with Tomas coming to discuss the wedding plans, so why don’t you come over… oh let’s say Friday night, get them a chance to get settled. Join us for cena. Take the time that you need to actually get to know your sobrinas.”

“Well, I don’t have anything planned on Friday,” Maria muttered.

“You should also apologize to Luisa for calling her unladylike,” Mirabel insisted, “Don’t think that she won’t hear about it. Don’t forget who our Prima is.”

“Oh yes, the little tattle tale,” Maria said grumpily.

“Seriously?” Mirabel asked, “You get after Tia Carla for talking bad about mi Tio Bruno, but then you talk bad not only about my hermana, your sobrina, but my prima as well? We left Casita, our home, to get away from the abuse, not to find it somewhere else.”

“Mirabel is right Maria,” Abuelo spoke up, “Your Madre and I rose you better than that,” he insisted, “If I hear you talking bad about anyone, ever again, and don’t think I won’t check with Dolores, there will be trouble.”

“Honestly Papa, I’m a grown…” Maria trailed off as the door to outside swung open and her sister-in-law stormed inside.

“I get it that Mama founded the Encanto and been in charge of everything for the last fifty years, but I still don’t understand why she gets an exemption card for all the laws she passed,” she growled, glancing first at her daughter, then her father in law and sister in laws, “Sorry, I’m just frustrated. They pretty much told me that they would be happy to issue me a restraining order, but they have no guarantee that they would be able to enforce it because they don’t want to get on Alma’s bad side.”

“To be fair, Senora Madrigal is in charge of their paychecks. She handles all the taxes which pay for the schools, guards, roads, and Madrigals. She could defund them,” Carla pointed out, “What we need to do is find a way to take some of her power away.”

“And how do we do that Carla?” Julieta asked, “Everyone is scared of getting on her bad side.”

“Well, they’re going to have to choose who’s bad side they want to be on less because I can attest that being on your bad side just once was once too many.”

Chapter Text

“Senora Madrigal, when is Julieta opening up her stand today?” a villager asked, holding a young toddler with skinned knees on her hip.

“Well, you see...” Alma began before being interrupted by Senor Valdez.

“Senora Madrigal, do you know where Luisa is? The donkeys got out again.”

“Senora,” another voice called out, “Do you know where Isabela is, tonight’s my hija’s quince, and I need it to be perfect.”

“You need to do something about Pepa, she’s been thundering all day.”

“Did you know that Dolores told me no this morning? That girl has absolutely no manners.”

“I heard that Bruno is back, is that true?”

“Yeah, where’s Camilo, I need help painting my living room.”

“Do you think Antonio can ask my neighbor’s dog to stay out of my chicken coop?”

Alma calmly raised a hand, “If you’ll allow me to...”

There was a loud shout as a jaguar plowed through the crowd, two little boys clinging to its back.

“Antonio, Camilo, what is the meaning of this?” Alma demanded, only for there to be a crash of thunder overhead.

“I thought I made it clear that you are not to talk to my ninos,” Pepa growled, glaring at her mother.

“They could have hurt someone,” Alma pointed out, “And with your sister refu...”

“Don’t,” Pepa snapped, “I thought that I made myself clear, you follow my wishes or I’ll do exactly what Julieta did.” Pepa had been questioning her decision to stay in Casita with her mother since their ‘discussion’ with her and the priest, and the very interesting one she had with Mirabel. If only she had a way to help Dolores with her gift.

“Honestly Pepa, you need to have more control over your children.”

“Mami,” Antonio called out, or it could have been Camilo, it was hard to tell when Camilo was Antonio, “Come on, Papi and Lolo are already at the park, and they have the food, let’s go!”

“Ay, Camilo, I’m coming!” Pepa called out, her cloud dissipating into a rainbow, “Mama you’re on your own for Lunch, we’re having a family picnic, and we’re having dinner over at Felix’s parents' house, so you’re on your own for that as well.”

Pepa slowly walked off, trailing after her sons as they raced off to the park again.

Everyone turned their heads towards Alma Madrigal, none of them had ever seen someone tell her no like that before. Especially not a follow Madrigal.

Alma let out a sigh, there was no way to hide the fact that Julieta and her family had left, so she might as well get it over with, “I am sorry for the inconvenience, but… after the excitement of the past few nights I’ve decided to give everybody the day off. Julieta and her family are spending it with Agustin’s family.”
Everybody nodded their heads and seemed appeased, much to Alma’s relief. She didn’t like to lie but there was no reason to worry the villagers about the truth, she was sure that she could talk sense into her oldest before any of them find out.

“If Julieta’s smart, she’ll stay at the Gonzalez’s place,” someone muttered nearby, “Have you heard what Alma did to her youngest while the Guzmans were over for Dinner?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” another voice insisted, “Senora Madrigal would never treat one of her grandchildren like that, especially in front of guests like that.”

“Mirabel is completely useless, she probably deserved what she got.”

“Don’t you say that about my Mira!” a little kid shouted.

“Yeah!”

“Mirabel’s the best!”

“You’re nothing but a meanie!”

Alma watched as several little kids, the same ones that she constantly saw following Mirabel gang up on the hapless villager. She shook her head, those kids were loyal to a fault. It wasn’t their fault that Mirabel was somehow defective.

Sharp pain in her ankle caused her to look down to see Alejandra glaring up at her, “That’s for hurting Mira!” she announced, stomping, once again onto Alma’s foot before running off. There was no way Alma could get after her, not without making herself look bad.

…
“So you haven’t talked to Mariano yet?” Camilo asked, grabbing another arepa from the plate.

“No,” Dolores said softly, selecting a mango, “Not yet. He almost proposed to Isabela last night, it would be weird if I walked up to him and said, ‘I like you,’ as if nothing happened last night. Besides, last night kind of turned him off from the whole Madrigal family thing. If I try to start something, he’s going to think that Abuela is trying to force me into it or something.”

“Wasn’t Isabela suppose to introduce you?”

“Si, but she hasn’t yet,” Dolores confessed, “She’s too busy reinventing herself and giving Tia gray hair to even think about introducing me to any boys at the moment.”

“Are you making excuses?” Camilo demanded, “Or are you just scared that he won’t return the feelings. I can see it now,” he shapeshifted into Mariano, “Ay, Dolores, I don’t care how much you like my biceps, my heart is forever broken from the rejection of your...” Camilo never had a chance to finish his sentence, as Dolores launched herself at him, causing them to tumble to the ground in front of a pair of booted feet.

“Oh,” Camilo said, looking up at the owner of the boots, “Mariano, what a wonderful surprise, Dolores here was just telling me how wonderful your biceps are.”

“Camilo!” Dolores exclaimed, feeling her face burn bright red at the thought that not only did Mariano catch her mucking about with her younger brother, but now he thought that she was crushing on him. Which, while true, wasn’t something that he needed to know about just yet. She didn’t want to be the creepy stalker girl that made a move on her prima’s boyfriend the moment they broke up.

“You like my biceps?” Mariano’s voice actually went up an octave as his cheeks turned an interesting red color, no doubt the same red color as Dolores’s own cheeks.

“I am going to kill you, Camilo,” Dolores hissed under her breath.

“Okay, but I doubt that Mariano is going to wait for you to be released from jail if you do murder me.”

“’ Milo,” Dolores groaned.

“So,” Mariano said, “Your Abuela is telling everyone that she’s given you the day off… and I was kind of wondering if you could… please, tell me, what exactly have I got myself into. Please be honest.”

“Absolutely nothing yet,” Camilo said, “If you start running now before Dolores sinks her claws in you, that is.”

Dolores had been in the process of pulling herself up off the top of Camilo when he said that, and immediately body slammed him again, “Keep this up and I’ll have to have a talk with Francisca is it?”

“You wouldn’t,” Camilo gasped.

“Yep, and I’ll tell Mami and Papi all about her as well.”

“Okay, okay I give, I’ll leave you two love birds to it.”

“Camilo!”

“Totally worth it,” Camilo shouted over his shoulder as he ran back up the hill that they had tumbled down.

“As for your question, at the moment, the Madrigal family is a mess. In fact, it might be reduced to a single member within the next couple of months,” Dolores explained, “As of this morning, Julieta and her family are no longer associated with the Madrigal Family.”
Mariano let out a low whistle, “I’m really not surprised that Senora Madrigal is keeping this secret, but why?”

“I think it just became too much for her to handle,” Dolores confessed, “I’m sure she was aware to some degree of the emotional abuse we were receiving, but when she saw Abuela physically going after Mirabel, she lost it, and when she heard just how bad she was treating Luisa and the fact that she arranged your engagement with Isabela without Isabela’s input in the matter, she snapped. I’ve never seen Tia as mad as she was last night after you left.”

“Good,” Mariano confessed, “She should have been. What Senora Madrigal did was uncalled for.”

“Abuela’s hoping that if she gives Tia time to calm down that she will reconsider leaving the family,” Dolores admitted, “Which is probably why she told everyone that she gave us the day off instead of that Tia has left the family and the rest of us are on strike.”

“Whoa, things must be tense in the Madrigal household with all of that going on.”

Dolores smiled softly, this was why she liked Mariano so much, he was so sweet and sensitive and she couldn’t understand why Isabela didn’t like him, “It is yes, but… I’d like to believe that it is better than the alternative.”

“The alternative?”

“If it wasn’t for the choices that Tia and Isabela made last night, we would have woke up to a very different scenario, it probably would have been storming a lot worse than it has been,” Dolores explained, “The only reason that Isabela is still inside the Encanto is the fact that Tia told her that she was leaving the family and she was welcomed to come with. Her promise that she didn’t have to marry you was one of the deciding factors in that, by the way. If Isabela had left the Encanto then she wouldn’t have been able to stop Mirabel from jumping. Which meant that we would have woken up this morning to Mirabel’s death and Isabela missing. Which probably would have been the deciding factor that Luisa needed to have the courage to actually leave as well. Of course, once Luisa Eloped Tia and Tio would have left looking for her and Isabela, and we would never see them again because they’d stayed with Luisa and Isabela. If we were lucky, Antonio and I would have revealed where Tio Bruno was hiding before they left and they would take Tio Bruno with them. If not, he’ll still be in the walls right now.”
Mariano stayed quiet, he really wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to this barrage of information.

Dolores blushed, “Sorry, I’m not used to people actually asking me what’s going on, they would have taken Abuela’s word for it, or asked me if it was true that I had the day off. They wouldn’t have asked me what was really going on. Or anything pertaining to my personal life.

“That’s silly,” Mariano insisted, “there’s obviously lots of stuff going on in your personal life that you need to talk about.”

“Yeah,” Dolores said.

“Like how good-looking you find your Prima’s boyfriend's biceps?”

Dolores groaned, “That is all Camilo’s doing, I’ve never mentioned that to anyone. Unless… that little brat snuck into my room and read my diary this morning,” Dolores exclaimed, “That’s what he was doing while I was with the other girls. Excuse me, but I have to go murder my brother.”

“Well, when you’re done killing your brother, would you like to… meet up later?”

“Maybe not today, Mami and Papi have the whole day planned out, but… we’ll still be on strike tomorrow. No matter what Abuela says or thinks.”

Chapter Text

Isabela glanced at herself in the mirror, Tomas was going to be arriving for cena any time now, and her Mama had insisted that she clean up before hand. She had showered and got all the mud off but now she had the matter of what to wear. She was so tired of her pink and lavender princess dresses, yet the only thing else that she owned, now thanks to Tia Carla, was a pair of old worn out overalls and a shirt, both of which were now covered in mud from her muddy puddle jumping spree. Her eyes landed at the crumpled mess that was the dress she had been wearing this morning, the one that was covered in pollen. Honestly she liked the way that black fades into navy blue with the splashes of yellow and red and green in it. It actually kind of looked pretty, in a non-perfect way.

She picked the dress up shaking it out a little to hopefully get rid of any wrinkles, there still were some, but it wasn’t too bad, and slipped it on over her head. Technically this probably wasn’t what Mama had meant when she had told her to get cleaned up for cena, but the dress was mostly stained now. Stained beautiful colors.

Now to do something with her hair, she had cut it, with help from Tia Carla, honestly, despite her obvious hatred of her Tio Bruno, she was quickly growing to like her Papa’s youngest hermana, and it now fell to her shoulders. Earlier she had borrowed a couple of Luisa’s hair ribbons and had pulled her hair back in pigtails. However, she didn’t think that will be a good idea now, Luisa might not notice two hair ribbons missing from her drawer, that girl had over a hundred of them, but she would notice Isabela wearing them.

“Isa, you okay in there,” Luisa’s voice called out softly, “You’ve been in there for a while.”

“Abuela always made me wear my hair down,” Isabela said softly.

Luisa made an understanding noise as she opened the door to the bathroom, “Would you like me to help you?” she asked.

Isabela looked at her younger sister in the mirror, she had her hair down to the middle of her back, except for a small patch that was tied up in a soft pink ribbon that matched the flowing, lacy dress that she was wearing.

“Where did you get that dress?” Isabela asked.

“Mirabel made it for me for my birthday last year,” Luisa said with a shrug, “I just never really had a chance to wear it, this isn’t something that I can wear while doing my chores.”

Isabela froze for a second, “Where is Mirabel anyway? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She convinced Mama and Papa that she should start her apprenticeship. Papa walked her over and set up her schedule,” Luisa said, “Tomas agreed to pick her up on his way here for cena. Papa doesn’t want any of us walking around town alone, especially Mirabel. Mama’s afraid that Abuela will try to corner Mirabel and guilt her into saving the miracle.”

…
Mirabel smiled as she straightened all of the bolts of fabric like she had been asked, “Anything else that you need me to do before we close up?” she asked eagerly, twirling around to face Senora Silva.

“No, I don’t think that there is anything that we need to do right now,” Senora Silva insisted, “Why don’t you go flip the sign so that it says that it’s close, then you can head on home to your Abuelo’s place for cena.”

“I would, but I promised Papa that I won’t walk home alone,” Mirabel pointed out, “He doesn’t want me running into Abuela by myself.”

“That’s right, sorry dear, I guess I forgot about that,” Senora Silva said softly, “Well, hopefully someone comes by soon to pick you up.”

“Worst comes to worst I can ask Dolores,” Mirabel pointed out, “Tia Pepa and Tio Felix made it clear that they and their family was supporting us in our decision to leave no matter what Abuela says about it.”

Just then the door to the store opened, the sound of the bell ringing out causing both occupants to look at the door, “I’m sorry,” Senora Silva said, “We’re about to close.”

“I’m actually here to walk Mirabel home,” a deep voice explained. Mirabel looked up in shock to see Tomas standing there.

“Papa asked you to walk me home?” she asked.
“Trust me, I’m as shocked as you are,” Tomas insisted, “When he stopped by the diner this afternoon, I thought that I was done for.”

Mirabel chuckled, “Papa likes to pretend that he’s tough, but he really is a sweet guy. He cares more about the fact that Luisa is happy than anything else.”

“That’s good to know.”

…
Julieta was finishing up making cena when Sofia entered the kitchen, a little rag doll that had once upon a time belonged to one of Agustin’s hermanas clutched in her little hands. Did Sofia have her own doll? She was going to have to investigate that once she figured out what to do with the money situation. She had some money saved up, but…

“I ‘ungry,” the little girl spoke up, her eyes trained on the jar that Abuelo had produced at the end of lunch, a jar that was full of cookies.

Julieta glanced around slightly before opening the lid and handing a cookie to her nieta, “Don’t tell your Mami,” she instructed.

“Mama, you did not just give mi hija a cookie right before cena, did you?”

Julieta grimaced slightly as she turned around to see her two oldest hijas standing behind them. Luisa was giving Julieta a look she knew all too well, she had been caught red handed, “Luisa, it is my solemn duty as Sofia’s Abuela to spoil her rotten.”

“I wish Abuela would think like that,” Isabela muttered.

“I do too,” Julieta insisted, “The two of you look nice,” she said, changing the topic.

Her daughters smiled as they thanked her for the compliment and offered to help set the table.

As Isabela walked past her Julieta snagged her closer and whispered in her ear, “You know, just because Alma had you acting a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to act the complete opposite. Just do what makes you feel comfortable and happy.”
Isabela gave her a brief hug, “I will Mama, I’m just trying to figure out what that is at the moment.”

“Tomas!” Isabela and Julieta broke out of their hug at Luisa’s shout and hurried outside just in time to see Luisa passionately greeting Tomas as Mirabel pretended to cover her eyes.

“Now that’s what a couple that’s about to get engaged should act like,” Julieta said happily, “I’m sorry I let things go so far between you and Mariano, Mija, I should have realized that you didn’t have any feelings for him.”

“I should have spoke up sooner,” Isabela admitted, “I didn’t know that you and Papa wouldn’t encourage it like Abuela did.”

“There’s a lot of things that I’ll do different from your Abuela,” Julieta confessed, “and one of those things will be listening to my children and helping them,” she promised, giving Isabela a quick squeeze, “Come on, let’s eat before your Papa starts grilling Tomas.”

…
Dinner at Abuelo’s house with Tomas was the complete opposite of dinner at Casita with the Guzmans. Luisa and Tomas sat next to each other like Mariano and Isabela, but that was the end of the similarities. Luisa and Tomas couldn’t stop stealing glances with each other.

As Isabela helped pass food around, Mirabel carefully picked out the mushrooms from her serving and carefully slid them onto Isabela’s plate next to her. Isabela turned back to her plate, and frowned at the pile of mushrooms on her plate. She glanced up at Mirabel, with an unimpressed look on her face, “Seriously.”

“If you want to make up for being a lousy sister, you can eat my mushrooms for me,” Mirabel offered with a bright smile.

“Mama!” Isabela called out.

Julieta groaned, “Mirabel, stop trying to feed your mushrooms to your sister. You don’t have to eat them, but you need to leave them on your plate.”

Mirabel sighed dramatically, “I guess I can do that,” she said finally.
Things settled down again for a little while, until finally Tomas cleared his throat, “Senor Madrigal?” he spoke up slowly, Luisa reaching out to squeeze his leg in support knowing perfectly well what he was about to do.

“Si,” Agustin said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I know that we haven’t really had a chance to really get to know each other yet, and I apologize for keeping my relationship with your daughter a secret for so long… and well...” Tomas trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, “I will like to correct the mistake that we made and ask for her hand in marriage.”

Luisa’s face turned bright red, as Agustin looked Tomas up and down, “I understand that you’re divorce, would you care to explain that to me?”

Tomas took a deep breath, sighing slightly, “It’s a long story, and it’s rather personal. I worked for her father. One day while balancing the book I noticed something strange about the accounts. When I brought it up to him, he dismissed it, instead introducing me to his daughter. I was young and naive, I couldn’t have been much older than Mirabel at the time. When he suggested that I marry her and become his partner instead of an apprentice, I agreed.”

Tomas paused, and Mirabel didn’t miss Luisa grabbing his leg and giving it a supportive squeeze, “I was blind, I thought I had it good, I had been an orphan for as long as I could remember, I lived on the streets before he took me in, now I was married to a beautiful woman, had a nice house and was a partner in a jewelry shop, and we were expecting Sofia. That’s when the police started poking their noses into the business. It was a mess. Long story short, they were involved in a smuggling ring and pretty much threw me out to the wolves. They laughed and mocked me as the police took me away.

“I thought I was done for, I was handed the divorce papers the same day I was declared guilty. I was to be executed at dawn,” Tomas shuddered at the memory, “That night, a man showed up at my cell, he told me that I would find my daughter at a baby farm north of there and once I had her, I needed to follow the butterfly, and it would lead me to safety. That’s how I ended up here.”

“Good job Abuelo,” Mirabel suddenly shouted cheerfully, “Playing matchmaker huh, send me a good one.”

Chapter Text

Tomas blinked and nervously glanced at Luisa, “Why is Mirabel applying that Senor Gonzalez had something to do with us getting together?”

“She’s not talking about Abuelo Gonzalez,” Isabela said.

“So she’s what, saying that your dead Abuelo somehow had something to do with me ending up with Luisa?”

“Why would you blurt something like that out?” Agustin demanded.

Mirabel gave him a confused look, “Blurt what out?” she asked.

“Seriously?” Isabela demanded, “Do you even remember your conversation with Tia this morning?”

“Well, yeah, I did it on purpose, you know to prove to Abuela and everyone there that I did have a gift,” Mirabel said, “But why is everyone looking at me so weird, do I have something on my face?”

“You just accused Abuelo Pedro of playing matchmaker with Tomas and Luisa,” Isabela pointed out.

“Well, that’s awkward,” Mirabel said, “And totally killed the mood, I’m sorry Tomas, apparently I’m really good at interrupting proposals, maybe I should be banned from them from now on.”

“She’s still learning full control over her gift,” Julieta insisted, “She’s randomly going to blurt out random stuff about our family that none of us knew about just like how Isabela grew random flowers and Luisa broke random stuff when they first got their gifts.”

“Gift? When did you get a gift?”

“Not now Papa, this is Luisa’s big moment,” Mirabel insisted, blushing slightly at all of the eyes turned to her. Honestly, why was it that she always seemed to steal the spotlight away from her sisters, no wonder Isabela was always so annoyed with her, “You better hurry up and propose,” she instructed Tomas, “Before the house starts falling apart or something.”

Tomas glanced at her nervously, shrugged, and turned his attention to Luisa, moving from his chair to kneel in front of her, “Luisa, my precious Sapphire, will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?”

At that moment several things happened at once, Luisa threw herself into Tomas’s arms, Agustin blew his nose loudly, and Isabela leaned back into her chair and informed Mirabel, “That’s what a proposal should look like. I mean minus the random outburst about the ghost of our Abuelo setting them up but… yeah.”

“He isn’t a ghost, he’s an angel, a guardian angel, there’s a difference...” Mirabel muttered.

…
Julieta smiled as Luisa and Tomas snuggled on the couch together, softly talking about the upcoming wedding with Mirabel hanging onto every word, every once in a while voicing her own opinion. Isabela was trying to pretend that she was grossed out by everything, but Julieta could tell that her eldest was thrilled about the upcoming wedding, now that it wasn’t her that was getting married.

“Tomas, Luisa, are you planning on posting an engagement announcement in the Encanto Daily, I’m headed over to their office anyways, I’ll be happy to...”

“I don’t know,” Luisa said, “What about….”

“Abuela technically knows,” Julieta pointed out, “She was with me when I talked to the Reverend about performing the marriage ceremony. Besides, I’m having them print a letter I’ve written to Encanto as a whole. It explains what’s going on between Alma and me. I’m hoping to stir up some sympathy for us. I don’t know if we can do this alone.”

“Senora Silva is on our side and so are the Guzmans,” Mirabel pointed out, “I didn’t talk to anyone else, but there are bound to be others who will side with you, Mama. You have Tia’s support too, and Abuelo’s, and Tias Maria and Carla.”

“Thank you, Mira, I know that, but I still want to get my view out there where everyone can find it before Alma can tell her version.”

“Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense,” Mirabel said, shrugging as her mother turned her attention to her older sister.

“Well?”

Luisa and Tomas exchanged looks, before Luisa shrugged, “It is a tradition,” she admitted, “and the Encanto loves to gossip. I’m sure that even if we don’t post an announcement, the whole Encanto will know about it by the end of tomorrow. We might as well get it over with.”

“Excellent,” Julieta said, picking up a second piece of paper, “I’ll drop these off at the newspaper office.”

Julieta kissed Agustin on the way out, “I’ll be right back,” she promised.

Agustin nodded, plopping down on a chair, and eyeing Tomas slightly, he just couldn’t believe that his little girl was getting married, or was about to become a mother. He was about to be an abuelo, boy did he feel old with that thought.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Well, Sofia’s going to be the flower girl, and Antonio’s the ring bearer,” Luisa started, “You’re giving me away Papa,” she insisted, nodding towards him, “Isabela’s my maid of honor and Mirabel and Dolores are Bridesmaids. We need a best man and groomsmen, Tomas is there anyone that you want in the wedding party?”

“Ummm...” Tomas frowned, thinking, “I don’t know, out of everyone in the Encanto, aside from you, of course, mi preciosa zafira, the person I am closest to would have to be Mariano Guzman and Carlos Garcia.”

“That might get a little awkward,” Mirabel pointed out, “Isabela and Mariano almost got engaged yesterday and Isabela’s idea of dealing with that is to avoid him. Although I think Camilo and Dolores might have dumped him for her.”

“What did they do?” Isabela asked.

“I don’t know, all I know is that Dolores is all a flutter because Mariano asked her out,” Mirabel said with a shrug, “He sure rebounds quickly, I hope that Dolores doesn’t get hurt.”

“Mariano is a sweet boy, boring, but sweet, he wouldn’t hurt Dolores,” Isabela said, “But how do you know this? Did she see you at work or something?”

Mirabel shrugged, “No, I just do, I don’t know why I’ve suddenly developed a gift or how it works, but I know the basics of how everyone in the family is feeling and why. It’s kind of weird.”

“No, what’s weird is the fact that you’ve demonstrated this gift before without any of us noticing,” Luisa pointed out, “I mean, you told us what my gift was going to be when you were a baby!”

“How in the world could you have a gift before you turned five?” Isabela asked.

“Our gifts come from the Miracle Candle, but we don’t touch it until the gift ceremony when we are five,” Mirabel pointed out, “There’s no way I could have been exposed to the candle beforehand, is there? I mean, when it isn’t being used during the gift ceremony, it’s up on its windowsill.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Agustin announced, “You actually were ‘exposed’ to the candle as you put it, as a baby. You were premature, as I’m sure you know, and we were really worried that you weren’t going to make it. Your Abuela brought down the candle and sat it next to your cradle that night. She never did explain why she did it.”

“Because it granted me a gift that night, the gift of life,” Mirabel muttered, “That’s why I didn’t get a door, I already received my gift.”

“But that doesn’t explain what’s going on with you sprouting random stuff about all of us,” Isabela insisted, “And if you’ve had this gift since you were a baby, why are we just now noticing it? Where’s your door?”

“I don’t know,” Mirabel admitted, “I wonder, it can’t be a coincident that the day that we leave the Madrigal family is the day that I get my gift.”

“You told Mama and Abuela that it was a connection to the Miracle,” Isabela pointed out, “Not that it was a gift.”
By this point, Sofia had climbed onto Luisa’s lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and fallen asleep. Tomas glanced at her and shook his head, “I guess that’s the sign that I need to take her home and put her to bed,” he confessed, scooping up the little girl, who rested her head in the crook of his neck.

“I’ll see you later,” Luisa promised, giving Tomas a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Not too soon,” Mirabel said, her eyes narrowing, “We’re sharing a room, and I’ve already walked in on you two one too many times. I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to see that again!”

Tomas turned beet red, “When did she walk in on us?” he hissed slightly to his fiancee.

“I don’t know,” Luisa confessed, “Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised that it was a while ago. I think she made this dress,” she gestured to the lacy pink dress she was wearing, “After she learned about us, and she gave it to me for my birthday last November.”

“Which probably means that the latest she could have learned about us was early November, late October,” Tomas said.

“Try early June,” Mirabel said with a shrug, “It took me a while to figure out that it was something serious and that Luisa wasn’t just having a fling or something. No offense Lulu, but I had to be sure.”

Luisa shook her head, “I’m not that type of girl, Mira,” she insisted, “But don’t worry, Tomas isn’t going to come into our room.”

“Good,” Mirabel said with a sigh, standing up, “I never want to see that again, and I can’t believe you and Isabela brought it up today.”

“How was I supposed to know that you walked in on us?” Luisa asked, “I just thought that you caught us together out in town or something.”

“The way that you turned bright red when Luisa asked you how you knew, and how quickly you changed the topic, yeah that was a dead giveaway.”

“So you had to bring it up to the whole familia?”

“We’re hermanas, we are supposed to embarrass each other,” Isabela insisted with a hug, “I expect you to get back at me at one point or another.”

“When you lease expect it,” Mirabel agreed.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Isabela insisted.

Luisa rolled her eyes, “Why do I have the feeling that I’m going to be caught in the middle of a prank war between you two.”

“You won’t be caught if you join in.”

Chapter Text

Mirabel wiggled her way into her nightgown, watching as her sisters prepared for bed as well, it was weird, sharing a room with her sisters. She hadn’t been born yet when Isabela moved out of the nursery and had just been a little baby when Luisa had. It was kind of weird, after sharing a room with Camilo and then Antonio, to finally be sharing it with people of the same gender. Luisa was sitting on her bed, carefully twisting her hair into a braid so that it wouldn’t tangle in the night while Isabela was fussing with Hector’s pot.

“Do you think he’s getting enough sunlight?” Isabela asked, “How cold is it supposed to get, maybe I should put a blanket around him just in case.”

“Isa,” Luisa snapped, tying a soft powder blue ribbon at the end of her braid, “Hector’s a plant, he’ll be fine.”

“Luisa,” Isabela gasped in disbelief, pulling the potted plant closer to her, “How could you say that? He’s my baby!” she announced, stroking the top of the plant gently.

“Isa, why is it glowing?” Mirabel demanded as she stared at the Venus flytrap as it started to wiggle.

“His name is Hector,” Isabela insisted, as a new leaf popped up on the stem.

“I don’t care,” Mirabel demanded, “Why is Hector glowing?”

Isabela frowned, looking down at the plant right as two eyes on the side of the bulb opened, “Umm...” Isabela said softly, as the plant opened its mouth, and started to bark like a dog, the new leaf wagging happily as it pulled itself out of the pot and started to happily nuzzle into Isabela’s face, “Did you know that I could do this?”

“No,” Mirabel confessed as the plant-dog, Hector, jumped down, using his roots as legs to scurry around the room before jumping up on top of Luisa’s bed.

You probably didn’t need Dolores’s hearing to hear the scream that tore from Luisa’s throat as she pleaded with Isabela to keep that thing away from her.

Footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs and down the hall before the door was flung open by Julieta, “What happened, is someone hurt?” she demanded as Isabela scooped up Hector.
“We’re fine Mama, Luisa’s just a little freaked out about Hector, that’s all,” she said softly.

“Freaked out, freaked out?” Luisa demanded, “Isa, your plant spouted legs and thinks it’s a dog! How are you not freaking out!”

Hector rose his head and turned to Luisa, growling at her.

“See, that is not natural! Mama that isn’t natural.”

Julieta rubbed her forehead, “You can keep him Isabela, but you are in charge of cleaning up after him and figuring out what he needs, okay?” Isabela nodded eagerly, “Now please, it’s late and we’ve all had a big day today, and some of us have school in the morning.”

“What are we going to do about Hector?” Mirabel asked.

“I’ll just tuck him in,” Isabela insisted, placing Hector back in his pot and snagging an old worn-out blanket off Luisa’s bed.

“Hey, that’s my baby blanket,” Luisa exclaimed, snagging it back.

“Hold on, I have something that Hector can use,” Mirabel insisted, opening her second drawer where she kept her sewing supplies, pulling out a dark purple baby blanket, and handing it to Isabela, who wrapped it around the pot humming gently as she stoked the head of the flytrap, who turned itself around in a tight circle before settling down into the pot.

“I wonder if Antonio will be able to understand him… he barks like a dog, so maybe, but he is also a plant.”

…
Julieta sighed as she walked back down the stairs, her husband and father-in-law giving her a look as she sat down next to Agustin.

“Is everything okay, Mi Amor?” Agustin asked.

“Yeah,” Julieta said, “I don’t know if it was Isabela or Mirabel but one of them brought Isabela’s plant, Hector, to life and it freaked Luisa out.”

“One of them brought a plant to life?” Jorge Gonzalez asked, “What exactly did I just sign up for?”

“A whole lot of crazy,” Agustin said.

“To be fair we didn’t know that Isabela was so powerful, or that Mirabel even had a gift,” Julieta pointed out, “I’m going to have to talk to her teacher when I take her to school in the morning. I don’t want her getting into trouble if she has another uncontrolled outburst like at dinner, or something else pops up pertaining to it. I mean Isabela’s had her gift for sixteen years now and we’re just now learning what all she can do.”

“I wonder why Mirabel’s gift is only now showing up?”

Julieta shrugged, leaning into her husband, “I hate to say this but thinking back, I think Mirabel’s always shown signs of this gift of hers, we just never stopped long enough to wonder how she knew what she knew.”

…
Alma sat glaring at her coffee mug as if it might hold the answers to her family problem. Pepa and Felix had arrived home just a little while ago, Felix carrying a sleeping Antonio as Dolores and Camilo trudged in behind them. They had all gone straight to bed and hadn’t even noticed her. Pepa had mentioned that they were considering leaving as well, the only reason that they were staying was because of Dolores’s gift and her reliance on her room. If the miracle goes out, she would lose them forever, just like Bruno and Julieta.

Bruno had said that it was up to Mirabel to save the miracle, but no one really wanted her to. No one, that is, but her. Which was a problem since Julieta wouldn’t even allow her to so much as look at her youngest. Going to the reverend hadn’t had the results that she wanted. Why couldn’t her children understand that she was trying to protect them? She needed the miracle to keep burning so that it will keep protecting them from the outside world.

“But Mi Amor,” a strong male voice called out, inside her mind, “What’s the point of keeping the miracle lit if all it does is trap the children in with the enemy?”
Alma jumped up, startled, as she looked around the dining room, no one else was there. Who had just spoken, and why did he sound just like Pedro? And what was he talking about, there were no enemies inside the Encanto. No one would dare hurt her family members. Ever.

Today had just been stressful, and tomorrow would no doubt be just as bad, if not worse as her family continues to ignore her, and it becomes more clear that she had lost control of her own family. She just hoped that Pedro might be able to help her figure out how to save the miracle, her family.

…
Julieta sat breakfast on the table and allowed her daughters to dish themselves. “Once we’re done eating I’ll walk Mirabel over to school,” she announced, “I want to talk to your teacher about your gift before you get in trouble for it.”

“Can I go with you?” Isabela asked, from where she was carefully hand-feeding Hector some bugs she had dug up from the field the day before, “I think Hector might enjoy a walk, won’t you boy?”

The plant barked happily, his leaf wagging a mile a minute as he ran around Isabela a couple of times, causing her to laugh, “I thought so.”

“You’re actually going to let her take that thing out?” Luisa asked.

“Don’t talk about Hector that way,” Isabela snapped, pulling the plant into her chest as if shielding it from abuse, “He’s a valued part of this family.”

“He didn’t even exist twenty-four hours ago,” Luisa insisted, “How can he be a valued member of the family?”

“He’s my son!”

“He’s a freaking plant!”

“Ninas, ninas, please, stop this fighting,” Julieta pleaded, as she rolled her eyes up to the sky, Please Papa, give me patience, she silently pleaded, “Isabela is quite fond of Hector, and if she wants to take him out to town she can, but Isabela, not everybody is going to appreciate him like you do.”

“Keep him on a short leash,” Bruno insisted, his eyes glowing slightly as he spoke, “He likes to nip ankles. Especially Alma Madrigal’s.”

“I see nothing wrong with that,” Isabela insisted proudly.

…
Breakfast at Casita was tense, to say the least. It was the first meal that the family had sat down to together since Julieta had left. It also didn’t help that when she had tried to do her morning announcements she had been silenced by Pepa, who told her children that they had the day off again, but that Camilo had to go back to school.

“Uh come on Mami, one more day?”

“You’ll get to meet Isabela’s pet, Hector,” Dolores offered, “He’s really causing quite the stir over at their house.”

“Isabela got a pet?” Felix asked, “Good for her, though I’m surprised that Julieta allowed it… then again, she did allow Bruno to take several rats with him.”

“What type of animal is it?” Antonio asked.

“It’s not an animal, Tonito, I think it’s a Venus flytrap or something similar to that,” Dolores said, “It’s the plant that she sicced on Abuela yesterday.”

“That’s not a pet, that’s a plant.”

“That ‘plant’ Tonito, thinks it’s a dog, barks and growls like one, and according to Tio Bruno will enjoy nipping at people's ankles.”

Camilo ended up doing a spit take across the table, “It thinks it's a dog, how does a plant think that it’s a dog?”

“I don’t know,” Dolores exclaimed, “All I know is that Isabela was tending to it last night, it started to glow, and suddenly it was barking and jumping up on Luisa.”

“Okay this I have to see,” Camilo announced, stuffing an arepa into his mouth before grimacing, “I miss Tia’s cooking.”

“Well, too bad, because I doubt you’ll ever get her food again, even if you are injured. The amount of people she left in pain yesterday because of her little stunt was horrible.”

“Nobody was in pain Mama,” Pepa insisted, “The only ones that complained were cry babies.”

Alma opened her mouth to respond, but she never got the chance to, as Pepa finished eating and started to herd her children out the door, announcing that she too was interested in seeing the newest member of Julieta’s family.

“It might take us a while to get to the school,” Dolores added, “Tia’s letter that she posted in the Encanto Daily is spreading like wildfire through town. There are at least three different people planning to ambush us as soon as they see us,” she announced.

“What are you talking about?” Alma demanded, glaring at her second-oldest granddaughter.

“Tia Julieta posted a letter to the Encanto in the newspaper,” Dolores said, “Explaining her side of things, it’s causing quite a stir around town. Especially since you lied to them about it yesterday. But that’s your problem, isn’t it? I have plans for lunch so don’t count on me.”

Alma stood in silence, unsure of what to say as Pepa took her children and left the room. She wasn’t really one to waste time with the newspaper, what with Dolores telling her everything that was going on there was no need for it… until now. She needed to know what Julieta said, and what they were talking about with Isabela’s dog plant.

Chapter Text

Hector race out to the full extent of the vine that Isabela had secured around his stem, exploring everything he could reach, before racing back towards Isabela barking eagerly, leaf waggling happily.

“I don’t get why Luisa doesn’t like Hector,” Isabela confessed, “I mean look at him, he’s so cute.”

Julieta chuckled, swinging her arm around Mirabel, “Give her time, Hector is a lot to take in. Come on, I need to talk to Mirabel’s teacher before school.”

“About what?” Mirabel asked, confused.

“I just want to remind her about what we talked about yesterday, and warn her that you might do weird things or say random stuff due to your gift.”

“Julieta,” Osvaldo called out, making his way over to the three women, “what do you mean that you’ll be charging people for your food from now on? I thought that that was part of the taxes?”

“The taxes go towards La Familia Madrigal,” Julieta said softly, “As I have removed myself from the family, I no longer get any of the money, therefore for me to be able to provide food for people they will have to pay for it.”

“Why should we suffer just because….” Osvaldo trailed off as Hector walked up to him, sniffing his ankles before growling up at him, “What in the world is that?”

“Hector, come back here,” Isabela exclaimed, running forward and scooping up the plant creature, who snapped at Osvaldo from over Isabela’s shoulder, “Sorry Osvaldo, he’s harmless, honest.”

“I suppose that you’ll be charging an insane amount for one of those too?” he asked, glaring at the plant.

“No,” Isabela said, “I’m not charging anything for Hector, he isn’t for sale.”

“Surely you can make more,” Osvaldo asked eagerly.

“No, I’m afraid that I can’t,” Isabela insisted, “Hector is one of a kind, and he’s going to remain one of a kind.”
“Why not?” Osvaldo asked, “I know several people who wanted a pet but can’t have cats or dogs due to allergies. They’ll jump at a chance to have a pet plant.”

“She can’t bring plants to life on command,” Mirabel insisted, rolling her eyes, “It’s a complicated process that includes her forming an emotional bond with the plant. The plant in return relies on that bond to survive. Any plants she brings to life for someone else will die within two days of being separated from her.”

“What do you know about magic and how it works,” Osvaldo demanded, “You don’t have a gift.”

“My gift is a deep understanding on how the miracle works,” Mirabel insisted, “Now if you excuse me, I’m late for school.”

…
No sooner had Pepa’s family stepped out of Casita that it seemed like the vultures of the Encanto swooped down on them, demanding to know what they thought about Julieta’s accusations against Alma Madrigal and her decision to leave the family. It took twice as long to get to the school house then normal.

Isabela was waiting outside of the school, keeping a close eye on Hector as he sniffed around the flowerbeds when Antonio arrived, riding on Parce.

“Isabela,” he cried out, before frowning, looking at Hector as he turned his head towards him, “What’s that?”

“That’s my baby, Hector, isn’t he cute?” Isabela said proudly as Hector sniffed Antonio briefly before pressing his head into his hand, “Oh look,” she cried out, “he likes you.”

“You brought your plant to life?” Camilo exclaimed, “Mami, she brought her plant to life.”

“I can see that Camilo,” Pepa said with an eye roll, it seemed kind of weird that Isabela’s gift was suddenly a thousand times more powerful now that she was out of Casita.

Hector yipped happily, running in a circle, investigating each and every one of the Madrigals.

“Can you understand what he’s saying?” Isabela asked Antonio.

“Kind of? He doesn’t make any sense,” he admitted, “He’s saying, “’Bubbles words turtle church love vines.’”

“Because he’s barking like a dog Antonio can understand him, however because he is a plant, it’s just gibberish,” Mirabel said with a shrug, “I mean if you think about it, it makes sense.”

…
Alma Madrigal was not stomping, that wasn’t ladylike, but she was bustling. She had to get to the newspaper stand before it was sold out. Most people got their newspaper delivered, but there were a few people who wanted their own copy of the newspaper instead of having to share with their wife, in laws or siblings, depending on where they lived.

There was still a stack of papers when she finally arrived and thrust the required money into the person’s hand and snatched up a paper, shaking it out. There in large letters it read, “Discord in Casita: Julieta Tells All”.

“Why in the world would you print this!” she exclaimed, turning to the woman at the stand.

“I don’t choose what gets printed,” she insisted, “I just sell them, you’ll have to talk to my husband about that.”

“I’ll most certainly will, now, get rid of these disgusting papers.”

The woman stood up from her chair and looked down at Alma, “I’m afraid that I can’t do that, it will be bad for business.”

“Don’t you know who I am?”

“Everyone knows who you are, Senora,” the woman said soothingly, “The Print shop is a private business that has been in my husband’s family for the past fifty years. You have as much right to tell us what to do as we have of telling you what to do. If you don’t like what you’re reading then you shouldn’t read it.”

“Surely there’s a law against printing such awful stuff.”

“There’s nothing in the law that says that someone cannot print their opinion on a matter in the newspaper, that is what Julieta did. Now please step aside, I have other customers to take care of.”

Alma opened her mouth in surprise, no one had ever talked to her like that, well, besides Julieta and Pepa recently, but they were just going through a stage. They’ll get over it.

…
“How about twenty pesos?”

“I’ll give you thirty!” another voice called out.

Isabela sighed as she glanced at her mother, who looked just as overwhelmed as she felt. They had barely got to town square after dropping Mirabel off at school when they had been swarmed by villagers demanding a plant-dog just like Hector.

Suddenly there was a sharp growl and lots of barking. Isabela whirled around to see someone trying to stuff Hector underneath their ruana. She growled, sending out several vines towards him, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s my son’s birthday, he’ll love this,” the man explained, “Besides, you can always make a new one.”

“So can you,” Isabela said coldly, giving him a dark glare as she yanked Hector out of his arm, “I don’t go around kidnapping your son, so you shouldn’t go kidnapping mine.”

“It’s just a plant,” the man protested.

“If you want a plant, ask, I can give you a plant,” Isabela snarled, taking a step closer, glowering at him, “But Hector is not for sale, nor is anything else that I bring to life! Did any of you even ask how I brought him to life? He can only survive for so long away from me. Take him away and it will kill him. I will not allow you to murder my son.”

“Okay Isa, I think he gets the point,” Julieta insisted, grabbing her oldest by the elbow and dragging her away, “I will not be healing anybody who tries to steal Hector from Isabela.”
“Don’t worry about healing them,” Isabela insisted, “Once I’m done with them, there won’t be enough left to heal.”

Julieta patted Isabela on the shoulder, “Come on Isa, let’s get you back home,” she said softly.

…
Luisa had decided to go back to bed after breakfast… okay so maybe going back to bed hadn’t really been what she had in mind. She had sat down on her bed with the book she had been reading and next thing she knew she was being woke up by Hector pressing his head against her face.

“Ahh… Isabela, keep that thing away from me,” she snapped rolling up out of bed.

Isabela swooped in picking up Hector, “He likes you.”

“I don’t care, just keep him away from me,” Luisa insisted, “What are you even doing here? I thought you went into town with Mama.”

“I did, but some idiot thought that I wouldn’t care if he kidnapped Hector.”

“I was worried that something like that would happen,” Luisa confessed, “There are some people in the Encanto that think that they are entitled to anything pertaining to our gifts. I moved one house away from flooding and suddenly I’m moving houses every single day because I can,” Luisa rolled her eyes at that.

“Mama’s charging for her service now,” Isabela announced, “And I’m thinking about doing the same thing. That helps with the money situation right?”

“I’ll start charging as well,” Luisa said softly, “Once I actually return to work, Mama doesn’t really want me doing any heavy labor while pregnant. She’s worried that I might accidentally harm the baby,” she said, placing a hand on her belly.

“How are you going to cover up the fact that you are pregnant before the wedding?” Isabela asked, “Aren’t people going to wonder why you aren’t helping, especially when Mama and I return to work?”

“I have a wedding to plan and then I’ll be a newlywed,” Luisa pointed out, “Remember the fact that we’re moving fast with the wedding to cover up the fact that I’m already pregnant. Heck if it wasn’t for the fact that Mirabel begged me to let her do my wedding dress I’d have probably gotten married last night or something. Each day we wait is one more day that our secret might be discovered.”

“I really don’t see what the big deal is,” Isabela admitted.

“Do you know what people will say about Tomas and I if they found out that we didn’t wait for the wedding to sleep together?”

“Why should we care what other people think, shouldn’t your happiness be more important than that?”

“Tomas and I want to get married, Isa,” Luisa pointed out, “It’s always been on our mind, I know that things didn’t work out between you and Mariano, but one day you’ll meet the guy that you want to spend the rest of your life with, then you’ll understand.”

“I doubt it,” Isabela muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Wait,” Luisa said softly, looking at her older sister in alarm, “You don’ t like boys?”

“I don’t like anybody that way,” Isabela insisted, looking away, “I did try… with Mariano, but it’s just so weird and unnatural. Why does everyone think that we have to pair up like that anyway? Why does a girl have to find a man to take care of her?”

“Sometimes it’s the other way around,” Luisa pointed out, “Sometimes it’s the woman taking care of the man. I mean...” She looked up over Isabela’s head, “Isn’t Mama the one that’s constantly patching up Papa?”

Agustin rolled his eyes from where he stood in the doorway, “Very funny Luisa,” he insisted, “Your mother and I are going into town to get groceries. Do either of you want to come with?”

“Well, seeing as I’m not working right now, is it okay if we swing by the diner? Now that my relationship with Tomas is common knowledge, I can watch Sofia for him without having people raise their eyebrows at us.”

Chapter Text

Senor Rodriguez, glanced at the clock, “Senora Madrigal is late,” he grumbled.

“Can you really blame her for all that’s going on at her place, with Julieta leaving the way she did?” Senora Lopez insisted.

“We really need to get going,” Senor Martinez insisted, “I have other stuff to do today.”

Senor Dias nodded, “What’s the first thing on our agenda today.”

“Taxes,” Senor Rodriguez insisted, “Specifically The Gift Tax. Julieta and her side of the family are charging people for their services now because they aren’t associated with the Madrigal family anymore.”

“The money should go to those who offer us the services, not to the family,” Senora Lopez said.

“I agree,” Senor Dias announced, “The problem is Senora Madrigal is in charge of distributing the money from the taxes each month.”

“It’s something that really should be done by the council, not by the head chairman,” Senor Rodriguez insisted, “This is what we are being paid to do, is it not?”

…
Alma was not running, but she was hurrying, she couldn’t believe that her alarm didn’t go off that morning, or that Casita hadn’t woken her up when she overslept. She was running late for her council meeting, which would just make her look bad, especially with all the rumors going around about her.

As she made her way through the Town Square she heard a low growl and a yipping behind her. She groaned, she really couldn’t stand animals. She put up with Antonio’s because they were a part of his gift, but… Something nipped at her ankle as a low growl filled the air.

Alma reached out and kicked the creature as hard as she could, a cry of pain could be heard, and then a low whimpering.

“Hector?” a voice Alma recognized said behind her, before there was a loud gasp, “Hector! What did you do?! Hector!”
Alma turned around just in time to see Isabela, dressed in a dark indigo dress with colorful blossoms across the torso, her hair had been cut to neck length, with colors streaked through it. If it wasn’t for the fact that she recognized the voice she might not have recognized her.

“You murderer,” Isabela shrieked, glaring at Alma.

“It was nipping at my heels,” Alma insisted, “You should have been paying closer attention to your pet.”

“He’s not a pet,” Isabela snapped, cacti popping up around her as she scooped Hector up, who whimpered slightly, his stem almost completely broken in off, “Shh,” she said softly, stroking Hector’s head softly, “Come on, let’s find Mirabel, she’ll know what to do. You’re going to be okay, you just have to.” She shot Alma another dark look before rushing off.

Alma felt her stomach drop, “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she insisted, hating the look that she was giving her.

Isabela just shook her head as she hurried off.

...

Senora Silva frowned as the sound of the sewing machine stopped. She glanced at her apprentice who was sitting completely still in front of the machine, her eyes glowing gold, her hands still on the wedding dress that she was working on for Luisa. She shivered, she had seen Bruno Madrigal get an involuntary vision before, and this looked just like that.

“Mirabel?” she asked softly, gently touching her shoulder as she silently prayed that that was a safe move to make.

Mirabel jumped up off her chair, whirling around to stare at her, eyes wide as they returned to their normal brown color, “Isabela needs me,” she announced, moving around her, “I have to go, Hector’s hurt.”

“Hector?”

“Yeah, her son, you know her plant dog, Abuela kicked him hard enough that his stem broke. Abuela’s lucky that it didn’t snap clean in half or I’m sure that Isabela would have returned the favor.”

Senora Silva nodded, she had learned quickly not to question Mirabel’s knowledge of what her family is feeling and doing at any given time. If she said that Isabela’s ‘son’ was hurt then he must be hurt. If they need her, then they must need her.

Mirabel quickly left the building, Senora Silva following behind her, watching as she raced over to Isabela who was racing to her with something green in her arms.

“Mirabel, Mirabel, Abuela...”

“I know, calm down Isa,” Mirabel insisted, “Take a deep breath, everything is going to be okay,” Mirabel said, reaching out to touch the broken stem. Hector rose up his head and snapped at her, “Easy Hector, I’m trying to help you,” she said softly, “Isabela, you have what it takes to heal him, just relax and focus your gift on where he is hurt.”

Isabela took a deep breath focusing on the gaping wound on Hector’s stem and sent a burst of magic into it. There was a soft golden glow, and suddenly the stem was whole again. Hector lifted up his head, rubbing it up against Mirabel’s chin.

“You’re welcome Hector,” Mirabel said with a soft chuckle as he moved backward so that he was nestling his head against Isabela.

“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” Isabela whispered, “I’m going to take him home now, I think that this was enough excitement for one day.”

…
It was slow at the Diner, it usually was at this time of day, the lunch rush was over with and it was too early for dinner, so Tomas was sitting at the stand up front, sketching a design for a wedding set that he would totally commission for Luisa if he just had the money, or the tools and supplies needed to make them.

Usually, he spent time with Sofia during this time period, when the only people who wander in were those looking for a treat or drink, but she was with Luisa, who wanted to bond with the little girl before the wedding next week. He couldn’t blame her, it was important that Sofia got to know her stepmother and her side of the family, after all, they were going to be a part of it.

Suddenly the bell over the door rang, and Tomas sat the sketches down as he stood up, accidentally sending them flying to the ground.

The man who had just walked in stooped down and picked them up, examining them carefully, “You’re a really good artist,” he commented, “This is a very elegant tiara design,” he announced, scanning the notes Tomas had written out about the design, “You seem to know what you’re writing here, don’t you?” the man asked.

Tomas shrugged, “I use to be apprenticed to a jeweler before I came here,” he admitted.

The man frowned thinking quickly, he was getting up there in age, and the ache of arthritis in his hands was starting to slow him down, he had no family to take over his shop, and no one he knew of was really interested in what he did, at least that had been what he thought, “How long where you an apprentice?” he asked.

“Three years, then I worked for him for another ten months, to get the experience I needed, but then, well, I ended up here.”

The man nodded, “I don’t think we’ve properly met,” he announced, “I’m Senor Ruiz, the town jeweler.”

“Tomas Rivera,” Tomas offered him his hand.

“The man who is marrying the Madrigal girl?”

“Yeah,” Tomas said, “This is what I would get her for our wedding if I had the money, or time, to make it.”

“Well, Tomas, I have a proposition to make. Why don’t you come to my shop, make the wedding set, and if I like how it turns out, you come to work for me,” Senor Ruiz said.

“What, but I don’t have the material needed to make it.”
“Consider it a wedding present for you and Luisa. Besides, it’s free advertising, if you take me up on my offer to work with me, that is. Everybody will want to spoil their special someone with something as lovely as this tiara.”

“I don’t know, my mentor, the last person that I worked for, he was involved in some… last then savory business and I ended up tangled in it even though I didn’t want to be.”

“I am an old man,” Senor Ruiz insisted, “I don’t have the time or energy to get caught up in criminal activities. I hope you realize that retirement is just around the corner for me, and once I retire, then well, the shop will be yours. I’m also pretty sure that you’d be paid better as a jeweler than as a waiter.”

“Can I think about this?” Tomas asked.

“Sure.”

…
Luisa was sitting cross-legged on the floor watching as Sofia told her a story using the rag doll and wooden blocks that Abuelo Gonzalez had pulled out for her to play with. The story was made all the more enjoyable when Hector came charging through the tower of blocks, knocking them over, and Sofia quickly told her about the dragon that came to destroy the tower. Although Luisa quickly had to intervene and call Isabela when Hector stole the rag doll.

It didn’t take long for Isabela to corral her plant, get the doll back, and rebuild the tower. Sofia immediately started talking again, continuing on from where she had ended, when the front door opened, distracting her.

“Papi!” she called out, racing over to her father, who scooped her up happily.

“Hola, Princessa, Were you a good girl for Mami today?”

“Uh huh,” Sofia said, before rattling off everything they did together that day, including what they had for lunch, that they napped together and how they were playing with blocks and dolls together now.

“Sounds like you had a fun day,” Tomas said with a laugh, setting her down to greet Luisa passionately, before pulling back, a question in his eye.
“Is something wrong?” Luisa asked.

“No, it’s just… Do you know Senor Ruiz?”

“The Jeweler? It’s a small community, everyone knows him,” Luisa said, “Why?”

“He offered me a job this afternoon,” Tomas explained, “I mean, it will mean more money than what I get paid now, but… the last time I was in that line of work, it didn’t end well.”

“Senor Ruiz is old, he might not look it, but he’s older than Abuela by a couple of years. He was one of the original settlers. He lost his wife and three children the night the Encanto was formed. Never remarried,” Luisa frowned as she tried to remember what else she knew about him, “He’s a good man Tomas, and there is no way that he is involved in any form of criminal activity here in Encanto.”

“I think you should take the offer,” Bruno announced from where he was sitting in an armchair, reading a book, which he sat down, his eyes glowing green, “He takes a shine to you, adopts you in, leaves you the shop when he retires in a couple of years and spends the last decade of his life spoiling your children,” he then blinked, his eyes no longer glowing, and smiled up at Tomas, “I… um… hope that… you know… helps.”

“Did you just check the future for him?” Luisa asked, shocked, “You said you weren’t going to do any more visions.”

“It started involuntarily, but I let it continue,” Bruno insisted, “You should accept the offer, Tomas.”

Just then Julieta entered the living room from the kitchen, “I thought I heard your voice, Tomas, are you and Sofia staying for Cena?”

“Si, I have some good news,” he announced, “I have a job offer from Senor Ruiz.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful, his health has been declining recently and I’m glad that he’s found help for his shop,” Julieta exclaimed, “Everyone, go clean up, and Bruno, make sure that you don’t have any rats in your rauna before you sit down.”

…
Dinner at the Gonzalez house always seemed to be the opposite of dinner at the Madrigal’s. It was loud, no worry of upsetting anybody, and there were always shenanigans, such as tossing arepas like flying disks at each other, until Agustin fell out of his chair trying to catch one tossed at him and Julieta ordered everyone to sit back down and eat their cena and stop playing with their food.

They were about to have dessert when there was a knock on the door. Julieta stood up quickly, “It must be an emergency,” she insisted, rushing to the front door.

Senor Rodriguez was standing at the front door, white envelopes clutched in his hand, “Senora Madrigal,” he said brightly, “Or are you going by Senora Gonzalez now?” he asked.

“Madrigal’s fine,” Julieta insisted, “What can I do for you?”

“I think that it’s more of a ‘what can I do for you?’” he said, “The council voted that instead of giving Senora Madrigal the money to distribute, as has been done in years past, we should give the money straight to the recipient. I have yours and your daughters' monthly checks right here.”

“Wait, so even though we’ve left the Madrigal family, we’re still getting paid?” Isabela asked, popping her head into the living room.

“Yes, the tax is for services that benefit the whole community and aren’t paid for by other means, rather publicly or privately,” Senor Rodriguez explained, “It has nothing to do with the Madrigal Family.”

He pulled out an envelope and handed it to Julieta, before handing another one to Isabela. By this point the rest of the family had wandered into the room, “And this one’s Luisa’s,” he said, “And this last one is Mirabel’s.”

“Wait, I don’t get a stipend,” Mirabel said at the same time that she took the money.

“You’re supposed to,” Senor Rodriguez insisted, “You were added when you started watching the younger kids around town when you were ten, as well as for all the mending you do around town. That’s why no one offered to pay you because it was part of the taxes we already pay. Senora Madrigal approved of giving you an allotment. I’ll have to look into where it went.”

“Are you sure you did this right,” Luisa asked, opening her own check, “Because this is three times the amount that I got last month?”

“That’s the amount we pay you every month,” Senor Rodriguez insisted.

“It’s probably because Alma use to pull out money from your checks to give to me for groceries for the family,” Julieta insisted, opening her check, “No, wait, this is the same amount as usual. She always told me that my check was bigger than the rest because she moved some money from the other’s checks to mine for groceries.”

“Mine’s twice as much as what I’ve been getting, too” Isabela announced.

“This is the first check I’ve ever received,” Mirabel added.

Senor Rodriguez frowned, “If you haven’t been receiving the money, then where exactly have our tax dollars gotten to? I will have an investigation launched at once.”

“Good luck with that,” Julieta muttered, “I was pretty much told that they couldn’t do anything against Alma Madrigal since she handles all the taxes.”

“Taxes are handled by the council,” Senor Rodriguez insisted, “Senora Madrigal is the head of the council, but she is not the council. We’ve been mostly doing what she’s been saying, but… recently, her decisions, they haven’t been for the good of the Encanto. She was furious that we wanted to continue paying you and your family for your services. She would rather have the whole Encanto suffer to inconvenience you so that you would have to return to her,” he sighed, “Elections are this year, and for the first time in fifty years, I am not voting for your mother.”

Chapter Text

Isabela groaned as she buried her head under her pillow, she knew that she used to share a room with Luisa, but that was so long ago she could barely remember being in the nursery with her. Now she was wondering how she ever got any sleep with her loud snoring.

Her bed jiggled beneath her reminding her of the third occupant of the room, Mirabel, who was sleeping right beneath her. She was a restless sleeper, constantly tossing and turning, shaking the whole bed, which of course included Isabela’s bed above hers.

She honestly wondered how Antonio and Camilo had managed to share the nursery with her, because when she wasn’t tossing and turning, she was talking and screaming. They hadn’t even been sharing a room for a week yet and Mirabel had woke her up twice with nightmares.

As if that mere thought brought it on, she heard her hermanita whimper beneath her, mumbling something under her breath that honestly sounded suspiciously like, “No Abuela, I didn’t...”

Isabela braced herself, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

An earsplitting scream filled the air as the snoring suddenly cut off. Isabela groaned pulling her blankets further up over her as the door flew open with a blinding light as their parents came in to check on Mirabel once more.

…
Getting ready for the day was almost as bad as trying to sleep. They only had the one wardrobe and one set of drawers, and the room was on the small side. It seemed that everywhere she turned she was tripping over Luisa or Mirabel, or Hector, who slept in a large flowerpot on the windowsill.

“Ugg, Luisa careful you just knocked my glasses off the nightstand,” Mirabel called out, “I can’t see a thing without them.”

“Okay, here, I’ll help you look for them,” Luisa said, trying to bend over to see where Mirabel’s glasses could have disappeared to, only to come face to face with Hector, “Isabela, please get Hector out of here, he’s in the way.”

“This is his room also,” Isabela snapped.

“It’s also my room,” Luisa pointed out.

“It’s all of our rooms,” Mirabel pointed out, “Until you move out or Mama and Papa buy a house, so please don’t make fighting over every little thing part of the morning routine.”

Isabela froze, until you move out, that was what Mirabel had said, she had two options here, she could move out, or she could put up with sharing a room with Mirabel until their parents buy a house with enough rooms for them each to have their own, and who knew when that was going to happen. Luisa was lucky, she knew that she was moving out in a week.

…
The breakfast table was crowded, what with her, both her sisters, Tio Bruno, Abuelo, and her parents seated around the small table. Isabela waited for everyone to dish up and quiet down, which took some time because Mama discovered that Tio had a couple of rats hanging out under his rauna and had to remind him quiet sternly that his rats weren’t allowed at the table. Finally the table was quiet.

“Luisa, you mentioned that Tomas rented a room,” Isabela asked.

“Yeah, but we’re going to look at houses this week,” Luisa confessed, “Now that he’s got a better paying job and I’m getting paid for helping out around Encanto, we can afford something bigger, which is good, I don’t really think that a family of four can live in such a small space. I mean the three of us are fighting every day just trying to survive the bedroom, why?”

“We’ve been thinking along the same lines Luisa,” Isabela confessed, “We’re constantly getting into each others way, and I’m just not use to sharing a bedroom,” she admitted, “That’s why I was thinking about maybe, I don’t know, renting a room elsewhere? I mean, is that okay? Will you be mad at me if I move out.”

“Just because my Madre is mad at me for moving out doesn’t mean that I will be mad at you for moving out, if you want your own space and you have the money to provide it, you are welcome to do so.”

“You’ll also be welcomed at our door at anytime,” Agustin agreed, “The only one that can’t get her own place yet is Mirabel, you have to be at least eighteen before you can move out.”

“Should I be concerned that Papa felt like that was something that he had to say?” Mirabel asked, “Like he’s worried about me moving out?”

“Well,” Luisa pointed out, “I’m moving out in a week, and Isabela just announced that she wanted to move out, so… I think Pa just doesn’t want to become an empty nester just yet.”

“Well, he has a few more years before I turn eighteen, so he doesn’t have to worry about it just yet.”

…
Julieta was just about out of Arepas, but that was okay, it was late enough that she was planning on closing up soon anyway.

Just then someone staggered up to her, completely unable to walk straight, that caught her attention, had there been an accident, then why did Dolores not fetch her, she knew that she could fetch her any time she was needed right?

“You owe me an arepa, lady,” the man slurred.

Julieta sighed, recognizing him as the drunk that had got all upset over the fact that she had refused to open her stand on Monday. He looked like he had been sleeping in the garbage heap since the last time she saw him, smelled like it to.

“I’m sorry, I don’t help people who expect me to patch them up so that they can keep their wives from finding out about their bad habits.”

“But...” the man sputtered, “Please, she kicked me out.”

“And judging from the alcohol on your breath you’ve done nothing in the past few days but drink,” Julieta announced, “Sober up and stop picking fights, now leave.”

“Fine I’ll just tell Senora Madrigal about this.”

“Really, you’re going to tattle to a grown woman’s mother?” Julieta demanded, “Alma’s not going to change my mind,” she announced, “Now go.”

The man opened his mouth about to argue when a hand landed on his shoulder, “I believe Mama asked you to leave,” a sharp voice said behind him, “If you are incapable of leaving on your own, I will happily help you.”

The drunk man turned around, staring into Isabela’s eyes in confusion, “What are you going to do, grow me a flower?”

Isabela didn’t break eye contact once as she bent down and removed the vine she uses as a leash on Hector, “Hector,” she said evenly, “Sic him,” she commanded, pointing towards the drunk.

Hector let out a low growl, prowling forward, snarling, before letting out a bark, jumping up and clamping his jaws around his arm. Isabela snickered at the sight of the man trying to dislodge the large plant from him.

“I’ll call him off if you promise to leave Mama alone,” Isabela offered, “He’s a good boy, he listens to his Mama, unlike you.”

“Isabela call, um, Hector, off,” Julieta insisted, “You don’t want him getting hurt again, now do you?”

“No,” Isabela insisted, “Okay, boy come here,” she called out, patting her leg slightly as she let out a low whistle.

Hector quickly let go of the drunk’s arm racing back to Isabela on his stubby root legs, barking excitedly, as he buried his head in her chest. Isabela wrapped a protective arm around his stem, giving the drunk a hard look as he stumbled away.

“Honestly, Isabela, I understand that you want to help,” Julieta said softly, placing a hand on her oldest’s shoulder, “But you need to remember, you are Hector’s madre, you’ve said so many times, right?”

“Hector’s mi hijo,” Isabela agreed.

“And that makes you his madre, and as a madre your main goal in life is to protect your hijo from harm. That does not include sending them into dangerous situations, like siccing Hector on people who disagree with me.”
“I was just trying to help,” Isabela muttered.

“I know, and I appreciate it, just, a Madre’s goal is to protect her child from harm. I know that I failed that miserably with you and your hermanitas, but...”

“You didn’t fail us,” Isabela insisted, “Mama, how could you have failed us if you didn’t know, heck, I didn’t even realize what was going on was abusive until you told me that it was. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is that as soon as you knew about the problem, you did something about it. You aren’t perfect, but nobody is, especially me, and that’s okay.”

Isabela finished her statement by wrapping her arms around her mother, burying her face into her neck, “te quiero Mama.”

Strong arms wrapped around Julieta and Isabela, causing them both to grunt in surprise, as Luisa joined the hug.

“Luisa,” Julieta gasped.

“I like a good group hug,” Luisa insisted, “Besides I was hoping that you could babysit for me? There’s a house for sale that Tomas and I want to take a look at. It’s close to the school, three bedrooms, two baths, and it’s within our budget.”

Julieta smiled, “I was planing on closing shop early today anyway,” she said brightly, “And Abuelo’s dealing with cooking cena tonight seeing as Maria and her family are going to be there. So, it’s just going to be you and me, nieta,” she said, scooping Sofia up in her arms.

…
Julieta smiled as she stuck her basket just inside the door to the kitchen before turning to Sofia, “Why don’t we go do some shopping shall we?” she asked brightly.

“Okay,” Sofia said, holding her hand up to grab Julieta’s, “You’re Mami’s Mami,” she said as they headed back into town.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So you’re mi Abuela, si?” Sofia asked.

“Si, that’s right.”

“Tia Isa, and Tia Mira are Mami’s hermanas.”

“Si,” Julieta said, wondering briefly where this conversation was going to go.

“I have a mami, and Mami has a mami...” Sofia said softly, tipping her head to the side, “I have tias, Does Mami have a tia?”

“Si, mi hermana, Pepa is your Mami’s Tia.”

“You have a hermana, Mami has two hermanas,” The little girl furrowed her brow, “how come I don’t have any hermanas?”

Julieta blinked, she wasn’t sure exactly how old Sofia was, but family relationships wasn’t what she was expecting the conversation to be about, “They just haven’t been born yet.”

“Oh,” she said, “Okay.”

Julieta smiled as she lead Sofia into the toy store, it was only fair that she got her own doll instead of always having to play with the old one at Abuelo’s place, so what if they looked at baby toys that her hermanita will want to play with while they were there.

Chapter Text

To say that Alma was in a bad mood would be wrongly stated, she was not in a bad mood, she was simply worried. If it wasn’t bad enough that Julieta had spread all those horrible rumors about her abusing her children, now Senor Rodriguez was accusing her of Embezzlement. Which was just as ridiculous an accusation.

Of course, he hadn’t openly accused her, but he might as well have. No, during the council meeting, he had announced that he had discovered that the math wasn’t adding up on how much they were pulling from the Gift Taxes each month and how much everybody was getting from it. He had insisted that they call in the guards and launch a formal investigation. He didn’t even bother to ask her if she had any idea of where the money had gone.

If it hadn’t been for the veiled accusation, she would have told him that she had simply kept a part of everyone’s check for household expenses. Even if she gave Julieta money for groceries, so that she would stop having to ask for it each month, it wasn’t like they knew or understood how to manage their money.

This past week just prove that. They got their full checks and instead of saving some for later or prioritizing what to spend it on, Julieta spent most of it at the toy store, for that Rivera Child. She had seen her on multiple occasions leaving the store laden with bags of all sizes.

Luisa was almost as bad, she had used her money to help buy a house for the Rivera’s, honestly. A house to someone who was practically a stranger, just because of a little crush. She was sure that once someone more qualified for her hand in marriage came along, she would forget all about the mysterious stranger. There had to be a reason that his first wife left him.

Isabela wasn’t as bad, she was using it to rent a small apartment, which made sense, the way Julieta had all three of them stacked up on top of each other, just so that Bruno could live with them. Honestly though, renting a room was not the solution to this problem. She could have just come to her and told her that she needed to have her own space. She would have been happy to let her move back into Casita. It would have saved her a lot of money in the long run, and the only requirement would be that she stopped destroying her clothes with that pollen, and left that creature she thought was her son somewhere else. If she wanted to be a mother that badly, she was sure that she could find her a suitable husband.

Yes, she was sure, once they actually asked her why she was withholding their money that they would understand. What Julieta and her girls were doing with their money was obviously proof enough that they needed someone else to manage it for them. She had done a good job with it as well. Everyone in her family had looked respectful while she was in charge. Now though. Isabela looked like she had just been in a fight in the paint store every single day.

Speaking of which, the traders should be coming in the next couple of weeks, and her dress was starting to look worn. She couldn’t wear a worn dress when the traders were here. She had to show that the Encanto was thriving. If they didn’t believe that, they might decide not to make the trek through the dangerous mountain range to them, and they needed the supplies that they bring to survive.

Well, there was only one place to get a dress here in the Encanto, and that was Senora Silva’s dress shop. That might be a problem. Senora Silva had taken a liking to Mirabel and believed with all her heart all of the allegations against her. She might just kick her out of the shop. Then again, she was a paying customer, and a good one at that, she probably could use the money, especially if she was paying Mirabel for her work in the shop.

It was early afternoon, just after the siesta period, when she finally made her way into the shop. Rows of fabric lined the walls, there was a table filled with books of patterns to pick from. There were envelopes of paper patterns to take home and hundreds if not thousands of spools of thread in a display.

As she entered the shop, no one appeared to greet her. Perhaps Senora Silva was out making deliveries? No, that didn’t make sense, her son Juan did most of those, and if he couldn’t that was the type of thing that you send your apprentice out to do. Someone had to be around here somewhere.

She could almost hear giggling coming from the small room over to the side that was used for fittings. That must be it. Senora Silva was probably in there with another customer and hadn’t heard the bell when she had walked in. She would just have to wait, no matter how much she detests it. Sometimes it simply was unavoidable, after all, she didn’t have an appointment, and whoever was in there did.

“Whoa,” Mirabel’s voice said from the other room, “Just Whoa!” she said, obviously so lost for words that she didn’t know what to say.

“I have to agree with Mirabel,” Isabela’s voice filtered through the door next. Mirabel was understanding, she worked at the shop, but what was Isabela doing there? Perhaps Isabela was getting a new dress? She had ruined several of her old ones with her silly pollen pods.

“You look absolutely stunning Luisa,” Senora Silva’s voice filtered through the door, “Mirabel did an amazing job on the dress,” she insisted, “It fits you like a glove.”

“You really think so?” Luisa’s voice wavered slightly.

“Oh yes,” Isabela insisted, “We’re going to have to glue poor Tomas’s eyes back into his head once he sees you.”

Alma still couldn’t see what Luisa saw in that man.

“You’re exaggerating,” Luisa insisted.

“I agree with them,” Dolores insisted, “Although, Senora Silva, I think you have a customer waiting for you in the main shop.”

Alma quickly took several steps away from the door so it wouldn’t look like she was eavesdropping as the door opened, and she got a good look into the room. A good look at Luisa, who looked absolutely beautiful in a white wedding dress. The sleeves were off the shoulder, which Alma didn’t approve of, but Luisa glowed in it, the bosom had a beautiful beaded design that matched the silver embroidery around her skirt.

Before she could even come up with something to say, the door shut behind her, cutting off the sight of her nieta in her wedding dress.

Senora Silva gave her a look before asking pleasantly, “What can I help you with today, Senora Madrigal?”

“I uh, need to order a dress,” she said softly.

“Is it for a special occasion or just a typical day-to-day dress?” she asked.

“A special occasion,” after all the traders only came to town twice a year.

“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to get a dress done before the wedding, it is tomorrow after all.”

“That’s okay,” Isabela announced, appearing behind her, “She wasn’t invited anyway,” she insisted, glaring at Alma before turning back to Senora Silva, “Are we done with the fittings? I really need to head back home to check on Hector. He’s never been left alone for so long before. He must be so lonely, I wonder if Abuelo would mind keeping an eye on him while I help decorate for the rehearsal dinner? I hate having him all alone.”

“No, Isabela, we’re done,” Senora Silva insisted, “Go tell Mirabel that she’s free to go as well, and I’ll see you both at the wedding tomorrow.”

Alma frowned as her nietas raced each other out of the store, giggling and calling out to each other. All of them ignored her. How dare they ignore her, she was their Abuela, and how dare Isabela tells her that she wasn’t invited to the wedding. She was never not invited, no matter who was getting married or how well she knew them.
…
Dolores flew through the front door of Casita, “Mama,” she called out, “We might have a problem,” she announced, skidding to a stop in front of her mother, “Abuela was at Senora Silva’s shop while we were doing a final fitting. She seemed surprised to see us. From what I can hear, she didn’t realize that Luisa was actually getting married.”

“How, Julieta talked to the reverend about the wedding in front of her over a week ago.”

Dolores shrugged, “I don’t know, but she’s furious that Isabela told her that she wasn’t invited. She’s looking for Julieta, luckily she’s not working in town today. She’s working on getting things ready for the rehearsal dinner. I doubt that Abuela will walk all the way to the Gonzalez’s place to talk to Julieta,” she tipped her head to the side slightly, “Nope,” she said, “She’s headed this way,” she announced.

“Ay,” Pepa exclaimed, “Well, she was going to learn about this soon enough,” she insisted, “Why don’t you go get ready for the rehearsal dinner, we will need to leave soon.”

The front door suddenly slammed shut, right in Alma’s face.

…
Alma was in a bad mood as she made her way to Casita after failing to demand Julieta for an explanation of what she had seen at the dress shop. Apparently, she had decided not to work at her food stand today.

Casita’s front door was open, which was weird, Casita didn’t usually leave her doors open unless they were being used, but at least that meant she wouldn’t have to open it.

Right as she was about to walk through the door, it slammed shut on her.

“Casita,” she snapped, “Open up now.”

The door did not open, so Alma tried to turn the doorknob, only nothing happened, it was locked.

“Casita, knock it off,” she insisted, “Let me in.”

Nothing.

“This isn’t funny!”

“I think it is!” a voice called out from above her causing her to look up at Camilo on the roof.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Watching Casita lock you out,” Camilo admitted before there was a shout from somewhere else.

“’Milo, come on, we need to get ready, we promised your Tia that we will be over early to help her set up,” Pepa called out from her window.

“But I want to see Abuela try to climb through a window,” Camilo whined.

A window opened, below Camilo, “Hey ‘Milo, you know, I can tell Mama what you did last night. In fact, I think I should tell Francisca all about what you did last night.”

“Don’t you dare!” Camilo shouted, “I’m coming.”

“What did he do last night?”

“Well, he pretended to go on a date with this girl he liked. I think he used that stuff chameleon of his for her. He was really sweet. Keep it up and they might just get married, the two of them have been going steady for over a year now.”

Chapter Text

Julieta glanced at her hermanito before clearing her throat, “Empty out your pockets Brunito, this is a pet-free zone.”

“They’re not my pets, they’re my children,” Bruno quickly countered, knowing that that was the excuse Isabela used all the time with Hector.

“It isn’t going to work Tio, she made me take Hector back to my apartment,” Isabela announced, glaring at her mother, “Apparently Mama is discriminating against non-human members of the family.”

“Come on,” Julieta insisted, “If I let you two bring your animals, then I would have to allow Antonio to bring his, and I don’t think any of us can handle that many animals. Therefore, Hector and your rats will have to stay home.”

“But Hector is a plant, not an animal,” Isabela pointed out.

“Who thinks he’s a dog,” Julieta insisted, “Who has a tendency of jumping up on people, and nipping at people’s heels, and let’s not forget the fact that you have trained him to attack command.”

“Okay, you have a point,” Isabela said, “Hector will stay home.”

“But the rats, they get so lonely,” Bruno protested.

“They can keep each other company while you are gone,” Julieta insisted.

Just then Pepa’s side of the family showed up, spreading out to get things done as Pepa grabbed her siblings, “So you will not believe what just happened at Casita,” she insisted.

“Casita locked Abuela out?” Mirabel asked, stepping towards them.

“How did you know that?” Pepa demanded.

Mirabel shrugged, “I noticed her looking for Mama and Abuela looked mad, then she was headed to Casita. I thought that it would be nice if Casita could keep her out until she calmed down or you were no longer there. Casita agreed.”

“Wait,” Julieta said slowly, “You were able to lock her out of Casita from town?”

“Honestly I’m not surprised,” Bruno confessed, “I noticed that she never asks Casita to do anything, Casita just does it.”

“Okay,” Mirabel said stepping backward, “Ending this conversation, because it’s Lu… Hey Tomas, hey Sofia, how are you doing?”

…
The Rehearsal Dinner went amazingly well, everybody was having a good time and everyone had offered Tomas and Luisa their congratulations on their marriage.

Tomas finally stood up, grabbing a box wrapped in white paper, before presenting it to Luisa, “This is for you, my Precious Sapphire,” he admitted.

Luisa blushed as she carefully removed the paper, revealing an elegant-looking jewelry box, “Why it’s beautiful, Tomas.”

“Open it,” Tomas urged.

Luisa lifted the lid and gasped, inside was a beautiful tiara with sapphires dotting the elegant swirls. There were also matching earrings and a necklace, “This had to have cost a fortune,” she insisted.

“Senor Ruiz insisted that I make it for you,” Tomas explained, “It’s only fit for you to have jewelry fit for a princess when you are in fact the queen of my heart.”

Mirabel, Camilo, and Isabela all started to gag at that statement, but Luisa just shot them a look, pulled out the necklace, and requested Tomas put it on so that they could see how it looked on her.

…
Alma was not in a good mood, Casita would not let her in until after Pepa and her family had left through the backdoor, and then Casita wouldn’t let her out for another hour. Since it became clear that Pepa’s side of the family was not coming home for Cena, she was forced to cook her own food again.

Despite how amazing Julieta was at cooking, Alma herself was not a good cook, and she was quickly getting tired of having to eat her own food over and over again. How she wished that Julieta would just stop this nonsense and come home.

She was sitting in the living room, actually reading the Encanto Daily which had nothing really important in it, except for a small blurb on the fact that Tomas Rivera and Luisa Madrigal were getting married the next day.

She huffed, throwing the paper into the fire pit, she couldn’t believe that Julieta would just allow Luisa to marry a random person after yelling at her for setting Mariano and Isabela up.

The front door opened and closed, catching her attention. She stood up and hurried to the courtyard just in time to see Pepa’s family troop up the door to bed without a single word.

“Pepa where have you been,” Alma demanded, causing the redhead to turn around.

“The rehearsal dinner for Luisa’s wedding,” Pepa insisted, “Now if you’ll excuse us, it’s been a big day and tomorrow is going to be just as long what with the wedding taking place.”

“How in the world could Luisa marry that man,” she demanded, “His first wife left him, that has to be a clear sign that something’s wrong with him.”

“The only thing that Tomas did wrong was marrying that girl in the first place,” Pepa insisted, “From what I understand the whole thing was a scam. Luisa has known this man for the past three years, they obviously care really deeply about each other. If you’d just open your eyes and watch them for five minutes you’d see that that’s the truth.”

Alma snorted, “Look, I’m not going to argue with you. You obviously believed the lies that Tomas has told, but he doesn’t fool me, he’s going to destroy Luisa, ruin her reputation, and then leave her.”

Pepa rolled her eyes as Camilo spoke up, “Wouldn’t not marrying her ruin her reputation more? I mean, she can’t hide the fact that she’s pregnant forever, can she?”

“Camilo,” Pepa called out sternly, glaring at her eldest son, “Stop talking,” she growled, “And go to your room. Dolores, you better go warn your Tia and Prima that Camilo let that cat out of the bag.”

“Luisa’s pregnant?” Alma demanded, “Why in the world did I not know about this?”

“Mainly because Luisa doesn’t want you to know,” Pepa insisted, “Because, news flash, she doesn’t trust you. She’s absolutely terrified of you finding out, and honestly, I don’t blame her.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You know very well what I’m talking about.”

…
Luisa and Mirabel were getting ready for bed, Mirabel carefully brushing out her hair while Luisa tied hers back in a braid.

“It seems kind of weird, not having Isa here,” Mirabel suddenly announced, staring at the empty top bunk, “I really didn’t think that I’d notice that she’s gone, it’s only been what two weeks, but I do.”

“Tomorrow is going to be really strange for you then,” Luisa suggested, “seeing as I’ll be moving out.”

Mirabel hummed softly, “It’s okay, Abuelo told me that once you move out that I can…” she trailed off, her eyes flashing gold for a second, “oh oh,” she said, springing up from her bed, “You might want to head downstairs Luisa,” she insisted, “Dolores is on her way and it is not good news.”
“What happened?” Luisa asked, standing up and grabbing her robe from the end of her bed.

“Camilo might have just told Abuela that you’re pregnant,” Mirabel confessed, “I wonder if Casita can lock her in her room for a little while until she calmed down.”

“Luisa,” their mama’s voice called up the stairs, “Come down, Dolores has something important that she has to tell you.”

…
Dolores stood in the doorway, nervously fiddling with her dress, as Luisa and Mirabel came downstairs, “I’m so so sorry,” she confessed, “Milo told Abuela about your pregnancy Lu. I don’t really know what she’s going to do. She had a small argument with Mama about how she micromanages our lives or at least tries to, and then Casita threw her into her room and won’t let her out.”

“You’re welcome,” Mirabel said casually, “Casita won’t let her out until after you leave for the wedding tomorrow.”

“You locked Abuela in her room?” Dolores asked, “I mean I knew that she got locked into her room, but…”

“I have a magical connection to the Miracle, Casita is part of the miracle, so I can lock anyone in or out of Casita I want.”

“So you can lock Abuela out whenever you want?” Dolores asked.

Mirabel shrugged, “I can if I wanted to,” she admitted, “But… I don’t really want to… if she’s not in Casita she’d have nowhere to go, and then she’ll be on the streets and it would all be my fault.”

“No, it wouldn’t.” Julieta insisted, “You are just using your gift to protect the family from someone you feel is a threat. As your madre, that makes me really proud.”

…

The next morning, Luisa stood in the middle of a room in the church, staring at the full-length mirror as Isabela carefully positioned the tiara in her hair while pulling it up into an elegant bun.

“You look absolutely stunning Luisa,” she confessed, taking a step back as she brushed a strand of colorful hair out of her face.
Julieta sniffed, slightly, wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief, “She’s right, Mija, you look absolutely beautiful.

“Thank you,” Luisa said softly as there was a knock on the door.

“Yes,” Luisa asked, nervously.

The door opened slightly, and their father poked his head in, “It’s time to start,” he confessed.

“I better go sit down,” Julieta said, hurrying off, Isabela, Dolores, and Mirabel following her out.

“I guess this is it,” Agustin said softly, smiling tearfully up at his middle daughter, “It seems like just yesterday you were placed in my arms for the first time, now look at you, all grown up.”

“Oh Pa,” Luisa said, bending down and giving him a small peck on the cheek, “I’ll always love you,” she confessed.

He nodded, before offering her his arm, “I believe it’s time,” he announced.

…
Bruno sat down next to Pepa as people started to trickle into the church. His sister gave him a look before hissing, “Can’t you go a single day without that rauna?” she demanded.

“No,” he insisted, “It makes me feel safe,” he announced before his rauna squirmed slightly on its own.

“I am not defending you if Juli discovers that you snuck your rats into the wedding, Brunito,” she said.

“It’s only two,” Bruno insisted, “And she won’t find out if you keep quiet.”

“Keep quiet about what?” a new voice asked as Julieta took her seat next to her brother.

“Nothing,” “Bruno has a rat in his pocket.”

Bruno glared at Pepa, while Julieta glared at Bruno, “Really,” Julieta and Bruno asked at the same time.

Bruno quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which he handed to Julieta, “Agustin is going to need this when he sits down,” he explained.

“I better not see that rat Brunito,” Julieta insisted, “Or else I will go after you with a rolling pin.”

“Meh,” Bruno said, tossing a white powder over his shoulder and right into the face of the person sitting behind him, who just happened to be Senora Pezmuerto. Julieta couldn’t help but chuckle as she carefully moved away from Bruno. Throwing salt over one’s shoulder was supposed to expel demons, and it certainly worked this time, not that she was going to tell that to Bruno, the poor man was superstitious enough.

…
As soon as Agustin sat down next to her, after giving Luisa away, Julieta handed the handkerchief to him, which he promptly used, blowing his nose loudly.

“We are gathered here today to witness the union of Tomas Pablos Rivera and Luisa Josefa Madrigal,” the reverend said calling attention to everyone.

Sofia came and climbed up on her lap, snuggling into her, as something moved in the shadows near Isabela. Something that caught her attention and caused her to shake her head sharply and press a finger to her lips before returning her attention to the wedding.

Bruno obviously wasn’t the only one that had snuck their pet into the wedding. If Hector got excited he could cause a lot of damage. At least Bruno had trained his rats to stay in his pockets.

“Do you Tomas Pablos Rivera take…”

There was a low squawk above Julieta, forcing her eyes up from her daughter up to the rafters, where a toucan sat perched, watching the scene. It wasn’t just one, toucan, the rafters were full of not just birds but a jaguar as well. Parce’s tail twitched lazily beneath him as he watched the ceremony down below.

Seriously even the five-year-old had snuck his pet jaguar in? And it was the last one she noticed?

“And do you Luisa Josefa Madrigal take…”

Aye, the wedding was almost over, she needed to pay more attention. She diverted her attention back to the front of the church, just in time to hear Luisa say softly, “I do.”

Something furry brushed up against her hand, causing her to look down, five rats had all climbed out of Bruno’s rauna and were now climbing all over her.

“I thought you said you only had two!” Pepa scowled, causing Julieta to glance at her, she had six rats on her.

“How many rats do you really have?” Pepa demanded.

“I now pronounce you Man and Wife, you may now kiss the bride.”

“Twenty-three last I counted, but Rosita’s due any day now.”

“Brunito,” Julieta groaned, as Luisa and Tomas turned to face the crowd.

“Julieta, is there a reason why Mirabel’s bag is moving?” Agustin asked, nodding to a bag that was sitting in the shadows next to a window.

“I’m sure that there is a very good reason that it’s moving,” Julieta said, “I just don’t know what.”

A small head poked out of the bag, revealing a small kitten, Julieta groaned, “Seriously even Mirabel.”

The kitten carefully toddled out of the bag, it was so young that it was still unsteady on its feet and walked up towards the humans.

There was a low growl as Hector broke away from the shadows, chasing after the kitten, Parce jumped down from the rafters, and the birds flew up into the roof, squawking, as the rats scrambled to higher ground, which was, unfortunately, her and Pepa’s heads.

The kitten jumped up onto the table with the cake, Parce jumped up next to it, sending the cake flying through the air before landing on Luisa and Tomas.

Chapter Text

“I see that getting covered in cake on your wedding day is somehow hereditary,” Pepa said with a smirk as Agustin helped guide Luisa and Tomas out of the church and back to their house through the backways and out of the prying eyes of the villagers.

“Wait, what?” Mirabel asked scooping up the tiny ginger kitten from the upturned table.

“Didn’t your padres tell you about their wedding, they decided that they wanted to have an outdoor one, there were bees, and you know your padre and bees. He ended up falling into the cake trying to escape them,” Pepa snorted at the memory, “Mama was mortified.”

“I bet,” Mirabel agreed, turning her attention to the small ball of fur in her hands, “Where did you come from gatita?” she asked softly.

“That is an excellent question, Mirabel, where did the gatita come from?” Julieta asked, shooting Mirabel a glare, before turning it onto Bruno, Isabela, and Antonio “I thought I made it clear that this was to be an animal-free wedding.”

“But they really, really wanted to see the wedding Tia,” Antonio insisted.

“Hector gets so lonely at home alone,” Isabela protested.

“How can you say no to their cute little faces,” Bruno complained.

“Why are you giving me that look, Mama, I didn’t sneak an animal in,” Mirabel insisted.

“Then explain to me why the gatita climbed out of your bag,” Julieta demanded.

Mirabel frowned, moving over to where her bag sat underneath the window, “The window’s open,” she announced, “The gatita must have come in from outside.”

“Sure it did,” Julieta said, leveling her daughter with a look.

The kitten mewed, causing Antonio to nod, “I understand,” he announced, “Mira’s right, the kitten jumped in through the window to get out of Mami’s rain, but fell into her bag. She thought she smelled food and wandered further into the church looking for it when Hector saw her and started chasing her.”

“See mama,” Mirabel insisted, lifting the kitten up by her scruff, “Not my kitten… let’s see,” she looked the kitten straight in her baby blue eyes, “I think I’ll call you Amorcita,” she looked up at her mother, “Now she’s my kitten.”

“You better check with your Abuelo before bringing an animal into the house,” Julieta insisted, “And you’ll have to get everything you need for her from your own money, okay?”

“Si Mama.”

…
The afternoon was, thankfully, reserved for the family to relax and celebrate the successful union.

“You know,” Bruno said as he was perched on the couch in Luisa’s living room where they had all congregated, as it was closer to town than the farm and they didn’t have to deal with Alma and her behavior, “They say that it’s good luck to have something happen at a wedding that everyone will remember.”

“Oh, is that why you told me that it looks like rain at mine?” Pepa demanded.

“I was just trying to get you to relax, but think about it, you and Julieta both have really memorable weddings and your marriage is going strong and it’s been what twenty-five years now?”

Bruno was interrupted by a squeal of delight from Sofia as Amorcita pounced on the string she had been dangling in front of her.

The triplets turned to watch them before Pepa announced, “You always did want a cat growing up,” she announced.

“Amorcita has better stay away from my rats,” Bruno muttered.

“Amorcita is so tiny,” Julieta insisted, “I bet she’s barely old enough to be weaned. I bet some of your rats are bigger than her.”

“Meh,” Bruno said, tossing salt over his shoulder.

…
Alma was not in a good mood, not only had Casita locked her out the night before, only letting her back in after Pepa and her family had left through the backdoor, but she had also locked her into her bedroom later that night and did not let her out until much later in the morning then she usually got up. She hadn’t even dealt with the fact that the only reason that Tomas and Luisa were getting married was that Luisa had gotten pregnant after what had probably been a one-night fling.

She supposed that she should be grateful that Julieta had the decency to force them to marry to make things right, even if she was stuck with that man as her grandson-in-law.

She went downstairs, grimacing at all the cracks lacing the walls, she honestly wasn’t sure just how much longer Casita could remain standing. She glanced up at the candle, it was almost completely burned out. She sighed, shaking her head, she had to do something to get Mirabel to save the miracle, but what? Julieta wouldn’t even let her near her youngest.

She had to get on Julieta’s good side, somehow, but how? Alma frowned, her face scrunched up as she thought about what to do. She would have to do something to prove that she was not a threat, but what. What could she do? She had tried to apologize, but Julieta had refused to accept it. That had granted, been two weeks ago now, and Julieta was still upset about Mirabel’s suicide attempt. Maybe now that some time had passed and she had calmed down some, she would be able to get through to her.

Perhaps she could bring her a present or something to show her that she was trying to make things right, but what. Luisa was pregnant, wasn’t she? That was the whole reason for the wedding, to cover up the fact that she had a fling with the man, which was probably why his ex left him.

Giving her opinion on the matter wasn’t going to get her anywhere near Mirabel, but… what if she gave Julieta her old christening gown for Luisa to use for the baby. Surely that would be considered an act of goodwill. She’d apologize again for the way she had treated Mirabel, and for trying to force Isabela into an arranged marriage. She’d claim that she was just eager to have great-grandchildren and got carried away.

If she did that, perhaps Julieta would start letting her get closer to Mirabel, so that she could save the Miracle.

…
The wedding reception was being held in the park, which kind of had Julieta nervous, it had been rather easy to bar those they did not want to attend, mainly Abuela and a few who had made it quite clear to Julieta and her family that they disapproved their decision to leave Casita and not associate with Alma, but there was no way to keep them out of the park for the reception.

They had, thankfully, been able to clean up Luisa’s and Tomas’s outfits and take the wedding pictures in the late afternoon before the reception. Luisa and Tomas where now weaving their way through the crowd talking to those who wished to congratulate them.

“Juli,” a voice called out softly, causing her to stiffen up.

“What are you doing here, Madre?” she asked, stiffly, giving her mother a cold look.

“I came to apologize, I truly am sorry for how I reacted to the prophecy,” Alma insisted.

“What about all the other times that you hurt my family?”

“I honestly thought that I was doing what was best at the time,” Alma said, “I can now see how what I was doing could be viewed as harmful, and I would like to apologize for it.”

“It is going to take a lot more than words to get me to forgive you,” Julieta confessed, giving her a hard look.

“I know that,” Alma insisted, pulling out a carefully wrapped parcel from her bag, “That is why I’m giving you this, I know that you don’t want me anywhere near your children at the moment. Would you be so kind as to make sure Luisa gets it? And tell her congratulation on her wedding. Even though I don’t approve of the groom or the reason for the wedding, I hope they are happy together.”

Julieta blinked in surprise, she was not expecting whatever this was, as she accepted the package, “Gracias, I’ll make sure that Luisa gets it.”

“I hope that I might be able to regain a good standing with you so that I can meet the new baby when they arrive.”

“We’ll see, you’ve done a lot of wrongs that you need to atone for before I can trust you again.”

“Please,” Alma said, “Tell me what I can do to earn back your trust, and I’ll do it. I don’t want the family to be divided anymore.”

“Well, the first thing you can do is be respectful of the rules Pepa and I have laid out,” Julieta insisted, “No interacting with the children without our supervision. If one of Pepa’s kids happens to walk into a room that you are in, offer to leave. Show Pepa and me that you are willing to respect us as the adults we are.”

“I can do that,” Alma agreed.

“You also need to go to the council and come up with a plan to pay us all back for all the money that you stole from us.”

“I did not steal your money, I just withheld some of your funds for safe keeping, I didn’t want you spending it on silly things like dollhouses and toy kitchens.”

“That money belonged to me,” Julieta insisted, “I can understand when I was a young child withholding my money from you, but once I became a teenager and an Adult I should have been given full access to it.”

“But you never learned how to manage money,” Alma insisted.

“Mama, I think that is more of a failure on your part than on mine, isn’t it? I feel like what you did was steal our money and lied about it. If you truly want to make amends, you have to make an effort to correct everything that you did wrong. Therefore you have to make things right with the money, respect the rules Pepa has, and respect the decisions that I’ve made concerning my family.”

“If that’s what you want then that’s what I’ll do,” Alma said, glancing around her, “I guess I better leave, I know that you will be more comfortable if I’m not in the same area with Mirabel,” she turned to leave, before remembering one more thing she should say, just to help drive home the fact that she was willing to do anything to make things right, “Oh, can you tell Isabela that I’m sorry that I hurt her plant creature thing. I didn’t mean to hurt it, I was just trying to get it away from me. It was nipping at my ankles.”

“His name is Hector,” Julieta explained, “and Isabela is quite protective of him. I’ll pass on the message, but there is no guarantee that she’ll accept it.”

Chapter Text

“So, I understand that Senora Madrigal apologized to Julieta during Luisa’s reception. Does that mean that you’re moving back into Casita?”

Agustin chuckled lightly as he carefully selected some peppers from the vegetable stand, adding them to the large basket he was carrying, “Why? You eager to have us out of your hair?”

“No, I was just wondering what your plans were. Do you have a house that you’re interested in?”

Agustin shook his head, selecting several large red tomatoes and adding them to the basket, “Not yet, we’ll probably start looking tomorrow.”

“Well, I know of a place, it’s not listed for sale, but I happen to know the owner. His daughter is a widow, and she’s hoping that he will move in with her to help take care of her children while she works. Her Mother-in-Law has been helping, but her health has gone downhill recently.”

“How many bedrooms,” Agustin asked, “We need at least three.”

“Four,” Senor Gonzalez explained.

“Okay,” Agustin said, slowly, “That’s good, but what about the cost?”

“Oh, I’m sure that we can come up with a suitable price,” his father insisted, studying a mango, “It makes sense, I just told Mirabel that she could decorate her room however she wants to now that Isa and Luisa have both moved out. Bruno’s comfortable in his room, you’ll get your own room and you can turn the guest room back into a guest room, or whatever you want. I’m sure that Mirabel would love a sewing room.”

“Wait,” Agustin fumbled with his basket and would have spilled the contents if his father hadn’t grabbed it himself, “You’re moving in with Maria?”

“She needs my help with the kids, and I figured that you and your family could take over the farm for me, huh? What do you say, Gussie Boy?”

“Pa, please don’t call me that, I’m almost fifty,” Agustin insisted, “As for buying your house, I think it’s a wonderful idea, I’ll talk to Julieta about it.”

…

Camilo gulped, straightening his rauna, he was going to do this. He was going to ask Francisca out. It wasn’t like he had a choice, Dolores had blabbed about his crush to Mama and it was only a matter of time before it becomes common knowledge, he wanted Francisca to hear about it from him, and now that he was getting his full paycheck he could actually afford to take her out.

He carefully knocked on the door, he could totally do this.
A tall muscular man who looked like he could bench press Luisa answered the door, a cigar hanging lip from his mouth. This man was the only reason he hadn’t done this earlier. This man, Francisca’s father, could easily snap him in half if he wanted to.

“Well what do you want?” the man demanded, reeking heavily of alcohol.

“Ummm, is Francisca home?” he asked nervously, shapeshifting just a little bit so that he appeared taller.

“Yeah, hold on one minute,” her father granted, before turning his head back into the house, “Francisca, the shapeshifting Madrigal is here to see you.”

“I have a name,” Camilo protested, “It’s…” Francisca came to the doorway at that moment, her skirt swishing around her.

“Camilo!” she exclaimed, “What a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to go get an obeleas from the stand? My treat?” Camilo asked, his face turning as red as his hermana’s skirt.

Francisca frowned opening her mouth to say something but her father spoke up before she could, “You should go,” he insisted, before leaning over and whispering something in her ear.

She nodded, “You’re right Papi, I’d love to go, Camilo, I just can’t right now, can you give me an hour to finish my chores, and then I will meet you at the Obeleas Stand, okay?”

“Sure, I’ll see you there!” Camilo insisted.

…
Pepa was raining, she just couldn’t believe that Camilo had asked a girl out. He was growing up so quickly, and of course, Dolores had gone out with Mariano. They hadn’t told her anything except for the fact that they were just taking the time to get to know each other. Pepa hoped that meant wedding bells and grandbabies were in her future. She’d been watching Julieta with Sofia, and she couldn’t wait to have her own grandchild to spoil.

“Pepa you have a cloud!” was Alma’s way of telling her that she had entered the room.

“Oh, lighten up,” Pepa snapped, her cloud rumbling with thunder, “In case you didn’t know, my gift is connected with my emotions, so, of course, I have a cloud. Mi Bebes are growing up on me, Dolores and Camilo are out on dates right now.”

“Well, Camilo is fifteen, and Dolores is Twenty-One it’s about time she settled down.”

“I didn’t get married until I was twenty-five,” Pepa pointed out, “Julieta didn’t get married until she was twenty-eight, Bruno still is single, yet you want my twenty-one-year-old to get married? Of course, you do, you wanted to marry Isabela off to a stranger.”

“I really thought that Mariano and Isabela were meant for each other!”

“If they were meant for each other, then they wouldn’t have needed your interference.”

Alma opened her mouth to argue, but the sight of new cracks spreading across the wall stopped her. Pepa was close to Julieta, she would no doubt report any missteps she makes, so she’ll have to tread carefully. She already was at a bad start.

“Lo siento, you have a point, I guess I am just stressed. I talked to Julieta during the reception, and she says that my apology isn’t enough.”

“If you want my help convincing her to forgive you, you might want to watch what you say and do around me and my kids. Keep in mind that Dolores hears everything. I know that you are just trying to get close to Mirabel to save your miracle, and it’s not going to work. I’m sure Mirabel already knows about it.”

…
“It’s time for Lunch,” Julieta called out, wiping her hands off on her apron, it had been a busy day. After Agustin and his father had returned home from picking up some fresh produce, they had helped him pack up his personal items so that he could move in with Maria later.

Mirabel had already been working on ways to make her bedroom her own and was at the moment helping Bruno and Agustin tear down the bunk bed so she’d have more room. Julieta was surprised no one, mainly her husband hadn’t hurt himself yet.

“Mirabel, Agustin, Bruno, Abuelo, come eat while it is hot!” she shouted.

“I eat, I hun’gy,” a little voice said from behind Julieta.

Julieta whirled around, glancing down to find Sofia looking up at her.

“Hola Abuela!” she said brightly, “I eat now.”

Julieta blinked, they had kept Sofia overnight last night so that Luisa and Tomas could have some privacy on their wedding night, but they had picked her up first thing this morning, wanting to spend time as a family. So how in the world was Sofia standing in her kitchen?

“Sofia, what are you doing here?” she demanded, “Is your Mami with you?” it wasn’t like Luisa to just let Sofia wander off like this. She was always with her.

“Si,” Sofia announced, grabbing her abuela’s hand and dragging her towards the living room, “I opened, oh, there’s two!”

Against the far wall were two glowing doors, one with a picture of Casita, and one with a picture of Luisa. Julieta knew for a fact that those doors hadn’t been there that morning.

She glanced at them and then glanced at Sofia, “Did you go through the door that has your Mami’s picture on it?” she asked.

Sofia shook her head, “No, it's you.”

“It was me?”

“Si.”

Julieta frowned as she heard footsteps racing down the stairs and Agustin calling out to her.

“Is everything alright, Mi Amor… those doors weren’t there this morning, were they? And what’s Sofia doing here?”

“She claims to have come through a glowing door with my picture on it,” Julieta explained, nodding to the glowing doors.

Agustin nodded, “Hey, Mira, take a look at what’s going on in here, tell us what you think?”

Mirabel poked her head into the living room, a can of wet kitten food in her hands, as she had been in the process of feeding Amorcita her lunch when he had called out, and stared in confusion at the glowing doors, “Oh,” she said brightly, setting down the can of food, “That’s amazing!”

Amorcita meowed impatiently and tried to stick her muzzle into the half-open can of food, but Bruno saw her and quickly removed the can. before she could cut herself.

Mirabel opened the door with Luisa’s picture on it… revealing her sister’s own living room.

“Sofia, come on, it’s time for lunch!” her sister’s voice called out from somewhere else.

“Mami,” Sofia called out rushing forward, through the door, Mirabel following close behind.

…
Tomas had been putting the finishing touches on lunch while Luisa got Sofia washed up. Only Sofia wasn’t in her bedroom or her new playroom. She called out over and over again, looking for her.

“Hey, Luisa,” a bright bubbly voice called out, causing Tomas to jump nearly out of his skin to see his sister-in-law standing in the middle of the living room with Sofia.

Luisa came thundering down the stairs, “Mirabel, you found Sofia? Where did you find her?”

“Did you know that there’s a magical door that leads straight to our living room?” Mirabel asked, giving her typical bounce, “We have one that leads here, and there’s one that leads to Casita, as well. Dolores should have her family figure out where the door from Casita is located. That will make it so much easier for them to be able to visit, but what if Abuela finds it. Can she use it as well? Will she just show up unannounced like Sofia did?”

Luisa and Tomas just stared at her in confusion, “What?” Tomas asked in confusion.

“Now that Papa and Mama are buying Abuelo’s place and Luisa moved in with you, there’s a magical door that connects our living rooms,” Mirabel announced, “And at least we have one that connects to Casita. I don’t know about you guys though.”

“Wait?” Luisa said quickly, “There’s a door that leads to your house?”

Sofia nodded, “Si, it's all glowy and has a picture of Abuela on it. Let’s go, Abuela made lunch!”

Luisa scooped up the little girl, “Maybe after siesta,” she insisted, “Papi made lunch as well.”

“Mira!” Bruno’s voice called out, “You have got to come and feed your cat before she tries one of my rats!”

Chapter Text

Mirabel glanced around her room with a huge grin on her face, this was her room. She couldn’t wait to finally do what she wanted with it. Today all they really managed to do was take down the bunkbed and move her sewing machine in. Then they moved her parents into the master bedroom. At the moment the room her parents had been sleeping in was just empty except for the furnishing and will remain so until they decide what to do with the room. Abuelo had suggested turning it into a sewing room, which would be nice, but… they’ll see.

She smiled at Amorcita, who was at the moment curled up happily sleeping on the small bed that she had gotten her. It was nice looking around her room and knowing that everything in it was really hers, all hers. No one was going to walk in unannounced, or force her to share it or anything.

With that last thought, she rolled over on her twin-size bed and fell asleep.

…
“Meow?” Amorcita cried out pressing her furry face into Mirabel’s face waking her up.

“What Amorcita?” Mirabel groaned, reaching over to grab her glasses only to discover that she couldn’t reach her nightstand simply by rolling over onto her side. She squinted, she could make out her nightstand, but it was a lot further away than she thought it had been the night before.

This didn’t make sense, when she had taken off her glasses the night before, they had been in easy grabbing distance, now she had to roll sideways on the bed and stress out as far as she can and she still couldn’t reach it. She crawled forward a couple of steps, finally reaching her glasses, and putting them on.

She wasn’t in her room anymore, she wasn’t sure where she was. The bed she was in was huge, king-size at least, with an elegant canopy overhead. The room was obviously much bigger than what she was used to, being closer to the size of her family’s magical rooms than her own.

Soft grass greeted her as she climbed out of bed, and butterflies fluttered through the air, for a moment she wondered if perhaps she had fallen asleep outside, but no, there was furniture around her, an oversize wardrobe, the nightstand, and king-size bed, a dresser, and a full-size mirror, as well as a couch and an armchair. There was a large tree in the middle of the room with a hammock hung underneath it, and a bookshelf nearby. Luisa would love that. Uninterrupted grass sprawled out as far as her eyes could see, with elegant rose bushes and other flowers growing in rows around the room.

The room was perfect, there was only one thing missing, where in the world was her sewing machine?

She looked around the whole room, discovering a spot about the size of the nursery back at Casita that was filled with climbing trees and tunnels and all sorts of things that could keep a young cat entertained for hours. This spot could even be closed off from the rest of the room if she ever felt the need to confine Amorcita to one spot. But there was still no sewing machine.

She went back to the large tree in the center of the room, looking it over, at first glance it looked like a normal giant oak with enough room inside to have a room, but at second glance Mirabel noticed something she hadn’t noticed at first, a butterfly carved into the wood. She touched it, gasping as it lit up, and a door in the trunk of the tree swung open, revealing a spiral staircase that led down into what Mirabel could only call a crafter’s dream come true. Her sewing machine was set up on a large sewing table, which had plenty of room to spread out and cut the fabric. There was a quilting frame, a craft table, and more crafting supplies than the Encanto had ever seen in its entire history.

“This is kind of freaky,” Mirabel had to admit, “Although I bet it is just a dream. I’ll just go back to bed and when I wake up I’ll be back in my own room,” she muttered heading back up the stairs only to stub her toe on the bottom step.

“Ouch,” she exclaimed, “I thought one wasn’t supposed to be able to feel pain while dreaming,” she insisted.

…
Julieta stretched as her alarm clock went off, Agustin shifting beside her to press a quick kiss to her lips before stumbling out of his side of the bed and putting his glasses back on. He was greeted by the sight of several bunches of herbs hanging from the ceiling in various stages of drying. He looked around, there was the kitchen area where Julieta made her essential oils and herbal tea mixes that had more medicinal uses than just her food did, and oftentimes than not took longer to make.

“Juli,” he said slowly, “I think we’re back in Casita.”

Julieta frowned, looking around, “I noticed, but how? We went to bed at… I guess I should say home, how are we in Casita?”

Just then a scream filled the air, causing Julieta to gasp, and race out of the room, that had been Bruno.

…
Bruno had screamed when he woke up to see the rocky ceiling overhead, no, no, no, no this was not happening, this was not happening, he was not back in his tower, he was not back in Casita, no way no how.

…
Julieta raced out of her room in a panic, expecting to see the balcony and the rows of glowing doors, but instead, she saw the upstairs hallway of the house that they just bought from Agustin’s father, and three golden doors, if she counted the one that she had just exited. As she blinked in confusion, the door with her brother’s picture swung open and Bruno came stumbling out, fully panicked. He stopped as he spotted his older sister, and recognized the hallway, “What the heck is going on?” he demanded.

“I have no idea,” Julieta insisted, “Are you okay, I heard you scream?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just startled that I woke up… in my tower!!!” Bruno exclaimed, “I panicked, do you know how many stairs there are in there? Thousands, if not millions! Only now it’s just a single flight, so that’s nice, but what the heck is going on?”

The tiles along the hallway, which hadn’t been there last night rattled and clanked. The two siblings glanced at each other in confusion before saying in complete unison in shock, “Casita?”

The tiles clicked happily at them in a pattern both of them knew well.

“Okay,” Agustin asked coming up behind Julieta, still blinking sleep from his eyes, “What the heck is going on here?”

“Casita moved in?” another voice said slowly, as Mirabel stepped out of her own glowing door, Amorcita in her arms, “And the candle’s in my room, and when I touched it, it told me a lot of stuff that I didn’t know before, it was really weird, and the sad part is, Abuela knew all of this stuff, but she never did anything about it, and you really need to get after her for it.”

“What kind of things?” Julieta asked.

“Things like the fact that the candle holder can tailor the gifts to make them easier to use, but she didn’t, even when Dolores was having such a hard time adjusting to her gift, she didn’t help her.”

“What exactly do you mean by the candle holder can tailor the gifts to make them easier to use?” Bruno asked.

“Well, wouldn’t it be nice if Mama doesn’t have to cook food to heal every little thing?” Mirabel asked, “Sure have her food work on bigger injuries like broken bones and internal bleeding or such, the big things that people go to the doctor for outside of Encanto, but the small things, the cuts, scrapes, bruises, and bug bites that just heals over time, wouldn’t it be nice if she only has to… touch them to heal them?”

“That would be nice,” Julieta admitted, “It will save a lot of time and money.”

Mirabel nodded, holding out her left hand and twisting it, a golden butterfly forming in it, “Well, if you agree?” she said softly, gently tossing the butterfly at her. The butterfly settled on Julieta, before sinking into her, causing her whole body to glow gold before fading.

“You just changed my gift?” Julieta asked.

“I think so?” Mirabel said, “We’ll just have to wait for Pa to hurt himself to see if you can heal him without an arepa.”

…
The first thing Alma noticed when she woke up was the fact that the candle was gone. “What in the world happened,” she demanded, “Casita!”

Nothing the house did not respond at all.

“Casita, where is the candle?”

Nothing.

Alma quickly raced out of her room, only to freeze, her door was the only one of the magical doors that weren’t glowing, “What is going on here, what’s wrong with Casita?”

Dolores popped her head out of the bathroom, “Casita moved out,” she announced, “I think she got fed up with your behavior,” she announced with a shrug before entering the bathroom once more.

“What do you mean Casita moved out?” Alma demanded, “How can a house move out?”

Camilo who just happened to be walking by commented, “You know it might say something when the house got so fed up that it moved out.”

…
Julieta sat the small basket of arepas down on her food stand, smiling brightly, she actually was opening early today, but that was so she could close early as well.

“Abuela,” a young voice called out as Sofia raced up to the food stand, tears racing down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Julieta asked.

Sofia lifted up her skirt to reveal a scrapped up and bloody knee, just as Luisa showed up behind her, “Sofia, I told you to wait for me,” she gasped.

“Mami, it hurt!” Sofia insisted.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“What happened?” Julieta asked, lifting Sofia up on the stand so she could get a better look at the scrape.

“It’s kind of confusing,” Luisa confessed, “Sofia came into our room this morning, only it was my room from Casita and she tripped over a dumbbell that I left out, scrapping her knee.”

“You have your old room?” Julieta asked in surprise, wetting her handkerchief to clean the scrape out.

“Yeah.”

“Interesting,” Julieta said, “I assumed that the return of our rooms had something to do with Casita moving in, but I guess I must be wrong. Must have to do with the magic portals between our houses instead.”

“That’s amazing,” Luisa said, “If Dolores… Wait, did you just say that Casita moved in?”

“Yes,” Julieta said, “It’s a long story, but apparently she moved in during the night,” she hummed to herself as she was satisfied that the scrape was clean of any foreign objects, then she bent down and kissed it better, something she used to do with her own kids when they were little, even after they had already eaten an arepa. At the brush of her lip on the scrapped knee, it glowed brightly, and once the light had faded, the knee was as good as new.

“Wow!” Sofia exclaimed, “Mami look, Abuela kissed it all better.”

Luisa stared at the knee in surprise, “Mama, but how, you didn’t use your food?”

“Mirabel’s really getting a hang of her gift,” Julieta said, “I think she’s trying to figure out a way to adjust Dolores's gift so that she won’t be as reliant on her room.”

“That’s great,” Luisa insisted, “That means that Tia can finally move out.”

Chapter Text

Bruno ended up being the one who was available to take Mirabel to school that morning, Julieta deciding to leave early for her food stand and check in on Luisa and Isabela, and test out her new ability to heal with just a touch, while Agustin tended to the animals.

“You know Tio,” Mirabel said, “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen how your gift works.”

“Trust me, you don’t need to see it.”

“Yes I do,” Mirabel chirped, “I need to know how your gift currently works to know how to make it easier for you.”

“Well,” Bruno said curtly, “You can start by removing the obnoxious involuntary visions,” he insisted.

“They seem to be helpful,” Mirabel insisted, “At least from what I’ve seen, you’ve helped Luisa when she passed out when we were leaving, and stopped Sofia from running into Camilo when she was running to Luisa, and you encouraged Tomas to…”

“Okay, okay, I get the point, sometimes my involuntary visions are useful,” Bruno interrupted, “But can you keep them down? Like I don’t know, like have them only pop up if there’s an emergency?”

“How about ones that you can affect, like when Luisa passed out, you could catch her? In fact we should do it for all your visions, that will stop them from being able to claim that you make bad things happen.”

“What?”

“Like Osvaldo’s vision, you showed him that he was going to get fat,” Mirabel said, “Right? He’s really vocal about it, what if he was shown two options, one where he sat down and ate candy all day, and one where he went on a diet and excercised regularly. Only one of those will lead to him being fat, and it depends on what he chooses to do. That way the person asking for the vision will be the one responsible for their future. I think that your gift will work better that way.”

“Somethings are set in stone and no matter what people do they can’t stop it,” Bruno insisted, “When it’s time for someone to die it’s time for them to die.”

“Well, if it can’t be changed then it can’t be changed, I’ll go to the council, or have Mama go to the council, I don’t think that they will listen to me, and see if we can’t get a contract or law or somehting that will prevent people from attacking you due to a vision. Now that I’m the official Candle Holder things are going to change.”

“Your Abuela isn’t going to like that,” Bruno insisted.

“She’s going to have to deal with it,” Mirabel insisted, “I have the candle and Casita, the gifts respond just to me now. Like it or not, I’m the Candle Holder. I have the door to prove it,” she announced, smuggly, before looking at her tio, “So what do you say, should I change your gift some?”

“Let me think about it kid, okay?” Tio Bruno insisted, as a loud barking noise filled the air.

Mirabel forgot completely about altering Bruno’s gift as Hector plowed into her, head butting her eagrly and running around in circles, “What are you doing here,” she asked with a laugh, patting his head softly.

“Running from me, apparently,” Isabela announced, jogging up to them and attaching a vine to Hector’s stem, “He ran out the door when one of my roommates opened it,” she explained, swiping her forehead, “I’ve been chasing him for the past two blocks. I don’t really trust him out on his own, Some villager might try to grab him just because he’s magical. So what’s up?”

“Well,” Mirabel said slowly, “Abuelo sold Mama and Papa his house, and he moved in with Tia Maria,” she announced, “And as soon as Papa and Abuelo signed the agreement, these magical doors appeared in the living room, one lead straight to Luisa’s living room, and the other one leads straight to the upstair balcony of La Casa Madrigal, it exited where Mama’s door is there.”

“La Casa Madrigal, don’t you mean Casita?” Isabela asked.

Mirabel shook her head, “No, Casita moved out last night, she got tired of constantly cracking because of all of the fighting, so she packed up her candle and moved in with us.”

“Brought our rooms with her as well,” Bruno confessed, “Scared me half to death.”

“Actually,” Mirabel said, “The rooms come from the house being owned by a Madrigal,” she announced, “Luisa’s got her room as well, now that she’s officially moved in with Tomas.”

Isabela frowned, “So everyone else has their magical rooms, and their houses are magically connected, and I’m stuck renting a small bedroom and sharing a kitchen and living area with a bunch of strangers?”

“Yep,” Mirabel said brightly as Bruno stumbled, a green mist covering his eyes, “Oh, you’re having a vision!” she exclaimed, “Great, I want to see it, so that I can know how to adjust your gift to make it work for you better, can I please.”

“The best thing you can do for me is take the curse away,” he insisted.

“Sorry, my gift doesn’t work that way,” Mirabel insisted.

“What are you talking about?” Isabela asked.

“It’s pretty cool,” Mirabel insisted, “I can adjust your gifts so that they are easier to handle.”

“Hey, I have an idea,” Bruno interrupted, “Isabela, why don’t you take Mirabel to school while I deal with this,” he pointed to his eyes, before hurrying into an alleyway.

Mirabel looked at Isabela, “You know, as Candle Holder, I really need to see how Bruno’s gift works so that I can adjust it,” she announced.

“I’m sure that your teacher will be understanding if you’re a little late, especially as today is your first day as a full Candle Holder.”

“Yeah, and because Abuela neglected to do certain duties while she was Candle Holder I have a lot of work I need to do,” Mirabel insisted, leading the way into the alleyway as the sky above them got dark.

“What’s got Tia so…”

“That’s not Tia, it’s Tio, no wonder people think he’s a curse, that’s kind of spooky, it needs to go,” Mirabel insisted, sending in a golden butterfly. There was a gold glow and the skies cleared.

“That was pretty cool, now what?” Isabela asked only to pause when Hector whined and admitted that he was scared, “I’m going to wait here with Hector, he doesn’t like what he’s seeing.

Mirabel nodded stepping into the vision, “Tio, what’s going on? You don’t usually cause a storm when you get a vision.”

“I do when I summon one, this one didn’t make sense, I needed more details, so I had to summon it.”

Mirabel watched in amazement as a young woman, probably close to her age, if she was to guess, appeared, walking towards a river with a small bundle in her arms, which she carefully toss into the river, before looking around and hurrying away. The vision zoomed in on the bundle, revealing a newborn baby right before it went under the water and drowned.

“Who would do something like that?” Mirabel demanded.

“I don’t know, I believe that one was from outside Encanto, based on what we saw in the background, just on the other side of the mountain,” Bruno said, “See what I mean, there’s nothing I can do about that. That baby’s going to drown!”

“Maybe not,” Mirabel said, flicking her wrist and sending another butterfly towards him, “It hasn’t happened yet, so perhaps we can change the outcome, if you leave now, do you think that you might have a chance to get there before the baby drowns?” she asked.

Bruno frowned, scrunching up his brow, “I have no idea,” he insisted.

“Well then check it out,” Mirabel insisted, “Have another vision, see if you can intervene.”

Bruno sighed, drawing another circle and setting more herbs to burn before summoning the vision again. This time right before the teenager was about to throw the baby into the water, she looked up startled and Bruno and Dolores appeared. They seemed to talk to each other and the girl handed the baby to Bruno.

The vision faded and Bruno stared at Mirabel in disbelief, “I don’t get it, the vision was different the second time around.”

“Of course,” Mirabel said, “Because you had made up your mind that you were going to try to make it there in time, and then the vision showed you how your actions will affect the future. You saved a baby’s life, you should be proud Bruno.”

“I should be going,” Bruno insisted, “Find Dolores and send her my way, I’m going to need her help if I’m going to find the right spot.”

In the distance the school bell rang, alerting the students of the start of the school day, “Looks like I’m going to be tardy,” Mirabel announced, before adding, “Dolores, Bruno needs you, a life is at stake, meet him in the forest, he’ll explain everything when you get there, and afterwards find me, I want to adjust your gift so that it’s easier to handle.”

With that she left, heading towards the fields instead of the school, she was already late, she might as well make sure that one less member of the Madrigal family was suffering from their gift.

…

Several farmers were trying to get Pepa to rain, which meant they had to make her cry, they actually got a cloud to form after a cruel remark about how her husband only married her to gain the Madrigal name. They were about to say something else when Pepa’s cloud suddenly disappeared and there was a crash of thunder behind them.

“Leave Tia Pepa alone,” Mirabel Madrigal insisted, her Tia’s cloud over her own head, crackling with lightning.

“Wha…” one of the farmers started.

“How?” another asked.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” the third one asked.

Mirabel shrugged, “The Miracle gave me the position of Candle Holder, and there’s a long list of to do’s that Abuela’s been ignoring for the last forty-five years. I’m sure my teacher would understand.”

“How do you have your tia’s gift?” the second farmer finally asked.

“What is going on here,” the first farmer demanded.

“I borrowed Tia’s gift to get your attention,” Mirabel insisted, “You are bullies and slave drivers,” she announced, “How would you feel if someone purposely made you cry? Bad right? So why the heck do you lazy cows think that it’s okay for you to make Tia Pepa cry?”

“Because when she cries she waters our crops,” one of the farmers protested.

“Correction,” Mirabel insisted, twisting her hand and sending a golden butterfly towards Pepa who glowed slightly, “That’s how her gift use to work. If you want help watering your crops you need to apologize to her for being bullies and ask her nicely. If you don’t, I’ll find out, and I’ll zap you with her lightning, or maybe she will, she has my permission. Don’t worry Tia, I changed the way your gift work, so all you have to do is think about a specific weather and it will change to it.”

Pepa blinked, glancing up to notice that she didn’t have a cloud.

“Why don’t you think up something that will teach these bullies that they can’t be bullies?”

Pepa smirked, thinking of a small tornado chasing the poor fools around. The wind picked up and just with a single thought  a tornado chased the farmers into a nearby barn, locking them in.

“Wow,” Pepa said, “That’s amazing.”

“It gets better than that,” Mirabel insisted, “Think of something super sad, that always makes you cry when you think about it. Like Tio Bruno leaving.”

“Why in the world would I want to think about that!” Pepa demanded.

“No cloud,” Mirabel announced proudly, pointing up to above her tia’s head.

…

“Let me get this straight,” Dolores said as she hiked up the mountain with Bruno, “You had a vision of a baby drowning, Mirabel fiddled with your gift, suggested that you go save it, you had the vision again, and it was different?”

“Yep, multiple outcomes, depending on the actions of those who see the vision,” Bruno said, “Which means that I’ll have to do visions in person, something I haven’t done since I was your age,” he admitted, “Hopefully the change in my gift will make things easier, and make it so that they can see how they are the ones effecting their future not me cursing them.”

Dolores nodded before gasping, “Oh, Mirabel just adjusted Mama’s gift, that’s nice, she doesn’t have to worry about her emotions getting in the way of her gift.”

Bruno grunted, continuing to climb.

…

They had been hiking for just over an hour when they finally showed up at a river, “Hello,” Dolores called out softly, “Anybody there?”

“She’ll be here soon,” Bruno insisted, right as a person appeared on the other side of the river, a small bundle in her hand. She glanced around to see if anyone was around. Her eyes locked on Bruno and Dolores in surprise.

“Hola,” she said sofly.

“Hola,” Bruno greeted as well, finding some stepping stones to get to the other side, Dolores following close behind her, “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” the girl said, hiding the bundle behind her back.

“Is that a baby?” Dolores asked, “What are you doing with it?”

“This thing is going to ruin my life if Mama and Papa learn about it, I have to get rid of it,” she insisted.

“Surely there’s an orphanage, or church that you can leave the baby at?” Bruno suggested

The teen paused, “I didn’t think about that,” she admitted, “But I don’t know of any orphanages and the priest will tell my padres what happened, I can’t let that happen.”

Bruno cleared his throat, the vision showed her handing him the baby, “We’re from a village not far from here,” he admitted, “I’m sure that we can find her a loving home if you want, we won’t even tell them what your name is, just that we found the baby and it needs a loving home.”

“You can do that?” 

“Si,” Dolores said, as the teen held out the baby.

Bruno reached out, taking the baby. As soon as he had the baby in his arms his eyes glowed green. Him humming happily as he rocked in the rocking chair feeding the baby a bottle. Him laughing in delight as a baby held her arms up towards him and said something. A baby toddling happily towards him, arms outstretched. A little girl looking up at him nervously as she walked towards a glowing door with Mirabel standing in front of it, candle in her hand.

He gasped as he shook his head in disbelief.

“What was that,” the teen asked.

“I know who’s going to take her,” he announced in awe.

“Who?” Dolores asked.

“Me, I think? It’s obviously a Madrigal,” Bruno announced.

...

Mirabel was waiting for them at the edge of town, with a golden butterfly that went straight to Dolores's chest, "There you go, all you have to do is focus on someone or a part of town, and you'll hear it, but the rest of the time it's going to be normal hearing, unless someone calls your name twice, that will cause your hearing to zero in on them, for emergencies you know?"

"Thank you," Dolores offered, "But you didn't have to sneak out of school to come adjust my gift, I was going to come find you this afternoon."

"I know," Mirabel said, "But I wanted to get it over with, Abuela should have done that the moment you got your gift, it wasn't that hard to do," she insisted, before turning to Bruno, "So do you have any ideas on who can take the baby in?"

"Actually," Bruno said nervously shifting the baby in his arms.

"He's planning on keeping her," Dolores explained, "He had a vision when we got her, and apparently she's a Madrigal and he's calling dibs."

"Okay, cool, we can set up the spare room in Casita as a nursery, go talk to Mama, she can help you figure out what you're going to need, Papa," Mirabel said.

"Papa, I'm a papa now," Bruno gasped, "I don't think I ever thought I'll be someone's papa."

Dolores gave him a look, "You're the one that's insisting on taking the baby," she said, "Well, I'm off, Mama and Papi will want to know that I've visited you, and they'll want help packing. We're moving in with Tio Carlos until we can find our own place."

…

Alma Madrigal was furious, first Mirabel embarrassed her in front of the Guzmans, then Julieta had packed her family up and told those ridiculous stories about her being abusive and controlling, and now, now Mirabel had somehow snuck into the house at night and stole the candle, taking it and Casita back to the farmhouse where she was living with her parents. She knew that she stole the candle because she told several farmers that she was the new candle holder.

As she stormed pass the school, she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, until she ran straight into someone.

"Oof, lo siento," the person grunted, "I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going," she admitted, "I need to be back at scho... Abuela?!"

Alma Madrigal blinked, sure enough she had ran into Mirabel, "What have you been up to, shouldn't you be in school?" she demanded.

"Oh, I am," Mirabel said, "But it's lunch time, and my teacher allowed me to talk to Dolores, she was very understanding when I told her that I had just replaced you as Candle Holder and there's a lot of things that I need to take care of."

"Stop with the lies Mirabel!" Alma snapped, reaching towards her, "You are not the Candle Holder, when I pass, that title will go to your Madre and then Isabela, It will never go to you because you are nothing but a trouble maker and waste of space so just give me back the candle before I tell the guards that you stole it."

Mirabel knew what was about to happen a second before it did, but there was nothing she could do. The moment her abuela went to hit her, she felt a flare of magic inside her as a golden wave, just like the one the abuelos described when telling the story of how Encanto was formed, burst out from her and hit Abuela straight in the chest.

Abuela froze in surprise, glancing at the wave of energy coming from Mirabel, who had a look of pure terror on her face, before she felt crippling pain convulse on her whole body and she toppled down to the ground. The last thing she heard before everything went dark was Mirabel's scream of utter disbelief.

Chapter Text

Alma hurt, she didn’t know that someone could be in as much physical pain as she was and still be alive.

“What a mess.” a voice said, causing her to whirl around in alarm, she knew that voice, it haunted her when she slept.

Standing next to her, appearing to be leaning against a wall, was Pedro Madrigal, as tall and handsome as he had been in life.

“Am I dead?” Alma asked, noticing that she could no longer feel the pain in her body as she got up off the ground, only there was no ground, there was no nothing. There wasn’t even a real wall for Pedro to lean against.

“Not yet,” Pedro admitted.

Alma let out a sigh of relief, once she woke up again, for this was obviously a dream, she’ll be able to put Mirabel back in her place and get the candle back.

“But you’re not alive either,” Pedro added.

Alma frowned, giving her husband a confused look, “What do you mean that I’m not alive? You just said that I wasn’t dead!”

“You’re not dead, but you’re not alive, you’re in Limbo,” he explained, “Your body is still functioning, you just aren’t in it.”

“What! How did this even happen?”

“The same way it happened fifty years ago,” Pedro admitted, “It sensed a threat to the well-being of my family and attacked.”

“But I’m part of your family,” Alma exclaimed, “I’m your wife.”

“Yes, once upon a time you were my wife,” Pedro announced, giving her a stink eye, “but that was over fifty years ago, there is nothing binding us together but my reluctance to fully stop loving you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“‘Til death do we part’, Alma, our marriage ended the moment that I died. The only thing tying us together is our children, and they are on the verge of disowning you. Once they do, there will be nothing binding us together.”

“I don’t understand,” Alma insisted.

“I’ll be frank then,” Pedro said, “Alma, you were attacked because the miracle sees you as a threat to our children and grandchildren, if you don’t open your eyes and see what harm you are doing to them, the miracle will kill you.”

…
“I killed her, I killed her, I killed her,” Mirabel gasped, repeating the sentence over and over again as Dolores, who had arrived with Julieta, grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the limp form of their abuela.

“Take deep breaths, Mira,” she coaxed the younger girl, “Deep breaths.”

“I killed her,” Mirabel insisted.

“She’s still alive,” Dolores insisted, “Her heart's still beating, I can hear it.”

“Does Abuela have a heart, I was wondering,” a new voice said as Isabela arrived Hector immediately went to investigate the scene, “What happened here?” she asked, “I was just doing some grocery shopping and I saw everyone gathered over here.”

“I attacked Abuela,” Mirabel announced, “I think I killed her.”

“You attacked her?” Isabela asked, “Good for you, but how?”

“I don’t really know,” Mirabel confessed, “She went to attack me, and there was this golden light and she just toppled to the ground, dead.”

“She’s not dead,” Dolores insisted, “You’re just freaking out, she probably just had a heart attack or something, not your fault.”

“The miracle recognized her as a threat to my well-being, and…” Mirabel swallowed nervously, “stopped her.”

Isabela looked at her with wide eyes, “That is totally awesome.”

“I almost killed our abuela how is that awesome.”

“Yeah, well, think about it hermanita, Abuela’s going to think twice about interacting with you from now on, you nearly killed her!”

“Why are you laughing about this!”

“Why can’t you see the humor.”

…
Julieta was surprised that Alma was still alive, from what Mirabel had been able to tell her while still panicking, she had been struck by whatever had killed the raiders the night that the Encanto was formed.

Around her a large crowd had formed including the whole family but Bruno, not that she was surprised, Bruno avoided town as much as possible.

“Luisa, can you please carry her to Casita, The New Casita,” she asked, glancing at her middle child who was standing at the edge of the crowd with Sofia in her arms, and a concerned look on her face.

“What?” she asked, “Is that wise, I mean the whole reason we all moved out was to get away from Abuela and now she’s moving in?”

“She needs medical attention and monitoring,” Julieta insisted, “I’m the town healer, it’s my job, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Maybe I knocked some sense in her and she’ll actually start being nice,” Mirabel suggested.

“You’re dreaming if you think that will happen,” Isabela insisted, stroking Hector’s head, “She’ll never change.”

…

“I don’t understand why you are saying that the miracle will kill me. I’ve been doing everything in my power to keep it going. Encouraging everyone to use their gifts as much as possible for the good of the Encanto. Keeping everyone happy and safe.”

Pedro shook his head, “I did not sacrifice my life so that you and the villagers can treat my children and grandchildren like slaves, Mujer. You’ve been so focused on the miracle and the village that you did not notice that you were harming it. If I had not transferred full responsibility to Mirabel when I did, it would have given out.”

“That’s ridiculous, the magic is strong! We are safe!”

“Enough with your excuses and lies, Mujer,” Pedro snapped, “If you won’t listen to reason, and I know that you won’t, then I’ll just have to show you!”

He reached out his hand and roughly grabbed Alma by the hand, yanking hard.

Alma gasped as she was yanked into a fast whirlpool of color, swirling around her so fast she couldn’t identify one color before another one took its place. Finally, everything settled and she found herself in a room with blue sky wallpaper covered with fluffy white clouds and brightly colored butterflies.

“Where are we?” she demanded.

“Open your eyes and think, figure it out, it should be bluntly obvious where we are,” Pedro snapped.

“Pedro?” Alma asked, tilting her head, she had never seen him like this before.

“I was kind and gentle for the last fifty years with you, but it didn’t work,” Pedro confessed, “So now I have to be blunt and harsh on you, so where are we?”

Alma glanced around the room, tile floor, a soft rug spread across it, a white crib in the corner, a changing table, a dresser, rocking chair, “We’re in a nursery,” she said slowly, as she notices the tiles clicking around the rug, “Casita?” she guessed, “Dolores told me that she moved in with Julieta’s family and now the farmhouse where she’s staying is Casita, but I don’t believe her, no, Mirabel must have stolen the candle and Casita.”

“Keep watching,” Pedro insisted.

“What?”

Before Pedro could answer the door to the nursery swung open and Luisa walked in, a limp form in her arms.

“Is that my body?” Abuela asked in alarm.

“Yes.”

“They’re putting me in the nursery?”

“They have no other room to put you in.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, if Mirabel really is the candle holder, she can ask Casita to make another room.”

“You were Candle Holder before Mirabel, everything she can do, you could do, so why in the world did you keep her in the nursery.”

“A room should be earned,” Alma insisted, “The others earn their rooms by helping around the community, Mirabel never did.”

“That’s not how it works!” Pedro snapped, “You really aren’t helping your case here. Just listen, and remember, they can’t see or hear you.”

…
Luisa walked into the spare bedroom in Casita, where her parents had been sleeping before moving into the master bedroom before their rooms had appeared, and then blinked, this wasn’t a spare bedroom, there was no bed and set of drawers for guests to use, no there was a crib and changing table already set up, this was a nursery.

“Apparently Casita’s into irony,” Isabela announced, “I mean, the only person who needs a nursery right now would be Luisa, and she has one set up in her house.”

“Tio Bruno’s going to need a nursery in six months or so when Panzy starts sleeping through the night,” Mirabel announced, “But I agree, the irony is quite strong.”

Just then there was the sound of hurried footsteps, and Bruno appeared in the doorway, a tiny little girl clutched in his arms, “What’s going on here?” he asked, glancing at the limp form of his mother, “Is it wise to have her here?” he demanded, “I mean, the whole point we moved out was to get away from her, and now you’re bringing her into our house?”

Julieta sighed, “I’m the town healer, it’s my job to nurse her back to health, but don’t worry, once she’s well enough to take care of herself, or once I can find someone willing to take care of her elsewhere, she’ll be out of our hair.”

“I hope she dies,” Isabela sniffed, “Then we won’t have to worry about her anymore.”

“Isa!” Julieta gasped.

“Sorry, not sorry,” Isabela insisted, “Just speaking my mind, the Encanto would be better off without her.”

“It’s not like she’s doing anything good for the community,” Mirabel added, with a frown, “She’s no longer the Candle Holder, I am, and she’s been suspended from the council pending an investigation on her embezzlement.”

Julieta nodded, “Well, that makes things easier. She won’t have to worry about any obligations while she’s getting better, that will speed the healing process up,” she frowned, turning to Bruno, “She will get better right? Do we need to start making plans for her funeral?”

“I have no idea,” he admitted, “Mirabel changed my gift, I don’t see the future anymore.”

“What! I thought she said she couldn’t change gifts, just alter them.”

“She can, she altered mine so instead of seeing the future, I see what different choices the seeker of the vision will make will affect their future. However,” he held up a finger, “It is up to them to make those decisions when the time comes.”

“That way the seeker’s fate is on their shoulders, not Tio’s.” Mirabel insisted.

“Okay,” Julieta announced, “It’s too crowded in here, everyone out,” she said, shooing everyone out of the room, before following them out, closing the door behind her, and leaving Alma all alone.

Chapter Text

“I hope she dies.”

Alma was struck by the way her familia was talking about her. Julieta ready to toss her out like a stray dog as soon as she found someone willing to take care of her. And Isabela, talking about her like that, with such callousness. It was ugly, very, very ugly. Didn’t Isabela understand that all everything she did she did so that she could be a fine young lady with a good husband.

“Isabela is a fine young lady,” Pedro suddenly spoke up, causing her to jump, whirling around faster then she thought her old body could handle, staring at the spirit of her dead husband in confusion.

“How did you…?”

“Know what you were thinking?” Pedro asked, “I can hear your thoughts, and if you ask me, Isabela is a fine young lady. No thanks to you. She’s confident and independent, and she obviously doesn’t need a man,” he spoke with a large grin on his face, the pride was obvious.

“She’s gone feral,” Alma protested, “I mean, look at her, she’s wearing pants!”

“The only reason she’s gone feral is because you’ve had her confined for so long,” Pedro insisted, “Once she’s got all that cooped up energy out, she’ll settle down.”

“She’s an embarrassment to the family.”

“The only one that’s embarrassed by her behavior is you,” Pedro announced, turning around, “And that just reflects on you not her.”

Alma opened her mouth to disagree, only Pedro was gone before she could form an argument to defend herself with.

…

Life at Casita had settled down some, things were finally getting into a routine. Julieta would wake up first, at her normal time from before they left, when she would have to get up early and cook for the whole Encanto, glare at the clock and roll over for another couple of hours of sleep when she would be woke up by Agustin. The married couple would then get ready for the day, and as Julieta finally headed to the nursery to check on her mother, Agustin would have the job of waking Bruno and Mirabel.

…

Alma watched as Julieta took her vitals and double checked the IV that was attached to her arm before shaking her head and walking out the door again. Julieta did this several times a day, but other than that, she was totally ignored. She thought it was rather rude of her, but then again, Julieta had told the rest of the familia that she was willing to dump her on someone else if she could. Obviously she felt that she was doing her healing duty by checking on her every couple of hours, but wasn’t doing more then that.

“You ready to go?” Pedro’s voice caught her by surprise, she hadn’t heard from him all week.

“Go, go where? Heaven?”

Pedro snorted, shaking his head, “You aren’t qualified for Heaven,” he announced, “No, we’re going to church with the familia.”

“Church?” Alma asked, she never really saw the need for religion in her life, she only been in the church a handful of times, to ensure that her children and grandchildren had what they needed, a christening and a proper wedding, not this farce of one that Luisa and Tomas got.

“Tomas is a fine young man who treats Luisa with upmost respect, and although it wasn’t my intention for him to fall for Luisa when I guided him here, I will gladly take the credit that Mirabel is giving me for it because Tomas and his little Sofia feel Luisa’s heart with love and acceptance, and as her Abuelo that is all I can ask for.”

“You approve of him?” 

“He is exactly the kind of man that Luisa deserves,” Pedro insisted, “Now come on, it took me a while but I think that I figured out what I need to do to get you to see sense.”

“‘See sense’? What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see, come on, let’s go, church will be starting soon.”

Pedro lead Alma downstairs with a reminder, “They can’t hear or see us, remember that.”

“I know,” Alma snapped, “What do you even want to show me.”

Pedro smiled the kind of smile that was that of a proud father nodding towards the living room. Bruno was sitting in a rocking chair feeding a tiny infant in his arms, a small smile on his face. Alma looked at him as well, when was the last time she had seen him this content?

“Why isn’t the baby’s mother doing that?” she asked.

“Her mother didn’t have the ability or willingness to take care of her so Bruno offered to take over. Personally I think he will make a wonderful Papa,” Pedro announced, pride obvious in his voice.

“Is he the father?” Alma demanded.

“In all the ways that matter,” Pedro said, “I believe he named her Esperanza, but is calling her Panzy.”

Alma nodded, now that she thought about it she remembered Bruno having a baby with him when she was brought into Casita, and Mirabel mentioning that he would need a nursery in six months for Panzy. 

Bruno shifted slightly in the chair, “That’s good stuff isn’t it?” he asked, “Tia makes good food huh?” he asked, looking down at the small bundle with completely admiration. The baby didn’t reply but Alma could hear the small grunting noise she made as she happily guzzled the contents of the bottle.

Just then a golden door in the living room with Pepa’s image on it flew open as the red head herself stepped into the room, clutching something truimphantly in her hand, “Found it!” she announced, gleefully.

“What did she find?” Alma demanded, trying to see what she had gripped in her hand.

Bruno glanced up from the baby smiling at his sister, “Found what?” he asked, glancing at the white bundle in her hand. He had a feeling he knew what it was, after all Julieta had told him about their madre giving her hers to give to Luisa.

“Your christening clothes silly,” Pepa announced, shaking her head at him as if it should have been obvious, “All three of my kids used mine, and all three of Julieta’s used hers, and now Luisa is going to use hers for her children as well, so that means Panzy should use yours, have you figured out her full name yet?”

Bruno nodded eagerly, “I thought Julieta told you? Her names Esperanza, but I’m calling her Panzy for short.”

“Esperanza, Hope, what a beautiful name,” Pedro said, “Don’t you agree?”

“I guess, I still don’t get why Bruno has to Adopt her, there are plenty of people in the Encanto, married couples, that would be able to give her a firm foundation and a proper upbringing.”

“Middle name?” Bruno asked in confusion, he was obviously responding to something Pepa had said.

“Yes, middle name, you know, like your middle name is Jose, and my middle name is Emilia and Julieta’s is Pedra.”

“Pedra?” Pedro repeated, “That’s not the name we discussed.”

Alma shrugged, “I thought Julieta Pedra sounded better then Bruno Pedro, and I wanted one of them to have your name.”

“I haven’t thought about that,” Bruno confessed, glancing at Pepa, “What should I do for a middle name?”

“Well, it’s kind of a tradition to give them a family name, I mean you’re named after Abuelo, I’m named after Abuela, Juli’s named after Papa, Dolores’s middle name is Julia, after Julieta, Camilo’s middle name is Pedro, obviously after Papa, and Antonio’s middle name is Oscar, which is Felix’s older brother.”

“Pepa is also named after her Abuelo, we named her Josefina because she inherited your father’s red hair, and then Emilia after your mother,” Pedro admitted, “Bruno was after my best friend growing up, and Jose is, obviously, your father’s name, and Julieta was after my father, Julio, and was supposed to have my mother’s name as her middle name. Funny that out of the three of them, she’s the one you changed. You never liked my mother.”

“Pedra sounded better,” Alma insisted.

“Isabela and I are named after two of Pa’s sisters, and Luisa’s after Tia Pepa,” a new voice added, as a sudden weight tugged down on the back of the rocking chair Bruno was seating in. Bruno looked up at Mirabel who was leaning onto his chair.

“Hola,” he said.

“Hola,” Mirabel said, “You talking middle names? What names are you thinking about?”

“Haven’t thought of any, I mean not yet anyway.”

“At least Abuela isn’t around to suggest names,” Mirabel suggested, “She’ll probably suggest that Panzy be named Alma or something like that.”

“I am not naming her Alma,” Bruno insisted.

“If you are going to keep her I think Esperanza Alma is a good name,” Alma insisted.

“I wasn’t suggesting it,” Mirabel pointed out, “I’m just saying knowing Abuela that would be her suggestion.”

“It doesn’t have to be a family name,” Pepa offered, “It could be any name you like. Maybe one with a special meaning.”

“Luisa has a baby name book if you want to look through it, but… you need to come up with something quickly,” Mirabel offered, “The christening is today.”

“At least it isn’t until this evening,” Bruno muttered, “I really didn’t want it to be part of the services today.”

“Bruno!” Julieta’s voice called out from the kitchen, “If you want breakfast before church you better come get it, you too Mirabel.”

…

“I really don’t see why we’re doing this,” Alma confessed as she watched Bruno slide clear to the end of the pew, Mirabel following after him, then her parents, then Isabela, who remarkably didn’t have Hector with her, and then Luisa, Sofia, and Tomas, followed by Pepa and her family.

“You’re right,” Pedro insisted, “We don’t really need to see this, what we really need to see is this,” he snapped his fingers and the world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colors once more before settling down again.

They were still in the church, but it was strangly empty.

“Ay! Clear Skies, Clear Skies!” Pepa’s voice called out as she stepped through her parents, tugging nervously on her braid, “The church should have been decorated hours ago, where is Isabela. Mama needs everything to be perfect,” Wind picked up as she spoke, creating a little tornado. There was the sound of the door opening and a younger looking Isabela entered the church.

“Isabela you were supposed to be here an hour ago!” a sharp voice called out causing Alma to gasp, as she watched herself step out from the shadows, “What is the meaning of this!”

“I’m sorry Abuela,” Isabela said, fidgeting slightly.

“Stop fidgeting,” younger Alma snapped, “Honestly Isabela, you’re sixteen, you need to stop messing around, you aren’t a child anymore.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Isabela insisted, “Mirabel got in my way.”

“Of course she did,” Younger Alma said with a sigh, straightening her shawl.

Alma glanced over at Pedro, “What is this?” she demanded.

“Antonio’s christening,” Pedro explained, “Do you notice how stressed Pepa is?”

“Well, christenings are stressful and we couldn’t have it storming during it, now could we?”

“Tonight has to be perfect,” Alma the younger informed Isabela, “The whole village is going to be there and if something bad happens it will reflect badly on us.”

“I know that,” Isabela insisted, “I’m just running a little late.”

Smack! Isabela hand flew to her cheek as Alma snapped, “Don’t backtalk me and get the decorating done!”

“Si Abuela,” Isabela said quickly, rushing away.

Alma watched as her younger self barked out order, keeping everyone on task and in order as everyone filled the church and the christening ceremony began.

They watched as Pepa and Felix smiled graciously as they nodded their heads to some of the people congratulating them. Felix kept an arm around Pepa, waving away her cloud as soon as it appeared, as some made slights about their age and the fact that this one finally looked like their father.

Felix’s family, the Castillos stopped and chatted for a while, only to get pulled to the side by younger Alma who said, “You’ve already met the baby, let those who haven’t get a chance, after all, he’s going to grow up to be very important one day.”

As the ceremony ended and everyone went back to Casita for the party, Alma glanced at Pedro, “I don’t get what you wanted me to see here,” she admitted, “Look at everybody, they all have smiles on their faces, everyone is happy.”

Pedro snorted, “Okay, it looks like everyone is happy, but let’s get back to Panzy’s christening, you tell me, what’s different, which one was happier.”

He reached out and grabbed Alma’s hand, tugging her into the whirlpool of color again, until she once again was in the church.

…

“No one’s here,” Alma commented.

“The familia’s here,” Pedro insisted, pointing to where Pepa and Julieta and their families were, “And honestly, that’s all that needs to be here for this. Why would Bruno invite people he doesn’t know, who quite frankly can’t stand him, to his child’s christening?”

“Pepa and Julieta invited everyone.”

Pedro held up a finger, “Correction,” he announced, “You invited everyone, you never once asked them what they wanted, and then you told Felix’s family to step aside even though Pepa and Felix was talking to them.”

“They never complained,” Alma insisted.

“They did, many times, you just didn’t listen.”

…

Bruno smiled as he looked around the church. It was mostly his family, but the village was represented by Mariano and his mother. He looked down at the small bundle in his arms. Bright blue eyes looked up at him.

“You ready?” Julieta asked, stepping forward to place a soft hand on his elbow.

Bruno nodded as the two of them walked up to Rev. Perez.

Rev. Perez shook his head, “I really don’t understand why you are doing this,” he announced, “Julieta, you were forced to choose between your adopted daughter and your family…”

“I will brain you,” Julieta announced, pulling out a rolling pin from her pocket.

“Seriously,” Pepa asked, “How deep is that pocket?”

“I’m not allowed to bring my rats, but you can bring a weapon?” Bruno asked.

“I figured that I better be prepared in case we had to change someone’s tune.”

“And people claim I’m the scary one,” Pepa said with a sniff, flipping her braid over her shoulder before waving away the white fluffy cloud over her head.

“I respect your decision, but… do you really want to subject this little girl to the same trials that Mirabel had to go through. I mean Love her all you want, this little one, just like Mirabel, will never get a gift.”

...

Pedro stepped forward, leaning over and whispering something into Mirabel’s ear, which caused Alma to frown, “I thought you said no one can see or hear us.”

“No they can’t see or hear you,” Pedro insisted, “Mirabel can hear me if I whisper something in her ears. How else do you think she knew that I was the one who helped Tomas find the Encanto?”

“What did you just tell her?”

“Just about something she can do that you have never been able to do,” Pedro insisted as Mirabel stepped forward.

…

“I have a gift,” Mirabel insisted, glaring at the priest, before forming a butterfly in her hand, “And I’m ending this whole adoption nonsense once and for all. It doesn’t matter if they share our blood or not, what matters is the love that we have for each other.”

“You’re just a kid,” Rev. Perez insisted, “You don’t know anything.”

“Fine, you don’t believe me, let’s get someone in here that you will believe,” Mirabel insisted, forming a golden butterfly in her hand.

“What’s she doing?” Bruno asked nervously.

“I don’t know, she doesn’t even know what all she can do,” Julieta insisted.

The butterfly took over flying in a tight spiral upward, and as it flew, feet appeared, then legs, all the way up until… Pedro Madrigal stood in front of them, “Excellent work Nieta,” he said with a large grin, reaching over and squeezing Mirabel’s shoulder affectionally, before turning to Julieta, and gently removing the rolling pin from her hand, setting it down, “You’re an amazing mother, Juli, I can’t be prouder of the difficult decisions you have been making lately. Mirabel’s going to be worn out after I’m gone, so make sure that she rests.”

Julieta simply nodded in confusion as Pedro nodded at Agustin, “Thank you, for everything you have done for Julieta, for supporting her, and helping her,” he offered.

Agustin nodded his head as Isabela, recovering from her shock first, raced forward and body slammed Pedro in a tackle hug.

“Oh, Mi Flor, look at you, all grown up,” Pedro announced with pride in his voice as Hector came up to him with a growl. He smiled down at Hector, patting his head, “You’re a good boy Hector, and you make your mother very proud.” he announced, which seemed to wind the plant up as he started to zoom around the place yipping happily.

Next he turned to Luisa and her young family, “When I lead you here,” he told Tomas, “I hoped that you would find a happier life, to learn that that life is by the side of my Luisita makes me even happier.”

Sofia looked up at him in confusion, “Who you?” she asked with all the tact that a three year old can manage.

“I’m your Abuelito,” he announced, poking her in the belly. Sofia squealed in delight as he scooped her up in his arms, “And I have a special gift for you when you get older, but for now your name from this point forth will be Sofia Mirabel Rivera-Madrigal and your parents are Luisa and Tomas Rivera-Madrigal,” he gave the reverend a pointed look, “Make sure all of her records are changed by the end of the month,” he insisted, handing Sofia to Luisa, before placing his hand on the flat of her belly as she hadn’t started showing yet. He glanced up at Luisa, “Congratulations,” he said, “It’s a boy.”

“Really?” Luisa asked, placing her hand next to her Abuelo’s, “A boy? Tomas, it’s a boy, we need to start thinking of names.”

“That we do,” Tomas agreed as Pedro walked over to Pepa and Felix.

“I hope things have been easier since Mirabel adjusted your gift for you,” he said softly, cupping Pepa’s cheek in his hand.

“It has, thank you,” Pepa admitted.

“Something’s bothering you Mi Nube, what is it?”

“I just… you said that Sofia will get a gift, but… I’ve noticed, and been thinking,” she paused, but Pedro nodded his head in encouragement, “I think the gift ceremony should happen when the child is a bit older, Papa. They aren’t old enough at five to be able to decide how to use their gifts. They’re too young for that type of responsibility. Julieta was working with a hot stove while most five year olds weren’t allowed in the kitchen. Bruno and Dolores saw and heard things that were totally inappropriate for five year olds.”

“I agree with Pepa,” Bruno announced, “We didn’t know who we were at the age of five, we didn’t know what we wanted to be,” Bruno added, “Then we got these gifts, and we became them, and that was all there was to us, it took me ten years living in the walls to realize that there was more to me then just seeing the future. I think we should wait until the kid’s at least fifteen, like Mirabel was when she got her full gift. She knows who she is, and can tailor her gift to fit her, not tailor herself to fit her gift like the rest of us.”

Pedro nodded at his son and daughter before turning to Mirabel again, “What do you think?”

“Personally I think it makes sense, a gift is a huge responsibility and some of the gifts require skill sets and experiences that can only come through age. I think fifteen is a good age to change it to, don’t you?” 

“I’m not going to have to give my gift back, am I?” Antonio demanded staring up at his abuelo in alarm.

Pedro laughed, “No, but you will be the last Madrigal to receive his gift at the age of five,” he insisted, ruffling his hair, before turning his attention to Antonio’s older siblings, he was running out of time, and wanted to say something to all of them before he had to leave.

He grinned at Camilo, “That prank you played on Isabela is hilarious, you keep making sure that the family remembers how to laugh, okay.”

“What prank?” Isabela demanded.

“You’ll see,” Camilo insisted with an impish grin, “And you can’t get mad at me because Abuelo approves.”

Pedro chuckled, turning to Dolores, “You’re a Beautiful young lady, Dolores, who knows how to stand up for herself and others, and does not hide in the shadows. You’ll make a wonderful mother one day.”

Pedro turned to Mariano, “You hurt her and I will haunt you for the rest of your life, understand?”

“Si!” Mariano said quickly as a deep blush formed on his cheeks.

“Good, because you are exactly what this family needs, someone who can keep a clear head and hasn’t been brainwashed by Alma’s stupid idea of perfection. I can’t wait to call you my grandson-in-law.”

“Gracias Senor,” Mariano said, but Pedro had already turned his attention to Bruno and the baby still in his arms.

“May I?” he questioned, holding out his arms.

Bruno looked nervously at Julieta and Mirabel, the latter nodding her head eagerly, before placing the baby in his father’s arm.

“Hola little one,” Pedro said happily, “I just thought you should know that you have an amazing man for your father. A man who never lost the ability to love despite the cruelness of the world around him. I know that no matter what you do in life, you will make him proud, and me as well, Esperanza Alba Felicia Madrigal.”

Pedro handed the baby back to Bruno, who took her reverently, “You’re going to have to beat the boys back when she’s older son,” he announced, “I am proud of you,” he cast his eyes around to all of them, “All of you, but unfortunately I can only visit for a short while. I will visit you again soon. Someone will need to catch Mirabel, she’ll faint as soon as I leave.”

Bruno stared at him in confusion as Isabela shifted her position to catch Mirabel, "Did you just name my daughter?" he asked confused.

"I added Alba, as a reminder to you and everyone else, that just like Dawn is the start of a new day, so can it be a start of a new life."

“Well,” Reverend Perez said, “that was something else,” he announced, “Shall we get started? It’s Esperanza Alma Felicia, right?”

There was the sound of skin being slapped as Bruno exclaimed, “No, why in the world would I name my daughter after that monster, her name is Esperanza Alba Felicia Madrigal. Don’t you dare try naming her Alma.”

“I still have my rolling pin if we need it Bruno,” Julieta announced, picking up the rolling pin that Pedro had sat down at her feet.

Chapter Text

“I don’t understand,” Alma announced the moment that Mirabel passed out and Pedro returned to her side, “If Mirabel has a gift, why did her door fade away when she was five?”

Pedro didn’t answer right away as Isabela picked up Mirabel with way too much ease, that wasn’t good, he hadn’t realized that she was underweight, that was going to hamper her recovery.

The Reverend stepped forward, “Well, that was something else,” he admitted, no doubt unsure what to think about someone who had been dead for half a century showing up. He shook himself slightly then clapped his hands loudly, as if to drive away evil spirits by doing so, “Shall we get started? It’s Esperanza Alma Felicia, right?” he asked, as he reached out to take the baby from Bruno.

Instead Bruno turned with Panzy on his shoulder, his free hand swing out and slapping the man as hard as he possibly could, “No!” he exclaimed, “Why in the world would I name my daughter after that monster? Her name is Esperanza Alba Felicia, Alba not Alma, Alba. Don’t you dare go trying to name her Alma,” he snarled.

Alma sniffed, “Honestly I don’t know what his problem is,” she insisted, “I did the best I could raising him and his sisters by myself, and this is the thanks I get, being called a monster. I thought I raised him better than that.”

“That’s funny, your parents said the same thing when talking about you the other day,” Pedro announced, “Oh good, the reverend’s figured out how to say her name,” he added nodding to the scene that they were watching. The reverend was just finishing up the christening.

Bruno stepped forward and grabbed Panzy from the Reverend with a dirty look to signify that he really truly didn’t trust him at all.

“So what now?” Pepa asked, “At our children’s christenings Mama had every last minute planned out to the second. Afterwards everyone seems to play pass the baby to everyone but the parents until they started fussing.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Julieta insisted, “This is a private affair, and we’re the only ones that are invited.”

“Look,” Isabela said, “Mirabel may be way too light for her age, but she’s still getting heavy, can we please take her home and put her to bed?”

…
The Madrigal family returned to Casita to finish the party, Julieta had made a few party foods which were set up against one side of the room, and everyone was mingling and talking about what had happened at the church.

It was a happy festive mood even if the food wasn’t as fancy as what Alma would have allowed for such an occasion, but they didn’t have anyone there to impress. Which in and of itself was really sad, everybody loves a Christening, and a cute baby, even if the so-called father wasn’t really a father at all.

“You do remember that I can hear your thoughts, right?” Pedro asked, giving Alma a look, “I thought seeing this would help you realize where you went wrong, but I obviously was mistaken. Maybe trying to change you isn’t going to work.”

“I don’t need to change, honestly I don’t know what your problem is.”

“My problem is, you don’t see what the problem is, that’s the problem, do you notice how relaxed everyone is? Can’t you see that every last one of those smiles are genuine smiles, not the fake ones that they always wore around you? Why can’t you see how much happier they are since they left you?”

Alma opened her mouth to argue, but for once in her life, nothing came out.

…
The party, if you could call the family gathering that, was in full swing, despite the fact that it was officially getting late. Antonio was enjoying not only having a playmate within the family, but one that was younger then him. He and Sofia had found a box of toys that Agustin’s father had left for his great grandchildren to play with when they visited.

Antonio had tried to play Sofia, he had wanted to be a good primo to her. Just like Mirabel had been to him. At first it had been fun. They were getting along great and it was fun having someone closer to his age to play with. They were both building with some blocks, still playing even though it was technically past their bedtimes. Antonio’s tower was tall and impressive. Sofia was closely watching him, and was doing what he did. Antonio placed a triangle block on top of his tower. Sofia glanced around, there had only been one triangle shaped block. Huffing, she reached over and snatched the block from his tower.

“Hey,” he snapped, “I’m using that,” he yelled, grabbing it back.

“No, me,” Sofia insisted, refusing to let go of the prize.

“I had it first!”

“No, me!”

“Mine!”

“Mine!”

Antonio gave the block a final tug, yanking it out of Sofia’s hand and sending her stumbling back into her tower of blocks, knocking them over.

Sofia glared at her ruined tower, grabbed one of the blocks and threw it at Antonio, who dodged it, causing it to hit his tower of blocks knocking it down. Sofia let out an angry scream and picked up another block, pulled back and… she was lifted up into the air, “Sofia Mirabel Rivera-Madrigal, we do not throw blocks!” Luisa’s strong voice cut through the air.

“We don’t take toys from others either,” Antonio’s mother said sternly behind him.

“Yeah Sofia, we don’t take toys from others,” he echoed, “You were really naughty.”

“I was actually talking to you, young man, I saw you take that block from Sofia,” Pepa announced, a cloud rumbling over her head.

“But Mami, she took it from me,” Antonio pointed out.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right Tonito,” Pepa insisted, “Sofia’s only three, she doesn’t know better, you’re five, you should. What you should have done was tell her parents what was going on and asked them to help.”

Sofia was still crying, sniffling loudly before her jaw split open in a wide yawn.

“I think a large part of the problem is that it is past bedtime, and they are both overly tired,” Luisa offered, “They need to pick up the blocks and say good night to everyone,” Luisa shifted, her face burning red, suddenly realizing that she was telling her tia how to parent when her oldest was older then she was, “I mean, that is, if you think that that’s a…”

Pepa shook her head, a look of amusement on her face, “You are a hundred percent correct, Antonio, you and Sofia need to pick up these blocks and then say good night.”

“But I’m not tired,” Antonio protested.

“Me no sleep!”

“Too bad it’s bedtime.”

“But what about the party?” Antonio demanded.

“It’s already starting to break up,” Isabela announced, walking up to them, Hector following behind her loyally, “I’m headed back to my place,” she announced, “Seeing as I haven’t found the prank Abuelo mentioned to Camilo, I have a feeling that it might have something to do with my room, and of course he probably did it while shifted as me, so no one noticed,” Isabela rolled her eyes fondly, “I’ll see you all sometime tomorrow,” she insisted.

“Bye bye,” Sofia said, flapping a hand at her while the other one migrated closer and closer to her mouth.

…

Isabela opened the back door to her boarding house, slipping inside quietly. Several of the other young women her age that were renting rooms were in the common room talking, unable to see her and Hector through the door leading from the kitchen to the living room.

“She’s weird,” one of them admitted, “I mean, who in the world would turn down a proposal from Mariano Guzman?”

Isabela froze frowning, they were talking about her. She was the only one that Mariano had proposed to, so far, she knew that it was only a matter of time before he proposed to Dolores, now that he got Abuelo’s blessing.

“That’s not even the weirdest thing about her,” another insisted, “She’s plumb loco, and you know it. I mean she packs that plant of hers everywhere and calls it her son, who does that?”

“Let’s not forget the fact that she willingly gave up her giant magical room to live here,” the first one said again, “I mean why in the world would she do that.”

“Well, according to Julieta, they moved out because Senora Madrigal was abusing Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel. Isabela herself said that she rented a room so that she could give Mirabel her own room,” the last one said.

“Mirabel,” the first one snorted, “She’s just as plumb loco as Isabela, did you know that she honestly believes that she’s the head of the Madrigal family? Her? She’s so desperate to be anything else but useless that she apparently stole the Miracle candle from Senora Madrigal and then killed her when she tried to get it back. Of course their mother claims that she’s still alive… but still.”

Isabela was seeing red, it was one thing for them to mock her and call her loco, but to insult Mirabel, after everything that she had been through. She didn’t even notice that she had summoned vines and stepped into the living room until she heard a shout of surprise and saw three young women trying to keep their skirts up over themselves as they dangled upside down from vines.

“Isabela?” one of them gasped.

“I don’t care what you think of me,” Isabela growled, “Maybe I have gone plumb loco, I don’t care. But insulting my hermanita and Mama is unacceptable! You have no idea how hard it has been for them, for all of us, to make the decisions that we’ve been making this past month,” the vines shook them violently as Hector growled up at them, “If I ever over hear you talking like that again, I can guarantee that it will be the last thing that you will ever do.”

The vines retreated, dropping the three onto the floor, “Get out of my sight before I show you just how trastornada I truly am.”

They scrambled to their feet fleeing up the stairs to their bedrooms. Isabela shook her head, “I have a feeling I might regret doing that,” she admitted to Hector, “Come on, let’s go up to our room shall we?”

Hector barked in agreement and started to jump up the stairs, Isabela smiled, scooping him up, his little legs weren’t meant for climbing after all, and headed up to her room, well aware of the nervous looks coming from the cracks of the other doors.

She sat Hector down as she reached her door. The door swung open allowing Isabela to look inside. “Camillo!” she screeched. Her room looked like a miniature of her room in Casita, there were rose bushes everywhere, her topiary statues of herself in different poses lined one wall, and her bed was somehow suspended from the ceiling.

Isabela shook her head, amused, as she let herself in, Hector following at her heels, sniffing at all the bright colored flowers, “He decorated my room, to remind me of my old one,” she announced, shaking her head, “This must have taken hours to have done,” she figured, “ He must have gone into my room to have gotten my topiaries.”

She quickly unwound the rope from a hook in the wall, lowering her bed easily. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a high enough ceiling to sleep with her bed suspended. That and she didn’t trust the rope that Camilo used to support her weight as well.

When the bed finally came into view she let out a cry of surprise, there sitting in the middle of her bed was a stuffed cat that Mirabel had made for her quinceanera. It was a soft green with roses embroidered all over it. She picked it up, sniffing it, instead of stuffing, Mirabel had used dried petals to fill it, and it still smelled like roses.

Mirabel had been so proud of herself, making the cat that smelled like flowers, she remembered quite well how she had beamed with excitement as she had opened it, and how it had quickly faded away when Abuela had chided her for giving her a stuffed animal and how it was not an appropriate gift to give to someone her age. She had followed Abuela’s lead, back then, laughing at her for giving her such a childish gift on the day she became an adult. Secretly she had loved the stuffed animal, and when Abuela instructed her to put it on the compost heap, she had hidden it away. Then, a few months ago, she had arrived home to find her missing from her hiding spot.

There was a note next to Rosita, Isa picked it up in confusion, “Isa, I found this in the compost pile a few months ago, but don’t worry Mama helped me clean it up. Sorry I haven’t returned it, at the time I wasn’t sure if you or Abuela was the one who put it there. Now I know that you would never hurt Mirabel by discarding one of her presents like that. Hope you like your room. Your favorite Primo, Camilo.”

Isabela looked at the note in alarm, she rotated Rosita’s hiding place, and had just assumed that she couldn’t remember where she was. This note meant that Alma not only went into her room without permission but went through her things as well, removing things that she didn’t approve of! What other things had she assumed that she had mislaid that had really been gotten rid of by that monster.

“If Alma survives her blast from the miracle, I’ll strangle her myself,” Isabela announced, gently hugging Rosita to her, she had to be careful with her or she’ll crush the petals inside her, “Or maybe I’ll see if bamboo really can grow through a person.”

She pressed a kiss to Rosita’s head and set her on the bed, where she immediately started to glow.

“What the…” Isabela demanded, as the cat started to move, next to her Hector started to growl.

“Mrrow!” Rosita cried out, leaping into Isabela’s arms and climbing up them.

“Arrof, Arrof,” Hector cried out, trying to jump up on her as well.

“No, down boy, Rosita’s your sister… No Rosita, you’re fine, Hector won’t hurt you,” she sighed loudly, “Dolores, Dolores,” she said loudly, activating her prima’s gift, “My gift just made Camilo’s little prank come to life! I now have a cat using me as a tree to get away from Hector! Tell that brother of yours that he better run.”

Chapter Text

A sharp knock on her door caused Isabela to stir, she was exhausted, but there was no sleeping past her morning wake-up call. She groaned softly to herself and was about to pull herself up when she heard the sharp sound of a dog barking. Dog barking, why was there a dog in… Isa blinked her eyes wildly as her brain finally finished waking up. Not a dog, Hector, barking at the door to her room in the boarding house where she was living. There was no wake-up call, no endless list of chores to be done, and no Abuela breathing down her back.

She had just about decided to go back to sleep when the knocking increased, no doubt to be heard over Hector’s none stop barking. She probably should stop him before the other tenants complained. Technically Senora Diaz’s boarding house had a no-pet policy but since Hector was technically a plant, and she was a Madrigal, Senora Diaz let him slide.

“Mrrow,” Rosita called out pressing her head against Isabela’s side, purring loudly.

“Good morning to you too, Rosita,” she said brightly, scratching her between the ears.

“Isabela!” Senora Diaz’s voice called out, “I know you’re in there, I can hear that dreadful plant creature of yours.”

Isabela jumped out of bed, pulling her robe on as a vine snaked out and opened the door.

Hector immediately jumped up growling and nipping at the elderly woman’s ankles.

“Hola, Senora, can I help you with something?” Isabela asked, wrapping a vine around Hector and yanking him back towards her.

“Several of the other girls complained to me last night that you attacked them. Is that true?”

“I wouldn’t say I attacked them,” Isabela insisted as Rosita plodded forward sniffing at the landlord, “I just gave them incentive to stop spreading nasty rumors about my hermanita.”

“By dangling them upside down in the living room?”

Isabela shrugged, “Whatever gets them to stop,” she said.

Senora Diaz gave her a look, a look that Isabela used to see on her abuela’s face whenever she looked at Mirabel, one that she now knew was thinly veiled disgust, “I want you out of my house by the end of the day,” She announced, “I can’t have you attacking my other tenants and bringing plant creatures to life every which way,” she took her foot and kicked Rosita, causing Isabela to send vines out to snatch the cat away from harm.

“I do not bring plant creatures to life on a mere whim,” Isabela snapped, cradling Rosita in her arms, “It takes a very deep emotional connection to summon that type of magic.”

“I don’t care how the magic works, I want it out of my house.”

…
Julieta sighed as she stepped out of the nursery, her mother was still in a deep coma, if she didn’t come too soon, she’ll starve to death. And while that would solve the issue they had with her, she also didn’t want to lose the only parent she had left.

The sound of a young infant crying pulled her out of her thoughts as Bruno approached her nervously, rats clinging to his shoulders and hair and Panzy screaming in his arms.

Alma winced as she heard the screaming, it was obvious that the baby was uncomfortable. “Just like Bruno,” she said softly.

Pedro gave her a look, “What do you mean?” he asked.

“The baby, she’s colicky, just like Bruno was at that age. He was constantly screaming and crying and I could never find the right thing to do to help him.”

“Juli, help,” Bruno exclaimed, running up to his older sister, and thrusting the baby into her arms, “I’ve fed her, I’ve burped her, her diaper is clean, but she won’t stop screaming!” he looked up at Julieta with tears in his green eyes, “I’m the worst padre in the world,” he cried out, “I can’t help her.”

Julieta chuckled, “We’ll figure this out, I promise,” she said, “She’s probably just colicky, try rubbing her belly, or swaddling her with a warm water bottle, that should help.”

Alma snorted, “He doesn’t know how to handle a child that young, he should give her to a family that knows what they’re doing.”

Pedro gave her a look, “If I remember correctly, you didn’t know how to take care of three children that young by yourself, yet you never even considered giving our children away.”

“That’s different, we’re family, we have the same blood, and we had to make things work.”

Pedro sighed loudly, “Blood means nothing,” he insisted, “The only thing that matters is love, which just happens to be the one thing you don’t have.”

“I do love!”

“Maybe the miracle, and the candle, but not the family, not what’s important.”

“If I didn’t protect the miracle, the candle would have gone out, and our family would have been in danger.”

“If that was the case, why is the candle burning so much brighter now than it did when you were in charge?” Pedro demanded.

“What are you talking about?” Alma demanded.

“Haven’t you noticed how much brighter the candle is now that Mirabel is Candle Holder?”

Alma just stared at him for a full minute before scuffing, “Don’t be ridiculous, Mirabel’s just a teenager, she doesn’t know a thing about what she is doing. The Miracle will burn out now that nobody is using their gifts the way they are supposed to.”

Pedro groaned, running a hand down his face, “Nothing I say is going to get through to you, is it?” he asked, “We’re running out of time together, you know. You’ll have to wake up soon, or you’ll never wake up.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying that you have two days to humble yourself and open your eyes to the harm you caused this family or you will never wake up, ever!”

“You make that sound like a bad thing,” Alma scoffed, “At least we’ll be together.”

“That’s the thing Alma, we can’t be together, two days and we will never see each other ever again, your sins and crimes against the family will prevent it.”

“But I haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Okay fine, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Pedro snapped, “Die for all I care, I’m trying to save you.”

Alma opened her mouth to say something, but Pedro was already gone. She hated it when he disappeared like that.
…
Bruno’s rats had abandoned him, tired of the ceaseless crying coming from the small bundle that he held in his arms as he paced endlessly in the living room, “Shh, shh, it’s okay, Papi’s got you, papi’s got you.” he muttered as the door leading to Luisa’s house opened, and Isabela stepped through, Hector at her feet and a green cat in her arms.

She pulled her feet, “At least my children are quiet,” she said, as Hector let out a howl, “Most of the time,” she concluded, setting the cat down to scoop up Hector, ‘Let’s not get into a screaming contest with the baby, si.” she pleaded, before looking up at Bruno, “Where’s Mama?”

Bruno pointed toward the ceiling with his lips, “She was checking on Mirabel.”

“She’s still sleeping?” Isabela asked, “It’s almost lunchtime!”

“Papa did say that summoning him would drain her,” Bruno suggested.

“WAHHH!!!!” Panzy screamed, forcing Bruno to turn his attention back to her.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, Papi’s here, Papi’s got you, shh, you’re okay,” Bruno insisted, patting her back gently.

Isabela wrinkled her nose, “I’m glad I don’t have children. I don’t know how Mama and Tia did it three times,” she announced before patting her tio on his shoulder, “Good luck,” she offered, “Come on Hector, Rosita, let’s go find your Abuela, she needs to meet Rosita.”

…
Julieta sighed as she stepped out of Mirabel’s room. Her youngest was still fast asleep, unconscious just like Alma was. At least Mirabel didn’t seem as lifeless as Alma did. She tossed and turned like she always did while she slept.

Something pressed against her leg, causing her to smile, “I know, Amorcita, you must be hungry, aren’t you?”

“That’s not Amorcita,” Isabela's voice called out, “I think Rosita likes you.”

Julieta glanced at Isabela, surprised to see her, before glancing down at her feet, where a green cat was brushing up against her, “What the.,.?”

“Apparently my magic works on dried rose petals as well,” Isabela announced, “That’s the stuffed cat that Mirabel made me for my quinceanera. Camilo believes that Abuela probably went into my room without permission and went through my stuff. Camilo found Rosita on the compost pile.”

Julieta sighed, “Sometimes I hope that Alma doesn’t wake. Every day I learn more and more about her crimes, and it makes me sick because I allowed them to happen right beneath my own nose.”

Isabela shook her head, “You are a wonderful Mama, and you know it,” she insisted, giving her a hug, “Once you learned that something wasn’t right, you put an end to it. You took us out of an abusive situation. You ended my arranged marriage, assured that Luisa got to marry the man of her dreams, and are making sure that Mirabel has the love and support she needs to fulfill her prophecy. If that isn’t the world’s greatest Mama I don’t know what is.”

Julieta smiled, giving Isabela a squeeze, “Thanks, Mija, I think I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime Mama.”

“Well I better go check on your father, he was doing the chores around the farm and I’m sure he broke something by now,” Julieta shook her head, a slight smile on her lips. She made her way to the stairs before glancing at her daughter, “You staying for lunch?”

Isabela nodded with a snort, “It’s either stay for lunch or eat my own cooking,” she insisted, before wrinkling her nose, “And I’m quickly learning that I can’t cook.”

“Well then, wash up and meet me in the kitchen. You’re twenty-one years old, you need to know how to cook. I’m not going to be around to feed you all the time.”

“But you’ll always be there in case I’m in trouble or need something, right?” Isabela asked, following her down the stairs, “Like if, for example, I get evicted for attacking the other tenants and having a magical stuff animal come to life?”

Julieta groaned, “You attacked the other tenants in your boarding house?” she demanded.

“They deserved it, they were talking bad about Mirabel and called you a liar, I had no choice!”

“Oh, Isa,” Julieta said, trying her best to disguise the amusement in her voice. A couple of months ago, she wouldn’t have even dreamed of Isabela attacking anyone.

“I’m sorry Mama, I lost my temper,” Isabela said, “So can I stay?”

“I’ll be happy to let you stay, however, at the moment we just don’t have the room for you, your abuela is in the nursery already,” Julieta pointed out.

“Oh, I didn’t think of that.”

“I’ll talk to your tia and see if perhaps you can move back into your old room in the Original Casita,” Julieta offered, “I’m sure that she won’t mind. Now if you don’t mind I really do need to find your father before he kills himself.”

Chapter Text

Luisa huddled into herself, whoever named morning sickness, morning sickness should be sued for false advertisement. She was just plain miserable and didn’t seem to have the will power to pull herself out of bed, even though it was almost lunch time, and she was sure that Sofia was getting hungry. She just hoped that Sofia was staying out of trouble. Isabela had showed up earlier, planning on heading to Casita, maybe she took her with her. She was trying to win her over as favorite tia.

“Mami?” a soft voice called out, causing Luisa to groan and roll over, coming face to face with curious bright blue eyes.

“Hey Bebe,” she said softly.

“Mami sick?” Sofia asked, holding up a smashed arepa.

Luisa propped herself up on her forearm, grimacing as she did so, ugg her back was killing her.

“Mami?” Sofia asked again, offering her the arepa. This was wrong, she was the parent she should be taking care of Sofia, not the other way around.

“Sofi,” Luisa said softly, “Can you go over to Abuela’s house? Tell Abuela that I’m sick, okay? She’ll get you lunch.”

Sofia nodded, her cute little baby face scrunched up seriously, then she toddled away. Luisa could only hope that the toddler would listen to what she had told her to do, and head to Casita as her stomach cramped painfully. Was this normal? She didn’t remember much from when her own mother was pregnant with Mirabel as she hadn’t been much older than Sofia was right now, and all she really remembered about Tia Pepa’s pregnancy was that she had been super sick during it and had to be put on bed rest so she wouldn’t miscarry. Was that what was happening here? Was she having a miscarriage? Her stomach cramped again. She should have asked Sofia to have Mama come over.

…
Sofia for her part was worried, and confused. It wasn’t like Mami to stay in bed all day, and she kept crying out like she was hurt. That was why she had offered her an arepa, because whenever she was sick Papi would give her an arepa and she would feel better. Only, Mami didn’t take the arepa, instead she sent her to Abuela’s. Why didn’t she want the arepa? It would make her feel better.

The three year old shrugged as she opened the door that led to her Abuela’s living room. Papi told her to be good and obey Mami, and Mami told her to tell Abuela that she was sick, so that was what she was going to do.

…
It was quiet, Bruno having finally soothed Panzy to sleep for the moment, and Julieta, after rescuing Agustin from a bee hive worth of bees, was starting to make lunch, walking Isabela through the process of making arepas, when Casita rattled her tiles and led Sofia into the room.

Julieta smiled softly, since discovering the portal between homes, Sofia would often come over during the day to play, or steal some of her food, “Hola, Pequena, do you need something?” she asked softly.

Sofia nodded her head, giving her a serious look, “Mami’s sick,” she announced, grabbing Julieta’s skirt and peering up at her, “Abuela help? Make Mami better?”

Julieta nodded, scooping the little girl up, “Of course I will help,” she insisted, “Now you stay here with Abuelo,” she announced, handing the girl to her husband, who hesitantly took her, “And I’ll check on your Mami.”

“Do you think Luisa’s okay,” Isabela asked nervously.

Julieta nodded, “It’s probably just morning sickness,” she insisted, “Everything is going to be okay.”

…
Alma frowned as Julieta rushed into the nursery, grabbing her medical bag from the table, before hurrying out again. She didn’t usually used it unless the person was sick, or having a baby. Perhaps someone had gone into labor? Well, she knew well enough that Julieta wouldn’t answer any of her questions even if she could hear her, so she would just have to follow her.

Julieta rushed downstairs, unaware of Alma on her heels, and practically threw herself out of a glowing door with Luisa’s picture on it. On the other side of the door was another living room, with faded worn out furniture. That was right, she had heard that Julieta’s new house was somehow connected to Luisa’s house. She supposed that it made getting to town faster now that she was living so far from it.

Julieta did not, however, leave through what was obviously the front door, instead, going deeper into the house, to another glowing door with Luisa’s picture on it.

Was something wrong with Luisa? Alma wondered, Was it the baby?

“Now that’s something I haven’t seen in years,” a voice said behind her, “Alma Madrigal actually concerned about another family member’s health and well being. You might actually have a heart after all.”

Alma whirled around, “Pedro? What are you doing here?”

“Same as you,” Pedro admitted, “I’m worried about Luisa.”

“What’s going on?” Alma asked, trying to open the door, only for her hand to go through the doorknob.

“She’s having a miscarriage,” Pedro confessed.

“But…” Alma frowned, “You told her that she was having a boy.”

“She was, I’m not Bruno, I can’t foresee things like this, yesterday she was going to have a healthy little boy. Today…” He shook his head sadly, letting out a loud sigh, before glancing at Alma, who was subconsciously rubbing the fringe of her shawl. He smiled softly as he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, “You know how Luisa feels right now, don’t you?” he asked, “The fear, the pain, the overwhelming feelings of guilt and grief. The feeling that you just weren’t good enough? Luisa and Tomas were looking forward to their son as we were our baby all those years ago, and you know it.”

Alma opened her mouth to say something, but Pedro raised an eyebrow at her, "Well?" He asked.

"I… it's nothing," Alma snapped, "honestly, It's her own fault that she's miscarrying, she shouldn't have slept with Tomas before the wedding."

"Perhaps she shouldn't have, but she did the right thing, fix that mistake and at the moment she is suffering in a way that you understand all too well."

Alma sighed, glancing at the closed door, "You're right, I do know what she's going through."

"Maybe that's the key to get you to open your eyes," Pedro announced, "You can't see what you're doing wrong… I think I can make arrangements for you to experience it."

Pedro turned around and disappeared once more.

…
Julieta found Luisa curled up in a ball in the middle of her bed, whimpering. She quickly placed her bag on the floor and reached out, touching her shoulder.

"Luisa, what's wrong, where does it hurt?"

Luisa sniffled, "My stomach, it's cramping, really, really badly. It hurts Mama," she whimpered.

Julieta sat on the edge of the bed and pushed a strand of hair out of Luisa's face, "When did the cramping start?" She asked.

"Last night around nine," Luisa said, "After we left the party and put Sofia to bed, but it wasn't really that bad, I figured I just over did it. That it would be better in the morning, but…"

"It got worse?" Julieta guessed.

Luisa nodded miserably, whimpering slightly, "What's wrong with me?" She asked.

"I… I won’t know for certain until I do a full exam,” Julieta insisted, trying her best to shove her worried mother's reaction back in its cage and grab hold of her professional medical provider, instead. Sometimes being the closest thing to a doctor had a downside. Like today, when she was fairly certain that she was going to have to tell Luisa that she had lost the baby.

She pulled out her stethoscope, and draped it over her shoulders, “Okay Luisa, let’s see what’s going on.”

…
Bruno glanced down at the small bundle tucked into the cradle that had appeared in his room when he brought Panzy home. She had finally stopped fussing, and was gracefully sleeping peacefully.

His head was feeling fuzzy, and seemed to swim around a little, which was the usual sign that a vision wanted to be seen.

He sighed, since having his gift changed, he hadn't had many involuntary visions, yet the ones he did have were important.

This one was making no sense, a lot of crying and screaming, but Bruno couldn't figure out why there was a lot of yelling and crying.

He was going to have to do a full vision. He glanced at Panzy and smiled at her, brushing his hand across her cheek, "Papi will be right back," he promised before turning towards the stairs to his vision cave.

…
Julieta sighed as she pulled the sheet off of Luisa's bed. The exam had gone as expected, with her finally having to tell her the heartbreaking truth, the baby was gone.

Luisa now was hunched into herself, sitting in an armchair next to the bed, just staring out in space while her mother cleaned up.

Julieta felt awful, but there wasn't anything that she could have done. Now all she could do was hold her tight and give her love and compassion while they waited for Dolores, who Julieta had called out to, to fetch Tomas home.

"I don't understand Mama," Luisa muttered, sniffling loudly, "I just don't understand, why would Abuelo tell me that I was having a boy, if I was going to lose the pregnancy?"

"I don't know," Julieta muttered, "I really don't know. Life is like that sometimes, you know that. What matters is how you let it affect you. You can close yourself off, become cold and distant like your Abuela, or you can learn to cherish every minute of every day because life is short, and you never know when you are going to lose someone else."

Luisa sniffled, but didn't say anything, so Julieta continued, "You are a wonderful madre. I see the way that you interact with Sofia.”

“It’s not the same,” Luisa sniffed, “I want a baby that I can hold and snuggle with, you know. Sofia is sweet, and all, but she’s three and that’s just not the same. I wanted the baby, Tomas will be a good father, he is a good father,” Luisa sniffled loudly.

“I know,” Julieta insisted, “I wish I know how to help you better, but I don’t… Would you like to come over for lunch, or should I bring some food over for you? Don’t worry about Sofia, we’ll keep her tonight.”

“Where will you put her?” Luisa asked, “Abuela’s in the nursery.”

“You let Pa and me worry about Sofia,” Julieta insisted, placing a hand on her shoulder, “You just focus on healing, you can pick Sofia up in a week, when we celebrate Pa’s birthday.”

“But…”

“No buts young lady, you need time to grieve and heal, and you are going to take that time, no chores and no stressing out over Sofia, do you understand me?”

“Si,” Luisa muttered, sniffling slightly.

Chapter Text

Mirabel woke with a groan, sitting up in the oversize bed, where was she? At the moment her memory was blank. Why wasn’t she in the nursery? There were butterflies flying around her head and a weight suddenly dropped onto the bed. Something furry pressed against her hand. Mirabel looked down at the small gray kitten in confusion as her brain finally woke up enough to fill in the blanks. She was in her room that she got when Casita transferred ownership of the candle over to her.

The kitten cried out to her, pressing her head against her head again, “Okay,” she said, “I’m up Amorcita I’m up,” she stood up only to sway slightly as her knees buckled beneath her, threatening to send her back to bed.

She shook her head and locked her knees before taking a step forward, grabbing her robe from a hook on a stand. She glanced at the candle with a frown, “Luisa,” she said with concern, she couldn’t quite tell what was wrong with her, but… she was upset, something bad had happened. How long had she been asleep? What had happened to Luisa? Was there anything she could do?

…
Julieta poured the milk mixture into a bottle, “Here,” she said, handing it to Bruno who was holding a whimpering Panzy in his arms, “I changed the formula a little. It should be easier for her to digest now and she won’t be so miserable.”

“Thanks, Juli,” Bruno said, offering the nipple to Panzy who eagerly latched on and began to suckle, “She seems to enjoy it,” he announced.

“So long as her tummy agrees with it as well,” Julieta insisted, wiping her hands on her apron, “Okay I need to feed Sofia, check on Mirabel and Alma, and then head over to Luisa’s and check on her as well,” she let out a loud sigh and shook her head, “I just don’t understand it… Papa…”

“Even I can be wrong, you know that Juli,” Bruno insisted, shifting Panzy into a more comfortable position, “I mean I just had a vision where Luisa had her baby during Mirabel’s Quinceanera, and that’s over with.”

“Actually I didn’t have a Quince,” a new voice announced behind them.

Julieta smiled to see Mirabel make a beeline towards the pot of coffee she had just finished making, “You’re awake,” she said brightly.

Mirabel nodded, focusing pouring her mug of coffee, “Yeah, how long was I asleep for, and what happened to Luisa? I know something bad happened.”

“Well, it’s been about…” Julieta frowned glancing at the clock, “Thirty-six hours,” she admitted, “Or there about, you slept all day yesterday.”

“Oh,” Mirabel plopped down and took a sip of coffee, “No wonder I’m so groggy. Something big happened to Luisa, but I can’t tell what exactly. I’m too tired to figure it out.”

“Well,” Julieta said, “Luisa, she had a miscarriage… She’s at home healing, Tomas is with her. We have Sofia.”

“And I had a really weird vision yesterday that doesn’t make sense,” Bruno insisted, “I thought you changed it so that I can’t get an involuntary vision unless it’s an immediate emergency.”

“Are you sure that it was a vision,” Julieta asked, “You haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately, maybe you dosed off?”

Bruno grunted, as he shifted Panzy again so that he could reach into his pocket, pulling out a green slab, which he put on the table, “If it was a dream, I wouldn’t have a prophecy slab, now would I?” he asked.

Mirabel peered down at it, Luisa was sitting up in bed, holding a small bundle wrapped in blankets while absolutely glowing, with Mirabel standing next to her, dressed in a party dress, to everyone’s surprise, Abuela could be seen sitting on a chair next to the bed, beaming proudly at the baby.

Mirabel stared at the vision, and then at her tio, “I don’t understand,” she admitted, “I’m clearly wearing a Quinceanera dress, and that’s clearly Luisa with a baby, but…” she shook her head, “My birthday was over three months ago, aren’t we a little too late for a party?”

“I know right!” Bruno insisted, “My gift has totally gone wacky, I mean this started as an involuntary vision and you told me that I can’t get one of those unless it’s an emergency, and this is clearly not an emergency. Your birthday isn’t for another nine months.”

“Eight and a half,” Mirabel corrected with a shrug, “But that doesn’t matter because I’m turning sixteen and not fifteen. I’m not going to get a big party like that.”

“Now, I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” Julieta insisted, glancing at her youngest as she placed a plate piled high with food in front of her, “I know several girls who celebrated their Quinces late for one reason or another.”

“In other parts of the world, a girl becomes a woman at sixteen, and they have a Sweet Sixteen Party, which can be very similar to a Quince if we want it to,” Bruno offered, “And considering everything she’s gone through this past month alone, she deserves the biggest party the Encanto has ever seen.”

“I think I’ll pass, thanks though Mama, it’s hard enough with all the looks I get around town, do you know that several people are scared of me? Osvaldo sees me coming and runs in the opposite direction.”

“You should start chasing him around then, he needs to lose some weight,” Bruno deadpanned.

“Is he joking?” Mirabel asked, glancing at her mother, who turned to look at her brother.

“Yes,” she finally said, “Although I have been telling Osvaldo that he needed to get more exercise and go on a diet for years now…”

There was a sudden bark of laughter behind them, “I’m not even sure if I want to know what I just walked in on,” Isabela announced as Hector and Rosita raced into the room, both begging their Abuela for a treat.

Mirabel blinked in confusion, staring at the green cat that was trying to climb up her mother’s leg, “That’s…” she said slowly, glancing at her older sister in confusion.

“That Hermanita is the cat you made me when I was your age,” Isabela said, “I know I didn’t tell you at the time, but I absolutely loved it. Her name’s Rosita.”

“Camilo told me that he found it in the compost heap,” Mirabel announced.

“Abuela broke into my room, went through my stuff, and threw Rosita into the compost heap,” Isabela snarled, “If she survives getting blasted by the miracle, I’m going to strangle her.”

“Well, according to this, she's alive when Luisa had her baby during my Quinceanera.”

“You’re already fifteen,” Isabela pointed out, “And Dolores told us that Luisa lost the baby… but she had this weird look on her face like she wasn’t telling us the whole truth.”

“I know that’s why this vision is so confusing, Luisa lost her baby, Mirabel’s already fifteen, and Alma is clearly in the vision.”

Mirabel frowned, tipping her head to the side, “I think that I’m going to go talk to Dolores, maybe she can explain what she wasn’t telling you when she told you about Luisa,” she said slowly, “I mean, it doesn’t make sense, even if we decide that what Tio saw was my sixteenth birthday, it’s too far away for it to be the same pregnancy… yet it sounds like Dolores knows something about Luisa that we don’t.”

“Wait,” Isabela gasped, “What do you mean you need to talk to Dolores about Luisa, don’t you know? You know everything when it comes to things like this.”

“I’m still half asleep, and … I used my gift too much recently… It’s… weak… I know something’s up with Luisa… but I don’t know what… It might be the miscarry… or something else, something that Dolores knows about but doesn’t want to tell us about.”

…
Alma snorted, “This is why I never messed with the gifts. Mirabel honestly made things worse, I mean, Bruno’s vision doesn’t even make sense. This would have never happened if Mirabel hadn’t insisted that she knew more than I did and changed his gift.”

“She had every right to change his gift so that it was easier for him to handle,” Pedro insisted, “It was wrong of you to deny him that for all these years. As for the vision. The only thing suggesting that it was Mirabel’s quinceanera was her dress, and she could easily just wear her dress for a different birthday, like a sweet sixteen.”

“That’s still not a quinceanera.”

“Honestly, you should have made sure that she had one when she turned fifteen, I’m surprised that it showed you there… but that means that my latest plan to open your eyes is going to work.”

“What plan?” Alma demanded.

“Well, you seemed upset when Luisa lost her baby yesterday, and it dawned on me. You haven’t been able to accept what you did wrong because you can’t understand how your actions affected the others,” Pedro announced with a satisfied smile on his face as he leaned against the wall, “Of course, we’re running out of time, but I’ve talked with a few others, and we’ve come up with a plan.”

“This plan will allow me to get my old life back, right?” Alma asked.

“Yes, it’s simple really. Ever heard the saying "Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes?”

“Yes, what about it?” Alma demanded.

“That’s basically what you’ll be doing,” Pedro announced, “Walking a mile in each of the children and grandchildren’s shoes. You’ll feel what they feel, and more importantly, you’ll see firsthand what damage your actions have done.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong, Pedro, I want what’s best for them, you know that,” Alma protested.

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Pedro insisted, “Now for this to work, you’ll have to choose a day to relive.”

“How about the day Mariano was supposed to propose to Isabela,” Alma suggested, if only she had a second chance there, if she could stop Mirabel from causing trouble then Julieta would…

“That’s not going to work,” Pedro insisted, interrupting her train of thought, “I mean you can relieve that day, actually I think having you relive both that day and the day before, Antonio’s gift ceremony, through the eyes of everyone else would be beneficial for you, but you won’t be able to change anything that happens, you’re still going to end up dragging Mirabel off by her ear and Julieta is still going to tell you that she’s leaving. Everything’s already happened, you’re just going to feel and see what they felt and saw during those days.”

“How’s that going to help me?”

“You’re just going to have to figure that out yourself.”

Chapter Text

“Are you ready to go?” a voice asked next to Alma as she watched Bruno rock a small bundle of blankets while sitting in the rocking chair causing her to jump and whirl around to face Pedro.

“You startled me,” Alma snapped, “It’s rude to sneak up on people like that.”

Pedro shrugged, “Accidents happen,” he insisted, holding out his hand, “Come on,” he insisted, “Let’s go.”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Back to Antonio’s gift ceremony,” Pedro announced, “All I need to know is who do you want to start with?”

Alma frowned, honestly she really didn’t see what the big deal was, but Pedro was adamant that she do it, and she apparently couldn’t get back into her body until after she did, “Let’s just keep it simple and do oldest to youngest.”

“Julieta it is,” Pedro announced, “Remember, you’ll feel what she feels, and you’ll do what she does. You cannot control what she does. Everything that happens happens just the way it is presented to you.”

“I understand,” Alma announced.

“Good,” Pedro announced, snapping his fingers.

The world went dark around Alma.

…
Alma was lying in a comfortable bed, a strong arm draped over her. She was extremely tired, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. She closed her eyes again only for them to snap open again as a loud blaring sounded next to her.

She did not want to get up, but her body did not listen to her, she was so tired, she wanted to get back to sleep, but that alarm meant that she had to get up.

Agustin shifted next to her, “You’re getting up already?” he asked.

“You know that I have to get the food ready for my food stand,” Julieta’s voice slipped out of Alma’s body. No wait, she was in Julieta’s body.

“Can’t that wait until later,” Agustin demanded, his hands coaxing her to lay back down next to him. Alma stiffened, she had not considered the fact that her two daughters were married and that spending a day with them would mean that she would have to experience the more private part of their relationships.

Part of her wanted to lay back down, she was tired, so very tired, and Agustin’s offer to cuddle her was oh so tempting, but instead, she shook her head, “You know that I can’t. If I don’t start cooking now I’ll never make enough food.”

“It’s not even five yet,” Agustin muttered, “And you didn’t get to bed until one this morning. You need more sleep.”

Alma gasped as Julieta stood up, the world spinning a little before settling again. Was something wrong with her daughter? Why was she so tired? What was this worry that was constantly eating at her?

…
She didn’t get any answers as Julieta stumbled downstairs in the dark to the kitchen where Casita helpfully bounced over the coffee pot and a mug.

The coffee was hot, and honestly, that was all Julieta noticed when she drained it down in a couple of gulps, the caffeine hitting her system and waking her all the way up.

Then she started to cook…

Alma never appreciated just how tiring cooking was. Every time Julieta bent down to grab the flour or sugar her back twinged with pain. She had to stop in the middle of stirring the fifth batch of arepa dough to eat one of the arepas with a twinge of guilt because her hand had cramped so badly that it brought tears to her eyes.

By the time Mirabel came skipping into the kitchen to kiss her Mama good morning, Alma was so done with cooking, and Julieta hadn’t even started on breakfast for the family yet.

Alma just couldn’t understand it, Julieta’s arms felt like they were going to fall off, and her hands ached with a touch of arthritis, yet she continued to knead the dough, form the balls, and drop them into the pot of grease one by one to cook.

But that was okay because once she was done cooking this morning she could rest while Julieta handed the food out at her food stand.

…
Alma grunted a little as she swung the baskets of food onto her table and looked over at the already large line of people that needed healing, half the Encanto was already there, so much for a peaceful rest while Julieta waited for people to show up.

Julieta just sighed though as everyone there rushed the stand, breaking out of the line, and… one of the baskets of arepas was completely gone without a single thank or sign of injury. They had just been workers on the way to work grabbing a bite to eat.

Julieta’s food was meant to be used to heal people not as a free meal for anyone who wanted one… how did this happen?

“Don’t you remember?” Pedro asked, appearing beside her, as the world froze around them, “‘You don’t tell a villager no’, you grounded her as a child because she refused to give Osvaldo food because he wasn’t injured. Everyone else heard about it and now, she’s providing food for half the Encanto… at least she was until she finally put her foot down.”

…

After the workers left, the drunks arrived, Alma saw them stumbling out of the bar where they had spent the night before, still fighting and swinging at each other, and headed straight to Julieta. Alma’s spine prickled with dread as they approached, while she had no idea what was about to happen, Julieta did and she dreaded it.

Once the men were within earshot Alma understood Julieta’s dread. These men were awful. They were still fighting when they asked her for a quick fix, apparently, they had promised their wives that they wouldn’t have more than one drink and couldn’t go home until their hangover was over. They also called Julieta some very foul things as well as they devoured yet another basket of food.

Then came a small handful of children with really suspicious-looking bruises, Julieta obviously yearned to question them about them but wasn’t allowed to. After all, she was only there to heal injuries, not ask how they got them. Such a thing could be humiliating.

After that things calmed down, and there was a steady stream of people, some had broken bones that they had gotten because they had done something dangerous like some teens who decided to fight a bull and ended up nearly getting gored by it instead.

Julieta gave them a lecture about doing something so dangerous, but the boys brushed it to the side, announcing that that was what she was for.

They acted like Julieta was some sort of healing machine, and Julieta really wanted to tell them that if they kept doing stupid things she wasn’t going to heal them anymore, but she didn’t because she knew that all they needed to do was complain and she’ll be forced to heal them.

…
By lunchtime, all of the food was gone, and Alma could finally head back to Casita and relax, she was so glad that Julieta only had her stand open for certain hours. She made her way back to Casita, who greeted her warmly.

But instead of heading upstairs to her room to rest, like Alma so desperately wanted as her whole body was aching, Julieta went into the kitchen to find a piece of paper, with a list of foods that were needed for the party that night.

Alma remembered writing the list and leaving it in the kitchen for Julieta to find once she was done with her morning chores. She had been certain that Julieta would have plenty of time to make the food for the party as well. She didn’t care about how late she had stayed up the night before, how early she had gotten up, or how badly her body ached.

All Alma wanted was a break, but she couldn’t have one because she wouldn’t let Julieta have one. Maybe she should have lightened up on her chores a little.

…
Alma had been cooking for over two hours straight, not counting the three hours she spent cooking that morning, and she hadn’t even put a dent in the food order. She had just put the cake in the oven to bake when she heard someone humming softly behind her.

She knew immediately that it was Mirabel, who huffed and puffed as she placed the large basket of party supplies on the counter and started to unload it.

Worry consumed Julieta, suffocating Alma in the process. Mirabel’s behavior recently had Julieta very concerned. Mirabel apparently was too happy, too cheerful. It was obvious that she was hiding something from her, something big, but Julieta didn’t know what.

“Mirabel, you okay? You don’t have to overdo it,” Julieta insisted, clasping her hands in front of her.

“I know Mama,” Mirabel insisted, wiping sweat from her forehead, “I just want to do my part, like the,” she grunted as she lifted something heavy, “rest of the family.”

Why did Mirabel feel like she had to prove herself, Julieta asked herself so that only Alma could hear, Why can’t she see how beautiful and wonderful she truly was, even without a gift? If only her Mama will stop seeing what she lacks and see what she has instead… Mirabel was ten times the person Isabela was. At least she didn’t tempt her to turn her over her knees and take a spoon to her bottom on a daily basis.

“She’s right Amor,” Agustin’s voice announced, “First gift ceremony since yours, a lot of emotions…”

“Bee Stings?” Mirabel asked causing Alma to roll her eyes, Agustin was such a clutz.

Julieta turned around, spotting her husband all swollen, and rolled her eyes as well, “Ay Agustin!” she complained, turning around to grab an Arepa.

In the background, Alma could still hear Agustin talking to Mirabel, and feel Julieta’s annoyance that he had interrupted her conversation. Finally, Julieta had the arepa in her hand and shoved it into Agustin’s mouth, to both heal him up and get him to stop talking and making things worse for Mirabel.

“If you ever need to talk,” Julieta insisted, pulling Mirabel away from Agustin, she loved him, she really did, but he just didn’t understand how important having a gift was for a Madrigal.

“I got to put up this stuff,” Mirabel insisted, scooping up a box of decorations, “The house isn’t going to decorate itself…” Casita seemed to take offense to that as Mirabel quickly corrected herself, that Casita could totally decorate itself.

As Mirabel ran off, Julieta watched in worry, how could she show her youngest just how important she really was?

…
After cooking for six hours straight without a break, Julieta’s back was killing Alma, despite all the times Julieta would eat an arepa to relieve cramping arms and hands, it was as if… Julieta’s gift wasn’t as strong on herself as it was on others. This meant that if Julieta ever got truly hurt, they wouldn’t just be able to give her one of her arepas.

“Or,” Pedro announced, appearing next to Julieta, the world once more freezing around them, “It could be that Julieta is working so hard that her gift is giving out and the only reason no one’s noticed is because nobody’s come to her with anything more serious than a paper cut.”

“Okay so maybe Julieta shouldn’t be working so hard, but this is a special occasion, we’re busy getting ready for Antonio’s gift ceremony, there have to be exceptions.”

Pedro shook his head, “Julieta isn’t the only one in the Encanto who knows how to cook Alma, why not ask them to help with the preparation, or why not do it yourself?”

“I didn’t have time to do any cooking,” Alma insisted, “I was busy making sure everything went smoothly.”

“I see…” Pedro said softly, snapping his fingers, Julieta was heading upstairs just in time to see Mirabel hurry by, her arms hugged close to her chest and her head down. Julieta was certain that she saw tears too, but instead of concern for her daughter anger rose up in her, surprising Alma.

“Mama, be nice to Mirabel,” Julieta insisted, “Tonight’s going to be hard on her.”

With that statement came a picture of Mirabel from a week ago as she slumped down in her chair and scowled at her plate, then a picture of Mirabel this morning, all full of energy and happy, bouncing and talking energetically, combined with a page from a book, it had something to do with suicide, and how those about to commit it has a tendency to act extremely happy and energetic leading up to their attempt.

Julieta was worried that Mirabel might be suicidal… with good reasons too, considering what she tried to do on the night of Isabela’s proposal.

“If tonight doesn’t go well it will be hard for all of us,” Past Alma insisted.

Alma winced as Julieta internally screamed, and cussed her out. She didn’t care about how hard it would be for everyone else if Antonio didn’t get a gift, she didn’t care if Antonio got a gift at all. In fact, part of her was hoping that he didn’t get one so that she could tell Mirabel that it wasn’t her fault, that it was obviously the miracle’s. The only thing she cared about was the fact that Mirabel, her daughter, was obviously struggling.

Julieta turned on her heels and stormed off before the very thin willpower that was keeping her from belting her Madre in the jaw snapped.
…
The party was decent, Julieta was too tired to want to dance, so she scanned the room, checking to make sure everyone was okay. Mirabel didn’t seem to be there, not that Julieta was surprised or anything, she probably left right after the picture. Luisa walked by carrying a large table full of food. Julieta frowned, Luisa looked tired, and paler than normal, she was working too hard, she should look into that.

After spotting Luisa and adding checking on her to her to-do list, Julieta spotted Isabela, who was kind of just standing at the side of the room with that fake smile on her face. She needed to check what was up with her as well.

Her list of to-dos was so long she never got anything done on it.

That was when Mirabel came running into the room, screaming about the cracks.

…
As soon as Alma had finished her spiel about the strong drinks, Julieta’s fists actually curled into fists by her side. Alma was sure that if Julieta had been close enough she would have belted her in the jaw for humiliating her daughter like that, calling her a drunk and a liar when it was perfectly clear that she was neither.

Julieta took Mirabel to the kitchen and started to make her an arepa all while Mirabel pleaded with her. Alma was sure that she didn’t need to be sharing Julieta’s thoughts to know that she didn’t truly believe that Mirabel had seen cracks.

Julieta tried to cheer Mirabel up, and tried to convince her that she was just as special as the others were, but Mirabel brushed her off and left, going to bed.

…
The rest of the night went by in a blur of weariness. Julieta didn’t bother returning to the party, instead tackling the mountain of dishes waiting in the sink.

At one point Alma appeared and ordered her back to the party, where she exchanged some pleasantries with those Alma insisted she talk to, and healed some injuries that some kids had gotten, despite the fact that they could have easily eaten anything from the food table to do that, and then, finally, she helped escort everyone out of the room.

Then came the clean-up. No one offered to help Julieta as she gathered up the left over food, storing it for later use, and dirty dishes, which were added to the mountain of dishes she hadn’t gotten to yet.

It was past midnight by the time Julieta placed the last clean item away and dragged herself upstairs to her room.

The last thing Alma was aware of was Julieta setting her alarm for five the next morning.

Chapter Text

Alma woke up to the feeling of rain landing on her face, causing her eyes to fly open, a cloud was hovering right above her… What the…

“You said you wanted to go Oldest to Youngest, well, Pepa’s next,” Pedro announced beside her.

“Why is she raining, isn’t it Antonio’s Gift Ceremony? She should be excited about it.”

“Excited?” Pedro snorted, “I hardly doubt that. Pepa has hundreds of reasons to be more worried than excited.”

“Like what?” Alma demanded.

“You tell me, you’re the one who’s sharing her thoughts, you’ll know better than I do.”

“Oh, right.”

Alma glanced over at Felix who was still fast asleep before focusing on how Pepa was thinking, what she was feeling. Only she couldn’t. Pepa’s emotions were nothing more than a dark void of emptiness, her mind was nothing more than a deep fog of apprehension, but she couldn’t really figure out why that was, only that it had to have something to do with Antonio’s gift ceremony.

Pepa groaned, the mere thought of getting up was just more than she could handle right at that moment, a hand swatting her cloud away as she moved her pillow over her face. Not now, please she didn’t want to have to deal with this right now.

“Pepi? You okay?”

“Yeah, clear skies, clear skies,” she muttered, tugging on her braid like Alma had seen her do a million times before. It seemed different seeing out of Pepa’s eyes. Feeling as she tugged her braid as hard as she could without ripping it out of her head. Focusing on that pain to force the cloud away, “I’m fine, really,” she insisted, only now turning to look at her husband.

Felix didn’t sleep with a shirt on, Alma had a clear view of his six-pack as his eyes studied her face, no not her face, Pepa’s face.

“You know you can trust me, right Mi Sol?”

Pepa smiled, but it was only half there, she loved her husband, and she did a lot. He was the sweetest human Pepa could think of, but recently, she couldn’t care less, “I know, I just…” she sighed, “Lots of emotions,” she admitted, “Our Bebe is getting a gift, and I’m not really sure that I want him to.”

“I know how you feel,” Felix admitted, “He’ll either get a gift that’s more like a curse, be forced to work all day, or he’ll get no gift, just like Mirabel.”

“I don’t want him to get a gift, but I don’t want him to not get a gift either, you know?”

“I do, come on,” Felix insisted, offering her a hand, “Let’s get this day going shall we?”

Pepa nodded slowly, “Yeah,” she said with a sigh, “I have to water the fields today,” she announced.

“Again? You watered them yesterday. It’s Antonio’s birthday, surely you can have the day off.”

“Not according to Alma.”

Alma frowned, Pepa called her Alma, her daughter, her hija, called her by her first name. That was what Julieta had done after she decided to leave, called her by her first name. It was the ultimate disrespect, and apparently, Pepa had been doing it in private even before that.

Why in the world would Pepa disrespect her like that, even she respected her chosen name?

Then she shrugged it off, it was probably just the nerves speaking, after all her son was getting a gift today.

…
After breakfast Alma made her way to the fields, which were still wet from the last time Pepa watered them. Huh, maybe the farmers wouldn’t be so worried about floods if they didn’t overwater their fields as is.

“Well if it isn’t the reject, Josefina,” a voice called out, causing Pepa to flinch and grind her teeth so hard that Alma was sure that there would be damage to them.

“Hola Senor Velez,” Pepa said through her clenched jaw. There was something familiar about this man. Alma knew he was a farmer, but he looked familiar. Maybe he had been a friend of the triplets when they were younger? But if that was the case, why was Pepa so unhappy to see him?

“Rumor has it that that kid you’re claiming as your own is supposed to get his gift today. I hope you’re ready for the fireworks when his door fades like that so-called sobrina of yours. I wonder where Julieta even found the girl? I can’t believe she lied about that girl for all those years, and that she still claims her even though it’s quite clear that she is no Madrigal,” the man chuckled, “I mean whoever heard of a giftless Madrigal, it’s ridiculous,” he finished, spitting a brown streak next to Pepa’s shoe.

Alma couldn’t believe it, how dare he speak like that to her, she was his elder and should be spoken to accordingly. She remembered him now, he was Santiago’s boy, only a few years younger than her triplets. Santiago had been Pedro’s best friend since they were two and had helped her establish the fields that fed the Encanto that first year here. How could he talk to the widow of his father’s best friend like that? Didn’t he know any manners?

“Whatcha gonna do, Josefina?” Senor Velez mocked, “Fry me to a crisp like you did Felix’s Baby Mama?”

The rumble of thunder overhead grounded Alma, reminding her that Senor Velez wasn’t talking to her, but to Pepa, the anger and disbelief she was feeling wasn’t her own, but that of Pepa.

“Actually I think it’s a mix of your anger and Pepa’s,” Pedro announced, appearing next to her, “Now this next part is really going to get to you,” he insisted.

Alma frowned what did he mean by that?

“Come on, Josefina, fry me to a crisp, I know you want to,” Senor Velez insisted, spitting out more of the vile chewing tobacco that he had in his mouth, “What’s wrong?” he mocked, “Afraid that your Mama’s going to arrange for you to disappear like she did your brother when he couldn’t play nice with everyone else.”

Alma gasped, as the scene froze around her, “Pedro? What did he just say about me?”

“It’s actually a common speculation that you were involved in Bruno’s disappearance,” Pedro insisted with a shrug, “I mean they aren’t wrong, you are the main reason that Bruno hid in the walls for ten years.”

“Oh,” Alma said softly, her eyes clouding over, before Pedro disappeared again, allowing time to resume it’s endless march.

Pepa quickly rushed out to the fields, glaring and snarling about Senor Velez, as Alma frowned, thinking about what Senor Velez had said. Did other’s really think that she was the reason that Bruno left? And what did Pedro mean that they were right? She wasn’t the reason Bruno left. She wasn’t. Sure she was hard on him, but he needed to use his gift. He had been given it for a reason. To help the community, and give them good news. Not all of that doom and gloom that he had been advertising.

…
“What’s wrong Senora?” another farmer shouted as she stomped over to his fields after finishing Senor Velez’s, “Can’t you keep the thunder away? Geesh you’d think that you’ll want sunshine for your son’s gift ceremony, then again… maybe not. I’ve heard the rumors, that you never really wanted to have another kid, but Dona Alma forced you to. That’s why you never spend time with the boy, you never wanted him. All he is is a reminder that you never really grew up. You still letting Alma tell you what to do.”

Pepa ground her teeth hard, muttering “Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies,” she muttered sharply. Alma often heard her mutter this when she pointed out her cloud. She believed it was some sort of calming mechanism, but no, it was some sort of shielding. Preventing her cloud from forming, despite the fact that she still wanted to punch the farmer in the face.

Huh, Alma had always assumed that the mantra had been helpful, that it had calmed her down, but Pepa’s anger at the farmers didn’t disappear until Felix showed up with an umbrella and little Antonio.

“Mi Sol there you are,” he announced, kissing Pepa straight on the lips with Antonio and several farmers watching. Had the man no decency?

“We were looking for you, it’s time to pick up Antonio’s suit,” Felix insisted, as Pepa shagged against him, the anger melting away as Felix’s arm wrapped around her.

…
The rest of the day was very much a blur for Alma as Pepa went from one thing to another. The thing Alma could remember was the constant strain Pepa was feeling to keep the clouds away, the dismay she felt whenever the weather got away from her, and the sharp pain that stabbed her in the chest when she was trying to find Antonio before the ceremony and Alma, herself, had yelled at her for the cloud.

The pain was sharp and sudden, causing Pepa’s sight to go black for a minute, as she stumbled backwards until she was up against the wall, pressing her back against it as she took deep calming breaths and messaged her chest. Her heart beating erratically beneath her hand.

The pain was intense, and while Pepa could only focus on the pain and keeping herself breathing, Alma remembered what Mirabel had said in front of the church the day that Julieta had turned her back on her family. If Pepa didn’t start letting her emotions out, she will never see Antonio’s tenth birthday. She had thought she was hinting at suicide, but this, this was serious. Pepa’s heart shouldn’t be acting up like that, she wasn’t that old, and Antonio just turned five, it wouldn’t be long before his tenth birthday either.

Dios Moi, why couldn't she breathe?

Was Pepa’s health really so bad that she only had four more years of life? She knew all to well what it felt like to lose the love of her life. Would Felix have to go through that pain as well? What about Antonio, would he have to grow up without his mother? Would Pepa even be able to see her first grandchild? Be there for Camilo’s wedding?

At the moment Pepa wasn’t even sure that she’ll be able to see Antonio get his gift. Breathe you need to breathe.

Alma was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice that Dolores, Felix, and Camilo had arrived. Dolores assured her that Mirabel had found Antonio, Camilo handed her an arepa that eased the pain in her chest, while Felix wrapped her up in his arms, his concern for her evident.

They knew. They knew that Pepa was having heart issues, yet they never came to her about it. She never knew. Why hadn’t they told her about this? The answer seemed to hit her like a ton of bricks. They didn’t trust her. They saw her brush Bruno’s need to the side in favor of the villagers and didn’t bother to tell her that Pepa had a heart attack mere minutes before Antonio’s gift ceremony. She should have known something was going on. Pepa had looked a little worn right before the ceremony had started and looked a little pale, but she had just assumed that it was worry for Antonio. Not this. What would have happened had Dolores not got her father and brother? What if Julieta’s food wasn’t enough? Had she really nearly lost her daughter and not known it?

She had been a horrible madre, her last words to her hija almost were “Pepa, you have a cloud!”

What had she done?

Chapter Text

Mirabel frowned, tipping her head to the side, “I think that I’m going to go talk to Dolores, maybe she can explain what she wasn’t telling you when she told you about Luisa,” she said slowly, “I mean, it doesn’t make sense, even if we decide that what Tio saw was my sixteenth birthday, it’s too far away for it to be the same pregnancy… yet it sounds like Dolores knows something about Luisa that we don’t.”

“Wait,” Isabela gasped, “What do you mean you need to talk to Dolores about Luisa, don’t you know? You know everything when it comes to things like this.”

“I’m still half asleep, and … I used my gift too much recently… It’s… weak… I know something’s up with Luisa… but I don’t know what… It might be the miscarry… or something else, something that Dolores knows about but doesn’t want to tell us about,” Mirabel admitted helping herself to a second cup of coffee, before putting her mug in the sink and heading into the living room, where she opened the door that now had Pepa’s figure on it, and stepped into the original Casita.

Mirabel hadn’t been to her childhood home since her family moved out, she had been essentially forbidden to go near it, although now that Abuela wasn’t a threat, at least not at the moment, she didn’t need to worry about her.

She glanced around the balcony, nobody seemed to be around, which wasn’t that surprising seeing as it was the middle of the day, but the house seemed a little eerie, and Mirabel couldn’t quite place why. Casita looked just like she always did, and she was used to being the only one at home. So why…?

“It seems weird not having Casita here,” a soft voice asked behind her, “Doesn’t it?”

Mirabel spun around, placing her hand on her heart, “Dolores, you startled me,” she gasped, “Don’t do that.”

“Lo siento,” Dolores offered, “I’m glad to see that you’re awake, but what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you, Isabela said that you pulled that face you always pull when you’re only telling us half the truth when you told Luisa that she lost the baby, so what’s up with that.”

Dolores shifted nervously, “Well, you see, I thought I heard a weird… echo… it wasn’t loud enough to be the heartbeat though, I don’t know what it was.”

“But you thought it might be something,” Mirabel pointed out, “Didn’t you? You thought it might be another baby...”

Dolores nodded, “That doesn’t make sense though,” she insisted, “Luisa was already pregnant, and she only had one baby with a much stronger, louder, heartbeat. What I heard was the sound of a new pregnancy, not ten weeks or so that Luisa’s was.”

“Isn’t it possible that you heard a different baby?” Mirabel asked, “We were learning about something like this in school, I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s when someone gets pregnant while already pregnant. It’s extremely rare though.”

“Superfetation,” Dolores questioned, “Luisa might have lost the older twin, but not the younger one? That would explain what I heard, but I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to be wrong.”

“That also explains Tio Bruno’s vision, if she got pregnant a little while ago, she would be having the baby around my birthday, and if we celebrate my quince like we’ve been talking about, then...”

“Everything will line up,” Dolores finished, “All we need to do is confirm if Luisa really is still pregnant.”

…

Isabela was just walking past Luisa’s house when Rosita suddenly jumped out of the basket around Isabela’s arm, and ran off, Hector pulling on his vine that was being used as a leash until it snapped and then chasing after her.

Isabela groaned loudly, “Hector, Rosita, what in the world do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, racing after them into Luisa’s backyard. She immediately blinked in confusion at what she was seeing. A tall man was standing in the middle of the vegetable garden that she had grown for her sister, with a basket of red ripe tomatoes in his hand, Rosita on his head, and Hector nipping and barking at his feet.

“Call your plant creatures off,” Jose demanded.

“Why are you in Luisa’s garden?” she demanded, “Are those her tomatoes?”

“Call off your plant creatures,” Jose ordered again.

“Drop those tomatoes,” Isabela countered, “and I’ll call them off.”

Jose rolled his eyes, dropping the basket, “Come on, it’s not like Luisa would have noticed,” he insisted.

Isabela rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t matter, we don’t go stealing things from your garden, you shouldn’t be stealing things from Luisa’s.”

“I don’t have a garden,” Jose insisted, “now can you please call off your plant creatures?”

“Fine,” Isabela rolled her eyes, “Rosita, get down, girl...” she said softly without any tone of authority, “Sorry, she doesn’t really listen to me, she’s a cat after all.”

Hector growled and howled and barked as loudly as he could.

“Isabela, this isn’t funny,” Jose snapped, “Call your plant creatures off, or I will tell your abuela about this.”

“What do you expect Abuela to do? She’s in a coma… besides, Mirabel’s the candle holder now, not Abuela, and I don’t live under the same roof as Abuela. She can’t tell me what to do.”

There was the sound of a door opening and closing nearby, and then Luisa’s voice called out, “Jose, what are you doing in my garden?”

“I’m being attacked by your hermana’s plant creatures,” Jose announced, “Have her call them off.”
“I found him stealing your tomatoes,” Isabela announced, “besides, he really doesn’t belong in your garden does he.”

“Come on Luisa, you have more tomatoes here than you need,” Jose insisted.

Luisa opened her mouth, no doubt about agreeing with him when Isabela announced, “Even if that was the case, shouldn’t he have asked beforehand to make sure that it was okay?”

Luisa glanced at her older sister, who was giving her a dark look, “Right Luisa?” she asked with a tone of voice that said that she needed to agree with her or things were going to get ugly.

“Umm… Right, what Isa said,” Luisa said.

“Now Jose, I’m going to call my babies off you, but you have to leave as soon as they do, or I’m just going to sic them on you again,” Isabela announced, “Come on Hector, Rosita, come to Mama.”

Jose let out a sharp cry as Rosita shifted her weight on top of his head, digging her thorn claws into it before launching herself down to the ground, and pelted for Isabela, Hector at her heels.

“Good girl,” Isabela praised Rosita as the green and pink rose cat jumped into her arms. Hector skidded to a stop at her feet, panting heavily, “Good boy,” Isabela said, shifting her hold on Rosita so that she could pat Hector on the head. She turned her attention to Jose, “Now get out.”

…
Camilo crouched down by the fence line, “I thought your dad asked you to pick up some eggs?” he asked, “Francisca, this is my Prima’s backyard, not the marketplace.”

“The Market costs money,” Francisca announced, “and your Tia and Tio gave her a large hen house with a bunch of chickens. They have more eggs than they know what to do with, they won’t miss half a dozen eggs.”

“You know I can ask Luisa if she has any extra eggs, we don’t have to steal them,” Camilo insisted, grumpily.

…
Luisa plopped down on her couch, wrapping her arms around her middle, and staring curiously at Rosita, who sat at her feet and stared right back up at her.

“This is the stuffed animal that Mirabel made you?” she asked softly as Rosita rose up on her hind paws and placed her front paws on her knees sniffing her lap carefully.

“Yeah, Camilo found her in the compost heap, he pulled her out before Mirabel could find her. He wasn’t sure who threw her out, which is why he hadn’t given her back to me before. Now though, he knows that I would never do something so cruel to Mirabel. Came to life the moment I touched her.”

“It’s amazing just how much more powerful you truly are. You are so much more than roses and flor de mayo,” Luisa announced as the door leading to Pepa’s house flung open and Mirabel and Dolores ran into the living room.

Dolores blinked, even though Isabela was technically living with her and her family in the old Casita, she hadn’t yet met her newest addition to the family… Mainly because she had stayed out late the night before with Mariano, and Isabela tended to spend the days with her own family.

“Is that why you wanted to kill Camilo?” she asked softly, as Luisa scooped the cat up gently and placed her on her lap, scratching her between the ears and listening to the sound of the rumbling purr coming from her.

“Yeah,” Isabela said happily, “He should have given me back Rosita earlier,” she insisted.

Rosita turned herself around in a tight circle and plopped down on Luisa’s lap.

“So what brings you two here,” Luisa asked.

“Dolores needs to double-check something she thought she heard the other day,” Mirabel announced, gesturing to Dolores.

Luisa raised an eyebrow as Dolores tilted her head to one side, narrowing her hearing and expanding it to listen for a second heartbeat.

“What exactly is she listening for?” Luisa asked, ‘I thought she already told me that I lost the baby yesterday.”

Dolores hushed Luisa, “Yesterday I thought I heard an odd echo sound, now that I’ve thought about it, I think that strange sound might have been the start of a heartbeat. I wanted to double-check.”

“The start of a heartbeat?” Isabela repeated, “What in the world are you talking about, she miscarried yesterday.”

“It’s extremely rare, but sometimes you can get pregnant while already pregnant,” Mirabel insisted.

Dolores hushed Mirabel as well, strengthening her magic to listen even closer to Luisa.

“Well,” Isabela demanded, “Am I going to become a tia again or not?”

Dolores nodded, “I think so, the heartbeat’s a lot clearer than it was yesterday. Congratulations, Luisa, you’re expecting.”

“Are you sure?” Luisa demanded.

Dolores nodded her head again.

“Positive?”

Dolores sighed, “I’ve been diagnosing pregnancies since I was five, I’m positive.”

“And Tio Bruno saw you giving birth to a healthy little boy,” Mirabel announced, “and there’s enough clues to suggest that this little one will be born on my sixteenth birthday.”

“Well, knowing when I’ll give birth is nice,” Luisa said, slowly standing up, “I think that I’d better go find Tomas and tell him what is going on. He’s at work.”

She opened the door and froze, “Senor Velez,” she said slowly, “What are you doing here?”

“I was wondering if you could help with the donkeys, they got out again,” Senor Velez announced,

“I’ll...” Luisa started to say.

“She’ll help you as soon as you help yourself,” Mirabel interrupted, shoving her way in front of Luisa, “Mi Hermana is not your personal donkey gatherer, she is my sister, a human being, with a life of her own. If you want help, you’ll have to fix the fence before she so much as lifts a finger for me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Luisa?” Senor Velez asked, giving her a concerned look.

Luisa shrugged, “I’m afraid that the Miracle named Mirabel the next Candle Holder, what she says goes. Fix the fence if you want my help.”

Senor Velez sighed, “I don’t understand why your family is allowing Mirabel to mess with the Miracle like this, there was a reason that she didn’t get a gift, and now you are allowing her to destroy yours as well.”

“Talking bad about Mirabel will get you blacklisted from all Madrigal services,” Isabela announced.

Senor Velez gave her a look, “At least your Abuela kept you all in line, you’ve gone completely feral.”

“Thank you,” Isabela said beaming at him from next to Luisa, “It’s been hard work getting rid of years of grooming to just be myself. Now I think you’ve wasted enough of our time, off you go.”

Cacti popped up in front of Senor Velez, forcing him to step out of the doorway.

“Si, of course,” Senor Velez said, “I’ll be on my way, congratulations, Luisa, on your pregnancy, I can’t wait to learn what gift your child will have.”

Vines wrapped around his ankles and tugged, causing him to fall and be dragged off the property and onto the street, “I’d appreciate it if you’ll not spy on my hermanita ever again, Senor, or it will be the last thing you do.”

Chapter Text

Alma was still in shock when everything suddenly went black and the next thing she knew she was blinking her eyes open once more, this time to the sound of squeaking and a strange tickling sensation on her cheek. 

A rat stood on her chest squeaking at her, “Sorry, Valentina,” a voice muttered, as Alma felt her hand move and stroke the rat softly, “Blacked out there for a minute.”

Alma recognized the voice, and the green rauna that hung off her like a huge tent. She was in Bruno’s body… fascinating, she wondered when this was. What was up with the rat, and what had Bruno meant that he must have passed out for a little while?

Alma pulled herself up off the floor, only to have to grab hold of an old broken down armchair as the world tilted alarmingly to the right.

There was yet more squeaking, and Alma felt a hand remove itself from the chair, and wave towards the sound, “I’m fine, really, I’m fine, just a dizzy spell, nothing to worry about, now, let’s see, what do I have for breakfast.”

Alma moved over to a small table set up against a wall, that was only a few steps from the chair and plopped down in a wooden chair that was extremely wobbly, out of breath, before reaching into a small box and pulling out an old stale Arepa.

She grimaced, that did not look appetizing at all, as she took a bite out of it. It was dry and hard to chew and she could only handle a couple of bites before she gave up on it, and crumbled the rest of it into crumbs before dumping them onto what was clearly a painted version of Bruno’s plate, the plate she had broke in a fit of anger when she realized that he had left. The plate that she had later fixed and was now tucked away somewhere in her room.

“It’s a good day,” Alma’s voice sounding through the wall startled her, as Bruno immediately shifted in his seat, so that he could peer through a crack in the wall revealing…

Alma gasped, the scene around her freezing, “That’s the dining room,” she announced, surprised.

“He never truly left,” Pedro confessed, before snapping his fingers once more and things continued as Bruno listened to the morning announcements, it was Antonio’s gift ceremony, and they had to get ready for that, and then he joined them for the family cheer, “La Familia Madrigal.”

“Well, I guess I’m not getting any new food today,” Bruno announced, “Casita is going to be crawling with people, and Juli’s going to need the food for the party tonight, so,” he turned to his rats, “How about we go watch a telenova, huh?”

…

The next two hours was spent with Bruno acting out some sort of story about an aunt who has amnesia falling in love with her nephew who doesn’t know that he’s her nephew.

It was weird to say the lease, and it never did quite get rid of the pit that seemed to be at the bottom of Alma’s stomach. Bruno was literarily living in the walls of Casita. That explained where Pepa and Julieta found him, but the question remained, why? Why was Bruno living in the walls?

Finally the rats scampered off, and Bruno sat back in his armchair, with a heavy sigh. He didn’t say anything as he just sat there. And as he sat there, Alma was bombarded with thoughts and emotions that seemed to be jumbled up together. She simply couldn’t figure out how they all fit together. All she managed to piece together was the overwhelming feeling of uselessness. Bruno hated hiding in the walls, but he really didn’t know what else to do. He wanted to go to the ceremony, but was afraid of how people would react if they saw him. Doubts, worries and Memories danced across Bruno’s mind in plain view of Alma.

A fourteen year old Bruno was walking home from the market, a basket full of groceries on his arm, when a hand snaked out and grabbed him, yanking him into an alleyway. 

Bruno glanced up at the hulking man, recognizing him as the blacksmith, who he had just gave his daughter a vision to earlier that day. It hadn’t been a good one, as it showed her current boyfriend proposing to another girl, worst it was her best friend.

“Hola Senor,” Bruno said, grasping the basket with both hands, “I’d love to chat, but I need to get these,” he held the basket up high, “Home to Julieta, she needs them for Cena, you see…” he rambled, before turning around and taking a step back to the street.

This time when the blacksmith grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the alleyway, he swung his other hand out and punched Bruno in the nose, yelling at him, calling him a curse, and how he cursed his daughter to a life of misery. He was no son of Pedro Madrigal, but he was obviously a minion of the devil, because no son of his friend Pedro would do something so cruel. As he spoke he drove his fist into Bruno’s stomach, causing him to double over in pain. He then kicked his legs out from under him so that he fell to the ground.

The blows came hard and fast, and Bruno could do nothing but keep his head covered. Finally the blows ended, and the Blacksmith growled at him to get out of his sight.

Bruno grabbed the basket he had dropped, the vegetables destroyed and eggs cracked, and scarried as quickly as he could away from the alleyway.

Alma was shocked, that man had been one of Pedro’s best friends, how could he treat his only son like that.

A new scene formed before Alma’s eyes, judging from the way Bruno was hobbling and the destroyed contents of the basket in his arms, this was just after he had gotten beaten up by the blacksmith.

“Bruno, what happened?” Julieta demanded, appearing just outside of Casita, her eyes wide in alarm as she took in his appearance.

Bruno glanced down at his feet, he had lost a sandal as he had fled the alleyway, “I’m sorry Juli,” he insisted, “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t have money to buy more, and by the time I get back to the market everything is going to be closed…”

Julieta grabbed his shoulders, “Bruno it’s okay, come on, I just finished making some arepas, let’s get you cleaned up, and I’ll figure something else out for cena.”

Alma grimaced, as a feeling of Deja Vu washed over her, she knew what was about to happen.

Mama was in the Kitchen, and she only gave Bruno a brief look before scolding him for getting in a fight, forbid Julieta from healing him and sent him to bed without cena.

Each word Alma said cut Bruno deep hurting far more than the beating ever did.

Several other memories flashed before his mind unfurling themselves to Alma. They were all very similar. He gave a vision someone didn’t like, that person was mad and would physically harm him, and then she would scold Bruno for it, and more than once, forced him to return to the offender and apologize, always resulting in an even worst beating.

Over and over again she watched as her son delivered a vision, got blamed for it, and then she turned her back on him, leaving him to be beaten up by the angry party, before punishing him further for the injuries he came home with. Resentment and hurt fueled Bruno as he avoided giving visions whenever possible, hiding in his room, avoiding his sisters and mother, because his sisters will tattle on him to his mother if he sought them out after a beating. 

Bruno was safe in the walls, and still able to watch his sobrinos grow, as much as he would like to get out of the walls, he was safe here, and while here he could assure that no one finds out about his last vision about Mirabel. If that vision became common knowledge… the villagers would kill Mirabel to protect the magic. Heck, they threatened to kill him a couple of times. The only reason they hadn’t was because his gift proved to be helpful every once in a while.

…

Alma blinked Bruno’s eyes awake, gasping in surprise at that last thought. Bruno was hiding in the walls not only to protect himself from cruel people that seem to take pleasure in hurting him, but to prevent these same people from killing Mirabel should they ever learned about the vision. The vision about her saving the Miracle, the vision that looked as if Mirabel was the one causing the cracks.

Bruno had been protecting her, not just from her, although Alma could tell that that was part of his reason of leaving. He knew that Alma would kick her out or do something horrible to her if she saw the tablet, but from the villagers who would apparently have no qualm in killing a little girl in the name of protecting the miracle.

…

Just then a loud rumble shook the chair that Bruno was sitting in, causing him to jump up. Bruno knew what that was, but Alma had no idea.

“Hernando,” Bruno announced, “I need you to go investigate that, Jorge we’re going to need some spackle.”

Alma was confused, who in the world are Hernando and Jorge? Were there other people living in the walls with Bruno?”

Bruno pulled his rauna up over his face, “I shall venture out in the great unknown to find these cracks that threaten the integrity of the house we live in,” he announced, “Jorge, my good man, you must stay here, where it is safe. I’ll let you know how much spackle we’ll need to fix the cracks.”

With that Bruno hurried through a small hallway, to discover thick heavy cracks littering the walls, allowing light into his heading spot.

“Jorge, I am in need of lots of spackle.”

Then Bruno pulled his hood off and shoved a bucket over his head, before quickly mixing up some spackle using supplies that were nearby. It was as if he made spakle often. As he stirred up the mixture, he rumbled on and on about how much he liked to mix up spakle and how he wish that he could be brave like Hernando, or creative like Bruno, but he was just Jorge and all he could do was make spackle.

Then he suddenly jumped up, “The spackle is ready, Hernando!” he announced before pulling off the helmet, and pulling his hood back up.

“Excellente,” Bruno said, “Now I shall repair this wall before anyone comes to harms way.”

…

Despite how bad the cracks seemed, it only took Bruno a few minutes to get the cracks mended. Right as he finished scraping the last of the spackle into place, voices could be heard just outside of the wall.

Bruno swiped his hood off, frowning as he listened to Mirabel’s voice exclaiming in confusion that there had been cracks all over the place, and that the candle almost went out.

Then Alma’s voice called out, dismissing Mirabel’s words, shooing everyone away as Bruno’s heart sank. He had wanted to protect his family not embarrass Mirabel in front of the whole village.

Chapter Text

The scent of flowers slapped Alma in the face forcing her to wake up, blinking in confusion, looking around. She was in Isabela’s room. That’s right, it was her turn to be Isabela for the day. Finally a relaxing day without any nasty surprises… Please don’t let there be any nasty surprises.

Isabela sighed as she slid out of bed, stretching, as her mind ran through the list of things to do. Tonight was Antonio’s gift ceremony, and everyone would be there. All eyes would be on her. She had to be on her best behavior. There would be men old enough to be her father trying to flirt with her, and several men her own age trying to touch her and win a date with her. She’ll have to be polite, and thank the men for their compliments, and not under any circumstance was she going to allow herself to snap and punch those men where the sun doesn’t shine. No matter how tempting it might be. 

Especially when they offered her drinks and food that they had drugged in the hopes of getting her into their bed. Anything to secure a place within the Madrigal family. To them No wasn’t no, it was try harder.

Part of her was grateful that Abuela was arranging a marriage between her and Mariano. At least once she was married most of the unwanted attention would be off her. It almost would be worth it. Having no privacy with a man she hardly knew, sharing a bed with him… having children. She wasn’t dumb she knew that was what Abuela really wanted, children. Children who will get gifts and strengthen the Encanto. She had learned long ago that Alma Madrigal only cared about one thing—her Candle. 

She wouldn’t care or understand that marriage and what it entailed didn’t appeal to her in the least bit. Why in the world did a girl need to be married to be considered an adult? Why do men have to be the one that ‘Makes a woman out of you.’?

She was just fine just the way she was… for the most part, she could lose the frilly dresses that she couldn’t do anything in without any complaints. It would be nice to be able to grow something more than just roses and mayflowers and to have to keep a smile on her face at all times when she just wants to punch the men.

Isabela shook her head, no, she was not going to think about that. It would just make her more depressed and unhappy than she already was. What she needed to do was have something she could distract herself with. That was easy enough. She headed over to a wall covered in vines and brushed them away, revealing a bookcase with a small handful of books on it.

Isabela scanned the titles, her hand carefully hovering over each one. Now which one…  She thought, before stopping suddenly and pulling one off the shelf.

Alma glanced at the title, it was some sort of adventure, explorer book, with a picture of a young woman running out of an ancient ruin.

“This will do,” Isabela announced, “Let’s see…” an image formed of Isabela dressed very much like the woman on the cover of the book, long khaki pants, tan shirt, and short brim hat. The Isabela in her mind smiled as she wove through a thick Jungle, heading towards what was clearly an ancient temple site. This was it, the discovery of the year, no, her lifetime, no, the century, all time? Yes, that was it, this was going to be the discovery of all time… the ancient temple of… Isabela would have to ask Luisa what one of the ancient civilizations was called… just to complete the daydream.

As she got ready for the day, which involved a lot of practiced poses Isabela did seamlessly while she pictured herself fighting through thick undergrowth in some far-off jungle. Alma just stared in confusion, it was as if Isabela had split herself in two. One was doing the mundane day-to-day life, while the other explored a deep jungle.

“What’s happening here?” she demanded as Fantasy Isabela was chased by a jaguar.

Pedro appeared with a pop, “Coping mechanism, to help Isabela keep her perfect image that you stress about so much. That’s why she seems so out of it sometimes. She might be the proper princess you want her to be on the outside, but inside, she’s as feisty as ever.”

Being stuck as Isabela was confusing, as there were always two things to focus on at once, the daydream where Isabela was some sort of explorer, and what was going on in reality. Sometimes the Daydream would pause as she interacted with someone, or it would rewind starting over with a change in what Isabela would do. Sometimes it would jump forward to a different scene, and sometimes the two would merge into one, in reality, she does something prime and proper, while in her daydream she does something heroic and exciting.

Down below Isabela, Pepa was tornadoing the flowers, destroying the arrangement that she had made with just a flick of her hand, and very little thought. In her mind, she pictured herself swinging down on the vines like a wild man, landing next to her tia and tio, and announcing “Never fear, Isa is here,’ before turning those pretty flowers into more hardy plants that could withstand Pepa’s winds.

What she did do was lower herself gracefully down on her vines, ask if someone said flower, and then gracefully fix the flowers while accepting praise. She then turned around, running straight into Mirabel as she did so.

The daydream that had been running constantly in the back of her head all day so far suddenly disappeared at the sight of Mirabel. Isabela snapped at her angrily, as Mirabel yelled back at her, walking into a pillar as she wasn’t paying attention.

Isabela grimaced, wanting to go after Mirabel and apologize, it wasn’t Mirabel’s fault that her sudden appearance had thrown her out of her daydream. Mirabel had looked so hurt when she had yelled at her. Mirabel was gone already, and if Abuela saw her chasing after Mirabel, Mirabel would get a scolding for no reason at all, and that would just ruin the daydream for the rest of the day.

Besides, Mirabel was already in a fragile state of mind, she didn’t want to be the reason she got yelled at by Abuela. It just might be the thing that pushed Mirabel over the edge that she was so perilously perched on. She wished that there was something more that she could do for her, but the best thing she could do was stay away from her, remain perfect, and keep Abuela from Mirabel. She couldn’t do that if she stuck near her.

Alma blinked as the world froze around her, Pedro appeared beside her, “Why must Isabela avoid having a relationship with Mirabel to protect her from you?” he asked.

“I didn’t know about this,” Alma admitted.

“Communication is something that the whole family needs to work on,” Pedro agreed, “It isn’t right that the only way Isabela feels like she can protect her sister is to push her away. Even if she isn’t quite aware of what she is doing.”

…

Isabela took a deep breath as she focused on rebuilding the daydream world that had suddenly collapsed around her. Soon enough she was back in the jungle exploring ancient ruins as she continued on with her chores.

Nothing really interesting happened while Isabela finished up decorating, exploring the ancient temple in her mind. At one point Alma came up to her and scolded her for something. Isabela wasn’t even sure what it was, only that she wanted to storm out and leave Encanto and make Alma do it herself.

Alma frowned, did Isabela really just thought about running away?

“She did tell you that if Julieta hadn’t informed her that she was leaving and she was welcomed to come with her that she would have left the night of the failed proposal. Isabela’s been debating about leaving for years, she just finally had enough and you’re lucky that Julieta had enough before she could leave. The miracle, no matter how strong it is, would go out the moment that a member of la familia Madrigal leaves Encanto with no intentions to ever return.”

“I still don’t understand why she would want to leave, I’ve given her everything that she could possibly want.”

“If she has everything she ever wanted why does she spend her days daydreaming about a life away from Casita?”

“I don’t know.”

“Perhaps you’ll figure out what Isabela’s been missing in her life at the party,” Pedro said, as the room around them seemed to lurch forward, until they were suddenly in Antonio’s room, Isabela surrounded by multiple men ranging in ages from close to her parents age to her age.

With a pop the world started to move around Alma again as these men grab and talked in a way that was unseeming, yet Isabela bit her lip, thanked them for their compliments and tried to keep their hands off her as much as possible, all while in her head she was screaming that she had to get away, her hands balled up in tight fists as she pictured the men dangling at the end of her vines.

Isabela could never do that though, no matter how much they deserve it. Abuela would have her head, and what little privacy she has in her bedroom would no doubt be lost.

Maybe it was time for her to go through with her plan. She didn’t really know where she was going, but Tio Bruno was somewhere over the mountain. Surely he would help her get settled. Who knows, maybe out there, a man was waiting to sweep her off her feet, a man that she wouldn’t have a problem doing all of those weird stuff with. If not, well surely it was acceptable for a woman to be unmarried outside of Encanto. If not, maybe she’ll lie, claim to be a widow, after all it worked for Abuela for the past fifty years.

“I don’t understand, what is wrong with her?” Alma announced, “Who ever heard of a young woman who didn’t want to get married?”

Pedro shrugged, “Everyone is different, and Isabela is still young. Perhaps one day she’ll change her mind about how she feels about romantic relationships. Until then, forcing her to do something she is clearly not ready to do is only going to make it worse.”

Chapter Text

Alma blinked as she sat up in bed, the blankets rustling loudly in her ears. She groaned she was in Dolores’s body for the day, and she was not looking forward to it. Dolores sighed, pulling herself out of bed, today was not going to be a good day, with the fireworks and cheering and applauding giving her a migraine, and those males that think that they can pull one over her and get her in a compromised position so that they could wiggle their slimy way into La Familia Madrigal.

“What!” Alma exclaimed as she whirled Dolores's body around quickly to find Pedro behind her, “Why is she thinking about men putting her in a compromised situation?”

“Several young men, and not so young men, have been trying to get Isabela and Dolores in a compromised position so that they would have to marry them to save their reputation since they become of age.”

“What about Luisa, she’s of age… Is that what really happened between Tomas and Luisa?”

Pedro chuckled, “I’m glad to see that you are so concerned, I was starting to worry when you didn’t react to this when Isabela was dealing with it.”

“I… I… I… with Isabela, she was able to daydream so vividly, I thought she was just making up such nefarious accusations in her mind as an excuse to not get married. You know, all men are horrible people.”

“Well now you know that she wasn’t making it up,” Pedro announced, “And about your concern with Luisa, no one has tried to compromise her yet, I believe she intimidates them a little.”

Alma let out a sigh of relief, “When I get back to my body I’ll find Dolores a nice man, and tell Isabela that she will just have to grow up and marry Mariano, that would put an end to their scheming.”

“That would put an end to many things, the least of which is their scheming,” Pedro announced, “Isabela does not wish to marry, to force her to marry a man she does not love will drive her away. The same can be said about Dolores. If you want to help with this situation, you must take a stand against the villagers, and let them know in no uncertain terms that this behavior is unacceptable. You have allowed the villagers to get away with way too much if you ask me. You have allowed them to turn our children and grandchildren into tools, slaving away for their convenience. They don’t even see them as human beings anymore. They are more interested in what Luisa’s baby’s gift is going to be, and how they can use it, than they are in the fact that Luisa is pregnant.”

“I thought Luisa lost the baby?” Alma asked, puzzled.

“She was having twins,” Pedro announced, “she only lost one, but enough talking, we don’t have much time left, you need to go through Dolores, today.”

Alma rubbed Dolores’s ears, she heard that Mirabel had changed Dolores's gift, something she had been afraid to do, what if Dolores missed hearing something important? She didn’t want to find out what Dolores’s gift was like at full power.

Finally steeling herself for what she had to do, she allowed Dolores to open the door to her room.

The loud swamp of noise almost overwhelmed Alma, as Dolores let out a soft squeak and continued on her way.

With Dolores all it was was a cacophony of sounds, every once in a while she zoned in on something interesting, like right after breakfast she listened to Mirabel singing a song about La Familia Madrigal, and how the kids chased after her when she had sung about everyone but herself, demanding to know what her gift.

Alma winced as she heard the tone of voice she had used on Mirabel. She hadn’t meant to sound so cross. She was confused about why she was leading a herd of children to Casita.

Dolores wasn’t too happy to hear Abuela’s voice, especially when it was directed at Mirabel, too many times the sound of Abuela yelling at Mirabel had been followed by the sound of flesh smacking flesh. Mirabel had to deal with enough trauma today without having to deal with Abuela as well. Maybe she could distract Abuela a little bit.

Dolores hurried over to the door and poked her head out, “Mirabel didn’t get one,” she announced quickly before letting out a squeak, and ducking back inside as Abuela turned to face her.

“Dolores…”

“Osvaldo’s on his way, the flowers are done, and Tia’s starting on the food for the party,” Dolores interrupted, before letting out a squeak as she heard Osvaldo talking to Mirabel outside, announcing that he had given her a special, ‘The not special, special.’ There was a strain in Mirabel’s voice that Dolores, and therefore Abuela, knew that Mirabel was putting on a brave act as Osvaldo pretty much rubbed it in her face that she didn’t have a gift. 

Poor Mirabel…

Dolores shook her head and let out a small squeak, moving away from the door, she tipped her head toward Luisa. She had heard some weird things from Luisa recently, things that just didn’t make sense unless there was something more going on with her and Tomas Rivera than just pleasant conversation, nervous flirtation, and a couple of hesitant kisses here and there.

Luisa raced past her, the sound of fabric brushing against fabric, and the strange echo of a heartbeat coming from her abdomen.

Dolores had thought she had heard something the last couple of days, but Luisa’s chores usually kept her away from Dolores, and a second heartbeat was hard to hear this early on in pregnancy unless she was right next to the person. Like right now.

“Hey, Dolores, do you know where Abuela wants the Piano?” Luisa asked, setting down the piano beside her. Dolores frowned, let out a squeak, and glanced around, no one was in earshot, “She was over there when she called you,” she announced, gesturing, “You can ask her where she wants it.”

Luisa sighed, glancing at the piano, “I probably shouldn’t leave the piano in the middle of the walkway…” she said, groaning, Dolores could almost hear her whole body protest at the mere thought of moving the piano. 

Dolores squeaked, “Luisa…” she called out, before squeaking again as Luisa gave her a weird look, “It’s nothing, I just need your help with something once you’re done helping set up for the gift ceremony. Come find me when you have a minute.”

With that, Dolores rushed away right as Alma showed up to instruct Luisa where she needed to put the musical instrument.

Alma frowned, she had been aware that the whole family knew about Luisa’s pregnancy, which led to her rushed marriage to Tomas, however, she had not been aware that Dolores had known before the whole fallout started. Why hadn’t Dolores told her about this development?

“What would you have done had Dolores come to you, telling you that Luisa was pregnant outside of wedlock?” Pedro demanded.

“I would have…” Alma frowned, thinking about it, “Forced her to marry Tomas, just like Julieta did. Just to salvage our reputation.”

“Julieta didn’t force Luisa to marry Tomas,” Pedro pointed out, “Luisa and Tomas wanted to wed, the only thing standing in their way was you.”

“Well, you have to admit that there are better men here in the Encanto than Tomas, right?”

Pedro raised an eyebrow, “You mean the men that are trying to drug Dolores and Isabela so that you’ll force them to marry them?”

Alma deflated, “Okay you have a point,” she admitted as she allowed time to continue its endless march.

…

“Hey, Dolores,” an angry voice called out as a man that Alma didn’t know, as he tended to keep to himself, “What happened yesterday, I called for help and you never showed up. I needed you and your Tia.”

Dolores shook her head, trying to remember if she had heard this man’s voice yesterday, calling for her. She couldn’t remember, “I’m sorry, sometimes, with hearing everything all the time, you can’t always pick out individual conversations, I must not have heard you.”

“But that’s your job, it’s all you are good at, and apparently you aren’t that good at it anyway. What good is having the ability to hear everything if you can’t help a person out when they need it?”

“I’m sorry, I’ll try better but if I can’t make out what you’re saying, I can’t help really.”

Alma frowned, come to think of it, everything Dolores was hearing was a steady buzz of overlapping noises, the only time something made sense was if she was listening for it, or they were right next to her. How often had she missed something because of the background noise?

“At least we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Pedro announced, “Mirabel fixed her gift.”

“Yes, but now she won’t be able to hear anyone yelling for help,” Alma insisted.

“Actually, Mirabel thought of that when she adjusted Dolores’s gift,” Pedro announced, “If someone calls her name, I think it’s twice in a row, maybe three times, her hearing automatically turns on, and tunes into whoever is calling for her.”

“Huh,” Alma said, “That’s actually pretty clever of Mirabel,” she admitted.

Pedro smirked, “That’s the first nice thing you’ve said about Mirabel since her gift ceremony,” he announced, “I might just get through to you.”

…

It was almost time for the gift ceremony to start when Luisa approached Dolores, “You wanted my help with something?” she asked her eye twitching, “Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, but I’ve been busy.”

“I understand,” Dolores whispered, “Let’s go to my room, I’ll explain there.”

After allowing Luisa into her room, she closed the door, letting out a sigh of relief as the quiet washed over her before she let out a couple of squeaks.

“Are you okay?” Luisa asked nervously.

“Si,” Dolores announced, “I’m fine,” she insisted with yet another squeak.

“Okay,” Luisa said slowly, “What did you want my help with?”

“Oh yeah,” Dolores said, “Well, you see, you know how I can miss stuff sometimes, in all the noise?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I might have missed something important with you,” Dolores confessed, “I mean, the only person of the opposite gender you’ve ever hung around with is Tomas Rivera, and he’s always been the perfect gentleman, and you’re always home before curfew, so I don’t understand how you could be… but I know that you are?”

“Dolores, what are you talking about?” Luisa demanded.

Dolores took a deep breath squeaked softly, and announced quickly, “You’re pregnant Luisa, I can hear the heartbeat, but I don’t know who the father is, or if you were hurt or not… were you?”

Luisa blinked, placing a large hand over her stomach, “Are you sure?”

“Si.”

Luisa’s face drained of color, “Abuela’s going to kill me,” she exclaimed, “She’ll yell at me in front of everyone, I just know it. I can’t handle that.”

Dolores placed a hand on her prima’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay,” she insisted, “We’ll figure this out. Once things calm down, we’ll tell Tia, she’ll know what to do. She always does,” She trailed off for a second,  before finally asking, “Luisa, do you know who the father is?”

“Tomas Rivera,” Luisa confessed, “I’ve snuck him into Casita a few times after you’ve gone to bed.”

Chapter Text

Alma grimaced as the music started up, pounding inside Dolores’s head. She was already ready to head into Dolores’s room. The noise was overwhelming. Dolores was holding her hands just over her ears, letting them hover there, ready to press her hands on her ears if it got too noisy for her. Alma was surprised to realize that Dolores wanted to leave the party before it started but didn’t move because she knew that Abuela would scold her for leaving the party early and not supporting her brother's gift ceremony.

There was so much noise that it was all overlapping in Dolores’s ears. She could hear a hundred whispers that didn’t make any sense, that only got louder when Antonio just stood at the end of the path, frozen in fear. It turned into a roar when Mirabel tentatively stepped out, took his hand, and led him to his door. 

By the time Alma announced that they had a new gift, dark spots were appearing in Dolores’s visions, but she still participated in the family picture and stayed, curled up in a corner where it was somewhat quieter, until after Mirabel ran into the room, yelling about the cracks. Dolores’s vision faded to black for a second, before returning to normal, although with large spots missing.

Felix appeared next to her, murmuring softly in her ear, “Abuela won’t notice if you leave now. You should head to your room before your migraine gets any worse. You’ll be too sick to do anything for a week if you don’t take care of yourself now.”

Dolores didn’t say anything, just nodded and headed out the door the world spinning around her. All she was aware of was the pain in her head and the way Casita’s tiles moved underneath her feet. Soon she was closing the door to her room, allowing the silence to wash over her, and the room went dark.

…

Alma gasped as she looked around, Had Dolores passed out, what had happened, she couldn’t feel anything!

“She fainted from the pain,” Pedro admitted, “She’ll wake up soon and go to bed. There’s nothing else to see here.”

“Her vision went black for a while, what was that?”

“She gets blinding migraines a lot because of her gift,” Pedro announced, “Not that you care about that. She hasn’t had to worry about migraines since Mirabel fixed her gift.”

“Oh,” Alma exclaimed, rubbing her head. She was still sure she could feel the sounds pounding against her skull as the world went dark on her again.

…

The next time Alma came too, her whole body was screaming in protest as she sat up. Her stomach churning as her legs and arms screamed in protest, it took all of her willpower not to throw up right then and there. 

Alma slowly rose herself to her feet, or more accurately to Luisa’s feet, where the whole world spun in protest to her sudden movement.

If Alma thought Julieta was tired, Luisa was simply exhausted. It was a battle to get her limbs to move correctly just to get ready for the day. It didn’t help that Luisa was lightheaded, and kept nearly passing out on her as well.

Alma frowned, picturing the list of chores that Luisa had done that day. How had she been able to get everything done in her condition, especially since she was dealing with such bad morning sickness? How did she do it?

After Luisa got dressed for the day, she lumbered downstairs to breakfast. Normally she worked out before breakfast, but her lightheadedness and queasy stomach made her skip it. If she ended up passing out before breakfast, Mama would force her to stay home and Abuela would gripe about all of the chores she hadn’t done. Maybe if she started her chores early and get them done before everyone else was up to add to it then she could head home and Abuela wouldn’t care. It wouldn’t be her fault that she got done early and headed home… Then again, what if someone really needed her? She needed to be in town just in case. Sure Dolores could fetch her, but that wasn’t really for to Dolores… Besides, if she headed back to Casita she wouldn’t be able to see Tomas and Sofia until the party, and she doubted that they would be able to hang out during it. Not without everyone getting suspicious about what was going on between them. The last thing she needed was for her relationship with Tomas to be in public view like Isabela’s courtship with Mariano. And that was if Abuela didn’t forbid her from ever seeing Tomas again, or worse, banish Tomas for threatening to sully her reputation. Tomas was an amazing guy or had made some poor choices when it came to love when he was younger. If only Abuela would be willing to give him a chance. If only the reverend would just wed them without permission. If only there was someone else to wed them that wouldn’t mean leaving Encanto and her family or anyone else.

Luisa downed a cup of coffee in two large gulps, not even bothering to add any cream and sugar, before rushing out the door with an arepa in her hand. Was that really all she was going to eat for breakfast? A single arepa?

Alma didn’t really have time to think after that, Luisa was just too exhausted to do more than whatever task she was given. First, she moved the church, then she gathered up the donkeys, pushed two buildings back onto their foundations, rerouted the river, moved the church again, and gathered up the donkeys a second time.

The world was already spinning steadily around Alma as Luisa made her way through the crowd, still hearing her name being called out every once in a while, but Luisa couldn’t hear the requests, Alma could barely register that the person was talking to her. Soon she slipped into an alleyway and slumped against the wall of the diner. For a second the world went back.

The scent of fresh bunuelos caused Alma to slowly crack open her eyes. A tall, handsome man with light brown hair and dazzling blue eyes was shaking her, “Luisa, Luisa, hey, you need to wake up.”

“Lulu, get up! It no nap time!” a young toddler girl insisted, peering up at Luisa in concern.

Luisa cracked a half smile, “I’m awake,” she insisted, her voice sounding garbled even to Alma’s ears.

“Good,” Tomas insisted, thrusting a small basket with five bunuelos in it in her hand, “Now eat that.”

“Oh no Tomas, I’m fine.”

“Luisa, I stepped out here to find you passed out in the alleyway like some drunk,” Tomas pointed out, “How many times do I have to tell you? You need to take care of yourself. You’re working too hard. It’s okay to tell someone no or ask others to help you, you know. You don’t want to end up like John Henry do you?”

Alma was confused about who John Henry was, but Luisa seemed to get the reference, for she protested, “John Henry is just a folk legend from Los Estados Unidos. I highly doubt that he actually died from overworking.”

“Maybe so, but I don’t want to find out the hard way,” Tomas insisted, “Especially not with you,” he gently pressed his lips against her forehead, causing Luisa’s heart to flutter softly and a warm glow to fill her. She loved Tomas so much. He was probably the only one in the whole Encanto that saw her as a Woman. Mama and Papa still saw her as their little girl, and the rest of the town only saw her as a means to carry heavy things.

“Now eat,” Tomas insisted, “I’m going to go dish you up some of today’s special and get you something to drink, and you better still be here when I get back or I’ll get your madre.”

Luisa rolled her eyes, it was fine, she was fine, everything was fine, Tomas was just worrying over nothing… Although it was nice to have someone who worried about her.

“Sofia, you keep Lulu company, okay?” Tomas ordered, “I’ll be right back.”

The young toddler nodded, giving Luisa a steady look before climbing up onto her lap, sticking her thumb in her mouth, and settling down.

“You aren’t planning to move anytime soon are you?” Luisa asked, glancing at the little girl.

“No,” the girl said through her thumb.

Luisa knew that she could easily remove Sofia from her lap, but she was tired, and the bunuelos had reminded her of just how hungry she truly was. Besides, she needed to pick up the drinks anyway. She could just tell Abuela that the drinks took longer to pick up. Abuela didn’t need to know about her little break, and hopefully, Dolores was busy focusing on something else and wouldn’t notice that she was sluffing off.

“Why in the world would Luisa need to hide the fact that she needed to take a break? She worked through lunch! And didn’t have Breakfast! This is wrong in so many ways,” Pedro pointed out.

“I know,” Alma admitted, “I was worried that Luisa was going to pass out earlier. What if she had passed out when she was carrying the church? The church could have crushed her.”

“She really shouldn’t be working in her condition. You know, I think the reason that she lost the baby was because she put so much strain on her body that it couldn’t keep up with the demand on it to keep both babies alive,” Pedro insisted, “She probably wouldn’t have been able to carry any pregnancy full term with the schedule you gave her.”

Alma frowned but didn’t say anything, as Luisa finished eating and then carried several barrels of drink back to Casita. Once there Luisa set them down, and at a call from Alma, raced upstairs to get the piano in position.

Luisa sat the heavy instrument down, “Hey Dolores,” she called out, making eye contact with her older cousin, “Do you know where Abuela wants the Piano?”

Dolores let out one of her squeaks, her eyes wandering around, before she vaguely gestured behind Luisa, “She was over there when she called you,” she offered, a strange look on her face as she tilted her head to one side, “You can ask her where she wants it.”

Luisa glanced at the piano, her arms screaming at the mere thought of picking it up, “I probably shouldn’t leave the piano in the middle of the walkway…”

“Luisa,” Dolores squeaked, causing Luisa to give her a weird look, but Dolores just shook her head, “It’s nothing, I just need your help with something once you’re done helping set up for the gift ceremony. Come find me when you have a minute.”

…

The next hour and a half was spent running around, rearranging the furniture for the party. Finally, about a half hour before the party was to start, Luisa found Dolores again, “ “You wanted my help with something?” she asked as her eye twitched, she was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, and there was still the party to attend, “Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier, but I’ve been busy.”

“I understand,” Dolores whispered, “Let’s go to my room, I’ll explain there.”

With that Dolores led Luisa into her soundproof door, letting out a couple of squeaks as she shut the door behind them.

“Are you okay?” Luisa asked nervously, Dolores’s squeaking always got worse when she was upset or nervous.

“Si, I’m fine,” she insisted with yet another squeak.

“Okay,” Luisa asked slowly, “What did you want my help with?” Had Dolores heard her with Tomas today? Had she found out about her sneaking him into the house?

“Oh yeah,” Dolores said, “Well, you see, you know how I can miss stuff sometimes, in all the noise?” 

“Yeah?” This was obviously about Tomas, not good, not good at all.

“I think I might have missed something important with you,” Dolores confessed, “I mean, the only person of the opposite gender you’ve ever hung around with is Tomas Rivera, and he’s always been the perfect gentleman, and you’re always home before curfew, so I don’t understand how you could be… but I know that you are?”

“Dolores, what are you talking about?” Luisa demanded, Dolores didn’t know about Tomas, but there was something else bothering her. Something that might have to do with her relationship with him.

Dolores took a deep breath, squeaked softly, and announced quickly, “You’re pregnant Luisa, I can hear the heartbeat, but I don’t know who the father is, or if you were hurt or not… were you?”

Luisa blinked, placing a large hand over her stomach, “Are you sure?” A baby, a real live baby, a symbol of the love and commitment she shared with Tomas. She couldn’t wait to be a mother.

“Si.”

Luisa’s face drained of color as a new thought popped into her mind, “Abuela’s going to kill me,” she exclaimed, “She’ll yell at me in front of everyone, I just know it. I can’t handle that.”

Dolores placed a hand on her prima’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay,” she insisted, “We’ll figure this out. Once things calm down, we’ll tell Tia, she’ll know what to do. She always does,” She trailed off for a second, looking as if she was debating asking something or not, before finally asking, “Luisa, do you know who the father is?”

“Tomas Rivera,” Luisa confessed, “I’ve snuck him into Casita a few times after you’ve gone to bed.”

Chapter Text

Alma snorted, "I can't believe she'll actually admit to sneaking him into my home like that."

Pedro pursed his lips, frowning, an idea forming in his mind, "You know what," he announced, "I don't think this is the best day to show you for Luisa after all… Yes, of course, we need a moment you can relate to… where she isn't so numb with exhaustion," Pedro smiled, "I know just the day," he announced, snapping his fingers.
There was a lurch and Alma felt herself being pulled sideways into a whirlwind of colors. Then with another lurch, everything settled down, only… only everything looked weird, like two separate images overlaid each other.

"What's going on?" Alma asked, honestly, a little unnerved by the double image.

"Oh, you've seen Antonio's gift ceremony multiple times," Pedro said with a shrug, "But this, this idea might help you understand Luisa a lot better than seeing her at the party will. Tell me, do you recognize the two scenes here?"

Alma frowned, staring at the scenes, it was obvious that the two scenes overlapped, one was more solid than the other. They were inside in both scenes, in a place like a church, the pews almost lined up exactly. The people on the benches were completely different, while the more solid scene had people of the Encanto filling every available seat… the whisps of the other scene only had a handful seating on the front few rows.

She recognized that handful as being the close friends that had attended her and Pedro's wedding.

"You're right," Pedro announced, "That is our wedding, and the second scene is Luisa's. There is so many things that are different."

"Well, different churches, to begin with," Alma pointed out, "and different priests and guests."

"Yes, it seems like Luisa had a lot more family and friends at her's. Why do you think that is?"

"We were nobodies back then," Alma protested, "La Familia Madrigal is a very prestigious family now a days, I would be surprised if someone didn't show up. Even if the wedding is a farce."

"You didn't show up," Pedro pointed out, "And there seems to be a strange absence of family at our own wedding."

"Well, my family didn't actually approve of you. They were well to do and you were a street musician."

"Just like you didn't approve of Tomas," Pedro nodded, as the scene leaped forward. Agustin was walking Luisa down the aisle, and overlaid over Luisa was Alma herself, "Remember how you felt right at this moment when we saw each other. As you walked down that aisle to start a new life with me? How magical that felt. Knowing that out of everybody in the world, we chose each other to spend the rest of our lives together with."

Alma smiled softly, "I've forgotten, it was so hard to think about… but that was one of my happiest days of my life."

"Your parents didn't approve, yet you married me anyway."

"Of course, I loved you."

"Then why in the world did you try to do the same thing your parents tried to do with you with Luisa?"

Alma frowned, "I don't know… I mean what if it doesn't work out?"

"And what if it does? Doesn't our nieta deserve a chance to share what we have with the man she loves? Take a closer look at the two scenes, what do you notice that's the same?"

Pedro gestured to where the groom stood. Alma glanced towards Tomas with the overlay of Pedro over him. The answer was obvious, "Tomas looks at Luisa just like you looked at me."

"I chose Tomas for Luisa," Pedro admitted, "and while I let them do things on their own, I know that they are meant to be together, just like we were."

Alma frowned, "You really picked Tomas for Luisa?" She asked.

Pedro shrugged, "Well," he said, "I had my hopes, but it was up to Tomas and Luisa if it would work out. I'm glad it did, they'll have a long happy life together… hopefully."

"We should have had a long happy life together," Alma protested, "And that was robbed from us."

"That does not give you the right to take that happiness from someone else. Doing that would make you just as bad as the men that drove us out of our home and killed me."

Alma gasped, her legs buckling beneath her, random thoughts, snippets of conversations flooded her mind.
Around her there was a whirlwind of colors and then everything settled down again.

Alma blinked, she was back in the nursery of the new Casita. She glanced over at Pedro.

He shrugged and smiled softly, "I felt like you might want to have some time to process what just happened and everything you've seen. I know that it's a lot to comprehend.

"I just wanted to protect them," Alma protested, "I wanted to keep the miracle burning, just want to shield them, protect them from the pain of losing a loved one, of being driven from our home. I didn't realize that I was denying them, denying Luisa the chance to have a happy life."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Pedro demanded.

"I don't know, I did so much wrong, I don't know how to fix it."

Pedro nodded, "All you can do is take it one day at a time." He admitted, "So are you ready to keep going, or would you like a little longer?"

…
Julieta smiled as she bustled around the kitchen, tonight was a night of celebration after all. Sure Luisa had lost a baby, but Dolores and Mirabel both believe that Luisa got pregnant again while already pregnant. She was still expecting. A little boy that, according to Bruno's vision, would be born on Mirabel's sixteenth birthday.

The whole family was going to come over to celebrate the anticipated new arrival, and Julieta could not wait. Perhaps a little bit of her mother had rubbed off on her, she loved celebrating every single milestone, but unlike her mother, she wasn't going to invite the whole Encanto to celebrate just yet. They'll have a party for them when Luisa is further along… Maybe, if she wants a big baby shower, if not, well, they'll keep it small.
Bruno entered the kitchen, Panzy balanced on one shoulder, and a handful of rats on the other.

"Bruno Jose Madrigal, why in the world would you bring those rats into my kitchen," she scowled, grabbing her broom.

"Relax Juli, you know that my rats are perfectly clean, besides we are just getting some food," Bruno insisted, as he somehow managed to open the icebox door and pull out the bottle of goat's milk kept there while the rats kept balance on his shoulder.

Julieta immediately grabbed the glass bottle from him, "Here,"she insisted, "Let me, we don't want you to drop the baby," she pulled out a smaller bottle, poured some of the milk into it, and set it into a pan of water to heat. She then reached into a cupboard and pulled out a bag that had a picture of a rat on it and sat it down on the cupboard, "Okay, I'll take Panzy, you feed your rats," she ordered.

Bruno mockingly saluted her, handing her the small bundle without disturbing the rats, who must be used to him moving about all the time.

He then threw a handful of salt over his shoulder, produced a beat up old dish from his rauna pocket, and filled it to the brim with food.

Julieta watched with a stern look as he carefully placed the dish of food onto the floor, in a corner where there was a small mat and Amorcita's food dish and water bowl.

Rats seem to emerge from all over Bruno, some popped up in his hair, more poured out of his rauna and trouser pockets.

Julieta shook her head, as she carefully lifted the bottle out of the water bath and managed to screw the nipple on all while still holding Panzy, watching as two dozen rats emerged from her younger brother and the plate of food turned into a spasming pile of fur, "How do you manage to take care of so many rats and a baby by yourself?" she asked.

Bruno shrugged, "I don't," he confessed, taking the baby and bottle from his sister, "I have you and Pepa, and the rest of the family helping."

A low rumbling hiss caused both adults to look down, Bruno shifting Panzy so that he could feed her. Little Amorcita had wandered into the kitchen to discover several rats drinking out of her water dish, and she was not happy. Her hackles rose upward as her back arches, the little kitten suddenly twice her size.

"Mirabel!" Bruno called out in alarm, if Amorcita tried to attack his rats it would not end well for the kitten, "Come get Amorcita quickly! We don't want her attacking my rats. Their teeth are sharp."

Mirabel came racing in with Sofia in her arms, "Hi," she said, setting the toddler down, "Sorry, Luisa and Tomas just got here." She explained, placing Sofia on the ground and picking up the kitten, who forgot all about the invaders in her water bowl, "And Tia, her family, and Isabela should be here any minute."

"That's good," Julieta said, "Rosita should be able to keep Amorcita occupied so she won't try to attack your Tio's rats."

"I don't know, plantimal or not, Rosita is a cat and cats can be territorial. As we just saw demonstrated by Amorcita here."

"Oh, should I put her in my room while Isabela is here?"

Julieta shook her head, "No," she insisted, "Just keep a close eye on her, and have Isa do the same. Once they get used to each other, they could very well become friends."

"And I'll keep a close eye on my rats," Bruno announced, "between Parce, Rosita, Hector, and Amorcita, they'll out number them."

Just then there was a loud yelp, and Hector came running into the kitchen, yipping happily as he sniffed the rats, Bruno, Julieta, and Mirabel, his little leaf tail wagging furiously.

"Hola Hector," Julieta said, unphased by his sudden appearance, "Hola Isa," she called out into the main room, "We're in the kitchen."

Isabela stuck her head into the room, "Hector, come here boy," she called, before glancing at the rats, and shook her head, "Your kitchen is starting to look like Antonio's room," she announced with a twinkle in her eyes, "What happened to no animals in your kitchen?"

As long as they don't get on the table they're fine. It's called compromising, something your Abuela is unable to do."

Chapter Text

Alma blinked her eyes open as her stomach growled, she was inside Camilo's body. She groaned as she thought about what she had learned so far. What had she put Camilo through? What had she done to him to make his life miserable and make him hate her like everyone else.
She sat up slowly, her stomach rumbling and gurgling loudly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you," Camilo muttered, swinging his feet down onto the floor, before standing up.
He swayed slightly, the room tilting shiftly. He grabbed hold of his bed to steady himself, before moving downstairs.
He didn't seem to have much strength to carry himself downstairs, but eventually he made it to the kitchen where he grabbed an arepa, after making sure that no one was watching.
The rumbling in his stomach calmed down some but didn't stop. He then quickly sat down next to Mirabel.
Alma could tell when he dished up his plate, that he could easily serve himself twice as much as he did. Looking into his memories, she realized that she had scolded him for taking too much food multiple times in the past.
Camilo polished off his plate of food in mere seconds, and helped himself to several things from Mirabel's plate as well. Yet he was still hungry.
And then it came time to do chores.
…
Camilo headed into town, Mirabel right on his heels. Several children ran around Camilo before begging Mirabel to play with them. Mirabel glanced around, looking for something or someone, before agreeing.
Mirabel led the kids away, singing and cheering with excitement, and a young parent came over, "The baby won't sleep, I'm exhausted, turn into me and tend to the baby while I take a break."
Alma frowned, she hadn't even said please or thank you, she had just demanded him to help out. Had that happened with the others? She couldn't recall it happening, but perhaps she wasn't paying attention, or the others hadn't really cared about the rudeness.
Camilo, however, took offense, not that he did anything about it, just grumbled about the fact that she could have said please, and took the baby.
"You need to transform," the woman snapped, "He'll get fussy if anyone but me holds him," she insisted.
Camilo rolled his eyes, the kid can tell that I'm not you anyway, he thought grumpily, as he turned into her.
Almost immediately, Camilo's stomach grumbled loudly, and the baby immediately started to fuss.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Camilo muttered, "I know that I don't know how to hold you, and I don't sound, or smell like your mom. All I do is look like your mom, and I know that you can tell the difference. I wish the adults could."
As soon as the mom was not going to return anytime soon, Camilo shapeshifted back into himself, knowing perfectly well that if he stayed in someone else's form too long, he would pass out from hunger and it was still a long time until lunch.
Alma was alarmed at that information. She had thought that he was just being lazy when he refused to maintain a form. She hadn't realized that it was that taxing on him.
Camilo's stomach growled and rumbled, begging him to feed it again despite it having only been a few minutes, half an hour at least, since breakfast.
The baby screamed and squawked at him, nothing he did was making a difference, the baby felt awkward in his arms. If only Mirabel was here, she was great with children. She'll know how to calm the baby down.
It took about two hours before the mom reappeared, huffing and complaining that he wasn't shifted into her, and took the fussy baby, complaining that he was still fussy.
What was this woman expecting? That someone else who looked like her might manage to do something she couldn't do?
Camilo left the house, his knees weak, as he glanced around, he still had an hour until lunch, and if he didn't eat soon, he'll get sick.
He was starting to feel nauseous already. He quickly pulled out his wallet and peered inside, he didn't really have anything left from his stripen. Not enough to last until the next payday, at least.
His stomach churned, and Camilo swayed slightly, leaning up against a wall for support.
Alma frowned, this, this wasn't normal. Camilo was acting as if he hadn't eaten all day, he felt like he hadn't eaten in days. This was not him being dramatic… perhaps when she woke up, she could make arrangements for him to eat more often. Perhaps those who hire him can provide him with a snack. Or maybe Mirabel can change his gift so it won't take so much energy to shapeshift.
They'll figure something out, now that she realized that it really was a problem.
Camilo didn't have enough money to pay for a snack, nor did he have enough strength to make it back to Casita. He eyed a fruit stand across the street.
Alma gasped as she realized what Camilo was considering. Had he really taken to thievery to provide himself enough food to just get through the day.
She'll have to make sure that Camilo has enough food on him, or money to buy the food he needed for the day.
"I'm glad to see that you are actually trying to figure out a way to fix this." Pedro confessed.
Alma nodded, "I'm learning," she confessed.
…
After babysitting, Camilo made his way to Casita to help get ready for the gift ceremony. However, so many people were running around, helping, that nobody even noticed the teen until.
"We need another Jose," Alma heard herself say. No please, no thank you, no Camilo would you mind. No wonder the villagers treated her family as tools, they were just following her example.
…
For the most part Camilo didn't do much to help. It was like he was invisible unless they needed two of someone. Alma found her heart aching for Camilo.
And then he found Pepa, collapsed against a wall, clutching her heart. Panic filled the boy as Pepa's face turned a gray color.
"Mami," Camilo whispered, there was no response, "Lolo, Mami's having a heart attack," he called out fear and concern in his voice as he rushed away from his mother, his whole focus on getting her some of Tia's food.
He rushed over and grabbed an arepa from a plate on a large table that was waiting to be moved into Antonio's room after he got his gift.
"Camilo, what have I told you about sneaking food?"
Alma grimaced at how cold and uncaring she sounded, Pepa was mere feet away possibly dying and she was scolding Camilo.
"It's not for me," Camilo snapped back, "Even if it was, maybe I needed healing. Why can't you think about what Tia's food is used for before yelling at me, he thought bitterly.
Camilo rushed back to Pepa, Dolores, and Felix on his heels.
It took a while, but Pepa's face returned to a normal color, though she was a bit paler than normal.
How in the world had she not noticed how much paler she was at the party?
…
After Pepa's heart attack scare, nothing much seemed to happen during the gift ceremony. They took the picture, and then Camilo gorged himself on any and everything he could while everyone else was busy celebrating. It was amazing about how much food it took for Camilo to actually feel full.
She needed to make sure that he had enough to eat, and do something about the babysitting problem. Camilo obviously wasn't that great with young children. That was fine, everyone had their strength. In fact, didn't he once say that Mirabel was a better babysitter. Perhaps she could help him out… but she had her apprenticeship at the dress shop now, and she was pretty sure that Mirabel was enjoying it.

Chapter Text

As Camilo climbed into bed, Alma worried about what she would discover when she experienced Mirabel the next day. Just how bad would it be? She knew that Mirabel had been suicidal but how bad was it really?

She didn't really have much time to think about it, though, because the very next thing she knew she was waking up again, she wasn't even sure she had fallen asleep to begin with.

Her back aches, and something poked her in the back. She shifted, her back protesting. It was morning again. She hadn't slept at all the night before, her bed was just too uncomfortable. She would rather sleep on the couch in the living room, but Abuela had yelled at her, telling her that the living room was not a bedroom and she should stop trying to use it as one. The nursery wasn't much of a bedroom either, Antonio's parents came in at all hours without knocking. Antonio use to keep her up at night, and she just wanted some space of her own. For once in her life.

She sighed loudly, sitting up slowly, laying in bed will only make Abuela yell at her more. She needed to get up and make her family proud.

Hah, as if that was going to happen. The only way she'll make her Abuela proud was if she suddenly sprouted wings or something.

She sighed, it honestly would be better if she just died. No one would miss her, not really. Except for Luisa, and possibly her parents and Antonio. But Luisa was busy with Tomas, and Antonio was going to forget about her like everyone else once he got his gift. And her parents? They would probably be happier if they didn't have to spend so much time worrying about her.
Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't been born. Then no one would even miss her and Abuela could have her perfect family.

Mirabel sighed, grabbing her bag, "Make my family proud!" She announced proudly, as inside she died a little.

Alma was alarmed at how much of a mask Mirabel was actually wearing. She always seemed so happy, but the only reason she did that was because if she didn't appear happy, her parents would worry and Abuela would 'give her something to actually complain about.'

Mirabel skipped downstairs, saluting the portrait of Pedro on her way down. At least Abuelo didn't tell her to shut up or be quiet or go bother somebody else. Luisa was great… really she was, but she was also busy. So when she couldn't talk to her, she would talk to Abuelo. At least he had a listening ear.

…
At breakfast, Mirabel did not join in the family cheer, only moving her cup and mouth to make it look like she was, and then, instead of eating she carefully moved what food Camilo didn't steal onto Camilo's plate. That was alarming, Camilo didn't seem to realize that he was eating Mirabel's share of breakfast as well. He had still been hungry afterwards. How long and how often had Mirabel been secretly giving Camilo his food? Was that why Mirabel was so small and thin? She had always assumed it was genetics, but was it really malnourishment?

Then, as soon as she could, she fled into town, eager to get away from Casita, and more importantly Abuela and Isabela.

Sure a bunch of the villagers were cruel to her and made Isabela look perfect, but she could avoid them better than she could avoid Isa when both were in Casita.

As soon as she made the center of town little kids swarmed her. They absolutely love her, but that was mainly because they didn't understand just how different she was.

Today they were all wound up, excited about the gift ceremony later that night. They were all talking over each other as they demanded answers. Mirabel lit up, at least these kids didn't care that she didn't have a gift, and led them to their family mural.

There she started by pointing to Alma's picture, "Alma's the one in charge," she said, her voice bright and cheerful, a happy exterior, but inside, inside Mirabel just felt empty. All of the others felt something, mostly stress and exhaustion, but they felt something. Mirabel was void of most emotions… It was unnerving to say the least.

"Tia Pepa's mood controls the weather," Mirabel explained, again with that smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "and Tio Bruno could see the future but one day he disappeared, no ones seen him in years," there was a small twinge of emotion with that, something almost like Envy, like she wished she could just disappear like he did.

"Then there's my Mama, Julieta," now she could feel some emotions, complicated ones. Love, she really loved Julieta, but she felt guilty about something to do with her as well, "She can heal you with her food."

"Notice something about the way she was talking just now?" Pedro asked.

Alma nodded her head, "She called Julieta Mama, Pepa Tia, and Bruno Tio, but she just called me by my name, she didn't call me Abuela."

"She doesn't view you as family," Pedro pointed out, "Not fully anyway."

"I don't really blame her, I've been colder to her than the rest of the family, and I've been truly horrible to them."

Time, which had frozen while Alma and Pedro talked, resumed its march with Mirabel briefly touching on her father, Tio Felix and her primos, before turning to her sisters. That really surprised Alma. While she was talking about Isabela, she could feel the faint stirrings of fear as she talked of Isabela, even the sense of sarcasm and irony as she described her as perfect. With Luisa she felt more at ease, more comfortable.

Then the kids asked what her gift was, and Mirabel froze, while she pictured the kids laughing at her and calling her horrible names if she answered. Worse, several adults who had been listening egged her on, begging her to answer the question, even though they knew the answer. They hounded her all the way back to Casita, and only stopped after Alma's own body stepped out of Casita and yelled, not at those harassing Mirabel, but at Mirabel herself.

Alma flinched, next time something like this happened, she was going to make sure that she knew what was actually going on before yelling at anyone. None of this had been Mirabel's fault, and the adults should have known better.

Dolores stuck her head out the door, telling everyone that Mirabel didn't get a gift.

Alma mentally braced herself for the fallout, as one little kid asked, "You didn't get a gift?"

"I'll be really, really sad if I were you," another insisted.

"Well I'm not," Mirabel insisted, I just wish I was never born most days, but I wouldn't call that sad, it's more emptiness than anything, "Truth is gift or no gift, I'm just as special as the rest of my family," yeah right, pig droppings are more special than she was.

"Maybe your gift is denial?" Another little girl asked.

Nope, pretty sure that's Pa's and Mama's, they're the only ones who actually think I'm something more than a waste of space.

Alma flinched, the others had had their issues, but… Mirabel, honest to goodness, wished she hadn't been born. She always seemed so happy and full of life. Yet beneath that mask, Mirabel was just going through the motions. At least the others had hopes and dreams.

The only thing Mirabel was hoping for was that she'll leave her alone that day. A hope she had already destroyed.

Then Osvaldo arrived, with his not special special, and he seemed so proud of it, as if mocking Mirabel for not having a gift was not only acceptable but a polite thing to do.

She was going to have words with him once she woke up, she thought as Mirabel grabbed the basket, all too certain that Osvaldo had been right about her not being special.

The basket was heavy, Mirabel had to strain to carry it, and it was so laden with stuff that she couldn't really see where she was going.

It really was no wonder that she ended up running into Isabela, who snapped, "You wouldn't always be in the way if you weren't trying so hard."

Isa flickered her hair over her shoulder, slapping Mira with it and forcing her to have to cough up a few stray petals.

Surely Isabela had better control than that.

Mirabel turned around and promptly walked smack into a pillar, causing one of the pinwheels to cut her lip.

She took a step back, just as Alma called from the balcony, "Luisa, the piano goes upstairs."

Alma winced, she remembered that. Luisa had been so busy, so really should have got her some help.

Luisa brushed by with barely an acknowledgement, and Mirabel finally made it to the kitchen.

Maybe Isa was right and I am trying too hard.

Alma smiled as she spotted Julieta, who immediately started to fuss over Mirabel. That smile quickly turned into a frown when she realized that Mirabel was taking everything Julieta was saying and twisting it around, making it a scolding about how worthless she was.

Then Agustin showed up, and he started to talk to her, which only made Mirabel more miserable. She could tell that her father meant well, but instead of making her feel better he had somehow been able to twist the situation around so that he could talk about how unwelcomed he felt in the family. Alma was going to have to learn more about that once she was back in her body, she obviously hadn't just hurt her children but their husbands as well.

…
Mirabel carefully pulled out the candle holders she had made for the special night, setting them out in front of each of the special doors. She had even made one for Bruno and Antonio, the only member of the family she hadn't made one for was herself.

She was straightening out the last one, when Alma appeared behind her. She had been so focused on the task at hand that she hadn't even noticed that she had approached.

What happened afterwards was really Alma's fault, although maybe she could persuade Mirabel to leave candles out of her decoration plans in the future, due to the fire risk.

Alma scolded Mirabel, she didn't yell, but she strongly suggest that the best way for her to serve was to step aside.

Great, I screwed up again. What a surprise. I am a hundred and ten percent useless, waste of space, no one loves me.

Alma watched as she walked off, scolding herself, absentmindedly overhearing Pepa stating that she couldn't find Antonio.

…
Mirabel knew where Antonio was, he always hid in the same place no matter what. She sat down on her bed, grimacing as the broken spring stabbed her, and pulled out a present.

She then dangled it below her bed, "This present is going to self destruct in three two o…" a hand yanked the present away, pulling it underneath the bed.

Mirabel crawled under there herself, "What's wrong?" She asked.

Alma wished she could strangle her past self. Antonio was so scared of not getting a gift, and while Mirabel seemed to know exactly the right thing to say to comfort him, another manifestation of her being the next Candleholder, she didn't believe a word of it. And while she claimed that he'll be stuck in the nursery with her forever, she planned to take Antonio and leave should he fail to get a gift. She did not want him to go through what she did, growing up. What Alma, herself, had put her through.

Soon enough, the two Primos emerged from the nursery and headed downstairs.

Here Antonio's family fussed over him, before leaving to take their places.

Mirabel turned as they could hear Alma's speech. She wasn't wanted at the party.

But Antonio wouldn't move, he turned to her with big pleading eyes.

"I need you," he whispered, holding his hand out for her.
Mirabel shook her head, "I can't," she whispered back, not even wanting to know what Alma would do if she walked Antonio to his door.

Antonio just pleaded harder, turning large puppy dog eyes at her.

Mirabel finally caved, taking the young boy's hand.

…
The walk down the aisle was hard, Mirabel kept having flashbacks to her own gift ceremony and was fighting back a panic attack the whole time.

Finally Antonio got his gift and everyone was in his room. The family cheering him on, praising him.
Alma, herself, knelt down and announced that she knew that he could do it, and how special his gift was.
Mirabel heard all of that and frowned, Alma hadn't told her she was special since before her own gift ceremony.

Alma happily called out to everyone for a family photo. Mirabel tried to get to the family, she really did, but there was just too many people, and she reached them just as the flash happened. Then she turned around and left, she knew when she wasn't wanted.

"We will need to take a new picture later," Alma insisted as Mirabel left the party and headed downstairs and spotted the cracks, "I'll make this right, somehow."

Chapter Text

Alma wasn't quite sure what to expect with Antonio. She had assumed he would be excited for his gift ceremony, but after that scene between him and Mirabel, she knew that wasn't the case.
She blinked open her eyes, slowly, stretching out, surprised by the lack of aches and pains that had followed her throughout the others that were now gone.
She was in Antonio's body. As he slowly woke up, he sighed, today was his gift ceremony, either he was going to get a gift, and be forced to work all the time and not have time to play, or he wouldn't get a gift and everyone would treat him like Mirabel.
He hated the way that everyone treated Mirabel. He hated how they made her cry, or think bad things about herself. He hated when Abuela would yell at Mirabel for absolutely nothing and how Mirabel would just go along with it.
He just wished Mirabel could be happy.
…
The day with Antonio was rather plain and boring, in fact boredom was the most common emotion he felt as he was dragged to the seamstress for a final fitting where he had to hold still and then was told he wasn't allowed to play with his friends in his white suit.
Perhaps they should have waited until closer to the ceremony before putting him in his suit, Alma thought as Antonio was left alone in the nursery with his thoughts.
What if I don't get a gift will Abuela stop loving me like she did Mirabel? What if I get a gift like Tio's, that nobody likes? What if it's painful like Dolores's, or hard to control like Mama's? What if he doesn't like it? What if it is so bad that Abuela kicks him out of Encanto?
On in on the thoughts tumbled one after another. They seemed to be the only thing that the boy could focus on, until he heard his mother calling for him. No, he didn't want anything to change. With that he dove under Mirabel's bed.
Alma frowned, there was no way that they could already be right before the ceremony, there hadn't been enough time to have passed.
"I might have edited Antonio's day a bit," Pedro explained, "Cut out a bunch of the repetitive things. What I really wanted to get across was just how scared he was, but you already picked that up with Mirabel, so you really didn't need to see it through Antonio's eyes. He's young enough he hasn't fully felt your heavy hand."
"But he's old enough to notice it," Alma pointed out.
"Exactly."
"And if a five year old can notice it, then others can, but they chose to ignore it because they benefit from it."
Pedro nodded, "Shall we continue?"
…
Alma was surprised at how easy it was for Mirabel to calm Antonio. Just being next to her was enough.
And then came the walk, and Antonio found himself petrified, unable to move at all, until he spotted Mirabel and pleaded with her.
The walk to the door was uneventful, the only thing going through Antonio's head was the same fears and concerns he had been dealing with all day.
Then he had his gift and relief and new worries popped into Antonio's head. What would happen to Mirabel now that he had a gift? What would happen to him? Will he be worked as much as the others?
Then the door was open and the thoughts fled as he was finally allowed to play and run around that day.
…
"Well that was quick I know, but Antonio napped a good portion of the afternoon, and the rest of the time is typical five year old playing with his toys," Pedro explained, "And I really wanted…"
"To focus on the fears he had, so you cut out the parts where he was able to push the fears away for a while. I understand."
"Good, I think you got it through your head now what was going on," Pedro admitted, glancing at something in his hand, "Let's go, you need to wake up now."
…
Julieta was just checking on Alma when she noticed her mother's eyes flickering slowly, before she opened them.
"Juli?" She croaked out, holding out a hand for her.
Julieta grabbed the hand, when was the last time that her mother called her Juli? She couldn't remember, it had been decades at least. "You're awake," she said softly, "How are you feeling?"
Alma frowned, taking inventory of any aches and pains, there weren't that many, "Pretty good, considering that I took a blast from the miracle. I didn't even realize how badly I hurt Mirabel before now, but she saw me as a big enough threat that the miracle responded to her." Alma closed her eyes, "I'm so sorry about that, I want to make things right. I'm sure that the changes she's been making to your gifts are helping…" she paused again, "How is your arthritis doing?"
Julieta blinked, she hadn't known that her mother knew about her arthritis, she hadn't even told Agustin about it.
"It's not so bad now that I cut back on the amount of cooking I'm doing. Mirabel made it so that I can heal minor injuries with a touch," she chuckled, "Unfortunately for everyone, it does sting some if they did something stupid, or it will heal perfectly fine on their own."
Julieta smiled slightly, "They tend to think twice before coming to me now." She admitted, "It's nice not having to constantly be cooking."
…
Dolores was with Mariano, enjoying a walk through the park, when she heard her Tia talking to her Abuela, "Abuela is awake," she announced, wincing slightly, "That probably means she'll be moving back in with us soon."
"Maybe she'll be better now," Mariano offered, "Things are different now."
"True, but Abuela will never accept Mirabel as the candle holder," Dolores pointed out, "It's going to be a hard battle between them, and Mirabel is so scared of her. I don't know if she will be able to stand her ground."
"But you'll be there to stand by her," Mariano pointed out, "as will the rest of your family."
Dolores smiled, "That's true, but I'm afraid that most of the villagers will side with Abuela, and they have us outnumbered."
"How you guys live your lives is up to you and no one else," Mariano insisted.
…
Mirabel sprawled out on the floor of the living room, occasionally twitching a bit of ribbon in her hand. Amorcita watched the ribbon closely, her tail waving through the air as she waited eagerly for it to move again.
Mirabel jerked it, and Amorcita pounced, grabbing the ribbon with all four paws. Then she let go, looked up at Mirabel and crouched down again, tail wiggling in excitement.
Bruno was watching the young kitten playing as he held Panzy, who was at the moment peacefully asleep, which was good, because she most certainly didn't sleep last night. The little rascal had decided that the only way she was going to sleep was in her father's arms.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, leading towards them.
Mirabel pulled herself up to a sitting position, her face suddenly hard, "It's Abuela," she announced in a soft whisper.
Bruno instinctively drew Panzy closer to his chest, now what was going to happen? It was not going to be pretty, being in the same room as Alma and Mirabel Madrigal, after everything that happened recently. After all the last conversation between the two put Alma in a coma for a couple of weeks.
Mirabel scrambled to her feet, scooping her kitten up as she did. Alma ignored her as she was lead to the couch where she sat down, across from Bruno.
Alma grimaced, she could feel the distrust coming from both her son and granddaughter. She had hurt all of her family members, but she hurt these two the most.
Neither of them said anything, but the kitten squirmed out of Mirabel's arms, jumped to the floor, rushed over to the couch, and jumped onto Alma's lap.
Alma blinked in surprise, as did Mirabel. The kitten seemed unaware of the tension in the room as it curled up in a purring heap on Abuela's lap.
"I'm sorry," Mirabel insisted, quickly reaching for the kitten, "I know you don't really like animals," she scooped the kitten up, hugging her closely.
Alma frowned, "I've never seen the appeal of owning a pet. They are a lot of work, and aren't productive."
"Amorcita helps me a lot," Mirabel confessed, "With my depression, she can chase the thoughts away very easily," she smiled softly at the kitten.
"So you're doing better now?" Alma asked, "I know that you were fighting some pretty severe depression."
Mirabel blinked, surprised, glancing over at her mother.
"I'm sorry," Alma insisted, "I know that I made things so much harder for you… and everyone else."
Julieta, Bruno, and Mirabel exchanged looks, astonished.
"I didn't realize just how badly I was hurting everyone until Pedro showed me," Alma admitted, "I lost everything the night Encanto was formed, and I was so afraid of that happening again that I…" she trailed off.
"Caused the exact thing that you were trying to avoid?" Bruno suggested, "I saw the same thing happen all the time with my visions… although they always blamed me for it. They never admit that their actions caused it."
"Not anymore," Mirabel pointed out, "I changed it so that you always get more than one outcome now, based on the choices that the person makes. So they can't blame him anymore."
"Good,"Alma announced, "That should help keep the villagers off him."
"Yeah, let's just keep them off Luisa," Mirabel grumbled, "They honestly hound her and Tomas. They steal things from their garden all the time and think that they have a right to it because they are Madrigals, and they should share things without being asked."
"You know what I find disgusting," Julieta asked, "The fact that everyone sees the baby Luisa is carrying as a New Gift and not as a human being."
"Isabela has been siccing Hector on anyone who says anything about the baby's gift," Mirabel announced.
"Hector, that's her plant creature, right?" Alma asked, "The one that bit my ankle."
"The one you nearly killed, yeah," Mirabel said sharply, "You've done so much… damage… that the Miracle saw you as a threat. Abuelo wants us to give you a second chance… but that is all you get. The Miracle didn't kill you this time, but it will next time."
"I know," Alma confessed, "I'll try my best, but I might make mistakes, I've made so many of them. But I will not make the big ones again."
"You better not," Mirabel insisted, "Because I won't be able to stop the miracle should it strike again."

Chapter Text

Alma was trying, but sometimes it was hard. She had grown up in a time when a woman's place was in the home. If you weren't married by a certain point, then there was something wrong with you, and both Dolores and Isabela were approaching that age rapidly. Dolores was fine, apparently she and Mariano had hit it off after the failed proposal. Sure several people had expressed concern about how quickly they got together, rumors were flying that they had been the reasons things didn't work out for him and Isabela.

Alma had tried to voice her own opinions, but a loud crash of thunder always silenced her before she could.
Isabela had a different problem. Before this whole fiasco, there had been many men eager to date her. Several of them had dropped their pursuit after Isabela had totally reinvented herself. Her strange obsession over the jungle and her plant creatures, which now includes a Sundew parrot along with her Venus fly trap dog and rose petal cat, had a tendency to scare suitors off.
She had tried to be supportive, finding a few potential suitors that weren't weirded out by her new habits, but Isabela hadn't been interested in any of them. In fact she told her that she wasn't interested in any type of relationship. She honestly hoped that she meant at the moment, who wouldn't want to get married, settle down, start a family? Surely once she saw how happy Luisa and Tomas were, she'll change her mind. Perhaps after the baby comes?
Then again Bruno's little one didn't seem to phase Isabela any. She admits that she is cute, especially now that she has started to babble some. But she didn't have baby fever.
It was really hard not to question her choice, she never heard of anyone who didn't want to marry but Is a was firm in that decision and she respected it.
Things were so much better when she respected the others' opinions and what they wanted.
Like right now she had somehow managed to get roped in to helping decorate Casita for Mirabel's sweet Sixteen Party. It was being held in the original Casita, as there just wasn't enough room to hold it at Mirabel's parents' place. Luckily for her, Casita had somehow spread her awareness to both the original building and Luisa's place. Alma was sure that when Dolores and Mariano marry and move in with his mother, that that house will become sentient and a passage to the other houses will form.
It was kind of nice to be able to spread out a little.
Now Julieta didn't need to cook for everyone for every meal. Pepa and Felix usually cooked meals together for the part of the family that lived in the original Casita, which now includes Bruno, his little girl, and herself.
For some reason only the original Casita could add rooms as needed, so Bruno offered to move back in with Pepa so she could have a room with her parents, which was probably for the best as her creatures got into a lot of mischief and usually will drag in Antonio's animals as well. That was always a disaster.
It didn't help that Hector didn't like her and she was living with Pepa now that her health was better.
Alma glanced around the courtyard, as far as she could tell, the place looked… not exactly perfect, it seemed a little wilder than what she was used to, but she was sure that Isabela had decorated with Mirabel in mind. The two of them had become extremely close in the past few months as Mirabel helped Isabela figure out the true limits of her gift.
There was a low growl, causing Alma to look down, Hector was looking up at her with large black beady eyes. He had never forgiven her for kicking him, “Isa,” she called out nervously, “Can you come get Hector please?” she asked. She was trying to do better, but it was hard, especially when Hector decided to take a nip out of her ankles.
Isabela quickly appeared, “I’m sorry about that Abuela, I thought he was in my room. He must have escaped, which probably means that Solana and Rosita escaped too.”
Above them came a loud crashing sound, “That was probably one of them,” Isabela confessed, attaching a vine to Hector’s stem, “Come on boy,” she called out, “Let’s see what your sisters got up to this time.”
“You need to clean up after them as well,” Alma pointed out, “Your sister’s quinceanera is in a couple of hours, and it needs to be perfect.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Isabela insisted, “She doesn’t want it to be perfect. All she wants is for us to be there for her. Although, we are getting a little bit concerned that it might be interrupted.”
“Interrupted? What, who? Perhaps I can talk to them?” Alma offered, “I messed so much up, I want to give Mirabel the party she deserves.”
“I doubt you’ll be able to get Luisa’s baby to be born any sooner than he will be born,” Isabela pointed out, “Mirabel is wearing her quince dress when he is born. We were hoping that meant that he would be born during one of her fittings, but that hasn’t happened.”
“Can’t we postpone the party then?”
Isabela shook her head, “There have been a lot of times that we postponed things involving Mirabel and never got back to them. Mirabel is adamant that she wants her party now. Just in case.”
Alma groaned, “Just in case I arrange for something to come up so we never celebrate Mirabel,” she suggested, shaking her head, “I’m trying my hardest here,” she insisted, “Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes I slip up.”
“But we all know that you are trying,” Isabela insisted, “I know that I’ve put you through a ringer with my decision to become an old maid, but I really believe that I will be happier this way,” she frowned, slightly, as Hector nudged her hard, “I better put my plantimals at least back at Mama and Papa’s,” she said, “Before they tear down all of the decorations,” as if to prove her point there was another thud, and the sound of cloth ripping, “Honestly Rosita, stop climbing the banners!”
Isabela rushed off, with Hector following behind her, tugged along by his leash.
Alma nodded, Isabela would get the plantimals as she called them under control and would fix any decorations that they destroyed. Everything was going as planned, except for the piano wasn’t upstairs where it needed to be, and there was a stack of barrels that needed to be moved into the kitchen and the contents put into serving pitchers, bowls, and platters.
Normally, Alma would have called Luisa to help move things around, but she was due any minute, and had been put on bed rest by Julieta a couple of weeks ago. Maybe Casita could help move them around… if Felix helped? She could ask Agustin and Bruno as well, but Agustin was a walking disaster, even Julieta would admit that, and Bruno, well, Bruno had his hands full because Panzy had just learned to crawl and was getting into everything. It was all Bruno could do to keep up with her. If only he would settle down and find a woman to be a mother to that little girl. No, she was not going to interfere in his love life, besides she couldn’t think of anyone who would be interested in a relationship with Bruno. The villagers were warming up to him, but it was slow going, very slow going. It was a good thing that he had his sisters, brother-in-laws, and sobrinos. They stood up for him, Alma had actually seen Mirabel race across town, make up an excuse, and drag Bruno away from someone who was accusing Bruno of forcing the poor girl who gave him Panzy to give him her daughter. As much as he loved Esperanza, Alma couldn’t see him being able to do something so cruel.
Alma glanced around, Mirabel was heading down the stairs, already dressed in her quince dress, which was stunning, as was everything that Mirabel made. How in the world had she not noticed that before everything? Mirabel was so talented, and while her magical gift was subtle, it was far more powerful than her own, and they technically had the same gift.
“Have you seen Mama?” Mirabel asked, with a frown, “She told me that she was working on my birthday cake, but she’s not in our kitchen… the timer was going off, so I pulled the cake out, and the door to here was opened.”
Alma shook her head, “I haven’t seen her, but I do know that your sister is trying to round up her plantimals, so maybe she left the door open trying to herd them through it.”
“Maybe,” Mirabel said, “But that doesn’t explain where Mama disappeared to. She never ever leaves the kitchen with something cooking.”
Alma glanced at her youngest granddaughter, honestly this whole conversation was strange. She was never allowed to be alone with any of the grandchildren, but that was especially true when it came to Mirabel, so where was everyone? Surely Agustin, or Isabela, or Camilo, or someone would swoop in to prevent her from taking things too far.
“Come to think about it, aside from Isabela, I haven’t seen anyone else in a while,” Alma confessed, “Which is strange, there is still so much to do before the party.”
Mirabel frowned, “If we can find Dolores, she can tell us where everyone else is.”
“If you hadn’t messed with her gift, she’d know we’re looking for her now,” Alma snapped.
Mirabel rolled her eyes, “She was hearing so much she was missing important things, besides, I added a way for people to turn her gift on. All you have to do is say Dolores’s name three times,” Mirabel explained before demonstrating, “and then you tell her what you need. Hey, Dolores, do you know where everybody is? Mama left the cake in the oven."
Dolores slipped out of her room with Mariano. Alma frowned, she really didn't approve of Mariano being in Dolores's room, but she was trying to let Pepa be in charge of her children. Pepa didn't mind if Mariano was in Dolores' room, as long as she kept the door open.
Dolores stepped up to the balcony railing and called down louder than she ever talked beforehand.
"Tia is over at Luisa's house!"
"The baby?" Mirabel asked, bouncing a little.
Dolores tipped her head to the side, "It's a boy," she announced, "Both he and Mama are doing good."
"Has Tomas or Luisa mentioned his name yet?" Mirabel asked, eagerly.
"Ambar," Dolores announced, after tipping her head to the side again "They're still coming up with a middle name…" she paused for a second, "They're ready for us to come over and meet him."
…
Alma smiled softly, staring down at the small bundle that had been placed in her arms. This young child would never be viewed as just a gift. She would make sure that the generational trauma ends here and now. She was working hard with her children and grandchildren, and hopefully her great grandchildren will not know what it was like to be nothing more than a magical gift. He will be so much more than that. Just like everyone else in the family.