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“What?!” Mirabel exclaimed, dropping her half-wrapped present in shock. “What do you mean you hate Christmas, primo ?”
All eyes were on Camilo now. The chain of wrapping their presents for the adults stopped abruptly. With a total of 36 presents to wrap for the older generations alone, they could all use some help wrapping them up.
This is gonna take a lot longer now, Camilo thought with exasperation. “I don’t-”
“I mean, what’s not to like?” Mirabel asked, cutting off his argument. “It’s… it’s Christmas! ”
“Wow, that really changes my view on everything . Thank you, prima , for enlightening me,” Camilo said dryly, tearing off a sheet of wrapping paper and passing it to Luisa, currently sitting at his right cross-legged. “And it’s not just Christmas, it’s… kind of the holidays in general.”
“The holidays, too?” Luisa said absently, more focused on fulfilling her part of the chain. Her job was to use this glue-like paste Isabela created for lining the wrapping paper, so that when the time comes where they give them to the adults, their presents that they worked so hard on don’t fall apart in their hands. This made Luisa believe that if she doesn’t do her job right, everything will fall apart… literally. Super-strength was useful for a multitude of reasons, but it doesn’t exactly come in handy when wrapping presents. Hence the reason why Luisa has been gingerly adding glue on to the wrapping paper with so much seriousness, focus and precision. Camilo would think this would be a funny sight if she wasn’t so slow. After carefully giving the glue-coated green wrapping paper to Mirabel to wrap the present with, she turned to her cousin with a frown. “But you always look forward to the holidays, ‘Milo, I thought you loved them!”
“I do love the holidays!” Camilo protested. “It’s just that-”
“That we have to wrap all these presents?” Dolores groaned, her finger starting to cramp from bow-tying duty. She grimaced when Mirabel slid yet another wrapped present in need of a bow to her. Despite the fact that her hands were dangerously close to falling off, she began to tie a bow with a green ribbon to match the present. “ That, and the fact that we have to somehow manage to shove over a hundred presents under the tree.” She pursed her lips in thought. “Plus all the gifts Tío Bruno’s giving to make up for the past decade. He’s giving us ten each.”
“ Really? But that’s so many!” Antonio exclaimed from the front of the line of grandkids. He turned around and looked past Isabela to look at his ‘all-knowing’ hermana , tilting his head in question. “If he’s making up for every Christmas he missed, does that mean I’ll be getting five presents?”
Dolores smiled fondly. “You’re getting ten presents just like the rest of us, Tonito. This is the first time he gets to celebrate Christmas with his youngest sobrino , so he wanted to make it special,” His sister chuckled, sliding the present, now adorned with a lovely green bow, to her prima Isabela. “If he had the time, he’d probably give you twenty presents.”
Antonio beamed with happiness. “ Tío Bruno is the best tio ever!”
Isabela, whose job was to add little festive plants to the gifts, grinned at her primito as she sprouted a mistletoe on top of the green present and passed it to him. “Well, this gift just so happens to be for Tío Bruno, so you can tell him all about what an amazing tio he is when you give it to him.”
Ever since he got his gift, Antonio learned many new things, and to the family’s dismay, one of the things he found out was that it was not in fact el Niño Dios who gave the presents on this beloved holiday, but his family members instead. One of his Tío Bruno’s rats led him to his parent’s closet, which just happened to have some of the things he asked for this year. The poor kid was crushed and Pepa had a cloud looming over her head for the rest of the day, but the grandkids came to the rescue and spun him a new tale. They told the boy that though el Niño Dios isn’t the one who puts the presents under the tree, his real job is that he gives everyone things that their loved ones asked for while everyone’s asleep, so when they wake up, it’s their job to wrap them and put them under the tree. Antonio loved the holiday ever more now, his belief in el Niño Dios restored and feeling especially grateful for his family, knowing that they took the time to wrap each and every present with care every year.
Then he realized just how many presents that is , and proposed the idea of the grandkids helping each out with wrapping presents, and they were more than happy to oblige. So here they were in Isabela’s room, finishing up the last of the presents.
Antonio’s job was the last and a very crucial step; to write who the present is for (with an occasional holiday doodle) with a new crayon set that Mirabel gave him as a gift. He cherished those crayons with his life, which his older brother Camilo learned the hard way when he accidentally stepped and broke one of them, making his little brother cry for an hour… and then Parce started chasing him around the house for his crimes, which still traumatizes Camilo to this day.
Speaking of the shapeshifter, he was still hooked up on hating the holidays, and Mirabel needed to know why. With the task of wrapping presents moved out of the way, she can now focus on why her usually festive primo’s so grumpy during his favorite time of the year.
“Alright Camilo,” Mirabel said, sitting cross-legged directly in front of him. “What’s your deal with the holidays?” The rest of the grandkids stared eagerly, waiting for a response.
Camilo sighed with his cheek resting on his fist, running his fingers through the flowered floor. “You know how my birthday’s just a few days after Christmas? And how it’s kind of… surrounded by every other holiday?”
“ Ohhhh I get it now,” Dolores chuckled, scooting towards her brother. “You don’t like being a Christmas baby!”
Antonio climbed onto her lap. “What’s a Christmas baby?”
“Someone who’s born on Christmas day,” Isabela answered. “Or someone who was born just a few days before or after. For example, your grumpy hermano over here is acting like a baby because he was born right after Christmas, both his attention-seeking tendencies and day of birth being ignored by his peers amidst the holiday chaos.”
“Exactly!” Camilo exclaimed, gesturing his hands towards a smirking Isabela for emphasis. When his older cousin’s words fully sank in, he scowled. “Acting like a baby? Attention-seeking tendencies?- ”
“What’s so bad about being born a little after Christmas?” Luisa asked. “I mean, it honestly sounds kind of cool. That way you have even more to look forward to during the holidays.”
“Why does anyone who isn’t a Christmas baby think it’s a good thing? It’s not ,” Camilo ranted. He began to count every point he made with his fingers. “There’s the people who’ll just cheap out and give you one present for both days, the constant overshadowing from the other holidays, no one coming to your parties since everyone’s with their families, people flat-out forgetting it’s your birthday because they’re focused on everything else-”
“And the fact that the performance of the Encanto Hollywood Bowl is going to be on Disney+ on the exact same day,” Dolores muttered, no one understanding a word she just said. “Oh right, no breaking the fourth wall… hm!”
Camilo hung his head in defeat. “My birthday’s the worst .”
“That’s not true!” Mirabel assured. “Your birthday’s the coolest .”
Camilo lifted his head up to glare at his prima . “Wanna trade birthday’s with me, then?”
Mirabel pursed her lips. After listening to the fair points he made, she was really starting to appreciate her birthday more. “ Wellll… no, but-”
“Exactly.”
“You didn’t let me finish!” She defended. “Your birthday is special, primo . Not everyone gets to celebrate their birthday and a super fun holiday on the same day , you know.”
Her primo smiled. Dia de los Inocentes will always be his favorite holiday, no matter what. “You got me there, prima … I still kind of hate Christmas, though.”
“If you hate Christmas, are you gonna steal it? Like the grinch?” Antonio asked innocently. After a moment of silence, Mirabel and Dolores wheezed.
Luisa, Isabela and Camilo were all confused. “Um, who’s ‘the grinch?’” Luisa asked.
“It’s Camilo!” Dolores chimed in, holding her sides.
“Lola stop -” Mirabel begged, gasping for air. “I-I can’t breathe! -”
“Tío Bruno looked into the future and found a story for me,” Antonio answered. “It’s called ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’. He hated Christmas too, so he stole it.”
Isabela raised an eyebrow in amusement. “He stole Christmas?”
“Yes,” Dolores confirmed, somewhat regaining her composure. “I heard the story they were telling for their book club last night.”
“I can retell the story for you guys,” Mirabel chimed in, wiping a tear away. The grandkids formed a circle and got comfortable. Reminds me of when Tío Bruno would tell us stories when we were little. Mirabel thought. She cleared her throat and put on her best story-telling voice. “On a mountain north of Whoville, there once was a creature who lived in a cave…”
- - -
“So that’s the story!” Mirabel concluded with a smile, clasping her hands together. “Any questions?” Luisa hesitantly raised her hands. “Luisa!” Mirabel called out.
“...What exactly does this have to do with Camilo?” She asked, turning to her cousin in question. “I mean, last time I checked, he wasn’t green - WOAH!” Luisa jumped back when she saw that Camilo turned his skin and curls a sickening shade of green, a wicked smile on his face.
Isabela gagged and shoved a flower in his face, causing him to revert back to his normal form. “Don’t do that again , you looked disgusting .”
“How did his heart grow three times as big , though?” Camilo asked, spitting out petals from Isabela’s assault. “I’m assuming he developed some kind of heart disease from that huge workout of his.”
“Workout?” Isabela scoffed.
“I’m pretty sure breaking and entering every single house in an entire town would be a bit of a workout for someone, Isa,” Camilo pointed out like it was obvious. “If you ask me, he should seek medical attention or one of Tía Julieta’s arepas immediately.”
“You’re such a moron,” Isabela shook her head. “If it weren’t for us, you’d probably try shapeshifting your heart to be three times bigger.” Her eyes widened when she realized her mistake, but it was already too late. Camilo’s eyes lit up with that familiar mischievous grin of his.
“Good idea! Lemme just try that riiiight now.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion!”
“I wonder if this is gonna kill me. Oh well!”
“If you die under my watch, Tía Pepa will literally kill me.”
“Can already feel my heart expanding! Don’t know if it’s my shapeshifting or how much you care about me right now, though!”
“CAMILO!”
Camilo suddenly clutched his chest and dramatically fainted on Isabela, his eyes closed and tongue sticking out.
The room fell completely silent. You could hear a pin drop, even if you weren’t Dolores.
After a few more seconds of playing dead, he opened his eyes to see an unusually pale Isabela and snickered. “Admit it, you were actually scared for me.” He teased.
Isabela scowled and shoved him off her lap. “ Idiota… ” She grumbled. But Camilo could see the smile playing on her lips. Although she’d never admit it, he knew she was secretly fond of his dramatics.
“So are you gonna steal Christmas like the grinch did, ‘Milo?” Antonio asked.
Camilo grinned, any trace of his bad mood erased. “Yes, thanks to your little story, you’ve given me plenty of ideas to ruin Christmas!” He cackled evilly, tickling his brother with no mercy. Antonio shrieked with delight. “Of course not, I wouldn’t ruin it for my hermanito .” He said, ruffling his hair affectionately.
“So just to be clear,” Mirabel asked. “You don’t hate Christmas or the holidays, you just hate being a Christmas baby, right?”
“Just like the grinch didn’t hate Christmas!” Antonio added. “He just hated people.”
“That’s fair.” A voice from the doorway said. The grandkids turned their heads to see Bruno, accompanied by several of his rats. He winced when he saw six pairs of eyes staring at him. “Um… hola .”
“ Tío Bruno! ” Antonio cried, tackling him into a hug.
“Woah, uh, nice to see you too, kid,” Bruno chuckled, hugging his youngest sobrino back. “Just came to call you guys for dinner. I’ll help you carry these presents…we’re gonna have to somehow shove these under the tree, I guess.” The grandkids groaned collectively. They were not looking forward to that.
As the others went to pick up the presents and head to dinner, Mirabel watched as Camilo fumbled with the presents, carrying more than he was able to.
“Mirabel!” Isabela called from the doorway. “Are you coming?”
“I’ll be there in a second!” Mirabel yelled back.
“ Finally .” Camilo said, having a good grip on all the presents… or so he thought. “Ay, miercoles… ” He muttered when a present slipped from the top of his pile.
“Gotcha!” Mirabel exclaimed, grabbing the present before it could fall off the ground.
“That was a close one.” He chuckled.
“Yeah,” She laughed. “Here, lemme just-” Mirabel struggled with Camilo’s pile before distributing the presents between them evenly. “There!”
“ Gracias, prima. ” He sighed, giving her a tired smile.
Mirabel smiled back. “Anytime, primo .”
As they made their way to the Christmas tree, Camilo couldn’t help but ask her a question.
“Hey, um… prima? ”
“Yes, primo? ”
“You didn’t merge my Christmas present with my birthday present, did you?”
Mirabel bit her tongue. “ Welllll… ”
Camilo stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look at Mirabel with suspicion. “...What’s that supposed to mean?”
Mirabel snickered. She’d never do that to her primo , but he doesn’t know that. Suddenly, she started running away from him.
“If you wanna find out, you’re gonna have to catch me first, primo!” She cackled, praying that her clumsiness wouldn’t make her drop all these presents.
“Wha- hey!” Camilo sputtered, trying to catch up with her. “You can’t just- We’re holding potentially-delicate presents! Did you actually?!- Hey, slow down! Primaaaa! ”