Work Text:
On any normal day, it would start with Bruno pushing and pulling with the idea of getting up and starting the day, and staying snuggled up under the blankets with his rats to keep him company, which meant it usually was a while before he would actually get out of bed.
However, today was not a normal day.
Today, he was planning on having a very important conversation with his mother.
And that would mean having to get up at the buttcrack of dawn to catch his mother before everyone else was awake.
So, Bruno pulled himself out of bed and put on his ruana, shaking all the while.
“ What if she gets angry? What if she forces me to leave? ” he thought to himself in a spiral, before taking a deep breath.
“ Well, if she doesn’t accept us, that’s her problem, ” he reassured himself. It didn’t completely work, but at least it got him to pull himself together.
He opened his bedroom door and headed downstairs.
Today started out like any other day for Alma, with her waking up before anyone else, just as the sun was rising. This was a habit formed out of having to look after three children and a whole village, but also because she just found waking up early to be nice. The early mornings were silent and calm, with barely any animals or loud voices to be heard.
Just very peaceful all around.
Alma poured the milk into the mug full of coffee, watching the milk and coffee mix together. She always needed a nice hot cup in the morning to get her going.
She turned around to sit down at the table, to find Bruno standing in the entranceway to the kitchen, looking more nervous than usual.
“Oh, Bruno! What a nice surprise to see you up so early.”
Bruno nervously laughed in response.
“H-heh, y-yeah…nice to see you too, Mamá. ”
“Come, sit down with me,” Alma said, patting the chair next to her.
Bruno looked at the chair with his quintessential wide-eyed stare, walked over, and sat down.
“It’s such a nice morning, isn’t it?” Alma said. “So quiet, so tranquil…”
“Y-yeah, yeah, exactly,” Bruno stammered. “L-listen, Mami , there’s something I need to talk to you about…”
“What is it, mi hijo ?”
Bruno nervously licked his lips.
“W-well, you know how my love life i-isn’t exactly s-successful, right?”
Alma chuckled.
“ Sí , sí , I know very well. But, I’m okay with you not wanting a relationship, Bruno, if that’s what you wanted to talk about.”
“N-no, no, that’s not it…,” Bruno said.
“Oh?” Alma piped up. “Have you found someone? What’s her name?”
“N-no, still haven’t found anyone. B-but, here’s the thing…”
Bruno looked his mother in the eyes.
“W-what if it wasn’t a w-woman?”
This took Alma by surprise.
“What do you mean?”
“W-well…,” Bruno said. “Let’s say, hypothetically, I never have been attracted to women?”
Alma pursed her lips, extremely puzzled by that.
“I don’t understand, are you actually trying to tell me you aren’t looking for a relationship or no?”
“No, no…”
“Then, what is it, Bruno?”
“W-well, I-I…,” Bruno trailed off and looked down at his hands sitting in his lap.
“ You can do this ,” he thought to himself.
He took a deep breath, balled his hands into fists, and took the plunge.
“ M-mamá , I like guys. I-I want to date guys, instead of women…”
There was silence. Bruno slowly looked up, seeing his mother staring at him with wide eyes.
“O-oh…,” Alma said, after a moment. “I…I see…”
She turned her gaze away from Bruno, vying to instead look at the flower pot on the table instead.
“ M-mamá? ”
“If you don’t mind, I would like to be alone right now, Bruno…”
Bruno bowed his head down in sad acceptance.
“I understand…,” he said, getting up out of the chair, and walking out of the kitchen, leaving Alma alone with her thoughts.
She slowly took the still-waiting cup of coffee, and took a sip, only to recoil from it.
“ Blegh, it’s gone cold… ”
The day would continue on as normal, the family breakfast and morning meeting went smoothly, and everyone did the chores assigned to them, although, they made sure to take breaks.
However, Bruno kept his distance away from Alma, slinking out of a room he was in when she entered.
“It’s for the best,” he told his rat, Markel, in secret. “We have to give her time, y’know, let it sink in for her…”
Markel just sniffed the air in response and started to clean himself.
Alma sat down at her bed, putting her head in her hands, at a loss of what to do.
She felt so lost, what had caused Bruno to want this? Was it something she had done? Had she said something to him? Was he just confused? Had he perhaps just said it as a joke?
But he was so serious when he had told her, why would he be so nervous if he were trying to tell a joke?
It just didn’t make any sense to her. How could a man love another man? It was unnatural…
But, her son wasn’t unnatural! Sure, he was a little odd and socially awkward, but to call him ‘unnatural’ was just cruel.
Alma got up and started pacing around her room.
How long had he been wanting to say this?
That thought caused her to stop in her tracks.
How long had he been keeping that to himself, wanting to tell her, but too scared of her reaction?
Like the way she had reacted this morning…
Alma looked at the candle on the windowsill.
Perhaps she should have a word with him…
Bruno was sitting under a tree outside the Casita, attempting to practice the meditation techniques that Mirabel had told him about, when he felt a presence.
He opened his eyes, to see his mother standing right over him.
“O-oh, hi, Mamá , I-I was just leaving-”
“No, no, you don’t have to leave. I was actually wondering if I could sit with you.”
Bruno was taken aback for a moment, before nodding yes.
Alma slowly sat herself down next to Bruno, knowing that her old bones would never forgive her for that.
None of them spoke at first, until Alma cleared her throat.
“Y’know, you and your sisters used to play here when you were little,” Alma said.
“Oh, really?”
“ Sí , you would always be running around, playing games you’d make up on the spot. Sometimes, you’d let me play a game of hide and seek, and you would always find me first, no matter what…,” Alma chuckled.
Bruno smiled weakly.
The awkward silence took hold again, but not for long.
“Could you help me understand, Bruno?”
Bruno looked up at his mother.
“What do you want to understand?”
“Why…did you choose this?”
“I didn’t choose anything, I didn’t just decide one day that I’d prefer guys. That’s like saying you woke up one day and decided you wanted gray hair”, he said, not looking at Alma and instead twirling the grass at his feet with his fingers.
Alma lightly chuckled at that last comment. “I see…”
She went quiet once more, thinking about what she wanted to say next.
“How…how long have you known that you were this way, then?”
Bruno thought for a few moments.
“Since I was in my teens, I think. I realized that my eyes would wander to the boys playing sports instead of the girls talking in their groups.”
Alma nodded.
“And how did you feel?” Alma asked.
“What do you mean?”
“How did you feel when you realized you were…like that?”
Bruno stayed quiet for a moment.
“Very scared…it felt like just another thing that was wrong with me…so, I locked it up, and buried it deep within for a long time…”
Alma stayed silent, trying to keep herself from crying.
Without warning, Alma took Bruno into her arms, hugging him tightly.
“Oh, mi Brunito …I’m so sorry…”
“Huh?”
“I’m so sorry that you had to face this alone, all this time. I should’ve been there for you, I should’ve made you feel comfortable enough to share this with me a long time ago , instead of having to keep it bottled up for so long…there’s nothing wrong with you, mijo , you’re perfect just the way you are…”
She pulled away from the hug to look at Bruno, who was now weeping alongside her.
“So…you’re okay with me being a…a homosexual…?”
“I won’t lie, I still don’t fully understand it…”
She cupped Bruno’s face with her hand.
“But as long as you are happy, I am happy…”
These words caused Bruno to collapse into Alma’s arms, sobbing loudly as she soothed him.
Words he had been wanting to hear all his life.
After a while, he was able to calm down, and slowly pulled himself from Alma’s arms.
“We should head back, everyone’s probably wondering where we are,” he said.
“You’re right, but you’re gonna have to help me up…”
“I’m not gonna be of much help, either, my bones are killing me!” Bruno said, causing Alma to start laughing.
Pretty soon, mother and son were leaning on each other, laughing fit to burst.
