Chapter Text
When Alma went to bed, she’d been thinking of ways to talk with Mirabel about her declaration the previous night. After all, there had to be something wrong if she was even thinking about dropping the Madrigal name.
However, when she woke, it wasn’t Mirabel’s knocking nor breakfast being made by Julieta.
She woke to the sound of utter confusion.
“Huh? Where are we?”
“I can’t lift anything!”
“Where are my flowers?”
“Guys, I can’t hold a shift.”
“It’s strangely quiet.”
“What’s going on?”
“Are my animal friends going to join later?”
“Um, did Casita kick me out of the walls?”
“THE WALLS, BRUNO?”
Alma stirred and found herself in a large room. The rest of the family was there, almost confused. They were on couches instead of in their beds, and a table covered with food lay in the corner. Everyone was in their nightclothes, with Isabela tucking in her robe and trying not to look like she was jolted out of sleep. Bruno looked the worst, with noticeable bags under his eyes and his ruana almost worn through.
The most glaring exception was Mirabel. She was nowhere to be seen.
“Bruno?” Alma asked. “Where were you? And why is Mirabel not with us?”
“I see you’re all awake now.”
Alma looked over to where a door should have been. Pedro stood there with a stone face, still looking like he did the last time he was alive. There were marks where the machetes had cut into him, and his eyes seemed almost cold.
“Pedro?” Alma asked.
“Mirabel is not joining you, as she is the subject of this conversation.” He frowned severely. “I heard and saw what happened last night.”
“You did?” Isabela asked, struggling to keep eye contact.
“Yes, and I am disappointed,” he said. “I’ve watched as Mirabel was sidelined for the past ten years, and I have two options for you.”
The rest of the family looked almost guilty, while Antonio looked up with confusion, Parce comforting him and licking his face.
“What options?” Julieta asked.
“Well, I can send you to a false reality, or a time bubble like this, with a Mirabel that left the family at five years old and became a member of the Silva family. While there, you would have to rebuild your relationship with her, which I can’t promise how long that would take.”
The family shared looks, and Alma tried not to think of Mirabel’s claim the night before. Had she been more wrong than she assumed? Had she really failed her nieta?
“What’s the other option?” Pepa asked.
He gestured to the table, where a book lay. The title read A Warped Reality in embossed letters, and a picture showing two Mirabels, one in her typical clothes with a wary, almost anxious face and another dressed in darker colors with no embroidery representing the family and a bright smile, covered the rest.
Alma picked it up, a frown on her face. They were jolted from their beds and dragged into a time bubble to read a book. It sounded almost ludicrous. Why not send them to the false reality instead of this pit stop?
“I’d take the book option,” Antonio said.
“Me, too,” Luisa said. “Maybe, there’s something in there we can prevent.”
“I don’t want to spend time bonding with a fake Mirabel,” Camilo said. “I want my melliza I know here. Let’s read the book.”
“I’m for the book,” Pepa and Julieta said in tandem. Félix and Agustín shrugged, holding their wives close.
“Can we do the book?” Bruno asked.
“Book,” Dolores said.
Alma and Isabela shared a look and sighed.
“Look’s like we’re doing the book,” Alma said.
“Good,” Pedro said. “There will be some moments made visual on this screen.” He snapped his fingers, and a golden screen appeared in the corner of the room. “Also, there will be moments that get dark.”
Alma’s resolve faltered a moment. What did he mean by dark? Had there been some danger they’d ignored? Why would they be reading about Mirabel’s problems? As far as they knew, she didn’t have any problems.
Pedro disappeared, and they left the rest of the family in stunned silence.
“So,” Alma said, breaking the silence, “I’ll start reading. Everyone else, get food. Especially you, Brunito.”
Everyone gathered around the table, loading plates and gathering on the couches by color. Isabela edged closer to Alma, and the rest of the cool side of the family dragged Bruno into their group. The warm side of the family gathered together, Parce acting like a seat for Antonio.
Alma opened the book to the first page, hoping that whatever was in there, they could avoid it.