Chapter Text
May 22nd had been a very hard day for the Madrigal family. Fading gifts, cracks, a ruined proposal, a falling house, a disappearing Mirabel.
Well, at least the last problem was already solved.
Nevertheless, the family was now standing in front of their broken house. Before they could take care of the reconstruction, they had to all find a place to sleep.
Pepa had Antonio sitting on her shoulders and protectively putting one arm around each of Natalia and Camilo while she stared at the pile of rubble in which she had grown up, lost deeply in thought.
Julieta was fussing over each of her daughters, concerned about if they were hungry or cold.
And Alma stood beside the group, with both arms wrapped around her son, in a way that left Bruno unable to let go.
He thought it was funny. During his time in the walls, he had often dreamed of a reunion. But in all of his dreams, his mother had send him away, to a place where his bad luck wouldn't affect the family.
But even though Alma has made many mistakes and had been terrible, she was Bruno's mother. And she had missed her son so much during the last ten years.
Félix and Agustín were currently in the village and asked for places where the family could stay. Of course, they couldn't possibly all stay in the same house. That would be way to many people in a house way smaller than their previous one.
It was gonna be hard. They all had to get used to living without a gifts again, and live in houses that weren't living themselves.
This was what made the fall of Casita even sadder. She was just like a lost family member. No, she certainly was a lost family member. Caista hadn't been human, but she lived. And now she was gone.
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Julieta and Agustín dramatically said goodbye to their daughters for the night. The two of them would be staying with Agustín's brother's family, while Isabela, Luisa and Mirabel would stay with Mirabel's friend Danté.
"Pa, it's just until tomorrow! We'll see each other at the building site!" Mirabel laughed as Agustín hugged her, as if she would be gone for the next five years.
"You're getting big my little baby!" Agustín complained playfully, clinging to his youngest daughter.
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Pepa and Félix only said their goodbyes to two of their children, because Antonio was going to stay with his parents at Félix' parents' place. Natalia and Camilo would stay with Maxine and Sofia, which Félix had already guessed. Teenagers took every opportunity to be with their lovers.
"Don't you guys do anything inappropriate with your girlfriends." Pepa playfully warned her children.
"Mami!" Camilo cried out, flushing in embarrassment while Pepa laughed.
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"Are you sure you want me to stay here as well? I can certainly go somewhere else..." Bruno asked for the fifth time already.
"Yes Bruno, of course you're going to stay with us,as much as your mother is going to stay with us. I don't want you to sleep outside or something, you deserve a roof over your head as well!" Claudia Guzman told him softly yet sternly.
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Pedro Madrigal watched closely as his beloved family settled into their temporary residences. Inside of him was a mix of relief, anger, sadness and guilt.
He had sent a few ambiguous signs. But his Alma had made so many mistakes. It would be a long way for everyone to recover from everything that had happened.
Each of Pedro's family members carried a terrible scar from the years of pressure.
Julieta was overworked and barely had time to care for herself.
Pepa was said to be way too emotional.
Bruno had been called bad luck.
Isabela had been suppressed.
Luisa was seen as a machine.
Natalia was said to be dangerous.
Camilo had identity issues.
Mirabel had been neglected and blamed for her fading door.
And Antonio had been treated like an experiment to see if the magic still worked.
Félix was seen as crazy for marrying such a "storm of a women".
Agustín was said to only have married Julieta for her healing abilities.
And his Alma. Even though she put so much pressure on her family, she suffered from survivors guilt.
They all had suffered so much, and Pedro was determined to help them get better.
A little bit of the magic was still there.
He didn't know how to make a use of it yet, but he would find out.