Chapter Text
It's hard to believe that it's almost been a year since Ebenezer Scrooge and Mirabel Madrigal's (now Mirabel Scrooge) big adventure. So much had changed since then. Both Scrooge and Mirabel agreed not to tell anyone about the ghosts. Not like anyone would believe them, anyway. So much had happened in the past year. Mirabel had become best friends with Beryl, the street urchin, and (Tiny) Tim Cratchit, the son of her father's partner, Bob Cratchit. A few months after the ghostly encounter, both Scrooge and Mirabel discovered that the experience left them both with an interesting side effect; Ebenezer now had the power to see into the past, present and future, and Mirabel could see into alternate timelines. Along with these new gifts, Scrooge and Mirabel were occasionally visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley and the three Christmas spirits. Mirable had come to see the spirits as family and referred to Past, Present and Future as her Tia and Tio's, while she called Marley Abuelo. (When Scrooge explained to Jacob that Abuelo meant grandpa, the ghost denied crying).
Now it was only a few days until Christmas, and Mirabel and her friends were out caroling; Beryl playing a toy horn, Mirabel playing the accordion her papa had gotten her for her birthday, Tim singing and Kathy, Tim's older sister, playing her harp. Once they collected a decent amount of coin for Beryl and her other homeless friends, the kids went to the new bakery, The Enchanted Apple, for a snack. Mirabel watched as Kathy helped Tim into his seat. Now that Bob had enough money to heal Tim, the boy was doing a lot better. He no longer had a cough, but he still needed his crutch to help him walk. Thankfully, Tim's leg was getting stronger every day, and the doctor's said he should be making a full recovery by spring. The owner of the bakery, Jewel Apple, cheerfully greeted the children. "Hello, little ones! I heard you caroling outside. Sounds like your getting better."
"Gracias, Senora Jewel." Mirabel replied. "Would you happen to have any-"
"Chocolate arepas?" Jewel asked, pulling out a tray of Mirabel's favorite treat. "Just pulled them out of the oven." The little girl squealed in delight. Not only was Jewel the best baker in London, she also made treats from around the world, even Mirabel's native Columbia. Before the kids left with their treats, Jewel called Mirabel over. "Here's some dog biscuits I made for Prudence. And some crumpets for your father." A slight blush appeared on her face. "You...will give him my regards, won't you?" Mirable giggled and nodded. Jewel had moved here from America a few months ago and had come to Scrooge's office to ask for a loan to start her business. Ever since she first met the banker, Jewel had developed a huge crush on the old man, and Mirabel knew for a fact that her father felt the same way.
As Mirabel ran out to catch up with her friends, she accidentally bumps into someone. "Lo Siento, Senora, I-"
"Mirabel?!" Mirabel looks up and gasps. Standing in front of her was her grandmother, Alma Madrigal! Abuela glared down at her granddaughter. "So, this is where you've been hiding this whole time!"
"H-how did you find me?!"
"These sailors came to trade in the Encanto, and told us that they saw you sneaking onto a ship headed for London. Now, come on!" She roughly grabbed Mirabel's wrist. "I'm taking you home, right now! You've caused enough trouble already!" The little girl cried and tried to pull away.
"No! Let go!" She didn't want to leave! She wanted to stay here with her papa and friends!
"Oi! Let 'er go, you ol' hag!" Mirabel looked over to see Beryl and Tim coming towards them. Beryl started hitting Abuela with the fists, while Tim hit her with his crutch, trying to get the old lady to let go of their friend. Abuela glared at the children and kicked them away, stomping on Tim's crutch and breaking it.
"This doesn't concern you, you...nosy little brats!" Having seen the commotion outside her shop window, Jewel came out, wielding a broom.
"Miss, you release that child this instant, or so help me, I'll hit you with my broom!" The baker threatened. If there was one thing the woman couldn't stand, it was a bully! Alma glared at the woman.
"This child is my granddaughter. She ran away a year ago, and now that I've found her, I plan to take her back home to Columbia."
"Wrong." Jewel argued. "I know this girl. She's the daughter of Ebenezer Scrooge, a local banker. And if she really is your granddaughter, if this is how you treat your grandchildren, then I can see why she ran away!" Alma tightened her grip on Mirabel, causing the girl to cry out in pain.
"I don't know who this Ebenezer Scrooge is, but Mirabel is a Madrigal, and as a Madrigal, it is her duty to-" Jewel cut her off by smacking her in the face with her broom, causing Alma to let go of Mirabel. While the old woman was stunned, Jewel scooped up Mirabel in one arm, Tim in the other and, with Beryl in tow, started running as fast as she could.
Meanwhile, at Scrooge and Cratchit's private bank and counting house, both Bob and Ebenezer were hard at work. The office hadn't gone through many changes. The only difference was that Bob now worked at Jacob's old desk, and Mirabel now worked at her own little chair and desk. Beryl worked at Bob's old desk, after Scrooge had hired the young urchin as their new clerk, after discovering Beryl was as good at numbers as Mirabel was. In the office, hung the portrait of Jacob Marley, a memento of the man who started the business, as well as the man who helped give Scrooge a new outlook on life. Scrooge looked up from his work when Prudence let out a bark, something she only did when people they knew were coming in. The old man smiled, expecting to see his daughter. What he was not expecting was seeing said daughter crying in the arms of his crush. "Mirabel?! What happened?!" Jewel handed the girl to her father, who immediately cradled to her chest.
"Some lady tried to snatch Mirable away." The baker explained.
"What?!"
"I-it was Abuela, papa!" Mirabel whimpered. "She...she wanted to take me back to the Encanto!" Scrooge growled under his breath, along with Prudence. Mirabel had told him all about how her family had ignored and neglected her, and her grandma had abused her. And he was still trying to undo the damage they had done. Mirable bawled and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, crying into his shoulder. "Please! Don't let her take me, papa! I don't want to leave you!" Scrooge's anger melted away. Right now, he had a daughter to comfort. The banker placed a small kiss on Mirabel's forehead.
"There, there, my little butterfly. It's alright. I promise, she's not going to hurt you ever again." Mirabel winced and Scrooge finally noticed the way she was cradling her wrist. When he saw the hand-shaped bruise and the bleeding nail marks on his daughter's wrist, Scrooge's anger returned. Seeing the injury, Jewel gently took Mirabel back.
"C'mon, Mirabel, let's have a look at that wrist, make sure nothing's broken." Ebenezer was glad that it was Jewel who saved Mirabel. Not only was she a baker, but she was also a healer. While Jewel tended to Mirabel, Scrooge and Bob took notice of the other two children and how ruffled up they looked, as well as Tim's missing crutch.
"What happened to you two?"
"When that ol' bat tried to take Mirabel, we tried ta stop her," Beryl explained. "but she kicked us, and broke Tim's crutch." Giving the boy a grateful smile, Scrooge picked Tim up and handed him to his father.
"Here, Bob, why don't you take Tim home? I think he's had enough excitement for one day. And take this." He handed his partner a bag of coins. "Go buy Tim a new crutch."
"Mr. Scrooge, I can't-" But Ebenezer wouldn't take no for an answer.
"I insist. Afterall, you boy had a hand in saving my little girl, so it's the least I can do." Bob thanked Ebenezer, and he and Tim were on their way. Beryl planned to leave next, but Scrooge insisted she stay with him and Mirabel for the night. Just as Jewel finished bandaging up Mirabel's wrist, Alma Madrigal walked into the office, followed my four other adults, two teenage girls, and two children, a large girl and a boy who looked to be the same age as Mirabel. Scrooge assumed that they were the rest of Mirabel's family. He took Mirabel into his arms and glared at the head of the family. "Can I help you?" Alma returned the glare.
"You can start by handing over my granddaughter!" Scrooge tilted his head, pretending to be confused.
"Granddaughter? No, I believe you're mistaken. This is my daughter, Mirable Scrooge. I adopted her a year ago. If you'd like, I can show you the documents."
"What gave you the right to adopt her?!" Alam snarled. "Mirabel already has a family!" Scrooge's glare intensified.
"A family who neglected her and treated her like dirt, just because she didn't have one of your so called 'gifts'. A family who made Mirabel so miserable, she thought the only way to escape them was by running away to a different country. You never cared about Mirabel before, so why do you want her back, now? It's been a year!"
"Because ever since Mirabel left, the miracle's been acting up! Mi Familia is losing their gifts, and since Mirabel didn't get a gift, it must have something to do with her! So she needs to come back, so she can somehow save the miracle!" Ebenezer and Jewel looked at the woman in disgust.
"That's what this is about?!" The baker cried, outraged. "You came all this way to take Mirabel back home, not because you missed her, but because you want to save your precious miracle!"
Alma faltered. "You...you don't understand! My family and I are very busy helping our village, and Mirabel is a very demanding child, always asking for attention." Scrooge was furious.
"First off, Mirabel is not a demanding child! She's sweet, lovable and always wanting to help! Second, she shouldn't have had to ask for attention in the first place! You're her family! It's your duty to look after her!"
Alma only scoffed. "Enough of this nonsense! Mirable, tell that man to put you down, and come to your family!" Mirabel looked at Scrooge, took a deep breath and for the first time, stood up to her grandmother.
"N-no." Alma glared at the girl.
"What did you say?"
"I said no. I'm not going anywhere with you."
"How dare you betray your family like thi-"
"You're not my family!" Mirabel screamed. "Scrooge had been more of a family to me than you've ever been! He's my papa, and I'm staying with him!" Ebenezer glared at the family as Mirabel sobbed into his chest.
"I think it's time for you to go."
"Not without my granddaughter!"
"If you want to take this to court, I'll be more than happy to. I'm sure the police will have many questions when I show them the scars on Mirabel's back." Mirabel's parents, Julietta and Agustin, gasped at this, while Scrooge continued. "Not sure how things work in Columbia, but here in London, hitting a child with a whip is considered abuse, which you can go to jail for." Alma glared at Scrooge, but relented, signaling for her family to leave.
"This isn't over, Senor Scrooge."
Ebenezer slightly tightened his hold on Mirabel and said "You had your chance to be a grandmother to Mirabel, but you threw it away. As far as I'm concerned, Mirabel is my daughter, now, and if you want her, you'll have to pry her out of my cold, dead hands!" Once the Madrigal's were gone, Scrooge turned to Jewel, face full of gratitude. "I...I can't thank you enough for what you've done. If you weren't there, I...I don't even want to think about what might've happened."
Jewel waved it off. "It was no trouble at all. I'm always delighted to have Mirabel in my store. Besides, Mirabel's a sweet girl, and doesn't deserve that kind of treatment." Before she left, Julia handed Scrooge some medicine. "Be sure to change her bandages in the morning and rub this on the wound to prevent an infection."
After Jewel left, Scrooge closed up the office, with help from Beryl, and he and the two girls and dog headed home. After tucking the girls into bed, Ebenezer changed into his pajamas and climbed into his own bed, Prudence laying beside him. He turned to his loyal mastiff. "Prudence, for the next couple of days, I want you to keep a close watch over Mirabel. Just until those Madrigal's get it thru their heads that we're not giving her up." Prudence let out a small 'woof' in agreement. Ever since Mirabel had joined their small family, the dog had become extremely protective of the girl, loving her as if she were own pup.