Archive of Our Own

December 24th, 1907

5:45 p.m.

They were going to be late.

They were going to be late to the novena and they’d already been late to three already this week and they’d flooded out the Guzman’s when Pepa spilled some salpicón on her dress.

Everyone was already on edge and Alma thought if there was one more disaster she would lose it.

- If the town didn’t lose it on her and her gifted children, first.

“Bruno!”  She called up the stairs, her voice sharp with stress.  “Julieta!  Pepa!  Where are you?  We need to leave now if we’re going to be on time.”

“Coming, Mamá!”  Julieta called.  

Alma took a deep, slow breath, resisted tapping her foot impatiently at the foot of the stairs, and smoothed the front of her dress down instead.  Casita hurried her children along and slid them down the stairs, and her triplets giggled as they landed in a soft heap at the bottom. 

The sound of their united laughter after a week full of bickering soothed the frayed edges of her nerves, and her lips turned up at the corners, trying to lift her mouth into a smile weighed down by years of grief and responsibility.  When she spoke, her tone was gentler than it had been a moment ago. “What were you doing up there?”

“We’re gonna have a sleepover,” Pepa giggled and rainbows sprouted above her head.  “All of us in my room. We were getting our beds ready. And we’re gonna try and stay up and see Niño Dios leaving us our presents.”

“I told her we were gonna fall asleep,” Bruno announced with an over-the-top knowing look and a tone of superiority.  “But noooo, she doesn’t listen to her brother who can see the future.”   He huffed as he attempted to shove Julieta off his lap and untangle his limbs from his sisters’.

“You said you weren’t looking at Christmas!  You better not’ve peeked at your present!”  Pepa launched herself at him and he yelped and then they were all three of them wrestling on the ground - but they were still laughing.

“Mijos - mijos!”  Alma tried to intervene, but the rampaging ball of arms and legs and laughter bowled her over and she ended up on the ground along with her children. 

They all froze and stared at her, apprehension and apology mingled on their faces.

“...I did not see that one coming.”  Bruno admitted with wide eyes.

Alma’s smile became genuine as she threw her head back and laughed.  

December 21st, 1941. 

7:37 a.m.

At that moment, six year old Mirabel Madrigal was absolutely certain of two things:

1. Ratón Pérez was genuinely, one hundred percent real, and:
2. She was going to help Camilo catch him.

See, Juan Carlos told everyone at school before the holidays that Ratón Pérez wasn’t real, and Camilo declared that he was going to prove him wrong the next time he lost a tooth.

They both lost a tooth that same week.  (A miscalculated kick to Camilo’s favorite fútbol bounced back right to his face and knocked his tooth loose. Her ma’s food quickly healed his swollen lip, but he still had his prize - his baby tooth.  Not wanting to be outdone, Mirabel furiously wiggled hers in an effort to get it to come out, too.  And it did.) 

Camilo told her not to tell the grown-ups hers had come out.

“It’s a test, see,” he said seriously.  “The grown-ups know about my tooth.  I’ll put mine under my pillow for Ratón Pérez.  The grown-ups don’t know about your tooth.  You put yours under your pillow, too.  If Ratón Pérez only comes for my tooth, it’s because it’s the grown-ups like Juan Carlos says.  If he comes for both of our teeth, then he’s real, because the grown-ups don't know about your tooth.”

Mirabel thought his plan was kind of genius, and when she told him so, he grinned at her.

“I know, right?” he said.

(She found out later he’d gotten the idea from Isabela.  Figures.)

And then they each put their tooth under their pillows. In the morning, Mirabel barely remembered to put her glasses on before she rolled onto her knees and lifted her pillow.  Her tooth was gone and there was a shiny coin, glinting in the morning sunlight streaming through the nursery window.  

She gasped and ran to tell Camilo, and she met him in the hall because he was already running to her room, too.

He opened his hand and in his palm was a shiny new coin.

Both of their teeth were gone and both of them had money from Ratón Pérez.

He was real.

Camilo had the most smug smirk on his face.

They both knew that wouldn’t be proof enough for stuck-up, know-it-all Juan Carlos, though - so now they were making a plan to catch the tooth-taking, coin-leaving rat.

“He’s a rat, Mira,” Camilo said seriously, tossing his fútbol against the wall in the nursery.  Casita bounced it carefully back to him and caught any bounces that went astray, determined not to let him injure himself again.  “So it makes sense to catch him in a mouse trap.”

“But we can’t hurt him, not at all!”  Mirabel protested, shaking her head hard.  “He’s a magic rat! That would be like - like trying to catch Niño Dios or Los Tres Reyes Magos or - or -” her voice dropped to a whisper - “el Coco.”

Mirabel and Camilo both shuddered.  

“Good point,” Camilo said, catching the ball and hugging it to his chest, resting his chin on top of it.  “No mouse traps.  Then how are we gonna catch him?”

Mirabel bit her lip and thought for a minute.  “I think,” she said, standing and brushing her palms on her nightgown, “that we’re gonna need a plan.”

She walked to her desk, opened the drawer, and pulled out some paper and crayons.

“What’re you two doing in here?”  Isabela asked, poking her head in the nursery door.  “It’s almost breakfast time, and we’re waiting for you to start eating.  Luisa and I need to go help the town finish preparing for Noche Buena and I want to get started early because I don’t want to be gone all day.”  She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she grumbled.  

(She’d been doing that a lot lately.  The hair flipping.  Abuela always told her the grumbling wasn’t very ladylike.)

“Plus we need everyone’s help setting up for the novena we’re hosting at Casita.  I know it’s still a few days away, but we need to start getting ready today because tonight we’re going to the Pezmuerto’s house, and then tomorrow the Flores’, and then the Guzmáns…” Isabela ticked off the houses they’d be visiting on her fingers.  “It’s a busy week and we’ll need everyone’s help to get ready.  That means you too, Mirabel.”

“I know,” Mirabel said absent-mindedly, furiously sketching her part of their grand plan.

When neither she nor Camilo moved, Isabela sighed impatiently.  “Guys!”

They both jumped.  

“Sorry,” Mirabel said.  “We were working on a plan to catch Ratón Pérez.”

“What?”  Isabela said, wrinkling her nose.  “Why would you want to do that?”

“To prove he’s real,” Mirabel said, at the exact same time that Camilo said “To prove Juan Carlos is a lying jerkface.” 

He shifted into the schoolyard bully.  “I’m Juan Carlos and Ratón Pérez isn’t real and you’re both stupid but I’m the stupid one because I don’t get treats when I lose my teeth.” 

Isabela’s mouth twitched and Mirabel could tell she was trying not to laugh.  “Don’t let Abuela see you doing that.”

Camilo shifted back into himself. “Mirabel lost a tooth, too, Isa, so I did what you said and she didn’t tell anyone she lost hers.”  

Isabela’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

Mirabel was busy giving Camilo a look because he’d told her it was his plan.  Sort of.  When she realized Isabela had said something, she nodded.  “Uh-huh.  And I got a coin, too, even though Ma and Pa didn’t know.  So he’s real.  And we’re going to catch him.”

“Really?”  Isabela said, and she sounded like she was really surprised. 

“See?” Camilo said, and he nodded to the nightstand, where both of their coins were sitting side by side.

“Hmm.”  Isabela inspected them.  “Interesting.”

She walked over to study their plans, and hummed softly to herself.

“What?”  Mirabel said, a little defensively.  “We’re not going to keep him.  Just show him to Juan Carlos and the other kids and then let him go.”

“There’s only one problem,” Isabela said, crossing her arms and tapping her cheek thoughtfully. “Doesn’t he only come for teeth?  Where are you going to get another tooth?”

Mirabel and Camilo looked at each other and groaned.

“Oh, Mirabel, querida - you lost a tooth!  When did you lose a tooth, bebé?”  Julieta stopped arranging Mirabel’s curls and straightening the ribbon in her hair as she noticed the gap in her daughter’s smile. 

“Yesterday,” Mirabel said.

“Oh.”  Julieta said, and then, apprehensively - “...did you put it under your pillow?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Julieta held her breath for a moment.  “Oh.  Ah - well - you know, Ratón Pérez is a very busy little rat.  If he didn’t come last night, I’m sure he’ll come tonight.”

“Oh, he came last night.  See?”  Mirabel opened her little mochila and fished out her new coin.  

“Oh.  Oh!”  Julieta said, relieved.  “That’s lovely, Mirabel.  I’m glad.  Will you spend it or are you going to save it, mija?”

“I dunno,” Mirabel said, closing her hand over the coin.  “Maybe save it for now.  I already made everybody presents.”

“That’s a wise idea, mariposa.”

“Tía Julieta,” Dolores peeped, poking her head into the kitchen.  “Señor Martínez needs your help.  He had an accident with a cactus.”

“Again?!”  Julieta shook her head and reached for her basket of food.  She really needed to get going if she was going to treat everyone in town and still have time to prepare for Christmas.   

“Mama,” Mirabel said, as Julieta prepared to leave.

“Mmm?”  

“Do you think Ratón Pérez would take animal teeth?  Like…old ones?”  

“...animal teeth?”  Julieta paused. 

“Yeah,” Mirabel said.  “Because…well I can’t say because why, but do you think he would?”

Julieta stared at Mirabel’s hopeful, upturned face.  “...I…ah…I…don’t know?  I don’t think so.  I think he only collects milk teeth, mariposa.  From humans.”

Mirabel nodded and sighed.  “...okay.”  She straightened her shoulders and turned on her heel.

“Mirabel - where are you going?”  Julieta asked.  “Do you want to come hand out food with me?”

“Not today, Mama.  I’m going back to my room.  I’ve got more planning to do.”

Julieta blinked in confusion as she watched her daughter walk away with a determined look on her face.

Mirabel was still busy thinking about how they could catch Ratón Pérez without him getting mad at them. She wanted to prove Juan Carlos was wrong, but she also just wanted to prove Ratón Pérez was real.

She couldn’t explain why, exactly, that was - but she just liked the idea that there was more magic out there than just her family’s.  She loved being a part of La Familia Madrigal - but maybe - deep down, where she didn’t yet have the ability to put her feelings to words - she found comfort in believing that if she couldn’t have some of the Madrigal magic, she could still experience all the other kinds of magic in the world.  

In order to do that, though, she needed both more teeth and a way to catch him. She didn’t think Casita would let Camilo take a fútbol to the face again to lose another tooth, and none of hers were loose - she’d already tried really hard to wiggle them all - so she’d asked her mama if Ratón Pérez would come for animal teeth. She would never hurt an animal for its teeth, but Isabela did have an old coati skull hidden in her room. She had it because she thought it was cool, and she had it hidden because Abuela probably wouldn’t think it was cool.

Maybe they could take one of its teeth. It was worth a try, even if it didn’t work. 

Camilo agreed it was their best option for now.

Isabela even said she’d let them have a tooth from the coati skull if they really wanted it.

Which left the problem of how to catch him.  

She didn’t want to hurt Ratón Pérez, so she would have to make some sort of net or cage.  She could try to stay awake all night and put it over him, but he was magic, and she did get sleepy once it got too late, so that might not work.  

Oh!  But maybe she could make some sort of alarm.  Maybe, if she could figure out something to wake her up -

Oh! 

“Casita?”  She asked, hopeful. 

The house waved its shutters and tapped her feet gently with the wooden floorboards, and she shuffled her feet back and forth on them affectionately.  

“Hola, Casita!”  She giggled.  “Buenos días!  I was wondering - did you see Ratón Pérez come into mine and Camilo’s rooms last night?”

Casita didn’t respond.  

That was weird.

“Casita,” Mirabel said, poking the floor with her toe.  “Casita, did you see Ratón Pérez come into mine and Camilo’s rooms last night?”

Casita waited a moment, and then slowly tapped ‘yes’.

“Oh!  That’s great!”  Mirabel whooped.  “Casita, you can help us catch him!  You can let us know when he’s here!  Will you wake me up if you see him?”

Casita closed her shutters with a gentle snap.

“...what d’ya mean, no?”  Mirabel said, scrunching up her face in confusion.   

Casita opened and closed her shutters again, apologetic but firm.   

Mirabel sighed.  “Is it ‘cause he’s magic?  You can’t help me because he’s magic?”

Casita gently rippled the tiles underneath her chair. 

“Okay,” Mirabel sighed.  “Back to the drawing bird.” 

“Gracias, Agustín,” Julieta said, as he helped her set up her food stall for the day. She watched him adjust baskets of arepas and bowls of buñuelos.

She laughed to herself as he frowned at a buñuelo that kept insisting on rolling out of the bowl and hugged him from behind, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek to his back, right in between his shoulders.  She gave him a tight squeeze, pressed a soft kiss to his back, and then released him.  

He turned around and pulled her in for another hug, bending down to kiss her forehead.  “De nada, mi amor, I’m always happy to help.” 

“I meant for Mirabel, but thank you for this, too.” She pulled away, one arm still wrapped loosely around his waist, and bumped him playfully with her hip.

“You're very welcome.” Agustín said confidently, and then his brows drew together.  “What did I do for Mirabel?”

Julieta paused. She turned and looked up at him, her eyes narrowed in confusion.  “Ratón Pérez.  She lost her tooth yesterday and I didn’t notice until this morning.  Didn’t you take care of it last night?”

He blinked and shook his head.  “Ah - no.  No, I didn’t.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“Hmmm.  Maybe it was Pepa or Félix,”  Julieta said, frowning. 

Agustín nodded reassuringly. “Probably.”

Camilo and Mirabel worked together to make a cage out of an old woven basket.  Mirabel sewed a stiff scrap piece of fabric around one side that could easily flip over the opening and tie to a strap of leather looped through another part of the basket, though she was still learning to sew so it took most of the morning to make sure there were no gaps in it. 

They agreed that Mirabel would put the tooth under her pillow, since her room was a little easier to set up traps and alarms in.  She and Camilo asked if he could stay the night in her room and all the parents said it was okay.  

Camilo had the brilliant idea to put a line of honey on the windowsill to see if Ratón Pérez got stuck there, and they would also set up a tower of toys and some old pans they’d borrow from her mama just inside the door after they were tucked in for the night, so if Ratón Pérez came in through the door they would hear him.  

They decided that for the first night, they would just do their best to stay awake as long as they could and swoop the tooth rat up in the basket, if he came at all.

But the novenas at the Pezmuerto’s house took a long time, and they were both so sleepy by the time they got home they barely remembered to put the coati tooth under the pillow.  

“Mirabel!  Mira, wake up!”

Thwump.

Mirabel groaned, reached over to where the pillow had bounced off of her, and threw Camilo’s pillow right back at him. 

Dumb primo, hitting her with pillows, waking her up - 

Suddenly, she sat straight up in bed and rubbed her eyes, her vision fuzzy with sleep and blurry because she didn’t have her glasses on.  “Oh, no!  I fell asleep!”

“So did I!”  Camilo hissed.  “And we forgot to finish putting the alarm up before we went to bed!”

Mirabel reached over to her nightstand and put on her glasses.  She blinked in confusion. She didn't even remember taking them off last night. In fact, she was pretty sure she fell asleep on the ground waiting for Ratón Pérez …but she woke up in bed and her glasses were set neatly on the nearby table.

But she couldn't think about that mystery for long because Camilo was already bouncing on her bed, impatient, and then they both looked under the pillow.  

In place of the coati tooth, there was a small, leathery zapote and a folded piece of paper.

Camilo wrinkled his nose.  “A zapote?”  He said. He didn’t like them. “Why’d he leave a zapote?”

“There’s a note!”  Mirabel gasped, slipping the small, folded piece of paper out from underneath the fruit.  “Camilo!  Ratón Pérez left us a note!”

Camilo yawned.  “You’re better at reading than me, Mira.  You read what it says.”

Mirabel squinted at the note.  The handwriting was a tiny, uneven scrawl - little scritches, like you’d expect from a rat.  A rat who could also write notes, apparently.

Mirabel read the note slowly out loud. “Nice try, niños.  But a coati tooth gets you a coati treat - a zapote.  No more trying to trick me, okay? From, Ratón Pérez.”  

She bit her lip, equal parts thrilled that he’d come again and left them a note and embarrassed that he’d caught onto their trickery.  “Camilo, do you think we made him mad?”

Camilo stretched and shook his head.  “Nah.  If he was mad he wouldn’t’ve left anything.  He left us a note and a treat.  He’s not mad!”

“...okay.” Mirabel nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. “I don’t know Camilo, maybe we shouldn’t try to catch him anymore…”

“But we were so close, Mira!  And the note is good evidence but not as good as Ratón Pérez himself.  You know Juan Carlos will just be all - “ he shifted into the boy and made his voice lower - “ ‘you wrote that yourself you little twerps’.”  

He changed back to himself but his ears were still Juan Carlos’s.  Mirabel pointed it out and he made a face and stood on tiptoe to look into her mirror and shake his ears back to normal.  “We should at least try again with the alarm this time to wake us up.”

Mirabel took a deep breath and nodded.  “Okay, Milo.  Right! We’ll try again.”

But Isabela wouldn’t let them have another coati tooth.  

“I gave you one and you blew it.  Not my fault.  I’m not giving you any more.”

Mirabel made a face and stuck out her tongue at her as Isabela turned and walked away, tossing her hair over her shoulder.  

It turned out that Ratón Pérez was a lot smarter than a regular old rat.

He didn’t fall for a piece of paper cut out to look like a tooth.  They even remembered the alarm pile of toys and pans that night, but the only one who tripped over them was Mirabel’s papa. He had come to tell them to go to sleep when he heard them talking in the middle of the night.  His loud crashing woke up the whole house and Abuela was not happy.

Ratón Pérez didn’t fall for a little white rock the next night, either.  

Mirabel and Camilo added a bunch of marbles on the ground around Mirabel’s bed to see if he’d set any off while climbing up to her pillow, but they hadn’t moved the next morning.  Then they strung several strings across the bottom of the door, attached to a bell that would ring if someone tripped over it.  

Once again, only Mirabel’s papa tripped the wire when he came in to wake them up.  He got a bloody nose from his face smashing into the floor and she and Camilo got a scolding and a lecture about safety from a tight-lipped Abuela.

“Día de Los Inocentes isn’t until after Navidad,” Tío Félix winked at them after, attempting to soften her words.  “Let’s hold off on any pranks until then, eh?  And tripping people - not a very nice prank, mijos.”

“...it wasn’t a prank,” Camilo mumbled.  “It was a trap.”

While getting in trouble made Mirabel want to stop, it only made Camilo more determined to catch him.  

“We already got in trouble,” he explained as they discussed their next step after breakfast.  “Might as well make it count.”  

But there was no note and no treats of any kind and Mirabel was certain it was because Ratón Pérez was too smart to be fooled by a fake tooth, but they had no real teeth at all to try again with.

Now it was Noche Buena and Mirabel had almost convinced Camilo to take a break until after Navidad.  It just didn’t seem right to try and trap a magic creature on the same night that Niño Dios was coming to leave them presents.  

…and then Luisa lost her tooth.

Mirabel didn’t think Luisa had even had any baby teeth left to lose, but she must’ve had some still because on Noche Buena she bit into brevas caladas and one of her molars stuck into it. Luckily, Mirabel was right next to her when it happened, right next to the table full of treats in front of the painting of the family tree.

“Ow!” Luisa said, and her voice was swallowed up in all the singing and dancing and partying going on in Casita.  They always hosted the last novena of the season, and afterward, everyone went to Midnight Mass to celebrate Navidad.  After mass, everyone went to their own homes and finished their parties with their own families.   

To Mirabel’s surprise and concern, Luisa leaned forward and spit out her sticky fig into a napkin.

“What’s wrong, Luisa?  Do I need to get Mamá?  Are you okay?”  

Luisa shook her head.  “Nah, don’t bother Ma. I’m okay, Mirabel.  I just - I lost a tooth.”   She made a face as she probed the empty spot in her gums with her tongue.  “It was a baby tooth.  It’s been loose for a while.  I guess the brevas caladas just…pulled it right out.”

Mirabel stared at the napkin, her mind whirring.  “Can I have it?”

Luisa’s nose wrinkled in disgust.  “Mirabel, there are lots more right - ”

“No, no, no! Ew!  Gross!  Not that,” Mirabel cried, shaking her head.  “I mean the tooth.”

Luisa blinked at her.  “You want my tooth?”

Mirabel nodded, her eyes wide and pleading.  “Pleeeeeeease, Luisa?”

Luisa’s brows drew together and she clutched the napkin to her chest.  “But - I’m going to put it under my pillow.  For Ratón Pérez.”

Mirabel’s eyes widened.  “You still believe in Ratón Pérez?”

Luisa looked a little embarrassed.  “...um…don’t…don’t you?”

“Of course we do!”  Camilo cut in, popping out of nowhere and scaring both girls half to death.  “But Juan Carlos says he’s not real and we’re going to prove him wrong.  We know he’s real, and we have a plan to prove it!  But…we need your tooth.”

“You want to catch Ratón Pérez?!” Luisa looked horrified. 

“Please, Luisa!” Mirable begged.  “Please?!  We’re not going to hurt him.  We’re just going to catch him and show him to everybody to prove he’s real and then let him go and it’ll be okay - ” 

“Luisa, it will be a win-win!!”  Camilo insisted. “We use your tooth to catch Ratón Pérez, we show him to all the kids, everyone knows he’s real and puts their teeth under their pillows for him, he gets even more teeth then he used to, and he’ll be happy!”

“...but what if he’s not happy?”  Luisa said, still unconvinced.  “...what if he’s mad we tried to catch him and then I don’t get anything for my tooth and he never comes again?”

…and now Mirabel was second-guessing herself.  If Luisa was this upset at the idea of catching him, maybe it really wasn’t a good idea.

But Camilo also had a point. They’d worked so hard on it already…and wouldn’t everyone be so impressed they’d caught him?

“We already tricked him once,” Camilo said.  “And he still gave us a note and a zapote. You’ll be fine…if you like zapotes.”  He mumbled that last bit under his breath. 

“You can have my coin,” Mirabel said, deciding to go all in one more time to catch the rat. She fished her coin out of the little kid-sized mochila she carried around with her everywhere.  She showed Luisa and then tucked it safely away again.  “If we catch him and he gets more teeth like Camilo said then he’ll be happy and you’ll still get a coin and it’ll be fine.  If we catch him and he’s mad and won’t give you any money for your tooth you can have my coin.  It’ll be a con - a cons - a constellation prize.”

“...you mean a consolation prize?” 

Mirabel blinked at her.

Luisa sighed.  “Okay.  But - I’m still putting it under my pillow.  It’s my tooth.”

“Great!”  Camilo whooped.  “Another sleepover!  And we can use the basket and the string and the marbles and the alarm and we can use the honey by the window and maybe some syrup too, because I had this idea to use tía’s flour so we can see his footprints and follow him because I noticed when I spilled it last week you could see where I walked so if we put flour down - ”

Mirabel nodded.  “Okay, but Camilo - ”

“ - we’ll be able to see his footprints and if he gets covered in honey and then flour it’ll be easier to see him. Maybe we can have a net, too - ” 

“Camilo - ”

“I know!  We’ll ask Isa to make us a net from her vines and set it up so that if he steps on it, it’ll fall on him, or - or swoop him up or something - ”

“Camilo!”

“What?!”

Mirabel took a deep breath.  “Okay, we’ll do the biggest, best traps we can make, and we’ll ask Luisa and Isabela and Dolores for help.  But this is it, okay?  If we don’t catch him tonight with Luisa’s tooth, I’m done.  I don’t want to get in trouble anymore.”

Camilo frowned.  “But - ”

Luisa nodded.  “Camilo, Abuela says we’re supposed to use our gifts to help people.  I don’t think catching Ratón Pérez counts as helping people.”

“But - ”

“And I don’t know if we should ask Dolores and Isabela to help…”

“Why not?”  Camilo shifted into Dolores.  “Mi hermana could hear him coming and warn us to get ready!  And Isa,” he said, shifting into Isabela, “can make traps with her vines!  It’s perfect!”

He shifted into the tallest person in town and then Rosa, who was the smallest kid in the school.  “I can shift to reach or squeeze into places if he escapes Isa’s vine traps! And Mirabel - ”

Mirable winced.

He stopped and thought.  “Mirabel has the basket!”  He crowed triumphantly. 

It wasn’t much, but she could help, at least a little.

“Pleeeeeease?”  Mirabel and Camilo asked together, giving Luisa their biggest, saddest puppy eyes.

“I’ll help,” Dolores whispered, and Mirabel jumped.  She hadn’t heard her come up behind her.  She could be as sneaky as Camilo when she wanted to be.  “...I’ll help listen for Ratón Pérez tonight.  We can have a sleepover in Luisa’s room.”  

She bit her lip for a moment, tilting her head and listening for something only she could hear.  Then she seemed to square her shoulders and gave a little nod.  “Let’s - let’s do it.”

“...it has been a long time since I’ve had a sleepover with you guys.  It would be fun to just… have fun.  You know what?  Okay!” Luisa said, and she perked up.  Mirabel hadn’t noticed how hunched over her shoulders had been until she straightened them and lifted her chin.  She was even taller when she was standing up straight with a big smile on her face. “You’re sure Dolores?  It’s not too much for you? Or Isabela?”

Mirabel’s eyebrows scrunched over her eyes in confusion.  “Why would it be too much for them?”  Sleepovers were fun.  And a sleepover on Noche Buena when they were all going to be working together to catch Ratón Pérez and then get presents from Niño Dios?  Even funner!

Luisa hesitated.  “Because…we’ve all done a lot of work lately, getting ready for Noche Buena and Navidad.  You know how Abuela likes everything to be…perfect.”

Mirabel deflated a little bit at that.  “...I know,” she said quietly.

“I’ll talk to Isa,” Dolores said.  “I…I’ll explain what we’re going to do.  I think she’ll help us.”  She made a small sound and turned around, scanning the crowd for Isabela.  “...if I can rescue her from entertaining everyone,” she mumbled, and strode off to the stairs.  

Isabela was on the balcony above the courtyard, blooming flowers left and right and taking requests from villagers like some sort of Navidad flower angel.  People clapped and cheered and thanked her and she smiled prettily.

“Rescue?”  Mirabel wrinkled her nose.  “She looks like she’s having fun.  Everybody loves her gift.”

Luisa heard her.

“Mirabel…” she said.  

“Hmmm?”

“Just because everyone loves her gift doesn’t mean she loves using it every time they ask, you know?”

Mirabel looked up at Luisa.

Luisa sighed.  “I just mean…it…ah…it’s hard work, sometimes.  It’s not…uh…fun.”

“What’s not fun?”

Luisa shook her head.  “...nothing, Mirabel.  It’s okay. Nevermind.”

But even when Dolores pulled Isabela away and all of the kids went up to Luisa’s rooms to prepare for their sleepover - even as they made up their beds, even as Mirabel helped spread honey on the windowsills and put marbles on the floor - even as they all tied the tooth to a nearly invisible piece of fishing line that would trigger their Best Trap Ever when it was picked up - and even when she stood back to let Isabela grow a tree and work her vines together to make a net for Ratón Pérez and Dolores told her to make it bigger - Mirabel couldn’t ‘nevermind’.

She’d never considered the idea that her family’s gifts could be hard. 

She couldn’t help but notice that the more Isabela worked with her vines - the more she used her powers to do something other than bloom roses - the more she smiled.

And not her pretty smile that made her look like a princess, either.

It was a big smile that filled her whole face and showed her teeth.

Mirabel hadn’t seen a smile like that on Isabela…ever.

When she had to experiment growing Venus fly traps and huge sundews to snap through the tripwire - trip-vine? - that would spring the trap, Isabela laughed.  She threw back her head and laughed with delight and it made Mirabel smile, a little bit, to see her sister so happy. 

And when Isabela slung her arm around Mirabel’s shoulders and said “I’d like to see Ratón Pérez get out of that,” with a satisfied nod, Mirabel thought that maybe that was what Luisa meant.

Using their gifts wasn’t always fun. 

But it could be.  

Maybe it should be more often.

“Where have you all been?”  

They were all laughing and whispering as they made their way down the stairs after they’d finished getting Luisa’s room ready.

Their laughter died as they looked at the stern, slightly disappointed expression on Abuela’s face.  Their parents waited beside her, and everyone else that had been at the party was gone.

Oops.

“It is very rude to disappear in the middle of a party.”  Her gaze landed on Dolores.  “Didn’t you hear me calling for you?”  She turned her stare to Isabela and clucked her tongue.  “Would you have liked it if Osma left in the middle of the Pezmuerto’s novena?  Or if Mariano had disappeared halfway through the Guzmáns?”

Isabela bit her lip and adjusted her skirts.  All of them swallowed and looked anywhere but at their grandmother.  

“...sorry, Abuela…”

“Sorry Abuela,” Mirabel repeated a minute later, wiping her palms on her dress.  “We…we were just…”

Dolores squeaked and looked at Mirabel, her eyes wide.

“...we’re gonna have a sleepover.  All of us in Luisa’s room. We were getting our beds ready for later.”

Dolores relaxed.

Abuela’s face softened suddenly and she stared at them. After a moment, she put her hand over her locket.  “Oh,” she breathed.  “I…I see.”

But then she shook her head and straightened again and sighed.  “I see,” she repeated.  “That’s…very nice. But your sisters and older prima have responsibilities now.  They are old enough to know better than to hide away in the middle of a party.”

“Mamá,” Tía Pepa said sharply.  She stepped in, her brows drawn together and a gray cloud growing above her head. “All of the children have worked hard all week preparing for Noche Buena and Navidad.  We managed fine without them tonight.  Let them have a break.”

Abuela turned to her, her mouth pressed into a thin line.  

“Mamá,” Mirabel’s madre said softly, but there was something very hard in her tone.  “Pepa’s right. It’s Christmas.”

Abuela looked at them, and then back at the kids, and she sighed.  She gave them a small smile.  “You’re right.  It’s Christmas.   And there will be no work tomorrow.  We will have plenty of time to rest and play and celebrate, and you’ll get to…”  her voice trailed off.  “...you’ll get to stay up late and try to see Nińo Dios leaving you presents…”

“Oh, we’re not trying to catch him,” Camilo announced, and Dolores stepped on his foot to shush him.

Abuela gave them a funny look.  “Well, no.  It wouldn’t do to catch Niño Dios, would it?  Now come, come.  It’s time for Mass.”

“That’s right, c’mon, we’ll be late for Mass!”  Camilo said, and pulled Mirabel and Luisa behind him as he skipped out the door.  “I’ll race you there!”

Dolores and Isabela gave their parents suitably contrite looks and then trailed behind, heads bent together, whispering.

The adults followed behind.

A little ways down the road, Isabela stopped dead in her tracks and stopped to look back at Casita, her mouth dropping open.  “No way,” she said so loudly Julieta could hear her clearly.

They’d spread out as they walked, Félix and Agustín attempting to give their wives a break by keeping Alma occupied on the walk to church. Julieta and Pepa were the last in line, walking together and watching their family go before them.

Dolores shushed Isabela and darted a nervous glance over her own shoulder at the adults watching them, then pulled her further down the road, continuing to whisper.  

Pepa narrowed her eyes at them and bumped her sister gently on the shoulder.  “They’re up to something.  You and I both know it.”

Julieta nodded.  “...Camilo and Mirabel have been obsessed with Ratón Pérez lately.” She laughed quietly to herself. “I think they’ve been trying to catch him in the act.”

“...reminds me of someone else who used to be obsessed with Ratón Pérez,” Pepa said, the sound of her voice softer than the snow that had begun to fall around her.  Her gray cloud hadn’t dissipated after her confrontation with their madre. She swallowed. “We all used to sleep in my room on Noche Buena, too.”

When Julieta just looked at her, her eyes wide and her heart trying valiantly to hold itself together, Pepa looked away. “...I know. It's Christmas and I…I shouldn't be…I need to keep it together. Clear skies,” she murmured softly, tugging on her braid. “Clear skies. Everyone wants clear skies for Christmas.”

They began to walk toward the church again, still trailing far behind the rest of the family.

“...you know,” Julieta said sadly. “I don't think anyone will mind a white Christmas, Pepa.”

Pepa was quiet for a long minute. “...if I let myself go, Juli, it won't just be a white Christmas. It will be an Arctic storm. Blinding snow and ice and wind. Rain and thunder. The works.”

Her cloud gave off a little flash of lightning to illustrate her point.

“Sometimes I'd like to howl right along with your wind,” Julieta said. She stopped walking. “I just want to talk about it, Pepa. I want to talk about him. I want to - ”

“ - not now, Juli. I just…can't. Not right now. After….after the holidays, maybe. Okay?  We can go to the cliffside and scream and storm and - it’ll be better, then.” Pepa said, her voice tired. “I just…can't handle being yelled at by mama tonight.”

The vice around Julieta’s heart squeezed her just a little bit tighter. “...of course, Pepa. Later.”

They were silent for a moment, and Julieta frowned, struggling for a change in subject.  “Oh!  Speaking of Ratón Pérez - I’ve been meaning to thank you, by the way!”

“Well, you’re welcome, of course,” Pepa said, pasting on a haughty smile.  “...for what?”

“For taking care of Mirabel’s tooth.  I didn’t know she’d lost it, but you were right there, ready to save the day and keep the magic alive.”  Julieta chuckled to herself.  

Pepa looked at Julieta in confusion.  “What are you talking about?”

“...Mirabel lost a tooth the same day as Camilo but I didn’t know.  She said she put it under her pillow for Ratón Pérez, and the next morning he’d taken her tooth and given her a coin.  It wasn’t me or Agustín, so I figured…it had to be you or Félix.”  It was Julieta’s turn to be confused.

Pepa stopped walking and shook her head.  “It wasn’t me.  It wasn’t us.”

They both eyed their mother, but neither one voiced the opinion that it probably wasn’t her, either.

But if not her – then who?

He shouldn’t have left the walls.

But the whole family going to Mass together was one of the few times he could count on to leave his makeshift home-within-his-home and not get caught.

He would shower, he would stretch, he would raid the kitchen and the pantry and admire his sobrino’s schoolwork and look up at the sky.  He’d collect whatever he needed to continue his work in the walls - stuff for the rats, stuff for himself; tools to repair the cracks that were steadily growing inside Casita.

Casita would let him know when anyone was coming, and he’d had a few close calls, but he made it work.

He rarely ever left except when he knew everyone was out of the house. But the other night - when he saw Mirabel lose her tooth; when he overheard Camilo tell her to hide it from the grown-ups so they could prove Ratón Pérez was real - he had to be brave, for her.

He’d waited anxiously for one of the other adults to notice - or maybe for Dolores to tell one of them - but they didn’t notice, and she didn’t tell, and he knew if Mirabel was going to keep believing in Ratón Pérez, it was going to have to be him.

He’d already let her down in so many ways, he had to keep the magic alive for her, for just a little while longer. 

So he’d knocked on wood and thrown salt and sugar over his shoulders and crossed his fingers. He held his breath and counted and performed every single good-luck ritual he knew of, and he snuck out of his maze of walkways and holes and cracks hidden behind the walls that had become his home.  With his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, he exchanged her tooth for one of the coins he had (the rats liked to collect things for him…and he had quite the collection of assorted items, now).   

She hadn’t even stirred, she was so deep asleep - and then the next morning, she was so incandescently happy that it was worth it.

He was even brave enough to sneak out again the following night.  He’d overheard them plotting to catch Ratón Pérez and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at their plans.  His success the previous night had given him the confidence to write them a note and exchange the coati tooth for a zapote.  He had even moved her from the floor to the bed - and Camilo, too.

It made them happy, and it made him happy.

He felt more connected to his family in those two nights than he had for years.

But he knew not to push it, and he didn’t return for the paper tooth or the white rock.  As far as he was concerned, he’d done his part and he was going to stay back in the walls again for a good long time.  If he needed to resume his role as Ratón Pérez some day in the future, he would; but he’d had enough adventure for the year.

But then Luisa had lost her tooth.

And the kids hadn’t told anyone.

And now everyone else was at Mass and he stood in Luisa’s bedroom, obviously booby-trapped to high heaven with the intention to catch Ratón Pérez in the act.  

He hadn’t noticed the flour in the hallway and inside Luisa’s door at first and was getting footprints everywhere, but it was okay.  He’d clean them up before they got home.  Maybe he’d even have Valentino scurry around and leave some little rat footprints before he went back into the walls, for effect.  

Several of his little rat friends poked their heads out of his ruana and from behind his hair.

“Heh. Lucky for me,” Bruno whispered to them as he surveyed the traps, “I am not rat-sized.  I mean - I almost feel bad, you know?  They worked really hard on this.”

One of his rats squeaked softly from his shoulder.  “No, no - you’re not ready for that role, yet, uh - amigo.  Ratón Pérez requires a certain level of - um - experience.  Nah - I wouldn’t want them to trap any of you. They’re good kids, but they’re still kids, you know?  Best to leave this to me.  Down you go.”

The rats scampered off of him and carefully made their way to the closest window, where they made short work of licking the honey off the windowsill. Bruno stepped cautiously around the marbles and string and vines spread out on the floor.  He made his way to Luisa’s bed and lifted her pillow and carefully took the tooth from below it.

“Huh.” He said, plucking the small string the tooth was tied to – but he couldn’t follow where it went.  They’d tied it to…something.  “What’ve we got here…?”

He heard a click from somewhere behind the bed, and then the sound of a marble rolling, and from somewhere in the room a muffled thump from something that must’ve been surprisingly heavy as he could feel it vibrate when it hit the ground. Luisa must’ve set that one up.

There was a pause, and then the wet, slithery sound of a vine unraveling, and he scrambled to put the tooth back under the pillow and stepped back from the bed. He watched with interest and increasing concern as the vines on the floor beneath his feet began to slide and pull together, and then -

“...mier - aaah!” he cried - and then he was upside down, his feet jerked out from under him and all of the smaller vines on the ground somehow tightening together into a giant twisted net that pinned his arms to his sides and wrapped around him from shoulder to ankle.  The trap snapped him up to hang upside down from a small but surprisingly strong tree Isabela grew in Luisa’s room - like he was some sort of huge disgruntled ornament on a tiny tropical Christmas tree.

“Casita?”  He called when he finally managed to catch his breath.  “Casita - a little - heh - a little help, please?”

But Casita flapped her tiles and shook her rafters helplessly.  

Apparently, she couldn’t move Isabela’s tree.   

The Madrigals said good-bye outside the church after Mass before going home. Alma asked everyone to stay a bit longer to ‘be polite’ since all the children had disappeared during the party earlier.

Everyone was doing their part, shaking hands and greeting neighbors and wishing the village well.  Everyone except…

Alma sighed. 

“Julieta,” she said softly, touching her daughter’s elbow.  “Where is Mirabel?”

Julieta finished patting Señor Martínez on the shoulder and wishing him well and turned back to her madre.  “Mirabel?  She went back into the church, Mamá.  She said she forgot something inside.  Should I go get her?”

Alma shook her head.  “No, mija.  I’ll check on her.”

“Gracias,” Julieta called as she turned to whisper to Isabela as Señor Martínez walked away.

“Don’t make him any more cactuses, mija, por favor. Having to heal all those needle wounds is driving me crazy.”

Isabela giggled as Alma made her way into the church.

The church was empty, save for a few stragglers lighting candles and offering prayers.

Alma spotted Mirabel kneeling before a statue of the Mother and Child, finishing her own earnest prayer.

“...and please bless my family.”  Mirabel paused and leaned forward toward the small baby Jesus, her eyes still scrunched closed as she whispered out loud.  “Luisa and Isabela have been very tired and Isabela has been crabby, too.  But I forgive her! And I’m real grateful for our miracle, even if I didn’t get a piece of it.”

She leaned back as though she was done, but stopped and seemed to remember something else.  “And God?  Can I talk to Abuelo Pedro for a minute?”  

She waited as though giving him time to find her abuelo.

“Hi Abuelo.  It’s me!  Mirabel! Feliz Navidad! I hope you’re having a good time in heaven.  Do they have arepas con queso up there?  I hope so.  They’re my favorite. Anyway, I wanted to ask you for some help and Abuela prays to you all the time so I thought I’d try it too.” 

She fidgeted a little and tugged her dress out from under her knees, fluffing it around her and getting more comfortable. “Okay, so - Isabela was so happy tonight getting Luisa’s room ready and Luisa was excited too. I think it’d be real nice if everyone could use their gifts for fun sometimes.  Even Dolores acted kind of nervous tonight so I think she needs a break too. So could you maybe ask God if he could please let them do that?  And I think Mama and Tía Pepa are tired too because they worked really hard for the novenas and Noche Buena and Navidad.  They work really, really hard every day to make you proud.  Are you proud of us yet, Abuelo?”

Mirabel lowered her voice, and Alma stepped forward in order to hear her, her mouth suddenly dry and her eyes suddenly wet as she strained to hear her granddaughter’s little voice.

“...Abuela says we have to earn the miracle you gave us and I guess she’s right because of everything you did and we should show we’re thankful for it.  But she also calls them gifts.  And gifts are supposed to be fun and nice.  So if there’s a way you could help everyone have fun with their gifts that would be great. And please help us catch Ratón Pérez and if that’s a sin then please ask Jesus to forgive me for it.”

Mirabel went to leave but paused and knelt back down yet again.  “And Feliz Navidad, God.  Happy Birthday Jesus.  Amen.” 

She got up and turned around and ran right into Alma, bumping into her stomach and causing her glasses to go askew.  

“Oh!  Abuela!”  Mirabel said.  She stepped back and fixed her glasses and looked up at her with wide eyes, twisting the ruffles on her dress nervously.  “Feliz Navidad! Is it time to go home, now?”  

Alma stared down at her granddaughter for a moment, all the feelings she had sticking in her throat and keeping the words from coming out.  

She nodded instead and let Mirabel take her hand and lead her out of the church.

As soon as Mirabel and Abuela came out of the church doors, Dolores turned to Isabela with a look of pure panic on her face.  “Race you all home!”  She cried, and she took off running.

Isabela took off after her, and Luisa and Camilo and Mirabel looked at each other and shrugged.  

Mirabel was feeling too sleepy to run, before, but now that Dolores and Isabela were acting so weird she felt like she had to keep up with them.

Maybe Dolores had heard Ratón Pérez.

Maybe they'd caught him! 

“Mama, can we go home?  Can we go home and get ready?”  Mirabel turned to her madre, who was paying more attention to Abuela than to Mirabel. 

“Sí, sí querida.  We’ll see you at home.  We’ll be right behind you.  Mamá - Mamá, are you alright?”

Mirabel waved without looking back and focused on beating Camilo home to Casita.

When they got home, Casita was clacking nervously, hurrying them along, and they all skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs.

The flour that Camilo had sprinkled all over the floor in the hall had footprints in it, but it wasn’t rat footprints.

It was a person’s footprints.  

Big footprints.

Well…grown-up sized footprints, anyway.

Mirabel’s heart gave a little jump, and she was afraid.  “Who’s in our house?” She whispered. “Casita?  Who’s home?”

Dolores inhaled sharply and made a little sound in the back of her throat that sounded like surprise or sadness, but Mirabel wasn’t sure which.  

Camilo shifted into his padre.  “I’ll scare them away,” he said, puffing out his chest.  “I’ll protect us.”

“No!” Dolores said, giving her head a little shake and making for Luisa’s room.  “It’s not a stranger and he's not dangerous and you've got to stop because he’s finally home, here, where we can see him and I don't want him to think you’re actually angry or afraid because then he might leave for real!”

She squeaked in distress and then darted away, running faster than Mirabel had ever seen her run before.

“Who?” Luisa called out after her.  “Dolores. Who are you talking about?!”

Isabela shook her head.  “You’ll see.  Dolores will explain later.  Come on, we’ve got to go rescue him.”

She ran after Dolores.

“Rescue who?”  Camilo asked, and then they were all running to Luisa’s room.

Mirabel and Camilo stood, side by side, their mouths hanging open in shock.

They hadn’t caught Ratón Pérez.

They’d caught their Tío Bruno.

He was dangling upside down in Isabela’s vine trap, the net they'd made wrapped around his whole body, pinning his arms to his sides. His hair and the hood of his ruana had fallen around his face, and he made a strange growling noise as he struggled to free himself from the net.

He was twisting and spinning around upside down in the air, wiggling his arms to get them free and then, when that didn’t work, attempting to stretch his fingers high enough to loosen the vines around his legs.

“Augh!”  He let out another muffled groan of frustration and then just sighed.

The vines spun slowly around until they could see his face.

When he saw them all standing there, his eyes went wide.  He said something under his breath. It sounded a lot like a word Mirabel wasn’t allowed to use.

Isabela was standing there, all stiff and just as surprised as Mirabel, but the sound of her tío’s voice snapped her out of it, and she quickly used her powers to lower him to the floor and unravel the vines from around him.  

He stared at them for a moment, wide-eyed and disheveled with his legs sprawled out where Isabela had deposited him on the ground.

They all stared back.  

He opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, Dolores was in his lap.  She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder and folded herself up to fit in his lap and it almost knocked him over.

It took Mirabel a minute to realize that Dolores was crying.

It took Tío Bruno a minute to realize it, too.  He looked shocked and as still as a statue and then, he blinked really fast and swallowed a bunch of times and he hugged Dolores back.  He hugged her real tight and then knocked on the floor and his head and then hugged her again, patting her back and gently trying to pry her hands off of his ruana.  

“Hey,” he said, and his voice was quiet and - and - and it reminded Mirabel of the hinges on the door at the schoolhouse…whispery and dry and…rusty.  

He gave up trying to get Dolores’ hands off his ruana and cleared his throat a couple times and then tried again.  “Hey,” he said again, and looked up.  “I, uh - I can explain - ”

His eyes met hers and Mirabel’s heart was flooded with memories.  It had only been a year and a half, but she suddenly remembered things she hadn’t thought of since everyone stopped talking about him when he left and didn't come back.

The way she used to sit in his lap when he read her stories, his quiet voice folding around her like his warm, soft ruana.

The way he cradled her hands in his when he helped her hold a little bird that had injured its wing. Her mama had fed it aguapanela with a dropper to heal it; his palms and fingers felt a little rough but it was nice all the same.

The way he always slipped Camilo an extra buñuelo or extra bocadillo and winked.

The way he played make believe with Luisa and listened to Dolores and the way he sat in the back garden with Isabela as the sun went down while she practiced making things grow.

When had she forgotten how much she missed him?

It didn’t seem fair to suddenly be feeling all the missing at once, when he was finally back.

“Tío Bruno,” she whispered, and her lower lip trembled.  “Why were you gone so long?”

 And suddenly she wanted to be in his lap, too.

It seemed like everyone had the same idea at once.  Dolores was still in his lap but then so was Mirabel, and Isabela was on one side of him and Luisa was on the other side, and they were all hugging him and Luisa had started crying too, big gasping sobs that Mirabel felt in her own chest.

Camilo was speechless.  He just stared at his sister and his primas and his tío, his mouth open like a fish.

“You…you’re not Ratón Pérez!”  He finally managed to get out.  

“Uh…well…” Bruno gave him a lopsided smile.  “...sorry to disappoint you, kid.”  

Camilo shrugged, like he was trying to act like it was all no big deal. “I - I’m not disappointed,” he whispered.

Then he joined the pile on the floor, too.

“Gifts are supposed to be fun and nice.”

“They work really, really hard every day to make you proud.”

“Are you proud of us yet, Abuelo?”

Mirabel’s innocent prayer unsettled Alma. 

In fact, she hadn’t felt this off-kilter since…

…since Bruno disappeared last year. After Mirabel didn’t get a Gift.

It hurt to even think his name, and if she was honest she still hoped that one day she would come home from the village and he’d be curled up on the bench in the alcove, waiting for them. 

Some days she wasn’t sure if she’d shout at him for leaving or hug him for returning.

But if she was also being honest with herself, she also wondered if she’d blamed him for leaving because it was easier than blaming herself for yet another loss in the family. She’d tried so hard to protect them all, all these years. And somehow, she’d failed.

When Bruno left, she was so angry, but she was also heartbroken.  Anger was easier to hold onto than heartbreak, but it also clouded the rest of her emotions and made things unclear.

She was tired of the grief and tired of the anger. 

Maybe…she’d been wrong about a few things.

As Julieta and Pepa and their husbands walked with her, Julieta clucking over her and telling her she’d make her some tea as soon as they got home and Pepa’s cloud snowing softly over them, she stopped walking.  

“Mijas,” she said softly.  “Are you tired?”

Juileta and Pepa gave each other a look.

“Well, it’s midnight on Noche Buena - of course we’re tired,” Julieta said lightly, and Pepa looked away.

“No,” Alma said, and she stopped and reached up to cup Julieta’s face, looking her in the eyes.  “Julieta - mija - are you tired?”

Julieta’s eyes filled with tears, and Alma had her answer.  

“Pepa?” She whispered, and turned to her tallest bebé.  

“Ma,” Pepa said, and her voice was low and strained.  “Mamá, we’re always tired.  Aren’t you?”

“...and the children?”  Alma asked, afraid of the answer.  

Was this what Pedro had died for?  For her children and grandchildren to be so endlessly exhausted that her six-year-old granddaughter was interceding for them in prayer so that they might have one day to rest and have fun?  

“I think,” Agustín said quietly, when Julieta and Pepa didn’t immediately answer, “that perhaps a rest until Epiphany would be in order for everyone.”

Felix nodded in agreement. “A true twelve days of Christmas - that sounds perfect, eh?  What do you say?”  

Alma nodded.

“And then…” Agustín hesitated for a moment.

“And then?” Alma said.

He straightened and his arm tightened around Julieta. “..and then I think we need to discuss the children’s’ workload. We – need to discuss everyone’s workload.”

It felt like everyone was holding their breath as they looked at her.

Alma nodded numbly.  “...Sí.  Sí - that would be - good.”

The relief on their faces broke her heart.

Are you proud of me yet, Pedro?

She was no longer proud of herself.

As soon as they reached Casita, the house pulled them in and nearly flew them up the stairs to Luisa’s room, clacking her tiles in agitation.

There was flour all over the floor and the room was a mess.

The adults looked at each other in panic and Félix and Agustín nearly got stuck together in the doorway in their haste to check on their children.

They froze in shock just inside the door, and Pepa and Julieta had to elbow them out of the way to see what was going on.

Alma heard them gasp and then they threw themselves on the floor, and there were so many people on the ground together that Alma almost missed what they were reacting so strongly to.

Bruno.

Julieta and Pepa were on their knees, the kids sliding off of his lap to make room for them. Pepa was squishing Dolores and Julieta was practically sitting on Luisa but neither one of them seemed to care, they just scooted away as best they could to let his sisters hug him without actually leaving Bruno’s side.

All of the children’s’ eyes were rimmed red and their cheeks were still shiny with tears, but they were smiling and giggling and all trying to talk over each other to explain to their mothers what had happened.

Alma stared at the scene before her with her mouth open and her heart in her throat.

When Julieta and Pepa finally pulled away, he started apologizing.

“I'm sorry,” He blurted out.  “I’m… so sorry, I’m sorry…I just - ”

Alma stepped toward him and he looked up at her and froze.

The fear and shame in his eyes broke her heart.  

But then his eyes darted to Mirabel, and back up to her, and his jaw set in determination.

“Ma - ”

“Brunito,” she breathed, and then she was on her knees, too, old woman that she was - she was on her knees with her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close and pressing her cheek to his curls.

He froze, and when she released him, there was pure confusion on his face.

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed both of his cheeks.  “Welcome home, Brunito,” she whispered, and she smiled at him.

His eyes filled with tears and he gave her a tremulous smile in return.  

He then pulled away and took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and wiping his eyes with the hem of his ruana.  

“I - ” he said.  “I - "

“It's alright, mijo.  It will be alright,” Alma said, and it was the truth.  She would do everything she could to make things all right again.  “I just want you here, where you belong.”

“We’re just happy that you’re home, okay?”  Julieta added, and Pepa nodded.

“It's the best Christmas present anyone could have ever given us, to have you home,” Alma whispered.

They all hugged him again, like if they squeezed enough he’d fill up to the brim with all their love for him.

“...how are you home, anyway?”  Pepa asked after a moment, when he finally started to squirm and Julieta ordered them to give him some space.  “How did you end up…here?” She gestured to Luisa’s room.  “And…what’s all this…stuff?”  She wrinkled her nose at the vines and marbles and mess littering the floor.

Luisa shrieked suddenly and everyone jumped. Dolores covered her ears and Pepa startled and a burst of thunder made Bruno jump into Julieta’s lap.  

“What’s wrong, querida?”  Agustín asked, joining Luisa where she’d taken refuge on her bed.  

“There’s a rat!”  She cried, pointing and trying to climb up onto her papa’s shoulders.

“There’s not just one…there’s a whole bunch of rats!” Camilo said.

Sure enough, a dozen beady little eyes and noses and whiskers peeked out from under the bed and the desk and from the rafters.

“Don’t hurt them!”  Bruno said, scrambling off of Julieta and opening his arms to them. They all scurried to sit in his lap and climb up onto his shoulders.  “They’re mine! They’re…they’re my friends.”

One ran up to him and dropped something in the palm of his hand. He scratched its head lightly and it clambered up to sit on his shoulder, and Pepa and Julieta scooted back a bit.

To give him some more room, of course.

“What’s that?”  Camilo asked, nodding to Bruno’s hand.

“Uh…”.  Bruno said, looking down at it.

“It’s my tooth!” Luisa exclaimed.

“...were you sneaking into Luisa’s room to take her tooth?” Julieta asked, with a tone of sudden realization. “...Bruno - you – you were Ratón Pérez?!”

“I mean - I - I - ”

“Oh my gosh,” Mirabel said in the silence that followed.  “Tío Bruno is Ratón Pérez?!”

There was a lot to work out in the coming days, months – and in the following years. 

As much time as they spent together as a family, with the kids clamoring to sit next to Tío Bruno and telling him stories and asking him questions, there was an equal amount of time the adults spent behind closed doors, talking and crying and sometimes even arguing. 

But Dolores would always listen and then tell them it was going to be okay, and it always was.

Abuela kept her word and they all had a long break from Christmas to Epiphany where they didn't do any work at all for the town. 

Instead, they worked on having fun.

Isabela practiced growing all sorts of obstacle courses with all sorts of weird plants for Tío Bruno’s rats, and when Tío Bruno admired her work, she beamed with pride. 

Luisa shyly asked Tío if he'd play tea party with her again, and he ended up in the kitchen with Julieta making cakes and aguapanela to prepare for it, and all the kids were invited. It was the best tea party Mirabel had ever been to.

Dolores just sat with him sometimes and they talked. Mirabel didn't know what they talked about but they both seemed happier after.

Abuela brought out Tío Bruno's special plate and put it in the cupboard again. Apparently that was a big deal because the grown ups got all teary about it, especially Tío Bruno. 

Bruno acted weird sometimes, but he was always a little weird, and she was kind of weird herself (Camilo told her so), so it didn't phase Mirabel much. He let her hold his rats and told her stories again. He sat in the tent fort with the kids and pretended to be Hernando and Jorge. He was home, and their family was whole again, and Mirabel was happy.

Mirabel and Camilo, with their wild and vivid imaginations, were fully convinced that their Tío Bruno was gone for a year and a half traveling the world with Ratón Pérez, helping him exchange baby teeth for coins and treats. 

When they returned to school, not even Juan Carlos and his snide remarks could dissuade them from their story, and the rumor spread. 

While it took a while for the grown ups in town to get used to Tío Bruno again, the littlest kids were eager to get on his good side and meet Ratón Pérez for themselves.

He got letters and eventually even visits from all the village children, and he took his role as Ratón Pérez’s assistant very seriously. 

He seemed happy.

And Mirabel was happy, too.

The End