Te Extraño
Summary: Magic destroys families. It's a fact of wizard life. However, thanks to her mother, Alex knows the emotional pain extends to mortals as well. Post-Uncle Ernesto.
A/N: I've addressed Theresa's hatred of magic in a few of my other stories. While on the show it's played for laughs, to me it's a fascinating aspect of her character, especially since in the movie we learn she was perfectly open to it before she met Jerry. I've concluded that partly, she's bitter about the Council forcing Jerry to give up his powers so he could marry her. However, this episode adds another, much deeper layer. After how great an episode Uncle Ernesto was, it would be really awesome if they had a whole episode about the subject, like maybe the kids try to convince Theresa that magic isn't so bad.
Anyway, of course when I saw Uncle Ernesto, it got me started thinking about this again. So I decided to write this story as a sort of final word on why I think Theresa hates magic.
Alex could say many unflattering things about her mother. Well maybe not say, as that would get more weeks of grounding added on to her vending machine punishment. But she could, and did, often think them. For instance, Theresa Russo was excessively vain. She was sarcastic. She was insensitive. She was selfish, she was outspoken, and much to Alex's annoyance, she was almost always right.
But Theresa Russo was also a fun-loving woman who loved her kids, and even after almost twenty years, was still totally in love with her husband.
Sure, Mom's not perfect, Alex thought as she leaned on the kitchen island and looked out the glass doors to the terrace. But she still loves us. Enough to give up her whole family. I'd think if I were her, I'd probably hate magic too.
When the party ended about an hour ago, Theresa had gotten a birthday call from her mother, and taken the phone out to the terrace for privacy. Alex, her siblings, her father and Harper were ordered to clean up the loft, which included putting the furniture back in its usual order.
Lost in thought, Alex didn't hear her father call her name until he'd done so several times. She finally looked up and saw that he and Justin were moving the couch. "What? I'm cleaning!" Alex insisted, since he'd probably been about to yell at her for staring into space. She quickly grabbed a pile of used paper plates and dumped them in a nearby trash bag. "See?"
Jerry sighed. "Good. Now go help Harper move that table to we can put the couch back."
His brow wrinkled in confusion, Max looked at the coffee table that had been moved back to its regular spot. "Has the coffee table always been there? Wasn't it behind the TV?"
"Why would the coffee table be behind the TV?" Justin retorted.
"I don't know..." Max said as he continued to stare at the half-finished living room layout. "But that doesn't look right."
Justin rolled his eyes. "I think you don't look right."
After she let out a chuckle, Harper paused and glanced at the television. "The coffee table is in the right place, but I think the TV isn't centered." She then went over to push the television slightly to the left.
When it was in place, Max snapped his fingers in realization. "That was it!" At the other's looks, Max shrugged. "Okay, so it was the TV, not the coffee table. I wasn't completely wrong."
"Man, this is going to take a while," Justin whined. "Can't we just use magic? Mom doesn't have to know."
But Jerry firmly shook his head. "No way. If Alex can throw away that answer egg, then we can do this." He looked at his daughter as he rarely did – with pride. "I am so proud of you, Alex. Your mother makes a lot of sacrifices for us. I'm glad you made one for her."
"Yeah, I don't get it," Harper remarked. "How come you can't tell Mrs. Russo's family about magic? I mean, I've known for over a year and I've still kept the secret." She paused. "I should bring that up whenever you people remind me that I'm staying here for free."
As he gave her a sideways glance, Jerry retorted, "And we'll remind you that we have a memory-erase spell we can use at a moment's notice." After she glared back, he explained, "Besides, the Council usually doesn't pay much attention if you tell one or even two trustworthy mortals. But Theresa has a lot of relatives. It's simple logic really – the more mortals in the know, the higher the risk of exposure. The Council would definitely step in if a whole mortal family suddenly knew about magic."
"There has to be something we can do though," Justin said, a sad note to his voice. "Mom should get to see her family. I know I'd be upset if I couldn't see mine..." He thought about that for a second while he glanced at his siblings. "At least I think so. Maybe."
"I know, son. It isn't fair. But those are the rules," Jerry replied with another long sigh. Then he glanced at his daughter. "Alex, do what I said and go help Harper with the dining room table! Your mother's going to be finished with her phone call soon, and I want everything back in order as fast as possible. It's the least we can do for her."
Ugh, that table looks heavy, Alex thought, her nose wrinkled at the thought of manual labor. She looked to her mother on the terrace again. "You know, uh, you're right Dad, Mom looks like she's almost done. I'm going to go check on her. Like any good daughter would do."
Before her father could protest, she quietly ran out to the terrace and closed the glass door behind her. She arrived just in time to hear the end of her mother's conversation. "...come visit?" Theresa was saying, anxiety in her words. "I know the kids haven't seen you in a while...not since Alex's Quinceanera? Wow, time does fly...if you want I can meet you for lunch next week...why can't you see the kids? Uh...they're busy. Look, Mom, I have to go, lots of clean up to do after the big birthday celebration tonight..." She sighed. "Si, te extraño. Bye, Mom. I'll talk to you again soon."
Te extraño, Alex thought, confused for a moment. What did that mean again? She'd heard it so many times, whenever her mother ended a phone call…oh, right. I miss you.
Theresa hung up the phone and quickly wiped away some tears. She paused when she saw Alex. "Oh, honey, didn't see you there. Sorry that call took so long. I'll be right in to help clean up."
"I just wanted to check on you," Alex said. She was surprised to find that her own eyes were a little watery. Though she'd thrown out that egg, the guilt for partly causing her mother's pain was still there. Alex prided herself in not having much of a conscience, but that was with small stuff like playing pranks or breaking rules. Making her mother cry...that was a whole different level. "Mom...again, I'm so sorry. What you have to give up...it's not fair."
As she wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders, Theresa replied, "I know it isn't. But I've accepted that nothing about magic is fair."
"I guess not," Alex said while she hugged her mother back. "I was thinking, and...I guess that's why you hate magic, huh? Granted, my brothers are, well...them," she said as she casually pointed to the living room, where the two women could see Justin and Max struggling to help Harper with the dining room table. "...but I guess I'd be upset if I couldn't see them. Probably."
Theresa let out a soft chuckle at the sight, then turned back to Alex. "Yes, it hurts that I can't see Ernesto or my mother as much as I'd like. But there's nothing we can do about that, so there's no point in getting upset about it."
"But you should see them!" Alex protested. At her mother's dubious look, she said, "Okay, so tonight was a disaster. But Uncle Ernesto came back! And he brought more relatives into this nut house! Doesn't that prove that he loves you no matter how crazy we are?"
Though reluctant, Theresa hesitated, "I guess so. It's just the idea that I have to constantly lie to my whole family...I know that doesn't bother you, but to me it's a big deal!" She started to pace the terrace, her arms waving around as she spoke. "Look, Alex, I know to you, magic is something fun to make your life easier. But for me, it just makes everything harder. Without it, I could invite my family over whenever I wanted. Instead, I have to worry about how to explain magic chickens and parties appearing out of a box! Sure Ernesto came back this time, but how long before he decides that this family is too weird and...gives up?" She paused as she anxiously ran her fingers through her hair. "I'd rather settle for phone calls and occasionally meeting him for lunch when he's in town, than risk that happening."
Alex paused while she tried to think of an argument. But she was having some difficulty. She was more the type to live in the moment, so the thought of Uncle Ernesto eventually giving up on them hadn't even occurred to her. Still, it made sense. Hadn't she been on the verge of losing her friendship with Harper because of all the lies? She'd been lucky that Harper was so gullible. "I...I didn't think of it that way," she finally confessed.
"You wondered why I hate magic. You have to understand, Alex, I have yet to see one good thing about it," Theresa went on. "From the very beginning, all I saw was how it destroyed relationships. Your father and Megan don't keep in touch anymore. The Wizard Council forced Jerry to choose between me and magic. I had to break ties with my family. Even now, you and your brothers fight over the competition. All for what...being able to transport yourself from one place to another?"
With a shrug, she continued, "Maybe that's part of the reason. Everyone's so wrapped up in magic, but I just don't see the appeal. It's like...when your friends love something so much, but you can't get what the big deal is. So you start saying it isn't all that great, to convince yourself you're not missing out on anything. True, I'm not a wizard, which means I shouldn't expect to understand how amazing magic supposedly is. Yet I still can't help but wonder...is it really worth the sacrifice?" She sighed. "I guess I'll never know."
With that, she gave stunned Alex another tight hug. "Thanks for listening, mija. I'm sorry for unloading this on you."
Though overwhelmed by her mother's outburst, Alex tried to make her shrug seem casual. "D-don't worry about it. You're always the one listening to my problems...had to be my turn eventually, right?"
Theresa gave her a small smile before turning to go back inside. Though Alex paused, since there would undoubtedly be more work to do, she decided that for once, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. For the moment, it might be best to keep her mind busy so she didn't think about her mother's words too much.