"Goodnight, Antonio," Pepa softly whispered, shutting the door tight. Never in all her life had she dreamed Casita would give her baby such an incredible room, such an incredible gift.
"Pepa?"
She jumped, lighting flashing above her head. She turned to glare at her brother, fire in her eyes.
"How many times, Bruno? How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me?" she whisper-yelled. Though Antonio was so deep into his jungle, he probably wouldn't have heard her if she'd screamed.
"Sorry, sorry," he muttered, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Mami wants us all in the kitchen. Now."
"Fine, fine."
The two fell in line, walking to the stairs. Bruno eyed his sister warily, glancing up.
"Uh, Pepa. You…you have a cloud."
She grumbled something and crossed her arms. Thunder echoed above her head. "And does it look like rain, hm?"
"Eh, no."
Thankfully they reached the kitchen just then and walked in. Julieta was placing cups of tea onto the table while Alma fiddled with leftover sweets from the party, crumbs sticking to her fingers.
"Good, you're both here. There is something we need to discuss."
The triplets exchanged uneasy glances as they joined their mother at the table.
"Mami, you're worrying me," Pepa said as Julieta passed her tea, her cloud growing.
"I do not mean to, mijo, but it is very worrying." She finally looked up from her tapping fingers. "Bruno's vision is coming true. La Casita is in danger."
Lighting struck the table, leaving a smoldering burn. Pepa leapt back, pacing at once. Julieta started rapidly refilling her sister's glass while Bruno just stared at his lap, shame clouding his eyes.
"What do you mean, it's coming true?" Pepa demanded, letting her sister wrap her arms around her. The clouds in the kitchens continued to roll, getting larger every moment.
"Bruno?" Alma prompted.
"The cracks. They were appearing in the walls, in the floor, everywhere during Antonio's party."
"Antonio?" Pepa gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Small raindrops began to fall. "But he got his gift. This can't be because of him. You can't send him…"
She drifted off as Julieta drew back from her sister.
"No, this is not because of Antonio," Alma assured them. "Bruno's vision was clear. Mirabel is to be the center of all this."
"Or maybe she won't be," Julieta muttered, returning to her seat, clutching her cup of tea if only for something to do.
"Bruno has never been wrong," Alma reminded them.
"But the vision was unclear, Mami," Julieta fired back, staring past her mother. "It changes as you look at it. Mirabel may not cause the damage."
"The damage has already been done!" Alma exclaimed, pushing her chair back as she stood to tower over her daughter. "Cracks are forming, just as Bruno predicted."
"But how?" Pepa asked. "Mirabel wasn't at the party tonight."
"Well…"
All eyes snapped to Bruno. He glanced at each of them, Pepa's lit up by lightning, Alma's full of fear, and Julieta silently begging him not to say anything.
But Julieta knew as well as he that their duty belonged to the family.
"Mirabel was here. She never came to the party, but she came into Casita. That's when…that's when the cracks started." He knocked on the wooden table as he finished, his knuckled tapping out their soothing rhythm.
"Why. Was Mirabel. Here tonight?" Alma turned to Julieta who seemed to shrink under her mother's gaze.
"I invited her. But she didn't stay long."
"How could you?" Pepa's storm was raging now, lighting cracking with each roll of the clouds, the rain dying off as her emotions rocketed back to anger.
"Julieta, I sent Mirabel into the village for a reason."
"She is part of this family!" Julieta snapped, standing up as well. "She is my daughter and I wanted to see her, Mami."
"Then go visit her in town!" Alma exclaimed. "I do not know how many times I have to tell you, it is safer this way."
"For who? For Mirabel? Or for you?"
"For us, mija! Always for us. I have done everything I could over these last fifty years to protect our family, to protect our miracle. And I do not know why you continue to try and thwart me in this."
Julieta looked down at the scorched table, looking to her brother. But Bruno only had eyes for his tapping knuckles, refusing to engage in this fight he'd seen play out many times over the years.
"I do want to keep us safe, Mami," Julieta sighed. "But Mirabel-"
"Is safest where she is," Alma assured her. "We have seen what happens when she comes here. We cannot allow her to hurt this family. To break our home."
Julieta nodded along, slumping back into her seat. Pepa's clouds began to shrink as she also took her seat again.
But Alma remained standing, looking at her children whom she loved so much. "Tonight was an accident and we will not let it happen again. We will protect our miracle, whatever the cost. And tomorrow we will grow our family, with Isabela's engagement and Antonio's gift. The magic is strong, and we will keep it that way, si?"
The triplets nodded along, not daring to say anything.
Mirabel crept back into her bedroom through her open window and fell onto her bed. The mattress sank at her weight, and she paused a moment.
Oscar was still snoring soundly.
Mirabel sighed out of relief before her emotions caught up with her again. She'd long since given up hope of being a Madrigal. But was Casita trying to harm her intentionally? Is that why she hadn't been given a gift? Was she not supposed to exist at all?
She tossed and turned the whole, her dreams full of walls falling down and her Abuela yelling at her through it all.
When the sun woke her up, Mirabel was even more confused than when she had gone to bed. But one thing was clear. She needed answers. And she figured she knew who to ask to find them.