Chapter 3:
(Dolores POV)
- 6 months later -
Mamí and Tía looked like they were ready to burst. The weather had been a nightmare these last few months as Mamí was up and down faster than ever. There would be a torrential downpour one moment and a triple rainbow another. Tía was no longer going out into town to give her food to people, instead they started coming to her at Casita. The people in town also started bringing gifts for them: cribs, clothes and more. It was even grander than when Luisa had been born because it was both of them.
I spent more time out of Casita to keep up the family image. It wasn't fun trekking through all the sludge of mud that had been out in the farmlands and Abuela was making me hose off outside. On one particularly cold day, Mamí made it hail for a few hours, I came home shaking. As I went inside I felt fabric being tossed over my shoulder. I turned and saw Tío Bruno, "I figured with the hail." I smiled and nodded my head. Everyone else in the family stayed home today but, I still had to walk the perimeter. My teeth were chattering, "How's Mamí?" We heard a loud thunderstruck, "FELIX!" He looked at me, "It has been a bad day." I nodded my head. "On the plus side no one is mad at me," he said, "it is a nice change of pace."
I let out a little laugh and looked up at him, "My birthday is coming up." He let out a breath and nodded his head, "Yes it is, chiquilla. Do you know what you want?" "You know what I want," I said. He nodded his head, "Ay, you haven't changed your mind?" I nodded my head, "Alright, on your birthday I will give you a vision." I heard a noise and looked up as Isabella was coming down on a vine, "You are giving birthday visions?" He looked at me, "Dolores asked me for one and I told her I would give it to her on her birthday." "I want one too," she said. "Isabella, I don't..." "Please Tío," she begged. He relented, "Alright, your next birthday I will give you a vision."
She cocked her head to the side, "But my birthday was last month. That means that I won't get it until next year, can't I have one now?" "Isa, I want you to have time to think about this..." he started but she shook her head, "Please Tío." "No Isa it is not a good idea to do it now," He said. She crossed her arms angrily before I could see an idea form in her mind, "What if I get Abuela's permission?" Bruno's body was stricken. I knew that he didn't want to disappoint Abuela and we both knew she would never say no to Isabella. He looked over at me looking for some type of reaction. I just gave him a quick nod and he sighed, "Alright Isa lets go to my vision cave. Just don't be mad at me if it is something bad." He turned away and whispered for me, "Sorry chiquilla."
Isabella looked back at me and held out her hand, "Come with me Dolores." She went to take my hand but I brought it to my ear. I was searching for any noise I could use to get away. That was when I heard Mamí upstairs yelling at Papa, "Papa needs someone to save him. Mamí is really mad. Tell me about it later." She nodded her head and followed Tío up to his tower. I checked in on Mamí and Papa but by then Mamí had calmed down again. I went to my room and I could hear Tío begin to give Isabella her vision, but I needed it to stop. I had to hear everything but, if something else could be louder I needed it to be. I closed my eyes as I heard the strum of a guitar: Mariano.
I walk the streets of the city,
I see you and smile.
I try to speak,
But you got me tongue tied.
When all the words finally escape,
And the world turns upside down
My heart, it starts to race.
But I can tell, just from one look on your face
That you don't hear me.
That you don't hear me.
I move through the streets,
Everyone knows my name.
But you ignore me at every corner,
I'm not sure who to blame.
I know it sounds loco,
Like I'm losing my own mind.
But, every time I see you go,
I wonder why I try.
When all the words finally manage to escape,
And this crazy world turns upside down.
My heart starts to race,
But one look on your face lets me know
You don't hear me.
You don't hear me.
I opened my eyes and smiled. I wished that he would actually play for me, but for now I was alright listening from afar. My door burst open as Isabella ran inside and jumped onto my bed. "Dolores," she said excitedly. I looked up at her, "What did your vision say? I'm guessing it was good." She nodded her head, "He told me that I was going to become even more powerful when I'm older and that everything that I want in my life will happen one day." I nodded my head, "I'm happy for you." She smiled again, "He mentioned that someone was going to have to promise this life to me though and that it won't happen until they do." I put my hand under my chin, "Well what life do you want?" She shook her head, "I'd rather not say. If another person is going to promise it to me, I think that they have to do it on their own." I nodded my head and she grabbed my hands, "I can't wait for you to get your vision."
- 2 weeks later -
My birthday was coming closer and I could feel myself getting excited. Birthdays were an important day in the Madrigal family and I knew it was a day where the focus might be on me. It was rare that the attention was on me these days. I walked through the house when all the sudden dark storm clouds spread across the sky over Casita. I could hear Mamí begin to scream and I ran upstairs. She had dropped a glass and was holding onto her stomach, "Aye, Dolores get your Papa." "Mamí what's wrong?" She looked up at me and a loud storm cloud was over her head as lightening was released in all directions, "Get. Your. Papa. NOW!" I ran out of the room.
Abuela was standing in front of me, "WE NEED TO GET PAPA, NOW!" I yelled. I looked at Abuela and the look on her face sent chills to my core. I looked down at my feet, "Sorry, Mamí is scary right now." She looked at the room, "Go get your Papa, I will help Mamí." I ran to the kitchen where he was. I could hear Mamí and Abuela talking so I looked at Papa, "Papa, Mamí wants you. Something about water breaking." He dropped the empanada in his hand and ran upstairs. I looked back at Tío Augustine, Tío Bruno and Tía Julieta, "Can anyone tell me what that actually means?" Tío Augustine and Tía Julieta shared a look before standing up, "We should go see if we can help. Besides, Dolores that is really a question for your Tío Bruno."
Tío Bruno stumbled around with his food and looked up to see they already left the room, "Come on, you are the ones with two kids and one on the way." He looked over at me and took a breath looking up at the sky, "The universe hates me." I sat down next to him and I asked, "Does it mean that the baby is coming?" He smiled and wrapped a hand around me, "Yes, yes it does. Thank you for being so smart." He kissed the top of my head, "Please tell me you don't have anymore questions."
I shook my head, "No, but can I hang out with you today. Mamí was really scary up there." He nodded his head, "Yeah, we are going to want to take cover. When your Mamí had you, things got really scary across all of Encanto." I looked up at him, "Should we warn everyone?" Suddenly I heard people in town scream, "Pepa is in labor!" and running into their homes. I looked up at him, "If labor means having a baby, then they know." He let out a breath and shook his head, "One day you are going to hear something really bad and I am going to make your parents talk to you about it." We went up to my room and Tío took out a deck of cards and we began to play. He tried to keep me distracted but I could hear Mamí scream. I put my hands over my ears when it got too loud and closed my eyes. I could hear Tío Bruno put down his cards and put a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be over soon chiquilla."
"How do you know?" I asked. From what it sounded like it had been going on for forever. He looked over at me and flexed his hand open and close and smiled to himself, "You know, your Mamí nearly broke my hand when you were born." "You were with Mamí when I was born?" He nodded his head, "Your Mamí had sent you Papa into the city to get her some chilies or something when she went into labor. The weather got so dangerous that he couldn't come home and your Mamí was so scared. Your Tío and Tía were trying to take care of Isabella in the nursery and your Abuela... was doing her thing. The only thing I could do to help was," he reached down and grabbed onto my hand, "take her hand."
I gently squeezed onto his hand and he looked down at me with a half smirk, "I was the one person she wasn't afraid of hurting..." "Because of the wedding?" I asked and he nodded his head, "Because of the wedding. So every time it hurt her she hurt me. But, at the end of the night I got to meet my chiquilla." He shoved my shoulder, "Just wait until you meet your hermano, it will seem a lot less scary then." All the sudden I heard another loud scream and then a quiet baby cry. I looked up at Tío Bruno, "He's here." The storm outside disappeared almost instantly as the world calmed down. "Dolores do you want to meet your brother?" Abuela asked from the other room. I got up and looked at him, "He's here." "Not so scared anymore?" He asked. I shook my head and gave him a hug, "Thank you Tío." "Go meet your brother," He said. I ran into Mamí's room and climbed up on the bed next to her and Papa. I looked at the bundle of blankets in her arms and saw his tiny face, "Meet Camilo." I waved at him and his eyes opened up and looked up at me, "Hi Camilo, I'm your sister Dolores." My voice was in a soft whisper.
- 2 weeks later -
I hadn't gotten any sleep since Camilo was born. He was staying in Mamí and Papa's room for no because he was too little for the nursery and their door was thick to keep the weather inside. Problem was I could still hear his cries at night. However, last night I couldn't sleep for an entirely different reason. The next day was my birthday. Camilo had demanded so much attention and with Tía Julieta coming closer to her due date I couldn't wait for it to be my day.
I woke up early in the morning and laid in bed and waited until I heard la familia stirring downstairs. I waited a few more minutes before going downstairs. I went into the kitchen and saw Mamí holding Camilo and Papa pouring a coffee. "Good morning," I said and they both began shushing me as Mamí's attention went to Camilo. She released a breath, "He is still asleep." Papa turned to face me, "We have to be quiet Camilo was keeping us up all night and he is finally sleeping." I nodded my head and began looking around, there was nothing set up for my birthday. I looked over at my parents and they were both half awake slumped over where they stood. "Are we doing anything today?" I asked. Mamí took a breath and stood up, "I think I am going to try to go back to bed while your brother is asleep. I will see you later." She carried Camilo out of the room. I looked at Papa who had fallen asleep standing up. I tapped on his shoulder and he jolted up, "Where is your Mama and brother?" "Sleeping," I quietly said. He nodded his head, "Sounds like the right idea, I'm going to go too." I watched as they both left the kitchen and it was clear, "They forgot my birthday."
When Isabella and I went into town it was clear that none of them remembered too. I walked through the streets quietly and just listened to everyone's days with no mention of me. I was walking along the edge of the farmland when I heard someone saying my name, "Dolores." I turned around and saw Mariano coming closer from the village out to the farmland. I painted a smile on my face as he came closer, "Hi." He handed me a tiny box with a bow on it, "Happy Birthday." I looked down at it and smiled, "You remembered?" He shrugged, "Of course, you're my best friend." I smiled as I slowly unwrapped it. Inside was a red velvet chocker with a red charm on a golden plate. I smiled up at him, "Thank you." He shrugged, "I took a guess with the color." I turned around, "Help me put it on?" He did so and I smiled as I looked down at it, "Thank you." "You already said that," He laughed. He then turned back, "Well I have to go back Abuela hasn't been feeling too well." "Oh, I'm so sorry," I said but he just smiled. "Hey no, this is your birthday don't worry about me." He ran back to the village and I smiled to myself again. I knew what I was going to ask Tío Bruno to see.
I went back to Casita early to see if anyone had remembered, but all I heard from Abuela was questions about why I left early. I told her that I came to grab a sweater and that seemed to be enough for me to go to my room. As I walked my room and saw Tío Bruno. He was waiting for me by my door, "Happy Birthday Chiquilla." I rushed into his arms, he was the only family member who remembered. "Hey what's wrong?" I shook my head, "Nothing. Thank you Tío." He smirked and shrugged, "Well, after you finish in the town today if you still want it..." "I get my vision?" I asked. He nodded his head, "Yeah, you do." "Ok, I will see you when I get back from the village," I said running off to my room to grab the sweater. I could hear him talking to himself, "I hope she gets a good one. She deserves to get a good one."