Author's Note:

I know that in the movie the house was rebuilt really quickly throughout the song All of You, however I am going to be stretching it out a bit (I mean there house is destroyed it going to take some time to fix). These chapters, though it has references to the song, are going to be more about what Dolores and the family were doing while rebuilding Casita. There are plenty of people that Dolores needed to talk to after everything that happened and this would be the time to do it. Thank you for all your support and for continuing to read my story.

Chapter 15:

(Dolores POV)

I sat with my brothers quietly as Mama and Papa made their way over "Hey you know we are going to find her" Papa said as he tried to sit down next to me as Mama walked over and sat next to Camilo. We nodded our heads and then Mama spoke, "I know that these last few hours have been hard on all of us but we are going to be ok. We will always be ok." She leaned over and kissed the top of Camilo's head as she looked back over at us. "Mama, what are we going to do now? I mean after we find Mirabel," Camilo asked. She looked at Papa neither of them knowing what to say. I took a breath, "Well we are going to figure everything out together as a family."

The church bells began to ring loudly for all of us to hear, "Wait does that mean that she is back?" Antonio asked. He hoped down and we slid off to follow him, "Antonio" we called for him. We made our way past some of the overgrown trees. Tía Julieta had her arms wrapped around Mirabel. Tío Augustine was coming near them now and I was finally seeing how bad the bees were for him, "There were bees everywhere. I'll be okay." Camilo finally spoke up, "Not if we don't have a house." Papa elbowed him, "What we don't have a house. I can't say we don't have a house. What is that? Not a house." I held back a laugh as he said what we had all been thinking. Mirabel walked up to the remains of Casita. We looked in on what used to be the entry way.

"Look at this home we need a new foundation. It may seem hopeless but, we will get by just fine. Look at this family a glowing constellation. So full of stars and everybody wants to shine. But the stars don't shine they burn and the constellations shift. I think it's time you learn, you are more than just your gift."

I looked at my family we had spent majority of our lives believing that our gifts were there to serve everyone else and if we weren't serving others we weren't worth anything. I wrapped an arm around Camilo and sighed. Abuela then came out from around the corner and went closer to Tía and Mama apologizing to them

"And I am sorry if I held on too tight. So afraid to lose you to. The miracle is not some magic that you got. The miracle is you."

Tío Bruno made his way out from around the corner. "Tío," I whispered to myself as Mama and Tía Julieta ran up to hug him. Camilo looked at him, "Ok, so we're gonna to talk about Bruno." "That's Bruno," Antonio said.I was in a little bit of shock after everything. I wasn't sure if he survived or not. I was filled with a rush of relief as I focused on my family and walked over to Camilo. As Tío Bruno talked to Mama and Papa explaining everything that happened with their wedding day I elbowed Camilo.

"I knew he never left. I heard him everyday."

We heard a loud noise coming from outside, "What is that sound?" Abuela asked. Antonio went to look, "I think that it is everyone in town." We all went to come forward when Camilo held my arm and brought me back. He looked at me, "What was that for?" I shrugged, "You always talked about him like he was a monster and I couldn't say anything. Now I can." He looked at me, "Yeah, because we weren't allowed to talk about him. And whenever people did they talked about him like he was a monster. I barely remembered him and the more I heard about him the scarier the image of him became." I gave him a half smile, "Come on let's go help."

They came closer and offered their help to rebuild Casita. I looked as Mariano and Señora Guzmán were talking to Abuela. I knew that I shouldn't have snapped at Mariano before but, I needed some distance right now. As the people from town began to help with Casita Camilo and I went to the front, far side of the house and I knew that Mariano was still at the back. I was able to relax a little bit as we got started. We all began to clear out the rubble, separating anything that we might be able to salvage.

As we were working our way around Camilo and I were uncovering what used to be the stairwell to the kitchen. As we got through the layers of wood and railing I saw something underneath. I slowly took more and more layers out and I saw it. It was covered in dust and debris. I looked at Camilo not sure if I could believe my own eyes, "Wow." He said. "Mama, Papa..." I called out, they came over as we finished dusting off what was left on top of it. "What are you two..." Mama started as her hand clasped over her mouth, "Papa." Abuelo Pedro's portrait had by some miracle managed to come out of the collapse unscathed, "Julieta, Bruno." She called out. They made their way over and looked at the painting, "He made it."

Abuela made her way over, "What are all of you looking at?" She smiled. I lifted up the painting and turned it to face her. She took the painting into her hands and lifted it up softly smiling at the image. She had no words she wanted to say. "Should I put it in the salvage pile?" Camilo asked. She shook her head, "No, he needs to continue watching over us." She leaned it against a tree that was facing the house. "He is always watching over us." Mama, Tía and Tío went over to her and they had a moment together with Abuelo. As they separated I saw Tío Bruno going somewhere and I turned to Camilo, "I'll be back in a bit."

"Tío," I said as I got closer to him. He turned and smiled, "Hi Chiquilla." That was the moment that it really hit me that he was back. I smiled as tears of joys brimmed my eyes and I ran to hug him, "I missed you." He held onto me, "I missed you too, kid." I then felt a crushing feeling on my chest, "I-I'm sorry." He leaned back and looked at me, "Why are you sorry?" "I-I told them about the vision. When I found out what it was about I told the family. I knew that you didn't want anyone to know and I told them. You said that it would break the family apart and it did. I ruined everything, I mean look what happened to Casita. It was all my fault, I tried not to say anything but I got scared and I did and I'm sorry," I said.

He looked at me with a loop-sided smile, "Hey look around. Go on look," I looked at all the different groups of the family who were working together to rebuild our house with people from town, "Does that look like a broken family to you? You didn't ruin anything. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm not mad and there is nothing that I have to forgive. Ok Chiquilla?" I nodded my head, "Good. Now we better get back to work." I nodded my head again and went to walk away but then turned back, "Tío, there is one more thing." He turned back around "Can you tell what happened to Juanita and Carlos in your telenovela?" He smiled, "Tell you what when we have a house again. We will have telenovela night on Thursdays." I smiled, "Can't wait." I went back over to Camilo feeling lighter. I needed to hear that from Tío, I still wasn't sure if I believed him but it was definitely a good first step.

We finished clearing everything out and it was the early evening. It wouldn't be safe to do anymore work at this time even if we had all the materials we needed. We all re-grouped in the now empty courtyard. The good news was that there was a lot of stuff that we were going to be able to salvage so much. The downside was that we were not going to be able to stay here tonight and no one in town had enough space to take all of us in. It was decided that Abuela was going to stay with the Guzmáns. Mama, Papa and Antonio were going to stay with the Alonzo's. Tía Julieta, Tío Augustine and Tío Bruno were going to stay with the Perez's and the rest of us were going to stay at the church.

Mirabel and Abuela were drawing up the plans and talking to the masonry about the materials that we needed to have to continue building. I went over to the portrait of Abuelo Pedro and went to go bring it to Abuela for her to bring to the Guzmáns. I turned and saw Mariano making his way over. I quickly made my way to Abuela. I didn't know why I couldn't be around Mariano right now. It went beyond wanting to avoid a conversation. I just couldn't talk to him right now, "Abuela he should go with you." I said handing it over. "Thank you Dolores," she smiled. I nodded my head and found Isabella, Luisa and Camilo out front.

"Let's head to the church. Not like we can do anything now, they are just planning tomorrow," Camilo said. We all agreed and headed to the church. There were 5 cots waiting for us. We all picked our spots. A wave of being sore settled in as I found a comfortable spot on the bed. Having spent so much time walking through the jungle Mirabel and moving debris. I stared at the ceiling and began to try to sort through my thoughts. It's what I always did when I was tired and even now after my gift was gone it still seemed like the right thing to do.

The sun had set and Mirabel had joined us as we all layed in our cots. Suddenly, I felt my cot sink slightly to the side. I turned and saw Isabella. I sat next to her facing away from all the other cots trying not to wake up anyone else. I let out a breath, "Long day?" She nodded her head, "I am still not entirely sure what happened to Abuela and Mirabel out there today." I looked over at her, "Let's just enjoy the peace." She laughed a little before looking down at her lap. We were both quiet for a moment, "Um Isabella, Mirabel said something the other day about needing to ruin your proposal Mariano. What was she talking about?" She looked over at me, "Look Mariano is a great guy, I mean if you ask Abuela he is perfect, but I never wanted to be with him much less marry him. I'm not ready for any of that. I was doing it for her."

I looked at her, "But I thought...your vision?" "You thought that my vision was about Mariano?" She asked and I nodded my head. She shook her head, "No, it wasn't. Turns out it was about Mirabel." "Does Mariano know you don't intend on marrying him ever?" She looked at me, "I'm pretty sure he does but, I'm clearing the air once and for all tomorrow. He deserves to know the truth." My mouth hung open as I let that information sink in, "So getting married and having a family with Mariano, not your vision?" She was laughing now, "Exactly. How hard is that for you to believe?" I was laughing now too, "I'm sorry but I have spent the last 15 years thinking that you, have to give me a minute to catch up. I thought that you were in love with Mariano and that I was going to have to watch the man of my dreams marry you."

She stopped laughing, "What did you say?" I looked straight ahead, "Nothing. I said nothing." She grabbed my shoulders and turned me to look at her, "You like Maraiano?" My lips parted but I didn't really have an answer. I brought my hand to my chocker, fiddling with the charm as I released a breath. Apparently my none response was enough, "Dolores! Why didn't you tell me?" She shoved my arm lightly smiling. "Up until now I thought that he was a part of that life of your dreams you got in your vision. I didn't want to mess any of that up. Besides, he never wanted me. He wanted to be with you." "But, Dolores now..." she started but I was shaking my head, "Isabella, he never wanted me." I looked around the room and saw that all eyes were on my cot. I took a breath, "Goodnight everyone." They all quickly turned away from my cot to avoid me seeing them stare but it was too late for that. I turned back to Isabella, "We should sleep we are going to have a lot of work to do tomorrow." She nodded her head and went to her cot.

Great, I thought to myself. So now Tío Bruno, Isabella, Camilo, Luisa and Mirabel knew that I had feelings for Mariano. Which meant that he was a lot more likely to find out. I was going to have to talk to him. Tell him the truth about everything and hope that it ends up alright in the end. Exhaustion overtook me as I fell asleep on the cot hoping that my dreams were better then the rejection that was soon going to be my reality.