Abuela finally apologizes.

And later, Julieta gets the best little morning visitor.


A/N: So sorry it has been so long! I did not plan on that!

Recovery from covid and starting back at work hit me harder than I thought. Then on top of that, my laptop also died and I had to wait a week to get a new one, and then I was busy trying to finish my other story through all of that with writer's block as the cherry on top. I was just committed to having that done before continuing this story so I wouldn't get distracted.

Luckily this chapter didn't take long to write after I finished my other fic. I am not promising when the next chapter will be, but it will not be almost a month like this one was!

***Warning not edited just so I could post quicker, so feel free to let me know if you see anything. And again, I do not speak Spanish, so let me know if anything is wrong and I will change it.


"Mirabel… Nieta." Mirabel looked up and found Abuela looking at her with a pained expression. She gulped, knowing out of everyone, this was the one member of her familia that she was the most nervous to speak with.

The silence in the room was deafening as everyone looked between Abuela and Mirabel. The longer they sat in silence as Alma tried to find her words, the more tense Mirabel got.

After a few minutes, Julio decided it was enough. "Perhaps we should leave this discussion for tomorrow, so you can gather your thoughts. It's been a long couple days and my Mira needs-"

Mirabel placed her hand on his knee. "It's okay, I can hold out a little longer." She then turned to face her abuela again. She'd rather get all the emotional conversations mostly out of the way tonight, than have to go through more

Alma seemed to find her words finally. "Mirabel, I know whatever I say will never be enough to take away what I have done. But I owe you an apology." The older woman fiddled with the hem of her black shawl. "When you left, my eyes were finally opened on what I had done to my family - nuestro familia. I never meant to put so much pressure on everyone. I saw the pain I had inflicted, and it broke my heart." Alma swallowed. "I was given a miracle when your Abuelo died, a second chance. But I was so afraid to lose it that I lost sight of who our miracle was for. And I am so sorry."

Alma finally met Mirabel's eyes, trying to convey the truth and sincerity behind her words. "You never hurt our family, Mirabel. I did; our family broke because of me. And I hurt you the most. You did nothing to deserve how I treated you, or how I allowed the community or our family to treat you. You may not have had a gift, but you were what held this family together for so long, that itself is a gift of its own. I just wish it hadn't taken losing you for me to realize it." She didn't try and hide her tears, she let them flow freely. "I will never ask for your forgiveness, I don't deserve it. But you deserve to know that I am truly sorry for not seeing how special you were, and for not telling you how much I love you.

"You have grown into una hermosa mujer, nieta. And I am so sorry I didn't open my eyes sooner to see the real you." Alma trailed off, unsure what more she could say to convey how truly sorry she was.

The family continued their silent observation of the two women, anxiously awaiting how Mirabel would respond.

Mirabel swallowed as she pondered her abuela's words. She felt Julio tighten his arm around her soothingly, and she squeezed her hand on his knee gently in return. She had thought she had cried all the tears in her body out, but she could feel the burning drip of them falling from her eyes. She used the napkin to blott her cheeks, trying to compose herself. The words she had always dreamed for but lost hope for over the years had finally been spoken to her, and she could see the sincerity in her abuela's eyes.

After a few moments of tense silence, Mirabel took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She looked back up and met her abuela's eyes. "Thank you for apologizing. I forgave you a long time ago." Mirabel glanced at Julio for a brief moment, before looking back to her abuela. "I have my own family now, I can't be stuck in the past." She saw her abuela's eyes shine with tears and happiness. Mirabel held up her hand. "While I forgive you, I frankly don't trust you. I haven't forgotten about how you treated me, and I never will forget that. At this moment I want to believe your words, but your actions of the past speak louder."

Alma swallowed. She had been given forgiveness, even if she didn't deserve it, but Mirabel's words had her ducking her head in shame. It was true, she could see how her treatment of her nieta would lead to distrust in her. She lifted her head again and nodded at Mirabel. "I will do my best to make sure my actions show that I have changed. Even if you never fully trust me again, I will try and prove everyday how much I love you. How proud I am of you. Te quiero tanto, mi nieta."

Mirabel offered her abuela a tired and tight smile. It was a start at least.

"I really think it is time for bed now, mi amor. It has been a stressful couple days, and I don't want you to strain yourself more." Julio said, softly.

Mirabel looked at him and her smile softened. "Alright." Julio stood and then held out his hands to his esposa. She huffed as she stood, feeling the exhaustion settle even further into her. She gave a small smile to her family around the room. "Buenas noches."

Julieta quickly stood and pulled her hija into a tight hug. "Buenas noches, mi hermosa hija. I am so happy you are home." Agustín pulled them both into his long arms, placing a kiss on his youngest's head.

"Buenas noches, Miraboo."

"Buenas noches Mamá, Papá." Mirabel said as she pulled back and gave them a tired, but sincere smile. "We'll see you all in the morning."

Julio came up behind her. He gives a nod to everyone, before wrapping an arm around his esposa's waist. "Shall we, mi amor?" Mirabel nodded and let him guide her back to their room.

As Julio left her in their room to check on their children, she went to their bag and pulled out the nightgown that Julio had packed. She slowly changed as her exhaustion made her limbs feel heavy. Finally dressed for the night, Mirabel slipped between the sheets and let out a relieved sigh.

Julio entered the room. "The niños are still sleeping soundly." He said with a smile as he quickly changed into the pajamas he had packed for himself. He slid into the bed beside Mirabel and gave her a kiss. "How are you feeling, corazón?" He asked, cupping her cheek.

"Honestly, part of me is… I don't know… relieved? That I finally spoke of what happened, and received acceptance from them. Finally got apologies…" A tear slipped down her cheek. "But I can't help but think why now? Why couldn't they see me back then?" A few more tears escaped.

Julio gently removed her glasses and placed them on her bedside table before gently wiping her tears with his fingers. "It's okay to feel like this, mi amor. It is going to take time for everyone to adjust, but don't rush yourself. I know you gave everyone forgiveness, but don't force yourself to be okay with everything or everyone."

Mirabel closed her eyes and leant into his warm hands on her cheeks.

"Come on, amor, let's get you comfortable so you can sleep." He helped her roll onto her side and propped pillows around her belly and between her legs. He then settled behind her. Julio placed a kiss to her shoulder as he gently massaged her back and hip. "Te quiero, mi vida." He whispered into her ear.

"Te quiero, mi corazón." She mumbled back, before yawning; she fell into a deep sleep soon after.


Luna woke up the following morning, looking around the room blearily before remembering they were in a new place. She glanced over and saw her melizza still cuddled up with their hermanito. She bit her lip as she contemplated waking Aleta up to go with her to the bathroom, as she was nervous of the new place, but especially the new people.

But Luna didn't want to bother her sister, she wanted to prove she could be a big girl. So she slid to the edge of the bed and carefully got down. She clutched her owl plushie tight to her chest as she hesitatingly walked to the door. She gasped lightly when the door opened on its own; some tiles just outside raised up as if waving at her.

The young girl waved back and with less fear, stepped outside the room. She looked around, suddenly not remembering where the bathroom was in such a big house.

Casita seemed to sense this and gently moved the tiles under the girl, bringing her to the bathroom door. Casita also helped when the girl was finished and ready to wash her hands. Luna giggled as stairs were made before the sink and she focused on trying to wash her hands as best she could.

As she left the bathroom, she could smell something delicious wafting from the cocina. Her tummy growled at the smell. Clutching her owl tighter she inched towards the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway, peering in with wide eyes as she saw a woman in blue kneading some dough on the counter. It took a moment for her to remember that her parents had said this was her abuela.

Something must have alerted the woman to her presence as she turned to find the young girl.

Luna stood frozen in fear as the woman, her abuela, turned to face her.

"Buenos días, nieta." The kind woman said with a warm smile. "Did you smell breakfast cooking?"

Luna gave a slow nod.

"Do you want to come help me? I could use a good helper."

The young girl bit her lip, considering if she should help or run back to the safety of her hermanos. Her stomach growled again, causing her to blush and look up sheepishly at the older woman.

"Would you like a little something before breakfast? It could be our little secret."

The tiles beneath Luna nudged her forward, so she took a small step and then another.

"Your name is Luna, right?" The woman asked with a gentle smile as she quickly turned back to the stove to flip something that Luna couldn't see.

Luna nodded, before realizing she couldn't see her. "Sí." She answered softly.

Her abuela turned back to her once she finished her task. "May I pick you up to set you on the counter?" She asked tenderly. The girl looked up at her abuela with large brown eyes, the same shade as her mother's, and the same shade as the woman before her. Luna nodded after a moment of observing the woman.

She was gently picked up and seated on the counter by the dough that the woman had been working on.

"I was making some arepas, would you like one?"

Luna nodded shyly.

Her abuela turned to a plate that had some cooling. She deftly took one, added a little salt to the top, and wrapped a napkin around it. "Here you are, pequeña. It should be cool enough, but just be careful."

Luna took one hand from its tight grip on her owl and accepted the snack. "Gracias Abuela." She said softly. She noticed that the smile her abuela wore grew wider at the acknowledgement of her being her abuela. Luna bit into the arepa and her eyes widened happily. After swallowing she smiled up at the woman. "This tastes like Mamí's."

Her abuela paused in her rolling of the dough and her smile widened again. "I taught your Mamí how to cook when she was young. Do you help your mamí cook too?"

Luna took another bite. "Mmm-hmm." She swallowed and grinned. "We made arepas for her on her cumpleaños all by ourselves. Papí only cooked them as we are too little."

"I'm sure she loved them."

"She said they were yummy."

Luna took another few bites as she watched the older woman take the finished arepas off the stove top. She watched her place new ones on the hot griddle with curious eyes.

"Well since you know so much about making arepas, would you like to help your poor Abuela? I have so many to make, it would be nice to have a great helper."

Luna nodded excitedly as she chewed her last bite. "Okay!"

"Let's wash your hands, and you can help me make the dough into circles." Her abuela said. "How about we put your owl up here so they stay nice and clean?"

Luna looked down at her stuffed owl, her grip had loosened a bit as she got more comfortable in the older woman's warm presence. "Sí." She handed her owl over and watched as her abuela set it on a shelf just above them.

Casita helped her again to wash her hands at the sink and then boosted her up so she could stand beside her abuela at the counter.

Luna formed a misshapen arepa, much like she had done on her madres birthday. She frowned though as she looked at the perfectly round one her abuela made. Her little tongue poked out as she concentrated and attempted to fix hers, but it broke causing her to pout.

"Here, mija. I'll show you my secret trick." Her abuela then stood behind her and handed her a new lump of dough. The little hands were helped by the larger to form a smooth, flat, and round arepa. "Good job! Would you like to try by yourself?"

"Por favor." Luna replied, nodding. With another bit of dough, she used her tiny hands to form it. It wasn't perfect like her abuelas, but it was much better than her previous attempt. "Gracias, Abuela!"

Luna felt a kiss on the top of her head, and grinned up at the woman. "De nada, mija. You have done very well! With lots of practice, you will be making them in your sleep!"

The little girl giggled at the thought of making arepas while sleeping. Her abuela was funny, she thought.


If someone had told her a year ago, even 3 weeks ago, she would be standing in her kitchen making arepas with one of Mirabel's children, she would not have believed them. But here she was, with her nieta - her 4-and-half year old nieta.

Luna had been so scared and nervous of her at first. It had nearly broken Julieta's heart to see her own nieta looking at her like that. She was glad that she was able to calm her down and get her to slowly open up.

After the arepas were finished, she had Luna help her crack eggs and then mix a bowl of fruit together. Luna seemed to thoroughly enjoy helping her make breakfast for the family.

"¡Buenos días!" Antonio called out as he entered the cocina.

"Hola Toñito." Julieta replied with a smile to her sobrino.

Luna seemed to withdraw again, unsure of her cousin. Julieta placed a calming hand on the girl's back, and gave her a gentle smile.

Antonio seemed to sense the girl's nerves and just gave her a warm smile before heading to the cabinet. Casita rolled the plates out and he caught them to set the table.

"Mija, why don't you go wake your padres and hermanos. Breakfast will be soon and Toñito will have already woken everyone else up."

Luna nodded at her and after Casita tossed her owl plush into her arms, the girl disappeared out the door.

Julieta turned to finish plating the food, as Antonio started moving it to the table. She heard her esposo enter the kitchen as he whacked his elbow on the doorway as he passed through.

"Ay Agustín. How long have you been living in Casita?" She asked, turning to him and giving him an exasperated, but fond look.

"32 años increíbles." He said, as he finally made it over to her and wrapped his arms around her. He nuzzled his face into her neck, tickling her with his moustache. "Buenos días, preciosa." Agustín said, before planting kisses on her neck and shoulder that were within his reach.

"Blegh, do you have to contaminate la cocina like this? With Antonio in the room no less?" Camilo said as he walked into the room. He headed towards the large plate of arepas. "You're going to put me off my appetite!" He said despite reaching out to grab one of the delicious smelling cakes.

"Don't you touch that Camilo Madrigal!" Julieta said, even though she was faced away from him. This was her nephew after all. "You can have seconds after you eat your first portion at the table with everyone else."

"Ugh fine." He sighed.

"And we are nowhere near as bad as Pepa and Félix." Agustín said, turning to look at his sobrino. "How many times have we all walked in on them?" He asked teasingly, and Julieta glanced around to see that he had got his intended result.

Camilo made a face. "¡Oye! I would rather not have to think about that before desayuno. I thought you liked me better than that?"

"Just go help Antonio finish setting up the table." Julieta told him.

He let out an exaggerated whine, before doing as he was told.

"I still can't believe he and Mira are the same age." Agustín muttered as he buried his face back into her neck.

"Hmm. But he gets it all from Pepí, Félix, and Bruno. They all live for drama." Julieta responded. Truth be told though, Camilo had taken a while to get back into his theatrics after Mirabel had left - as had his influencers. Secretly, everyone enjoyed the antics - well most of the time that is.

"Did you sleep better last night, mi amor?" He asked her after watching her finish up the eggs.

Julieta shrugged lightly. "A little. But…" She trailed off.

"You were overthinking everything we learned from yesterday and needed to put your hands to work?" He finished.

"You know me too well, mi corazón." She replied, plating the huevos pericos. "But it worked out, as I had a visitor this morning."

"Oh?"

Julieta turned and gave him a beaming smile. "Our pequeña nieta, Luna, woke early and was a wonderful little helper." Tears filled her eyes as her esposo returned her beaming smile. "She was so shy, but so sweet and she warmed up after a little bit. She reminds me of our leona." Luisa had always been a meek and kindhearted girl, and even now she had the most tender heart of the family.

"Who takes after you, mi amor. I can't wait to get to know our nietos, I want to know who these pequeños humanos are." He said, with his own tears in his eyes.

"Me too." They shared a brief kiss, before arranging the café and tea.

A little later, most of the family were now seated around the table. The only ones missing were Mirabel's family and Pepa and Félix - who were always the last to breakfast. Pepa was not a morning person - even worse than Bruno.

"Ah, buenos días, sorry we are late." Julio said as he entered with his three niños. "Mira was still sleeping, and after yesterday, I didn't have the heart to wake her. I hope you will excuse her absence." He said, but leaving no room to argue if it wasn't okay.

"Of course, I will make her something fresh when she wakes." Julieta replied. "Come, sit, we are just waiting on Pepa and Félix." She held her hand out and Luna surprised everyone - including her padre - by immediately moving to take it. "Would you like to sit beside me, Lunita?" The girl smiled shyly at her and pulled her sister with her. Julieta gave her other nieta a warm smile too. "Buenos días, Aleta. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Sí, Abuela." Aleta said with a smile.

Julieta helped the two girls into their seats and then sat between Luna and Agustín. Julio sat on Aleta's other side. Aarón was soon placed in a spare high chair that Casita zoomed over to Julio's side.

When Pepa and Félix arrived, everyone finally tucked in.

"I will be letting the Community know that we will be unavailable again today, unless of emergencies, of course." Alma said, near the end of their meal.

Julieta nodded to her madre. "I already made a basket of arepas for any major injuries, with Luna's help this morning."

Alma smiled at the small girl beside her hija. "Is that why they are extra good this morning?"

Luna smiled meekly at her bisabuela, blushing lightly at the praise.

"It looks like it is going to be a nice day out, why don't we take the kids to play outside. It will keep Casita quiet so Mirabel can rest as long as she needs." Félix suggested.

"We could make a day of it with a picnic too." Agustín said with a nod.

So it was agreed that the men of the family would take all the children out for the day to leave Casita quiet, while the women would have a chance to catch up better with Mirabel when she woke. Julio had been reluctant to leave his wife, but between his niños looking at him with pleading eyes and Julieta reassuring him that she would make sure Mirabel would not get overwhelmed by the others, he agreed.

Julieta packed two large baskets of food for the group as they all went to change and get the children ready for their day of fun. The only one staying behind was Felipe as he was too young to play much with the other children and would get tired quicker.

Pepa had grabbed a pile of spare blankets that were then packed into another basket that Casita brought over to her.

The six women let out a sigh of relief when the chaos left with the rest of them and they all congregated into the sitting room. Pepa was entertaining little Felipe, while the others were discussing the latest book they had all read. It had been Luisa's idea that they would pick a book and each read it and then they could share their thoughts on it. It had been Dolores' turn this time to choose the book.

"It was soo romantic." Luisa said.

Isabela huffed, "it was cliche. It was basically just a different version of the white knight rescuing the princess."

"You're just upset because your favourite character ended up being killed off." Alma said, teasing her eldest nieta.

Julieta watched her hija roll her eyes but then smirk. "Well it's my turn next and I have just the book in mind." Isabela said.

"Great it will be filled with even more death and shrouded in mystery." Dolores grumbled. "I don't know how you read those thrillers so often."

Isabela just shrugged, "it's soothing."

"You are weird, hermana." Luisa said to her sister, as she attempted to fix Eduardo's ripped ruana. She ended up stabbing the needle into her thumb. "Ouch!" She said, pulling the needle out and sticking her thumb in her mouth, while glaring at the offending piece of metal.

"Aye, hermana, you should be more careful! Here, give me that, I will fix it."

The six women looked up to see Mirabel in the doorway. She was in the same dress as last night, as Julio hadn't thought to bring more than a change of clothes and their pajamas in his panic. Mirabel entered and took the sewing project from her older sister's large hands.

Julieta stood and ushered her youngest into her vacated chair. "Here, mariposa, sit. I will make you some breakfast."

Mirabel nodded. "Gracias Mamá." She said with a smile, before quickly starting on the ripped navy blue ruana. "Hey, Luisa, what do you think if I added…"

Julieta smiled as she entered her kitchen and began making her hija breakfast. She was filled with a sense of completeness that she hadn't felt for too long.


Translations

pequeña ayudante - little helper

nuestro familia - Our family

una hermosa mujer - a beautiful woman

cocina - kitchen

años increíbles - incredible years

Buenos días, preciosa - Good morning, sweetheart/dear/beautiful

¡Oye! - Hey!

Desayuno - breakfast

huevos pericos - Colombian scrambled eggs with tomatoes and scallions

leona - lioness

pequeños humanos - little/small/tiny humans