Mirabel woke and stretched and looked around her room. Her room. Her door. Her gift. She thought her door might be the door to the casita itself, but she had a new door, replacing the nursery door, when they had walked into the courtyard. The new nursery was moved over a bit, otherwise, everyone was back where they'd always been.

Inside the room, they found the same impossible space as the other rooms. One wall was covered with a mural, similar to her embroidery, that showed the history of the family. The floor echoed the paths they'd all walked. The opposite wall had pictures of the family in the style of the doors, beginning with Abuelo Pedro and Abuela Alma and ending with Antonio. And plenty of space beyond his picture for more.

She had her picture taken with Abuela and had a party that she could barely remember. The whole night, she felt her gift, a new warmth deep in her heart. She felt the Miracle, the casita, the family. She remembered music and the people around her dancing. She remembered food being given to her. She didn't remember the people leaving. At some point, they were gone, and her mother was sitting next to her.

Julieta touched Mirabel's cheek and said, "I like your room."

Mirabel stared at her mother as the words sank in. She looked around her room, then buried her face in her mother's neck and cried.

After a while, Julieta said, "So, do you know what you can do yet?"

Mirabel shook her head. "But I can feel it." She put a hand over her heart. "I can feel it here."

"Really?" Julieta said. "I can't feel my gift."

Mirabel took her mother's hand in hers. "I can." She traced a line of warmth along her mother's hand. "Your gift is here." If she turned her head just so, she could almost see the shape of a butterfly in her mother's palm.

"I can't wait to see what else my special daughter can do," Julieta said. "But it's late, and you've had a very long day."

Mirabel looked at her mother then looked outside. Julieta did her best to hold in a laugh. She left her daughter to her room.

Her room. Mirabel said the words in her mind before she went to sleep. Now, she said them again. And again. And again.

She finally climbed out of bed and looked at the line of pictures. They seemed like more than pictures, now, the way the doors were more than doors. She touched her mother's picture and felt warmth and contentment and... cooking? Her mother was with her father, and they were making breakfast for everyone.

She touched Luisa's picture. Her sister felt cautiously optimistic but was ready to work. Isabela was testing her gift, trying something new. She was... making grapes on the vine. Camilo was making sure his gift worked the same. Antonio was listening to the animals. He liked hearing them talk, but most of their conversations were boring. Pepa was happy. She was with Félix, and they were- Oh. Mirabel stepped back. Okay. Well, that explained why Félix was always smiling. Dolores was... Mirabel smiled. Dolores was listening to Bruno's telenovela. And Bruno... was back in the walls. Mirabel sighed. She thought, your room is different now, Bruno. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she was right, and she thought he heard her. And, Abuela was talking to Abuelo Pedro. Mirabel stepped back again. The pictures would only be for emergencies. She got dressed, took another look at her room, and left for breakfast.

She stopped and looked at her door. Her name, her image, on her door. She wiped her eyes. Her image was surrounded by the shape of the candle. Camilo had suggested she was the candle now. Mirabel wasn't sure if that was true, but it sounded nice. She wasn't sure how the family would change either, but Abuela would figure it out.

She met Dolores at the top of the stairs. Dolores smiled and said, "Mirabel."

Mirabel said, "Camilo," and stopped. She looked at her cousin.

Camilo turned into himself and said, "How did you know?"

Mirabel shrugged. She'd been absolutely certain, as if she'd been looking at his normal face.

In the dining room, they found breakfast on the table, but everyone was standing. The chairs were pushed in and wouldn't budge. Luisa pulled on a chair, but it began to crack. She stopped and shook her head.

"Casita," Abuela said. "Let us sit down."

The chairs didn't move. Pepa and Isabel tried asking, but the chairs still wouldn't move.

Julieta said, "Mirabel, you try."

Me? Mirabel thought. "Casita? Could we sit down?"

The chair at the head of the table slid out.

"Thank you, Mirabel," Abuela said. She walked to the chair, but it slid back in. Abuela looked at Mirabel.

"Casita," Mirabel said. "Let Abuela sit down."

The chair to the right of the head of the table slid out, and everyone stopped.

Abuela stared at the chair, then looked at her family. They looked back with surprise and concern. Abuela's face softened to quiet resignation, and she sat in the offered chair. She smiled at Mirabel and nodded at the head of the table.

Mirabel looked at her family and tried to breathe.

Julieta said, "It's okay. Keep going."

"Casita," Mirabel said. "Could... could we sit down?"

The chair at the head of the table slid out. Mirabel gasped, afraid to move.

Julieta put her hands on Mirabel's shoulders and said, "Go on, honey. You'll be fine."

Mirabel tried pulling out the nearest chair, but it felt nailed in place. She walked to the waiting chair, half invitation, half threat, and sat down. The chair slid in for her. She took a few breaths and said, "Casita, let everyone sit down." The other chairs slid out, and Mirabel nearly jumped.

Julieta sat at Mirabel's left, then her father, then everyone else found a place. Bruno sat at the other end of the table. He gave Mirabel a quick smile then pulled up Hernando's hood.

Mirabel said, "Let's... eat."

She had a sense of food moving around and people talking. Her plate disappeared and returned with food on it. She knew she should eat but wasn't sure if she could keep anything down.

This... this was wrong. She saved the Miracle. She got her door. Everything should be fine now. She was supposed to be happy. Everyone was supposed to be happy. She just wanted to help her family.

"Eat, honey," her mother said.

Mirabel's plate had some grapes on it that seemed a safe bet. She took one and ate it.

"The grapes are good," Mirabel said. People nodded. "Are these the grapes you were making this morning?" she asked Isabela. Her sister stared at her. "The pictures in my room," Mirabel said. "I can sense what you're doing if I touch them. And how you're feeling. A little bit."

Pepa and Félix looked at each other sideways and focused on their food.

Mirabel said, "I promise I'll only use it for emergencies."

"And she can talk to us," Bruno said, pulling the hood down. "Well, it's more of an impression, really."

"What did she say?" Julieta asked.

"My room is different," Bruno said. "Which it is. It's more like inside the walls now, which feels safe. But more room, and no pit. And a larger stage for the rats. I can add some cast to the telenovela."

"You're continuing the telenovela?" Dolores said. She looked around. "Some people like the telenovela. Is all."

Camilo said, "She could recognize me as Dolores."

Félix said to Mirabel, "I think that will be very useful."

"She could feel my gift," Julieta said and patted her daughter's arm.

Mirabel ate another grape. "This might be a stupid question, but could you make them seedless?"

"It's not a stupid question," Isabela said. "And, no I can't. Seedless is a mutation. I can only create the original plants, apparently."

Mirabel chuckled. "You sound like you study botany."

"I do," Isabela said. "I have for a while now."

Mirabel said, "We really don't talk enough, do we?"

"No, we don't," Isabela replied.

Mirabel nodded. "You should talk to the farmers. About crops that are difficult to grow. Or, um, crops we're missing. Can you grow crops you've never seen?"

Isabel said, "I don't know yet."

"Right," Mirabel said. "I guess you've got a lot to do." She ate another grape. "Luisa, what have you got for today?"

"Well," Luisa said. "I need to move the church again. Otherwise, regular work."

"Why are you moving it again?" Mirabel asked.

"The soil was too sandy," Luisa said. "It's listing to one side. It's not a big deal."

"No," Mirabel said. "It is a big deal. They should have checked that before you moved it the last time."

"I don't mind," Luisa said.

"You should," Mirabel told her. "They need to do some of the work themselves. They need to be more organized with their requests. They shouldn't use you to fix their problems. Your work should be things only you can do. And, why do you carry donkeys? They can walk. I've never understood that."

Luisa shrugged. "It started with a wounded donkey and just kind of grew."

"Why?" Mirabel asked.

Luisa said, "Abuela told me I should always help."

"Oh," Mirabel said. "Well, you can be more strategic about it, I guess. Probably."

"I've told her that myself," Julieta said.

"I was listening to Abuela," Luisa said.

"I understand," Julieta said. "Would you listen to Mirabel?"

"Of course," Luisa replied. She looked around. "I mean... yes."

Abuela sighed and said, "These are very good ideas, Mirabel. We should have been doing this from the beginning."

Mirabel felt like she died just a little.

"Probably," Camilo said. "It had to be a grandchild. Someone who'd been around the gifts that way. Someone used to them."

Abuela smiled. "That's very kind of you, Camilo, but completely wrong. Anyone could have thought of it." She ate some of the grapes. "These are wonderful, Isabela. They really are."

Mirabel died a little more.

"What do I do?" Camilo asked. "We know what Isabela and Luisa do. I've always been confused about what I do."

"What we do," Dolores said.

"Yes, what we do," Camilo corrected.

Mirabel thought and said, "I... I don't know."

"The soldiers," Abuela said. "We're open to the world again, which is probably for the best, but it means the soldiers can return. Camilo and Dolores-" She looked at them. "They can do much to protect us from the soldiers."

"Right," Mirabel said. "Soldiers." She never thought of that. Why would she? Well, she had to now.

Antonio raised his hand. "Can I stop eating meat?"

"What?" Mirabel said. "Yes. Of course." Then she realized what she'd done. "I'm sorry," she said to Pepa and Félix. "I'm really sorry. That should have gone to you. I shouldn't have done that. I'm very, very sorry."

"At least you understood that," Pepa said. "And you were right this time. Yes, Antonio, you can stop eating meat."

Julieta looked at her daughter with understanding and support, Agustín with love and pride. Mirabel was grateful but wanted to crawl under the table and hide.

"Um," she said. "Oh. Tio Bruno, I was wondering, do you have to do visions about people? I thought, maybe, you could do visions about the entire village. People might be less upset. I know I was upset. I'm sorry about that. That's on me, not you. I was just wondering. I mean..." He was scared, but he understood. Mirabel was afraid Hernando might show up again. "You have a very important gift. We can't lose it. We need your visions. I think we will need your visions."

Bruno nodded. "Just people," he said. "I need to focus on something specific. The village is too vague, too general. I need a target, so to speak."

"Oh," Mirabel said. "I understand. Well, maybe you could have an assistant, someone to give you some distance. Do you think that would help?"

"Possibly," he said. "It's actually a very good idea. I wish I'd thought of that. Years and years ago."

Mirabel nodded.

"Julieta," Abuela said. "There are some details about running the casita that I always meant to tell you. The three of us should get together-"

"Four of us," Agustín said.

Abuela nodded. "Four of us. It's nothing special, but I have the time now." She squeezed Mirabel's hand. "I have a worthy successor, and I get to enjoy my retirement." She looked around the table. "I expect to have a lot of great-grandchildren to spoil. That means all of you."

Mirabel thought and thought, but nothing came to her.

Julieta said, "I think that's good for today, honey."

Mirabel nodded again, every inch of her saying "thank you". She managed to eat a few more grapes and most of an arepa by the time everyone finished. She helped Julieta take the dishes to the kitchen then buried her face in her mother's chest and cried.

"I didn't mean to do that," she finally said. "I didn't mean for that to happen. Abuela must hate me."

"No, honey, she doesn't hate you." Julieta said, stroking her daughter's cheek. "And you meant for that to happen, whether you knew it or not."

"What?"

Julieta said, "Mirabel, this was always your gift, but the Miracle couldn't put you at the head of the table when you were five. You had to be ready. When you stood up to your Abuela, when you called her out, you declared your readiness to all of us, and to the Miracle, and to you. And, if you had known today would happen, you would have done exactly the same thing. You would have hated yourself for it, but you would have done it anyway."

Her mother was right, but it didn't make Mirabel feel any better. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Of course not, honey, it's not an easy job." Julieta smiled. "But, you will have your father and Abuela and me helping you. In a few years, no one will wonder why you're at the head of the table. Not even you. But, and this is very important, don't touch Pepa's picture in the evening."

Mirabel laughed. "Or before breakfast."

"Oh," Julieta said. "She's always been the passionate one. More importantly, you must still go to school."

"Mom."

"And do your chores," Julieta said. "A good education and a little humility will help you." She hugged Mirabel. "Let's get to work. Casita is all thumbs when it comes to cleaning dishes." The cupboards gave a wounded snort.

Mirabel sighed and started to work.