(Seven years later.)

"Antonio?" Mirabel said while stacking food on a tray.

"All of the animals are in my room or the pen," he told her.

"Thank you, Antonio."

"They wouldn't hurt anyone," he protested.

"Some of the smaller children might be frightened of them," she said. "Thank you, again. You can join the party. And please take a food tray with you." She finished filling the tray and handed it to one of Mariano's cousins.

The cousin looked over the tray and said, "Are you sure we can't eat meat?"

Mirabel shrugged. "You could ask Antonio to ask the animals."

"Right," he said and left with the tray.

Mirabel began stacking the last of the arepas on another tray, and someone called to her.

"Mister Mosquera," Mirabel said. "He can't talk to you."

"Just for a little while," Mosquera said.

Mirabel sighed. "Go through Dolores like everyone else. Please."

"I understand," he said. "But the vision didn't really answer my question."

"The visions show you what you need to see," Mirabel told him. "Not what you want to see."

"I understand," he said. "If I could just-"

"Mister Mosquera," Mirabel said with a sudden sharp tone. "I have explained this to you before. I'm sorry, but we are very busy. And this is not your day; it is Gerineldo's. If you do anything to ruin his ceremony, this is the last time you will be invited here."

"Well," he said. "We don't want that."

"Thank you," Mirabel said. "Please join the party." She finished stacking the arepas and saw her father walk into the kitchen. She held the tray out to him. "How are the Guzmans and the Ortegas?"

"Maintaining a respectful distance," he said.

Mirabel sighed. "It's nice to hear some good news."

"It's getting a little crowded out there," he told her.

"Immediate family through grandparents can watch from the balcony," she said. "That way, Tio Bruno can watch, if you and Camilo could keep people away from him."

"I would," her father said. "If I could find Camilo."

She sighed again. "I will find Camilo and send him up to you. Tell the family about the balcony, then talk to Tio Bruno." She turned to leave the kitchen and was stopped by a small group of women.

"We don't want a vision," one of them said. "But-"

"Dolores said he's halfway through the next chapter," Mirabel said. "I don't know anything else."

"Could she give us a hint?" another asked.

Mirabel shook her head. "She won't even tell Mariano." The women sighed. "Please excuse me." She walked around them.

Once outside, Mirabel scanned the crowd until she spotted two women talking. She walked up to one of them and said, "The family is going to watch from the balcony. It means Tio Bruno can watch. I need you to help my father keep people away from him."

The woman groaned.

"How does she always know?" the other woman asked.

"It's part of her gift," Camilo said, turning back into himself.

Mirabel still couldn't believe how much he'd grown. He was almost as tall as Luisa now. "You can flirt after the ceremony. Go be a good nephew. Or a good uncle, whichever you prefer, but go."

Camilo nodded and left for the casita.

"Sorry about that," Mirabel said to Camilo's date. "You know, you're the first one he's brought home."

"How many have there been?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Mirabel said. "But, you're still the first." She turned back to the casita, and someone else stopped her. "Pietro?"

"She's trying to help again," he said.

Mirabel groaned and followed Pietro. They found Luisa carrying a table stacked with food. Mirabel stood in front of Luisa and waited. Luisa looked at Pietro, found no support, and put down the table.

"It was only a table," Luisa said.

"Three months," Mirabel told her. Luisa nodded. "And another month of recovery."

"The doctor said two weeks," Luisa replied.

"I'm saying a month," Mirabel said. "A new baby will give you plenty to do. Ask Dolores and Isabela." Luisa nodded again.

"And I'm keeping a list of requests, honey," Pietro said. "You'll have plenty to do when you're ready."

"The family is going to watch from the balcony," Mirabel said. "Tio Bruno will be able to watch. You can help keep people away from him. Stand at the top of the stairs and look intimidating."

Luisa sighed and gave Pietro a kiss before leaving. Pietro mouthed a quick "thank you" to Mirabel and called over three men to help with the table.

Almost time, Mirabel thought. Then Antonio showed up.

"Tio Bruno asked if he could talk to you," Antonio said. "He said it's about a vision, but it's not bad."

A vision but not bad? she thought. That's important all on its own.

She climbed the back stairs to the balcony, squeezed past Luisa, and headed toward Bruno's door. She stopped for a moment to look at the stairs in the courtyard. They had formed spontaneously five days earlier and led to a blank wall. The ceremony was different now. She had told everyone that. She had felt the change the moment the stairs had formed, but people were still nervous. Dolores and Mariano waited at the top of the stairs, and she gave them a reassuring smile.

When Mirabel reached Bruno's door, he motioned her inside and held up a vision. He'd done that vision a few months earlier but wouldn't show it to anyone. The glass plate displayed an attractive woman in her forties standing at the door of the church.

"Do you recognize her?" he whispered.

"Yes," she whispered back. "I think she's one of Mariano's cousins."

"Is she here?" Bruno said, still whispering.

"She is," Mirabel replied. "Is something going to happen to her?"

"Not exactly," he said and looked at the vision. "I'm... I'm going to marry her in six months."

Mirabel's eyes snapped open, and Dolores squeaked in the distance.

"Well," she said. "That's... that's very good."

Mariano coughed.

"I'll ask Dolores and Mariano to introduce you," Mirabel told him. "Enjoy the ceremony. We're about to begin."

She started back, shared a quick look with Dolores and Mariano, and headed down the stairs. She slipped into a closet and tapped on a wall. Casita opened a hidden door, and Mirabel entered one of Bruno's old tunnels. At the other end of the tunnel, she exited from behind a picture into the study. Pepa, Félix, and Gerineldo looked up from a game.

Gerineldo squinted at Mirabel through his thick glasses and said, "Cousin Mirabel!" He was blind without the glasses, and could barely see with them. But he dreamt of life as an astronomer.

"It's time," she said. "Are you ready?"

Gerineldo nodded.

"Félix?" Mirabel said.

Félix walked into the courtyard and held up his hands. "Everyone! Everyone! Please quiet down. It is time for my grandson to get his gift." He stepped out of the way.

Mirabel and Gerineldo walked out of the room, and casita made a path for them to the stairs. Mirabel smiled at Gerineldo but felt as nervous as he looked. She held out her hand, and he took it, and her nervousness went away. She knew that he would get a gift and knew what it would be. He would have eyesight as good as his mother's hearing. His vision would be wondrous, and he would never need glasses again.

They walked up the stairs to the blank wall. Mirabel was certain of her gift, but still excited. Her first ceremony. Her first time really using her gift. She put her free hand on the blank wall, and a golden butterfly appeared and grew into a door. She nodded at Gerineldo and stepped back. He touched the doorknob, and the door was bathed in light. His image appeared on the door surrounded by stars with his telescope behind him. He began to squint through his glasses. Mirabel dropped to her knees and took the glasses away. Gerineldo gasped, and smiled at Mirabel. That smile made up for a lot of years of pain. She hugged him while he giggled. He kissed her cheek and ran to his parents.

"Mommy, Daddy!" They scooped him up. "I can see everything!" His eyes took on a yellow glow.

Mirabel stood up and said to the crowd, "We have a new gift!" The crowd cheered.

Dolores said, "Let's see your room!"

They found the walls lined with tables and chalkboards where he could work. The night sky covered the ceiling with the constellations outlined. The solar system hovered high above them with all of the orbits marked with golden lines. Gerineldo ran through the room laughing. Dolores and Mariano followed him, listening to him identify stars and constellations.

Mirabel stepped to the side for the guests to enter, and soaked in Gerineldo's happiness. The family came in with her parents in the lead. Her father hugged her while her mother smiled.

"You did well, honey," Julieta said.

Mirabel tried to be strong but couldn't manage it. She grabbed her mother and cried.

"Is she all right?" Luisa asked.

"First time showing the world her gift," Agustín said. Mirabel shook her head.

Isabela said, "It's the first time she gave someone else a gift." Mirabel nodded.

"Does it make up for all those years?" Agustín asked.

Mirabel wiped her eyes. "Not all of them." She watched Gerineldo. "I'll need a few more smiles like that."

"We'll add as many as we can," Mariano called out.

"We're not having five children," Dolores said to him. "Three will be enough."

"You might change your mind," Mariano told her.

"You might change yours," Dolores replied.

"Just three years," Isabela's husband said. He held their daughter, and the two-year-old stared at the floating solar system. "Did you like the ceremony?" he asked her.

"The door was pretty," she said.

Abuela Alma arrived, with some help from Camilo and Antonio. "Mirabel," she said. "I like the new ceremony. It adds a little flair."

"Bisabuela!" Gerineldo cried. "Tio Camilo, Tio Antonio!" He ran to them. "I got a gift!"

"I saw," Alma said. "It is a good gift. Use it well."

Camilo patted Gerineldo on the shoulder, and Antonio said, "You get glowing eyes! Very cool."

Dolores and Mariano followed their son to the family. "I can't wait to see what he can do," Dolores said.

"His eyesight is as good as your hearing," Mirabel told her. "He'll be able to read a book from a mile away and see in total darkness. He can see things none of us can see, and he'll never need glasses again." Her family stared at her. "I knew everything about his gift when he took my hand. And his picture is in my room. I felt it form when the door did."

"That's a little unfair," Alma said. "I never got that. It could have saved us a lot of trouble."

Camilo said, "It's because Mirabel is the candle."

"I think you're right, Camilo," Alma said. "And it's fine. Mirabel is better at this than I was."

As the crowd began to grow, Camilo said, "Abuela, do you need anything else?"

Mirabel sighed and told him, "She'll be fine. Go flirt with your girlfriend." Camilo left to find her.

Gerineldo cried out, "Abuelo! Abuela!" and ran to his grandparents. "I got a gift!"

"I see!" Félix said, picking up Gerineldo. "You have no glasses."

"Cousin Mirabel said I don't need them anymore."

"That's wonderful," Pepa said. "Show us your room."

"Music!" Félix called out. "Where is the music?"

The music and dancing began. Gerineldo showed Pepa and Félix his room, and Antonio left to dance.

Isabela said, "Papa, take Francesca. I want to dance."

"Are you sure you should?" her husband asked.

"Hernando, I'm not even showing yet," she told him.

Mirabel still smiled at the coincidence. You had to be scared of nothing to survive this family.

Agustín took his granddaughter and carried her to the crowd. Isabela pulled her husband toward the music, and Luisa and Pietro followed.

"Mirabel," Mariano said. "Is that her?" He nodded at a woman just walking in.

"Yes," she said. "How did you know?"

"I know what she's like," he replied. "Constanza! Over here."

"Mariano," she said. "The ceremony was wonderful. What's his gift?"

"Eyesight," Dolores said. She introduced everyone.

"Oh," Constanza said. "You're... Mirabel?"

Mirabel scowled at Mariano. "What have you been telling her?"

"Nothing," he said.

"She's got that look they all get," Mirabel said.

"Nothing," he repeated.

She told Constanza, "Whatever it was, ignore it."

"Constanza is a fan of Tio Bruno's telenovela," Dolores said.

"Really?" Mirabel said.

"It's got a hidden depth," Constanza said. "I wonder if it's part of his gift. Every other gift makes you more a part of the community. His gift isolates him. I can't imagine what that would be like."

Mirabel and Dolores shared a look.

"Would you like to meet him?" Dolores asked.

"I would love to," Constanza said. She left with Dolores and Mariano.

"Was that Constanza?" Pepa asked, walking over. "Where are they going?"

Mirabel pulled her mother, Pepa, and Abuela Alma into a huddle and explained. Pepa and Julieta gasped and held in their laughter.

"It's about time," Alma said. "He spends too much time with those rats. I don't suppose I'll get grandchildren from her."

"I doubt it," Mirabel said. "But I think she'll make Tio Bruno happy."

"That's just as good," Alma said.

"I wouldn't mind more grandchildren," Julieta said, nudging Mirabel.

"I'm... busy," she said. "All the time."

"Dolores is busy," Pepa said. "Luisa is busy. Isabela is busy."

"I know," Mirabel said.

Alma said, "I miss Pedro, because I had Pedro."

"I understand," Mirabel said.

"Stop it, Mirabel," Julieta said. "Remember who you're talking to. You were waiting for your first ceremony." She took her daughter's hands. "There are no more doubts." She looked around the room. "None at all."

Could she do what her mother did? Mirabel wondered. Could she be this for someone else? Maybe. She had the best teacher ever.

Dolores and Mariano returned without Constanza. They were trying not to laugh.

"How did it go?" Mirabel asked.

"Unexpected," Mariano said.

"But good," Dolores added.

"Yes," Mariano said. "Very good. He was a little-"

"Flustered," Dolores said.

"Yes," he said. "Exactly."

"Mommy, Daddy," Gerineldo said, running to them. Mariano picked him up.

"Can you see anything special yet?" Mariano asked.

Gerineldo nodded. "I can see the Miracle," he told them. His eyes glowed brighter. "It's a line from every door."

Dolores said, "You see a line from Mommy's door to her?"

He shook his head. "They all go to cousin Mirabel."

"No, honey," Dolores said. "They all come from cousin Mirabel."

Mirabel smiled and closed her eyes. If she concentrated, she could sense the lines herself. No more doubts. She had passed the final test. Her mother was right. Time to live.

The music stopped suddenly, and Mirabel looked at the crowd. It appeared that an Ortega had bumped into a Guzman, or the other way around, and the men were in the middle of a snarling match.

Mirabel walked over to them. "Gentlemen!" she snapped and waited. They looked at her, sighed, and walked away from each other. "Music, please," she said. The music began again.

Before she could leave, Camilo caught her around the waist. "It's time for you to dance, Mirabel," he said.

"Your girlfriend?"

"Wanted me to tell you her brother is very nice," Camilo said. "He is. And I know a few other nice brothers. If you're wondering."

Mirabel looked back at her mother. "We'll talk tomorrow," she told him.

Camilo smiled and pulled her into the dance.

There will be conflict, Mirabel thought. There will be pain. There will be joy. There will be life. It was time for her to dance. It was time for her to live.

The End