Dolores had heard Agustin's cry for help and the family did not hesitate to drop everything to get home. The entire family rushed in at once to find Agustin still trying to get Bruno to wake up. "I don't know what happened," he spoke quickly, voice shaking.

Julieta got down on her knees and held her brother's head in her hands. "Bruno? Can you hear me?" He didn't so much as twitch. He just laid there. The only indication of life was his breathing and the unnerving glow of his eyes. "Bruno, please say something," she begged, tears forming.

"Let's get him somewhere comfortable," Abuela suggested. Agustin quickly picked up his in-law's limp form.

"Wait," Mirabel said. "The stairs." She pointed to a few of the bottom stairs where Bruno had fallen. They were angled as if Casita had been flattening them into a slide, only to be frozen in place. "Casita? Can you fix the stairs?" The house didn't move.

Everyone's eyes gravitated toward the candle, but it was burning brightly as always. The doors also shined, like normal. "What is happening?" Pepa asked as her cloud grew dark.

Felix climbed over the flattened steps and reached out to take Bruno. Agustin was reluctant to pass him off, but was fully aware that he would most certainly trip and loose his balance over the skewed stairs. "Which room?" Felix asked carrying his brother-in-law up the rest of the stairs as the family maneuvered up the flattened ones.

"Take him to mine," Julieta directed. When Bruno was settled on the bed, his condition remained the same. His family could only make him comfortable. They prayed that his strange trance would not last long.

Mirabel was panicking. Casita was always there for her, and now it wasn't moving. When the house had cracked apart, it was like experiencing the death of a family member. This was similar. She could at least see Bruno was alive. But was Casita alive?

She stood in the courtyard staring at the stairs where Casita had obliviously last moved. She didn't think she could go on without the house. It had been rocking her to sleep at night when her traumatic memories would surface. In the morning, it would gently vibrate her bed to encourage her to get up when she was feeling sad.

It was a constant in her everyday life, and always made her feel less alone. Mirabel could tell that the house was trying to help her through what she had experienced with Andre. Everything it did helped. How would she cope without Casita?

"Are you okay?" Camilo asked touching her shoulder. She looked down, trying to keep tears in, but she couldn't hold them. Her cousin pulled her into a hug. "It'll probably be fine," he told her, though he had no clue if that was true. "Whatever is happening to Tio Bruno is probably happening to Casita. Maybe when Bruno wakes up, so will Casita."

That was the smartest thing Mirabel had ever heard her cousin say. Normally he was blunt and a little clueless about things. But she had to believe that he was right. Casita and Bruno would come back to them. The only explanation this was that their conditions were connected.

Hours passed with no change, and no one did anything but wait. Antonio kept asking questions and Felix did his best to answer. With each question, Felix was feeling more disheartened. He felt guilty over thinking to lightly on Bruno's recovery. He felt like he should have just let the family coddle his in-law. Maybe then Bruno would have been fine.

Pepa was equally blaming herself. She could not stop thinking about everything she had done up to this point. She wished she would have just stayed home and helped with her brother instead of leaving it to her sister. She was just scared. Many family members had similar thoughts, blaming themselves for not trying harder to make Bruno feel better.

In the evening, 5 hours had passed and everyone was tense. No one wanted to eat dinner or leave their positions near Julieta's door. Mirabel stayed on the stairs with Camilo, just staring at the steps, hoping they would move.

Suddenly the stairs straightened back to the position they should be in. "Casita!" She exclaimed feeling the biggest relief she had felt since the magic had come back when the house was rebuilt. Every part of the house moved and stretched as if Casita had been sleeping and needed to work out the kinks.

Mirabel quickly ran to her mother's room. She was followed by the rest of the family that had been waiting around the door. They were all thinking the same thing, if Casita woke up, then Bruno would too.

.-.

One moment Bruno was standing in green tinted woods, the next he was looking up at tree leaves. His brow furrowed in confusion. Where was he now? He looked around to take in his surroundings only to sit up in surprise being met with the intense stares of his hopeful family members.

Just like that everyone was talking at once. Bruno couldn't pin point what any of them were saying. "Stop! Enough!" Abuela shouted seeing how uncomfortable and confused her son was getting. Everyone quieted, though the feeling of relief and anticipation floated around them.

"Brunito, what happened?" Alma asked. "Was it a vision?" He didn't know how to answer that. He wasn't sure. It was a strange dream, yet not. He could try to confirm it with Casita, but if his family saw and it ended up being all in his head, he'd look insane.

Bruno looked at Dolores, who stood at the end of the bed. He could wait and see if Mariano proposes marriage. Felix and Agustin were celebrating her engagement, so if he waited long enough he'd know for sure. Pepa watched him look at Dolores for too long and dread filled her chest.

"Did you have a vision about Dolores? What was it?" Pepa asked anxiously. Bruno cursed his own transparency. He looked between his sister and niece. If he told them, it would probably ruin the surprise. The visions were apparently meant for preparing for the future, but a proposal was special and he didn't want to spoil it.

Bruno laid down, pulling the blanket over his head. If he waited long enough maybe they would go away. "I think we need to give him some time," Julieta suggested to everyone. No one could deny that maybe it was a little overwhelming to wake up only to be bombarded by family.

Everyone was made to leave with the promise that they could come back one at a time later. Pepa could not bring herself to leave yet. As much as she loved her brother, his visions always meant doom and gloom. She had to know what was going to happen to her daughter.

"Bruno please," she said as Julieta and Abuela were occupied getting everyone else out. "I need to know that Dolores is going to be okay."

Peaking out and seeing the others leaving, he moved the blanket down and sat up. "I'm not sure it was a vision, Pepa. It felt like a dream," he explained nervously.

"It was a vision," she insisted worriedly. "Your eyes were glowing for hours. Please tell me what you saw."

"Dolores will hear if I tell you," he warned. "She can't know this." That only made Pepa more afraid. Was it really that bad?

"Write it down then, Bruno," She commanded. "I need to know."

"Pepa," Abuela admonished walking toward them with Julieta. "He just came back to us. Don't make things worse." Pepa lowered her head in shame. She was worried about her brother, but now that he appeared to be fine, she was worried about her daughter.

"I can write it down," Bruno offered in a quiet voice. He felt a little bad that Dolores heard this much. She was probably worried, but if Pepa calmed down after he told her, then Dolores would know everything would be okay.

Julieta passed him paper and a pencil and they waited in anticipation as he wrote. Once he handed it to Pepa, she read it quickly like her life depended on it. She paused then, tears forming in her eyes. Bruno automatically began to feel guilty.

Between the both of them, Julieta and Alma began to fear the worst. "Are you serious?" Pepa asked in shock. He nodded unhappily.

"I know it's supposed to be a surprise, I'm sorry," he apologized. She could only pull him into a hug.

"No, I'm sorry," she told him as Julieta took the paper to read it. "I shouldn't have assumed the worst." She was relieved that it wasn't bad, ecstatic about her daughter's proposal, and guilty for giving her brother such a hard time. With all her emotions circling in her mind at once, she couldn't help the anxious snow that fell over them.

"I'm going to try harder to be a better sister," Pepa finally said, breaking the hug. "I haven't been fair to you. I'm so sorry." Bruno couldn't blame her for her worry. It was understandable to be scared, especially when it involved the children.

"Your already a great sister," Bruno said holding her gaze. "Worrying as much as you do just means you care that much more." His words brought more tears to her eyes. She would try harder anyway. It was the least she could do.

"Give Bruno some time to rest Pepa," Abuela said. "Julieta, can you make a quick dinner. I'm sure everyone is hungry now that things have calmed down." The sisters nodded and moved to leave after giving their brother a quick hug.

Bruno wanted to ask them to send Agustin in, but he didn't want them to get suspicious of the reason. So he let them leave. "Do you need anything Brunito?" Alma asked sitting next to him and caressing his face.

"Is the candle really your wedding candle?" He asked. Curiosity got the best of him. Pepa confirmed he may have been having a vision, so it was a possibility that he wasn't crazy. Maybe Casita really was his father.

"Who told you that?" she questioned, surprised that he knew.

"In my vision I met papa," he confessed. "He said that he's been here with us since he died. He said that he controls the house. That he is Casita." She stood in shock for a solid minute as he worriedly watched her surprised expression.

He wanted her to confirm it; he wanted it to be real. Somehow, Casita being his father made him feel hopeful. It wasn't just a magic house created to take care of the family. It was family. It was someone who truly cared about them, with no magical obligation.

"I think you need rest Brunito," Alma said, then she turned and left. Bruno felt like he had done something wrong now. Perhaps he should have kept it to himself. Maybe saying that her deceased husband was actually their house now was too much to handle. He hoped it wasn't just a dream, otherwise he may have done something very cruel to his mother.

.-.

Agustin watched Abuela leave the room in a rush, then slipped through the door. Bruno had confessed some serious things and since he collapsed there had been no time to really talk about it. Not only that, but it was only a matter of time before Julieta asked about the injury on her brother's hand. They had been so panicked and upset, that it had not been brought up yet. He needed to know what Bruno wanted before he could talk to anyone else.

Bruno lay under the blanket feeling miserable over upsetting his mother. Just because he may have had a vision, that might have been just a dream. He supposed he disappointed her all the time with his words and visions, but this time was a lot worse than the others. He sniffled and curled in on himself. What if the rest of the family found out what he told her? What would they think of him then?

"Bruno?" Agustin said sitting on the bed next to him. He pulled the blanket to see the small man had been crying. It was unbearable to see. Bruno had been through more than the family could imagine. It filled Agustin with unmanageable amounts of worry and sadness.

He scooted close and pulled the smaller man's head into his lap to pet his hair. Bruno let him, he really wanted to feel okay. Agustin's mind was a jumble of thoughts and feelings. He didn't know how to bring any of his worries up. "Don't tell anyone what I said," Bruno finally requested.

"It might help them understand better if they knew," Agustin expressed. The burden of being the only one who knows was a heavy one. Although, the burden of living it was much worse.

"If they knew, they would just treat me more like a fragile child than they already do," Bruno responded closing his eyes and enjoying the hand caressing his hair. He didn't think he'd ever be able to handle hands on him again. But Agustin was such a kind sole, so it just felt nice.

Then it occurred to him that his confession to Agustin must have reached Dolores' ears. He sat up suddenly, filled with dread. How much more did that poor girl need to hear before she became broken like him? He hit his fists against his head harshly. How could he keep doing this to her?

Agustin quickly grabbed his wrists to get him to stop. "Just take a deep breath. It's going to be okay." Bruno shook his head. Nothing was ever going to be okay. Every time he thought he was getting better, it was only ever temporary.

Agustin pulled him into an embrace to keep him from anymore harm, and to try to make him feel better. He didn't care how many hugs and comforting words Bruno needed. He'd give him as much as he needed and more. "It's going to be okay," he whispered to the smaller man rocking him gently.

"Can you go see if Dolores is okay?" Bruno asked. He couldn't stop thinking of her. Honestly, he couldn't stop thinking of all his nieces and nephews. He worried most of all about the ones that had seen, heard, and done things they shouldn't have.

"Don't worry about her so much," Agustin advised. "She is doing fine. Felix and Pepa are working hard to help her and Camilo. If you're worried about what she may have heard today, I'm sure she won't tell. She wouldn't do that to you."

"But what about what I'm doing to her?" Bruno asked. "Why can't I just keep my mouth shut? It was easier in the walls." Agustin didn't have an answer. He'd have a word with Felix about how Dolores is doing later. He had to focus on Bruno right now.

"Don't worry," Agustin said pulling away. He held his in-law's face in his hands and looked him in the eye. "I will handle it."

The sincerity of it calmed Bruno down a little, so he let Agustin coaxed him to lay down and cover him up. Bruno thought maybe it was better to let someone else fix things with Dolores. He was in no shape to help her and could make things worse.

"Julieta is going to ask about your hand. What do you want me to tell her?" Agustin asked.

Bruno sighed. "I cut it doing the dishes. I'm not eating her food." Agustin breathed out a sigh. He didn't know how he was going to convince his wife not to forcibly heal her brother.

.-.

When Agustin entered the kitchen, Julieta was hard at work with Mirabel and Isabela's help. "Agustin, can you go ask Bruno what he wants to eat?" She said. Her brother was still fussy about his food. She could tell he hardly ate, if his weight was anything to go by. But if she made something he really liked, she was sure he would eat it.

"Actually," Agustin said trying to broach the subject. "He said he doesn't want anything."

Julieta stopped and looked at her husband. "I saw his hand, he needs to eat something."

"What happened to Tio Bruno's hand?" Mirabel asked.

"He said he cut it by accident," Agustin answered. "Julieta, maybe we shouldn't force him to eat if he doesn't want to."

"There's a lot of things he doesn't want to do," she responded. "But it's for the best that he does what he needs. And he needs healed."

"It's just a scratch," He countered. "It can heal on it's own."

"That implies Tio Bruno won't eat for days," Isabela mentioned trying to prevent an argument. "He has to eat sometime and when he does he'll be healed."

"I'll make his favorite," Julieta settled. "He'll have the choice when I give it to him."

Agustin supposed that would have to do. But he had to find something for Bruno to actually eat. It had to be made by someone who wasn't his wife, or something really simple that didn't need to be made at all. Fruit could work, but it all came from Julieta's room and he wasn't sure if those foods had healing properties, it never occurred to him to think about it.

When dinner was ready everyone sat to eat at the table, while Julieta and Pepa went to eat with Bruno. Agustin worried for his in-law now more than ever. He felt like he should be there with him, but his wife wanted as few people bothering her brother as possible.

When dinner was over and the family had dispersed. Julieta came back down with the arepas she had made for Bruno. She sighed unhappily and hugged against her husband. "He's being really quiet. We couldn't get him to talk about anything."

"It'll be okay," Agustin assured. "It's been a tough day. He might feel better tomorrow" She hoped so.
.-.

At night, when everyone went to bed. Bruno was made to sleep between Julieta and Agustin once again. Pepa had tried to offer her bed, but he refused noting that Felix snores. When Agustin was sure Julieta and Bruno were asleep, he crept out of bed and to the kitchen.

Bruno, of course, was not asleep. He watched his in-law leave with some suspicion and got up to follow. Bruno stepped out of the room holding his breath and crossing his fingers. From the banister, he could see Agustin headed for the kitchen. Bruno threw salt over his shoulder ready to follow when he heard someone sputter behind him.

He turned around to see Dolores, wiping the salt off her hair and clothes. "What are you doing up?" She asked him. He could ask her the same, but he shrugged instead and headed for the stairs. "You should be careful, Tio Bruno," she whispered following him. "Mama says you could get another vision and fall again."

He didn't respond, even as she took his hand to make sure he didn't fall. Bruno didn't mean to be rude to her. He just felt bad for everything he let spill out of his mouth. They made it to the kitchen in time to see Agustin burn himself.

The man yelped and flung the pan he held in the air making random ingredients go everywhere. Casita tried to catch the pan to keep if from making too much noise, but it was still loud. They all paused to listen for anyone that could have heard. But all seemed quiet.

"What are you two doing up?" Agustin asked surprised, as he got off the floor and held his hand to his chest. It stung.

"We were following you," Dolores responded. "What are you doing?" She made her way further into the kitchen to grab Julieta's emergency stash. She took a random piece of food and shoved it into Agustin's mouth.

He ate it quickly. "Thanks," he said with a smile. Bruno watched in amazement. He always felt so guilty when anyone would help him. But Dolores helped as if it were nothing special and Agustin thanked her and moved on from it like it was perfectly okay. Because it was okay.

"I'm trying to make Bruno something to eat," Agustin finally admitted. Dolores hummed in acknowledgment taking the pan of the counter where it landed. She didn't know how to cook much, because her Tia always did it, but she could at least make an arepa.

"This isn't necessary," Bruno said trying to stop them from making so much effort. Agustin had already gotten hurt, although that was actually pretty normal for the man.

"We're not sleeping anyway," Dolores responded.

"I'll eat something tomorrow," he tried again. Neither of his relatives had any faith in that. It didn't take long for Dolores to make something anyway. Agustin hovered and Bruno pouted during her whole process. In truth, Bruno was rather hungry, and he was looking forward to non-magical food.

When it was done, Dolores reluctantly handed her starving Tio a plate the messiest, most overcooked arepas anyone had seen in the entire encanto. There was cheese spilling out and the shapes and sizes of each one took a mind of their own. The edges were slightly charred as well.

Bruno looked at them for a long time."You don't have to eat them," Dolores told him feeling self-conscious. Agustin put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"They look great," Bruno smiled, they mistook his pause of admiration for dislike. He took a bite and his eyes widened. It was the cheesiest thing he had ever eaten in his entire life. Agustin and Dolores winced thinking he was going to spit it out. But he gobbled up the arepa like it was going to run away, then started on the next.

"Julieta always makes the best tasting food," he said with his mouth full, "But Dolores, I think you might have out done her. There's so much cheese." He stuffed his face with each one, barely bothering to breathe.

Dolores got excited, her Tio looked happier than she had seen in so long. Agustin, on the other hand, was increasingly worried that his brother-in-law was eating too fast. "Bruno, slow down," he warned. Bruno only glanced at the other man, then promptly ignored him.

He was so hungry and they were so good. He didn't care that his stomach started to hurt by the time he was eating the third. There was only two left, and it was going to be hard to leave the last for his rats. He would normally share more, but he couldn't help himself.

After eating the fourth, his stomach felt horribly full. It was satisfying. yet painful. "I'm just going to lay down for a second," he told the others as he walked into the court yard. He climbed into a hammock.

"We should go back to bed," Agustin said in desperation. He did not want to get in trouble for this. He worried Julieta would be disappointed in him for going behind her back and letting Bruno run around the house as if he hadn't been in a coma-trance for a chunk of the day.

"Tio, what was your vision about me?" Dolores finally asked. Her mother seemed happy, so she knew it wasn't anything bad. Now that her Tio seemed to be in a good mood, it could not hurt to ask. She hated not knowing things.

Bruno looked at her for a moment as casita swung the hammock for him. "I'm not sure I should say. These kinds of things are meant to be a surprise. I-I don't even know if it was a vision," he told her. "If it was then Casita is your abuelo."

"What?" Agustin questioned. They ignored him.

"Until I can confirm that, then for all I know this vision is-" he gave a thumbs down and stuck his tongue out, "pbbbt".

"Let's find out right now," Dolores insisted. "Casita, if you're Abuelo Pedro tap a tile twice." Casita did just that.

"What?" Agustin asked again in shock. They continued to ignore him.

"Casita could be lying," Bruno said. It wasn't that he didn't believe it. It was just, that his mother didn't take it well and trying to convince the whole family sounded like a lot to handle.

"Casita has no reason to lie," Dolores countered crossing her arms.

Agustin was feeling horribly embarrassed. Casita had no reach in the magical rooms, but it did in the kitchen. And he and Julieta had done things in the kitchen. They had done many naughty things in the kitchen. "I think I need to lay down," he said climbing into the hammock with Bruno.

Bruno didn't mind the company. Agustin's head was at one end and Bruno's on the other to keep the hammock balanced. "Okay, so it's abuelo," Bruno concurred. "But you heard abuela's answer when I told her. I just don't think it's a good idea to tell anyone else."

"Okay, Tio Bruno," Dolores sighed, but she didn't argue further. She was going to tell the family anyway, some secrets were too hard to keep. "What was your vision about me." Bruno flung his arms up in frustration.

"If I tell you, you might get upset," He said. "It's bad enough you never really get any surprises since you hear everything. At least Mariano would have the sense to keep this from you until the right time." He slammed his hand over his mouth then. He'd said to much.

"Are you talking about his marriage proposal?" She asked.

"You already know your going to marry him?" Bruno asked back.

"Mariano is as good at keeping secrets as you are Tio Bruno," Dolores said with a smile. "But that's one of the things I like about him. I don't always have to pretend I didn't hear anything." She took her leave then and said goodnight.

Bruno was still a little shocked once she went to bed; but he was really glad that he didn't have to keep it from her now. He supposed Dolores was a lot like him when it came to information. He could see things before they happened, which gave him information no one else had. She could hear everything making her just a knowledgeable.

"We really should go back to the room," Agustin said with a yawn. Bruno yawned too, but he didn't want to sleep in case of another nightmare. So he ignored the other man, stayed in the hammock, and rested his eyes.