7: Make the Clock Reverse
Bruno's eyes fluttered open, morning creeping in through the window in his room. He felt…oddly refreshed today. After a second of wondering, he remembered why: today was his birthday! He and his sisters were turning seven today. They were big kids now!
Bruno smiled as he sat up in bed, stretching. Pepa had been really excited yesterday, he remembered. Their Mamà was going to take them out to pick out presents and bring them home for some tres leches cake and hot chocolate, just like she had done in previous years. Even though they'd all been very busy since they got their Gifts, she still at least let the triplets take a break on their special day.
As Bruno stretched his arms, however, he no began to notice that something was…off. His room looked a little different. The window at his side was bigger and…wait, wasn't it supposed to be on the other side? And what happened to the big sand pit he'd dug with his sisters yesterday?
Bruno swung his legs over the side of the (big?) bed and noticed the (big!) slippers by the side. His frown deepened. "Um…Casita? Did you change my room or something?"
In response, several of the stones on the floor began to clink and clatter, almost frantically. Bruno let out a sigh. He was never good at understanding their house. That was something only his mother seemed to be able to do. Maybe he could ask her about it. Bruno hopped off the bed, foregoing the oversized slippers. He'd just have to explain to his mother that he was barefoot because Casita gave him the wrong shoes.
As he headed toward the door, he heard a little squeak, and turned his head to see—way too many rats! He jumped slightly as the horde of rats came bounding toward him, sniffing his feet curiously.
Bruno yelped. "Ahh! Where did you all come from? I only had two of you!" He scanned the crowd of rodents for the two that he had befriended recently, trying to find them so he could scold them, but failing. "Armando, Gabriel! Did you bring all of your friends over? My mamà's going to be so mad if she sees all of you!" He hurriedly shooed the rats away. "Go hide! I'm going to bring her to my room in a minute and she's not allowed to see you!"
…things were strange today, and it was starting to give him a bad feeling. Bruno headed back toward his bedroom door, ignoring Casita's clinking noises, when he heard a lot of voices coming from outside. What was that about? Did Mamà invite guests over or something? He was just getting more and more confused.
Holding his breath, Bruno slowly opened the door, just a crack. He peeked outside, the knot in his stomach twisting when he noticed that the outside, too, had changed. There were never extra stairs leading up to his room before. Bruno's breath caught in his throat. What was happening? Was he even in the right place?
Before he could ponder it too long, he heard footsteps and an unfamiliar voice. "I'm going to get him, Mà! Don't worry, I'll drag him out of his room if I have to."
Bruno stiffened. It sounded like a girl's voice, but it wasn't his Mamà or either of his sisters. It wasn't even anyone he recognized from town. That meant…it was a stranger! There was a stranger in his house! And she was coming to drag him out of his room!
Bruno quickly shut the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. His head was spinning. What was he going to do now? His eyes darted around, looking for a solution, until he settled on the best thing a mature, grown-up seven-year-old like himself should do: hide.
Bruno scrambled back toward his bed, several rats following him, and dove underneath it. As he did so, he heard his door all big being kicked open, and the strange voice from earlier shouting: "Happy Birthday, big guy!"
Bruno held his breath. Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me…
The stranger was quiet for a second. "Oh, I see how it is," she chuckled. "Casita, can you point me to where Bruno's hiding, please?"
Bruno's heart skipped a beat. She knew his name. And she was even talking to Casita. But the house wouldn't betray him, would it?
And yet, Bruno heard the stones clacking, and the footsteps edging closer and closer to his hiding spot. Casita, how could you?! Bruno bit his lip and refused to cry. Big kids don't cry. If the stranger found him, he would have to run! (Though, with how much he was trembling, he wasn't sure he could manage that.)
A pair of feet in pink slippers stopped in front of Bruno's face. He tried to crawl back further, but doing so just made more noise.
The stranger laughed again. "Hey, birthday boy. Everyone's waiting for you downstairs." She paused, receiving no answer. Bruno watched as she got down on her knees, her teal and blue embroidered skirt crumpling on the floor as she did. "I know it's still a little weird for you to be back here with everyone," she said, "But they just missed you, and they don't want you to miss your birthday again, okay? I'll even stay next to you the whole time if you want."
Bruno still didn't move.
The stranger sighed, and finally leaned down to look under the bed. "Tío, please, just for a—."
She stopped suddenly, her mouth dropping open. Bruno could finally see what she looked like—curly black hair, brown eyes like Julieta's, round green glasses. She didn't look dangerous, but he knew better than to trust a stranger, no matter how they looked. Strangely enough, though, she was the one who looked scared now. Or at least, very very surprised.
"Wh—what the—who—Bruno?"
He'd been caught. So Bruno reacted in the way that any mature, grown-up seven-year-old would: he burst out crying.
Today was the triplets' 51st birthday. It was a special one, to be sure, with Bruno being back home for the first time in ten years. But even even if they desperately wanted to celebrate with him, they didn't want to crowd him either. So, Julieta had sent Mirabel to gently coax him out of his room. She was the one with the best chance of doing so, after all.
What she hadn't counted on was for Mirabel to emerge Bruno-less from the room, eyes wide as dinner plates and looking like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Uh—Mamà? Something…happened to Tío Bruno."
Everyone in the kitchen stopped in their tracks.
"Happened?" Pepa asked, a cloud already forming rapidly over her head. "What do you mean? What happened?"
"Umm—" Mirabel grabbed a chair to steady herself from the wind. "I-it's not bad! I mean—I don't think it is? He just…looks a bit different, is all."
"Different how? What happened?"
"Pepi, deep breaths, amor, deep breaths…" Félix tried to intervene. The kitchen erupted into worried whispers and questions that could barely be heard over the thunder.
"E-everyone, please," Abuela finally spoke. "Let the girl explain. Mirabel, what happened?" She sounded calm, but it wasn't hard to see the worried gaze she sent her granddaughter—one which was on everyone else's face as well.
But Mirabel still didn't give a straight answer. She stammered over her words a few times, but then sighed in defeat. "I think it would be better if I just showed you."
When they got to Bruno's room, it became clear why Mirabel had been so inarticulate. There was really no way to explain this without sounding completely insane. Luisa had picked up the bed, and now, huddled in the corner before them, crying tears of fear, was Bruno.
Seven-year-old Bruno.
No one moved for a long time, all just struggling to comprehend why and how. Little Bruno looked terrified, like he also had no clue what was happening, and stared back at them with tear-stained cheeks and wide eyes. He looked like a cornered little animal who was scared for his life, the poor thing.
Surprisingly, the one who broke the silence was Bruno himself. His eyes scanned over the large group of people until they finally landed on Pepa…and on the gray cloud hanging over her head. His eyes lit up in confused recognition, and he spoke barely above a whisper. "P-Pepa?"
Hearing his little voice broke the trance they were all under. Pepa choked back a sob, and Julieta had to take a breath to keep from doing the same. "Bruno? Is…is that you?"
"Julieta?" Bruno looked between them, still frightened. "But…how did you guys get so…big? And who are all these p-people?"
Alma was the next one to step forward, kneeling down to him with tears in her eyes. "Brunito," she whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. "Oh, mijo, how…how did this happen?"
"I don't know," Bruno whimpered, starting to cry again. "I didn't mean to. I just woke up a-a-and…my room was different, and there's too many rats, and everything is too big, and…" he broke down into sobs, prompting his sisters to swoop down, and all three of them to try to comfort him. Mingled sounds of shushing and "it's okay"s and "don't cry"s rose up from the group as the rest of the family hung back.
Félix gently herded everyone away to give the family some space. Luisa put the bed down to the side, and everyone else just looked at each other awkwardly.
"Okay, so…" Félix began, trying to find words. "What is going on?"
"Mirabel, did you see what happened?" Agustín asked.
Mirabel shook her head. "No. I just came in and he was like this. I found him hiding under his bed."
"And you didn't see Bruno—er, the regular, grown-up Bruno—anywhere?" Félix asked.
"Nope."
"Must be some magical fluke, then," Camilo muttered, earning himself a shove from Dolores. "What? Am I wrong? This family isn't exactly normal, you know. Weird things just happen sometimes."
"Is that really Tío Bruno?" Antonio asked.
"Well, Abuela and his sisters recognize him, so it must be," Isabela replied.
"Dolores, did you hear anything?" Félix piped up again.
Dolores shrugged. "Nothing that would explain what happened."
They were silent, defeated. In the corner, it seemed like little Bruno had calmed down. The women around him stood, and the rest of the family noticed that Bruno was now being carried in his mother's arms, clinging to her neck like a lifeline. Alma was smiling more happily than usual. It was rather adorable, despite the circumstances.
"Let's discuss this more over breakfast," Alma said softly. She carried Bruno out of his room, with his big sisters following closely behind, and everyone else after.
"Mamà," they heard little Bruno say. "You're really old now."
All three of the women chuckled warmly, though Pepa pretended to scold him. "Brunito, you shouldn't tell a woman that she's old."
"He's right though, I am pretty old," Alma replied.
While today wasn't going quite as planned so far, breakfast was a rather smooth affair. Bruno was quietly munching on his birthday breakfast, his wide eyes taking in everything around him. He wasn't much of a talker, Mirabel noticed, only mumbling quiet questions to his mother and sisters. It matched with the stories her mother had always told her about her childhood with her siblings. Abuela, for her part, was looking at him like he was the most precious treasure in the world, occasionally fixing his hair or asking him how he was feeling. It was strange, but sweet.
Bruno seemed acutely aware of how everyone was stealing glances at him, and must have figured the whispers his family were sharing were about him too. Mirabel wanted to tell everyone to quit it, but in all honesty, how could she blame them?
"So, is he just gonna…stay like this?" Luisa asked her father, worried. "What if he doesn't change back? Or…forward?"
Agustín could only shrug.
"If we could figure out what caused it, maybe we'll find a way to reverse it," Isabela mused.
"But we don't know where to start," said Mirabel. "No one knows anything."
Their conversation lulled, so they went back to listening in on Bruno.
Julieta was talking to him currently. "What's the last thing you remember, Brunito? What was yesterday?"
Bruno fidgeted with his pajamas. "Yesterday was Thursday. We…um, dug a sand pit in my room. And, um…Señor Mendez wanted you to cure his cow, I think? But the cow wouldn't eat."
Julieta frowned. "And…what about today?"
Bruno sat up. "Today is our birthday. Mamà's going to make us hot chocolate and cake."
"Ah—that's right, it is our birthday. How old are we, Bruno?"
"Seven."
Julieta sighed. Bruno watched her with an anxious frown, but Abuela got his attention again with a gentle pat on the hand.
"Don't worry about it, mijo," Abuela cooed. "We will figure things out and make everything go back to normal. In the meantime—we should change you out of your night clothes, hmm? I'm sure I still have some of your old clothes somewhere."
Pepa sat up. "Oh, if you can't find them, maybe Antonio's clothes might work. Or some of Camilo's old ones."
Pepa and Abuela both stood, continuing to talk amongst themselves as they left.
Julieta remained with Bruno. He turned to her and asked, "Who are Antonio and Camilo?"
"They're Pepa's sons, Bruno. Your nephews," Julieta replied with a grin. She nodded toward the two boys in question, who waved back (Camilo awkwardly, Antonio enthusiastically). "We're grown ups now and we have kids of our own. Dolores is Pepa's daughter. And the other three girls are mine—Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel."
The kids all perked up and waved when their names were mentioned. Bruno looked them over, cautiously but not afraid like before. Mirabel couldn't help the smile on her face when he looked at her. She'd known that her uncle had big, expressive eyes, but they just looked so much bigger and sweeter on him as a kid. Adorable.
Bruno turned back to Julieta. "If you have kids, who did you marry?"
Isabela scoffed before her mother could answer. "That would be our wonderful father."
"Agustín," Luisa added cheerfully, and she and Mirabel pointed to their flushing father.
Bruno blinked a couple of times, then his expression twisted into one of shock and—was that disgust?
"Agustín Ortega?!" He asked incredulously. "The wimpy boy who trips over everything? You married him?!"
Just like that, the tense atmosphere around the table vanished as everyone burst out laughing, including both of Mirabel's parents.
"Oye? What gives, Bruno?" Agustín asked. "Juli! Is that when you thought of me when you were young? Just the wimpy boy who trips over everything?"
Julieta hid her giggles behind her hand, unable to respond.
Agustín feigned hurt, putting a hand over his heart. "I'm betrayed. I'm shocked. My whole life is a lie."
Julieta kept laughing while Bruno looked his brother-in-law over with a look of raw, unadulterated disappointment that was somehow more scathing coming from a seven-year-old.
"Oh, that's funny," Isabela said. "Tell us more dark secrets about the past."
"What about me?" Félix asked, seeming to enjoy this quite a bit. "It's me, Félix. What did Pepa used to say about me?"
"Ah, Pepa was still in her 'boys have cooties' phase when we were seven," Julieta laughed. "Bruno must be surprised she got married at all, hmm?"
But Bruno shook his head. "No. I already knew about Pepa and Félix."
"Wh—you knew?" Félix asked, shocked. "Since you were seven?"
"Did you see it in a vision?" Antonio asked in awe.
Bruno just shrugged in response, but as he took a sip of his milk, Mirabel spotted that familiar mischievous glint in his eye.
Alma later took Bruno up to her room to dress him, and her daughters followed her because they honestly just didn't want to let him out of their sight. While Alma got Bruno ready, Julieta and Pepa were discussing the situation.
Pepa was pacing back and forth, a small white cloud of anxiety following her. "So not only has he forgotten over forty years of his life, but we still don't have a single clue about what happened to him. What if he stays like this forever? He'll never really be our triplet again!"
"Maybe we could investigate his room," Julieta suggested calmly. "After all, he's the only one that seems to have been affected by…this. We should go see if something changed with the magic in his room."
Alma didn't voice her thoughts—she was less concerned about finding the cause of this than her daughters were. It had been so long since she'd seen Bruno like this, so innocent and sweet and unbothered by his burdens or anxiety. It almost felt as if the miracle was giving her a second chance with him, but she knew the other two women wouldn't agree. So she kept it to herself and let the smile on her face speak for her. Bruno wasn't hesitant to return it.
"Good idea, Juli!" Pepa replied. "The rooms change in response to us, right? There must be some clues in there!"
"Mamí," Bruno suddenly piped up. "Where is the miracle?"
They all followed his gaze to the window, where the eternal candle had once stood before that day their lives had been turned upside down. Of course he would notice it was missing.
Pepa bit her nail. "Should we tell him…?"
"No," Julieta hissed.
But Alma just laughed and patted the boy's cheek. "Yes, the candle. We don't have it anymore, Brunito. You see, recently, we all learned a very important lesson. The miracle is not the candle, or even your Gifts. It's you. It's our family."
Bruno's eyes widened. "R-Really?"
"Yes, really," She briefly tickled his stomach, making him laugh with delight. "And you will remember all of that too, once we fix this little mix-up and get you all your memories back." The good memories, and the painful, painful ones too. Ah, how Alma selfishly wished that he would stay like this. If only she could have a chance to do it all again, to start over from a time when her sweet boy looked at her without any apprehension in his eyes. But she knew it wouldn't be right, or practical. They had to fix the magic and return him to his proper age, as much as it disappointed her.
Sighing, Alma finished dressing Bruno and stood, dusting herself off in the process. "I agree that searching his room sounds like a good start," she announced. "Let's get both of your husbands to help us. As for Bruno—" she picked him up off the bed. "I think we should let him spend some time with his sobrinos while we search, hmm?"
Julieta frowned. "Are you sure? We might need him."
"If we need him, we will find him. Let him enjoy being a boy again, at least for now." Her decision made, Alma carried Bruno out of the room. Her daughters exchanged a somewhat bewildered glance, but quickly followed her out.
"So, uh, I just thought of something," Luisa said out of nowhere. She stood in the foyer with her sisters, cousins, dad and Tío Félix while they waited for the others to finish getting Bruno ready. "Should we, like, be allowing little Tío Bruno to learn so much about the future? We told him about everyone's marriages and kids and stuff and maybe he isn't supposed to know about it."
Isabela scoffed with a grin. "Isn't knowing the future kind of his thing though?"
"Yeah, but—I mean, like, we're telling him stuff that he wouldn't have known or seen when he was actually seven. It could totally mess up the timeline!"
"Oh, I see what you mean," Agustín said. "It's like this time travel stories we used to read. You're saying if he knows more about the future than he's supposed to, he might make decisions that change that future, right?"
"Yes, exactly!"
"Wait, you mean we could all cease to exist?" Camilo asked, alarmed.
"No, no, no," Dolores replied. "You guys are thinking about it wrong. He didn't travel here from the past, it's more like present-day Bruno just got….changed. Reset, if you will."
"How are you so sure?" Mirabel asked.
"Because the older Bruno is nowhere to be found," Dolores replied matter-of-factly. "If little Bruno was here from the past, wouldn't there be two Brunos running around right now?"
"She has a point," Félix said, still just seemingly amused by everything.
"Well, if those old stories are accurate, that is," Agustín mumbled. But it seemed that everyone was mostly convinced by Dolores' argument.
"Okaaaay," Camilo said hesitantly. "But if any of you start feeling like you don't exist, you'd better speak up."
Before anyone could ask how that made any sense, the door to Abuela's bedroom opened, and she walked out with Bruno in her arms, Julieta and Pepa in tow. The family waited for them to come down the stairs and rejoin them, before Abuela spoke up.
"We have decided to search Bruno's room for clues," Abuela announced as she placed her son down. "Félix and Agustín, you're with us. The children will keep an eye on Brunito, as well search their own rooms to see if anything changed in there. Are there any questions?"
Bruno clung to his mother's skirt, nervously eyeing the grandkids with renewed uncertainty.
Luisa raised her hand. "Uh yeah, what do we do if we do find something weird in our room?"
"Find me and tell me immediately," Abuela answered.
When no one had any further questions, Abuela once again gently pushed Bruno toward his nieces and nephews. "Don't be shy, hijo, they're family. You can go play with them while we worry about solving the trouble, okay?"
"…okay, mamí."
Abuela knelt down and gave Bruno one more hug and a playful kiss on the cheek, making him giggle. "Be good. Bye bye now."
Abuela was really relishing this opportunity to baby him again. Mirabel just smiled and said nothing, instead waving goodbye to the adults as they headed up to Bruno's room.
Once they were gone, Mirabel leaned down to Bruno, who still looked shy. "Hey, Bruno," she said with a grin. "Sorry I scared you earlier. But you know, you hang out with me all the time when you're grown up. We're like the ultimate dynamic duo, aside from me and Antonio of course."
"Yeah, Mirabel's kinda your favorite," Isabela piped up, making the others scoff and murmur in agreement.
All except Mirabel herself, who turned to them incredulously. "Wh—no I'm not! Guys come on, I've told you a million times, he doesn't have a favorite. I just happen to be the best listener, that's all."
"Uh, I beg to differ," Dolores replied.
"Guys?" Luisa interrupted. "Shouldn't we be checking out our rooms?"
"Yeah, we should take Bruno to see all our rooms!" Isabela gushed, completely missing the point. "Doesn't that sound fun?"
Bruno's eyes widened. "D-do you all have Gifts too?"
"Yeah! Wait, I have an idea," Camilo said. "Let's see if you can guess all our Gifts just by looking at our doors. Then we can show you how cool they all look on the inside."
Mirabel was about to scold him—this wasn't a game, this was serious—but she saw the excited look on little Bruno's face and quickly shut her mouth. Abuela did say she wanted him to have fun with them, so maybe they could kill two birds with one stone.
They started with Luisa, which Bruno figured out pretty quickly.
"You're super strong?"
"You got it."
And minutes later, after a very thorough search through her room to make sure nothing was amiss (definitely very thorough, yep…) Luisa was holding the entire group on a bench above her head, walking them around while everyone squealed and laughed joyfully. (It was fun until she started spinning them around. It took them several minutes afterward to bring Mirabel down from her motion sickness.)
Next was Isabela. Bruno looked not only at her door, but at all the plants growing around it. "You can grow plants?"
Isabela responded by leaning down and growing several flowers in his hair. Bruno was delighted (which of course led to requests from the others as well).
Dolores was next, another one that Bruno had no trouble guessing based on the door. "You hear things?"
His wording made Camilo snort. "She sure does!"
Dolores elbowed her brother but grinned at Bruno. "I hear everything in the Encanto. I can even hear your heartbeat."
Bruno put a hand to his chest, amazed.
They ended up taking a quick nap in Dolores' room, which was easy to do considering all the soothing sounds and music in there.
"Sorry my room's not as fun or exciting as the others," Dolores whispered.
"That's okay," Bruno whispered back. "I like quiet."
The next room was Antonio's, which made Bruno raise an eyebrow. "Animals?"
"I talk to them," Antonio clarified, not waiting for the guesses. "You know, your rats have been really confused all day."
Inside that room, Bruno and Antonio left the older kids to do all the survey work while they went for a ride on the jaguar. (At one point they both nearly tumbled off a tree and Mirabel just about had a heart attack.)
Then came Camilo's room. This was the only one that had Bruno stumped. He studied the portrait, head tilted to the side with a concentrated frown. "You can…shrink?"
Everyone giggled.
"I wish that was his Gift," Mirabel quipped. "Then I'd be able to crush him like the little insect he is."
"Hey, I feel attacked. And…rather concerned," Camilo pouted.
Bruno fidgeted with his hands. "Um, I-I don't know what your Gift is. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry, it's a little hard to tell at first glance," Camilo said with a wink. "Here, I'll give you a hint." He took a step toward Bruno and shifted into an exact copy of him, grinning widely.
Bruno gasped. "Oh! You're a shapeshifter!"
Mirabel opened the door to allow everyone inside. Camilo shifted into a bunch of different people as he went, spinning onto the big stage in his room as he did. Bruno and Antonio followed him while giggling, as was natural for children when Camilo entertained them.
(At one point Bruno had the brilliant idea to confuse everyone by having two small Brunos run around, thanks to Camilo. Good to see that he was coming out of his shell, at least.)
At last, they came to the final room: Mirabel's.
She had a portrait on her door. It was a nice thing her family had decided to do when they were rebuilding the house. It was in the same style as the others, decorated with images of butterflies and sewing supplies (as well as little symbols to represent each family member). But of course, that's not what Bruno noticed.
"Hey…your door's not glowing."
Mirabel smiled. "You're right, it's not," she said simply. "I'll save you the trouble of guessing. I actually didn't get a Gift." She shrugged, ignoring the awkward glances from the others. "But I assure you, my room's still pretty darn cool." She reached for the knob, but was stopped by Isabela's voice.
"Actually, Bruno," Isabela said confidently. "Mirabel did get a special door. It's just not this one." She turned on her heel, motioning for everyone to follow. Mirabel bit her lip when she realized what her sister was doing, but it was too late to stop her.
They ended up outside the house, where Casita helpfully displayed the new front door mural in all its glory. Isabela gestured to it proudly.
"Ta-da!" she cried. "This is Mirabel's door! She's our family hero, and she's the one who gave us all our magic back."
"And we are sooo proud of her!" Luisa added. She scooped Mirabel up into a bone-crushing hug, just enough to make her sister sputter in embarrassment. Then of course, Isabela and all her cousins joined in the hug too, laughing end ignoring Mirabel's protests.
Only Bruno stood back, but he stared up at Mirabel in awe, his eyes shining like he'd just met his new hero. "You're awesome."
Mirabel flushed, a little bashful under all the praise, but she smiled. Several months since all of that had happened, and she still wasn't used to all the appreciation her family was showing her now. It might take some time to get used to it, but maybe that was okay.
Once everyone was done smothering Mirabel, Dolores sat down on a nearby bench with a sigh. "You know, it's kind of nice out. I think we could all use a break."
The others agreed and they scattered, each one lying or sitting somewhere, and various conversations cropping up.
Mirabel lay on the grass just outside of Casita, watching the sky. She was just feeling the urge to doze off, when a pair of tiny footsteps approaching caught her attention.
It was Bruno, looking at her with rapt curiosity and admiration. "How did you save the family?" he whispered, as if seeking some grand secret.
Mirabel chuckled and patted the ground next to her for him to sit, which he did. "Well," she began, debating exactly how much she should tell him. "It was…mostly an emotional journey, you know? I hugged Luisa. Then I hugged Isabela, and then I hugged Abuela…"
"Did you just hug everyone?" Bruno giggled.
"Well, it was a bit more complicated than that," Mirabel laughed. "But the point is, love conquers all! Oh, and you helped me!" She poked his shoulder with a grin. "You had a super important vision that showed me what to do, you know? I never could have done it without you."
Bruno beamed, apparently ecstatic with the knowledge that he would (er, already had?) play a role in saving their family and miracle. Mirabel felt the sudden maternal urge to scoop him up and snuggle him until he was all snuggled out (a feeling she often got around Antonio) but, well, she didn't want to push it. He was only just starting to get comfortable around her. And she really didn't want to give the others an excuse to initiate another group hug.
But still. Little Bruno was cute.
His eyes then drifted to the embroidery on her skirt. She watched him observe it for a bit, and then his eyes lit up again. "Hey! That's the hourglass on my door."
"Oh, yeah. I have symbols for everyone on my dress. Look, here's one for my mom, Julieta, and Tía Pepa…"
She sat up and continued listing off the symbols for him, until more noise pulled both of them out of their reverie. Mirabel looked up to see none other than Mariano Guzman arriving, gifts in his arms, greeting the others as he all but made a beeline for Dolores.
Dolores excitedly stood up to greet her boyfriend, catching him off guard with a kiss smack on the lips. Camilo gagged. Mirabel echoed it in her mind.
…wait. Mariano was going to see Bruno! Mirabel quickly sat up straighter. Mariano was a trusted friend, sure, but he wasn't part of the family just yet, and Mirabel didn't think it wise to let their little situation get out to the town. Who knew what would happen if the word started spreading. So she quickly stood and grabbed Bruno's hand before anyone noticed, and pulled him to hide behind Luisa. Both Bruno and Luisa looked confused, but a few desperate gestures from Mirabel seemed to convey the message enough for them.
If only Luisa's eye would stop twitching.
Mariano was talking. "…my whole family wanted to come deliver the gifts, but I volunteered to bring them alone so we don't disturb your celebration. Plus, it gives me an excuse to see you, mi amor."
Dolores put a hand over her heart, touched by his cheesiness. Mariano started gesturing to each of the gifts in his hands. "This round one is for Señora Julieta, the big box with the red bow is for Señora Pepa, and the long skinny one is for Señor Bruno. Where are they, anyway?"
Bruno started to peek out at the sound of his name, but Mirabel gently pushed him back. "Oh, ha!" She said loudly. "Th-they're inside getting ready for the celebration, but we'll make sure the gifts are delivered!" She rushed forward and grabbed the presents, before subtly nudging him away. "Thanks for coming!"
Dolores put her hands on her hips. Mariano rubbed his neck sheepishly. "W-well, I was hoping to stay a little longer for—"
"Uh, sorry, we'd love to have you, but, you see, we're trying to keep today a personal family day, sorry. You know, a small celebration. I'm talking tiny. Very little. We can't have anyone else over because it's small."
Mirabel made pointed eye contact with Dolores. Her cousin looked annoyed for a moment until she understood.
"O-oh. Yes. Um. Very tiny. Only for Casita residents, sorry."
"Yeah, it's—it's microscopic," Luisa added, very helpful. "Super teeny."
"Itty-bitty," Antonio said, just wanting to participate.
"What are you people talking about?" asked Camilo.
Mariano, bless his heart, simply nodded in acceptance. "I understand. Until I become an official Madrigal, I will respect your family boundaries."
Dolores gave him that dreamy smile again. "Thank you, mi cielo. I promise I'll come see you tomorrow."
"I will be counting down the seconds until then, my love," Mariano replied. Then he stepped closer and started kissing her again. Everyone groaned. The couple paid them no mind.
Mirabel sighed and went to pass out the gifts for the others to help carry. When she got closer to Luisa, she heard Bruno whisper to himself: "Wow, we're old. We're so old our kids are getting married…"
She stifled a laugh. "I think it's time we head back inside."
In contrast to the joyful mood that had been outside, the sight of their parents and Abuela at the kitchen table was rather glum. Each of them was some various state of weary—nursing headaches, resting on their arms, listlessly trying to block Pepa's raindrops. Mirabel thought she heard a dramatic sigh from her mother as she approached.
"Yeesh," Mirabel said. "I'm assuming the search for clues didn't go too well?"
The grandkids all filed into the kitchen. Mirabel stood in front of her mom, Bruno holding one of her hands and Antonio holding the other. The others spread out, some of them sitting down to check on the adults.
"Not even a little!" Pepa lamented. "We checked every nook and cranny, every grain of sand several times over, but there was nothing! Nothing changed! I'm at my wit's end here, my head is completely scrambled!"
"Hey, it's okay, there's no rush to solve the mystery, Mamà," Camilo piped up, trying to console her before the cloud got too big. "Maybe rest your mind a bit and we can look again later?"
"He's right, maybe you just need to refresh your energy and get more eyes on it,"Dolores added. "We finished checking our rooms and found nothing strange, so we're free to help you if you need it."
"If you ask me, I think we should put the search on hold for tomorrow," Mirabel declared. "I mean, you may have forgotten, but it's your birthday. And none of you have gotten a chance to celebrate all day."
"We even brought gifts!" Luisa said cheerfully. She held up one of the wrapped presents from before, while Isabela and Camilo held up the other two. "Okay, these are actually from the Guzmans, but still."
Julieta hesitated and looked like she wanted to protest, but Félix spoke up first.
"I, for one, agree with Mirabel," Félix said joyfully. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough magical mysteries for one day, no offense. Today should be about celebrating the triplets and how much we love having them in our lives. We can always get back to figuring this out tomorrow."
Abuela, Julieta, and Pepa exchanged looks, seeming to come around to the idea. They did seem rather tired. And of course, the final nail in the coffin was none other than little Bruno himself.
"Mamí," Bruno said softly, hopeful. "You are going to make us hot chocolate con queso and tres leches cake, right? We do it every year."
Abuela immediately broke out into a smile. "Yes…we did used to do that, didn't we? It would be lovely to bring that tradition back."
"We can help!" Isabela piped up. "Just tell us what to do."
And so the birthday preparations finally began in earnest. Julieta was all but forced to stay seated while someone else did the cooking for once. And Bruno was soon occupied by a game of tag with Antonio around the house. Everyone else was switching between talking amongst each other and (if they weren't one of the triplets) helping with the food.
Mirabel was helping Abuela measure out the cake ingredients when she noticed that her grandmother's eyes flitting to where Bruno and Antonio were playing. Like before, she had that wistful glint in her eye, which Mirabel once again chose not to comment on.
It was around sunset by the time everything was done, just in time for a freshly-made dinner. It went by smoothly, as chaotic and wonderful as ever. Little Bruno, who was used to a small family of four, seemed a bit overwhelmed at first, but the positive attention he was receiving from everyone got him to enjoy it—definitely a stark contrast to this morning's breakfast. Then, it was time for cake and presents.
Bruno sat between his sisters, looking comically out of place between them. All of them were hearing party hats and giving that awkward smile that came with being sung to on your birthday. But everyone was just glad to have all three of them here for a birthday celebration again, even if not quite in the way they pictured.
They blew the candles out together. Julieta and Pepa took their brother's hands in their own, smiling lovingly at one another.
"Happy Birthday, you two," Julieta told them softly.
"Happy Birthday, Juli," said Pepa. Then she turned to Bruno and scooped him into a hug. "And happy birthday to you, mi dulce hermanito preciosooo." She blew a raspberry into his cheek and Bruno groaned in protest.
"Pepa!" Bruno whined.
Julieta, unhelpful, leaned over to smooch his other cheek. "Ah, you can't get mad at us for babying you now! You are literally a baby!"
"I am not a baby! I'm seven!"
Everybody just laughed at the poor kid (aside from Antonio who genuinely couldn't understand how a seven-year-old wasn't already a grown-up). Félix appeared later with a cart of gifts that the family had prepared before. They added the new presents on top and the triplets got to work on opening them.
Julieta mostly got helpful supplies for cooking, some books on various subjects, hair and skin products, the works. Pepa got various pieces of jewelry, some of her own hair products, and a couple of picture frames. There was also a gag gift from Camilo which was basically a small umbrella she could strap to her head—he almost earned himself a lightning bolt to the butt for that one.
As for Bruno, there was some worry his gifts wouldn't match up to his seven-year-old tastes, but that soon disappeared. Turns out, Bruno's tastes were quite consistent. Some new crafting supplies to build rat stages with, a notebook to write his thoughts, and someone—probably also Camilo, that weasel—thought it would be hilarious to give him a new, shiny bucket to play Jorge with (Bruno didn't understand that one. Interesting).
"Okay, okay, my turn!" Mirabel shouted above the excited noise. She hurried to the table with three small wrapped boxes in her arms. "I made some personalized gifts for everyone! Here ya go!"
Pepa squealed when she got her last gift, and they let her open it first.
"Yours is a handmade throw pillow to put on the couch in your room," Mirabel said proudly. "I noticed it was a little empty. I put your face on one side, and my face on the other. So you'd have something to remember me by."
Pepa chuckled, admiring the embroidery. "Thank you, Mira. I love it."
Julieta was next. She opened the box, and pulled out a long satin ribbon with cute little symbols sewed on.
"It's a sash for your apron!" Mirabel declared. "And I put little symbols on the end for me, Papà, Isa and Luisa. So you'll think of us every time you tie your apron."
"Aww, Mirabel!" Julieta put a hand over her heart. "This is lovely. I'm going to wear it every day."
Finally, they came to Bruno. Mirabel turned to him, an excited smile on her face as he untied the ribbon. His gift was a special idea she'd had, so she wanted to see his reaction—and her heart fell when he frowned.
"Umm…there's nothing in here."
Mirabel blinked. "What?" She reached her hand out and let him hand it to her, and sure enough, it was empty. "Wait, where did it go? I had a special present for you!"
"Did you…forget to put the present in the box?" Dolores asked.
"Nice going, Mirabel," Camilo teased.
Mirabel turned red as everyone stifled their giggles. "Hey—look, I must have been distracted by something, okay? Get off my case! It's not like any of you guys have never done anything dumb!" She stomped her foot like a petulant child, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks. Even Bruno was laughing at her now—rude!
"You know, I don't have to take this mockery. I would take Bruno to find his gift in my room, but he's laughing at me, so I guess he doesn't want it."
"No, no, I want it!" Bruno cried. He jumped out of his chair and ran to Mirabel, grabbing her hand with a pleading look on her face. "I'm not laughing! Can I have my present? Pleeeease!"
"Okay, fiiiine," Mirabel replied with exaggerated reluctance. "But I'm watching you. Come on."
Raising her head high in the face of all the laughter, Mirabel marched out of the room with Bruno in tow. Really, though, she couldn't entirely blame them. Who wrapped a box without first remembering to put the gift inside? She was almost laughing at herself.
She let go of Bruno once they were inside her new room, leaving him to look around. This place was definitely much bigger than the nursery. No magic, but definitely a whole lot of Mirabel. She checked the drawer where she'd last seen her creation, and sure enough, there it was. Smiling, she hid it behind her back and waved Bruno over. He ran to her and stood impatiently before her.
Mirabel grinned. "Okay, hold our your hands."
He obeyed. Mirabel placed his gift, an embroidered patch with a special shape, into his hands. Bruno studied it for a moment. "Is this…a butterfly?"
"Mm-hmm." She knelt down to be at his eye level, taking his hand in one of her own and using the other to point. "This is a special patch to sew onto your clothing. It's a butterfly, like the ones on my dress—" she pointed to the butterfly pattern on her lapel. "—but its wings make the shape of an hourglass, like the ones on your ruana." She traced the shape on the patch, then pointed to his clothes. "So it's a little bit of me, and a little bit of you. To show that we'll be best friends forever."
Bruno's eyes seemed to sparkle, a small smile on his face as he traced the pattern with his fingers.
Mirabel smiled. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah. It's pretty." He paused for a moment, studying it more. Then he looked up at her. "Isabela was right. You are my favorite."
Mirabel stammered out a response. "What—n-no, no, no, you're not supposed to play favorites, you silly goose!" She laughed aloud, once again feeling that maternal urge to squeeze him tight. This time, she gave in. She grabbed the little guy and pulled him close, arms trapping him in the embrace as she nuzzled her cheek against his. "Though, you also happen to be my favorite magical uncle, so I guess it goes both ways."
Bruno laughed. "I'm your only magical uncle!"
"Oh, that's right! That's why you're my favorite! Ay, Brunito, you're so smart. And you are soooo adorable!" Admittedly, it felt a little odd to use the diminutive form of her uncle's name (usually it was reserved for his mother and sometimes sisters), but in this case, it felt appropriate. Silly, cute little Bruno.
"He's not cuter than me, though, right?" Antonio asked.
"Wh—Antonio!" Mirabel put Bruno down when she noticed her little cousin standing next to her, arms crossed. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see Tío Bruno's present," he replied. "But you haven't answered my question."
Mirabel sighed dramatically. "You're both the cutest, Toño. It's just that you're the 'primo' type of cute, while he's the 'small tío' type of cute. They're completely different."
Antonio sniffed, but seemed to accept this. He watched as Mirabel pulled out a safety pin and attached the patch to Bruno's current ruana, until they could properly sew it on later.
"There we go," she said. "Now, let's get back out there before they finish the rest of the cake without us."
After a night of festivities, the family was starting to head off to bed. Bruno was tucked into bed by his mother, with his sisters and their husbands watching from afar.
"Did you have a good birthday, Brunito?" Alma asked him.
Bruno nodded. "It was fun playing with everyone…" he paused, a slight frown on his face. "I wish I could remember them better."
"You will," Alma reassured him. "We will try again tomorrow, but I promise we won't rest until we figure this out—you can rest well knowing that." She leaned down and pressed a kiss against his forehead. "Buenas noches, Bruno."
"Buenas noches."
"Good night Brunito," said Julieta, and the others followed suit. Once they were all out of his room, Bruno let out a content sigh. Full of cake and hot chocolate and plenty of happy feelings, he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning was back to the usual affair for the Madrigals. They were preparing for breakfast while discussing their plans for getting back to their town chores. Mixed in, of course, was discussion of how they'd try to fix the small Bruno problem in the meantime.
"Mirabel, could you go see if he's awake, please?" Julieta asked, just like yesterday.
"Sure, Mà."
Mirabel hummed to herself as she made her way to Bruno's room. She knocked on the door. "Morning!" she called softly. "It's Mirabel. Can I come in?"
To her surprise, the door opened from the inside, and—there was Bruno! Tío Bruno! Fifty-one years old and never looking better, as if nothing strange had happened at all.
"Morning," Bruno greeted with a yawn. "Man. Gotta say, I haven't slept that well in a long time. Heh. So how are you?"
Mirabel all but picked her jaw up off the floor. "T-Tío Bruno! Oh my—you're back!"
Bruno blinked, confused. "Uh…I'm pretty sure I've been back for a while, Mira."
"No, you're—you're grown again, I thought—oh my goodness!" She flung her arms around him, and Bruno simply patted her back, bewildered.
Mirabel pulled away from the embrace and yelled back to the kitchen. "Mà! Tío Bruno's back to normal!"
"What?" Julieta's voice rose up from below, and a cacophony of noise followed after. It sounded like a flurry of footsteps making their way up the stairs.
Bruno looked around frantically like one of his frightened rats. "Back to normal? What do you mean? Did something happen?"
Mirabel blinked. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?
"You spent the whole day as a little kid yesterday! You shrunk! You were seven!"
"…Huh?"
Mirabel did not get to explain further, because a crowd of people came running through the hallway to attack Bruno with hugs.
"So, let me see if I've got this straight," Bruno began slowly. He was seated at the kitchen table, everyone else huddled around him, tapping the surface with his fingers. "Yesterday—which was our birthday, not today—you guys spent the whole day with a seven-year-old version of me."
"Yup," Luisa replied.
"Are you sure you don't remember any of it?" asked Félix. "Not even a feeling? Or an old, distant memory?"
"Nothing," Bruno sighed. "It feels like I just slept through the whole thing." He frowned, and mumbled. "I—I feel like I just went and missed our birthday. Again."
"N-no, you didn't miss it," Julieta stammered. She patted his hand reassuringly. "I mean, you were still there with us, and we enjoyed having you."
Bruno shrugged. "I suppose. In a way I guess it's the opposite of—" he cut himself off and then smiled suddenly. "Uh—actually, never mind. Forget it." He tossed some salt over his shoulder and knocked on the table, leaving everyone to wonder what he had been thinking. "Anyway, uh…I hope little me wasn't too annoying?"
"Annoying? No way!" Pepa threw an arm around him and used her other hand to pinch his cheek. "You were precious. The same cute baby brother I remember you to be."
"Well, aside from the moment you insulted my husband, that is," Julieta added. "Apparently, you used to think he was a wimp."
"Eh? I did? S-sorry, Agustín, I don't think that anymore, I promise."
"Mm-hmm. Whatever you say, cuñado."
The adults continued bickering and Bruno was trying in vain to break free of Pepa's grasp. Camilo turned to his sister and cousins, whispering. "So, uh…are we gonna discuss the fact that we still have no idea why it happened?"
They all shrugged. "Maybe the magic just…really wanted us to spend a day with tiny Bruno," said Isabela.
"But why?"
No one had an answer for that. They turned back to Bruno. He'd broken away from Pepa but was now being smothered by Abuela, who was wiping his mouth like he was still a baby. His sisters were both stifling giggles, to varying success.
"Mamà, please, regardless of what may have happened yesterday, I'm not a child!"
"Hush. You'll always be a baby to me."
Mirabel chuckled and patted her cousin on the back. "Count your blessings, Camilo. Maybe sometimes it's better to take things as they come."
(Mirabel later re-gifted Bruno his hourglass butterfly patch, with the same speech she'd given him as a kid. Aside from a few extra teardrops, his reaction was basically unchanged.)