Epilogue

Casita was just as happy to be back as we were to have her back. So much so, that she moved the stone walk-way like a treadmill, and practically threw everyone, including the villagers, through the open front door. Before the actual musicians were even set up, she was already creating percussion music of her own.

The celebration had officially begun.

Our beloved Casita, born of this new miracle, mostly appeared the same, but there were noticeable differences. Our magical doors no longer had our images on them. They instead shined with the same colorful sparkles of magic that had restored the house. Blank canvases, and we would get to decide for ourselves what would be "painted" on them. After the party.

Our Gifts had all returned along with the magic. Antonio was riding around the courtyard with his jaguar friend. Isabela was already creating flowers, new flowers and plants, spreading them across the entire house. Luisa was lifting up the largest potted plants and furniture with ease. Meanwhile, Pepa and Félix were dancing joyously under a cloud, gentle hailstones bouncing off their shoulders and heads.

My own Gift also came back. No rituals were performed, nor had anything come to me unprompted, but I just…knew. It was a feeling in my core that told me it was there. The thought of performing visions again both terrified and excited me. There was more to my Gift than I knew, and as frightening as it was to think about, I wanted to know more. Maybe, with Mirabel's help, I could.

Most of the celebrating was done in the courtyard, so there weren't a lot of people upstairs. It was like most of the parties I had been to; lots of food, lots of dancing, lots of laughter, and lots of people. Big crowds always made me uncomfortable, and after all these years I was even less accustomed to them than before. So after several hours of mingling, dancing, and celebrating, I used the entrance lobby stairs to escape to the second floor.

It allowed me some time to get away from the suffocating crowd. Leaning over the upstairs railing, I gazed down at the celebrants. There was a strange comfort in just watching everyone from a distance, not having to worry about participating.

Camilo was using the opposite stair's landing to put on a show for a small group of kids. With his Gift back, he was transforming into a bunch of colorful characters in order to tell his story, much to their delight.

And those characters included me. Not the Bruno Diablo he portrayed before, but the real me, which was accurate now that he knew what I really looked like. Based on the switching he was doing between Mirabel and myself, he was telling our story. Antonio was there as well, along with all of my rats who were happily assisting with the story.

Camilo, transformed into me, spotted me up on the railing. He transformed back into himself, and grinned at me, followed by a friendly salute. Antonio also turned to me and waved enthusiastically. The rest of the children looked in their direction, and also waved. I returned the salute and the wave with a warm smile of my own.

The railing I was leaning on suddenly shook beneath me. It gave me a bit of a fright, until I realized who it was and laughed.

"Casita!" The tiles directly beneath my feet bounced excitedly, and I had to grab onto the railing again to keep my balance. "Yes, yes, I'm happy to see you, too." The railing rattled again, happily, and I responded with a chuckle."Ya'know," I said in a hushed and friendly tone, "We should talk more, the way Mirabel talks to you. We didn't get to chat much while I was in your walls. Would you like that, Casita?"

The tiles around me strummed and jingled like the keys of a piano in a happy melody. I'll take that as a "yes."

After spending a few more minutes making small talk with the house, I moved away from the railing and turned around. Just behind me was the painting, depicting a tea set, lamp, and nightstand. It was hanging in the same place, after someone found it while digging through the rubble and simply hung it in the same spot.

My curiosity got the best of me.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on wood!" Knock six times, five on the wood, one on the head. Walking over to the portrait, I knelt down and carefully lifted it. It was hard to say if I was relieved or disappointed to find there was no hole there. Just a solid wall.

"You're not thinking of going back there are you?"

The portrait fell with a loud smack and I jumped back in surprise. The voice was Mirabel's. She must have caught me watching everyone from the railing and came to check on me.

"Oh, no, no, I was…I was just curious is all." Rubbing the back of my head nervously, I slowly backed away from the painting.

She had her hands clasped behind her back, and was giving me a grin that was both innocent and mischievous at the same time. "Is that the reason you came up here?"

"No, I just….needed some air. I'm…" I laughed nervously. "I'm not used to being around crowds anymore."

"Hmm!" she pursed her lips and grinned at me. "Does that include me? Am I 'crowding' you?'"

She could never make me feel stifled, "You can stay."

We both walked over to the railing, leaning on it and watching the other celebrants. Camilo was still entertaining the children, along with Antonio. My sister's could be seen on the dance floor with their husbands. Mamá was in a far corner chatting with the Guzmáns. Strangely, I couldn't see Isabela, Luisa, or Dolores anywhere. Maybe they were outside or in the kitchen, but they were not visible.

"You know," Mirabel struck up a conversation, "the Guzmáns told me they have passageways in the walls of their home, too."

"Really?" That caught my interest.

"Mm'hmm," she looked towards the portrait behind us. "They said they're designed to allow servants to get from one part of the house to another without being seen. Who'd have guessed Casita had them, too?"

We never had servants, at least not that I recall. Any menial task we needed done we either did ourselves or Casita took care of it. There were a lot of advantages to having a magical house.

"Are the passages still there?" It was an innocent question, but Mirabel glared at me.

"I swear, if you try and go back there, I will drag you out by your ears!"

"I wasn't…" My hands went up defensively. "I'm just curious."

She continued to glare at me, though I noticed some amusement in her stare. "Yes, I think they're still there, though we made sure to block all entrances."

Probably for the best.

Standing up straight, I stretched, taking a deep, chest-expanding breath, before letting it all out at once, "Alright, I'm ready to go back now."

"Hold up," she quickly put herself between me and the staircase. "I never said I was ready to go back."

"Sorry," her behavior was very odd. "I didn't realize you were up here for the same reason."

She grinned slyly again, "Oh, I'm not. I just said that to stall you."

Huh?

Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, and right behind Mirabel I saw both Luisa and Isabela step into the hallway. Luisa leaned against the wall, arms crossed, while Isabela put her hands on her hips and gave me the same sly grin as her sister.

"Mirabel?" I rubbed my arm anxiously. "What are you up to?"

"Don't look at me," she laughed, putting her hands up defensively. "This wasn't my idea."

"It was mine."

I knew that soft, stage-whisper anywhere. Dolores came up the stairs behind her cousins, her hands clasped in front of her, giving me a sly, mousy grin.

Now I was really confused, and my next words were slow and cautious. "What 'idea?'"

"You've been away a long time, Tío Bruno. Ten years." She slowly approached me. "You missed a lot of things."

Pangs of guilt filled me, and I stared at the floor shamefully, "I'm sorry."She continued, "Along with Antonio's birth, you missed every single one of our Quinceañeras. You were supposed to dance with us."

"I wanted to be there, I really did!" Dolores knew better than anyone how much it hurt for me not to be there.

"I know," she affirmed. "Which is why we've all decided you should make it up to us." She stood up proud, smiling smugly. "Tonight."

"Huh?" I gawked at all of them. They were all giving me that same smug smile. "Do you mean…"

"I get him first!" Isabela shouted, giving me a fright, before she grabbed a hold of my hand and started dragging me towards the stairs. "I'm the oldest! I get to dance with him first!"

None of my other nieces argued, and before I knew it all four were excitedly pushing and shoving me down the stairs and straight onto the courtyard dance floor.

The End.

A/N: Yay! After months of writing and editing, it's done!

Big thanks to my beta reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) and everyone who left comments/reviews. Glad to see so many enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 3