Yesterday had been a normal day. Last week had been a normal week. There was really nothing, absolutely nothing at all that could have clued the Madrigals in on what was going to happen, or why.

The first sign of something being amiss was when Mirabel opened her eyes in the morning, and could see everything perfectly clearly. As someone who was used to needing glasses, this was rather unnerving for her. The second sign was that she was not in her room. In fact, she seemed to be in her parents' room, sleeping in her parents' bed. And she felt warm. Weirdly warm.

That's weird, she thought to herself. She hadn't slept here since she'd had nightmares as a child and came to snuggle with her parents for comfort. What's more, she didn't remember coming here last night. And none of that did anything to explain her sudden perfect vision.

Groggily, she turned around to see her father, Agustín, still fast asleep. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. Mirabel pushed herself up on the mattress to look around. Hm. No sign of Julieta. Maybe she had gone to Mirabel's room since there was no room for all three of them in the bed anymore…

…Ay, what the heck? What was that sudden ache in her back? She'd only just woken up. Mirabel reached behind her to rub her back, pausing a little in surprise. Huh. Had she always had a little bump back there? Should she get that checked out? Just as she was beginning to worry, a loose strand of her own hair fell in front of Mirabel's eyes. She brushed it away and noticed…wait a minute. Her hair wasn't supposed to be this long. And were those…strands of gray?

Now fully awake, Mirabel glanced at herself, her arms, her hair, her nightgown—and realized with horror that none of them were hers. The longer hair, the wider hips, the callouses on her hands—the wedding ring! All of this belonged to Julieta! Not to her!

Panicked, Mirabel reached for the commode on her mother's side of the bed and picked up the small mirror she had on hand…and, to her horror, her mother's face stared back at her.

Mirabel slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. She glanced over at Agustín before hopping out of bed.

"Ugh," She groaned as her feet hit the floor. She wasn't sure if she was just disoriented, but she felt like she could barely stand. This had to be some kind of crazy dream. If she was…here, then…where was her mother?

As if things couldn't get any weirder, Agustín was stirred awake by the noise. Mirabel remained frozen in place, just watching as he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Juli?" Agustín asked hoarsely. "Whuzgoingon?"

Oh, no. No, no, no, he thought she was his wife! Mirabel still had no clue what was going on, but she had to stop this before anything weird happened.

"Good morning!" She shouted, flinching a little at her mother's panicked voice coming out of her mouth. "I am not Julieta! I am Mirabel! Your daughter, not your wife! Something really weird is going on, I think I might have switched places with her or something, but in any case, please refrain from all romantic contact until we can get this sorted out!"

Agustin was sitting up now, staring at her, bleary-eyed and confused. "…huh?"


The first glaring sign that something was wrong came when Julieta woke up that morning and couldn't freaking see.

She rubbed at her eyes, then frowned in worry when her vision remained blurry. She'd heard that people's vision faded when they got older, but surely this was too soon, right? And it wouldn't suddenly happen overnight!

Julieta sat up, remaining as calm as she could. Maybe she had something in her eyes and needed to wash them out. Yes, she would try that. Julieta removed the blanket off of her (Dear God, it was ifreezing/i today!) and stood on her feet. Only then did she realize that her room looked completely different. Actually, based on what she could gather from her blurry eyesight, this looked like Mirabel's room.

Julieta scratched her head in confusion. Her hair felt…different. She pat her head to double check, then started patting her cheeks, nose, shoulders…each second that passed brought more confusion and panic.

Finally, she spotted Mirabel's full length mirror and hurried over to it, leaning in to get a better look at herself.

…oh no.


"Uh, okay, hold on, uh…you're saying, you're Mirabel?"

Agustin was on his feet with his glasses on now, but it seemed that he still didn't quite have a grasp on what was going on. Neither did she, to be honest.

But Mirabel nodded anyway. "Yes, I'm Mirabel. And I think I'm stuck in Mamà's body."

Agustín blinked. "And…Julieta is…where?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking to go to my room and check if she's there. If I'm in her body, then maybe she's also in mine."

Agustin blinked, still sleepy. Then, inexplicably, he grinned. "Is this a prank?"

"What? No—."

"Okay, that's a good one. You really had me for a second. What's going on? Are you Camilo?"

"No, I'm Mirabel!" she gently smacked her father's face with both hands. "Wake up, Pà! This isn't a prank. I'm going to go to my room and see if Mamà's over there."

She left, but Agustín remained where he was, staring forward and flabbergasted. "This is a weird dream."

Mirabel exited the room, moving as fast as she could without waking the rest of the family. As she headed down the hallway, she saw the door to her room fly open and…herself stumble out, looking disoriented and groggy.

Her heart skipped a beat. She made her way over to the person who looked like her, and gently grabbed her by the shoulders. "Mamà?"

Not-Mirabel flinched and whirled around to face her. She wasn't wearing glasses and clearly couldn't see anything, based on how much she was squinting while trying to look at her. "Ah! Who are you? What's happening?"

Mirabel winced. "I-it's me, Ma. It's Mirabel. I think we've…switched bodies."

"Switched…?" Julieta turned away and ran a hand through her hair, as it sunk in. "But…I don't understand. What happened? How did this happen? I-I went to bed last night and everything was normal. Then I wake up in your room, I can't see anything, and it's so cold."

"Cold?" Mirabel blinked, confused, as she watched her mother in her body start to shiver. But Mirabel felt inexplicably hot. Almost as if the heat was coming from inside of her rather than the weather.

But never mind that now. She pulled her mother's (er, daughter's?) attention back to her. "Uh, ok, listen—first go find my glasses and put them on. They're on my dresser. Then I guess we'll…figure this out."

Julieta mumbled something, but nodded. She went back into Mirabel's room, emerged with her glasses, and a coat. Mirabel raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more. Agustin was just standing behind them, too freaked out to say anything.

"That's much better," Julieta said, relieved. "Now what?"

"I don't know, uh…I guess we should try to figure out what happened. Did we do anything different last night?"

"I don't remember…there's no way we could just accidentally trigger this, right?"

As they kept mumbling to each other anxiously, the failed to see Abuela exit her room, notice the commotion, and make her way over. "Good morning, you three," she greeted. "Is something the matter? You all look rather anxious."

They whirled around to face her, eyes wide.

"Oh, Abuela! Er—I mean—Mamà!" Mirabel greeted, selling it very poorly.

Abuela stared at her, incredulous.

"No, no, Mirabel," Julieta said gently. "Let's not hide it from her, maybe she can help us."

"I'm sorry, is something going on?" Abuela cut in. "Mirabel, why did you just call your mother by your own name?"

The two women exchanged a glance before Julieta sucked in a breath. "Ah…the truth is, Mamà…I'm Julieta. This is Mirabel. Something has happened, and we…"

"We switched bodies!" Mirabel finished. She threw out her arms for extra flair. "Surprise!"

Abuela's blinked in disbelief. She looked at Agustin, who shrugged helplessly.

Then she just rubbed her head tiredly. "It's too early for this."


Minutes later, the entire bewildered Madrigal family sat in the living room, staring at Mirabel and Julieta with shock on their faces.

"Wh—what do you mean you've switched bodies?" Pepa shouted. "How does that even happen?!"

"I don't know!" Mirabel squeaked, with her mother's voice. "That's what we were hoping you guys could help us figure out!"

"Did you two…fight?" Bruno asked meekly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, I just remember hearing a story like this once." He shrugged. "Like, have you had a disagreement, or not quite seeing eye to eye, or…"

"No, not at all," Julieta replied. "Mirabel and I don't fight…right?" She looked at Mirabel with big, hurt eyes, apparently already worried it was true. Somehow, Julieta's doe eyes were just as effective when they were on Mirabel's face.

Mirabel quickly shook her head and put her hands on Julieta's shoulders. "No, of course not, Mamà! I'm not mad at you at all."

"So then…what?"

The others were silent, save for Pepa's thunder. Finally, Abuela sighed.

"Alright then, if no one has any ideas, then I will look into it and see what I can find," she replied. "The rest of you, try to go about your day until we can find an answer to this issue. As for you two…" she glanced at Julieta and Mirabel, still obviously weirded out, and shook her head. "Let me know if anything changes. And…try not to make any hasty decisions." With that, she got up and headed off, determined to find answers.

Everyone else remained where they were, hovering around Mirabel and Julieta awkwardly. Neither of the women in question seemed to notice it though, as Julieta was already fretting.

"Oh, what are we going to do?" Julieta whined. "We can't stay like this—I had so many people coming to me for appointments today."

Mirabel pursed her lips. "Mom, I'm sure they'll understand if you need to take a day off."

"But I hate canceling at the last minute." She bit her lip. "Besides—even on my days off, I still have to make some food in case there's an emergency. But—can I even do that now? Do I still have my Gift? Or…do you have it?"

Mirabel's eyebrows shot upward. She…hadn't even considered that.

Fèlix cleared his throat. "Well, I guess you could…test it out. Each of you could make something and see which one works. But, uh…"

"But that would require someone getting hurt," Bruno finished.

Camilo scoffed. "I'm sure you won't have to wait too long. It'll probably be Tío Agustí—" He leaned against a chair that immediately broke, sending him sprawling to the floor amidst a flurry of wooden splinters.

"Oh, f—Camilo!"

"Oh my God, there's splinters in his face—"

"Someone get the tweezers!"

"Okay but he kinda deserved that."


Camilo ended up with minor cuts and a major bad mood as he sat in the kitchen minutes later. His mother was pulling the last of the splinters out of his skin, and he was caught in between wincing and scowling. Meanwhile, Mirabel and Julieta both stood near the stove, each making an arepa as quickly as possible.

"Oh, that's nice," Julieta whispered. She held her hands up to the stove as she waited for the arepa to be done. "It's like standing in front of a fireplace."

Mirabel frowned at her. "How are you so cold, Mamà? I'm so hot, I'm literally burning alive."

"I don't know—do you normally run cold? Or maybe it's another strange side affect of this body-switching thing."

Mirabel sighed. "I just hope we can fix this soon…"

With each arepa done, they both picked up their own and walked over to where Camilo was sitting. He saw them coming and pointed to his mouth like he was demanding to be fed. Pepa just gave him a nudge but didn't stop him.

Mirabel rolled her eyes but resisted the urge to quip. "Mamà, do you want to try it first?"

Julieta looked nervous, but nodded. She gently broke off a small piece of her arepa and hand-fed it to Camilo, taking a step back. She looked down at her own hands, frowning, but nobody spoke as they waited for the result.

"….mm. Nope," Camilo stated. He rubbed at his hastily bandaged cuts. "Still there."

Julieta pressed her lips together as all eyes turned to Mirabel. She tried not to fidget too much under the attention, and slowly copied her mother's movements that she had seen her do so many times. As the arepa piece left her hand, the heat in her chest seemed to grow, spreading down her arm and to the tips of her fingers. She pulled back and held her breath again.

Camilo chewed the food thoughtfully. He looked a little surprised, as he removed the bandages from his face and rubbed at the spot where the cuts used to be. But now it looked like they were never there. "Well. I guess that answers that question."

"It worked!" Pepa exclaimed. "That means Mirabel has Julieta's body and her Gift!"

Mirabel took a slight step back. She felt warm again, but it had mostly receded back to her chest.

Isabela gave her a pointed look, raising an eyebrow. "How's it feel?"

Mirabel, speechless for a moment, scanned the equally amazed faces of her family before answering. "…hot," she replied. "It feels hot."

"Um…what?"

Mirabel snapped her (mother's) fingers in the air like she'd just had an epiphany. "So that's what this is! I was wondering why I felt so warm all morning! Mama's Gift makes me feel all warm and cozy, like a heated oven in my chest. And when I was cooking and feeding Camilo, it was like it spread to my arms and into the food."

The others all exchanged glances.

Mirabel quickly turned to her mom. "And Mà, you're not feeling cold because of the weather, it's because you're missing the warmth of your Gift."

Julieta thought about this for a moment and frowned. "But…that doesn't make sense. I've lost my Gift before, remember? When the—when we were rebuilding the house. And I never felt so cold then."

p"Hmmm…" Mirabel put a hand to her chin and tried to figure that one out. /p

pBut Luisa spoke up first. "Maybe it's because you were doing a lot of exercise," she suggested. "All that moving and lifting must have kept you warm while we were working." /p

"And you did hog the covers a lot at night," Agustín murmured.

Mirabel clapped her hands together. "I guess that settles it. Mamà, you can warm up by going outside and getting active. Take a recreational day. And me—what if I went and did your appointments for you?"

Julieta furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you sure? Maybe I should go with you, just in case…"

"I can go with her," Agustín volunteered. "I've been to your appointments before, so I think we can handle it together."

Mirabel nodded eagerly.

Julieta sighed. "Alright, I suppose. Let me at least show you the recipes I prepared for today. It always works best when I give people food that they like."

As the three of them headed back to Julieta's stove, the rest of the family kept watching. Isabela leaned over to her aunt and cousin seated at the table. "So…are they really switched, or is this just an elaborate act they're putting on?"

"If it is, they must have been seriously been practicing their method acting behind our backs," Camilo muttered. "They've got each other's mannerisms down pat."

They looked up again to see Not-Julieta dropping three cookbooks and walking right into a window shutter.

"…yeah, no, you can't fake that. That's definitely Mirabel."


These days, people were much more careful around the Encanto and serious injuries happened less often. Julieta's stand usually saw visits from those suffering with some ongoing problem, or a non-urgent injury. The occasional emergency did happen here and there, but for the most part, visits were limited to appointments, and it was a godsend.

This was especially true today, since Mirabel had a handy list of who was expected to come, and had prepared a specialized meal for each of them. She and her father were setting up the stand and placing the first plate out, as they discussed what they would do.

"So…" Mirabel asked. "Are we going to let the people know about the whole…switch thing, or…?"

Agustín shrugged. "It's up to you. But this sounds like one of those things that needs a little…what's the word your Abuela uses…tact."

Mirabel nodded. "I guess I'd rather keep it on a need-to-know basis. I can totally pretend to be Mom, right?"

She stood up straight and tried to imitate her mother's gentle demeanor. "Hello, how are you today?" she said softly to no one. "Let me see where it hurts. Oh, you poor thing! My delicious hot empanada will make it all better."

Agustín snorted. "Not bad."

"Thanks! Maybe I should think about acting."

Before they could say anything else, their first appointment arrived. Mirabel recognized the older man that slowly hobbled over as one of her mother's regulars. He had some problems with his…leg, if she remembered correctly. In any case, he liked some good old-fashioned arroz con pollo, so Mirabel got the plate ready.

When the man made it over, Mirabel gave him her best Mamà smile. "Good morning, Señor Jimenez," she said, slow and soft. "How are you doing today?"

"Ah, well, last night it was more of the same," the man replied. "But when I was getting dressed this morning I got a nasty bump on my knee! Now I got an annoying bruise to deal with on top of all this arthritis."

"Aw, well, don't you worry. We'll have that all taken care of in just—oh!"

Mirabel jumped as the man suddenly rolled up his pant leg and showed her his knee. There was a bruise alright, big and gross and very, very colorful. Also, his leg was old and shriveled and she hadn't been expecting to see that today.

"Uh, yep, that's a…that's a pretty big bruise."

"Eh, what's the problem, Julieta?" The man gave her a slightly teasing grin. "I know it's gross, but the one I showed you last week was worse, and you didn't even flinch!" He laughed. "I'm sure you've seen scarier things as a doctor, right?"

"F-for sure, yes, I just…" Mirabel recalled some of the crazy injuries that people used to show up with. "You caught me off guard for a moment. Uh, you get bruises often, huh…"

The man sighed. "Yeah. I've lost my coordination in my old age, you know…lots of clutter around the house, so many things to bump into."

"Have you considered clearing some of it out?"

He blinked, then frowned. "No."

"…right." Mirabel left it at that and turned to her father, who handed her the plate of food. She held it up and scooped some of it with the spoon, getting a nice helping of both rice and chicken before leaning forward and putting it in the man's mouth. Hear spread through her arms and are leaned into it.

Immediately, the colorful bruise on his knee started to fade away, until it had completely disappeared. The man swung his legs as if testing them, then he finally dropped his pant leg and stood back in satisfaction.

Mirabel smiled. "Alright, that's much better." She handed him the plate with the remaining food. "And you can take the rest of this to go."

"Thanks," the man replied. But contrary to what Mirabel expected, he didn't leave. Rather, he just stood there, thoughtful, staring down at the plate in his hands.

"Um…Señor Jimenez…?" Mirabel asked. "We're finished now."

The man hesitated another moment, then spoke up. "It's just…a lot of that clutter belonged to my late wife. I know I should get rid of it, but I can never bring myself to do it."

"Oh, uh…okay, you don't have to, it was just a suggestion—"

"I live alone in that house now since she's gone, and well, I guess I just wanted it to feel like she's still with me."

Mirabel pressed her lips together. How does one politely tell a patient that she didn't ask for his life story? "I-I'm really sorry about that, Señor Jimenez. But, uh, I do have other appointments I need to—"

Agustin nudged her, and motioned for her to just wait. So she zipped her lips.

The man apparently hadn't even heard her. "I dunno, I guess it's sort of pathetic. It's not like these objects are going to bring her back. But ever since my son moved out, these things are the only things that remind me of her, and I worry about losing that connection. It's stupid."

Mirabel listened, frowning thoughtfully. "Have you talked to your son about it?"

"What? No, no. He's got his own family to take care of now. I'm not going to waste his time. Besides, I'm his father. I have to be strong for him, or who will?"

"Oh, Señor. You don't have to be strong all the time. I've learned that the best connections are formed when we're vulnerable with each other." She exchanged a smile with Agustín. "You know what? I know this is none of my business, but…I think you should talk to your son. He'll make time for you, and maybe he can even help you with the clutter. Not to throw anything away, just to organize it all so you're not bumping into it. And…talk about your wife. I bet he misses his Mamà. There's no better way to honor someone's memory than to share it with someone else who loved her. That's what I think."

The man looked surprised, but thoughtful for a moment. "I…I guess that makes sense. You really think that would help me?"

"I think it will take some time. But it's worth it to try."

He nodded, and an appreciative smile formed on his face. "Alright…thank you, Julieta. You've given me quite a bit to think about." He nodded to her and held up the plate of food. "And your cooking is delicious, as usual. Tastes a bit different, though, did you use a new recipe?"

"Uh—a little bit, yeah! You know what they say, variety is the spice of life."

The man laughed, and the joyfulness of the sound brought Mirabel's energy back with a vigor. "I guess so! But anyway, I've taken up a lot of your time. Thank you for your advice. You both have a good day now."

Mirabel and Agustín both waved goodbye to the man. He walked away looking a little freer than when he'd arrived, but maybe that was just her imagination.

Once he was out of sight, she turned back to Agustín. "Whew."

"Sorry, forgot to warn you about that," Agustín chuckled. "Señor Jimenez sometimes just needs someone to talk to. But you handled that pretty well. That was some solid advice."

Mirabel shrugged. "Oh, yeah, I…I was probably just repeating something I heard somewhere, I dunno. But he did look happier," she glanced in the direction the man had gone, smiling. "It was nice, like I helped him twice in one session."

"You could say that, yeah."

Mirabel turned back to the stand and started preparing the next plate. Replaying that last appointment in her head, Mirabel felt the warm and cozy feeling settle in her chest again, like a comforting friend. A comfort that she could honestly get used to sharing.

"Alright, then…who's next?"


Mirabel was bone tired when she got back to Casita that afternoon, several empty trays in both her and Agustin's hands. But, at the very least, she felt accomplished. This must be why her mother enjoyed her work so much. Helping all those people with her new power filled her with a sort of warmth no magic could provide.

Speaking of her mother, Mirabel spotted her as soon as she walked through the door, engaged in what looked like some sort of dance routine (which involved a lot of jumping) with Luisa. Julieta had shed her cost, and both of them were giggling happily. Mirabel couldn't help but smile.

"Aw, look," she said, nudging Agustín with her elbow. "Mother-daughter bonding."

Agustín chuckled as he watched the scene before him. "Hey, we're back!" He called out to them.

"Hi, Pa!" Luisa responded, still dancing. "Hi, Mà—I mean, Mirabel. Dang it."

"Hi, amor! Hi, Mira," Julieta called out. She stopped dancing long enough to run up to them and smile. "How did it go?"

"Pretty good, all things considered," Mirabel replied.

"You seem to be enjoying your 'recreational day,'" Agustín added.

Julieta nodded enthusiastically, hopping happily in place. "Oh, yes! Look at me, Agustín, I'm so young! So full of energy! I feel like I can do anything in this body!"

"That's nice, Mà," Mirabel sighed. "I turned around too fast earlier, and now I have back pain."

"Ay, Mira, please be careful with my body while you're using it…"

"I will, Mà. And I'll be sure to appreciate my own body once I get it back."

They all chuckled as they walked to the kitchen to put the trays away. "You guys need some help with that?" Luisa asked, and took the trays from her dad without waiting for an answer.

As the four of them walked to the kitchen, Abuela emerged from somewhere in the halls and spotted them. "Ah, good, I managed to find you," she said. They waited for her to make her way over, and Mirabel noted the smile on her face. "Good news. After I spent a while looking for answers, I finally got Casita to tell me…that this should all be over before you wake up tomorrow morning."

Mirabel's eyebrows shot upward. "So, when we wake up tomorrow, we'll be back in our own bodies?"

"It appears so."

"Thank goodness," Julieta breathed. She put a hand over her heart as the relieved sighs echoed around her.

"You both handled the situation well today," Abuela told her daughter and granddaughter. "Considering how sudden and mysterious it was. But I suppose strange things are expected to happen in a family like ours. As long as it doesn't have lasting negative impact." She shrugged. "But, anyway—go ahead and get ready for dinner, all of you. Fèlix has already agreed to handle the cooking, so you don't have to worry about it."

Mirabel sagged a little with relief. "Thanks so much, Abuela." She had fully expected to handle dinner like her Mamà often did, but despite how much she had enjoyed being her mother, she had to admit she was grateful for the break. More grateful that Abuela had recognized she would need one.

With that, they headed to the sink to wash their trays, and got ready for their evening.


"So, since we're going to be done with the body swapping tomorrow, how are we going to handle sleeping arrangements?" Mirabel asked.

Julieta thought for a moment. "Well, I…I guess I could go sleep in your spot and you in mine. So come morning, we'll both be in the right places."

"We could do that…or we could totally do a sleepover in your room!"

Julieta raised an eyebrow.

"You know, to avoid being disoriented when we wake up. Or maybe, close proximity makes the body swap easier. Or, you know, just because it's fun and we haven't done it in a long time!"

Julieta slowly grinned at her. "You know what? You have a point. Why not?"

"Yay!" Mirabel jumped up and clapped her (mom's) hands. "I'll go get the sleeping bags!"

Minutes later, when they had changed into their night clothes and gotten everything ready, the two women lay down on their sleeping bags opposite each other, giggling like little girls.

"Don't forget to take your glasses off, Mamà," Mirabel reminded her.

"Oh, right. I have no idea how you and your father deal with these all the time."

"You get used to it."

Julieta placed her glasses on a dresser and lay back down, just as Agustín walked into the room to see them both lying on the floor.

"A sleepover?" He asked. "And I wasn't invited?"

"Of course you're invited, Papà! You're invited by default. Hurry up and get over here."

"Alright, alright. Just let me run to the bathroom real quick."

He left the room, leaving them to laugh and get settled once again.

"…you know, Mà," Mirabel spoke up. "I admit, I kinda enjoyed being you for the day."

Julieta scoffed. "Really? You didn't mind walking around as your…old lady?"

"Oh, hush. And no, I did not. I got to live a day in your shoes, and help people with your Gift like you always do." She paused. "I've always wanted to be like you, you know? And today I got to do that."

"Oh, Mira," Julieta whispered, touched. "Mi cariño, you're already better than I ever could be. Taking on my work like that…you didn't have to, but you did." She took a breath and smiled. "And, you know, thanks to you, I didn't need to worry about my patients, and I got an extra day off. I spent it with your sisters. I danced with Luisa, and swung on vines with Isabela. Did you know that being a vine acrobat is a great workout for your upper body?"

Mirabel scoffed. "I can imagine."

"Plus, I haven't taken a 'recreational day' in so long because I was getting too old to run around so much," she chuckled. "This was…refreshing."

"You know, I'm glad something good came out of all this," Mirabel declared. "Starting tomorrow, let's look back on this and laugh, okay?"

"You got it, darling."

They reached out and took each other's hands as they lay, smiling contentedly.

"Good night, Mamí," Mirabel finally yawned. "I love you."

"I love you too."

By the time Agustín came back, they were both fast asleep.


Morning dawned slow and warm on the Encanto, and as soon as Julieta was conscious enough to be aware of it, she immediately opened her eyes and sat upright.

Eyesight? Check. Her own hair and hands? Check. The weird bump she had on her back and an ache that told her she wasn't a teenager anymore? Check, and check. Julieta stood up and, as one last test, she picked up the hand mirror on her commode and looked at her own face.

Yes, that was her! She was finally herself again. Grinning with relief, Julieta turned back to where Agustín and Mirabel were sleeping on the floor, looking so peaceful and so adorable. She padded over to Agustín, knelt down and gently shook him.

"Amor," she called softly, still smiling. "Wake up, dear. I'm back."

Agustín blinked awake. He glanced at her, took a moment to pick up his glasses from next to him and put them on, then looked up at her in suspicion. "…good morning. Just so we're all on the same page here, I am Agustín and I am in Agustín's body."

Julieta giggled.

"And you are…?"

"I am Julieta," she replied matter-of-factly. "And I am in Julieta's body."

Agustín rested his head back on his pillow. "Thank goodness."

Julieta laughed again, leaned down, and kissed him. Maybe not the most appropriate time to do so, since their daughter was laying right there, but could anyone blame her? She hadn't been able to kiss her husband for a whole day, and that was simply too much.

Agustín seemed happy with it, at least. "Okay," he said when they were done. "Can we just—pretend that yesterday was all some kind of weird dream? Like it never happened?"

Julieta rolled her eyes. "Whatever makes you happy, amor." She leaned down to kiss him again, when suddenly—Mirabel screamed.

Both of them flinched and turned to see what was going on. Mirabel, sitting up straight, was looking all around her in a panic, touching her face and breathing heavily.

"Mira, what's wrong?" Julieta asked anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"What? Who?" Mirabel sputtered. She turned to face her parents, squinting at them and continuing to panic. "No, I'm not okay! I can't see! I—why am I on the floor? Why are you two here? Where's Félix? What happened?"

The questions came like a sudden pelting of hail. Julieta and Agustín exchanged a look of horror.

"Wait, no—" Agustín stammered. "I thought—I thought everything was supposed to go back to normal! Right?" He glanced at his wife, who nodded.

"Yes! I'm me again, and Mirabel should be Mirabel. Are you not Mirabel?"

"Mirabel" stared back at them with wide eyes. "What? No, I—" she suddenly noticed her hands, felt at her hair, and finally turned pale as she realized what had happened. "I-I'm not Mirabel!" She shouted. "I'm Pepa!"

Silence rang throughout the room. Julieta covered her mouth with her hands.

Agustín rubbed his eyes. "Dear sweet Lord almighty in Heaven…"

From outside, across the hall, they heard another scream. This one, of course, followed by an ever-familiar clap of thunder.

"Mamaaaaaaaaaa!"