"So… you've come back?"

Bruno jumped on the spot to the point of falling out of his shattered armchair and looked at me not knowing where to go.

"Uh… It's been a… tiring day and… I needed…"

"To think?"

"I was gonna say feel safe, but yeah, yours sounds a lot better."

His answer made me laugh. It was amazing how every time he opened his mouth he showed me a little piece of his soul in the most comical way possible.

"Safe from what?"

"From… everyone?"

"Also from me?" I asked approaching him amused by the situation.

"Especially from you," he answered by getting up and cornering himself against the wall.

"And… do you mind if I stay a while?"

"Uh… no, sure. You are at home."

I jumped up on one of his barrels and pondered for a few seconds if I really should stay: I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. After all, that corner was designed to give him peace.

"May I ask you something, Bruno?"

"Of course, ask what you want."

"Today, I've seen you play with Antonio and I've realized something. When you saw the prophecy of the destruction of the house the second time, until we saw the butterfly, you said that it was just the same thing."

"It was so."

"But it showed how Felix rescued Antonio from being hit with his own door."

"Ah, yeah."

"That means that, when you saw it, you knew there would be a new child, but you couldn't tell who he was."

"Yes… I assumed that he would be Felix's son because of how desperate he seemed to save him, but he could also have been his nephew."

"So… you left thinking that you were going to have a nephew that you would never even meet."

"Uh…"

Bruno grimaced awkwardly and rubbed his arm making his ruana cling to his figure and reminding me how exciting it had been to get close to him just a few hours before knowing there was no shirt under the ruana and being able to sense little parts of his torso when seeing him run. I knew that Bruno's was not a statuesque body, it was tiny and skinny, but it was also firm and strong, and, above all, welcoming and comforting. I had checked it many times, his touch made me feel loved and safe.

"I… well. Antonio didn't need me at all and… at that moment…"

"I did."

He fell silent. He never gave himself a chance to admit that he took care of me.

"I'm glad he's had the opportunity to meet you," I said trying to get him out of the awkwardness. "You can tell that he adores you; since the first day."

"That was because he trusted you."

"He lend you his stuffed jaguar, remember? He liked you."

"He is attentive, considerate, and observant, just like you. He saw me scared and wanted to help. I could never forget it."

"I know; I saw it in your eyes."

Bruno was silent again, but this time he seemed much more relaxed, studying me from a distance.

"That day… you impressed me, you know?"

"I'm not surprised…" he replied with a brief grimace.

"In a good way."

"Yeah… surely an old man surrounded by rats and throwing salt in your mouth makes a very good impression."

"To be fair, you balanced it with the sugar."

Bruno laughed and relaxed his posture even more. Then he returned to his armchair and let himself fall down looking up at some uncertain point on the ceiling.

"I was the one who was surprised that day."

"Didn't you expect me to find your hole?"

"That, for sure, but… what surprised the most me was your confidence, your courage, your genius… I was impressed by how understanding you are, how you care about your family, by the magical halo that the light from Antonio's room gave you while you told me without hesitation that you were not going to judge me by my gift… So different, so… beautiful…"

Oh, wao.

"Bru… Bruno?"

"Ah! Abuela!"

"What! Where?!"

"No, let's talk about Abuela."

"Do you want to give me a cardiac arrest?!"

"What do you think will happen when Abuela leaves this world?"

"What? Are you serious? Just a moment ago you were…"

"Do you think magic will disappear with her?"

"What? Why?"

Clever boy. He knew where to attack to force me to change the subject.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? If the miracle is really supported by Abuelo... I don't think he's going to stay here forever, do you?"

"Do you mean that he is… waiting for her?"

"I don't know. Maybe. By the time Abuela leaves, he won't have three babies to protect. We are a large family, self-sufficient, and capable of getting ahead without the miracle. Perhaps, when the woman he loves returns to him, he can finally rest."

"So, even if the miracle is now linked to me… would it disappear with her?"

"It's just a possibility…"

"So, my gift… is useless?"

"Says who?"

He got up and stood before me, slightly shorter than me as I rested on the barrel, and took my hand once more with that strengthening energy that always coursed through his fingers when he spoke to me like that.

"Your gift is not about preserving the magic, Mirabel. That was Abuela's fight. Your gift is the ability you have to keep the family together. With or without magic. Magic… it's like a present we can enjoy while we have the chance, but what you offer this family is stronger and more lasting than our powers."

I squeezed his hand. What else could I do? He had just filled my spirit once again.

"Have you been mulling it over?" I asked, finally realizing it.

"Mulling what?"

"Over if the miracle will disappear with Abuela."

"Oh, well, it just popped up in my mind a while ago. It was weird to have my mother back and… as nice and surreal as it is, it ends up leading you to fear losing what you finally have in your life."

"Your mother… Are you afraid of losing Abuela?"

"It will happen sooner or later; she is old and, even if she is healthy, she is not going to last forever. But now…"

"Now she treats you with love and trust."

"Yeah… I'll miss her a lot."

"Me too."

"I know…"

Bruno looked serious and wistful for a few seconds and then, as if out of nowhere, he fired a withering burst of energy at me.

"But that's not something we need to worry about right now. We have Abuela for quite a while. Have you seen the bricks that women carry not breaking a sweat?"

I smiled at him. He loved her. Just as I felt like a girl who had regained his grandmother's love, he felt like a boy who had just regained his mother's love. Even deeper, even more soothing, and even more painful.

"I think I'm gonna let you get your rest: just wanted to chat a bit. I'm going to bed."

"Oh, okay."

I sensed a note of disappointment in his voice that made me shiver. He wanted me to go, but more than that, he wanted me to stay.

"Good night, Bruno."

"Sleep well."

Talking to Bruno, as always, had been fun, warm, and revealing but, the man I needed to talk to then, was my father.