Being in Camilo's body felt…wrong. And not just for the obvious reason. When Mirabel woke up, she couldn't help but feel…what was the word? Unstable? Like she wasn't quite put together right. Getting up and out of bed was almost enough to make her fall flat on her face, or at at least, that what she felt like was happening.

"What the heck?" She whispered to herself. Why was Camilo's body so weak? Was he not getting enough to eat?

What was she thinking? This was Camilo. He ate more than the rest of them combined. This had to be something else.

However, Camilo didn't appear to be in the room for her to ask. They'd arranged things for both of them to wake up in Camilo's room, as with the others—but she couldn't find a sign of "herself" anywhere. Mirabel looked around the room as much as she could, but the place seemed to be empty aside from her. Since when was Camilo an early riser?

Mirabel opened the door to his room and peeked outside. It was still early, and the hallways were empty. Slowly, she tiptoed downstairs and went to the kitchen, because that was where he would likely be, and to be honest, she was feeling rather peckish as well.

When she got there, she nearly bumped right into the person she was looking for.

"Ack!" Mirabel jumped. "There you are! Where were you?"

Camilo, completely unfazed by his situation, raised an eyebrow. "I was just coming down to grab a snack." He gestured to the plate of arepas is his hand.

Mirabel hated how her stomach growled at the sight of it. Why was she so hungry? She frowned at her cousin. "A snack this early? Before breakfast?"

"Yeah, it's my pre-breakfast snack, I do it every day. Your mom already prepares some in advance for me so I don't eat her medical supply." He paused, frowning at one of the arepas. "But for some reason I'm not really feeling it today…"

"Oh! Because you're in my body, remember? And I don't have a bottomless stomach like you do." Mirabel huffed. "But I'm stuck taking care of yours. May I have one of those?"

Camilo sighed, disappointed. "Help yourself."

Mirabel nodded gratefully and started scarfing them down. Man, these arepas tasted extra good today, and that was saying something. Maybe that was the weird feeling she'd had all morning. Just the gnawing hunger of a teenage boy.

The feeling only subsided a little as the rest of the family awoke. As usual, everyone got ready for breakfast, while Julieta and Pepa went to fuss over their kids.

"Feeling alright, you two?" Julieta asked them.

"Yeah, same as before," Mirabel sighed. "I don't like being Camilo, though. I somehow feel like I'm bursting with energy and yet bone-tired at the same time." She turned to her cousin. "You need to take better care of yourself, primo."

"I take excellent care of myself, thank you very much," Camilo quipped back. "You just can't handle my high maintenance."

Pepa stood nearby, biting a nail and thundering just a bit. "Now, Milo, you need to stay with Mirabel for the whole day and help her, alright?"

"Yes, Mà."

"Good. I don't want either of you getting uncomfortable." She paused. "Are you sure you're okay like this?"

"Yes, Mamà," Camilo sighed. "Come on, it's the same thing you went through, right?"

"Well, yes, but—I'm sorry, I just worry about my kids."

Julieta shook her head affectionately. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

This was a little hard to do with their moms continuing to fuss, but they managed. Mirabel found herself piling the food high on her plate (embarrassing), and then Abuela waved both her and Camilo over to sit next to her.

Félix raised a glass when he saw them. "There you two are. Almost there, eh, Mirabel? Just two days left."

"Yeah," Mirabel laughed. "I'm about ready to get this overwith."

"And then we finally may get some answers," Abuela mumbled.

Isabela leaned forward on the table. "So, have you tried shapeshifting yet?"

Mirabel paused, her fork hanging from her hand. "Oh…oh, that's right!" Her eyes lit up. "I can shapeshift now! Duh!"

Isabela blinked. "Did…did you forget?"

"No, just…been distracted this morning." She blushed, as a few giggles came from around the table. But she shook it off and tapped her chin. "Oh…so I suppose this weird feeling I have is Camilo's magic. I think?"

Camilo looked up from where he was playing with his breakfast. "What weird feeling?"

"I just…feel like I'm not stable," she cringed as she said it, and waved her arms around. "Like…like I'm made of liquid, or gelatin, and I could just melt into a puddle if I wanted. Is it supposed to feel this way, or is this just whiplash from being Luisa yesterday?"

"Huh," said Camilo, considering. "Well, considering how weirdly stiff I feel without my Gift, I say it's the former." He pointed his fork at her. "Anyway, why don't you give it a try?"

"What, shapeshifting?" Mirabel glanced nervously around the table. "Uh—aren't you going to teach me how?"

Camilo waved his hand. "Nah, it's easy. You picture what you want to look like, and then just…do it. It's like flexing a muscle."

"Uh, okay…"

Mirabel took a breath while everyone else held theirs. She tried to clearly picture her own self (fairly easy since Camilo was right there, in her body), and immediately, she felt her body start to change. Eugh, it was like she could feel her very bones coming apart and restructuring. But Camilo did this all the time, so surely this was how it was supposed to be, right?

Schloop! Mirabel completed her transformation and—

"Aaaaaaaah!" Everyone screamed, staring at Mirabel in horror. Some nearly jumped out of their seats. Julieta was already reaching for an arepa. Bruno crossed himself.

"Wh-what?" Mirabel asked. "What's everyone so scared o—oh, jeez!"

She caught sight of her reflection in the window. Everything was all wrong! She was like a grotesque horror version of herself—one eye too big and low on her face, one arm too fat, her neck far too long—the shock of it snapped her right back to her default self as Camilo's form. Because there was no desire from anyone to look at that any longer than they had to.

By contrast, Camilo was currently screeching with laughter. He slammed his fist on the table, doubled over and unable to control himself. "Oh my G—that was incredible! You—you looked like an unholy abomination! Ahahaha!"

Isabela glared at him. "What the—did you know that was going to happen?!"

"Camilo!" Pepa snapped. Everyone else seemed annoyed with him as well.

"That was not funny, dude!" Luisa said next. "You let Mirabel get all messed up like that—I almost peed my pants! And look, you made Antonio almost cry!"

It was true, Antonio looked to be on the verge of tears. And so did Luisa, for that matter.

While Félix and Pepa went to comfort Antonio, Abuela tapped her finger impatiently on the table. "Camilo, this is not the time for pranks. Help your cousin."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Camilo replied, holding his hands up. "I just wanted to see what would happen—I knew Mirabel would jump all into it and it would go completely crazy."

Mirabel rubbed at her temples and cursed under her breath. She should have known he would pull something. "I hate you," she told him.

"Fair," Camilo replied, and he got a smack on the shoulder from his mom for good measure. "Don't worry, prima, I'll teach you. As soon as you're done eating, that is, cause I know you're hungry still."

He was right, of course, and she hated it.


After breakfast, it was time for her (now daily, apparently) coaching session. The two of them retreated back to Camilo's room, where he stood her before one of his many tall mirrors backstage.

"Alright, listen up." Camilo held up a finger like a strict teacher. "Every body part has a size, shape and location to be replicated properly. Most human proportions are generally similar, but it varies slightly for every person. That's something you need to be aware of when you shapeshift."

Mirabel blinked. "Uh…okay."

"Your problem was that you were trying to do everything at once, which is no good, especially when you're just learning. You'll never be able to visualize everything at the same time. You have to slow down and think about the details. Let's start with something smaller." He held up his—well, Mirabel's—hand. "Try changing just your hand. Just take it one finger at a time."

Mirabel gulped. She reached out her own hand to meet his, and concentrated on the details, like he'd said. She did her best to notice and match was was in front of her—her own hand was smaller than Camilo's, more fleshed out, and sat a little differently on her wrist. Starting with the index finger, she concentrated on changing the shape, and couldn't help but shudder. Her bones, her skin, all restructuring themselves, and she could feel every bit of it—as if the very atoms that formed her were malleable, like clay, eager and ready to rearrange themselves when asked.

And well, after that experience, she found herself staring at her own hand, her hand. This was the way it was supposed to look, although it seemed out of place when the rest of her looked like Camilo. "Huh," she said, flexing her hand. It felt a bit more stiff than before, but it looked pretty good.

Camilo was grinning. "Hey, not bad. Your thumb's still sitting a bit low, though. Move it up a little."

Mirabel obeyed, watching her hand change shape in fascination. "Gosh, this is so weird…" she frowned. "Hey, are my hands really this stubby?"

Camilo shrugged. "It's a genetic thing. You and Tía Julieta both have it. So does Isa. Thick arms and legs, but small hands and feet."

Mirabel flexed her fingers and scrunched her nose. "Really? I'm going to be self-conscious about that now."

"No, don't be. That's just how you're shaped. I've even heard some people calling it cute." He nodded at her. "Try to keep going. Wrists can be a little annoying, but elbows are easier."

Mirabel watched as her body gradually changed, making adjustments along the way. This was seriously so weird.

"I'll lift up my skirt if you want to look at your legs," Camilo continued. "Just make sure to lessen the length of your femurs a little since you're shorter than me. Also, stay away from the face for now. Faces are hard. Like, if you mess up your hands, people aren't going to care as much. But if your eye is in the wrong place, you'll look like the result of a horrible science experiment." He smirked at this. "People notice eyes the most, so, you know."

Mirabel listened as she continued to slowly fade from one form to another. "Wow…Camilo, do you actually have to think about all this stuff every time you shapeshift? Every single body part?"

Camilo stopped talking, and shrugged again. "I guess so—but I've gotten a lot better at it with time. It's become almost second nature to me now." He leaned back against a shelf. "I take notice of what people are shaped like, and I know what I have to do in order to copy it. It comes with experience."

Mirabel couldn't help but smile at him. "That's…that's actually really impressive."

Camilo blinked at her and looked away. "Eh, it's whatever. Been doing it for years, so it's easy now."

"No, don't discount yourself." Mirabel leaned toward him and smiled wider. "That's ireally/i impressive. It takes a lot of skill to do this, and you've mastered it to the point where you can do it like that." she snapped her fingers. "That's amazing, Camilo."

Camilo blinked, and suddenly looked bashful. "Uh—okay, I uh—don't know how to deal with actual sincerity—thanks, I guess."

Mirabel laughed.

Camilo shook it off and nodded at her again. "Keep going. Other arm, other leg. Your torso needs to be thicker. Add more curves, you still look like a boy. Your shoulders need a softer curve so they look more feminine. And don't forget to grow out your breasts."

Mirabel nearly choked. "What?"

"Grow our your—oh, don't look at me like that." Camilo rolled his eyes. "It's an objective fact, it's just biology. Don't be so immature."

"Uh, I'm just a little weirded out that my cousin apparently knows my exact breast size!"

"I know everyone's breast size, Mirabel. It's part of the job."

"Okay. I take it back. This is not impressive anymore. It's just weird."

"Oh, grow up. See, this is why your mom is the doctor and not you."

Thankfully, this subject dropped, and they went right back to practicing. Camilo was surprisingly patient with her, gently poking her wherever she needed to fix something. But this was taking so long. Camilo was able to shift so rapidly all the time—had he ever had to take it this slowly?

Nevertheless, this continued for…what felt like hours. Every part, every bone. Stuff she was never conscious about before. In the end, she somehow managed to become something that resembled Camilo's head on Mirabel's body. Surely, she'd gotten it right, didn't she? She was ready to try changing her face now, right?

Mirabel held her form and stared at the mirror, straining. Camilo circled around her, stroking his chin and nodding in approval. "Looks okay," he said. "You just need to make some more adjustments…"

Mirabel threw her head back and groaned. She looked more like herself now, but so many things were just off. "Still? I feel like I've been adjusting for hours!"

Camilo raised an eyebrow. "It's been twenty minutes."

That did it. Mirabel flopped backwards, letting go of all the tension in her body. She quickly slipped back into her "default" form, losing all the progress she'd made, as she fell onto a cushion.

"Why is this so haaaard?" She whined.

"You are such a baby. Fine, fine, we'll take a break. I'll go get you a snack."

In response, Mirabel felt her stomach growling. "Seriously? How am I already hungry? I just ate breakfast."

"Shapeshifting takes energy!" Camilo told her. "When you shift, it's like you're contracting a muscle for a really long time. It takes energy to hold your shape. But if you stay in your default form, it's a relaxed state. So just stay like that for a while."

Mirabel sighed, sinking into her position. Once again, she felt like her body was made of gross malleable sludge. Malleable sludge with an empty stomach. She'd never make fun of Camilo's appetite again.

"Wait," Mirabel called suddenly. "Am I seriously going to get hungry every few minutes? There's no way you live like this every day."

Camilo thought for a moment and shrugged. "Well, if you don't want to run out of energy, just don't shapeshift for a while."

"I guess…" Mirabel mumbled. Had…had Camilo's Gift always taken this much of a toll? He'd always seemed to enjoy it so much. "I can practice again later. But…I feel bad. I don't want to ask my mom to make so much extra food for me."

Camilo tilted his head with a grin. "You know there's other places to get food, right? The restaurants in this town practically survive off of me alone. Come on, let's go out. I'll treat you."

Mirabel groggily got to her feet, aching. "Wow, how chivalrous of you."

"Get moving or I'm leaving."

Mirabel scrambled after him.


It was a beautiful day out, with little kids running around and waving to both of them, and the smells of the kitchens around them stronger than ever. Mirabel's stomach growled incessantly the whole time.

Thankfully, Camilo didn't take long to find his favorite place to eat, and just like he'd said, they basically treated Mirabel like a star when they saw her. Who knew Camilo was carrying the Encanto's entire restaurant industry on his back?

Mirabel finished ordering and looked to him. "Aren't you going to get anything?"

Camilo shrugged glumly. "Nah…I'm not as hungry when I'm you. And I just had breakfast."

Mirabel frowned. "You didn't even finish that. My body needs food too, Camilo."

He groaned dramatically. "Fiiiiine. But food just doesn't taste as good when you're not starving."

Mirabel rolled her eyes and tapped her finger impatiently on the table, waiting.

It was like seeing an angel arrive when the waitress appeared with their food. But no sooner had Mirabel started to wolf it al down, was their meal interrupted.

"Camilo!" Someone suddenly shouted. "Hey, parcero! There you are!"

Mirabel turned around to see a teenage boy heading toward her, as well as two more behind him. The first boy had a grin on his face, and he walked over to give Mirabel a hard slap on the back. She almost spat out her food.

"Where the heck have you been, man?" The boy asked. "We've been looking for you all morning!"

"Did you get stuck doing chores again?" Another boy laughed.

"Uh—" Mirabel glanced desperately at Camilo before putting on the best act she could. "Y-yeah, yeah. All morning. Ugh, mi Mamà, she's so…frustrating."

This seemed to be the right answer, because the other boys groaned and nodded in understanding. But they quickly forgot about it as a third boy in the group leaned down, mischief in his eyes.

"Hey, guess what, Camilo? I heard your good friend, Anya Murillo, say that she was heading to the market in just about an hour. It's the perfect time to try out what we planned."

Mirabel blinked. "The…the woman who cleans up at the salon…?"

From his seat, Camilo gave a scandalized gasp. "I know her!" He cried in Mirabel's voice. "You guys aren't planning to play some crazy prank on her, are you?"

The boys looked Camilo up and down, somewhat annoyed. "Mind your own business," one of them grumbled.

Camilo raised an eyebrow, but the boys didn't pay attention to him. They just pulled Mirabel away from the table and started speaking in quieter tones.

"You remember what to do, right?" asked Boy 2. What the heck were these guys' names again, anyway?

Mirabel wrung her hands together. "Um…refresh my memory?"

They frowned. "She likes to hang out with your weird uncle a lot, right? So just shapeshift into him, and keep her in talking in one place so we can get her."

Mirabel frowned. "Please don't call my family names like that," she scolded. "And…I can't."

Boy 1 looks incredulous. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I…I have shapeshifting fatigue?" Mirabel replied hesitantly. "Can we move this thing to tomorrow, maybe?"

The boys looked confused, but thankfully, at that moment, the real Camilo appeared to save the day.

"Ay, boys, you are so uncreative," Camilo sighed. He swooped over and wrapped an arm around two of the boys while they looked wildly confused. "Listen up, Lorenzo, Emile, Juan. My cousin's not really having the best day, so I'll be substituting for the pranks."

They all glanced at each other. "Uh…you?" Lorenzo asked.

"Yes, me, what am I, chopped liver?" Camilo snapped. "Now listen up. I know another way we can mess with Señorita Anya, and we can do it all without any shapeshifting necessary."


Next thing Mirabel knew, they were outside of poor Anya Murillo's house, loading several of pods full of colorful pollen (no doubt taken from Isabela) into the broom she used to clean up. According to Camilo, the second she tried to sweep—boom. Multicolored pollen everywhere. A simple prank, but an effective one.

Mirabel had many questions, such as how and why Camilo had a collection of Isabela's pods with him despite being in her body. She also didn't understand the beef Camilo apparently had with this 26-year old cleaning lady who had done nothing wrong as far as Mirabel could tell. Anya had only arrived in town recently and kept to herself for the most part, but apparently she had called Camilo a cancerous menace at some point, and he'd taken that as a challenge.

While the prank was being set up, Mirabel pulled Camilo aside. "Why do we need to do this? You're just making this poor woman's life harder for no reason."

Camilo tossed a pod back and forth in his hands and rolled his eyes. "Relax, Mirabel. Anya and I are friends. She won't be mad."

"I have many doubts about that. And what if she gets in trouble with her boss?"

"She won't."

That apparently seemed like enough for Camilo, and he went right back to setting up the prank. Mirabel huffed and turned to toss her own pollen pods behind a tree. She wanted no part in this, and she also made a mental note to send Anya Murillo about twenty gift baskets to make up for her cousin's tomfoolery.

Eventually, the trap was set, the kids were hiding, and the woman herself appeared. Mirabel held her breath as Anya put away her groceries, tied up her hair, and got ready to go back to work. She picked up the broom and it merely tapped once against the ground—

Poof! Pollen everywhere, in blue and purple and yellow. The woman's dress and her floor were now completely soiled. Mirabel winced.

Anya looked shocked for just a moment before turning toward her pranksters. Somehow, she knew exactly where they would be, as if it was a practiced skill. Or maybe she just heard them giggling.

Camilo and his buddies scrambled away at being caught, but it was too late. The woman gripped her broom tighter, growled in rage, and ran out the door—only to see Mirabel.

"Camilo Madrigal!" the woman shouted at her. "I've had it with you, you little turd! I'm gonna kill you!"

Mirabel realized with horror that Anya was heading straight toward her, broom on the air as if ready to smack the life out of her. "Ack! Wait!" Mirabel barely managed to start running in time. "It wasn't me! I didn't do it, it—it was him—her!"

She frantically pointed to where Camilo was innocently playing with a butterfly, pretending to be her. The other boys were standing conspicuously nearby and laughing.

"Oh sure, it was Mirabel," Anya sneered, landing a hit on Mirabel's bottom with the soft part of the broom. "As if that wasn't just you shapeshifting! Get back here!"

"Ow! Hey, come on, this isn't fair! Ack! Aaargh, I'm gonna kill him!"

It took Mirabel several minutes to escape from Anya, and by then she was already covered with bright blue powder from the broom. Ooooh, when she got her hands on that cousin of hers…

Once she was safe, she hurried right back to where Camilo was still goofing off with the other kids. His back was turned to her, but the boys saw her first and already had those stupid grins on their faces. Camilo just turned and gave her an innocent smile.

"You let me take the blame!" Mirabel snapped.

Camilo shrugged. "Sorry, sorry, you know it's every man for himself out here. Come on, take it easy. No one got hurt, it was just harmless fun."

"Yeah? Well, you can have fun cleaning this outfit once we get home." She vainly tried to wipe herself off. "And you'd better apologize to Anya too."

At this, the other boys stepped up and groaned. "Aw, come on, what's with you today, Camilo?" asked Emile. "Why are you acting so weird? Lighten up."

"Hey, your cousin's a riot, man," Juan piped up. "Why didn't you tell us she was so cool? We gotta bring her around more often."

"I think Camilo's just mad that she's stealing his thunder," said the third (Lorenzo or something).

They all cracked up again, and Mirabel had had it. "Okay. Okay, you think this is funny, huh? Alright, fine then. Here you go."

Without warning, she reached into the mochila bag that Camilo was carrying, pulled out several more color pods, and smashed them over the heads of all four of them.

They stopped laughing, shocked. They looked down at themselves, now covered in colored powder just like she was. Mirabel stood back in satisfaction. "There. Karma."

It was when they slowly looked back up at her that she realized she had made a mistake.

"Challenge accepted," said Camilo. He and his buddies reached into the pouch and pulled out the remaining pods, each one grinning wickedly.

Mirabel's smiled fell. "Wait. No, no no no no—!"

Too late. Now she was once again running for her life as she was pelted with multiple different pods of exploding powder. Ay, what would her mother say when she returned home looking like a multicolored disaster? And why had she played her hand like that? Now she had nothing left.

Oh, wait. She did. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to do this, but, well, they were forcing her hand.

"What the heck is that?!" Lorenzo screamed, horrified as a misshapen figure of a human-like thing barreled its way toward them. The tables quickly turned as now they were all running away from her, while she cackled in delight.

"Since when could you shapeshift like that?!" One of the boys shouted.

"Quick, keep throwing the pods!"

"Mira! What the heck do you think you're doing?" Camilo yelled, pelting her with even more pods and an annoyed sneer on his face.

Nobody sounded mad, though. In fact…this was actually kind of fun. Messy, and childish, but fun. Maybe Camilo and his annoying pals weren't completely terrible after all.

An hour later, Mirabel and Camilo returned home, leaving a trail of color where they went.

Abuela spotted them first. "What on earth happened to you two?"

They both burst into giggles. "Uh…pollen accident?" Mirabel offered.

"Ay, Díos. Both of you, get out before you make a mess everywhere. Casita, get them out and drop some water on them or something."

The tiles under their feet started ushering them back out the front door. "Nooooo," Camilo whined. But they were both laughing the whole time.


"Ok!" Mirabel declared, after they had been rinsed off and given enough time to dry. "Fun's over. Let's get back to practicing."

Camilo blinked at her. "Oh yeah, that." He shrugged. "Listen, if it's too much for you, you don't have to worry about it. It's not like there's anything riding on you learning to use my Gift properly."

Mirabel pouted. "Come on! I want to be able to spend isome/i time looking like myself before I switch to someone else tomorrow. Please?"

"Okay…let's head back to my room."

But it was to no avail. No matter how hard Mirabel practiced all afternoon, even if she was getting faster, it never came out right. How was she supposed to shape and hold every body part in such detail at once? What was she missing? She felt like she was so close, but never quite there.

"Ugh!" Mirabel finally moaned. "This is so annoying! Why can't I get this?"

Camilo tilted his head. "Mirabel, it's okay. Shapeshifting is hard, I don't expect you to master it in a day."

Mirabel pouted. "But a day is all I have…"

Camilo shrugged. "Well, uh…sorry. At least you're better at it than before, right?"

"I guess." She glanced at her reflection in one of the mirrors. "I suppose I have more of an appreciation for this now that I've tried it." She put her hands on her hips. "But I just—I know I can do it if I try just one more time…"

At this, she spotted Tía Pepa walking past the door, Antonio in hand. Mirabel perked up. "Oh, wait, wait! Tía! Antonio!"

They paused as Mirabel hurried out of the room. Camilo followed her and she turned to him.

"I can try being Antonio," Mirabel explained. "I know I can do this, I know him better than anyone else. I know him better than I know myself!"

Camilo raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Tía Pepa frowned, already beginning to form a cloud. "Ah, Mira…I don't want any more scares, alright?"

"No, no, I've been practicing! I know I can get this. Please? Toñito, is it okay if I try shapeshifting into you?"

Antonio looked up at his mother once, then he nodded. "Okay, Mirabel. You can try."

"Yay! Alright, here I go." She shook herself out, concentrated on each part of her body in turn. Focusing on the image of Antonio before her, she felt herself start to shrink…

…and Antonio burst out laughing.

"Mirabel!" He giggled. "You look funny!"

"Eh?" Mirabel looked down at her hands. They looked right. What was so funny? "I—that's not exactly what I was going for…what's the problem?"

Camilo snickered from above. "Well, you do look like Antonio, but no one would ever mistake you for the real thing."

"Your eyes are too big," Pepa added, "And so is your head. But at least they're all in the right place this time…"

"You're letting your bias for Antonio's cuteness get in the way," Camilo told her. He pointed toward a mirror in his room for her to see. "And you've exaggerated all his features in your mind."

Mirabel pouted. "Oh come on, he's right in front of me!"

"Gotta focus more on those details. You can't let your feelings mess with your imitations, Mirabel. You need to be objective!"

"I'll show you where you can shove your objective!"

Antonio was still laughing. Pepa was rubbing her brow.

"Alright, that's enough," Pepa said, just as Camilo was about to retort. "We need to get going. Antonio has to wash up before we start preparing dinner."

She picked up her youngest son, as Mirabel dejectedly changed back to Camilo's form. It seemed like she would never get the hang of this after all. Who would have guessed that out of all of them, Camilo's Gift would be the hardest to master? She definitely respected him more than she did yesterday. But she would respect him more if only he'd stop looking at her so smugly.

Tía Pepa paused on her way out. "Hey, Mirabel…" she said. "Do you think Antonio will be okay switching with you tomorrow? I-I'm worried about how he'll handle it."

Antonio looked at her as she brushed his hair away with her hand. "I'll be okay, Mamí. It will be fun to switch with Mirabel."

Pepa pouted. "Oh, I'm sure it will, but…" she looked to Mirabel. "It's just going to be strange for him, won't it, Mira? You're older, and a girl, and…"

Mirabel pursed her lips. "I mean…we'll all be there to help him through it, right? And it just for the day…"

Pepa sighed. "I guess so…" she shook her head and kissed Antonio's cheek. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it. Come on, Toño, let's go get washed up."

Antonio waved to them as they disappeared around the corner. Mirabel and Camilo waved back, before they started to wander toward the dining area.

"You're excited to be Antonio, aren't you?" Camilo asked.

Mirabel giggled. "I mean…it does sound kinda fun to be a little kid again." She scoffed. "And I'm sure you're excited to have your Gift back."

"Oh, absolutely. Watching you butcher it all day was painful."

"Okay, come on, enough. I did my best."

"You did. Can't ask for more than that." He shrugged. "And look on the bright side, you're almost done with the body-swapping, right?"

Mirabel nodded. "Yeah…one more day…I've almost forgotten what it's like to even be myself."

"Ah, you're being dramatic."

"I picked it up from you." She paused as she felt her stomach growling again, and groaned. "Okay, I definitely won't miss this part. Uh…do you think we can grab a snack before dinner?"

Camilo grinned and gestured toward the kitchen. "After you."