"Higher Papí! Higher!" Dolores yelled as Félix tossed her into the air.

"If you drop her…" Pepa warned her husband, a small grey cloud appeared above her head.

"Don't worry mi vida." He reassured her.

"Mamí's cloudy!" Dolores pointed at the cloud.

Pepa disappeared back into the kitchen, helping her sister clean up after their lunch.

"Isa!" Dolores' voice pierced Félix's ears as he put his daughter down so she could meet her cousin.

The two ran at each other giving each other a big hug.

"I missed you." Dolores said as she grabbed Isabela's hand before walking back to her Papá.

"You girls just saw each other…" Félix laughed. He had to admit, the cousin's closeness was admirable.

"Well, yeah. I guess." Dolores shrugged.

Before anyone could say anything, Agustín entered the room.

"Who wants to go into town?" He asked.

Both of the three-year-old's hands shot up as they began to bounce up and down.

"Me! Me! Me!" They both shouted.

"Alright," Agustín said as he placed his fingers on his chin, stroking his non-existent beard. "I'll take you," He pointed at Dolores. "And you." He pointed at Isabela. "And… you." He pointed at Félix. The girls giggled, both excited to go into town.

"We'll go get our shoes." Isabela grabbed Dolores' hand before they ran into the nursery.

The two dads watched as their girls clambered up the stairs, loudly making noise.

"Those two could break the sound barrier, I swear." Agustín shook his head as he laughed.

"It's nice to hear them so happy though." Félix smiled. He could only hope that his little girl stayed this happy forever.

"Definitely"

The two quickly made their ways back down to their dads before informing their mothers on where they were all going. After a short goodbye, the girls took their fathers hands, skipping their way down to the encanto.

The two men were engaged in their own conversation, not that the girls minded, they were more than happy to have their own conversation.

"I mean… I know she's a baby but I wish that I didn't have to share the attention." Isabela ranted to her cousin.

"I don't know." Dolores shrugged. "I think it would be kinda cool to have a little brother or sister."

"That's what you think. Until you get one." Isabela rolled her eyes.

Dolores let out a loud gasp. "You're jealous!" she called out.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Fine you're 'not jealous'." Dolores caved. As Isabela huffed.

Squeals of the town's children could be heard as multiple played on the small soccer field.

"Can we go play Papí?" Dolores tugged on Félix's arm, Isabela copying.

"Please." She gave her best puppy dog eyes.

Both of their fathers surrendered and watched as the two ran off to play with the other children.

"Behave!" Félix called out to the girls.

"Let's not tell our wives that we let our three-year-olds run off without us?" Agustín offered.

"Definitely."

oOoOoOoOoOoO

The two ran towards the group of kids, all different ages. Some were the same age as them, but most were older.

People almost immediately began pointing them out. The Madrigal grandchildren. There was not one person in the town who didn't know who they were.

"Can we play?" Isabela asked as she ran up one of the older boys, Dolores by her side.

"Um…" One of the boys looked at the toddlers. "This is a game for the older kids." He said, a few of the other teenagers nodded.

"You can go and play with the girls if you want." Another offered, pointing to a small group of teenage girls with piles of picked flowers around them.

"Yeah, they're making flower crowns."

"Hmm…" Isabela thought about it for a moment. "Okay." She ran towards the girls, asking curiously what they were doing. Dolores' eyes flicked from her cousin, to the group, then back to her cousin.

She was laughing.

What was she laughing about?

Dolores skipped over to the girls ready to find out.

"Hi!" She waved as she approached. A few waved back. "What are you making?" Dolores questioned.

"Daisy chains." They all answered.

"Here, Isabela, come sit here and I'll show you." Her head turned at the mention of her slightly older cousin. Dolores began to shuffle towards her Prima.

"You know how Sofía is dating Miguel?" She heard someone say.

"Yeah?"

Dolores knew she shouldn't listen. This conversation wasn't for her ears. Mamí had told her that eavesdropping is wrong.

"They broke up."

"What! Why?" The girl yelled, startled by the news, only to be shushed by her friend.

Don't listen. Eavesdropping is wrong. It's supposed to be a secret.

"I heard that he was dancing with Maria at the party instead of her." She whispered in a hushed tone.

"So she broke up with him?" Confusion evident in her voice.

Don't listen… Don't listen… But it was so much fun having a secret!

"He told her." The girl said, watching as her friend's face morphed into one of surprise.

"What? No! Who told you that?"

"Juan. He hangs out with Miguel. He told me that Miguel broke up with her because she was being too controlling."

"Good for him." She answered, nodding her own head.

"Seriously." It was muttered.

Dolores walked over to the two, now completely invested.

"Which one's Sofía?" She asked as she sat down, crossing her legs.

"The one over there with the ponytail. Why?" The girl who spilled the secret answered, countering with her own question.

"And which one is Miguel?" Dolores ignored the counter question. She watched as the girl who was spilling all of the information turned pale.

"Oh, Miguel is over there." Another teenager joined the conversation while pointing at one of the boys she had talked to earlier now playing soccer. "Why?" She asked

Dolores smiled. "No reason." She stood up quickly and walked over to Isabela, tapping her on the shoulder.

Isabela looked up to find the source of the touch. She smiled when she saw Dolores.

"Hi Lola." She tugged on her cousin's hand. "Look what I made!" She held a short daisy chain in her hands, proudly showing it off. "They showed me how to do it."

"Cool!" Dolores beamed, happy that everyone around her was happy.

She leaned down to whisper loudly in Isabela's ear.

"I have a secret to tell you when we go home."

oOoOoOoOoOoO

An hour had passed since Isabela and Dolores had joined all of the children. The two, still in the same spot, had both been working together to further grow their chain.

They couldn't wait to show their Papís.

Dolores couldn't help but notice that Isabela worked very well with the tiny flowers. Not to mention, she seemed to be having so much fun.

Before the two knew it, their dads had returned, calling them over, signifying it was time to go home.

The two bid farewell to those around them before picking up the long chain and racing towards the adults.

"Look what we made!" Dolores showed the two.

"Isn't it pretty?" Isabela held it up to her father.

Both nodded telling their girls that it was, 'one of the prettiest things they've ever seen'.

Isabela spent most of the trip recounting the events.

"What about you mi vida?" Félix asked Dolores.

"Hmmm. About the same as Isabela." She shrugged.

"Nothing else?" He asked.

"Nope…" She trailed off.

The secret.

"OH!" She gasped before pulling on Isabela's arm. "Isa! The secret!" She began to bounce.

"The secret?" Agustín asked.

"Some of the girls were talking about how Sofía and Miguel broke up." She smiled brightly, proud that she had remembered the names.

"What does that mean?" Isabela asked Dolores. She just shrugged.

"I don't know."

"And how did you hear about this?" Félix raised an eyebrow.

"I heard some of the big girls talking about it." Dolores said.

"Dolores. What did me and Mamí say about eavesdropping?" He asked, putting on his 'dad voice'

"That it's bad and I shouldn't do it…" Dolores looked down. "But if they didn't want me to know, they shouldn't of said it out loud. I hear everything!" Dolores threw her arms out as she said the final word.