The food at the reception was just lovely. Not that Bruno had any doubts that would be the case.
Pepa was very cheery now so the sun was shining warm and brightly over all of the tables standing in the casita gardens.
Children were screaming and laughing while running around, people were fully engaged in conversation. Julieta looked so happy as she was sitting there with her new husband beside her. Agustin as well looked like someone who might explode from pure happiness.
And then after the main cause, the music began and Bruno took the first dance with Julieta.
Everyone was looking at them which made Bruno cringe a little. But Julieta was so happy that Bruno quickly forgot all about the attention and then laughed himself as he let go and swung her around as he used to when they were smaller before finally handing her off to her husband who continued the dance in his place.
It didn't take long for Felix and Pepa to join the dance as the first couple. And then more and more joined in the dancing while Bruno was left alone at the sidelines.
Then though Bruno eyed his mother who was standing there, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, and Bruno smiled amused as he approached Alma and made a formal bow for her. Offering Alma a hand.
Surprised Alma looked up at her son then smiled a little amused. "Brunito." she shook her head but accepted the hand and Bruno gently pulled Alma into the dance area to dance with him.
And dance they did together until the music finally stopped and everyone clapped. Until the next and more upbeat music number started signaling that the dance could continue. And Brunito in a little spurt of mischievousness dragged Alma into another dance making Alma yelp a little surprised but then she laughed and finally by the end of the second number stood back.
"Thank you Brunito. But I might be getting a little too old for this." Alma chuckled clearly amused.
"Nonsense Mama," Bruno said. "You're the strongest person in town. Don't lie to me."
Alma smiled as she looked down, then glanced up at Bruno. "That's very kind," she said. "But I will go sit down now. Surely you would rather want to dance with a young senorita anyway."
"Erhm." Bruno halted then shrugged. "Why wouldn't I want to dance with the woman most important to me?" he asked teasingly and Alma shook her head again.
"Behave yourself." Alma lectured and finally walked towards one of the tables where she could sit down a little.
As the sun sank down the lanterns were lighted up and they came in all colors. Glowing from the tree branches and tables.
It started to get pretty overwhelming for Bruno and he kind of wished he could just retrieve to his room around now. But he had already decided he would be on his best behavior and be there! It was his sister's wedding!
Still, Bruno ended up in the corner. Or rather beneath a tree where he could hide away with a small plate of cookies, he could nibble at almost to soothe himself with the food.
In all honestly, Bruno was already stuffed and couldn't eat more. But he just needed something to do with his hands and overall body so he wouldn't just stand there. Mindlessly Bruno's hand fell down on his plate and he realized there were no cookies left.
Bruno inhaled deeply. Then decided to go back to the table to see if he could find a cup of coffee to wash down all of the food or just… Something.
Barely had Bruno made his way to the coffee table before Alma just appeared and grabbed his arm. "There you are Brunito! Have you been hiding?" he asked.
"Mama?" Bruno asked as Alma dragged him the other way.
"What a lovely evening. Everything is perfect." Alma nodded.
Bruno nodded. "That's great. I'm glad everything has gone so well."
"Indeed. Oh, look at that!" Alma exclaimed faking surprise. "It's Senorita Pulido!"
Bruno's eyes widened. And so did the young woman who Alma was clearly heading straight towards.
The woman was a small petite thing. Delicate features, large brown eyes, olive skin, and around Bruno's own age. Most people would probably agree that the young woman was pretty. But Bruno did not like the way she had just frozen on the spot by the mere sight of him.
"Senorita Pulido!" Alma exclaimed as she completely oblivious to the reaction just pushed Bruno in front of her. "Have you met my son? He's such a handsome young man isn't he?"
"Well… I… erhm…" Young Pulido swallowed. "Si." she finally said. "We met." now speaking in a lower more hostile tone.
"Oh, you have?" Alma asked a warm welcoming smile plastered on her face. "That's wonderful."
"He read my future." Senorita Pulido said. "He saw that my dog was going to get diarrhea."
Alma halted in shock as she wide-eyed looked at the young woman.
"I waited and waited. Really scared and it just didn't happen." The young woman then continued. "Until an entire year after. Of course the moment I decided it had to be a bad prank! That's when it happened." she glared at Bruno.
"Heh heh." Bruno laughed nervously. "Sorry… My prophecies are rarely very. Ahem." he coughed into his hand. "Specific." then he looked away.
Alma looked from one to the other and then coughed into her hand. "Well. As you can hear Senorita Pulido. Brunito meant no harm." she padded him on the shoulder. "He's a very good boy."
Pulido kept glaring at Bruno.
Then Alma whispered to Bruno. "Try to be nice. She's not seeing anyone," she informed him.
"What?" Bruno asked wide-eyed.
"Ah I think the tea needs to be refilled. Excuse me." Alma said and then just left… And Bruno was left standing there with a young woman who clearly didn't look very happy with him.
"So eeerh." Bruno swallowed. "Nice party huh?"
Pulido's eyes narrowed.
"I hope your dog is okay." Bruno then said sheepishly…. And still, all he got was a glare as if all of that had been his fault… Great… Thanks Mama. "So yeah… It was… Nice meeting you." Bruno said.
A vein was suddenly visible on Senorita Pulido's forehead.
Wide-eyed Bruno looked down at her. Then looked up. "Bye." was his final word as he just turned around and walked away. Bruno managed to walk back to his tree as he exhaled deeply and then realized… He hadn't even gotten his coffee! Damn!
Just then a little squeak sounded and Bruno gasped as he looked up. "Sofia!" he exclaimed.
The little rat was on a branch with a stolen grape in her paws.
"You can't be here!" Bruno hissed. "You… urgh." he covered his face. "We need you back in my room before they see you." he hissed as he grabbed for the rat only for Sofia to jump away. "Hey!" Bruno exclaimed as the rat kept avoiding him. "Sofia I am very disappointed in you!" he hissed and the rat started to run towards Casita.
"Come back here!" Bruno exclaimed as he ran after the rat into the house. "Please don't go into the kitchen!" he begged as he knew that's where Alma would be making tea for the table.
Thankfully Sofia took a different turn and ran into one of the hallways. Still, that made Bruno groan. "What's with you today?" he asked. "Is this because I left you alone in the room all day?" he asked as suddenly Sofia crawled up the wall and… Vanished behind a painting.
Bruno blinked. "What the?" he asked. He halted as he stepped forward. "Sofia?" he asked. But the rat seemed to have vanished completely and then… The portrait just swung open like it was a door revealing a big hole leading to what looked like a crawl space.
Bruno's eyes widened by the sight. "Casita?" he asked as he looked up. "What's this?"
The portrait kept swinging a bit back and forth as if inviting him to go inside.
"Well… Okay then." Bruno swallowed. "But only for a little while. I can't be gone from the party for too long!" he said as he crawled through the hole and then… The portrait closed right behind Bruno leaving him in darkness.
Wide-eyed Bruno looked behind himself and then swallowed but grabbed the ladder that went straight down to what Bruno could only assume was beneath casita.
Finally, he reached the lower floor and now found himself in a narrow passageway. There was still a soft light coming from the wall and as Bruno put his ear against it. He heard someone having a conversation on the other side and he realized… He was right next to the living room. He was in the walls.
Then the boards at Bruno's feet moved. Encouraging him to move forward and Bruno did. Going further ahead and further down. Until he was at what had to be the stony foundation of casita itself.
And right there. At Bruno's feet… Was a little crack. Just like in his vision.
Bruno gasped as he fell down on his knees. "Oh that's not good! That's not good at all. No no no." he gasped putting his hands against the crack. "I need to tell Mama I…" and he halted. No! Not today.
It was just a tiny little crack. It didn't look dangerous at all. It was minuscule. There was no reason at all to worry Alma about this.
Then Bruno exhaled deeply. "I'll come back and fix this. Okay, Casita?" he asked.
There was a slight creak.
"Okay good." Bruno sighed as a rat came running and then ran up Bruno's arm and up to his shoulder. "Hola Sofia." he sighed deeply. "So this couldn't just have waited till tomorrow because… Why?" he asked.
The rat squeaked.
"Fine," Bruno muttered. "You are going back to the room now," he said. "And you're going to stay there. Comprende?" he asked and the rat gave a squeak in response.
And so Bruno worked his way back to the portrait and he was almost back at his room as Alma suddenly shouted.
"Brunito!" Bruno groaned as he turned to face his mother and she frowned.
"You're dirty!" Alma pointed out. "How did you get so dirty?" she asked.
Bruno hesitated. For a slight moment, he considered telling the truth. But then realized just how stressed Alma had been and how much this evening meant to her.
"Sofia got out. I had to chase her down. We don't want any of the guests to see a rat running around." Bruno sighed as the rat jumped up on his shoulder and squeaked. "Sorry, Mama. I'm putting her back now."
Alma looked at the rat on his shoulder. While she had accepted the rat she had never become a huge fan of it. Then she looked back at Brunito. "Clean yourself up while you are there," she asked. Then she shook her head. "And your suite too," she mumbled as she turned to leave.
Bruno looked down at him and realized that yeah… A delicate blue wedding suite probably wasn't the garment meant for crawl spaces… Bruno sighed deeply. Well. It was getting late. Some people had already changed into more comfortable clothes so he might as well do the same.
And then tomorrow he would have to find out how you fix a house crack.
The next day while the others were resting, Bruno did visit the local bricklayer. And after fumbling a bit with his words. Telling it was a crack in a stony fence as he tried to come up with a story without talking about the foundation of Casita. Bruno learned about spackle. How to mix and apply. And so he transported bucket, spackle, and water back down below Casita.
If Bruno was allowed to say so himself. He did a pretty nice job filling up and covering the crack. Then gently Bruno padded the wall. "You're going to be fine." he smiled gently. "Don't scare me like that casita."
After that Bruno sighed deeply while considering if he could just stay down here for a few minutes more before he had to go up and have Alma ask him why it hadn't gone any better with Senorita Pulido.
Urghh.
