Slap! Slap! Slap! Bruno's sandals slapped the floor as he paced nervously.

"Bruno, can you stop that?" Dolores snapped. "It's annoying!"

"Sorry," said Bruno. "I'm just so worried about-"

Alma cut him off.

"Stop stressing her out! It's not good for the baby!"

"I'M NOT PREGNANT!" Dolores insisted.

"But when can we go look for Pepa?" Bruno whined. "She's been missing for over a week!"

"Soon," said Alma. "Now, go find someone else to bother."

Julieta was cooking for some reason.

Bruno snuck up behind her.

"Oh. Hi, Mirabel," said Julieta, running her hand through his hair without looking.

Wait a minute. This doesn't feel right, she thought.

She turned around to face Bruno. "Ew. It's you."

"Why did you think I was Mirabel?" Bruno asked.

"Because you're short," said Julieta.

"What? No, I'm not!" Bruno lied.

"Yes, you are," said Julieta. "Tú eres un hombre pequeño."

Bruno cried. How dare she call him a little man?!

"Now I have to wash my hands, because I touched your gross dirty hair," said Julieta.

"My hair isn't gross!" Bruno lied again. "It's thick, soft and luxurious!"

He tried to sample the food when she wasn't looking, but she immediately turned around and smacked his hand with a wooden spoon.

"No, no, no!"

"But I'm hungry!" Bruno whined, as his stomach gurgled.

Ew. That's gross.

"This food is for later," said Julieta. "You're just gonna have to wait."

"I'm also bored," said Bruno.

"You can help clean up the house!" Julieta said.

"Okay!" Bruno said, picking up a broom and heading into a different room.

He happily swept the floor, until he looked closer. A pile of red hair was in the dust pan.

"PEPA!" he wailed, and then ran away crying.

"I am starting to miss Pepa," Alma said to Mirabel. "I'll always remember the time that she randomly started wearing glasses, and said that it was because Bruno permanently damaged her eyes!"

"Because he threw sand at her face, right?" Mirabel asked.

"Yes, but he tried to say that a sudden windstorm did it!" Alma laughed. "But it would never have happened if he hadn't been playing with sand in the first place."

"And then what happened?" Mirabel asked.

"He tried to apologize, but of course I just told him to go to his room," said Alma. "And then he ran away crying!"

"And what did Tía Pepa do next?" Mirabel asked.

"She laughed and said 'Yay! Bruno's gone!'" said Alma.

She was silent for a while. "We should all go look for her."

A few minutes later, a search party composed of Bruno, Julieta, Agustín, Alma, Mirabel, and Dolores headed out to look for Pepa.

"Pepa! Where are you, Pepa?" they all said in unison.

"Mami, please come back!" said Dolores. "I'll name my firstborn daughter after you!"

"Aha! So you are pregnant!" Alma said.

"What? Noooo," said Dolores, like Mark Wahlberg in The Happening.

"PEPA! PEPA! PEPA!" Mirabel screamed.

"Mirabel, no," said Alma. "Please don't do that."

Some random villagers heard them and asked if they could help look.

"No," Alma said. "Mind your own business."

"But Mami!" Bruno whined again. "They might have an idea of where she is."

"What happens in the Madrigal family stays in the Madrigal family," Alma said.

After a few more minutes, she got tired of walking because she's an old lady.

"That's enough," she said. "I'm going home."

"But we've only just started looking, Mami!" Bruno whined AGAIN.

When will he ever stop whining?

"Every step I take hurts!" said Alma. "Do you want me to be in pain?"

Bruno sighed.

"No, Mami. But I'm gonna keep looking!"

"Can I keep looking, too?" Mirabel asked, smiling at her parents.

"NO," they said in unison.

"It's time to head back home," Julieta added.

"Oh, okay," Mirabel sighed. "Good luck, Bruno!"

"Mirabel!" Julieta glared.

"Good luck, Tío Bruno," Mirabel said. "Be careful out there."

"Y-y-yeah…" Bruno said. "Of course…"

The next day, Luisa had a surprise for Mirabel.

"Hey, sis! Guess what I found outside!" she said, grinning proudly.

"Uh… what?" Mirabel asked.

"This thing!" Luisa said, holding up a barely conscious Pepa.

"Oh!" Mirabel beamed. "You should bring that inside and show it to Abuela!"

"Show what to me?" Alma asked, clearly not amused. She crossed her arms and stared sternly at her granddaughters.

The two sisters froze and went silent. Then, Luisa dropped Pepa onto the ground and ran off.

Alma gasped. "Pepa!"

"W-w-where are my glasses?" Pepa mumbled.

"You never had glasses," said Alma, "Luisa, bring it inside."

Luisa sighed. "Yes, Mami."

I'm so tired of having to carry people around, she thought.

"It's fine," said Pepa. "I can walk on my own. I'm just a bit tired…"

She stumbled into the house, and was immediately spotted by Julieta.

"Pepa! You're back!" Julieta said, running over to give Pepa a hug.

As they hugged, Julieta felt a warm beam of sunlight shining over her. Who knows why.

"You've been gone for over a week!" Julieta realized. "You must be starving!"

"No, I'm fine!" Pepa insisted. "The lady whose fish died gave me a tortilla!"

She broke out in hysterical laughter and then fainted.

A few minutes later, she woke up and saw that Bruno was staring at her.

"Hi," he said.

Pepa screamed. "MAMI! BRUNO IS IN MY ROOM!"