The next couple of months weren't helping with the tension in the house.

The grown ups would pretend everything was fine to make sure the kids didn't suspect anything but they knew, or at least Dolores knew.

After that night Bruno went missing, His door that once shined bright didn't shine at all. Abuela was so upset she made sure no one would ever bring up his name again. Her Tia Julieta and her mama have been heart broken ever since he left but they put on a brave face. Felix would calm Pepa down whenever her mood suddenly changed, and if he wasn't there Abuela would tell her to fix her mood.

Julieta began cooking at almost every hour of every day to take her mind off of it. She'd go down to the town and help those who were injured and only occasionally came back if her job was done or it was getting late. Her Tio Augustin was kept busy with Mirabel, keeping her out of the way of everyone else when they were busy.

Luisa would be in town alongside her mama and helped the people by carrying things and moving buildings around. Isabela is basically Abuela's shadow at this point. When she was finished with whatever chores she had she would tail behind the older woman almost all day.

And that left Dolores, who was currently sitting by a river to get away from all the other noises she heard. Sometimes it became a bit too much to listen to everyone talking at once, and when they moved it only became worse.

She started making a wall in her mind to block out the sound but sometimes it wouldn't work which resulted in what she was doing now. She focused on the sound or the running water, and if she stayed long enough it would calm her down.

Before she could fully focus on just that one sound she heard a shuffle that seemed relatively close to where she was. She turned her head and saw that a boy who looked to be around her age was walking over to where she was with a guitar strapped to his back.

He wasn't paying attention, his mind seeming to be somewhere else. Once he fully came into view he saw her outline and was startled when his eyes met hers. Dolores saw he had tan skin, and black curly hair, and wore a daring red shirt thought about his reddish brown eyes.

"Uh...Hola?" Dolores tilted her head and the sound of his voice and realized she was staring. She got up and brushed off her long orange skirt before looking back at him. " Lo siento, Hi, I'm Dolores." he nodded his head in acknowledgement and gave a light smile. "I'm Alejandro, but my friends call me Alex."

They stood there and looked at each other for a minute before Alex began to play with his hair. "So, um what are you doing out here?" Dolores shrugged her shoulders and looked back to the river beside them. "The noise can be a bit overwhelming. Always hearing everything. So I came here to calm myself down. The sound of the water is very soothing."

She looked back at him with a smile on her face and he smiled back before sitting a few feet away from her. "Yea, I come here all the time, didn't really know anyone else knew of this place. When I'm not too busy I like to play my guitar." He then moved the strap to take the guitar off and showed it to her.

Dolores nodded her head to the instrument. "Will you play it for me?" He looked a little shocked at the request. "Are you sure Dolores? I don't want to cause your ears any pain."

She shook her head and laughed. "It's okay, I was here for a while so my ears don't hurt that much anymore. I would love to hear you play, Alex."

The boy nodded his head before he steadied his guitar correctly and brushed his fingers over the strings and let out a soft hum at the rhythm.

/se9VNtP-Oog

As he let the melody play out, he paused and looked up to see Dolores had her eyes closed and she had a soft smile making him smile back and continue the melody with more of an up beat and hummed along to the song his parents taught him.

Once he finished he set the guitar on his lap and Dolores opened her eyes and her smile grew. "That was beautiful. Where did you learn to play?"

He blushed lightly and began telling her how he got into music, and how his father also played. Not too long after that Dolores had stopped mid sentence and tilted her head as her ear twitched lightly.

"Dolores, we need to set up the table for dinner. Donde estas?" That was Isabela. She quickly stood up causing the boy in front of her to stand as well with a concerned look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

She looked at him and gave a small smile. "I have to go help set up for dinner." He nodded his head in understanding and sat back down. "I won't keep you then, fue un placer conocerte ." she nodded her head and paused before she could walk off. "Do you think maybe we can meet here again some other day? I like the way you play your guitar."

He smiled and nodded his head while he strapped his guitar onto his back again. "I wouldn't mind that. How will I get in touch with you?" she pointed to her ears and looked at him knowingly. He nodded his head. "Right. Well then I will see you later then, Dolores."

She gave him a grin and began to walk off the way she came. "Call me Lola." she could hear him chuckle as he agreed before telling her goodbye.

Dolores hadn't realized it but she smiled all the way back to casita. Isabela had given her a look as she caught it and Dolores squeaked before looking away. Pepa shared a questioning look with Felix at their daughter's behavior.

"Are you okay mija, you seem to be in a good mood." She looked at her mother with wide eyes and glanced away for only a split second as she twiddled with her fingers under the table and gave a smile.

"Nothing out of the ordinary mama, I just made a new friend." Pepa stared at her daughter and gave her a smile. "Well that's good then. Make sure you eat your food before it gets cold." She gave her mother a nod and did what she was asked, completely unaware of the glance her cousin gave her.

It was actually pretty late, and everyone was finally going to sleep. Dolores went to grab a snack before heading to be herself. Once she walked back up the stairs she went and opened her door, but before she could go into the quiet place she heard something that she knew wasn't right.

"Mama, are you being serious?!" She turned her head to the direction of the noise, it was coming from the window where the candle sat.

"Pepa, try to understand why I'm asking this of you. Another child would be beneficial to our family." Dolores gasped softly and stood close to her door as she continued to listen to what was being said. "But mama it wouldn't be safe. I'm almost 42 and there could be complications." she heard someone move around in the room before it stopped.

"We have to make sure that the miracle is still alive. After what happened with Mirabel we can't take anymore chances." There was a very long pause and Dolores almost shook in anticipation. Then she heard her mother sigh. "Okay, I will talk to Felix about it."

Dolores stared at her door in shock before quickly walking in and closing the door quietly. She stood there for a second trying to process what she just heard. Her mother was going to try and have another child. She should feel happy or maybe even excited at the possibility of becoming a big sister again, but all she felt was worry, and fear.

What if it didn't work? What if they lost her mother in the process of having a child? If Abuela had the nerve to pressure Pepa to have a child, how many times has this happened before?

Dolores shook her head feeling a headache come along, she needed to rest. Hopefully whatever her Abuela was planning wouldn't cause anything bad to happen.