As the days passed by, it seemed like the tension in the house was building rapidly.
Whenever Alex was in the house or Dolores was coming back from spending time with him, Abuela would give him dirty looks. Dolores would tell him to just let it be, seeing as nothing out of the ordinary had been said. She didn't know if he did it for her sake, Antonio's or himself but he would let it go.
Luisa had been having trouble with her gift. She came in one day after finishing her chores claiming that whatever she had been doing felt heavy before running to her room in a fit. That only seemed to make matters in the house worse. Word slipped out that she had been talking to Mirabel about something revolving around the miracle. Abuela was upset with Mirabel and made her stay away from LuĂsa.
Sometimes Dolores could hear Isabela muttering and pacing around. It wasn't something she usually did, and Dolores knew it had everything to do with her proposal to Mariano. She confided in Dolores sometime ago that she didn't want to marry the man but was too afraid of the reaction their Abuela would have if she refused. Isa quickly made Dolores promise not to tell another living soul about it and she promised.
Dolores had been talking to her parents and Alex about trying to tell Antonio the truth, but couldn't figure a way to word it correctly. They didn't want to shock the boy too much than what he would've been.
Speaking of the youngest child in the house. Dolores noticed that Antonio seemed a bit off for the past week. He would stare at her on occasion before looking at Felix and Pepa with the same expression. He had been staying in his room more often than not if he didn't have anything to do, as if he was avoiding something and it concerned her.
So yeah, as far as Dolores was aware, tension around the house has been at its highest the past few days.
Dolores had been laying in her bed reading to try and take her mind off of what's been going on, when she heard three light taps at her door. She sat up and placed the book down when she saw Antonio standing there.
Something was wrong.
The boy was in his Pjs, his hands fiddling with his shirt. He had red eyes as if he had been crying and her thoughts were confirmed when she heard him sniffle. She gave him a concerned look and got up to pull him into the room before sitting him down on the bed and kneeling in front of him to get a better look at his face. " Tonito, what's wrong?"
His sniffles became more frequent as he looked at her and it pulled at her heartstrings how broken he looked. "Am I a bad kid? ...Is there something wrong with me?" Dolores shook her head and moved his hair out of his face. " Claro que no, Principito. There's nothing wrong with you. You are an amazing kid."
He held a confused face and looked away from her as he shook his head. "But there is something wrong with me. There has to be..." Dolores frowned and sat down beside him. "Antonio, where is this coming from? Why do you think something is wrong with you?"
He rubbed at his eyes as he began tearing up again before looking back at her. "If there wasn't anything wrong with me then you wouldn't have given me away." Dolores eyes widened as her heart dropped at his words. She hadn't realized it but she stopped breathing for a second while she looked at him. He knew. Antonio knew and now he was upset.
She shook her head as guilt and shame filled her body. "Antonio, how do you know about that? Who told you?" She placed her hands on his cheeks and looked at his eyes as tears began spilling out. "T-the rats told me. Th-they tell me everything... If there was nothing wrong with me then w-why did you give me away? Did you not want M-me?"
Dolores' own eyes began tearing up as she wiped his face before placing him in her lap. Antonio could barely say another word as he buried his head in her shirt and sobbed "Oh baby."
Dolores rubbed at his back as she tried to soothe his cries. Her heart began hurting more than it ever has. This was what she wanted to prevent. Having him feel like he was unwanted. Dolores never wanted him to feel like this, it was too much emotional damage for him to handle. She should've listened to her parents the first time they told her to tell him. Now her son was broken-hearted. He thought she never wanted him.
When his cries settled to sniffles again she looked at him with sorrow and regret because of her decisions. Once his hair was pushed out his face and she could see his eyes, she sighed. "Principito, I'm so sorry. Of course I wanted to keep you, but there was a reason why I told Mama and Papi to take you away from me." She grabbed at his hands and caressed them softly to help calm him down. "I am going to try and explain this the best way I can, okay?"
Once she received a small nod she sat back to lean against the wall, and held on to him tight.
She told him about how distraught the family was because Mirabel didn't get a gift. How concerned Abuela was and how she wanted to protect the miracle and asked her children for help. She told him about how Bruno ended up "leaving", and how Pepa wouldn't have been able to have more kids because of her health.
She tried her best to explain how that was the reason why she decided she would have one. She went on to tell him when they found out she was going to have them that Julieta, Felix and Pepa helped her get ready for when he was born and how they were so excited to meet him.
Every now and then she looked down to see if he was still awake, and he was hanging onto every word. His cries had stopped halfway through the story and now he was just laying there listening. Dolores held a light smile across her face when she remembered the day he was born. "That night I woke up and saw mama holding you. Then she placed you in my arms, and the first thing I said was wow. You were so small, and you had a head full of hair like you do now. For a while all I did was hold you, I never wanted to let you go."
She kissed his forehead and gave him a smile as she rocked lightly side to side. "Then Mama and Papi said that you needed a name. So, I named you Antonio, and from that point on you were our principito. After a couple of months with me, mama put you in the nursery with Mirabel. No one knew what really happened, and they didn't question where you came from..."
Antonio stayed silent for a while and Dolores looked at him with compassion. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, I should have and I realize that now. I also understand if you are upset with me because of it...You don't have to make a choice now, but if you want, this doesn't have to change anything. Mami and Papi will still love you as their own, and I can still be your sister, if you wish it to be that way. Whatever you decide, I will support you."
She knew that if he decided to keep it the way it was, she would have to tell Alex as well about Toni's decision. It would be a little upsetting but they wouldn't have a choice but to respect that. Toni deserved to pick how he wanted to live his life.
Just as her mind started running the scenarios of telling her boyfriend, Antonio turned his body to face her. His eyes were looking elsewhere as his fingers lightly tapped against her shoulder. "I'm not sad anymore, I just wanted to know why... I love Mami and Papi, and I like being your brother..."
His eyes then met her own and he gave her a light smile. "But I want you to be my mami, like you were supposed to be." Dolores' heart leapt to her throat and relief filled her lungs as her eyes teared up. He wanted her to be his mother. She nodded her head as he wrapped his arms around her neck. " If that is what you want then I will try to be the best mami I can for you, Okay?"
He backed away from her and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "You already are."
