After a while Mirabel ran off somewhere upstairs, once Camilo looked like himself he tried his best to calm his mother. Everyone had to change their clothes before they all went to help clean the mess that was made in the kitchen.
When Alma had come back from trying to talk to the Guzman's to no Avail she was very upset and began yelling at Augustin. "You should have told me the moment you saw the vision! Think of the family!" The tall man frowned at her words and put his hand on his chest. "I was thinking of my Daughter!"
Julieta came from beside her husband and grabbed at his arm as she shook her head. "You've always been too hard on the kids, especially Mirabel. She's only trying to do what she thinks is right. Why can't you see that?"
Just then another crack formed as Alex and Dolores walked in from checking on Antonio. Alma's eyes went straight to Dolores and she held a stern look. "You.." the younger woman shook head and tried to compose herself for what she had to say. "Abuela, please ju-"
Dolores yelped in pain as her head violently turned to the side. Tears were brought to her eyes as her cheek stung. "Have you lost your entire mind?!" She looked at her Abuela and slowly turned her head back to the way it was as the older woman placed her hand back down.
"I was trying to help." Alma shook her head and her frown deepened. "Help with what, Dolores?! What's wrong with you?! What possessed you to go out and get pregnant at 16?"
Dolores winced as she continued to yell. The adrenaline was starting to pump through her as she refused to cover her ears in pain. Pepa was snowing on the stairs and Felix did his best to help as they glared at her mother. "Mama, that is enough!"
Alma returned the glare and pointed to the couple. "I don't want to hear another word from either of you!" She quickly turned her attention back to her granddaughter and looked at her with disgust. "Did you even bother to think about how this would look on our family? You are unmarried, and have already had a child. Do you realize that no one will want to marry you when they find this out?!"
Dolores shook her head as her voice broke. "Abuela if you would just let me explain.."
"Explain what?! que mi nieta es una puta! That she's raised a malparido right under my nose with the help of my own daughters!" Alma raised her hand again and Dolores closed her eyes preparing herself to take another hit.
The sound of skin being hit surrounded the room but Dolores didn't feel anything.
She opened her eyes and saw Alex had moved in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw the mark that adorned his face and the cut that now bled from his right cheek. "That is enough."
Alma's surprised face quickly changed . She looked him over with distaste in her eyes. "What are you still doing here? This is a family matter, and none of your concern."
Alex's calm demeanor that he has been trying to keep soon vanishes. He was beyond livid with this woman. And what she's just done was the final straw. "It became my concern when you hit Dolores. When you called her and my son out of their names."
She sneered at his words before looking over his shoulder to Dolores. " Of course. Out of everyone in Encanto, you couldn't have picked a better man? You chose a mere boy to sleep around with! Un estúpido inmaduro cobarde who has nothing to his name." She looked back at him.
Pepa flurry started to become a blizzard. The hat Felix had to wave the offending cloud away was blown out of his hands. "Mama!"
He stood up straight to his full height and looked over to the red headed woman softly. "No Senora Pepa, it's okay..." He turned his attention to the older woman in front of him. "You know, the only reason I have kept quiet since the first time I came back was because Dolores asked it of me. I know how much she cares for her family, so I let it be. I took pride in being a patient and observant man, but now I feel like maybe I've held my tongue for too long."
He looked at her distantly, repulsed by her behavior. "Eres una mujer amargada y egoísta que parece no poder comprender el concepto de razón. You think that you automatically deserve respect but refuse to show it back to the people that matter simply because of whatever status you have in this town." He kept his head high but his voice calm and unwavering so as to try and not cause Dolores any more pain.
Alma's eye twitched as she glared at him." How dare you!" Alex tilted his head to the side in a confused manner. "No, how dare you. You have been nothing but disrespectful to my relationship with your granddaughter, when I haven't done a damn thing wrong. You slapped Dolores for something she did to protect her mother from you. You, the same woman who demanded her own daughter to have another child because you were too fucking busy worrying over a Miracle instead of your youngest granddaughter who was struggling being the only one in her generation to not have a gift. "
Felix and Pepa shared a look and Julieta looked at her mother with disbelief and shame. Alma's face held a sneer as he spoke his allegations against her. She shook her head and pointed at his chest. "You have no right to speak about anything revolving around my family.."
"No, but I will speak my mind when it comes to my family." He glanced back at Dolores who had tears in her eyes and his frown became more prominent. "You don't even see how you hurt them, how you've hurt her. Dolores has spent her entire life hearing you do nothing but bickering, bitching and complaining about things you couldn't control. She thought that if she had a child in her mother's place then you would stop, but you never did. Seguiste presionando por más y lastimando a las personas en esta casa.."
He shook his head and looked away from her as his hands began to shake as his blood rose thinking about everything that's happened to the woman he loved. "Dolores came to see me almost every day when we were kids because what she heard would always be too much for her to handle. If it was clear enough for me to see, why in the hell didn't you help her like you were supposed to? Estaba asustada, herida y confundida.. Sometimes she was in so much pain that she would cry in my arms as I tried to calm her down. She would be too lost in her own thoughts and space out in the middle of conversations because she worried for her family."
He looked back at Alma with a glare. "I could only imagine the pain she went through while I was gone. What's worse is you don't even realize how much you don't deserve her. You were too prideful, too selfish thinking about no one but yourself and how to keep your power over everyone."
Her face became red and she stuck her head up. "Get out of my house. You will never be welcomed here again." Alex stares at her for merely a second before nodding and turning around to look at Dolores. Her eyes held so much pain in them as they stared back at him and it made his heart hurt. He couldn't leave her here, he refused to.
Alex slid his softly across her cheeks and kissed her forehead before looking her in her eyes. "Amor, go pack your things, and some of Toni's as well."
Dolores' eyes widened and her breath hitched. She placed her hands on either side of his face before cleaning the blood off his cheek as she looked deep in his eyes. He was being completely serious and Dolores gave him a hesitant look. "Alex..."
He shook his head. "I'm not letting you stay here. You've been through enough, Antonio has been through enough."
She looked over to her parents knowing they could hear what he was saying. Pepa had tears in her eyes and her papa gave her a sad smile before nodding. The tears started building up in her own eyes as she turned her attention back to the man holding her face. She nodded her head as she let out a deep breath. "Okay."
He let her go with a quick kiss before she ran upstairs. He turned his attention back to the older adults in the room. "If you want me gone, I'm taking my family with me." Alma shook her head and threw her hands in the air. "Who do you think you are?! You can't jus-"
His nostrils flared as he stared her down. "I can and I will. You have hurt Dolores for too long, and I will be damned if I let you hurt my son as well." Just then the front door opened revealing some of the town's people.
Once her attention moved off of Alex, he walked over to Dolores' parents and gave them a sad smile. "Lamento que tuvieras que verme así. I hope it's okay that Dolores and Antonio stay with me for a while. I just...I love them, you know?"
Pepa gave him a matching smile as she wiped the tears in her eyes away before wrapping her arms around him. "I understand. I just want my babies to be happy, Alex. Promise me you will take care of them."
"I swear on my life." He gave her a nod as she let go before looking at Felix. He held his hand out for a handshake but Felix grabbed it and pulled him into a hug. "We trust you to watch over them. I would've done the same if I were in your shoes." Felix gave him a bright smile and he matched it with a grin before a hand was placed on his shoulder.
He turned and saw Julieta behind him with an arepa in her hand. "It'll heal the cut." Alex gave her a kind smile as she tried to give it to him but he refused it. "Thank you senora Julieta, but I'm fine. It'll heal on its own." She looked at him sympathetically before nodding her head and walking off back to her husband.
Soon after that Dolores comes back down stairs with Antonio and a bag in her hands. He gives them a smile and they say their goodbyes to her family before they are on their way into town.
