It turned out that the day that Dr. Mendoza was ready to release Mirabel to go home, was the same day that the rest of the family was returning from their trip.
The two previous days were spent with Bruno and Julieta taking turns going home and sleeping for a couple hours - both knowing that it was necessary for Casita to be inhabited. They had each spent some time making sure the nursery was ready for Mirabel to stay in and be comfortable.
Her fever was gone, but she still had a cough that could wake the dead. It was getting better, but slowly, and Dr. Mendoza told them to anticipate it taking a couple of weeks for the cough to completely go away.
Mirabel's chest pain had eased as well. Some was due to her sickness, but a bit of an arepa made by Julieta was enough to ease some of the pain, indicating that some of it was caused by the coughing and the strain on her muscles.
Julieta was home now, making sure everything was set up, and Bruno was tasked with bringing Mirabel home. Dr. Mendoza had a horse with a cart that he used when a patient was ready to go home, and he had it all set up and ready when they saw the rest of the family gallop by, pulling their own carts back to Casita.
"It'll be okay, Tío." Mirabel took his hand and squeezed. "They'll all be happy to see you, I promise."
He couldn't help but smile at the optimism his sobrina showed - he wished he could share it. But it was too late to back out now, regardless. At least he had Mirabel and Julieta supporting him - which meant he would also have Agustín. That was three people. Antonio was too little to count. Dolores was well aware of where he was and had helped make sure he had food many times - she would probably be fine and would be relieved she didn't have to keep his secret anymore.
Luisa would likely follow the lead of her parents, but Isabela, Camilo, and Pepa were mysteries. He was sure his Mama would be furious, and Felix would follow Pepa.
"Give them a chance, Bruno." Dr. Mendoza agreed. "They've missed you something fierce."
Back at Casita, they could hear the chaos as things were unloaded and the family got settled back in, even from outside.
Bruno knocked on wood, unable to help himself, before he turned to help his sobrina out of the cart.
She coughed hard as she stood up, swaying a bit, but Bruno steadied her. "Easy, Mira. Take your time. We have all day."
Julieta came rushing out, Agustín right behind her.
Mirabel stopped coughing, only to be pulled into her father's arms. "I was so worried when Mariano came to get your Mama. Oh, mija." He sighed. Agustin glanced up and did a double take at the sight of Bruno. "Bruno?" He asked, incredulous. "Where did you come from, hermano?"
Bruno sighed. "It's a long story." he admitted.
"The short story is that he saved Mirabel's life, so be kind." Julieta elbowed her husband gently.
"Like I would be mean to him anyway," Agustín scoffed.
Mirabel swayed, but this time Agustín steadied her. "Alright, let's get you inside."
Dr. Mendoza came over to give them some last minute instructions. "I want to see her for a check-up in a week. But if her symptoms get worse - trouble breathing, chest pain, a fever again - I want you to bring her to me immediately. And she needs to rest for a while, I don't want to see her out and about before I see her again, and then we can reassess her activity level."
"Thank you, Dr. Mendoza." Agustín shook the man's hand, keeping one arm around his youngest daughter.
The doctor headed back to town, and Agustín guided Mirabel into the house, and Julieta took Bruno's hand.
"Did you tell anyone?" he asked.
"No. Though my sobrina came running up to me and whispered, 'Does this mean he's coming home?' when she got here."
Bruno snorted. "She's a good kid."
Julieta squeezed his hand. "Come on, Brunito. Let's get this over with."
They weren't noticed right away when they stepped in amidst the hustle and bustle of everyone unloading and getting settled back in.
The first person to greet him was Dolores. She ran up to them and gave him a quick hug and a smile. "Glad you're home, Tío," She said quietly, before running off to continue what she had been doing.
Bruno wasn't sure who would notice him next, but the answer came with a sudden and loud thunder clap, louder than he had heard in a long time.
Pepa was standing across the room, a storm raging above her head and her youngest child in her arms. She was just staring at him, not saying anything.
Felix came running to see what was wrong with his wife, and he quickly took the situation in before taking Antonio into his own arms, freeing his wife from her froze stupor.
Pepa stalked forward, her hands in fists. Bruno was sure he was in for a beat down by his hermana. "Pepa-" Julieta started, but she stopped when Pepa threw her arms around him in a vice grip and started sobbing.
"I can't believe you're home." She cried, gripping his ruana tight in her hands.
"I'm here, hermana. Lo siento, lo siento." He murmured.
Pepa's impressive storm had gained them the attention of most of the rest of the family. When Pepa finally loosened her grip on Bruno and pulled back, he found that they had an audience.
He was swiftly swarmed by Isabela and Luisa, who attacked him at the same time.
"Let your Tío breathe, mijas," Julieta chuckled quietly from his side.
Camilo walked forward, and as he did, he shifted so that Bruno was looking at a mirror image of himself, who then reached out and shook his hand.
Bruno shook his head at Camilo as he shook his doppelganger's hand. "You've gotten very good at that, sobrino." He murmured.
Felix came forward and shook his hand as well, and Bruno greeted his youngest sobrino for the first time. Antonio reached out a hand and gripped Bruno's in his own, looking at him with wide eyes.
"What is going on?" Bruno tensed at the familiar voice that sent both a wave of anxiety and a feeling of utter homesickness washing through him.
Felix disentangled Antonio and stepped back, and most of the family scattered, leaving Bruno alone with his triplets and his Mama.
"Brunito," she breathed, her hand to her mouth. She stepped forward and captured him in a tight hug, before kissing him on the cheek. "I'm so happy to see you." Her eyes filled with tears.
"I am too." He murmured, hugging her back.
"Where have you been?" Pepa's voice broke.
Bruno pulled away and looked at his family. Pepa looked sad, but also angry. His Mama was looking at him with a tenderness he didn't know if he'd ever seen from her towards him. Julieta smiled encouragingly.
"I may have been… living in the walls." He mumbled, but they still heard him.
"You have not." Pepa punched him on the arm. "You've been alive and well ten feet from us while we've worried every day for 6 years?"
"Um… well…"
Alma shook her head. "Let's just be glad that Bruno decided to come out of hiding when he did." She paused. "Why did you come out now, Brunito?"
"Mirabel." He answered, and both looked startled. "She was… she was really sick."
"She was sick enough that you came out of hiding after 6 years?" Pepa glanced at Julieta. "I didn't realize she was that sick. Is she home?"
"Agustín was taking her upstairs. She's okay now, but Bruno saved her life."
"I didn't-"
"You did." Julieta said flatly, obviously tired of this argument. "I know injury well, but I'm familiar enough with sickness since I'm still often approached in hope that my food will help it. And Mirabel was sick. If Bruno hadn't been here when her temperature had spiked, who knows how long it would have taken for someone to realize something was wrong since we were all gone." Julieta shook her head.
"Let's go check on her," Pepa said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She exchanged an amused glance with Bruno, like they were picking up where they left off. Julieta was the worst of them when it came to worrying about her loved ones, especially when sick. She always had been, and Pepa and Bruno had both had to calm her down, especially when her children were young.
The four all made their way to the nursery. They found Agustín sitting back, and Isabela and Luisa were already in there, fussing over their sister and answering her questions about their week. Isabela had made her a flower crown, and Luisa had apparently rearranged the furniture in the room to set up an area for Mirabel to recieve guests, considering the room had not looked like this only the day before. She had pushed two beds together and then turned them so that only the head of the bed was touching the wall, and chairs were set up around her.
"Girls, why don't you go finish unloading." Julieta said gently.
"But Mama-" Both started at once, but Julieta held up her hand.
"Mirabel is bedbound for at least a couple of more days. We will all have plenty of opportunity to sit and talk with her. But she also needs rest." Even as she spoke, Mirabel was visibly flagging.
"I'm having fun." She protested, before she started to cough again.
Isabela and Luisa both looked alarmed, and backed away, not sure how to help, but Bruno and Julieta were already moving forward, both immediately moving to help her sit up a little better.
Julieta ran her fingers soothingly through Mirabel's hair, and Bruno got a cup of water ready for her, which she gratefully took when she stopped coughing, taking sips.
"Papa-" Luisa's voice held fear as she turned to her father for answers.
"Mirabel will be just fine." He said gently. "Dr. Mendoza has been taking really good care of her, and so has your mama and tío. So why don't you go help unload, and you can see her later, hmm?"
Isabela swallowed hard. "Yes Papa." She murmured. "We can come back later?" She asked.
"Of course, mija." He murmured.
Both girls reluctantly left, leaving the adults to keep an eye on Mirabel. She fell back to sleep quickly, the events of the day had been exhausting.
"Does she have pneumonia?" Pepa asked, her breath catching.
"Sí." Julieta murmured, continuing to stroke her daughter's hair.
Both Alma and Pepa looked alarmed, and for good reason. There were times pneumonia got better - but it was a lot more often that a person died from it. They had seen many cases of people - regardless of age - dying from pneumonia. The care early on tended to make a huge difference in recovery time. The only other time the family had dealt with pneumonia had been when Pepa had had it as a child - just a little older than Mirabel. Bruno and Julieta could still remember her coughs and tears. Dr. Mendoza had told them at the time that it was a miracle that Pepa survived it. They had all lived in fear of the illness ever since.
"Julieta wasn't exaggerating when she said you saved her life, Bruno." Pepa murmured. She was obviously thinking of the same thing he was.
Mama was nodding, looking at Mirabel with a horrified look. "New rule." She murmured. "We never leave only one person alone if we need to do something like this again. At least one adult will stay home as well."
Julieta laughed lightly. "I think that's a good plan."
"I think I'll see if Luisa will help me move Antonio's bed back into our room." Pepa tore her gaze away from her sobrina. "Mirabel will need her sleep, and if her coughing were to wake Antonio, she'd feel guilty, and we don't want that either."
"Sí, I was going to suggest that, actually." Julieta agreed. They had just started to get Antonio used to the nursery, and this would impede their progress, but they had to prioritize both children, and they knew that them sharing a room wouldn't work well until Mirabel was feeling better.
There was a knock on the door, and they turned to find Dolores and Camilo standing there.
"Is Mira okay?" Camilo asked, his voice fearful. "Isabela's crying. Is Mira going to die?"
"I got her," Agustín stood up and made his way around his niece and nephew in search of his daughter.
"Your prima will be just fine." Julieta assured them, motioning both forward. "She's sick right now, but she's already getting better. We're all going to have to keep an eye on her over the next couple of weeks and wait on her, bringing her water and food and keeping her company. Think you can help with that?"
"Yes!" Camilo said excitedly. "I can be the entertainment too! A one man show since I can be a lot of different people!"
"You should ask Tío Bruno to help, hermano. He likes to come up with stories."
They all turned to look at Dolores and she blushed bright red, squeaking at the attention.
"He - I mean he was always coming up with these really interesting telenovellas-" Dolores clamped her mouth shut as she realized what she was revealing.
"You've heard him in the walls, mija?" Pepa asked, her voice incredulous.
"Sí?" Dolores said hesitantly. "Lo siento, Mama. I figured he had his reasons, they weren't mine to share."
Pepa hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, mija." She murmured.
"You found my telenovellas interesting?" Bruno asked, startled.
"Sí." Dolores nodded.
"That's awesome, Tío! We can definitely provide some entertainment for Mirabel!" Camilo bounded up to him and grabbed his hand.
Bruno had to laugh as he was dragged out of the room by the arm by his sobrino, who had accepted him back with open arms.
It was good to be home.
AN: I hope you all enjoyed! This story is complete and I don't have any intention to continue in this universe at all. This was mostly written to help my writer's block with What about Mirabel?, so it has quite a bit of fluff as a result!
