I didn't want to spend a ton of time on Mirabel's pregnancy, so this chapter will encompass the whole rest of her pregnancy with the ideas I had to go along with it. I was also ready to get to the baby! Enjoy :)

Mirabel woke up on the morning of Antonio's 11th birthday feeling very anxious. For the past week, she had been super nervous about a birthday party. It had been over 3 months since her birthday. 3 months since the man she loved chose not to come to her birthday party. The thought of him not coming still hurt whenever she thought about it. She still cried occasionally about how things ended up with Javi, but she was mainly upset that he wanted nothing to do with the baby. She continued to hope he wanted to a part of the baby's life, but she hadn't heard a word from him since she told him she was pregnant. That was 2 months ago.

She got out of bed, put her glasses on, and got dressed for the day. Obviously, it wouldn't be a huge birthday party like 5th birthday parties were, but there would still be extra people in the house, such as extended family and friends of Antonio's. That meant that there was still plenty of stuff to do around the house. She knew if she kept busy, it would keep her mind off her worries.

The day was so busy that before she knew it, it was party time. She came down the stairs where everyone was hanging out. The amount of people there made her anxious, but she took deep breaths to stay calm. Antonio and some of his friends were in his room playing with the animals while some of the other kids were playing in the main part of Casita and the adults were all talking. Out of habit, Mirabel kept watching the door. Every time she did it, she shook her head and told herself to stop and that it was all in the past. On the night of her party, she must have looked at the door a hundred times.

She did fine when Antonio opened presents. She took deep breaths and stayed as calm as she could. Her heart picked up speed when the cake came out and everyone started to sing happy birthday to Antonio. She sang with everyone. She loved Antonio so much and wanted to be there for him. She hated that she was feeling this way. Unfortunately, birthday parties were tough for her and especially Antonio's. Not only was she brought back to her 21st birthday party, but she couldn't help but be brought back to his 5th birthday party. He had received a gift and Abuela told him he got a gift just as special as him, leading Mirabel to believe she wasn't special. Things were different now and she knew she was special, but the memories of it all were so painful.

Cake was starting to be passed out and everyone was distracted. Before crying in front of everyone, Mirabel snuck off to the bathroom. She immediately remembered being in the bathroom the night of her party. She remembered being followed by her sisters and cousins.

She sat on the floor and took deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Despite doing this, she started to get tears in her eyes and a few sobs started to escape. She was overwhelmed in painful memories.

Before she could completely break down, there was a knock on the door. "Mirabel," It was Camilo. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," She quickly wiped her eyes and her cheeks.

He walked in and sat on the floor next to her. "You sure do like bathrooms during birthday parties, huh?"

She let out a small giggle. He always knew how to make her laugh. "Oh, you know it."

"Is the party too much?"

She took a shaky breath. "I don't want it to be. This is Antonio's birthday party and I want to be okay. I love him so much and I hate that I couldn't handle it. I wanted so badly to get through the night without crying, but I failed at that." She had new tears form in her eyes. She groaned and wiped them away. "I'm so selfish."

"Mira, you're anything but selfish."

"Yeah, whatever,"

"No, I'm serious. Hey, look at me." She turned her head and reluctantly looked at him. "You are the kindest, most thoughtful person I know and I hate that you've had to deal with so much in the past few months. I noticed you looking at the door a lot tonight. I can imagine how tough the memories are from your birthday party."

She nodded while more tears filled her eyes. "I just…I love your brother so, so much and I feel like I failed him."

"Mirabel," He got in front of her and gave her a hug. "Don't ever say that. You did not fail Antonio. You have done so much today to help get ready for the party and you're here at the party and not hiding away in your room. I'm so proud of you." They pulled apart.

"But I'm hiding away in the bathroom now."

"You lasted for over an hour at the party and just now decided to step away for a few minutes. Coming to the bathroom means you weren't leaving the party, just taking a break. Am I right?" She nodded. "So, there you go. There's no way you're being selfish. You have to take care of yourself, too."

"Thanks, Milo. Um…I know it's your brother's party, but do you mind sitting with me? I just need a few more minutes."

"Yes, of course,"

And they sat side by side with her head on his shoulder and his head resting on her head for 5 minutes before they headed back to the party.

Later that night, after everyone had left, Mirabel was helping with cleaning everything up. Antonio ran up to her and gave her a huge hug. She giggled and hugged him back and said, "Did you have a good party?"

"Yes, it was the best. I just wanted to tell you I'm so happy you were at my birthday party."

Mirabel laughed. "There is nothing in the entire world that could keep me away from your birthday party. I would go to the ends of the Earth to do anything for you." She thought back to the night of his 5th birthday when he reached his hand out to her and said he needed her. No one had ever said that to her before. She would do absolutely anything in the world for that little boy.

He smiled widely. "I just thought birthday parties would be too hard for you after Javi didn't come to yours, so I'm just very happy you came to mine."

Her eyes filled with tears and she said shakily, "You're the best." She gave him another hug and then he ran off to play.

Mirabel was so happy to finally be past the horrible nausea that came with the first part of pregnancy. She had to constantly keep food near her to keep herself from throwing up, because if she didn't, she'd be running off to the bathroom.

The next couple of months flew by. The baby continued to grow and Mirabel just felt like the pregnancy was flying by. She was so happy that everything was going smoothly. She felt great, thanks to her mama's cooking, and she never had to worry that something was wrong with the baby. Dolores kept a close ear out for that heartbeat and it continued to beat nice and strong.

When she started to get a noticeable bump, people in town started to take notice. They whispered things and pointed. She knew they were talking about her, but she didn't know what they said. All of the talk in town stopped when Dolores was out with her little family. She heard someone say something very ugly about Mirabel being pregnant. Dolores immediately walked up to them and hissed, "You realize I can hear you, right?" The person, a woman about her age, was immediately flustered and apologized. Dolores turned to where lots of other people were gathered around. "I better not hear anyone in this town talk badly about my cousin. I can hear all the way across town, so trust me, I'll know. Keep your judgements and whispers to yourself." That was the end to the talk around town and she never heard anything else.

Mirabel was 6 and a half months pregnant and she was walking around town after doing a few errands. She was actually heading back to Casita when someone called out to her. "Hey! You're Mirabel, right?"

She turned and was shocked to see the woman that Javi was dating. She had no idea why this woman was talking to her, but whatever the reason, she really didn't want to be here having this conversation. "Um, yeah. Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to keep you, I just…" She sighed shakily. "I'm really sorry about how things ended with you and Javi. I don't know if you remember me, but you came by his house a few months ago when I was there. I'm Sofia."

"Yeah, I remember. And Thanks. Not much I can do about it. I do hope you guys are happy together." Mirabel gave her a quick smile and turned to walk away. Her feet were aching and she just wanted to get home and lie down.

"We're not actually together anymore."

Mirabel turned back around to her. "Oh. I'm uh…sorry to hear that."

"Thanks. The night that you came to tell him you were pregnant, he lied and said you wanted to get back together with him. I feel bad to say that I was mad at you, because I thought, she knows I'm here, so why would she be asking to get back together with him? It didn't make any sense. But then, a few weeks ago, we saw you out in town. I, of course, immediately noticed you were pregnant and questioned Javi about it. He told me the truth and I got so mad that he didn't want anything to do with the baby."

Mirabel protectively wrapped her arms around her belly and interlaced her fingers.

"I told him that if he wasn't going to be a part of his child's life, I would leave him. He told me he had no interest in being a father and so I broke up with him."

Mirabel had to blink back the tears. She didn't like the reminder of how unimportant her baby was to their father. It still caused her to cry some nights. She did appreciate Sofia standing up to him and understanding what was important. "Well…I appreciate that."

"Yeah," She looked around awkwardly and then sighed. "Well, I should uh…get going. Maybe I'll see you around."

Sofia started to walk away and Mirabel stopped her with a question. "How old are you?"

She turned around. "I'm 20."

"Okay. Bye," She quickly turned around and headed back home.

Maybe if we had been closer in age it would've been fine.

Clearly that had been a lie.

As she was about to head into Casita, Isabela and Luisa caught up to her. They had been heading home too and could tell something was upsetting Mirabel. She was walking quickly and had tears on her cheeks. "Whoa, whoa, Mira, slow down." said Luisa. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay." said Mirabel shakily. "I just found out Javi lied to me."

Isabela and Luisa glanced at each other and then Isabela said, "Lied about what?"

"He told me that if we had been closer in age then maybe our relationship could have lasted, but I just ran into his girlfriend. Or who I thought was his girlfriend, but they broke up, because she refused to date someone who didn't want anything to do with being a dad. She's 20 years old. She is younger than me and he dated her! Why would he tell me that's one of the reasons we broke up, but then date someone younger than me weeks after we broke up?" She wrapped her arms around herself. She hated feeling this way and hated still being in this much pain due to Javi. "I literally could have crawled in a hole and died when he told me that. But it was a lie. He just didn't like me. It was something else about me that he didn't like. And I loved him. What did I do wrong?" At this point, she was just rambling, but obviously very upset and had every reason to be upset.

Luisa spoke up first. "Mirabel, please stop and listen to me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. And also…I can't believe he told you. Oh, I'm so sorry."

Mirabel took a deep breath. "No one else knows. Not even Mama. It just hurt too much."

"I can imagine. But seriously, he is the one who blew it, because there is nothing wrong with you. You are so kind and loving to everyone around you. He had the best thing in the world when he had you and he just didn't realize it. That's his loss."

"Luisa is right." said Isabela. "He is the loser who didn't realize how lucky he was. And honestly? That was so cool of that girl to say. I have a lot of respect for her now."

Mirabel smiled at her sisters. She had grown really close to her sisters over the past few years and she loved being able to come to them for advice. "I love you guys." She opened her arms and the 3 sisters hugged each other tightly.

Luisa still forgot her own strength at times, so Mirabel said jokingly, "Be careful there, sis, don't crush your niece or nephew."

They all laughed and pulled apart. "I would never." She gently ran her hand over Mirabel's stomach. Immediately, she got kicked in the hand. "Whoa! Someone did not like their space being invaded."

Mirabel laughed and put her hand over her sister's. "Nope."

The pregnancy continued to fly by and Mirabel just kept getting bigger and bigger. By the time she was 8 months pregnant, she looked like she was ready to have that baby any day. She was definitely feeling the aches that came with the end of pregnancy. Every time she walked, she felt so much pressure on her pelvis. Her feet were so swollen and she had heartburn constantly. She also had a very hard time getting a good nights' sleep. Her mama's food helped with the symptoms briefly, but they always came back. Mirabel knew the only real cure would be getting the baby out.

Reality was setting in and Mirabel realized she'd be having a baby in a month or less. She was starting to get really nervous about the birth process and then actually being a parent. One morning after breakfast, she was starting to help her mom with the dishes, but then Julieta said, "Mira, you know I appreciate the help, but you should go sit down. You need your rest."

She would have argued, but her feet did really hurt and she was very uncomfortable and tired. She hardly slept the night before. "Okay. But I do want to keep you company. I'll just pull up a chair and sit here with you, if that's okay."

"Of course, mija, you know I love your company." said Julieta and she turned to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

Mirabel dragged a chair over to her mom and sat down. She took a deep breath. Well, as deep as she could with a baby taking up every space they could in her body. "Mama?"

"Yes?"

"So…I obviously know that having this baby is going to hurt, but…I'm just really scared about it. Was it really hard for you?" Mirabel had never witnessed childbirth before. Dolores wanted as few people in the room as possible and wanted everyone to be quiet during the entire labor and delivery process, so Mirabel didn't even go in the room at all. It was only Mariano, Pepa, and Julieta in the room when she had her girls. For Isabela, it was Luis, Pepa, and Julieta in the room. Mirabel was actually in the room for a good portion of the labor and really helped Isabela, but she left for the birth.

"Yes, it was." Julieta didn't want to scare Mirabel, but she also needed to be honest with her. "They call it labor for a reason. Isabela was the hardest, because she was my first. By the time I had you, I had it down. It was still very painful, but I knew what to expect." She walked up to her and knelt down in front of her. "I will be with you the whole time, if that's what you want. I will be there to hold your hand and do whatever it is that you need me to do to help you through it. Yes, it's a challenge, but you can do it. I'll talk you through it and before you know it…" She put her hand over Mirabel's belly and smiled. "You will have this beautiful baby with you."

Mirabel smiled and looked at her belly. She rubbed her hands over it. She whispered, "I can't wait to meet you."

Everyone loved to put their hands on Mirabel's stomach and feel baby kicks and she really didn't mind it when they did this. The one who did it the most, however, was Antonio. Ever since Mirabel started to have a noticeable bump, Antonio would run up to her first thing in the morning, bend down to her stomach, and say, "Good morning, baby." Once the kicks were noticeable, he'd put his hands on her stomach and hope to feel for a kick. Toward the end of her pregnancy, he was doing this daily. Mirabel absolutely loved it. She knew her baby and Antonio would have a special bond. He did the same thing with Dolores and Isabela when they were pregnant and he had a close bond with the little kids as well.

One evening, after dinner, Mirabel was sitting on the couch taking some deep breaths. For the past few days, she'd been having very infrequent and very irregular contractions. They didn't really hurt, but they were still uncomfortable. She figured she still had at least a week to go before the baby would come. The midwife in town had checked her out and determined she wasn't in labor, but she was getting close.

Antonio came to sit with her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing okay." She smiled at him. She was back to normal now. "Just ready for this baby to get here." She rubbed her hands over her belly and then rested her hands on top of it.

"Me too!" Antonio got on the ground in front of Mirabel and put both hands on her stomach. "Hello there, little baby. It's me, your cousin, Antonio. You need to be born soon, because I want to meet you so badly." He gave her stomach a kiss.

Mirabel could just cry at how sweet Antonio was. He had such a tender heart for everyone around him. They continued to sit with each and talk for a while longer, but then Mirabel got up to go use the bathroom. This was a constant thing. She was almost to the bathroom when she could feel the strangest thing. It felt like she was peeing herself, but she knew that couldn't be right. She did have to go to the bathroom, but she hadn't lost control of her bladder. She looked down and saw a puddle under her feet. She knew exactly what was happening. She thought she had at least a week to prepare for this, but this baby had other ideas. She yelled out, "Mom!" She could feel a contraction coming on.

Within a second, Julieta was at her side. "What's happening? Are you okay?"

Mirabel looked back down at the puddle under her feet and Julieta saw it too. Her eyes widened at the sight. Mirabel grabbed her mom's arms and she said, "The baby is coming."