They didn't show it, but I can't imagine Mirabel not getting a proper room at the end of Encanto. So in this story, she does have a bigger room and a bigger bed.
Max woke up to the sunlight coming through the window. He yawned, turned his head, and smiled at his sleeping wife next to him. Mirabel honestly looked a mess. Her hair was looking wild with random pieces sticking out everywhere and her makeup all smudged up. Still, it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He was so excited to spend the rest of his life waking up next to her.
Max started to run his hands through her hair, which woke her up. She put her head in the pillow and groaned a little bit. She moved her head to where she was facing Max. She gave him a sleepy smile. "Hi." She moved to where she was resting her elbows on his chest.
He giggled and ran his hand over her hair. "Good morning, sleepy head. Do you need your glasses?"
She shook her head. "No. I can see things up close, just not far away."
"Oh okay, so I don't need to hold up fingers for you guess how many I'm holding?"
She laughed. "You're a goofball!" She grabbed his face and kissed him. Of all the things they could have done, such as take showers or eat breakfast, they chose to stay in bed and enjoy each other as husband and wife. They held in their desires for so long and they were ready to let loose, which is exactly what they did. That wasn't hard to do since they fell asleep with no clothes on.
They literally did nothing productive over the next 5 days. They simply enjoyed each other's company. Having no interruptions was something that didn't ever happen and it probably wouldn't happen for a long time. They slept in late every day and took naps together every day. Mirabel felt like she could talk to Max all day long. Being married still didn't feel real and she knew it probably wouldn't for a while.
Since they were now married, Max moved into Casita. He already spent most of his time there anyway, but it was official now. Mirabel's room was spacious enough for both of them and Rosa even had her own room now that connected to Mirabel's. Up until this point, she was still sleeping in a crib in Mirabel's room. When Max and Mirabel returned from their honeymoon, they found a door inside her room that ended up being Rosa's room. Instead of a crib, she had a regular bed. This is how it was for Mateo as well and it was that way for Maria and Gabi until they got their own rooms, along with their gifts, at 5 years old. Casita was expanding as the family expanded.
It was clear to Mirabel that Rosa loved having Max around more. He put her to bed with Mirabel every night and would wake her up with Mirabel every morning. To Rosa, he was Max. That's what she called him. But one night, after he had been there for a week, she gave him a hug goodnight and said, "I love you, Papa."
He wasn't quite sure he heard it right. He looked at Mirabel, who heard the same thing. She looked at him with a smile and tears in her eyes. They both kissed her on the forehead and left the room. After closing the door behind them, Max turned to Mirabel. "She just called me Papa."
Mirabel nodded. "Yeah. She did."
"Are you okay with that?"
Mirabel wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm more than okay with it. You are her Papa. She loves you so much and you show her love like a dad should. You have earned the right for her to call you Papa."
From that day forward, he was not Max anymore, he was Papa. That next morning, when she called him Papa at the breakfast table, everyone looked up at her. There was a moment of silence before Julieta spoke up and said with a smile, "When did she start calling you that, Max?"
"Last night. I don't know what made her want to say it or how she even knew to call me that."
"She hears all the kids say Papa to their Papa and that's who she sees you as." Julieta shrugged. "I'm honestly a little shocked she hasn't called you that sooner."
"She was obviously waiting until after the wedding." joked Mirabel and everyone chuckled.
Even though Max lived in Casita now, him and Mirabel, along with Rosa, still went to visit his grandparents and Diego frequently. They'd go over for lunch or even to just hang out. Rosa loved all of Max's family and they loved her, too. Mirabel couldn't help but think back to feeling like his family wouldn't like her, because she had a baby. That was quite the opposite. They treated Mirabel and Rosa like family.
Everyone in both Max and Mirabel's family started joking with them and would ask them constantly when they were going to have a baby. They definitely wanted one, but they weren't in any rush. They decided that if it happened, it happened. They weren't planning for one, but also, not preventing it either.
It was late June and a very normal day in the Madrigal household. Everyone came down for breakfast and the conversations started like normal. Dolores could have sworn she heard something different, but with all of the conversations and the kids being loud, it was hard to focus on. She just shrugged her shoulders with a squeak and moved on, not giving it another thought.
That evening, everyone was starting to come down for dinner. It wasn't quite ready yet and Mirabel was in the kitchen helping Julieta get the plates put out for everyone. Dolores walked in and the sound from the morning she thought she heard was clear as day now. She knew exactly where it was coming from. She looked at Mirabel and smiled widely.
Mirabel came over to her mom asking if she needed help with anything else. Her mom said no and so Mirabel grabbed the glass of wine next to her. Dolores' eyes widened. "Uh, Mirabel, what are you doing?"
Mirabel looked at her confused. "Uh…helping my mom. Is that a problem?"
She didn't want to outright say it with quite a few of their family right there, but she also didn't want Mirabel to drink any wine. Mirabel didn't drink that often, but would have the occasional glass of wine at dinner. Dolores cleared her throat, walked up to her, and took the glass from her just as she was about to take a drink.
"Dolores, what the heck?"
She whispered, "Sorry. No drinking allowed when you're pregnant."
Mirabel's eyes widened and she put her hand to her mouth. When she moved her hand, she smiled. "Are you for real?"
"Mhmm," she said. "There's no doubt about it. I didn't get to say this last time I found out you were pregnant, but I'm going to say it now. Congratulations." Dolores pulled Mirabel in for a hug. "I'm so happy for both of you."
Mirabel was absolutely beside herself. She wanted to tell everyone at dinner, but she also wanted to tell Max first. She knew everyone would know something was up if she pulled him aside now, so she decided to wait until it was just the two of them about to go to bed. It was so hard to keep the secret in at dinner, but she managed to keep up with the conversations around her easily.
The rest of the evening went by so slow and Mirabel was so happy when she was finally getting into bed with Max next to her. He could tell something was up with her. She was being extra smiley and also seemed a little nervous. He saw her and Dolores hugging in the kitchen and they both seemed super happy. He thought maybe one of them would talk about it at dinner, but it wasn't brought up. All through dinner, though, Mirabel and Dolores would look at each other and smile.
"So…" started off Mirabel. "I have some news."
"Is this about what you and Dolores talked about before dinner?"
"How did you know?"
"Both of your demeanors changed and you were smiling like idiots all through dinner. It must be pretty good."
Mirabel nodded. She took a deep breath. She knew he would be excited, but she was still a little nervous. "I'm pregnant."
Max didn't know what Mirabel was going to say, but it wasn't that. He shouldn't be too shocked. They'd been married for 3 months and they were doing nothing to prevent a baby. Still, he was shocked and super excited at the same time. "Wait, really?" She nodded. "We're…we're having a baby?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, my gosh! Wow. We're having a baby. It's actually happening." He laughed, pulling her in for the biggest hug. When they pulled a part, he said, "Well, how are you feeling? Sick or anything?"
"So far, no. I'm sure it'll hit me sooner or later. With Rosa, I had morning sickness hit the same day Dolores heard the heartbeat. I had actually just finished throwing up in the bathroom when Dolores came to tell me I was pregnant." Mirabel took a shaky breath. "I have to say…when Dolores told me I was pregnant with Rosa, the only emotion I felt was…shock and…honestly, a little bit of denial. I thought, no, no, this can't be happening. But it was happening. When she told me today, I also felt shocked, but I also felt…very happy." Her eyes filled with tears, but she was smiling through them. "Max, I have wanted to have a baby with you for so long. You are already the most amazing dad to Rosa, despite not being her biological dad, and I know you'll be an amazing dad to this little baby, too." She put her hand over her stomach.
Max smiled at her and gave her a kiss. "Thank you, amor. I love Rosa like she is my own. I can't wait to have this baby with you." Max was 11 when Diego was born, so he remembered what it was like having babies around. He knew this would be different, but he was so excited. Casita was filled with so much child laughter every single day and it was such a sweet sound. Max was thrilled that they'd be adding to it. "Have you told any of the family yet?"
"Not yet. I wanted to tell you first. I do have an idea for how we tell the family. We can also do this with your family, too. I want to make a shirt for Rosa that says, 'promoted to big sister,' put it on her, and then see how long it takes for someone to read it. Of course, once one person reads it, they'll freak out and then everyone will know."
"I love that idea! How long until we can do that?"
"I don't have very many things to do tomorrow, so I bet I can make it tomorrow afternoon and have it be ready by dinner time. Does that sound good?"
"It sounds perfect."
It was so hard to keep the secret in at breakfast the next morning. Dolores whispered a "congratulations" to Max before sitting down. They got through breakfast and Mirabel quickly started on her chores in the Encanto for the day. She did them as quickly as she could and she was back by lunchtime. She had a quick bite to eat and then went to her room to get started. The only plain shirt Rosa had in her closet was a light pink one, so Mirabel chose that one to embroider. She had been practicing embroidery for many years, so she was practically an expert and something as simple as a few words wouldn't take her long at all. She still wanted it to look nice.
She showed it to Max and he loved it. The words were nice and big, not hard to miss. They waited until almost everyone was already at the table before coming down and joining them. Mirabel placed Rosa in her high chair and they were just going to wait until someone noticed it. For 5 minutes, the conversations consisted of what everyone had done that day and listening to the kids tell their usual, random stories. Mirabel was getting antsy. She wanted someone to notice Rosa's shirt already.
Dolores noticed it first, but she already knew the secret. She looked at Rosa, smiled, and then looked at Mirabel and Max. They both smiled at her. Just then, Julieta gasped. Everyone looked at her and she was staring at Rosa. She looked back at Mirabel, shocked, but she had a smile on her face. "Are you serious?"
Mirabel nodded. Everyone looked at Rosa to try and figure out what was going on and they immediately got it. Despite there already being 6 great grandkids, the excitement each time a new pregnancy was announced was as if it was the first one. Everyone got super excited and started hugging and congratulating Max and Mirabel. The kids all started to get very loud and excited and ran to hug Mirabel. Once it finally settled down, Mirabel said, "Dolores heard the heartbeat yesterday. Thankfully, she heard it just in time before I took a sip of wine." Everyone laughed. "I told Max last night and I made this shirt today. I can't believe it took a whole 5 minutes for someone to notice her shirt."
"No wonder you and Dolores were acting strange at dinner yesterday." said Pepa. "I saw you two looking at each other the whole time."
"Have you had any morning sickness yet?" asked Julieta.
"Not yet, but if it's anything like Rosa, I bet it hits me soon."
"Well, we are all just so happy for you guys." Julieta was sitting next to Mirabel and she gave her another hug and kissed her on the head. Mirabel still remembered the way Julieta reacted when she first told her she was pregnant with Rosa. Her reaction to this pregnancy was completely different and it made Mirabel so happy.
The next day, Max and Mirabel had lunch with his family. They put the shirt on Rosa and it didn't take long for Diego to take notice to it and once he did, he said loudly, "Mirabel, are you pregnant?" She nodded and the hugs and congratulations started. They were all ecstatic for a new baby. Mirabel was so grateful to have the most amazing man by her side through it all. It was such a difference from last time and she couldn't have been happier.
