Mirabel was very nervous when the boys were 3 days old. That was when the feelings of sadness hit her with Rosa. But the day went great and she felt fine. Julieta and Max kept asking her how she was doing and she could honestly say she was doing good. She was tired, but happy. Her little boys were amazing.

When the boys were 5 days old, Mirabel had the sudden feeling of panic and dread hit her as bedtime approached. She tried to tell herself to stop feeling that way and to not do this to herself again, but she had no control over it. Nighttime had been going great. Max would get up with Mirabel if the boys woke up to eat and he'd stay up with her as she fed them. Sometimes, they woke up at the same time wanting to eat and other times, they didn't. If either of the boys wanted to stay awake, Max would stay up, too. He would even take them, so that Mirabel could sleep. Max was absolutely wonderful. Isaiah and Ivan both seemed to be pretty good babies, which Mirabel was very thankful for. They were both happy, unless they were hungry or tired, and loved being held and slept great in their bassinets, Isaiah on Max's side and Ivan on Mirabel's side. Nighttime was going so good that Julieta didn't have to help out.

But, even so, that was an awful night. The sadness hit her like a truck. She didn't sleep peacefully and she woke up constantly, sometimes not even because the babies were waking up. Those were the moments she felt so alone. Max would be sleeping, Isaiah and Ivan would be sleeping, and Rosa was sleeping peacefully in her room. So why couldn't she sleep? Why did she have to feel this way? She hated that it was happening again.

2 days later, things still were not better. It wasn't just loneliness from being alone. Even sitting in the living room or being at the table with her family, she felt so sad and empty. She kept a smile on her face. She kept repeating her mom's words in her head. If you feel sad, tell someone. Do not hold it in. She wanted to tell someone. She really did. But she didn't know how to tell them. She was hoping the feeling would get better as the days went on and if that were the case, there would be no need to tell them. She could get past it on her own and she'd be great. She didn't want to appear weak. She cried silently to herself in the bathroom a lot. She absolutely hated nighttime.

2 more days later and Mirabel hoped things would start to get better, but they didn't. They got worse. She still hated nighttime and she was so sad for no reason. She wasn't alone that much due to the amount of people living in Casita and people wanting to help with the two newborns, but every once in a while, she'd by herself with her newborn babies and she hated it. She wanted to tell people to stay with her, but she felt bad to do that. Everyone had their duties that couldn't be neglected. Besides, she was never alone for long. At most, she'd be by herself for 30 minutes before someone came home.

At dinner that evening, Julieta was watching Mirabel. She was picking at her food and not talking to anyone around her. She was smiling, but Julieta recognized that look in her eyes. She knew what it meant. It was the same look she had after Rosa was born. When dinner was finished, Mirabel went up to her room and closed the door. Julieta watched her go with sadness. Max was in the kitchen and helping clean up. She pulled him aside. "How has Mirabel seemed to you the past couple of days?"

"Uh…I mean, she seems fine. She looks really tired, but the babies have been getting up a lot in the night. Why do you ask?" She just gave him a look and he suddenly had a knowing feeling wash over him. "Wait…she's not tired…is she?" He started thinking back to how she had been acting the last several days. Her smile was the same, but her eyes looked different. He'd ask her how she was and she'd say she was fine. He thought it was the tiredness. He hated he didn't know she was actually sad and he felt horrible for her.

Julieta shook her head. "No. She's not."

Max ran his hands through his hair. He felt like he had failed his wife. "What do we do?"

"Come with me."

Max turned to see Isabela holding a sleeping Isaiah, Luisa holding a sleeping Ivan, and saw Rosa playing with Mateo. The kids were good, so he looked at Julieta and nodded. They left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

Mirabel was sitting on her bed. She was breathing heavily and just staring at the floor. It clearly wasn't going to get better. Each day was getting worse. She hit rock bottom last time and that was the last thing she wanted. She was embarrassed about it, but she had to keep her babies safe. She was able to control herself last time and not act on the intrusive thought, but she didn't know if she'd be able to control herself again if she had another intrusive thought. She couldn't take that chance.

She stood up and as soon as she did, her door opened and in walked Julieta and Max. "Tell them." she told herself. "Tell them." But she was unable to find her voice. She stood there frozen in place. Thankfully, her mom spoke up. "Mirabel," she said as she stepped forward. "You're not okay, are you?"

She took shaky breathes and wrapped her arms around herself. She slowly shook her head. The tears started flowing and she was sobbing and shaking. All of the feelings she had been keeping in came out. She was about to collapse to the ground, but Max stepped up and wrapped her in his arms. She put her arms around him tightly and cried in his chest.

Max was absolutely heartbroken. His wife had been suffering and he had no idea. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better, so he just held her as she cried. They just stood there as he very gently swayed back and forth.

After several minutes of this, she pulled away and sat down on the bed. Max sat on one side of her while her mom set on the other side. "How long have you felt like this?" asked Julieta, running her hands through Mirabel's hair.

"Just a few days. I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I wanted to, but I kept hoping it would get better. I was just about to come downstairs and tell someone when you both walked in here." She looked at Max. "How did you know?"

"I didn't know." he said sadly. "Your mom is the one who noticed it. I just thought you were tired. I'm so sorry, mi amor. I wish I had noticed it."

Before Mirabel could say anything, Julieta said, "Max, it's not your fault. I didn't notice it last time. I only recognized it now, because of last time." She looked at Mirabel. "I can see it in your eyes, darling. Now, please be honest with us. Last time, you described it as drowning and wanting to scream for help. Is it like that now?"

"No." she said shaking her head and that was the truth. "I'm just sad. But the sadness has gotten worse, so I know it would've turned into that if I didn't say something. It started with the panicky feeling when I went to bed a few days ago and it's just escalated from there. Max, you've been wonderful at helping me with the boys during the night, but I'm not sleeping. Even if they are asleep, I will most likely be awake. It's just…sitting there…with you sleeping, Isaiah asleep, Ivan asleep, and Rosa asleep in the other room…I feel so alone." She wiped her cheeks.

"Babe, wake me up." he said. "I'm serious. I don't care if I'm up all night with you. You don't deserve to feel this way and we won't let you go through this alone."

"That's right." said Julieta. She could not have asked for a better man for her daughter. He was truly wonderful. "Would you also like someone to always be home with you during the day?"

She was so embarrassed to ask for that. She could feel her cheeks turning red as she nodded. "Yeah." she said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Hey." said Max and she looked at him. "Don't you ever apologize for what you need."

"We made it work last time and we can make it work again." Julieta grabbed Mirabel's hand. "We've got you. You will get through this."

A few minutes later they all headed back downstairs. Everyone was scattered around, so Julieta and Max went around and explained the situation to everyone. They were all so saddened that she was still struggling with this, but they were all more than happy to pitch in and do whatever they could to help her. She apologized profusely, but they all told her they were happy to help anyway they could. Mirabel wanted to cry tears of joy at how willing her family was to help her, once again. She could not have asked for a better support system.


Unfortunately, postpartum depression is something that you're more likely to get if you've had it once, but I didn't want to make it as severe this time. Next chapter is the last one. I absolutely love the ending and I hope you do, too. Enjoy :)