"Camilo, I've been looking for you. Oh, hi Alexandra. You two getting to know each other?" Mirabel says as she walks up to him and Alexandra. Camilo gets back to his laid-back self and Alexandra can see that Mirabel probably has her hands full because of her fast breathing.
"Yeah, what did you need?"
"The Gonzales need help with a babysitter for a few hours, think you could take it?" Mirabel asks, and Alexandra instantly brightens up.
"Oh how sweet, I love children!" she says in awe without even thinking. Once she realises it, she gathers herself and steps back. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later then, bye." she says but Camilo interrupts her before she is able to walk away.
"Maybe I can take Alexandra with me? If they are staying a while she might as well get to know some of us." he says with his relaxed attitude.
"Oh, Camilo you don't have to do that. I don't want to trespass."
"The Gonzales have six children, even for me that is a lot." he says and Mirabel nods in affirmation and shrugs. "True. Well, if you're okay with working a little we would really appreciate it." she turns to Alexandra who smiles big.
"Oh of course! You have been kind enough to let us borrow a place during our visit, this is the least I could do."
She and Camilo starts walking but Mirabel grabs his arm and speaks with a low voice.
"You are in charge of her, Camilo. And keep an eye on her, she's still a foreign stranger."
"Yeah, sure." he replies and runs up to Alexandra. Mirabel looks after them with a little concerned look, still deciding if they are to be trusted or not.
"Guess who's here!" The door slams open when Camilo enters the house of the Gonzales, and immediately six kids run up to him. They start cheering him and hugging him as tight as they can.
"Camilo!"
"You're here!"
"Yeah!"
"Who's that?" says one of the kids and points at Alexandra.
*Gasps!* "She's the foreigner!" another yells in a mixture of excitement and fear. Camilo puts his hand out as to invite Alexandra into the house. She hesitates before entering but does so slowly and gives off an insecure smile.
"Kids, this is Alexandra. Her family is traveling and has gotten lost." Camilo says with humour in his voice, and she looks at him as if to say "Really?". Camilo just shrugs. This makes the kids instantly less nervous.
"Lost?" one of the four boys says, followed by one of his sisters. "You can't read maps?"
That one was like a slight punch to Alexandra.
"Something like that…" she says between her teeth. Then, the kids start yelling again.
"Where are you from?"
"How did you get here?"
"Tell us stories!"
For each question, the kids get closer and closer, and Alexandra looks at all of them a little nervous.
"Oh, okay… if everyone is up for that." she smiles at them.
"Yes!" everyone yells and starts running everywhere in the room as if they had been drinking loads of coffee. Camilo freaks out when the children start to climb on chairs and tables, almost breaking the family's vases. He shapeshifts into a child himself when needing to be agile and as soon as he has to catch something he shapeshifts into a taller man. Alexandra is amazed by how seemingly he shifts like that. Suddenly Alexandra notices one of the girls standing beside her that is just staring at her, and she jerks a little.
"Oh, hi there." she bends down to the child's level. "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Carina." the little girl says and smiles, which Alexandra replies with another smile.
"Hello Carina, I am Alexandra."
The girl keeps on staring but has become more shy with it. "You have really pretty eyes." she says innocently, and Alexandra's smile widens. "Thank you, you are so kind!"
"Come on! You were gonna tell us stories!"
"Yeah!" The children run to her and jump on the spot they're standing at.
"Oh, right. Camilo, maybe you could help me?" she says, and Camilo looks confused at her.
"With what?"
"How about you act as the people I meet?" she says and nods her head to show him to get over there.
"Oh, you mean like a play?" He tries to squeeze between the children and even has to jump slightly to get all the way to Alexandra. "Yeah, sure." she replies as he gets to her.
"Alright. Time to put my incredible acting skills to work." he says and cracks his fingers as to warm up. Alexandra rolls her eyes and smiles.
"Okay children, form a half circle and widen your imagination." she says with the most storytelling voice she could come up with.
