Mirabel snuck out of bed the next morning. Max and Rosa were still sleeping as she quietly left her room. Mirabel walked downstairs and she saw Dolores in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee. It was only the 2 of them up at the moment. Dolores turned to look at Mirabel and gave her a sympathetic look. She heard everything from the night before. "Are you okay?"

Mirabel shook her head and walked up to Dolores and hugged her. When they pulled apart, Mirabel said, "I have imagined that conversation for 10 years. Still, I felt so unprepared and I don't feel like I said anything right."

"I think you said everything perfect." said Dolores. "This situation is the worst, but you have made the best of it. And Max is truly the best dad to all of his kids, including Rosa. Looking from the outside, you can't tell the difference in the way he treats her versus the twins and Elena. He loves all of them equally."

Mirabel smiled. "I think so too."

Just then, Julieta and Pepa walked in the kitchen. "Good morning, ladies." said Julieta.

Dolores said good morning, but Mirabel just smiled. Julieta could tell by the look in her daughter's eyes that something was wrong. "Mirabel. What's wrong?"

She sighed shakily. "Rosa is just too smart for her own good."

Julieta giggled. "True, but…why does that make you sad?"

"She had some questions…last night. Her main one being why doesn't she look like Max. And why was she in our wedding photo."

Julieta's eyes widened. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah. So…I told her everything."

"Everything?" asked Pepa.

"Everything. I told her about my relationship with…Javi. I told her that he didn't want a relationship with her. I told her I gave him multiple chances, yet he still continued to choose to not be involved." Her eyes filled with tears. "She had so many questions. I'm sure she'll still have more when she wakes up. I just…I never wanted her to experience this pain. That's why I kept it from her for so long. Still, I should have told her sooner."

"You did the best you could." said Julieta and she walked up to Mirabel and hugged her. Mirabel wrapped her arms around her mother and held on tight. Sometimes, she wished she didn't have to deal with all the responsibilities of being an adult and go back to being a child.

Mirabel was so scared that this would change things. The biggest thing she was scared of was that Rosa wouldn't see Max as her dad anymore knowing he wasn't her biological dad. But it didn't. She was still close to him like normal and still called him Papa. Rosa continued to have questions for a few days after that, but then stopped asking them. She could see it was painful for her mom and she didn't want to be the reason her mom was reliving it. Once Rosa stopped asking questions, things continued on like normal. No one talked about it again. So, Rosa kept her mouth shut.

5 years later

Rosa was 15 years old now. She had a great life. She had an amazing, loving family. Her family had a big loss when Abuela passed away when Rosa was 11. When she passed away, Mirabel became the head of the gift ceremonies. The first one she did after Abuela was very emotional and nerve-wracking, but she did a great job.

Max's grandparents also passed away within a year of each other when Rosa was 8 and then 9, his grandfather first. His grandmother got to meet Elena and she was so thrilled that she was named after her daughter. She died within a month. It was very hard for Max and Diego, but they got through it. Diego didn't live in Casita, but he did live in the Encanto. Max, Mirabel, and their kids visited him frequently. The kids loved their uncle and he loved them.

Casita was getting bigger and bigger. It had to in order to make room for the growing family.

Isabela and Luis had Mateo (17) and he had the power of super speed; Emelina (13) had control over the earth element and could make the mountains move and she could control her body temperature; and Victor (7) had the power of indestructability and could never be harmed.

Dolores and Mariano had Maria and Gabi (19) and Maria had her empathy power and Gabi had her telekinesis power; Carlos (13) had control over the fire element and temperature control; and Adriana (9) could produce force fields to protect people around her.

Luisa and Jose had identical twin girls, Carmen and Lorena (8). Carmen had manipulation of the water element and temperature control and Lorena could cause energy blasts. Their gift ceremonies were the first ones after Abuela passed away. Mirabel had extra pressure due to there being 2 of them, but it went great. Everyone thought it was so cool that there were 3 sets of twins in the family. So far, anyway. There could always be more.

Camilo and Valentina had Manuel (6) and he could make electricity, and Daniela (5) and she could make herself invisible.

Isaiah and Ivan were 12. Isaiah had super vision and could see the tiniest of objects from over a mile away. Ivan could manipulate the size of any object, making it big or small. Elena was 6 and could manipulate gravity.

Antonio and Genevieve had Andrea, but she was only 2 years old and there was no telling what her gift would be.

Rosa was close with everyone, but had a special bond with Emelina, Carlos, and Carmen due to the closeness of their gifts. The house was never quiet and that made it hard for Dolores, but she learned to adapt. As wild and crazy as it was, that's how fun it was.

Despite the good life, Rosa thought about her biological dad all the time. She hadn't spoken a word about him in 5 years. She didn't hold any resentment towards her parents for not telling her about him when she was 10, but she wished she had found out sooner. She still saw Max as her Papa. Even though she knew he wasn't her biological dad, the relationship was the same and they were still as close as ever. If anything, they became closer. She appreciated him so much for being a dad to her. She knew he didn't have to take on that responsibility when she was a baby, but he chose to. She loved him for it.

Rosa remembered her mom telling her that Dolores said she hadn't heard him in a long time. One night, she went to Dolores. "Can I ask you about something?" Rosa was very nervous about how this would go. In the same way Tio Bruno wasn't talked about much for 10 years, Javi hadn't been talked about at all in 5 years.

"Of course."

"Do you ever hear…" She paused for a moment, not knowing what to call him. Finally, she said, "My biological dad?"

Dolores was not expecting Rosa to say that. She was shocked to hear Rosa bring him up. Dolores took a deep breath and said, "Honestly…no. Most of the time, the town chatter kind of blends in together, but I can pick out voices of people I know. I used to be able to pick out his voice. I can't anymore."

"What about his parents or sister?"

"I never met them, so I wouldn't know their voices even if I did hear them."

Rosa nodded. Ever since she was 10, she thought about him frequently, but for the past few months, she'd been thinking about him almost daily. She just wanted to know more about him. She would have asked her mom, but she remembered the pain he caused her and didn't want to make her relive it again. "Do you know where he went?"

"No, I don't." Dolores eyed Rosa. "Why do you ask?"

"I just…I want to know more about him. I asked Mama lots of questions about him when I first found out about him, but I know he caused her so much pain. I stopped asking after that. But I still want to know about him. I mean, he's my dad. He's part of me. I wish I could know him." Dolores just looked at her with a sad expression. Rosa sighed and said, "I know he wanted nothing to do with me when I was little. Do you think if he saw me now…he'd want to get to know me?"

"Oh, Rosa…" She sighed. "I really don't know, honey."

Rosa whispered, "Can you do me a big favor?"

"What is it?"

"You know all of the secrets. Do you think you can find out for me…where he went?"

Dolores just kind of stared at Rosa, not knowing how to answer her. She wanted to help her, but she also didn't want her to get hurt. That man caused Mirabel enough pain and she didn't deserve it. Rosa most definitely didn't deserve it either. "Rosa, I can already see where this is going." She stepped a little closer. "I don't know if that's such a good idea and I guarantee your mother wouldn't think it's a good idea. I would hate for you to find him and then for him to shut you out."

"Dolores, you can't understand this. You know where you came from. Even if he does shut me out, at least I would know something about him. At least I could…I don't know, see his face. And maybe he could answer a few questions for me. Maybe he could tell me why he left. And maybe…he might change his mind." She shrugged. "I might could have some kind of relationship with him."

"I would love that for you. Really, I would. But…I think you're just setting yourself up for disappointment."

"Could you please just see if you can find out where he went? I'm not saying I'm going to go find him. At least, not right now. I just want to know where he is. Surely there is someone in town who knows where he went." She got a little closer to Dolores. "Please. I'm begging of you. Help me."

This was the last thing Dolores wanted to do. She knew Mirabel would be furious if she found out. Dolores sighed and said, "Okay. I'll help you. But on one condition."

Rosa groaned. "What?"

"You tell your mom about this. I will not lie to her and I won't allow you to lie to her."

"Why can't we just keep this between us for now?"

"Rosa," said Dolores sternly. "Please believe me when I tell you that I'm on your side. I want to make you happy. But you need to get your mama on board with it before I try to figure out where he is. And if she says no, I'm not doing it." Dolores could already hear Mirabel tell her how wrong it was to do this.

Rosa rolled her eyes. "Fine," She turned and walked away. "That didn't go as planned." She whispered to herself.

"Heard that!" called out Dolores.

It took several days for Rosa to work up the courage to talk to her mom about it. Mirabel was sorting through laundry and Rosa walked in on her. She took a deep breath and walked up to her. "Hi Mama."

"Hi, darling." she said, not taking her eyes off of the current chore at hand. Mirabel said jokingly, "Did you come to help me?"

"I mean, I can." She thought maybe if she helped her, it would be easier to convince her of the thing she wanted.

She stayed there and helped for a solid 5 minutes and was quiet the whole time. Mirabel eyed Rosa. She knew something was up. Rosa never stopped to help her like this. She would do her own laundry a lot of the time, but this was still odd behavior. Mirabel put a piece of clothes down and turned to her daughter. "Okay. What do you want?"

Rosa's heart started pounding faster. "What are you talking about?"

"Rosa. I know you. You never do this and you're being extremely quiet. Too quiet. What's going on?"

Rosa took a deep breath. "You're going to hate me for asking. And you'll just say no."

"I could never hate you. Also, you never know if you don't ask."

Rosa was silent for a moment before speaking. "I want Dolores to do something for me. I've already talked to her about it and she agreed she'd help me, but only if you agree to it."

Mirabel was confused. "Okay? What do you want her to do?"

"I want her to find out where…um…my biological dad went."

Mirabel blinked a couple of times, sighing heavily. She turned back to the laundry. "You were right. You did know I'd say no."

"But Mama, please don't just say no right away." said Rosa quickly. "I just want to know where he is. I'm not saying I want to go visit him or anything."

"Well, why else would you want to know where he is?"

Rosa was silent. She didn't know how to answer that. "I don't know." she muttered.

"Rosa," started off Mirabel. "I know that you want to know who he is. Trust me, I get it. I wanted him to be in your life. I tried everything to get him to be in your life. But I just couldn't convince him." She smiled slightly. "I didn't have to convince Papa to be in your life. I was scared that he wouldn't like me anymore when I told him I had a daughter, but it wasn't like that all. He chose you, Rosa. That is so much more than your biological dad can say."

"You know I love Papa and he is the best dad in the world. But…I just…I want to know where I come from. Can you understand that?"

Mirabel nodded. "Yes. I just…" She groaned and ran her hands over her face, under her glasses. "I don't want you to get hurt. I'm so scared you're going to find him and be disappointed."

"Even if he shuts me out, at least I'd know."

Mirabel had this image in her head. It was of Rosa standing in front of Javi, sort of the same way Mirabel stood in front of him when she told him she was pregnant. He literally shut the door in her face. Even after knowing his child was born and Isabela went to tell him he still had a chance to be involved, he still told her he didn't want a relationship with her and shut the door in her face, too. Then, when Rosa was 3, he told Mirabel it was too late. Rosa was 15 now. If he thought 3 was too late, he'd most definitely think 15 was too late. Mirabel could see him slamming the door in her sweet daughter's face. She refused to let her daughter go through that. "No, Rosa. I won't let you do it. He literally shut the door in my face when I told him I was pregnant and then did the same to Tia Isa after you were born."

"That was over 15 years ago, Mom!" said Rosa loudly. "You need to get past that and accept the fact that maybe he has changed. Did that thought ever cross your mind?"

"Rosa," said Mirabel, now angry. "Don't you dare go there with that. I have done nothing but protect you and be a parent to you the past 15 years while he hasn't ever even met you once! People like him don't change. Believe me, I thought I could change him. I thought I could convince him to be a dad. But nothing I said or did changed his mind. He walked out on us and I won't allow you to go try and find him."

Rosa was so angry. She hoped so badly that her mom would at least consider it, but she just completely shut her down. She wasn't going to give up yet though. "Mama, please. Please! Please let Dolores just try to find him. Please! It could take her a long time, so it's not like I would go visit him tomorrow. You're the one who didn't even tell me about him until I was 10 years old. You're the one who lied to me for so many years. How can you be mad at me for wanting to find the man that gave me life?"

"You're treading on thin ice." said Mirabel sternly. "I recommend you keep your mouth shut before you get yourself grounded. I am sorry for not telling you about him sooner, but I did it to protect you."

Rosa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You only did it to protect yourself."

Mirabel could not believe the words coming out of her daughter's mouth. Despite being a teenager and them having fights before, she had never said something as harsh as this before. "Go to your room and don't come out until it's dinner time. We're done talking about this."

Rosa huffed and ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Mirabel continued doing the laundry, wondering what in the world she was going to do about her daughter.