Chapter 7:

(Felix POV)

- one month later -

I never liked my birthday. It wasn't a secret. It wasn't a lie. I just never liked it. I don't remember having a good birthday in the last 16 years and I wasn't sure I was going to have one now. But, today I let myself hope a little bit. All of my friends, the closest thing I had to a birthday, convinced me to take the day off. They were going to take the day off too to the extent that they could.

I let myself sleep in today and when I went into town I saw Augustin and Julieta waiting for me, "Bruno is going to meet us there." Julieta said and I nodded my head. I wondered where Pepa was. She was the one who was most insistent that I take the day off and be around today. We walked over to the river where sure enough Bruno was waiting. I had no idea what we were doing today but, it was already better than half the birthdays I had in town before. Still I needed to ask, "Where is Pepa?" Julieta and Bruno shared a look before looking back at me, "She is just running late today." I nodded my head and we all sat down. Julieta had packed a feast and I was going to enjoy the food.

(Pepa POV)

I had to get everything ready for today. I knew that Felix took the day off for his birthday and he wanted to keep it to all our friends but I had to finish getting his present. Over the past month I had been asking around town for any information on Felix's parents. I had been piecing everything together and just needed to talk to Señora Santiago for the last piece of the puzzle.

I made my way through town to the Santiago's house. It was one of the more impressive ones in town. I knocked on the door and Hernando answered, "Pepa what are you doing here?" I smiled, "Hi Hernando. I'm actually here to talk to your Mama is she in?" He nodded his head, "Yeah. I will go get her for you." He said as he closed the door leaving me outside. I waited for a few more minutes before Señora Santiago met me outside, "To what do I owe the pleasure Señorita Madrigal?" He asked.

I took out the notebook where I had been writing everything down about Felix's parents. "I wanted to ask you about Felix. He was found in your family cart, right?" She nodded her head, "Yes he was. We would have kept him too but we had a baby at home and with everything that needed to be built within town it just wasn't going to work." I looked her in the eye, "Do you have any idea who his parents were?" She sucked in a breath and I looked up at her, "Señora." She sighed, "Look everyone in town thinks that Felix is great, he has lived with many of us for a little bit but, none of us talk about his parents." I nodded my head, "I know, but I am asking you if you have any idea who his parents were?" She nodded his head, "I don't know who his Papa is but, I have an idea about his Mama."

I looked at her waiting for her to expand on the thought and she nodded his head, "The night when we were forced out of our village a woman had come running to our village. She was banging on all the doors saying that people were coming and that we needed to go. No one knew what was going on but, she was so frantic but I also saw that she was holding a bundle. We heard the horses coming though. We all packed up as quickly as possible and went into the jungle but, as you know the men found us. As we were leaving houses were already being set on fire. Our windows were breaking. When the mountain formed around Encanto we looked to see who had made it. That woman was nowhere to be found but, Felix was in our cart." "Why don't you talk about her then?" I asked. She shook her head, "That is enough." I sighed, "Thank you for letting me know." I went to get up to leave but he looked me in the eye, "There are reasons we don't talk about this. Be careful." I nodded my head again and went to go meet up with everyone by the river.

I was leaving when I heard Hernando, "Pepa where are you going?" I smiled, "Oh, I'm meeting with my siblings and a few friends for a birthday thing." He smirked, "I love birthdays why don't I join you?" I shook my head, "I'm sorry but it is a small thing. I hope you understand." He nodded his head, "Of course I will see you around." He planted a kiss on my forehead and I made my way into town.

(Felix POV)

The sky had been overcast for a while, like Pepa was fighting a pretty strong emotion and was somehow holding out. I looked back at Julieta and Bruno, "Where did you say Pepa was?" The looked at each other when I heard a rustling noise and I saw Pepa making her way over. "I'm so sorry I'm late." I smiled up at her and looked at the sky, "Are you alright?" She nodded her head, "Yeah of course I am fine." I didn't believe it I don't think anyone did but none of us choose to dwell on it. The skies cleared soon enough as a comfortable breeze was blowing.

It was a lot of fun being away from the world today. Maybe I didn't totally hate my birthday after all. Soon it was getting late and we all had to head back to reality. Pepa pulled me aside though and whispered, "Here." She handed me a notebook and I looked up at her, "What is all of this?" She smiled, "Just read it and before you asked, I verified everything with a few different families in town." I nodded my head and we went into town.

We were walking on the path when we heard music playing. As we went further into town my eyes widened in horror as I saw what looked like a festival, but there was a banner that said 'Happy Birthday!' I looked over at everyone and they seemed as shocked as I was. Suddenly Hernando made his way through the crowd and over to us. He wrapped an arm around Pepa, "Hernando, what is all this?" She whispered, but he ignored her. "Pepa told me it was someone's birthday today and the more I thought about it the more I realized it couldn't be anyone other than the town's little orphan boy Felix. Naturally a few friends of mine figured we'd help you all out in celebrating."

I looked over at everyone before I dipped back and went back along the river. I would take the long way home and avoid town. "Felix," I heard someone calling out. "Felix, I swear I didn't tell him to do this," Pepa said standing behind me. I turned to face her. I wanted to yell at her for mentioning this to Hernando. I wanted to scream how all of them knew that I didn't want to celebrate this and none of them mentioned it to anyone else. I wanted to say a lot of things about how Hernando knew I hated this day and how I didn't want to celebrate. I wanted to tell her how he was using this and other things to hurt me.

I wanted to but, I didn't say any of that.

The moment I looked in her eyes I knew I wasn't going to say any of that. I could see the cloud that was only over her head and how she was trying not to cry as she ran her fingers through her braid. I sighed, "Pepa, I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at any of our friends, but I'm going to go back to my shack." I turned to leave when she said, "Hernando may have thrown the party, but the people in town are there for you." I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were not. At least not the way she thought that they were. "Thanks for today Pepa it was fun, tell the others I'll see them tomorrow" I said not turning back to face her again. I had a feeling she would be able to convince me to go back to the party and that would mean watching her and Hernando together and I couldn't do that today.

(Pepa POV)

I felt so bad as I watched Felix walking outside of town. I couldn't believe that Hernando would do this. Why would he do this? I told him it was a small group thing. I went into town and found Hernando and I pulled him to the side, "What is wrong with you?" He shrugged, "What did Felix not like his surprise party? I was just trying to be nice." I balled up my fist, "I told you that this was a small group thing when you asked to come." He pointed over my head, "Pepa you're thundering." I let out a harsh breath, "I wonder why? Maybe because my boyfriend didn't listen to me." He brushed it off, "If Felix had a problem with this..." "I'm not talking about him right now. I have a problem with this." "Pepa, we need to head home," I heard Julieta say. I looked back at her nodding my head before turning back to Hernando, "I am not happy about his."

(Felix POV)

A few hours went by and I heard a knock on my door. I opened it up and saw that it was Augustin, "Are you finally moving in?" I asked he shook his head, "No, but I figured you might need to talk after what happened in town." I nodded my head, "Yeah come in." He came over and sat down on the couch, "So how was the party?" I asked. He smirked, "Shut down due to rain not long after you left." I turned to face him, "Pepa isn't..." He shook his head, "She wasn't mad at you." "Hernando?" I asked and he nodded his head, "Big time." I looked at the weather, "Then you might need to spend the night anyway." He shrugged, "It's calming down I should be ok." I sighed, "One day I will get you to move in with me." He nodded his head, "You probably will."