Summary:

Isabela and Dolores listen to Bruno's bedtime story.

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Written in Bruno's POV.

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"We have some entertainment prepared for you," Félix announces at the table after dinner. "Please, this way to the living room." The Álvarezes follow Félix and the rest of the family, save for myself, Julieta, and my nieces, out to the living room. Julieta and I are left behind doing cleanup with Casita's help. Isabela and Dolores sit quietly in the corner, looking very sleepy.

"Ay, I'll need to put these kids to bed, it's getting past their bedtime." Julieta begins as we put away the last of the dishes, but I step in. This is my chance to escape. "No need to fret, hermana, I'll take Isa and Dolores to the nursery." My nieces begin to pout and try to shake themselves awake.

"I want to hear Papá's piano playing!" Isabela starts throwing a tantrum. Julieta frowns. Thankfully Mamá is no longer in the room. She's been too busy making small talk with Señor Mauricio and Señora Elena during dinner.

"Me too, me too." Dolores chimes after her prima.

I make a mock gasp like I'm offended. "Ay, you don't want to spend some time with your Tío Bruno? I guess you're both too old for bedtime stories, no?"

Their eyes grow wide and they immediately reel themselves in. "No! No! We're not too old for bedtime stories, Tío Bruno!" I laugh. It gets them every time.

"Well, let's get you both to bed then. So what'll it be tonight?" I say as I lead the girls upstairs, both of them clinging to my sides and chatting excitedly. Julieta just gives me an amused smile. "Don't take too long, okay, Bruno?" She has her hands on her hips as she says it.

"I'll be down as soon as I get these dos chicas adorables settled in," I promise, unable to break away from Julieta's knowing look. She knows that I'm planning to hide away in my room. ¡Maldita sea! Guess I'll have to make an appearance then.

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"Tío," Dolores says as I tuck her and Isabela in. "Prima Isa and I decided we want a brand new story tonight."

"Why? Are you getting bored with my stories about Juancito's adventures?" I ask, referencing the story I made up for my nieces about a boy who could fly. Dolores shakes her head at me. "No Tío, but we want a cute story tonight."

I look confused for a moment before Isabela offers more. "Si, Tío, we want a love story!"

I'm taken aback by these two little girls. They're not even five yet. "Wh-why would you want a love story? Aren't you both too young for that?"

"Please, Tío," Isabela practically begs me. "Aren't fairy tales all love stories?"

"Not all of them!" They both pout and give me their best puppy dog eyes. I sigh. "Fine, a love story tonight then." They squeal so loudly that I have to calm them down enough to begin.

"I call this one, Mi Amor Fluye Como Un Río." I begin, waving my fingers as I weave them the tale.

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Long ago, there once was a beautiful girl named Maria who lived in a faraway town. She was so beautiful that news of her beauty spread far and wide. Every man from her village, even those from other towns, tried to win her heart, but she always turned all of them away.

"Why would she turn those men away?" Isabela asks. I raise a finger to my lips and wink at my nieces. "Hold on, I'm already getting to that."

Maria never liked any of the men, for they only liked her for her beauty, and nothing more.

"That's so sad," Dolores says. "Will she meet someone who loves her for her, Tio Bruno?" They're listening intently to every word I say, and I smile as I continue.

She runs away to the river one morning, crying, "I wish someone would just see me for me." Maria's surprised when she hears a voice call out to her. "I can grant your wish, my dear girl." To her amazement, a ninfa de río appears before her and wipes her tears away.

"How can it be?" Maria asks the spirit, who guides her to its waters. "Wash all your sorrows in my river. Tomorrow, you will be a changed woman." Maria did as she was told, and went home. The next day, as the spirit foretold, everything changed.

"What changed? What changed?" My nieces are bouncing up and down their beds, eager to hear more.

She looked in the mirror and no longer saw her once-beautiful face. Her eyes were not symmetrical, her nose a bit larger, and her teeth now crooked. She could barely recognize herself, but for the first time in forever, she smiled at the face in the mirror. She was now a different girl. She thought about starting a new life somewhere else where no one knows her, and so she moved away from her old town and took a new name.

"She became ugly?" Isabela gasps. "How will she even find love?" I shake my head at her, gently chiding. "Ay, mi flor pequeña, there's more to a person than meets the eye. You'll see."

People in the new town did not pay much mind to her in the beginning, steering clear for they were initially repelled by her looks. This did not deter Maria, now calling herself Lua, from being kind and generous to everyone, especially those who needed her help. This, in turn, helped make the townsfolk warm up to her and befriend her, letting them get to know who she was inside. While she was happy that people liked her for her personality, she started to feel lonely, for she was still alone. This would all change one day when on her way home she encountered some thugs who decided to pick a fight with her.

"Oh look who we have here," one of the men taunts her and grabs her hand. "Give us your money, Lua la fea." Maria tries to break herself free from the man's rough grasp when someone steps in to help her.

"Óye! What are you doing, raising your hand at a lady?" A young man yells at the thug. Maria gasps in shock as the thug punches the man, knocking him to the ground. Thankfully the villagers notice the commotion and call the guards, who arrest the thug and lead him away. She quickly goes to the man's side to help him up. "Are you okay?" she asks, all worried. "I'm so sorry this happened."

The young man shakes his head at her and smiles, even if his face was swollen, he still looked kind. "I'm alright. But you're not hurt, are you, Señorita Maria?"

Maria's eyes grow wide as she stares at the man. No one in town knows her true identity. She immediately shakes her head. "I'm…sorry, you've got the wrong girl." She calls to one of the other villagers who helped disperse the fight to assist the man and makes a hasty exit.

"Oh, he knows! He knows!" Dolores claps her hands. "Continue, Tio Bruno!"

The young man's name was Carlos, and he knew that the woman they called Lua was, indeed, Maria. He had been looking for her all this time, ever since she had left their hometown after her transformation. He had a secret of his own that he has been dying to tell her: that he's been in love with her for a long time, but had never dared to let her know.

The following day he goes to her house and asks for her hand in marriage. "Señorita, I know that you are Maria. Will you…marry me?" Maria is surprised, still insisting that Carlos has the wrong woman when he continues. "How could I be wrong, mi amor, when I've always seen you for more than what you look like?"

Maria's eyes start to fill with tears as Carlos confesses his love for her. "People had fallen in love with you for your beauty, but I have fallen in love with your heart. I had been looking for you all this time, ever since you left our town. I never had the courage to tell you my true feelings. I hope I'm not too late."

Maria's tears fall from her face, and something magical happens. Carlos holds her in an embrace, and she sobs into his shirt. When she calms down and they come face to face, he smiles at her with so much love in his eyes. "Te Amo, Maria," he says as he leads her to look at herself in the mirror. "You're always beautiful to me, inside and out."

And for the first time in a long time, she smiles at her reflection with the man who truly loved her, finally happy.

"The end." I finish my story, looking over at my nieces who are now finally starting to close their eyes.

"Tio, did she become beautiful again?" Isabela yawns as I blow out the candle on their bedside table.

"Hm, maybe."

"Not fair, Tio Bruno," Dolores says as she and Isabela drift off to sleep.

"Buenas noches y dulces sueños, mis pequeñas." I whisper to them as I close the door.

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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):

Prima- cousin (feminine)
Dos chicas adorables- two lovely girls
Maldita sea- Damn it
Mi amor fluye como un río- My love flows like a river. Wow, Bruno, not so subtle, are we?
Ninfa de río- river nymph
Mi flor pequeña- my little flower
La fea- the ugly. Funnily enough I was thinking of Betty La Fea (the US version Ugly Betty (starring America Ferrera) and the Philippine version I love Betty La Fea (starring Bea Alonzo)) when I was writing this down. Imagine my surprise when I learn the original Betty is Colombian (Yo soy Betty, la fea). The more you know!
Te Amo- I love you
Buenas noches y dulces sueños, mis pequeñas- Good night and sweet dreams, my little ones