Chapter 7

9:30pm

As soon as Mirabel climbed back inside and entered the second story hallway, Antonio ran up and grabbed Mirabel's hand. "There you are! I get to show you my room now! You didn't see it last night and you promised over dinner you would come see it."

"I did, and I am," Mirabel said with a grin. "Let's go!"

After getting a full tour of Antonio's room, including the bathroom and Antonio pointing out all the animals in the wallpaper, they flopped down on his new bed together, still giggling and smiling, and cuddled up like they had in the past in the Nursery. "This is everything I wanted," Antonio whispered, looking into Mirabel's eyes with adoration. "I have a new room that's my size, I have my Gift back, I have you, and you've got a Gift and a room. Camilo is nice to me now, and Mamá takes me to work with her. Dolores doesn't have to hear everything anymore, Isabela is nicer, and Abuela doesn't bully you anymore. And Tío Bruno didn't go away."

Mirabel hugged on him. His list of things to be happy about was exactly what she'd needed to hear in this moment. "You're right. Things are pretty great right now. And no matter what, we're besties, right?"

"Right," he said fiercely, hugging her tightly in return.

Except, Mirabel realized, 'besties' didn't describe their relationship or the feelings she was feeling. This was something deeper. When she thought back on the whole situation surrounding Antonio's birth, she had to ask herself, What did I expect?

Mirabel wasn't allowed to be there when Tía Pepa gave birth because "everything had to be perfect" and she would "only be in the way". The former statement was from Abuela and the latter from Isabela. Her papá gave her the lame excuse that being around Tía Pepa would be dangerous and they were only trying to protect her. Her mamá gave her the job of preparing the nursery, even though Casita had basically already done that by materializing a crib, a blanket, a stuffed bear, and a mobile across the room from Mirabel's bed. Mirabel folded and refolded the blanket, arranged the stuffed bear several times, touched the mobile to set it spinning, and sighed.

Then she plopped down on her bed. She had to wait so long for the baby that she fell asleep. Her father gently shaking her shoulder woke her. Everyone was entering the room, clustered around an exhausted Tía Pepa. Pepa laid the baby down in the crib.

Mamá looked over at her. "Would you like to come meet the baby?" she whispered.

Mirabel rubbed the sleep from her eyes, got out of bed, and peered in the crib. A gorgeous, plump baby with chocolate skin and a downy dusting of dark fuzz on his scalp lay swaddled in the crib. Mirabel's irritation at being left out up to now evaporated. She was instantly fascinated.

"His name is Antonio," Tía Pepa whispered. Casitabrought her tía the rocking chair, and she collapsed backwards into it. She was asleep within moments.

Baby Antonio woke up every two or three hours, and Tía Pepa fed him from her breast each time. Mirabel couldn't really see in the dim light very well, and she was trying to sleep, but there was something so beautiful and mysterious about it that it reminded her of the depictions in the church of Mother Mary with baby Jesus Christ. Mirabel had never thought about motherhood before, but now it seemed magical and sacred.

Less magical and sacred was the uncontrollable pee and poop baby Antonio produced.

"Wow," Mirabel said. "Did my diapers stink this much?"

"All babies stink equally," Pepa muttered.

Casitabrought over the diaper hamper as Pepa discarded another diaper for extreme laundering. Mirabel handed her aunt a fresh one. Pepa took the fresh diaper in one hand and cleaned Antonio up with the other hand, using a wet, soapy towel. She tossed the wet towel and used a soft, dry towel and corn starch to dry the baby. Then she showed Mirabel how to tie the new cloth diaper.

Antonio cooed and kicked his feet.

"When will he start talking?" Mirabel asked.

"Oh, that won't be for months," Pepa said.

Mirabel frowned. "Then how will we know what he wants?"

"We won't."

"Then how do we know what he likes?"

"We don't."

"Then –"

"Please, Mirabel. I'm tired."

Pepa retreated to the bed Casitahad made for her on the other side of the Nursery and slept.

Camilo stumbled into the Nursery, herded by Casita. "What?" He saw his sleeping mother. "Oh." Then he walked up to the changing table where Antonio still was. "What do you want me to do?" he asked Casita.

Mirabel listened to Casita'sexplanation. "Casitasays you need to change into your Mamá and watch Antonio."

Camilo looked horrified. "But I'm just a kid!"

"I'll help. Your Mamá showed me how to change a diaper." Mirabel tickled Antonio's tummy and made him giggle. "Besides, Casita says it's only for an hour. He just lies here. How hard could it be?"

Camilo groaned, transformed into Pepa, and picked Antonio up. His expression immediately softened. "Oh, all right." He rocked Antonio gently and walked around the room, then sat down in the rocking chair and sang a lullaby to Antonio that Pepa had sung for him when he was little.

Mirabel helped Camilo burp Antonio, having seen Pepa do that, too.

When Tía Pepa woke up, Camilo reaped the rewards of being helpful, and that smoothed over his ruffled feathers about being asked to play his own mamá for his baby brother.

"I promise this won't become a regular thing," Tía Pepa told him, kissing his forehead. "Your tía would be watching Antonio right now, but she is busy in town delivering another baby. I gave birth very close to another woman's due date. I would have asked Dolores to do it, but she is busy helping with the birth, too. Isabela is in a town meeting with your Abuela, and Luisa is helping with the construction of a new barn. So it really is just the three of us." As an unspoken rule, Mirabel's papa couldn't be trusted with anything as delicate and important as a baby. Tío Félix was downstairs cooking for everyone so that Mamá didn't have to do that when she got home from delivering the baby.

xxx

For a little while, everything was okay. Camilo reluctantly let himself get roped into watching his baby brother for an hour or two a day. Mirabel did her share. Isabela babysat, and so did Dolores, so that Tía Pepa could get some sleep. Mamá was busy during the day and tired during the night, but she always helped Pepa bathe Antonio and put Antonio to bed in the evenings. Tio Félix split the night checks with his wife so that she didn't have to do it all alone. Even Abuela helped, although she said she didn't have the energy to do it every day.

Three weeks after Antonio was born, Mirabel had one of the scariest experiences of her life up to that point.

She woke with a groan to the sound of Antonio awake and fussing fitfully.

The Nursery door opened and closed, and a tall, slim figure hurried over to the crib. "Toñito," Tía Pepa's voice whispered. "It's okay. Mamá's here."

Mirabel relaxed and rolled onto her side, intent on going back to sleep. Antonio's fussing turned to unhappy squeals. She rolled back over to face Tía Pepa and the crib and put her glasses on. If I'm awake, I at least want to see. She sat up with a yawn. "Do you need help changing his diaper?"

Tía Pepa was rocking Antonio in her arms. "I already checked. He's dry. Thank you. You can go back to sleep."

Antonio was apparently against being comforted in this way. His insistent cries became more urgent.

Tía Pepa stopped rocking him and looked at him with a horrified expression of confusion. "Tonito, it's okay. It's okay."

He let out a wail.

Mirabel flinched. "Maybe I can go get Mamá?"

"I can handle this!" A raincloud appeared over Tía Pepa's head. Her harsh tone set Antonio off to crying. "No, no, no…" The cloud swirled and let loose a steady downpour all over her and Antonio. As soon as the rain touched Antonio, he started bawling and squirming.

"Tía!" Mirabel gasped.

"Go back to sleep!" Tía Pepa snapped.

Mirabel flinched, but she was also angry at the unfair order. In a thunder storm? Yeah, right! She sat on her bed, torn between staying and running out to get Tio Félix. "Just…calm down."

Tía Pepa screamed at her, "You try having a baby!"

Antonio's wailing got louder and louder, and with each cry, Tía Pepa's storm around the two of them got worse. Clouds multiplied, wind gusted, and her storm was whipping around the entire Nursery, getting everything wet – including Mirabel. "Why won't you calm down?" Tía Pepa yelled. Antonio let out ear-splitting screams. The rain turned freezing cold, and there were tiny flecks of hail mixed in.

With horrified clarity, Mirabel realized that Antonio could die. He's just a baby! Mamá said to keep him warm! "Tía! Stop!" Mirabel fought through the shrieking wind and rain, flinching and gasping at the hard pellets of rain and hail pummeling her, and grabbed Antonio out of her Tía's arms. She tucked Antonio against her chest and ran out of the room, Casita flinging the door open for her and catching her with helping floorboards when a gust hit her back and sent her stumbling. Antonio was still wailing and crying. He was freezing cold in Mirabel's arms. "Tio Félix! Mamá!"

There was no answer.

She couldn't wait for them. She ran to the kitchen, grabbed an emergency arepa from the plate covered with the towel, and broke off a piece. Antonio was too young for solid food, so she did the only thing she could think of and mashed the piece of arepa up into a glass of water. Getting wet didn't affect the magic in the food. She'd already found that out. "Come on, Antonio, drink." She set him on the countertop as he continued to squirm and wail, kicking his tiny feet, his fists closed tight, and supported his head, trying to get him to drink without him choking on the water.

She grabbed him up quickly, setting the water aside, when he choked anyway, and patted him on the back urgently. He coughed, spluttered, and stopped wailing. As he whimpered, his body grew warm against Mirabel's. Mirabel wept with relief. "You're okay. You're okay."

The both of them were soaking wet, and Mirabel's heart was still racing, but she knew Antonio would be okay now.

"What is going on?" Mamá asked.

Mirabel whirled to face her, still holding Antonio protectively. Mamá was still in her nightgown. Her hair was down, and she was wet, too. "I gave Antonio some of your food mushed up in a glass of water. He's going to be fine now."

Mamá looked horrified. Pinched lines appeared around her eyes. "What happened?"

"I was asleep. When I woke up, Tía Pepa was trying to make Antonio stop crying by holding him and talking to him. But it wasn't working. She told me to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, and then Antonio started wailing, and Tía Pepa started raining on him, and it got worse and worse, and she was hurting him, so I took him and I ran away." Having to tell the story made Mirabel cry again. Antonio let out a pitiful sound in her arms.

"We all need clean clothes," Mamá said. She came over and took Antonio from her. "I'll get him changed. We'll see if there's anything dry left in the Nursery for you. If there isn't, you'll borrow one of my nightgowns." She walked out of the kitchen. With a backward glance, she added, "Tía Pepa didn't mean to hurt Antonio. It was a mistake."

"I know, but…"

"Let's get changed. You'll have to sleep in the living room tonight. The Nursery is soaked."

Mamá looked after Antonio in her room for the rest of the night, and Casita dried out the Nursery overnight by some kind of minor miracle. Mirabel slept fitfully in the living room in the wingback chair, wearing one of Mamá's nightgowns. Her day clothes were spared by the magic of her wardrobe. In the morning over breakfast, all the adults discussed what to do about Antonio and Tía Pepa. Tía Pepa and Tio Félix didn't come down to breakfast, and Camilo wasn't his usual joking, complaining self.

"You cannot afford to take care of Antonio," Abuela said to Mamá. "The town needs you. You already have a job."

"Then who?" Mamá asked.

Abuela frowned. "Félix will have to take over caring for Antonio while Pepa…recovers."

"Félix needs to be helping Papa," Mamá objected. "She needs him right now. He can't be in two places at once."

Mirabel saw her chance, her golden opportunity to make her family proud. "I'll do it." All eyes turned to her, and although she cringed a little, she also sat up straighter. "I'm already living in the Nursery. And…I like him. I like Antonio. And I like helping him. Whatever I don't know, Mamá can teach me, and I'll take care of Antonio until Tía Pepa gets better. Please?"

"You have school," Abuela said.

"Camilo will bring my homework to me – just for a little while," Mirabel added hastily when this suggestion didn't seem to go over well. "I mean, Tía Pepa's going to be better soon, isn't she? I can study at home while I watch Antonio."

"What about your other chores?" Abuela asked.

"Mamá," Mirabel's ma scolded. "I think Mirabel's offer is very generous. Give Pepa Mirabel's chores around the house. She needs to not spend all day in bed. The exercise of cleaning the house with Félix and Agustín will be good for her." She turned an anxious look on Mirabel. "That said, you don't have to do this."

"I want to," Mirabel said. Don't take this away from me. Please. This is my one chance to help the family.

"I'll show you how to make infant formula," Mamá said softly. "We'll bottle feed Antonio together. You'll get some practice in, just in case I'm called away during feeding time."

Mirabel nodded eagerly. "I'll learn everything super quickly, I promise!"

The very next day, Mirabel found herself caring for Antonio during the morning and afternoon by herself, with Tio Félix checking in on them a couple times, and everyone else leaving them alone until dinnertime. Mamá took a shift after dinner so that Mirabel could sleep, and then in the early hours of the next morning, Mirabel was by herself again, comforting Antonio in her arms, feeding him, and changing his diaper, with Casita there to move things around and get objects for her. That first early morning when it was just her, Antonio, and Casita, something clicked inside of her, a warm feeling that had no words.

Back in the present, cuddled up on Antonio's bed, on top of his rainforest palm-leaf pattern blanket, Mirabel had the words now. She loved Antonio like a mother loves.

"I wish you could sleep over," Antonio said.

Mirabel grinned at him. "Who says I can't?"

Antonio grinned in return. "Mamá says her room and Papa's room are connected. I wish our rooms were connected."

"Maybe we can," Mirabel said. A look of wonder came over Antonio's face. Mirabel sat up. "Hey, Casita? Can you connect my room to Antonio's? Like, make a door that goes from mine to his, and vice versa?"

A ripple of golden magic exploded through the room in a warm shockwave.

Mirabel and Antonio glanced at each other and then leapt out of bed. "That seriously worked?"

"A door, a door!" Antonio pointed and ran up to it. "There's another door beside my bathroom now!"

Mirabel followed him. They exchanged excited smiles. "Do you want to do the honors? It was your request – and I think it's a great idea."

Antonio opened the door. It led directly to the bedroom area of Mirabel's room, beside her bed. "It worked!" He looked up at Mirabel with an expression of pure amazement.

Mirabel laughed with joy. "This is what it means to live in a magic house. I bet there are all kinds of things we can do that we never thought of before."

"Now we can visit each other's rooms whenever we want," Antonio whispered.

"Incredible sleepover potential," Mirabel said.

Antonio looked away, his hand falling from the doorknob of the new connecting door. "And if I get scared…"

"Use this door to come directly to me," Mirabel said. "I'll always come. I promise." She hugged him.

He gave her a little smile and hugged her in return after a moment. "Thanks."

"What're besties for?" It was the only word Mirabel had that even came close, but someday she hoped she could tell Antonio how much he meant to her.

In a sense, everything had come full circle: she and Antonio were still together, still besties, and still – optional – roommates. Casita had died and been reborn, and with it all of Mirabel's hopes and dreams. Now Antonio didn't have to be sad any longer about her not having a door, and she didn't have to secretly feel crushed that he got a super cool room and an amazing Gift and she had nothing. And here they were on the bed together after a big day, getting to relax and just be themselves and not worry about the future.