"I also remember that other time… The house was already underway and we were helping to level one of the patio walls, but we hadn't stopped for a long time and we decided to rest a bit and eat something. Suddenly, Bruno got very weird and very flushed and moved his hand up to my face. I got nervous too and felt my cheeks heat up. Was he going to caress me? That way? Came out of nowhere? That was very unexpected."

"But he did, didn't he? After the kiss you gave him…"

"Not even remotely! He pointed to my cheek without even touching me and we lived a scene that seemed designed for a children's play."

…

"You have some cement there."

"Ah, here?" I asked touching the area of my cheek that he was clearly pointing to.

"No, a little more… to the side."

"H… here?" I tried again.

"The other side."

"Here?" I answered with some impatience.

How could I have believed that he was going to touch me just like that and, moreover, why did it bother me so much that he didn't?

"No, lower."

"Here…?"

"Here!" he suddenly exclaimed, carefully removing the cement from the side of my lips with his thumb.

He had touched me! After several days of keeping the distances so obviously, I finally felt his rough, cool skin on me again. And I wished… well, I wished he wouldn't take his hand away. But, of course, I couldn't say it out loud, it was crazy! So I just looked into his eyes and what I saw was his gaze drilling into mine as if he was looking into another dimension there. And then, as if unconsciously, his finger stroked down to brush my jaw.

…

"Ay, Bruno…"

"But that touch gave me such a flutter in my gut that I gasped and his hand jerked away from my face as his eyes widened."

…

"Ah, the… uh.. cement. It's over. There isn't… It's… it's over," he stammered while laughing nervously.

"Thank you. I don't think the snack would be so good seasoned with that…" I answered with an awkward laugh too.

"Yeah… Yes, you are right. Uhm… bon appetit."

And he left there without taking a bite of his food and tripping over everyone in his path.

It was a crazy idea, impossible probably, but, at that moment, I thought that, maybe, that strange feeling that was growing inside me against my will, wasn't growing only in me.

Soon after, the rainy season finally ended and the construction process sped up significantly, so by the beginning of August, we were finally back home.

…

"That day… changed your life, isn't it?"

"In more ways than you can imagine. Just before Casita woke up again, everyone dedicated beautiful words to me that made me feel loved, important, and special."

"That's good."

"But, his words… I supposed that it wasn't his intention, but I felt that he was telling me that everything had been worth it for being with me at that moment. That was probably just what I really wanted him to tell me, though. But also…"

"Yes?"

"He called me kid."

"Exactly what you were."

"I know, I know, but… I liked it."

"Oh, God…"

"Just because of its sound and its closeness. It was like… from someone else's lips I wouldn't have cared, but from his…"

"It made you happy?"

"It made me excited."

"Ay, Mirabel…"

"I know, a kid, I know, but… biologically, I was already a woman. You can't deny me that."

"I won't. I don't think I want to talk about that."

"We agree, then."

"And was that what changed your life? That the way he called you turned you on?"

"No… what changed my life was the chat we had that night."

"Tell me."

"Well, I was overjoyed. Casita was back! Bruno was right, Abuelo or not, it had found a way to get back to us. And besides, I had finally understood what my role in the family was, more or less… And, well, the truth is that, that day, Bruno had also been very happy and uninhibited. He smiled at me relaxed, hold my gaze without running away, touched me without jerking away…"

"He touched you?"

"The arms, the back… nothing to worry about. Calm down."

"Fine, that sounds better."

"Well, you see, that night, I left Casita for a moment hoping to settle everything a little in my mind while making a little stargazing and listening to the music in the background. You know that my family makes a party for everything. And there he was, looking at the stars and surrounded by rats.

…

"They found you."

"They are very clever rats… What are you doing here? You're missing the party."

"That party still has hours left, I'm not going to miss anything by going out to look at the sky for a while."

"It's a beautiful night… Perfect for a beautiful day, don't you think?"

"Tío Bruno…" I said a little anxious sitting next to him. "Are you happy to go back to your room?"

"Well, the tunnel is no longer open, so it's not like I have a choice…"

"But… are you glad to be back?"

"I'm glad to be back, but I didn't miss the stairs."

"Ehm… And your… bed is… up there?"

"No… You know that just like Casita responds to your wishes, the rooms respond to ours, so now I have a bed in the initial room, and even there are fewer treads to my vision cave."

"The rooms respond to your wishes?"

"Remember how my cave fell apart when you started to retrieve the prophecy?"

"It almost kills me. I think I remember, yeah…"

"That was my room protecting my wish that the prophecy wasn't found."

"Even though you didn't live there anymore?"

"It was still meant for me."

"So now there are fewer steps because… you don't like to climb them?"

"No," he answered chuckling and returning his gaze to the night sky, "it's because now I'm less reluctant to use my gift. Thanks to you."

"To me?"

"Thanks to you, people in town know me better and don't consider me a jinx. And, well, because you made me use my gift, you were able to bring life and togetherness back to this house and this family. I only needed you to show me that it could also be a good gift."

Did I just hear all that from his mouth? How could he say that kind of thing without blinking and showing me that dreamy smile and then getting tangled up for rubbing my tit?

…

"What?!"

"Accidentally. No need to overdo it."

"Go on, please."

"Yes, that'll be the best."

…

"Err…" I said brushing my hair away from my face somewhat nervously. "And, what about Abuela? Do you think she's happy now that she doesn't have a gift anymore?"

"It's still curious to see Abuela's door the same as yours, isn't it?"

"Mine isn't even mine, I'm still in the nursery…"

"Well, your door is the house door. It is as if the whole house were your room. I find it pretty impressive."

"And, if now the house responds to my desires and emotions and not to those of Abuela, why does the nursery remain exactly the same?"

"Maybe you like it that way. Or maybe… maybe you just don't want to change it because you long to be somewhere else."

"Somewhere else? Like where?"

"I… I don't know. It was an example, just an example."

I didn't understand what it was that had broken the spell and made him nervous again, but I felt that, whatever it was that had caused it, seeing him gesticulate in such an exaggerated way wasn't bad at all.

"A… Answering your question…"

"Yes?"

"I think Abuela is happy with the change. To my understanding, the moment when the magic disappeared was when she felt unable to make it live, and, although later she understood what had happened and that now she could do it well, when she ordered the doorknob for you, it was as if, although symbolically because we didn't think that the magic would come back, she recognized the love and effort that you had always put into taking care of the family and help it forward and passed the baton to you. I think it was her, unconsciously but willingly, who passed the gift to you."

"So my door disappearing when I was a child…"

"I suppose it appeared to make it clear to us that you have a gift and disappeared until it was time to bring it to light."

"But… when she was the guardian of the miracle, she had her own room and the candle…"

"That's because she focused on taking care of the miracle, and you focused on taking care of the family. I'd say we've told you before: the miracle is you. She kept the miracle and you keep us. You and your love keep us together. No candles are needed… Just you."

"My love…"

"Uh-huh…"

"So, as long as I love my family… the miracle won't die?"

"It was you who told Abuela that there is nothing that this family cannot overcome as long as we are together, didn't you? And it's become more than clear that your love has the power to keep us united. It's your nature."

"So… I can just love you all without fear…"

Bruno downed his gaze from the sky to me, smiled at me with tenderness and pride, and filled my soul in a fraction of a second.

"Now you know who you are, don't you?"

And how much so! Better than ever.

"Yes, now I know who I am; and I finally know what I want."

I got up, brushed off my skirt, and gave him the widest of grins.

"Good night, Bruno."

"Bru…?"

And, amused by the puzzled look I left on his face, I went and burned the dance floor until I was exhausted. That night I wanted to sleep well; from then on, the real battle would begin.