"Happy birthday, Mirabel."

"Uhm… Luisa…"

Another year had passed. Another year of waiting and uncertainty. Another year of watching her grow by my side, of feeling her presence and her absence and knowing that she would never be mine. A year of apparent calm in the Encanto.

"Hey, Luisa… you okay?" Mirabel asked as she helped set the table for her own birthday.

"I'm okay. Why wouldn't I?"

Félix and Antonio returned to the kitchen and I saw Mirabel approach her sister again.

"You know you don't have to carry it all by yourself, right? You got me here."

"I'm not… carrying anything."

"Except for a table for twelve and…?"

"It's nothing, Mirabel, just…"

Luisa looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I knew I wasn't needed there.

"Oh, ehm, I… I got things to do over there in… another place that is not here and… I leave you alone."

"Don't go, tío," Luisa said lifting me by the shoulders eliminating any possibility that I could have of leaving the scene. "I don't mind if you hear it."

"Ah, but…"

"Mirabel trusts you. I know I can do it as well."

Mirabel smiled at my surprised face and patted me on the shoulder.

"You just tell us, sis. We will be getting the hugs ready for you."

Luisa smiled and I knew that Mirabel's gift could cheer up anyone. That woman was special.

"It's…"

"Renaldo, right?"

"I miss him. I know it's been years, that I'm not going to see him again, and that it doesn't make sense to keep thinking about him, but…"

"You are in love."

Luisa lowered her head and pouted. Why was I witnessing that conversation?

"What do you like about him?"

"He is sincere, faithful, and attentive; he always gives everything for others. And he's funny and kind of naive, and he plays like a kid and eats like a reindeer, and… and he never asks me for help. He says that everyone deserves a break and that I am no less. He always thinks of my well-being and treats me like a woman and not like a cargo worker... But, furthermore… he doesn't realize how special he is. He is humble and natural and believes that he is not worth it. But I see him, you know? I know there is no other like him."

"Did you ever tell him?"

"I couldn't. I knew he would have to go, and besides, come on, look at me. What man would be attracted to a woman like me?"

"Ha!" I answered without thinking. "Well, from what I saw, one a little shorter than you, with curly hair, and the most affable smile the world has given."

"You have also fallen in love with him, huh?" Mirabel joked narrowing one eye.

"I would have if I hadn't been in l…" Oops. "in… line!"

"In line?" Mirabel asked naively.

"Bruno… do you really think he liked me?"

"You don't? It seemed very obvious to me. That man looked at you as if you were a Greek goddess."

Luisa pursed her lips and held back her tears.

"Hey, Luisa…" Mirabel then said. "I know you do it for the family; we also want to have you close, but… we would all enjoy more your presence if we saw you less often and much happier."

"You want to see me less?"

"I want to see you happy. I think you should go with him."

"You know I can't do that; I…"

"We can move tables too, Luisa. Maybe we have to do it between eight, but we are many; we can do it. What we cannot do is make you happy while you are away from the love of your life."

"But…"

"Just… think about it."

"And… what if it goes wrong? What if the madness we saw out there reaches the Encanto? What if my family needs me?"

"Luisa, I love you, and you're amazing, but you're not the only one capable of helping the family. Isabela can strangle anyone with her magic if necessary, Camilo can become their leader and give them orders contrary to what they have, Pepa can unleash the forces of nature against them, Bruno can foresee an attack and warn us to be prepared, Antonio has the help of snakes, ants, jaguars! Mom can heal us if we get hurt... Dolores can hear them before they arrive and warn us to hide… Of course, your help would be useful, but our world doesn't fall on your shoulders. If your place is there with him… surely you can give your best there too. Just… make sure you take good care of yourself. We want to see you again."

Luisa sat down and sighed deeply.

"I can think about it. Thanks, Mirabel."

"Is it time for hugs now?" Mirabel asked, spreading her arms with a little ridiculous but cute dance.

"Come here!"

Luisa embraced us both at the same time and took our breath away in her huge arms.

"I'm going for the gazebo…" she said after giving us back the freedom to fill our lungs. "Ah, and… Bruno."

"Yes?"

"Whoever you are… in line with, you should try: you are a good man and you deserve to be happy."

My niece winked at me with one of her beautiful eyes and walked away with the straightest walk I had seen her in years.

"Who are you in line with?" Mirabel asked me, clearly not on her sharpest day.

"I'm gonna help Luisa."

"Hey!"

The day was lively and fun. We all enjoyed recovering Luisa's smile and how her and Mirabel's joy swept the whole family. I knew I would never be able to enjoy the life I wanted with the woman I was… in line with, but at least I could celebrate her nineteenth birthday with her and see her happy. Maybe I also had reason to smile.

How much longer was the future going to make me wait? For how long was I going to be able to enjoy and at the same time suffer that situation? When would we get out of the eye of the hurricane and would the wind blow me away?

"Were you waiting for me?"

That night, Mirabel entered our hole with blankets under her arm.

"What are the blankets for?"

"For the floor, in case I fall."

Her words brought me back the memory of her previous birthday, of her lying on the floor, of her hand on my chest, of her kiss brushing my jaw…

"May I?" she then asked in the tone of a good girl while approaching the hammock.

"You know the day will come when you're too old to sleep with your uncle, don't you?"

"So, it won't be my uncle I'll be sleeping with. May l?"

I knew what she meant by her words, but I also knew that they would take a much more literal turn than she had expected. Maybe that was the last time; maybe that was the last birthday she would end up in my arms; maybe, the last memory of her body next to mine.

I approached her, caressed her cheek with fear and tenderness, and took off her glasses.

"You know that I still see you, right?" she laughed.

"They won't leave you a mark this way."

I traveled her face with my fingers. It was a little less round than when we met almost four years ago, but soft and warm as always. And then I brushed the corner of her lips with my thumb; how badly I wanted my lips to rest in that place. Finally, I brought my face closer to hers making her close her eyes, with which she was drinking from mine, and gently kissed her eyelids. Those eyes that gave me life, still had much to witness.

Then I climbed into the hammock, opened my arms giving her what could be the last welcome, and let her body pounce on mine. And I hugged her. I clung to her body, to that night, to that moment, and I was silent while I dreamed of being able to stop time, of living forever in that second, of that the day would not come when she would fly away.