"And here we are. I can't think of any more to tell you, Father."

"Okay, Bruno. Thanks for your sincerity. I know this has been pretty awkward for you."

"Oh, no, thank you for considering our request."

"Give me a few days. I will contact you when I have made my decision."

"Uh… okay. There is… there is something else I could do?"

"Pray, my child, pray."

"Right… Good night."

"Good night."

When Bruno showed up at the house that night, Mirabel gave him a meaningful look that clearly meant "Run!", but he was too slow and, by the time he realized what she was trying to tell him, the family had already started their questioning.

"How's it been? Has he already excommunicated you?" Camilo asked with a mocking smirk.

"Are you going to be able to get married?" Agustin asked bluntly.

"Did you take the rats with you?" Abuela asked with genuine concern in her tone.

Bruno looked around for a way out, but he was perfectly surrounded. Only Mirabel's knowing smile gave him the courage to try to answer. It was clear that he still wasn't very good at dealing with people and that those hours with the priest hadn't gone down well with him; but surely Mirabel had gone through the same thing when she returned from her interview and he wasn't going to let her carry all the weight herself.

"Hah… let's see, in order… Awkward, no, I don't know, and, they didn't want to come."

"You were going to…? Nevermind…" Abuela said. "When will you have his answer?"

"He's said in a few days; I don't know how many they will be."

"Okay, well, in that case, we have no choice but to wait and…"

Abuela looked at Bruno and saw with more discouragement than surprise how he was scratching a rat behind the ear.

"…pray; most of all, pray…"

That night, Mirabel and Bruno met at their usual meeting point.

"This morning, I've been talking about you with Abuela," he said in an amused tone.

"I've been talking about you with Antonio this afternoon," she answered as she unfolded the hammock.

"You did?"

"Come here."

Mirabel left the hammock half spread out and suddenly sat down in the armchair.

"Sit here."

"Mirabel… I know I'm not exactly a broad man, but not even I could fit there."

"No, on my lap."

"What?! Oh, no. I don't want to crush you."

"Bruno… we both know which one of us is the only one capable of crushing the other, and it's not you."

"But… nah, you're right."

Bruno sat on her and she hugged him from behind.

"Has it been very hard?"

"Not as much as I expected," he admitted.

"Thank you for doing it for me."

"I've done it for us, just like you."

"What did Abuela tell you?"

"Apparently, during the last few years, she's been thinking that it was going to be difficult for you to find a husband because, from being with me so much time, you had gotten used to playing with the rats."

"What's the problem with the rats? They are like little, ugly kittens."

"I don't think they'd be flattered if they heard you talk about them like that."

"Then don't tell them."

"It's not like they would understand me, anyway."

"What else did she say?"

"She said she always thought I could have taught you more useful things and, that now, she doesn't want to think about the things I can teach you."

Mirabel laughed heartily and then lightly tucked the bottom of his ruana up.

"You know, I am impatient to see what you are going to teach me," she said with a provocative and somewhat mocking tone of voice.

"Uh… ehe… I'm even more scared of it than Abuela."

"Why? Don't… don't you want it?"

"More than you can imagine, but... I'm afraid that when you see me... you know, fully..., you'll realize how ridiculously small I am and you won't feel…"

"Attracted?"

"Hm."

"Bruno… I'm wearing my glasses to use them: I know how small you are, and I don't think it's ridiculous. I remind you that I've seen you without a shirt and that I can see right now how baggy your pants fall in you. I also know that you are not fat, but you are not marked either… And I know… I know that I want to discover what it is like to finally feel your skin in contact with mine; and I want to know… what… you are capable of making me feel."

Bruno took a deep breath to answer, but there were probably no words that could cope with that statement.

"Also… I want to see you shake with pleasure," she added speaking more softly and shyly this time.

"Mi… Mirabel, I… If we want to get to the altar in white, I need to get down from here."

"Oh… And, we want that?" she purred.

"Mirabel!"

"Joking, I was joking," she laughed. "If I've been able to wait this long, I might be able to hold it out a little longer."

"So you have also been thinking about… … …? Antonio!"

"Antonio?"

"Antonio, what did he say?" he asked quickly getting up from her lap.

"Oh, he told me that the rats always speak highly of you to him and that I shouldn't worry, that we'll make it."

"How could he be so sure?"

"Because, according to him, the Madrigals are specialists in miracles."

As always, the boy knew what he was talking about. Three days later, the priest knocked on our door.

"Bruno, Mirabel… this has not been an easy decision. Your case is very peculiar and only God knows if I'm going to do the right thing, but…"

They both clasped each other's hands and gulped loudly.

"Love is born of God, my beloved children, and I have no doubt that yours is true love; therefore… what God has united, let man not separate. You can get married."

The couple of seconds of sepulchral silence that caused those words, was quickly broken by the thunder of the family's applause. Mirabel and Bruno looked at each other in disbelief and wonder at the idea. Four simple words had just changed their world.

"Mirabel…" Bruno said, ignoring the hugs that his sisters were giving him and without taking his eyes off Mirabel for not even a second. "I don't know how I am going to do it, but I will do whatever it takes."

Suddenly, that tiny, shy, and fragile man showed a confident, firm, and determined face that made him seem very much bigger and more powerful.

"I'm gonna make you happy."

Mirabel, self-indulgently, let a few happy tears run down her face painting bright silver trails on it.

"You don't have to do anything special, Bruno: you've just made me happy."

**********One chapter! There is only one chapter left! Well, and a somewhat peculiar epilogue too. Two more weeks with you.

Again and forever, thanks for being there.