Note: Sorry for the delay. I wanted to get this chapter out earlier but I became busy with work and my job search, and was experiencing writer's block. I also got tendinitis. Then when I was finally out of the writer's block, the program I use to write this story wasn't working, so it took me a while to figure out I had to uninstall it and then reinstalled a newer version of it.

Out of Nowhere

CH. 5

She felt strange waking up, a feeling that didn't come as a complete shock to her. She felt like she hadn't gotten much sleep; which was understandable since she was in some other family's home lying in a bed that she now shares with someone that is now her husband. Such circumstances would probably leave anyone in them, tired and exhausted. Mirabel thought that she would have slept in; with all that happened yesterday, and the fact that Casita was no longer around to wake her up in the morning. That wasn't the case, seeing as she woke up at the same time she usually got up when she lived in the Madrigal home. This little fact would usually be something she could find joy in, but that wasn't the case right now. She wanted to sleep just a bit longer, in an attempt to avoid starting the day for a little longer, but her body wouldn't allow that. She could probably blame that on her body being used to Casita waking her up so early and how her and everyone in the Velasquez family went to sleep so early yesterday.

She felt grateful for what little luck she had left, because she woke up to find herself alone in the bed she shared with Emilio last night. He was gone from his side of the bed, along with the wall of pillows he had put between them. She may have been thankful for Emilio's pillow wall idea last night, but waking up lying next to him was not something she wanted to be doing right now.

Seeing as she was already awake, and likely would not be going back to sleep, Mirabel decided to get ready for the day. She got up from the bed and proceeded with her daily routine. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair and got dressed like it was any other day living in Casita.

"But I'm not in Casita anymore." Mirabel thought, causing her to pause right as she was about to open the door into the hallway. She knew that the moment she opened that door , was the moment she had to acknowledge that everything was real. The proposal, the marriage, her new husband and home; everything. Leaving the room meant that she would have to accept the fact that any of her hopes and dreams would be non-existent, or at least hard to accomplish now. However, it's not like she had many things that she wanted to do. She wanted to fall in love with a guy before she got married and had children. She wanted to make her family proud, especially her abuela. She was going to show them that she was just as special as the rest of them; that she belonged as a Madrigal. She was going to solve the mystery of the cracks and save the magic…

"The cracks!" Mirabel remembered. She forgot. She had forgotten the magic is in danger. How cold hse forget the magic is in danger!? She knew why she forgot; she was thrown into a rushed, sham marriage that took her by such surprise that she couldn't focus on anything other than trying to make I through a life altering week. A week that made her think about staying in this room as a way to ignore reality and tell herself that it never happened. But the fact that the magic was in danger, that her family could be in danger, brought her to a single conclusion.

"If I want to save my family and the magic, I've gotta leave this room." She spoke aloud, as if she were talking to someone or Casita. She didn't want to leave the room, but she also wouldn't stand by while she could do something to help her family and save the magic. So with a look of apprehension, changing into a look of determination, she grabbed the doorknob, opened the door and walked into the hallway only to stop again, with a new question.

"How am I going to deal with Emilio?", She began to wonder to herself. Trying to save the miracle would be no small task. It was obvious that Emilio would notice what she was doing sooner or later; and she would need some kind of reason to return to Casita to investigate without arousing any suspicions. Getting his help would make things much easier for her, but she doubted that she would be able to get that without telling him why. That, and the fact that Dolores would likely hear them talking and would probably tell Abuela what she was doing. She couldn't trust Dolores to keep it secret and she didn't want to risk it any time soon. Knowing this, Mirabel came to the conclusion that she would hold off on possibly getting Emilio's help. She didn't know how he would react and saying anything about her intentions to him might let Dolores tip Abuela off. She should probably observe Emilio, to figure out if he could help her, while she waited for an opportunity to return to Casita.

With a plan in mind, Mirabel proceeded to the dining room to have breakfast. She would have gone to set the table first, but she didn't know where the dishes were in this house and the smell of cooked food let her know that she spent more time in the bedroom this morning than she did when she stayed in Casita.

As she entered the room and moved to take a seat (the only place available was right next to Emilio); she took note of where the other family members were. Señor Velasquez sat across from his oldest son, reading the village newspaper for whatever current events were happening. This seemed pointless to Mirabel, because the most recent and newsworthy things to happen were hers and Isabela's marriages. She could see from where she sat that Isabela's wedding had made the front page, and probably the third and second pages; but she prayed that her marriage was forgotten, or at least is only briefly mentioned. It should already common knowledge that she had abruptly gotten married, and with that came the speculation and gossip that something serious had to have happened for the marriage to proceed so quickly. Having it talked about in the paper would only prolong the rumors and annoy her to no end.

At one end, Juancho sat, not looking like the Juancho she knew. Whenever Mirabel saw Juancho, he was always shaking like his entire body was vibrating with energy just waiting to explode. She honestly questioned who would give such a hyper active kid any coffee. With that much energy, she thought that the kid would be a handful for his parents to take care of. Looking at him now though, with barely open eyes and a slouched figure that struggled to stay awake, it seems like he really that coffee.

As she approached the table, Emilio stood up and pulled out the seat next to him so that she could take the seat next to him. The action immediately got the attention of the rest of the Velasquez family.

"Buenos días." Señor Velasquez greeted, with a soft smile and a nod in her direction as his hands were already occupied with the morning paper. To his right, and her left, she saw Juancho wave and try to greet her as well, but he covered his mouth as he yawned instead. The sweet gesture brought a tiny smile to her face as she sat next to Emilio.

"Hola, mi nueva nuera!" Señora Velasquez called out as she brought their breakfast to the table and began to put food on all of their plates. She did this with one of the biggest smiles Mirabel had ever seen on someone in her life. It reminded her of Juancho's face when on coffee, only far less manic and seeming to be focused on her.

"I am so happy that you've become a part of our family, Mirabel." Señora Velasquez said sweetly as she passed around empty cups for everyone to take. "It's been so long with just boys in the family that I'm just giddy at there being another lady in the house." She explained as she placed a pitcher of tinto and a pitcher of juice on the table, to be passed around.

Mirabel noticed, while eating, that Emilio took the pitcher of juice as she watched as his father poured himself some tinto from the other pitcher. He then placed the pitcher in front of Juancho, who was eager to get some caffeine in his system. He reached for the pitcher before it was quickly pulled from his reach by his brother. Emilio then took his brothers cup and filled it halfway before handing the cup back. Juancho looked at the half-filled cup and did what most younger siblings with ages just starting to enter the double-digits; he complained to his mother.

"Mamá, Emilio took the pitcher and only gave me half a cup!" the young boy whined to his mother.

"Emilio, I have told you a thousand times not to do that. Your brother can, and should get to, pour his own drinks." the older woman reprimanded her son. It was obvious that he had done this before and Mirabel wanted to see what would happen.

"But he can't handle all of the tinto he drinks." Emilio argued, "Based on his grades; he can barely handle one cup because he becomes unable to focus during class." He told his mother while giving his little brother a look that dared him to say otherwise.

"If that's the case, then I guess you won't mind helping him with his homework, after school, until his grades get back up." Señora Velasquez smugly said without looking away from what she was doing in the kitchen.

The boys immediately looked to their mother and asked in tandem, "What?" For once, Mirabel saw an expression other than indifference or boredom on Emilio's face. Despite how small it was, he shared a look of surprise with Juancho, over their mothers statement.

"If your brother's grades are bad enough for you to know why and be concerned about how much caffeine he drinks; then it only makes logical sense that you would help him get his grades back up by helping him with his homework and studying," she paused before staring at both of her children and emphasizing, "after school." The smile on her face and tone of her voice gave Señora Velasquez the appearance of sweetness and politeness; but the vibe she gave off told her sons, and the other people sitting at the table, that she was not to be questioned or argued with on this. She looked between both Emilio and Juancho to see their responses.

Mirabel saw how Juancho looked a little embarrassed and ashamed, probably feeling sorry that his complaint about not getting enough coffee resulted in his poor grades being ousted to his mother. Emilio seemed to be showing some form of resigned disappointment. Mirabel could guess that he wasn't going to argue with his own mother, but she didn't know why he seemed disappointed. The only reason for it, that she could think of, would be that he had plans for after school.

"Yes, mamá." the brothers replied in tandem once again, while Mirabel saw Señora Velasquez turn around, with a smile on her face, and pour a separate beverage from a kettle into a cup.

"It's not like you usually have anything going on anyway," Señora Velasquez said to Emilio, "unless you've made plans with your significant other today?" She asked this with a questioning smile, switching her gaze between Mirabel and her son.

Mirabel knew what she wanted to say, but was embarrassed about the subject matter. She felt lucky that Emilio responded with a, "No." in her place; so that she could get her bearings and process the information she had. She had thought that Emilio would have had plans, if he didn't want to tutor his younger brother. To find out that he usually had none made her question what his issue with helping his brother was. She first thought that even if he seemed stoic or uncaring, he at least held some concern for his little brother. With how he responded to helping his brother reminded her of her own sister. She probably would have thought he was just like Isabella, if Juancho hadn't been as disappointed as he was. Either Juancho had plans of his own, or tutoring sessions between the brothers were a nightmare for them.

Aside from the impending tutoring sessions, She knew she was still a little uncomfortable discussing sex. She just hoped that Señora Velasquez wouldn't embarrass her further.

"Here you go Mirabel." The older woman said, as she handed her daughter-in-law a warm cup of tea. Mirabel looked at the beverage, then looked at Señora Velasquez in confusion, wondering what it was for.

Sensing her confusion, Señora Velasquez explained with a smile, "It's so that you don't end up with any unexpected surprises; if you don't want them so soon."

The younger girl immediately understood what her now mother-in-law was saying and quickly acted to get as far away from the situation as possible. She was not aiming to have any children any time soon.

"Thank you for the concern bu it looks like we're running a little late, I think it's time for us to get going. We wouldn't want Juancho to be late for school, and I don't want to be late for my apprenticeship. Come on Emilio, let's go!" She said this while pushing the tea away from her with an awkward smile on her face. She didn't want to seem rude, but she really needed to get out of there. The chance of being late was the perfect excuse to escape, and she was glad that Emilio and Juancho were so ready and willing to leave. She grabbed the brother's hands and didn't even look back as Juancho grabbed his school supplies and turned to tell his parents goodbye. She even forgot that she had barely touched her breakfast, and would more than likely regret not eating it later.

The home was silent as the children left, leaving the older married couple alone together.

"Really?" Pedro asked his wife. Amilia was staring at the front door, where the children left through, when she turned to look at her husband's raised eyebrow and unamused expression.

"What?", she responded, "I wanted to know if they did anything. Plus, I want grandchildren, is that so bad?"

Note: I honestly had to cut this chapter shorter than I wanted to because I couldn't ge the motivation to write the other parts, and I felt it might have been too much for just this chapter. Hopefully I can get the other chapters out faster and in a more consistent manner.