AUTHOR'S NOTES: Although this story is part of my Headcanon series, it got waaay longer than I'd originally intended. Thus, the reason that I decided to post this as a separate story.
Also, this is a Category 7 Angst-fest, folks. And while I did write some things with the intention of amping up the drama, I hope I haven't offended anyone bringing up the sensitive topic in this chapter which include abortion, the birth of premature children, and the possible death of a child. I have no experience with any of these, so please forgive me if I haven't dealt with the situations in the proper manner.
Headcanon: Julieta had a very rough pregnancy with Luisa and the family thought that they might lose one or both of them. When Luisa was born premature, Alma prayed that her granddaughter would be strong enough to make it to her 5th birthday.
ENCANTO: The Shifting Balance of Weakness and Strength
(Part of the 'Headcanons' Series)
20 Years Ago...
Julieta's second pregnancy had been fraught with difficulties and ailments from the start.
First, there was the persistent nausea that was only soothed by a near-constant diet of ginger-lemon lozenges, chicken broth, and coconut water.
But even then, Julieta felt the baby slowly draining her energy and after a few months, everyone began telling her that she should abort the pregnancy.
Sitting at the kitchen table as she patted out arepas, Julieta frowned at her mother who agreed with the village doctor. "I can't believe that my own mother thinks that I should kill my child," Julieta grumbled, scowling.
"Julieta, I don't want your child to kill you," Alma argued as she chopped vegetables for dinner that evening. "Maybe all this is a sign that there's something wrong with the baby. Have you thought of that?"
"Believe it or not, Mama, yes, I have," Julieta snapped, irritably. "I know what I'm doing."
Pausing in her dinner preparations, Alma sat opposite her daughter, giving her a forlorn look before glancing at the family tree on the wall. "Juli... I lost your father much too soon. I'm worried that this child could cause me to lose you."
"Mama..." Julieta tried to think of the best way to explain how she felt and after reaching out a hand to her mother, she gave a satisfied smile. "God tests all of us in different ways. I can't give up this baby. Little Luisa..." she murmured, happily, pressing a hand to her stomach. "She's important to the family, Mama."
"You're important to me," Alma pressed, taking her daughter's hand and squeezing it.
X
By seven months, Julieta had weakened to the point where the village doctor had ordered her to stay in bed unless she needed the bathroom.
Thankfully, the magic seemed to adapt to the situation and Julieta merely needed to sprinkle salt, pepper, or some herbs on whatever food she was served for her Gift to be effective.
But even the miracle wasn't enough to keep Julieta's health up and one morning, she let out a horrible scream of pain as she suddenly went into labor.
Dr. Miguel Ignacio was summoned immediately, and Alma and Pepa prepared for the arrival of the newest Madrigal.
After 14 hours of labor and several more hours trying to keep Julieta from bleeding to death, mother and daughter were finally stabilized, albeit temporarily.
While Alma fed the tiny infant with Julieta's breast milk combined with a nutritional tonic kept on hand for emergencies, Julieta herself sipped the tiny spoonfuls of broth her sister fed her.
"No more babies, Julieta," Alma stated, sitting on the edge of the bed, taking her daughter's hand. "Dr. Ignacio said that another pregnancy will kill you," she added, a choke in her voice.
Reaching a weak hand towards her daughter, Julieta nodded. "My brave little girl. You were ready to face the world before we were ready for you."
Pepa gave her mother a stern look, but Alma shook her head ever so slightly. Julieta had such hopes for her tiny baby. It would break her heart to know that it was unlikely the child would make it through the next few days.
4 Years Later...
A new door materializing gave Alma the thinnest sliver of hope for her granddaughter's future.
Luisa was a sickly child and always seemed to be coming down with one illness or another. Her mother's food didn't heal her as quickly as it should have, and it seemed that any bump or fall resulted in injuries that took days or weeks to recover from.
That evening at dinner, while Julieta was in the nursery with Luisa who had broken her arm falling out of bed, Isabela asked if she could say grace.
It was a big request of the young girl, but Alma nodded her approval and waited to see what her first grandchild would say.
"God, I know You've blessed us with so much already," Isabela began, her hands clasped and her eyes closed. "Mami's food, and my bestest cousin, Dolores... But my little sister, Luisa, is really sick and everyone is afraid she'll die before she gets her Gift."
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Alma couldn't describe what she was seeing and hearing. Little Isa, who was only six years old, was speaking with the words of someone thrice her age... And somehow, Alma knew that Isabela was praying from her heart and soul...
"So... when Luisa gets her Gift... can You make her grow big and strong so that the family will be happy again?" Isa finished, cracking one eye open as she added, "Mami always tells me to say 'please' when I ask for something, so... Please, make Luisa strong so we can play together? Thank you. Amen."
It took several minutes for Alma to find her voice without getting choked up. "Thank you, Isabela. And before you ask... Yes... I think that would be a wonderful Gift for Luisa."
Isabela smiled at the compliment, but the happiness in her eyes faded slightly as she asked, "Can we ask for that every night at dinner? Just in case God is busy and He didn't hear me?" Daffodils, irises, and petunias blossomed around her chair as she waited for her abuela's reply.
Unable to speak aloud, Alma nodded in agreement, her eyes shining with tears.
X
Pregnant...
Julieta was with child again Alma feared for her 'eldest' daughter.
"I feel fine, Mama," Julieta assured her mother who was constantly fussing over her. "Agustin and I have talked about it and if I start to get worse... we will terminate." Pressing a hand to her abdomen, she pressed, "For now, Mama, can't you just be happy for me?"
Pulling Julieta into a gentle embrace, Alma felt tears welling up in her eyes as she said, "I don't want to celebrate the birth of a grandchild while I'm mourning the death of my daughter."
"Then talk to Bruno," Julieta suggested, hugging her mother before turning to make bunuelos for her stand in town. "Ask him to have a vision."
Alma nodded and headed upstairs towards her son's tower room. Passing the door for Luisa, she stopped, staring at the faint swirling glow. Long ago, she remembered when one of her parents' horses died giving birth to twin foals.
"Sometimes," her father had told her as Alma mourned the loss of her animal friend. " - for something to live, something else must be sacrificed in its place."
"Por favor, Dios..." Alma prayed, pressing a hand against the glowing door. "If someone must be lost... take me. Take me instead of my daughter and grandchildren..."
"Mama?"
Bruno's voice was quiet, as it usually was when he'd been eavesdropping on her. "Brunito... please... I need to know what will happen."
Bruno led the way to his tower room and after a moment he seemed to reconsider. "A-Are you sure? If I see something that you don't like..."
"I don't like not knowing," Alma insisted. "Do this for me... and for your sisters."
Bruno hesitated but after some thought, he requested, "Can - Can you wait in my room? There's - There's more stairs now, and-and you being in the vision circle with me... I-I need to focus, okay?"
He seemed surprised when Alma acquiesced, saying that she would wait in the study portion of his room while the vision was taking place.
Sitting alone, surrounded by the fragments of her son's life, Alma's heart clenched as she looked around the room.
There were drawings Bruno had done with his sisters and with his sobrinas and those seemed to have more value than the few family photographs that stood higher up on the bookshelves.
Backdrops and play sets for the rats he'd befriended and trained were set up in a corner and along one wall were an old, worn sofa and a cabinet which, upon further inspection, contained tins of broken vision plates.
A feeling of loss washed over Alma as she sat down on the sofa and as she considered her prayer earlier, she wondered if her next sacrifice would be her only son.
What seemed like hours later, Bruno came into the study and Alma felt a flood of relief as she saw the smile on Bruno's face as he handed over the glowing emerald vision.
Julieta lay in bed with Agustin beside her. Isabela was sitting next to them, hugging Luisa while looking at their new little sister.
"Another granddaughter?" Alma noted, studying the tiny infant's curls.
Bruno nodded as he picked up a partial arepa from the desk and took a bite, letting his sister's magic counter the physical strain his own Gift caused him. "I-I know that the doctor said that Juli wouldn't survive a third pregnancy... but-but I guess miracles have a mind of their own..."
Miracle... "No..." Alma breathed, smiling as well. "Not 'Miracle'... 'Mirabel'..."
One Year Later...
"Luisa? Are you ready?" Alma asked as she came into the nursery, frowning slightly as she saw the young girl sitting on her bed, hugging a stuffed dog that Bruno had made for her. "What's wrong, carino?"
"Am I going to get a Gift tonight?" Luisa asked, her small voice barely audible. To her grandmother's silent question, she explained, "Dolores told me that people in town think that I'm too weak to get a Gift, because I can't run or play like all the other children can."
Sitting next to Luisa, Alma put an arm around her and smiled warmly. "When you were born, everyone said that you wouldn't live very long. They thought you would die before your first birthday."
Looking up with a wide-eyed look of astonishment, Luisa squeezed her stuffed dog closer. "Really?"
"It's true, mi vida," Alma assured her. "And today, you're celebrating your 5th birthday. You're stronger than everyone thinks." Picking Luisa up and carrying her out of the room and down the hall where the family was waiting eagerly, Alma stifled a giggle as Luisa held her toy out to Bruno who had just appeared behind Julieta.
"Tio Bruno, can you hold onto Little Bruno, please?" Luisa asked, sweetly.
Bruno blushed slightly as he took the dog, perching him on his shoulder. "Go on, Lulu."
Setting Luisa down, Alma took a step back as the little girl went up to her door and touched the glittering knob. The glow intensified and before anyone could ask what her Gift was, Luisa giggled and she suddenly ran about the upper level, her laughter echoing about the casita.
"I don't feel tired, Mami!" Luisa exclaimed as she came to a stop in front of Julieta. "I feel as strong as one of the donkeys in town!"
Joyful tears streamed down Julieta's cheeks as she picked up her daughter and she couldn't help noticing that Luisa seemed a little heavier than usual. Studying her face up close, her daughter's cheeks looked fuller and there was color in her skin tone that hadn't been there before. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me, Luisa," Julieta replied after a moment.
Grinning at her parents and her baby sister, Mirabel, who was asleep in their father's arms, Luisa thought that it was the best birthday ever.
Five Years Later...
Cold, icy fingers of fear dug their sharp claws into Alma Madrigal's heart as she watched Mirabel's door slowly fade away, revealing nothing but an ordinary wall.
The candle, the symbol of the Madrigal's magic and the miracle that begat the encanto, flickered as though about to go out.
"I'm sorry, everyone," she said, quickly, turning to the townspeople who had showed up to celebrate with the family. "But this Gift ceremony is canceled. Please, feel free to take some of the party food home with you and I will try to have answers for you as soon as possible."
While Luisa gave Mirabel a piggyback ride back to the nursery followed by Isabela and Julieta, Felix, Pepa, and Agustin went to see to the guests.
Taking Bruno's arm before he could slip away, Alma led him to her own room, putting the candle back in its traditional place before turning back to her son. "I need you to have a vision, Bruno. Mirabel's door disappearing and the candle flickering... It could mean that there's something wrong with the magic, or..."
Bruno took a hesitant step forward, nor liking the way his mother had trailed off. "Or...?"
She hadn't told anyone about her fears when Julieta had been pregnant with Mirabel. She'd barely even said a word about it aloud just in case Dolores overheard. "We thought that Luisa's door appearing was a sign that she would survive when everyone else thought she wouldn't. What if Mirabel's door disappearing is a sign... that her life will be too short for her to need a Gift?"
Bruno's eyes widened and while he wanted to reassure his mother, he couldn't admit to her that he'd had the same concerns. "And... And if I see something you don't like?" he whispered.
"Please, Bruno," Alma implored. "I need you to tell me that we're not going to bury poor Mirabel..."
x
In the morning, Bruno was gone.
That night, Alma looked from the candle to the nursery door, silent tears falling down her cheeks.
Bruno had seen something - she knew that much - and whatever it was, it was terrible enough that he couldn't share it with her.
Had he seen Mirabel's death after all and left so the family didn't have to think about how much time they had left with her?
Yes, that had to be it. It was better to let Mirabel's childhood be filled with joy rather than everyone counting down how many days she had left.
But as Alma tried to think about how to help her granddaughter feel better about not getting a Gift, she felt her heart harden as she thought about Mirabel dying. Pedro's death had been horrible enough. Losing her grandchild, a little girl she loved more than anything and who was never supposed to exist, was unthinkable.
If Mirabel's time was limited, it was best that Alma didn't grow attached to her. It would help keep the loss from cutting too deep...
10 Years Later...
Cracks in the house... The walls breaking and the candle going out...
Alma could handle that... she hoped...
But hearing Luisa crying that her Gift was fading brought old fears back to the front of her mind and it felt like the life she'd spent the past decade carefully re-enforcing was starting to shatter.
Was it only Luisa's super strength that was failing? What if her health rapidly declined? What if it hadn't been Mirabel's death Bruno had seen in his vision, but Luisa's?
Her head spinning with the events of the past 24 hours, Alma warned Mirabel to stay away from her sister until she could find out what exactly was going on.
Under ordinary circumstances, cancelling the proposal dinner would have been the ideal solution but thinking of how the town had seemed nervous about the notion of the magic being in danger... No, business as usual was the best way to go.
Pretend that nothing was wrong...
And pray that the night wouldn't end in disaster...
X
As Casita threw the family out the front door to save them from being crushed underneath the falling brick, stone, and masonry, Alma recalled Bruno's vision and Mirabel's blank, dead eyes as she stood before the broken Madrigal home.
As Julieta helped her to her feet, shouting to Mirabel who was scrambling up the roof to save the candle, Alma finally, truly understood what her son had seen. He had seen Mirabel's death, and it was because of their broken home.
When the rubble had stopped falling, Alma hurried after Julieta and Pepa, moving aside debris as they dug out Mirabel who had been shielded at the last moment by their beloved home.
Dropping to her knees and wrapping Mirabel in an embrace, Alma wept as she cried apology after apology. "Lo siento... Lo siento, mi vida... I'm so sorry, Mirabel. I pushed you away because I was afraid."
"Mama, what are you...?" Julieta helped her mother and daughter out of the rubble and after checking the pair for injuries, she looked confused as she asked, "What do you mean, you pushed Mira away because you were afraid?"
"When Mirabel's door disappeared... I thought that it was a sign that we would lose her. I was afraid of the day she would be gone, and I thought that if I put enough distance between us..." Turning to Mirabel, Alma gave her granddaughter a warm smile and another hug as she went on. "Seeing you try to save the miracle... imagining you dying because of how I broke our family... I was wrong. I was wrong to push you away and I was wrong to say that you were hurting our family. You were trying to save us."
Pulling away and catching sight of Bruno on the very edge of the rubble, Mirabel stood and pulled her abuela along with her as she led the way over to her tio.
"Brunito..." Alma murmured, hugging him tightly and smiling as her daughters joined in.
"I-I-I missed you, too," Bruno said, not sure of what to make of the group hug.
"We thought you were dead!" Julieta wailed before smacking every bit of her brother that she could.
Pepa's eyes shone with happy tears as she pulled her sister off but after a few moments, the triplets threw themselves into another embrace.
Standing off to the side, Mirabel beamed at the reunion as her own sisters joined her.
"Don't ever scare us like that again," Isabela admonished as Luisa hugged her and Mira.
"It wouldn't be the first time Mirabel has scared the family like that," Abuela admitted, as she approached her granddaughters. "Come... Let's give your mother, tia, and tio some time alone... I want to tell the three of you a story I have been holding on to for far too long..."
