Mirabel accepts the hug from Abuela and tries to return it with the same warmth they'd found at the river two days ago. It's been cooling off slowly, like lava, a thick, slow sludge trying to set into something new.
There's a lot of 'new' around her – Isabela's free and raucous laughter, a clear sky despite Tía's tears when Bruno waves at her, Bruno himself. He seems to be having the same struggle, trudging his way through hugs and kisses he doesn't quite know what to do with.
After the fifth round of emotional 'Good mornings,' he hitches an unconvincing half-smile onto his face and goes to stand under a tree right on the border of 'running away' and 'sticking around.' He turns his back on the family to gaze on the ruins, and if she hadn't seen the way his hands tremble as he puts them in his pockets, she might also have believed him when he said, "I'm just tired."
Tía, Tío Félix, Abuela, y Isabela circle up to chat about the small nothings that show up around a breakfast table...maybe to talk about the breakfast table...or the breakfast as Tía y Isa both look down at their rumbling stomachs and pat them. As her own stomach gives an uncomfortable squirm, Mirabel worries the hem of the ruana then blinks down at herself, realizing she still has it.
Maybe Tío's colder than he thinks.
She makes to remove and return it when a small, timid movement catches her eye. Dolores joins their wayward uncle, holding her hand out and waiting for him to take it. If they are speaking, it's low, so no one else can hear. Her head cocks off to the side, as if she's asked him a question, and he shrugs. Dolores doesn't really sigh at him, but her shoulders sag a little, and she looks down at their clasped hands. She realizes they are being watched and flicks her eyes up to meet Mirabel's.
Mira looks from Dolores to Bruno and back. Her prima gives a nearly imperceptible shake of her head then jumps when Bruno murmurs something at her, and judging by how red her face gets, they've been caught. Mira figures she may as well face it now and steps away from the group to meet them.
"You're both not nearly as sneaky as you think." He says in greeting.
"Neither are you."
"I'm not trying to be." He pauses. "And even if I was, there are too many people tuned into my every move. I'd be tackled before I even made the treeline."
"It's a lot, isn't it?" Dolores still hasn't figure out how to speak above a whisper, but there's a stronger quality – a boldness – in how she talks to Bruno.
Bruno runs his thumb absently over their joined hands. "Hunger and restlessness," he admits. "But that's nothing new."
"So, what is 'new'?" The words are out of Mirabel's mouth before she can stop them.
Bruno turns to her with that same dismissive shrug.
"It's not nothing, Tío."
"It's not... look, we've got more than enough to worry about without me adding to our problems."
Something moves behind Dolores's eyes. "¿...tienes miedo?"
Something breaks in Tío's. "Sí."
He doesn't elaborate, but Mira think that maybe...maybe she understands. She hesitates then slips her hand into his free one. "It's new for everybody...the...you. And you don't want to get in the way... and mess up anything, right? So you just...wander off because you don't think... you'll be noticed."
He looks at her for a long moment, and she's on the verge of apologizing for putting words in his mouth when he speaks. "...sí."
"Well, you were!" The ferocity in Dolores's voice make both of the others jump. "Every day!" She takes a deep breath and fights down the emotion shaking her words. "Don't you emdare/em do that again, Tío. Don't you emdare/em."
Bruno blinks. "Have I ever told you how much you remind me of your mother?"
"And don't change the subject when I'm trying to be mad at you!"
"All the more reason."
Dolores sticks her tongue out at him.
The sound of chuckling reaches them, and they turn to find Pepa grinning broadly at Dolores.
Bruno does his best to look indignant. "Tell your daughter it is unbecoming to make faces at people."
Pepa also sticks her tongue out at him. "Make me."
"See?" He stage-whispers to Mirabel. "Two peas in a pod."
"You kinda deserved it." Mirabel sticks her tongue out, too, and he huffs in mock-exasperation.
"Is Julieta back yet?" Bruno asks.
Pepa instinctively turns to her daughter, who offers a small, ironic smile and looks down the empty road.
"Not yet," Dolores says.
Pepa turns a little pink, and Dolores doesn't help her mother through what Mirabel is certain will be the first of many "I forgot you didn't have your Gift" snafus. Before Tía can fully recover, someone does, in fact, make an appearance at the end of the road. Dolores turns almost as pink as her mother as the remaining members of the family begin to realize Mariano is making his way toward them.
Isa's mouth snaps shut, and Abuela y Tío Félix beam from Isabela to Mariano. Isa winces as the bandage on Mariano's nose becomes visible.
"Uh...sorry about..." She gestures at his face. "There was...a lot going on that night."
When he smiles, Mirabel can see why half the girls in town fawn over him. It's a boyish grin...impish, innocent, and real. "No lasting harm done.
"Well," His eyes widen at the scope of the debris field. "Not to me or any of you, thankfully. I'm sorry," he adds, and there's genuine concern in his eyes as he takes one of Isa's hands.
"It's fi – well, it's not fine, but we'll manage," she says. Her fingers intertwine with his briefly, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks for coming to check on us."
"Actually, I came to give you something...seeing as how I never got the chance." He pulls the small black ring box out of his pocket. Abuela and Tía gasp in delight.
Isabela accepts the box and admires the jewelry for a long moment before placing it back in Mariano's hand and closing his fingers over it. "Keep it safe for me? I'd hate to lose it while we're..."
Clearing up?
Moving?
Rebuilding?
No one knows how to end that sentence.
Mariano's smile falters for just a moment, but even his considerable romantic tendencies can't argue with the logic. "Of course, cariño."
"Well, what are we doing?" Everyone jumps when Tío speaks, so used to the silence that surrounds him are they. His tone is gentle and inquisitive, but his eyes narrow as he appraises a startled Mariano.
"Se-señor Madrigal."
Isabela elbows Mariano gently to get him to stop staring. "Like I said, there was a lot going on."
"Uh...wow."
Abuela says, "Sometimes, there are no words, hm? But for now, it does not matter. You will come to know each other in time."
Tío nods once and steps back into the shadow of the tree, where Dolores lingers.
Abuela continues, "But as for what the present holds... ay."
'Ay,' just about sums up the road before La Familia Madrigal.
"Well, we're rebuilding, aren't we?" Pepa pipes up matter-of-factly, and she's not the only one disconcerted by the way Abuela purses her lips before answering.
"Are we?"
"...aren't we?" No one hears Mira's cracked question. They have to rebuild. They have to. This can't be the end. Not for the magic, the Miracle. Not for Casita.
Abuela looks thoughtfully at the rubble. "Well, with Isabela on the cusp of marriage...Dolores y Luisa of age...y Camilo sooner than he thinks... it could be time for a new beginning."
"We have our new beginning." Tío Bruno's voice carries across their heads. "We don't need a new house."
"Well, actually, we do." Tía retorts. "That's kind of the point."
"The old one was just fine."
"I never said it wasn't."
"Okay, so we're agreed – no new house."
"Well, yes, but – "
"We're going to rebuild Casita."
"Obviously, but – "
"We have everything we need, right here... and there... and well, everywhere over there."
"Yes, I know, but – "
"Well, that's settl – ¡ay!" Bruno yelps as Pepa's sandal goes flying through the air and nearly catches him in the face. He overbalances and lands on the ground with an "oomph!" and grins cheekily up at his sister as she marches over to retrieve her shoe. "Sorry, were you trying to say something?"
Pepa's nostrils are flared in annoyance. "Be happy I only threw one."
Bruno waits until her back is turned then sticks his tongue out at her. He winks at his sobrinas when he catches their eyes then hurriedly assumes a neutral expression as Tía turns to see what everyone's giggling at.
Mira's laughter is the first to peter out as she turns Bruno's words over in her head like a mantra, willing them to be true.
We're going to rebuild Casita.
We have everything we need.
We have our new beginning.