It was just a regular day at the Noceda household. Luz and her parents were in the middle of enjoying their dinner - tonight was rabo encindido night- when they heard a shrill cry from outside. Camila seemed to recognize it as the cry of another rabbit caught in a snare, judging by how she was muttering obscenities under her breath. With a superheroic demeanor, Camila was already donning her gloves as Manny rushed to get the wire cutter. Luz was instructed to stay in the house, as they didn't want her to accidentally get caught in a trap herself. Luz could barely get a word in before the door was locked and her parents were off to save the bunny. After a minute or two, Luz had already opened a window in the back of the house, laying a piece of oxtail on the sill. It didn't take long for a raccoon to come up and devour the treat. Luz giggled happily as she fed more of her leftovers to the masked critter. Eventually, the reverie was broken by the sound of the front door opening.
"Uh-oh!" Luz threw her remaining food out the window. "Cheez-itz, Rigby! Mami and Papi are back!" The raccoon wasted no time scrambling out the window that was closed immediately after its escape.
Luz ran back to the kitchen as fast as her little legs could take her. She hadn't made it in time before her parents came in, and was already scrambling to come up with an excuse.
"Bee-envenidos a casa, mamá y papaaaaaaaaAAAAA?!" Luz's train of thought stopped right in its tracks as she noticed the disheveled pink girl in Camila's arms.
"Luz, Mija, we need you to get the first-aid kit." Camila said, "Can you do that for us, Carino?"
Luz noticed the blood running down Boscha's fibula and nodded. She rushed off to get the first aid kit like Mami and Papi taught her to in an emergency.
As she brought the kit to them, Camila wasted no time dressing the strange girl's wounded leg. Luz shivered as she saw the girl crying, which got her shedding tears of her own. she tugged at her father's shirt to get his attention.
"Papi, is Princess Bubblegum gon' be okay?"
Manny couldn't help but smile. "That's not Bubblegum, mija. Her name is Boscha."
"Is Princess Boscha gon' be okay?"
This time, he had to fight the urge to laugh out loud at his daughter being adorable.
"Princess Boscha's gonna be just fine, niña. We'll get her fixed up and home in no time."
"She's just going to be staying here until then, so can you be on your best behavior?" Manny said.
"O-0kay." Luz said, watching her mom wrap Boscha's lower leg in gauze.
"Well, that will stop the bleeding and heal in a few weeks." Camila said, "You may have a bit of a limp for a while, though."
"Mmm-kay." Boscha struggled to speak through pained whimpers. "Th-thank you... muh-miss..."
"Just call me Camila, dear." She then gestured to the other Nocedas observing them. "You've also met mi marido, Manny, and this here is our own little girl, Luz."
Luz looked up to Manny, unsure of what to do.
"It's fine, mija..." Her father assured her. "...go on and say hi."
The small human carefully approached their guest and slowly waved her hand, not wanting to surprise her.
"H-hi... I, uhh, I'm Luz. Luz Noceda. Nice to meet you."
"Hello. I'm Boscha." Her eyes lit up at Luz's friendly greeting. All three of them. The shock of seeing them caused Luz to stumble backwards.
"Yeah, we'll need to cover that up somehow." Manny told Camila.
"Maybe a headband or something, or maybe say it's some kind of genetic mutation?" Camila suggested.
While they were talking, Luz and Boscha had already managed to sneak into the backyard. Luz had suggested looking for snakes and Boscha thought that sounded fun. As they dug around the backyard, something started to bother Boscha.
"Why were your mom 'n dad talking about my upper eye?" She asked her new playmate.
Luz carefully studied her face.
"I'unno. Looks okay to me. 'Course, I never saw a upper eye before. I wonder if I'll get mine soon."
"Beats me. How big are these snakes we're lookin' for?"
"Hopefully really big ones!" Luz said.
Boscha limped over to a bush and moved it, looking for snakes.
"I found eggs!" Boscha said.
Back in the house, Camila and Manny were still brainstorming ideas on how to conceal Boscha's extra eye. The latter had been stroking his beard for an uncomfortable amount of time in what his wife had hoped was serious thought.
"Ooh, what if we just train her to keep it closed at all times?"
So much for that hope. Camila massaged her temples in her frustration.
"I don't think that's something she should make a habit of. I wonder how her parents kept it hidden."
Manny gave a sullen hum at that remark.
"Cariño, ¿qué pasa?" Camila started to worry when he looked more serious than before.
"I had this sinking feeling when we found that poor kid." He told her. "I didn't want to think it, but the extra eye? The ears? The skin? A lot of people can't handle that level of abnormal, Dilecta."
Camila's eyes widened when she realized what he was implying.
"You... you think she might have been abandoned?"
Their discussion would have to wait, as they heard a sudden scream from the backyard. They noticed the girls were no longer in the kitchen and Camila and Manny immediately ran outside to them. They found Luz holding her arm while Boscha was stomping on a snake.
"LUZ!" Manny frantically raced to his daughter's side to check on her. "Mija! Are you okay? Where does it hurt?! Do you know what did this to you?!"
Even if the four-year-old child could answer such rapid-fire questions, she was too busy crying in pain to respond.
"It was this dumb jerk!" Boscha pointed to the unfortunate reptile beneath her heel. "We found some eggs to play with when it came out and bited Luz!"
Camila was about to say something before her agitated husband cut her off.
"Is that a snake?! Dios mio, is it venomous? Why did you disturb its nest? Luz, are you feeling woozy at all?! We need to get to a hospital before she-"
"JUAN MANUEL NOCEDA, WOULD YOU GET A GRIP?!" Manny and the girls all clammed up at Camila's outburst. "I don't need three kids freaking out on me. Now, this here is just a garter snake, which isn't venomous, so we won't need a hospital. There'll be some swelling and itching, but that will go away in a day or so. Luz will be just fine."
Boscha looked at the eggs they found.
"We're those really the snake's eggs? Did I just squish their mommy?"
Camila almost melted looking at the three-eyed girl's pouting face.
"No, sweetie, that wasn't their mommy. Garter snakes are actually ovoviviparous."
Manny and the girls looked at her in confusion.
"Oh, you know, they're live-birthers."
Still getting those looks.
"They don't lay eggs."
"But I thought that all snakes made eggs." Luz inquired.
"What she said." Manny added.
"I... let's just put a pin in that for now." Camila had to stop herself before going into an impromptu presentation on garter snake biology. She then turned her attention back to Boscha. "That's just a bird's nest that fell from a tree. It looks like you just interrupted that snake's meal, which is why it attacked. They're otherwise harmless, so you don't need to squish them next time, okay? Just keep away."
"But it hurted Luz!" Boscha stood firm.
Camila pulled Boscha into a hug.
"I appreciate that you care so much for Luz's safety, but please, next time just bring Luz to us. Okay?" Camila asked.
"Okay." Boscha said.
The calmness of the moment was cut short by a low growling noise. Luz jumped at the sound, huddling closer to her father. "Papi, what was that?!"
Manny wasn't sure himself, but he refused to panic in front of his daughter twice in one day. "It's okay, Mija. Whatever it is, I'll protect you."
"Ay, papi chulo." Camila shook her head as another growl was let loose. Boscha held her stomach, the source of the noises. The matriarch smiled. "I think someone's just a little hungry. Would you like to join us for dinner? We should have enough food for a fourth."
Boscha grinned widely as she nodded at her host. Luz smiled, happy to have Boscha staying for dinner.
"Come on!" Luz said, grabbing her friends wrists and the two ran into the house.
The two adults watched as the two toddlers ran inside.
"I've never seen someone match with Luz so perfectly." Manny said.
"Well, remember, it's only until we find her real parents." Camila said, "Still, they are very close."
Follow, Favorite, and Review for more.