birds tweeted outside as Mira sat up in bed.
she knew she didn't have to get up so early now but it was something she had done for years. that kind of thing was hard to stop.
she stood up, tossing her blanket against the wall.
she took a glance at the occupied bed across the room as she tidied her bed.
gosh, she could never understand how she was the only morning person in this house. Daniela slept like a rock in the morning!
it'd been a week since she'd arrived and had been borrowing Danielas clothes until she could make herself some. her clothes were a bit big on her but it was fine.
done with her bed, Mira went to the shared closet and picked out clothes from the neatly folded pile Daniela had made for her.
Mira placed a large plate of arepas in the middle of the table. she was wearing a white shirt with yellow music notes stitched onto the shoulders and beige pants with a yellow music note on the left hip.
"hmmm. what smells so good?" Aaron yawned as he entered the kitchen. he wore a buttoned-up bright blue t-shirt decorated with pale blue stars scattered around and baggy beige shorts.
"morning sleepy head! you're up early. could you wake up Daniela and Andres while I finish setting the table? thank you" Mira replied as she got four normal plates from an upper cabinet.
"of course senorita Guzman" Aaron happily agreed.
she'd have forgotten about using Marianos last name if it weren't for him calling her that every morning.
she smiled as he left the room and she heard his loud footsteps going up the stairs.
as she put down the last plate she heard knocking above.
tap tap bang tap bang
she had been taught that code two days ago when Andres had agreed to her staying permanently. it meant 'good morning' in the towns secret language. the place got robbed by bandits every few weeks and they used the knocking language to communicate during the raids. she'd been taught the most important knocks as well, 'its safe' 'don't come out' that stuff.
"I'm up, I'm up" Mira heard Daniela say as she opened the utensils drawer.
a few seconds later the same words were knocked on another door.
good morning
she heard a quiet groan and someone falling onto the floor.
Mira hadn't been in la casa Diaz very long but she could tell Andres did not like getting up in the morning. even if he was a middle-aged man and not a teenager.
she shook her head with a smile as she remembered utensils weren't needed for eating arepas and shut the drawer.
get up Daniela
"Aaron what the heck!?" Daniela suddenly yelled.
"sorry! sorry! I thought you were dressed" Aaron apologized multiple times.
well thats something Mira didn't expect to be put in her head today.
"why does this always happen with you!?" Daniela complained.
wait it's happened before!?
oh Jesus Christ.
Aaron came running down stairs before tripping on the last step.
"are you okay?" Mira automatically asked as she rushed out of her seat and to him.
"I'm okay" he replied as he sat up, the top button of his shirt ripped off.
"I'll fix your shirt later. go get changed too okay?" Mira told him as she helped him up.
"thanks" Aaron smiled before rushing up the stairs.
Mira realized she'd become like the live-in seamstress. she didn't mind of course. in fact, she'd met the towns current seamstress and she was happy to give her lessons and quote, 'pass on the torch'. that sentence almost sent a shiver down her spine. it reminded her of the candle. she was trying to move on from her old life.
"that smells nice" Daniela commented as she came into the room. she was wearing her normal outfit, necklace and all. but her hair was in a messy bun.
"you want me to help you with your hair?" Mira asked.
"no it's alright. I've been fixing it by myself for years" Daniela replied before expertly tugging the hair tie out of her bun and shaking her head to let her hair down.
there were still a few knots but Mira figured she'd handle it after breakfast.
"are you all going to use knock code all breakfast again or is ti- Andres actually going to give me a proper lesson?" Mira sarcastically asked.
she almost called him tio. it was probably because everyone in this house called him that. except Andres himself of course.
"Aaron will probably still do it even if the rest of us are just speaking in English and Spanish. you probably know how he is by now" Daniela replied.
yep. he was like Camilo but with star powers instead of shapeshifting powers and if he was more interested in parkour than pranking. Daniela acted like a mix of Dolores and Isabela outside in the elements but like a copy of Camilo inside the cottage.
"that's alright. I think I'm getting pretty good with knock code" Mira smiled as she sat back down in her seat and grabbed an arepa from the middle plate.
"pretty good? you're good enough to keep a conversation going for at least six minutes!" Daniela spoke, a small laugh leaving her mouth.
Mira chuckled before biting into her arepa.
"thanks for the compliment but a giftless Guzman like me couldn't master a language so quickly" Mira said before a shard of food stuck in her throat and she began coughing into her palm.
"are you okay?" Daniela asked as Mira stopped coughing and looked down at her hand. it was covered in gold dust. like the gold on her familias doors and the candle.
why was she coughing up the gold dust from the miracle? she thought the miracle had died?
"what is that?" the taller of the girls asked, noticing the gold dust.
"its the gold from the doors. why did I cough this up?" Mirabel wondered aloud.