6. Chapter 6

At the church, Dolores was accosted with family members, asking if they could go next.

Tío Agustin had hung back, likely due to the arrangement he and Tía Julieta had already come to, but practically everyone else was salivating.

Luisa was asleep on the floor, and Abuela was not involved in the pack that pounced when Dolores walked through the door.

Isabela was leading the group however. "It's my turn, right? Mama said I can come, right?" She was begging.

"Sorry, Isa." Dolores said. "She said for Camilo to come over-" She hadn't even finished her sentence before her hermano was out the door. "And for either Mama or Papa or Tío Bruno. She said you three could fight it out."

Pepa stepped forward and took Antonio out of Dolores' arms. "I'll go later." She said quietly. "I need to get Antonio settled."

Bruno and Felix looked between each other. "You go, Bruno." Felix said gently. "I'll go keep Agustín company when it's his turn."

Bruno agreed, and headed straight across the street.

"You're lying." Isabela said, shocked and hurt. "Why wouldn't Mama let me see my own sister? She's my hermanito, not yours." She was glaring at Dolores.

"Isa," Agustín stepped in. "I'm sure your mama has her reasons. Dolores is the messenger. Why don't you go back to getting ready for bed?"

She glared at him, but did as she was told.

Dolores took in the scene in the church. Everyone had sort of grouped off. Abuela was at the front, and someone had managed to get an actual bed in there for her already. Luisa had taken space on the floor, her large frame would have never fit on one of the benches.

Mama and Papa had set all five of them up sort of together. Mama and Papa were on the floor, with large bed mats and blankets spread out. They had helped Camilo and Antonio make beds on the benches - neither was a light sleeper, and both would be able to sleep on the benches without a problem.

"We have things set aside for your bed, mija." Papa said, guiding her over. "But we weren't sure if you would prefer the floor or a bench.

Dolores considered this. Mama was tucking Antonio in at one end of the bench, and Camilo's bedding was set up on the other end. And the benches didn't look particularly comfortable, but would probably be okay. The problem was, if she chose a bench, it would be behind her brothers, and with the way it was set up, she would feel… cut off from the rest of her family. There was a convenient spot on the floor near Camilo though.

"I'll try the floor tonight." She decided, and Felix helped her to set her bedding up to make it as comfortable as possible.

Once it was set up, Dolores sat in her 'bed' with her back to the bench. She pulled her knees to her chest and just sat there, lost in thought.

She was startled out of her daze when Camilo showed up, plopping down right next to her and leaning into her. She tilted her head to the side a little bit, resting it on the top of her hermano's head, neither of them saying anything.

They watched as Pepa and Bruno argued. Bruno had set up his bed somewhere between Julieta's family and Pepa's, but while he was gone to visit Mirabel, Pepa had moved it to be next to her and Felix.

"Pepa, I do not need a babysitter. Why would you move my bed?"

"You would have been lonely over there by yourself. This way, you aren't. And Julieta isn't coming back to sleep here tonight, so it's my job to keep an eye on you."

"Again, I do not need a babysitter. Let me move back to where I chose to sleep."

"Not happening, Brunito."

"Pepa-" Bruno definitely sounded frustrated.

"I don't want you to be alone." She snapped at him. Dolores was sure that if she had her powers there would have been an impressive storm raging in the church.

"I've been alone for years. Being alone tonight isn't going to change that. I don't need someone to attend to me every moment of the day, I'm an adult."

"And I'm terrified that I'm going to wake up and you'll have disappeared again."

They were both silent after that statement, before Bruno stepped closer, the fight leaving his body. "Hermana, I'm not going anywhere." He sighed. "If I couldn't bring myself to actually leave so much that I lived in the walls, what makes you think I would actually leave now?"

"I just - you don't know how worried I've been since you left!" Pepa's voice broke. "I need to know that you are still here when I wake up. And I swore to Julieta that while she's tending to Mirabel, I will tend to you. So you are sleeping where I put you."

Bruno sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Fine." But his voice was softer, no longer so frustrated with Pepa's hovering. "I'll sleep where you tell me." He consented.

"Good." Pepa calmed down considerably at her brother's agreement.

Bruno wandered over to where Dolores and Camilo had been silently watching the exchange and sat down cross-legged in front of them.

"How are you two holding up?" He asked quietly.

Camilo shrugged. He still wasn't as familiar with their Tío as Dolores was.

"I'm really worried." Dolores admitted. "Do you know how she hit her head? It wasn't when she was with us."

Bruno was shaking his head, but Camilo spoke.

"When- when the walls started to crumble, Mirabel went for the candle. To try and save it." He told them. "So did I and Luisa and Isabela. But my powers failed, and so did theirs, and Casita threw us all out. But it was aiding Mirabel to get the candle, and none of us could get to her. And then the house started coming down around her. We found a spot in the middle where it looked like Casita tried to protect her, having gathered every chair and sturdy piece of wood to cover her, but she was gone by the time we got in there and found it. My guess is that Casita tried, but could only do so much. We could all see she was bruised up and scratched, we just didn't realize there were any more serious injuries."

"That was so stupid of her." Dolores breathed. "Why would she risk her life for the candle?"

Bruno gave her an appraising look. "You know why." He said gently.

Begrudgingly, she nodded. "Yeah, I do."

They didn't say anything else, but were startled when Pepa, Felix, Luisa, and Isabela joined in the conversation.

"We don't." Luisa said. "Why would she risk her life like that? I've been going over it since it happened, but I've not been able to figure it out."

Dolores looked at Bruno, and he looked back. Neither were sure it was their place to share. Mirabel had not come out so blatantly and said what they knew, or not to tell, but still.

But Dolores was startled when Camilo spoke next to her. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked, perplexed.

Nobody answered him, but the others all looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"God, all she's ever wanted was to feel needed. To feel important. To feel like a part of the family. Watching people is an essential part of my job. And I know I failed her, but I'm not the only one in this room who has. For once she must have felt like she could help, and she wasn't going to let not having a gift stop her. In fact, she might have had the best chance simply because she didn't have a gift. I know that when mine disappeared, it was a staggering change to what I was used to, and I couldn't fight Casita like she did."

"Of course Mirabel is part of the family," Luisa sounded perplexed. "Why would she think otherwise?"

"She wasn't included in a lot." Dolores said. "And I'm guilty of it too. But she's missing in at least half of the family pictures - we would have never let anyone else get away without being in them, how did Mirabel get pushed to the side so often? No one would ever ask her what her plans were in the morning when we were all sharing. Nobody would ask her at the end of the day what she did. No one ever asked for her help or took her up on her offers, and she offered often. She did so much unseen stuff at Casita while the rest of us were gone all day, every day. Why on earth would she think that we considered her part of the family?"

The rest of them were staring at her, processing her words and looking forlorn, realizing she was right.

"And then," Dolores couldn't stop now. "Then, she's accused of trying to ruin Antonio's night for sharing that there were cracks in Casita - turns out, she was right, because now there is no Casita. And her sister - her sister - specifically told her not to come to her engagement because she didn't want her to ruin it."

"I saw a lot from behind the walls." Bruno's voice was soft, but there was no doubt that everyone was listening. "I watched over the years as she stopped trying so hard. When she was younger, she was so much more enthusiastic, like she was sure that if she just tried hard enough, someone would notice. But the last few years, it's like she realized that that wasn't going to happen. That didn't stop her from doing her best and taking care of the family, but the spark, the hope that she used to have - that was gone." He looked between them all. "And every single one of us has played a role in that - and we all need to come to terms with that and do better."

"You're right." Pepa's voice was raw with emotion. "If we are lucky enough to get more time with Mirabel, we must ensure that we are completely dedicated to not wasting it."

"How?" Luisa asked. "I - I never noticed. I was too busy to notice. How do we keep from falling into old patterns?" Her voice broke, indicating that she desperately wanted to support her sister, but was struggling with how.

"We keep each other accountable." Dolores said. "When I see Luisa is taking on too much, that she's not been around and taking time for herself, I call her out. When Camilo sees that Mirabel is being talked over or ignored, he helps give her a voice. When we have a family photo, we make sure every one of us is there. It's going to take all of us keeping a check on everyone else to make it happen, to make it a habit. But we can do it, if we commit to it."

She looked around at most of her family. Abuela was across the room, obviously able to hear them, but not engaged. Antonio was asleep, and Julieta and Agustín were the only ones with Mirabel right now. Everyone else was sitting there with her.

"I commit to it." Bruno stated, surprising Dolores, who didn't think her speech would get a response.

"Me too." Camilo added, and one at at time, everyone else agreed as well, until it was just Isabela.

"I commit to it." She whispered. "I commit to my familia, to my hermana."

And as Dolores laid in bed that night, contemplating the conversation, she realized that maybe… maybe some good could come from this whole situation after all. If only Mirabel would just wake up.

AN: So, in case you couldn't figure it out, Isabela will have a redemption arc. I know a lot of you were glad she is being kept from Mirabel - natural consequences exist for a reason. And Isabela will need to deal with them. So far, Abuela isn't saying much right now - we will have to see how that plays out. But I see too much of myself in both Isabela and Luisa to be able to completely vilify Isabela - I'm the oldest with parents with narcistic tendencies. The pressure of having to uphold an image of being 'perfect' is a lot. They seem to me like two sides of the same coin - both striving to be perfect in different ways. That doesn't excuse Isabela's actions, and hopefully my writing will portray this. And Isabela needs to learn - but I didn't get an impression when watching the movie that she wouldn't be willing to. Let me know your thoughts, I love hearing them!