chapter sixteen

Carla smiled up at her prima at this.

She couldn't help but think to herself.

Carla then nudged Camilo at this as if proving her point from yesterday night.

At this, the whole family started going in through the broken doorway.

Carla squeezed Mirabel's upper arm as she passed with Camilo, returning the smile her prima gave her.

Carla was glad that her little brother looked okay now. It wasn't often, she would see Antonio cry, and she'd like it to stay that way.

As Mirabel helped Luisa push up the giant piece of debris, Camilo unconsciously squeezed Carla's hand at their cousin's words. Carla squeezed back.

Carla couldn't help but feel her heart warm up at the sight of their Abuela being so affectionate with her daughters. This is honestly the first time in a long while that she saw her Abuela acting this warm. Although she — and Camilo — would've never expected what happened next.

Carla thought, her mouth agape. Her jaw only fell even further when she saw her mother run to hug him — the same mother who couldn't even stay calm when someone says his name.

To be fair, she'd be pretty upset too if Camilo ever just up and leave her. They've been together since they were still in their mother's womb, after all.

Camilo decides to vocalize her thoughts.

Antonio said from beside them.

"No kidding! You're not 7 ft tall!" Carla blurted out before gasping and slapping both hands over her mouth once she realized how rude she was being.

Pepa tried to conceal a snort at this, but Bruno didn't seem to be bothered and instead replied, "Well, you five when you last saw me."

"True." Camilo conceded, nodding looking thoughtful before suddenly turning towards their mother and father. "But why didn't you guys say anything then?"

This time, Pepa wasn't able to hide her amusement and shrugged, "We thought it was quite adorable when you kids thought our awkward little brother was some sort of boogeyman."

Carla and Camilo looked highly offended by this and spluttered out incoherent noises, but the real person that was actually supposed to feel offended, only had a mixture of a sheepish and guilty look on his face.

"Oh

Carla was still kind of processing the fact that her Tio — who had disappeared all those years ago — just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, so she couldn't properly register the words that was just said. Although if she did, she'd totally agree. Her mami just needs to let it all out.

Bruno then went to Julieta this time, trying to apologies, but the woman just brushed it off and settling on hugging her brother instead.

Pepa said, joining the two.

Then Agustin decided to pop in and hugged the three of them all together.

Dolores smugly said, elbowing Camilo on the side while she was at it, causing Camilo to clutch his arm briefly before turning towards his twin with an incredulous look on his face as if saying, "What did I do?"

Carla only snorted in amusement at this.

Though, her amusement, Camilo's confusion, and Dolores' smugness were all short-lived when they all suddenly heard distant voices.

Alma asked, confused.

It was Antonio, who saw it first, that had an answer to that question.

The townspeople greeted as they walked towards them, all carrying tools and equipment, ready to help.

The familiar uneasy and uncomfortable feeling suddenly started growing inside Carla at the alarming amount of people marching towards them, but she could do absolutely nothing about it. She couldn't hide anymore. Even her home, her safe haven, was gone at the moment.

Camilo and Antonio, who were nearest to her, noticed that she was starting to breathe heavily, so they each took a hand of hers and squeezed. Carla sent both of them a look of appreciation before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

She can get through this.

Carla saw Seniora Maria in the crowd and a grin couldn't help but escape her lips, her heart rate starting to slow — not enough for it to have gone back to normal, but it was a start. She let go of her brothers' hands and went forward to help Seniora Maria with the tools she was carrying.

Seniora Maria smiled softly at her as Carla took the basket out of her hands. Carla smiled back, nodding in appreciation.

And so the rebuilding of Casita started.

During this process, Carla tried so hard not to squeak and run whenever someone approached her or asked her for something. It was tough at first, but she was slowly starting to relax — although she was still extremely awkward to talk to, not knowing how to keep a conversation going with people she didn't know that well. But her siblings made sure that at least one of them was by her side so she wouldn't end up panicking.

Although at some point, she somehow ended up with Bruno, and they unexpectedly bonded over the fact that they were extremely awkward when it came to socializing.

But honestly, if Carla set aside the fact that she was still slightly anxious, everything was actually going pretty well. This was probably the longest she's ever been visible in a very public setting and everything was going smoothly — meaning she's a hundred percent sure she hasn't embarrassed herself yet.

What made her even more happy was the fact that her family seemed so much happier now too. Considering they had all just lost their gifts, you'd think they'd all be at least a bit sulky, but they were surprisingly going about it really well.

Especially Dolores and Pepa. Carla giggled as she watched her usually quiet and composed older sister being rambunctious and the loudest she had ever seen her. Her mami also seemed to enjoy the fact that she no longer had to keep her emotions in check. Mirabel and her sisters were all working together with Isabela being more wilder and Luisa looking more relaxed. Camilo had also started adapting to helping others by being himself — he was always good at adapting. Even Antonio was having a great time with some of the animal friends he made when he still had his gift helping a bit. It seems like he didn't exactly need his gift to be friends with animals.

Everyone was enjoying themselves and she couldn't be happier.