16. Chapter 16

Mirabel and Dolores laid on the floor of Antonio’s room for a while without any further discussion. Each was trying to work through the problem ahead of them and just silently enjoying their cousin’s company. Their silent contemplation was eventually broken by the giggling, soaking wet owner of the room. He had broken Mirabel’s concentration quite thoroughly by landing his damp form across her stomach, forcing the air out of her. He then proceeded to pull her up and try to drag her towards the river he had been exploring. “Mami, Mami! There’s this HUUGE pond at the end of this river, and I met a Manatee there. Her name’s Molla; she’s nice. She told me that the pond is attached to this even Bigger river somewhere else. You need to meet her; she has to go back to the big river soon, so we need to go now.”

Mirabel huffed and gave Dolores an amused but exasperated look over her shoulder. Then she had a thought and pulled out her watch as he continued pulling her down along the river with Dolores trailing behind. She stopped her hijo and asked, (“How far is the pond? We’ll need to dry you off for lunch soon, so if it’s far, I’ll need to meet her another time.”)

“Only two more bends from here.” Antonio replied, beginning to pull her again, “Dolli can come too. She’s nice.”

(“You hear that?”) Mirabel asked, looking behind her, (“You can come too, you’re nice.”)

Dolores gave a little squeak-hum before she snorted and giggled, “I’d love to come and meet Molla, the manatee.” She responded, catching up and hooking an arm into Mirabel’s elbow.

Meeting Molla was enjoyable. She seemed laid back but also seemed quite wise. It had been an excellent way to destress after the bad news. Just relaxing for a few minutes as her hijo relayed the manatee’s calm words. Lunch, on the other hand, was tense.

Alma seemed really bothered by something, worrying about some problem like a bulldog on a particularly delicious bone. Mirabel shrunk a bit as the older woman glared at her as she entered the dining room. Other than the hard stare pointed at the girl’s head, though, the woman didn’t do or say anything yet. Julietta was her usual preoccupied self but with an extra edge of nerves and annoyance, and Agustin seemed split between preoccupied and uncaring about everyone else’s tension. Pepa’s personal cloud was downpouring so much that Alma told her to eat in her room if she couldn’t get rid of the cloud; Felix was trailing behind her, seemingly trying in vain to calm her down. According to Dolores, Camillo was eating with a friend of his, though she had whispered to Mirabel later that he was way quieter than usual.

The actual odd behavior was from Mirabel’s sisters, though. Luisa seemed really tense. Her muscles were all clenched; every so often, her eye twitched violently and, for Dolores, audibly. Obviously, she was holding something in and should probably be their first stop when it came to helping the family. Isabela, alternatively, was quite sullen, though not necessarily sad or broken-hearted. More like she was deep in thought and bothered by the answers that she was coming up with. If either Mirabel or Dolores felt like they wouldn’t get yelled at for asking, they would have tried to figure out what was wrong. As it was though, the two of them needed just a look at the other to decide that they would leave that large explosive barrel for near last if they could at all help it. Lunch dragged on with little conversation, loud sobs echoing from Pepa’s room every so often. It was all quite awkward, so Dolores and Mirabel finished their meal and slipped away as quickly as possible.

Dolores offered to help Mirabel with the dishes, so the two had both washed them as quickly as possible. Especially after seeing what the resident cook was doing in the space. Whatever Julietta was doing with that coffee grinder, eyes glowing a vibrant blue, neither of them wanted anything to do with it.

Once finished, the two had taken Antonio out into the town. The two wanted to drop off the boy with his usual sitter before they actually dealt with whatever was eating at the family’s strongest member. If only to protect him from any possible falling rocks or donkeys.

Neither of the Rojas siblings currently in Daniella’s store had been expecting Mirabel or Antonio to show up today. They had been under the impression that she would be held up at the house, and he would be occupied by Alma trying to figure out how to abuse his new gift for the community. Therefore, they were surprised to hear her giving the usual greeting knocks, with Antonio following her example and Dolores silently and somewhat nervously in tow.

“Hola mi sobrina, I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” Daniella remarked, looking up from her work. “Oh, and little Tonio too.” Then her eyes stuck on the third member of the group, “Ah, and Dolores. Good afternoon.” Her voice had lost most of the warmth that had infused it, not necessarily glacial, but certainly not pleased either. Her lips tightened, and she turned towards the door to where her family lived, "Ayla! Mirabel’s here!” before turning back to the little boy. “Tonito, Andi, and Manny are in the next room; why don’t you go talk to them? They’re quite excited to talk to you about your new talent.” Antonio gave a bobble-headed nod and ran towards where his best friends were.

“Good Afternoon, Mira. How are you and your mama doing today?” Ayla greeted as she entered, jumping out of the way when Antonio ran past her with a quick greeting.

(“Hello Tita. We’re both doing pretty well.”) Mirabel replied, before questioning, (“What are you doing here? Don’t you have that large order from my relatives to work on?”)

Ayla’s eyes bugged slightly, and she awkwardly replied, “Ah… about that… I need to talk to you about that order. Do you trust Dolores not to repeat something to the rest of the madrigals, or do we need to talk elsewhere?”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone anything, Signora Rojas. I don’t want to give you any reason to string me up naked by my toenails over a pool of molten bronze.” Dolores blurted out earnestly, a heavy shiver going through her as she recalled the other very descriptive tortures the woman in front of her had dreamt up for the family.

That outburst drew both Rojas sisters' gaze, one incredulous and one almost promising to go through with each imagined threat if Dolores made her. Ayla and Daniella stared at Dolores for a bit longer than was comfortable for the young woman.

Finally, Mirabel gave a huff and broke the awkward silence. (“She’s helping me with something important, and she’s been trying to fix our relationship recently. So yes, I think you can trust her.”)

The two women stared just a bit longer before Ayla nodded and told Dolores, “See that you don’t give me a reason to, and I think we’ll get along fine. So long as you keep treating mi sobrinita well, I think that we can keep you away from molten metals of any type. And please call me Ayla; you say Signora Rojas, and I look for my Mama.”

Dolores gave a relieved smile and replied, “I’ll make sure to do that, Ayla.”

Mirabel gave an annoyed huff but looked secretly pleased about the warning and that her favorite Prima and Tita were getting along. (“So, now that we’re done with the threats to my Prima’s wellbeing, what’s up with my relative’s order.”)

Ayla glanced at Daniella for a second, then looked back at the girl. “Sit down girls; this may take a bit.” They sat at a table in the corner of the shop where Daniella would talk to clients about their orders. “Mirabel, your Tias and I had a discussion last night after you went back to the party. Over time, from the little things you’ve let slip and how you acted, I’ve noticed how poorly your family’s been treating you, even if I didn’t know who they were. And well, now that my sisters and I know who they are… We aren’t necessarily comfortable with them benefiting from our or your hard work.

“So, we’ve banned most of the madrigals from our stores. We weren’t sure about Dolores or Luisa because none of us could pick up anything negative about them. But well, I can’t work on the rest of the madrigal’s clothes in good conscience anymore, knowing what they’ve done to you. And because they’re banned from my store, and you’re my apprentice, you can’t work on their clothes either. Same for if they were to ask you to do something that required the skills you’ve picked up from Carmella or Elena.”

Mirabel looked dumbstruck at the news, her mind already trying to slot the information’s effects into her already difficult task (“Were any of them not banned?”)

Ayla sighed, “Well, Dolores seems alright, so she isn’t. And if you’re alright with Luisa, I guess she wouldn’t be either. But, if either tried to get our work to the rest of their family, they would be banned. We don’t appreciate people trying to give our work to people we don’t want to get it. But, of course, it should go without saying that Antonio isn’t. I wouldn’t think of ever doing that to your hijo.”

(“They’re not going to be happy with you. Or me if they find out that I can’t do their mending anymore.”) Mirabel replied, looking nervous.

 “We’re not trying to make things harder for you, mi mariposita. We just don’t want your skills to be taken advantage of. You, yourself, are a gift, and if your relatives don’t recognize or acknowledge that, they shouldn’t benefit from your kindness or your skills.” She saw how Mirabel seemed uncomfortable like she couldn’t really contemplate her family actually appreciating her. She had always had a problem with the concept of people appreciating her for more than her work, even if Cassie had tried to prevent most of that doubt from setting in. “Of course, If they end up apologizing and start actually acting like you’re a part of their family, my sisters and I may reconsider. But that would take quite a while for us to accept and more than just your say-so, considering what most of them have done.”

Mirabel relaxed; it wasn’t hopeless. Sure, it would make things a bit more complicated if they ever found out that her Tias were doing this because of the way she was treated, but she was trying to fix things in the family anyway, so hopefully, they would end up being un-banned as a side effect.

(“Ok Tita, I get it. BUT you have to tell them, and soon because I don’t want them to be angry at me for not doing their mending tomorrow. What happened to the dresses you were already working on? I know you were really proud of the ones you were making for Isabella and Dona Alma”)

Ayla’s uncomfortable face morphed into a smirk, “Well, they found themselves turned into quilting squares. So completely unrelated question… would you like a purple and pink quilt, or should I just donate it?”

Mirabel huffed in a 3:1 mix of exasperation and mirth (“Donate, and you are going to tell them, right?”)

Dolores poked into the conversation at this, “Maybe I could help? I could tell them if you want? I already act like Abuela’s little spy. I’m willing to play double agent here if it’s for Mirabel….”

Ayla’s brow raised, “And how are you doing that? I already sent the cancelation notice, and most of the merchants know about the ban because the lot of them are gossips of the highest order.”

Dolores looked innocent as she faced an imaginary person, “Well, Abuela, I just happened to overhear Signora Ayla Rojas arguing with Signora Daniella Moreno about how to tell you that you and the rest of the family are banned from their stores. And apparently, Mirabel is Signora Ayla’s apprentice. I just needed to let you know as soon as I heard about it. Isn’t it horrible that Mirabel didn’t get the chance to share the good news with us? An apprenticeship at her age and with the only seamstress in town no less! Why did we have to find out after they decided to ban us from their stores? Mirabel’s really quiet nowadays, so I just thought that she was running errands for you or Tia Julietta when she went into town. I’m sorry; I would have asked if I thought it was anything more than that. But isn’t it just a tragedy that her apprenticeship can only end when she turns 21? Now she can’t do any of our mending anymore because of the ban. It’s so terrible; whatever shall we do?” She finished with a pretty realistic worried face.

Ayla blinked a few times as she tried to wrap her head around the little speech. “Huh, that could work. And it pretty much absolves Mirabel of any responsibility because it isn’t her fault no one asked what she was doing during the day. Plus, she got permission from her caretaker. Not her fault that that caretaker was the soul of their house. Sounds like we have a plan. Just make sure that Mirabel doesn’t take any heat for it. If you need to put the blame on me, you can. I’m fine with being the mean woman who won’t let her out of her apprenticeship.”

Dolores smiled, “Of course, Mirabel shouldn't suffer for your family's decision. She doesn’t deserve any criticism for excelling at something. And she deserves to be valued regardless of any skills or magical gifts. The fact that our family hasn’t done so is shameful at best, and honestly, criminal at worst.”

Mirabel was blushing a bit at the praise. (“Um, I’m sorry to cut this short, but we need to go. We were only going to drop off Antonio for the afternoon.”)

“That’s fine, dear,” Daniella remarked from her workbench, “will he be staying for dinner, or do you need to pick him up before then?”

(“Before, the rest of the family would notice if he was missing right now.”) Mirabel responded, getting up and pulling Dolores with her. (“Thanks, Tia Daniella. It was nice talking with you, Tita. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come in during this and next week. Dolores and I are dealing with some family problems right now; I’ll let you know when they’re solved.”)

“Take care, Mirabel. It was nice meeting you, Dolores.” Daniella said as Mirabel started pulling Dolores from her seat.

“Goodbye, Mira. Remember what I said, Dolores!” Ayla yelled after them as they finally got out the door.