35. Antonio's new friend

The ride back to Casita would have been a lot more awkward if Mirabel had known what the heck she was doing. As it was however, she was told that she was the one steering the horse, even though she had never ridden before in her life.

“It'll be fine mija, you just gotta know how to pull the reins right. I'll help you.” Bruno said, clambering up onto the tall animal and extending a hand down to her. “I'll hold onto you to make sure that nothing bad happens... Like the time I saw...” He trailed off, seeing the terrified look in Mirabel's eyes. He lowered the pointer finger he had raised, and said, “Uh... nevermind.”

That had done nothing to boost Mirabel's spirits. Whenever Papá 'saw something' it meant he had had a vision about it. And if he stopped talking about a vision it meant that something bad had filled his sight, and inevitably come true. It was never a good thing for Bruno Madrigal to stop talking about his vision.

But he was there, and she had longed for his presence for so long that it didn't matter that he had seen something bad that had to do with a horse. He was there, and she wouldn't leave him for quite a while (he wouldn't let her go even if she wanted to).

They hurtled back to the Encanto, and Mirabel felt every bump underneath her. It hurt, but her Papá's hand on her shoulder made her feel more secure. She did promise herself that she would never ride another horse again.

In less than an hour the horse brought them to the Encanto, shocking Mirabel. It had taken her forever to go under the mountains, and even longer for Bruno to go over them. Even the trip directly through them had taken her at least two hours. Yet they were back once more, with barely any time taken to cross the distance.

They barreled through town, the sound of the horse's hooves clattering against the pavement drowning out any voice that might have brought attention to the three Madrigal's riding the stolen animal. Mirabel kept her eyes on the broken remains of Casita, and, with her Papá's hands helping guide her, pulled the horse in its direction.

The moment she brought the horse to a stop she slid off, her legs feeling like they had been beaten into a pulp. She glanced back at the other two riders and watched Bruno help his mother off of the horse as well. Then she heard a familiar voice yell, “Mirabel!”

Dolores barreled towards her, and Mirabel felt a wide smile cross her face. She walked towards her cousin, sealing the distance between the two of them. Dolores stared at her for the briefest of seconds, before pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

“Mirabel, you're okay.” she said, her voice sounding half broken. Mirabel choked out a, “Uh-huh...” before another pair of arms wrapped around her. She looked over at Camilo, who was holding onto her like she might disappear into smoke.

How stupid was she? Of course her family would still love her! Papá was right, no one blamed her. She was loved. She had just let herself wallow in the cutting words Abuela had said to her in her harshness. No one cared that she might have broken the magic, they just cared that she was okay.

The next person to come and hug them was Isabela, still in her dress all covered in pollen and dirt. Her hair was pollen-free once more, and her eyes seemed tired and tear-stained, but she still wrapped the three others in a big hug.

Antonio came in next, grabbing onto Mirabel's skirt and pressing the side of his face into it. Mirabel glanced down at him and gave him a smile that he didn't see.

Last was Luisa, who easily wrapped her arms around the entire cousin pile. And, for the first time since she had left Casa the first time, Mirabel felt like she was home.

Several minutes passed, none of the cousin's saying a word, then the sound of a slap resonated through the air, and Mirabel heard Camilo whisper, “Miercoles, Mamá's upset."

The six of them all let go, and Mirabel looked over where the adults were. Bruno was holding his face in his hands and appeared very flustered. She heard him say, “What was that for?!” and knew exactly what had happened.

That's probably why he took me to live in the woods... she thought, unable to stop a smile from developing on her face as the three triplets shared a moment. An awkward and angry moment, but a moment they shared none-the-less.

“Who's that?” Antonio asked, pointing off in the direction of all of their parents. Mirabel answered in a half-dazed voice, “My Papá.”

Antonio looked up at her, and Mirabel smiled down at him. “You can go say hi if you want. He's really nice. He'll love you a lot.” She waved her younger cousin on, and followed him in his walk towards the triplets.

To her surprise, the first words out of Antonio's mouth to Bruno were, “You're not seven feet tall!”

Mirabel watched as Bruno spluttered in confusion. She herself felt confused, and that wasn't the half of what Bruno had to be feeling right then. She watched as Bruno said in a slow voice, “Uh... No... I'm not. Thank you for pointing out the obvious...”

His eyes flicked up and met hers, and he whispered loudly to her, “Mirabel! Why is there a small child here!? Who's kid is this?” Mirabel giggled a little bit, and walked towards him, coming up to stand next to Antonio.

“This is Antonio,” she answered. “He's Tia Pepa's kid.” Bruno's eyes widened, and he stared down at the small boy in front of him. Then he looked over at Pepa and Felix and said, “You guys had another kid? At this age? Mad respect sis.”

Mirabel looked over at her aunt, who was just staring blankly at the three of them. Bruno knelt down in front of Antonio and extended out a fist. “Sup kid, I'm your tio.” he said, and Antonio responded with, “I know. You're the one who Jeff said has sweaty hands. Though not as bad as Mirabel. He said that you should wash your hands more.”

Bruno blinked at his nephew, fist still held out towards him. “Uh... okay. I'll wash my hands more... Uh... who is Jeff?”

Antonio smiled and reached into his pocket. “This is Jeff!” Bruno blinked at the rat he had pulled out, and said, “A fellow rat enthusiast! I'm sure your mother is very happy that you think that they can...” He trailed off as he saw tears start to develop in his nephew's eyes.

“Hey, kid, are you okay? What's wrong? Did I say something-” Bruno stopped talking the moment he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Pepa standing there, a pained look on her face. He blinked at her, then was about to ask a question when Pepa said, “Antonio's gift was being able to talk to animals.”

“Oh.” Bruno said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then the realization seemed to dawn on his mind. “Oh...” he repeated in a more grave tone. He held a hand out and rested it on Antonio's shoulder tenderly. “Hey kid, it's okay. We're all gonna be okay. I'm so sorry that... that that happened.”

Before Bruno could get another word out Antonio thrust himself towards him, Jeff dropped into Bruno's ruana as the five-year-old threw his arms around him. Bruno blinked deeply, then wrapped his arms around his nephew.

“Hey, hey kid.” he said, combing through the bottom of Antonio's hair with his fingers. “It's okay. I'm here. I got you.” Antonio closed his eyes, and to Bruno's slight surprise, didn't burst into tears. Jeff scurried to Bruno's shoulder, and stared at the boy, who opened his eyes again and stared at the rat.

When he was ready Antonio let go of Bruno, and looked him up and down. “I don't think you eat screams.” he said, and Bruno was left flabbergasted. He blinked at the small boy, who extended a hand out towards him. “In fact I think you're rather nice. You're Mirabel's Papá, and she's like... the nicest.”

Bruno held back an “Aw...” and felt tears start to build up in his eyes. “Thank you Antonio.” he said, and his nephew nodded. “Of course Tio Bruno. I think we're gonna be friends.”

“Well, we did just hug, and bond over rats. And those are like my two favorite things.” Bruno said, standing up and pulling Jeff into his hands. Antonio smiled at him, and Bruno held the rat out towards him.

Bruno glanced over at Pepa and said in a joking voice, “Careful sis, I think I might have to take this one into the woods to live all alone too. I think it's about time Mirabel had a-”

“No!” Pepa and Felix shouted at the same time, and Bruno shrunk back a little. “Too soon?” he asked, and inwardly cursed himself. “I never get the timing right on my jokes!”