36. Cousins and Uncle

Dolores wrapped her left arm around Mirabel's right, a feeling of deep relief filling her to the bones. Now that her prima was back she had absolutely no intention of breaking physical contact with her for as long as possible.

But just because she was linking arms with her cousin didn't mean that her focus was primarily on her. No, there was a far more important event happening before their very eyes. Her uncle was talking with her brother.

Antonio was the only one of the grandkids to never meet Bruno, which meant that he didn't have any emotional baggage when it came to him. He was never allowed to hear about him (not that that stopped Camilo from telling ghost storied about him), and so didn't actually know the man who had disappeared five years before his birth.

But Dolores knew him. She remembered their reclusive tio, the one who played with rats and ducked out of social gatherings. The one who conveniently was missing from Camilo's ceremony picture. The one who had shattered Pepa and Julieta's hearts into millions of pieces that had never quite healed. The one who would always help Dolores calm down whenever her gift got to be a little too much for her...

The one who had taken Mirabel away to protect her from a future that had inevitably come true. The one who was holding a rat out to her brother after hugging him. The one who was constantly making noise and acting like a goofball. The one who Dolores had missed dearly but also felt a little resentment towards.

Bruno stood up, looking over at Dolores's parents, who had twin looks of horror on their faces. Dolores had heard his ill-timed joke, but found herself more at ease than ever before. If Bruno felt comfortable making jokes at this time then that meant he felt comfortable around her parents, which meant that their family... could get better.

Oh please let her family get better.

Next thing she knew Mirabel was dragging her towards Bruno, and she looked over at her younger cousin, who had a wicked grin on her face.

“Papá!” Mirabel said, gaining Bruno's attention from his sister and cunado. Dolores stared into her uncle's green eyes, filled with kindness and recognition. “There's more people you need to meet!”

“Dolores?” Bruno breathed out, a smile spreading on his face. He took a step forward and held his hands out towards her. Dolores found her eyes flicking between Bruno's eyes and hands, tears building up in her own eyes. It had been so long since she'd seen her tio, so long since he'd said her name. It had been so long since anyone besides her parents had said her name with such love in their voice.

She slipped her arm out of Mirabel's, and took her uncle's hands.

To her shock she felt that they were callused and hard, a far cry from the soft one's he'd had ten years prior. Dolores wondered what he had done to make them be that way. What kind of a life-style he and Mirabel had had living wherever they had been.

But her wonder at that was minuscule in comparison with how overjoyed she felt just to be standing in front of her uncle. Bruno was looking at her, her, the real Dolores. He was smiling, at her, he didn't need her to do anything, or hear something in order for him to see her. He was just happy that she was there.

“Oh Dolores, sobrina, it's been so long.” Bruno said, squeezing her hands in his. His smile grew as she stared into his eyes, the tears that had been building starting to pour down her cheeks, though both she and Bruno knew that they were happy tears. “You've grown so much. You're so beautiful mi sobrina pocita.”

Dolores's tears became stronger, and she replies, “And you've grown more callused. What have...” she giggled a bit, and Bruno let her take her left hand out of his hold to wipe at her eyes. “What have you been doing to make them so hard?”

Bruno shrugged, “It's probably all the gardening. I swear teenagers can be hungrier than a whole army of rats.” He chuckled a bit, and Dolores chuckled along. The two of them smiled at each other, and Bruno said in a quiet voice, “Mirabel told me about your friendship. Thank you for... for being understanding.”

Dolores nodded, her eyes flicking over to her cousin, who was grabbing onto Camilo's arm and dragging him towards the two of them. “No problem Tio. I mean, someone had to keep an eye on her while you were gone.”

Bruno laughed, and Dolores felt a rush of joy run through her. Even though ten years may have passed, and the two of them might be completely different people from the ones they were last they had seen each other, Dolores could still make her uncle laugh. He let go of her hands and cupped her cheek in his palm.

“Sobrina, don't think about that guy I told you about years ago. You are better than him.” he said in a serious tone, and Dolores found her breath catching in her throat. The thought of Mariano Guzman passed through her mind for the first time since she'd returned to the wreckage of Casita, and a smile developed on her face.

“I don't think we need to worry about that Tio.” she replied truthfully, and Bruno gave her a confused look. “You see... uh... your vision didn't see the whole picture. He's... uh... single right now. It's a long story.” Bruno blinked at her, then shrugged his entire upper body. “Meh, I've been wrong before.” he said, and his eyes flicked to Mirabel.

“Dios mio,” he breathed, and Dolores turned to where her cousin was standing. “Camilo?!” Camilo froze, then waved awkwardly in Dolores and Bruno's direction.

“Hey... Tio...” Camilo said, a confused yet still mischievous smile on his face. Dolores fought the urge to roll her eyes, and watched as Bruno walked forward with a shocked expression on his face...

And wrapped Camilo in the biggest hug Dolores had ever seen, besides the one she had give Mirabel.

Camilo spluttered for a second, before hugging their uncle back, a flustered look on his face. “Hola... Tio...” he said, and Dolores felt a giggle rise up inside of her. She tore her eyes away from her brother and glanced at her parents, who had matching looks of satisfaction on their faces.

“Camilo, you've grown so much. I'm sorry I broke our pact.” Bruno said, pulling away from Dolores's brother. Camilo blinked at him, then asked, “Uh... what pact?”

Bruno gasped dramatically. “You can't tell me that you forgot the Magical Madrigal Men's pact? The one that said that us Hombres Mágicos stick together? How could you!” Camilo looked very uncomfortable, and he opened his mouth to presumably defend himself before Bruno laughed loudly.

“I'm just joking sobrino. You were like, five, so it stands to reason you wouldn't remember your uncle.”

Camilo shot a 'help me' look at Dolores, and received only a humored shake of the head in return. He looked at Bruno, who suddenly grabbed his shoulders and held him arms-length away.

“Let me look at you.” Bruno said, and Camilo nodded deftly. What else were you supposed to do when your uncle who'd been missing for ten years randomly comes back and tells you to hold still. Bruno tilted him left and right, then hummed in approval.

“Still not as tall as me.” Bruno said with a sense of smug satisfaction. Camilo spluttered for a second, then Bruno laughed. “Its your father that's keeping you smaller. As soon as we were seven your mom was the tallest. I promised her I'd be taller, but... Lets just say I hadn't learned to knock on wood.”

Camilo blinked at Bruno, then said, “So... is this supposed to be a touching moment... or...” Bruno ran a hand down his face, then said, “Of course. I make my nephew confused the moment I meet him. Isn't that just my luck Mira?”

As if on cue Mirabel popped into their conversation. “It's cause you didn't use the salt Papá.” she said in a serious tone. “Did you forget it all at Casa?” Bruno looked over at her, and Camilo felt his confusion rising.

Bruno chuckled a bit, “Right you are mija.” he said, reaching into his ruana and pulling out a handful of white stuff. Camilo stared at it in fascination before his uncle chucked it over his left shoulder.

“Don't know how useful that is, since the awkwardness has already happened...” Mirabel mused, and Camilo watched as Bruno flicked the remaining salt grains in his hand at her face. Mirabel stuck out her tongue at him, and Camilo half-expected Bruno to take of his shoe and start chasing her around with it.

“You always complain about my self-esteem issues, yet you throw around stuff like that.” Bruno said, a small grin on his face. “Figure out where you stand Mirabel. Your poor Papá's not going to be around for much longer. Can't you be nice to an old man?”

Mirabel rolled her eyes, and Camilo could almost swear he heard them. “Papá... just because I pointed out the obvious...” she said, and Camilo felt... envy?

Was this feeling envy inside of him?

“Anyway! You've met Tia Pepa's kids! Now it's time for Julieta's!” Mirabel exclaimed, quickly changing the subject. She dashed behind Camilo, and Camilo watched Bruno's face develop into a half-excited, half-terrified look.

Camilo stepped aside, and let Bruno get a good look at Isabela and Luisa.

As soon as he did Bruno's eyes grew soft, just like they had with Dolores. Instead of Mirabel bringing the two of them to him he chose to walk towards them of his own accord.

“Isabela, Luisa,” he said in a low voice, holding his hands out towards them like he had with Dolores.

Instead of grabbing his hands, Luisa dashed over to him and wrapped him in a hug. Bruno was taken back for a moment, before hugging his niece back. Isabela snuck around and wrapped her arms around him as well.

“I missed you two so much.” Bruno said truthfully. “And I... am so sorry that I took Mirabel away from the two of you. I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you. You should have had your sister with you.”

Luisa let go of him, and the three of them formed an awkward triangle. Bruno smiled at them, and said, “Both of you are so beautiful. I swear, your mom gave you good genetics, cause none of that was from your dad.”

To his shock Isabela was the one who laughed. She knocked back her head, and let a peal of laughter ring through the wreckage of their childhood home. When she was done she looked back at Bruno, a sad smile on her face.

“I'm so happy you're back Tio. We... missed you. Well, I mighta wanted to hang your guts on a cactus and feed you to some sundew... but... uh...” Bruno winced a bit, and said awkwardly, “Uh... yeah. That checks out. I'm actually a little bit more afraid of Luisa...”

Luisa shook her head, holding her hands out towards him. “Oh no. I just wanted to let dad handle that. He said that he'd strangle you with your bowels if you ever came back. Uh... I don't think he'll do that anymore.” Bruno winced, and rubbed one side of his jaw. “Yeah... I noticed.” he said.

The three of them stood silently for a moment, then Mirabel threw herself back in the situation. She wrapped her arms around Isabela and Luisa's shoulders, and exclaimed, “You didn't tell me I had Sistens!”

Bruno blinked at her, and Isabela and Luisa looked over at the younger girl. “Uh... What did you just call us?” Isabela asked, and Mirabel giggled wildly. “Sistens! Sister-cousins!” Isabela, Luisa, and Bruno all shared a look, then Isabela shrugged. “I'll take it.” she said, and Luisa nodded. “Yeah. I'd rather be a sisten than... not have Mirabel.”

Bruno wriggled a bit, then said painfully, “Uh... so...”

“Hey look!”

The entire family glanced in the direction of the voice, which was coming from Antonio, who was standing at the outskirts of the wrecked Casita. “The whole town is coming this way! They've got pitchforks!”