9. The Madrigals and Mariano

Julieta woke up late that morning. Earlier than her husband, but that wasn't saying much. Even though it was still fairly early in the day she still felt bad. She was counting on the leftovers from Antonio's birthday for breakfast.

She got out of bed and slipped into her normal clothes. She was relieved to find that only Dolores was up already.

The memory of Dolores's pain-filled face came to her as she stepped outside to the breakfast area. Dolores was cradling a cup of coffee, and Julieta walked over to her niece.

“Good morning Dolores,” Julieta said, pulling a chair up and sitting next to Dolores. Her niece looked up at her and smiled. “Good morning Tia,”

Casita brought Julieta her own cup of coffee, which she accepted gratefully. She watched her sobrina silently for a moment, and then asked gently, “Are you feeling better?” Dolores nodded quickly, and Julieta sighed with relief.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, and felt a bit sad when Dolores shook her head. “Alright,” Julieta said, taking a deep sip of her coffee. “I'm here for you if you ever do. Do you know what caused it?”

Dolores shook her head again, and sighed loudly. “I'm fine Tia Julieta, trust me.” She smiled brightly, and then stiffened suddenly. “Isabela is awake.” She said quietly, and Julieta turned around and saw her eldest walking gracefully towards them.

How had she grown up so much? She barely resembled the little girl who had been so excited for her gift ceremony sixteen years before. But then again, neither did Dolores.

“Good morning mija,” Julieta said, smiling widely at Isabela.

“Buenos Dias Mamá,” Isabela said, sitting down on Julieta's other side. “Dolores! I didn't see you last night. Where were you?”

Dolores stiffened further, but her smile remained plastered to her face. “Oh, I wasn't feeling good yesterday.” Isabela gave her a sad look. “Oh no! I hope you feel better.” Dolores nodded. “Yeah I slept a lot, and now I'm back to shape.”

Isabela glanced at her mother and said, “Do you know who was there yesterday?” Julieta laughed a bit and answered, “The entire town?” Isabela nodded, but still looked for more from her mother. “Let me guess... Mariano Guzman.”

Isabela nodded, a smile sliding on her face. It was sweet, seeing how Isabela was... in love? with Mariano. She hadn't really noticed him before Mamá had mentioned him marrying her. Julieta sometimes wondered how 'in love' her daughter really was. But... Isabela assured her that she was happy. And she was an adult. Even though she hadn't moved out of the house it didn't mean that she was any less in charge of her life.

So she pretended. She pretended that her life was normal. She pretended like she wasn't hiding anything. She pretended like she always did. She pretended to be the perfect daughter. She was the perfect mother. The perfect Tia.

Isabela was happy, and as long as she was happy that was all that mattered.

“Yes,” Isabela said, and Julieta saw Dolores stiffen from the corner of her eye. “He's very sweet.” She directed her smile right at her mother, and Julieta felt a sigh build up inside of her.

“Good,” Julieta said, smiling warmly back at her eldest. “I'm glad you're happy.” Even without a gift that provided enhanced senses, Julieta could tell that her niece was uncomfortable, and when she glanced at Dolores she saw that she was tenser than she'd ever seen her before.

She cast a concerned look over at her sobrina, and asked, “Dolores? Are you okay? Do you need something to eat?”Dolores shook her head quickly. “I'm fine.” She said, and she relaxed her shoulders and smiled. “Just a little tired.”

Julieta wanted to pry at her niece's state of being, but knew that Dolores was an adult, and could be trusted to make her own decisions. She had to let her go, just like she was letting Isabela go.

“Alright,” she said, and an odd sense of deja vu overcame her. When she looked back at her daughter she saw a family resemblance she hadn't noticed before.

As she stared at Isabela's eyes she saw her brother's, assuring her that he was fine. That he was an adult and could handle adult pressures.

They had the same eyes. They had Papá's eyes. At least, that's what she assumed. They both were ready to follow in his footsteps. Sacrificing themselves for their family.

“Isabela...” She began, and her daughter perked up in her chair. She wanted to ask her if she really wanted this future with Mariano, but... something... stalled her tongue.

“Nevermind.” She said quickly, and glanced to the side as she saw Camilo enter the courtyard. “It's nothing.”

Because it had to be. It would always be nothing.

Mariano was going to propose that night.

That was fine. That was what Dolores had always wanted. She'd started noticing Mariano Guzman when she was fifteen years old, she'd been trying to get his attention ever since.

On nights she couldn't sleep she'd go out for a stroll around Casita and she'd hear him. He wrote poetry, and performed it, all within the late night. She found herself staying up past her usual time more and more, just to listen to him recite.

Flowers. He liked flowers. And beauty. And his mother.

During the night she could hear him, but during the day she could hear his mother. He always took good care of her, and his grandmother, and she just knew that whoever he married he'd take care of. At first it had just been a silly idea, him marrying her, but now...

Now it seemed like it was her heart's desire.

He was proposing to a Madrigal that night, at least if everything went well. But... it killed her a little bit inside to think it, it wasn't Dolores.

It was Isabela.

Her cousin. Her sweet, beautiful, useful cousin. Isabela was her best friend. Isabela was great. Dolores loved her. She wanted the best for her. And... And... And...

And Mariano was head over heels for her! He was always staring at her! He was always talking about her! Well... He was certainly talking about Isabela. But... he was vaguer than he should be. He was almost vague enough that Dolores could imagine herself as the one he dreamed of.

Was he really in love with Isabela, or was he in love with the idea of Isabela?

In the end that didn't matter. He'd still marry her, and then Dolores would be forced to be his cousin... Forever in the background. And, who knew? They might develop a beautiful friendship... but... But no one knew him like Dolores did! Dolores knew that!

He didn't have friends. He was a little... odd... The other young men were obsessed with Isabela too, but they only focused on how beautiful she was. Mariano did too... but... he was nicer. He talked about her face, about how lovely she was. The others... Well... It was very obvious that they had gone through puberty just a few years ago.

All they talked about was work and... other things that Dolores didn't like thinking about. Mariano just wanted romance. He was a hopeless romantic... and... And...

And Dolores just wanted him.

The words of the Tio we don't talk about came back to her. She'd been nine years old, and obsessed with the idea of true love. She had begged him for weeks to look into the future and see if she ended up with the love of her life.

She remembered the green glass that Bruno had tried to hide from her. She remembered how sad he had looked. She remembered him trying to comfort her, how upset he'd been. He'd almost... He'd...

She saw the proposal. She saw the man of her dreams. She saw him... proposing to someone. Someone who very clearly was not Dolores.

She remembered how upset Mamá had been when she'd told her amid her tears later. She remembered Bruno hiding from Mamá for the rest of the week.

She remembered him telling her that the future may be permanent, but it also could be misleading. He told her that everything would be okay. He...

She shouldn't think about him today. She already had too much heartbreak on her plate.

The day flew by for Luisa. Working in town was just as busy as ever. She felt strange all day. Like... well... she was starting to feel how heavy some of the things she lifted were.

She could still move them. It was just... she was used to everything being lightweight. But now she had to put some actual effort into what she did. She felt more tired that night than she had in a long time.

They had guests that night. Mariano Guzman and his Abuela. He was sitting next to her sister, and he was being... quite nice.

He passed things on, like you were supposed to. He made small talk with the adults at the table, and even managed to make Dolores laugh once or twice. But the entire time Luisa watched her sister.Isabela looked like she had a rod up her dress. She was all smiles and roses, but Luisa could see the tension in her. It took all of her self-control not to ask Isabela if she was okay. Of course Isabela was okay! She was just nervous. She was getting proposed to tonight. In front of the whole family. At twenty-one years old.

Luisa felt very stiff, and probably more nervous than Isabela was as Mariano sang a song full of love and adoration. Her mind was flip-flopping between freaking out that the piano was actually a bit heavy, the sheer amount of chores she still had to complete when she went back into town, and second-hand nervousness for her big sister.

After Mariano finished his song, and the family had all gotten misty eyes, he slowly got on one knee in front of Isabela.

This was it. This was the happy moment. Luisa had to keep reminding herself of that. This was a happy moment. She wasn't stressed. She was fine. The magic was fine. Isabela was fine. This engagement would be fine. There was nothing to be nervous about.

“Isabela,” Mariano said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring box. “Most beautiful of all the Madrigals. You have been the only girl on my mind ever since I laid eyes on you. You have captured my heart. You make me the happiest I've ever been. Will...”

There was a strange sound from behind the door. Luisa would deal with it later. It was probably nothing.

“You,”

There was a thumping. But the family didn't seem to care. Dolores wasn't doing anything, or even seem to notice it, so it must not be anything important.

“Marry,”

Luisa felt her breath catch in her throat as Mariano popped the ring box open. The ring in it was beautiful.

“M-!”

Bang!

Every single person in the dining room froze. Luisa tore her eyes away from her sister, and looked at the door, which had been thrown open by an unknown figure.

There was a young woman standing in the door, breathing hard and looking a little banged up. She had dust in her short wavy hair, and green glasses that covered nearly half of her face. She was short, but it wasn't as noticeable. She was in an embroidered shirt and skirt combo.

Her shirt was white, decorated with butterflies and hourglasses. Her chest was rising and falling, and she looked like she hadn't slept well. Her pale green skirt swished as she swayed back and forth for a minute.

Her eyes were wide, taking in every little bit of the picture in front of her. She sighed once, and her breathing turned to a normal pace.

The strange girl adjusted her glasses, and smiled widely.

“I was told that this is the Madrigal residence.” She said, and her voice was very familiar, though Luisa couldn't put a finger on where she had heard it from. The strange girl glanced around at everyone in the room, and then declared loudly, “Hi! I'm Mirabel Madrigal! Nice to meet ya!”