32. Wedding Cake Caper

It was a bright, sunny, beautiful morning. Because Pepa was trying really, really hard.

There was to be a wedding in the Encanto. The son of one of the more affluent families was marrying the daughter from another of the more affluent families. And the bride demanded that everything be perfect.

Loudly.

Hiccup didn’t really like the bride-to-be.

The groom seemed alright, though. He was quiet, and really just looked nervous. He was snacking a lot, usually when he was under some kind of pressure. Hiccup figured he may be a stress eater.

He was currently in a breezy field, as the bride insisted on an outside wedding, setting up a wedding arch. They had called for Ignacio, but the blacksmith asserted that Hiccup could handle any and all handyman duties.

Hiccup knew the truth, he just wanted to slack off.

Of the many people getting ready in the field, a few Madrigals were present.

There was Pepa, who was asked to get the weather just right. She was assured that she didn’t have to do this, but she honestly wanted to help the young couple make their special day one to remember. She was a hopeless romantic like that. Though as the bride grew more and more demanding, the red-haired woman was feeling less and less generous.

There was also Antonio, enjoying some time out with his mother. He was accompanied by a duo of Coatis.

Isabela was there too, arranging a beautiful assortment of flowers. Hiccup didn’t miss the irritated scowl on her face whenever she had to speak with the bride.

Camilo was helping with rehearsals earlier, and stuck around just to watch everyone get yelled at.

Unrelated to the Madrigals, Osvaldo Ortiz was currently here. Supposedly he was the bride’s uncle. “I guess being obnoxious runs in the family…” Hiccup thought.

And of course, Mirabel was present too. Always happy to help.

Dear, sweet, Mirabel…

If Hiccup and Mirabel were asked to put a name to their relationship right now, they wouldn’t be able to form a coherent response. They weren’t just friends anymore, but not quite lovers yet. Currently positioned in some space between the two.

And they liked it that way. As long as they had each other, they could figure out the labels later.

“No No NO!”

Hiccup snapped out of his self-reflection, and looked to his left. Isabela was currently being chewed out by the bride, and she looked about ready to snap.

“I told you I wanted white lilacs, these are CLEARLY beige!” She shouted, anger in her hazel eyes. Abruptly, her fair-skinned face burst into hysterical tears. “Why are you trying to ruin my wedding!?” She wailed, and rushed off to cry somewhere else. Her dark ginger hair flowing wildly in the wind. Her fiancé began chasing after her, but she was unexpectedly fast for a woman in heels.

Hiccup sauntered over to Isabela, as she seethed. With a flick of her wrist, the beige flowers dissipated into nothingness. And were quickly replaced with identical looking white ones.

“Don’t let her get to you, she’s clearly…” Hiccup finished his sentence by holding a finger out to the side of his head and rotating it. Signaling the woman’s lunacy.

He was surprised to see Isabela snickering at his joke, she hated his jokes. “You have no idea! I’ve known her since we were kids, she’s always been like this.”

“So…if you knew she was crazy, why’re you helping her with her wedding?” Hiccup asked. At this, Isabela sighed.

“You don’t get to pick and choose whether you serve your community based on if you like the person or not, Hiccup. If you’re gonna be part of this family, that’s something you need to learn.” She responded.

The scrawny teen offer a counterpoint. “Maybe, but I do think you get to pick and choose based on if said person is treating you like crap.” Isabela actually looked thoughtful after hearing that, and continued to look thoughtful as she began to leave.

He then remembered the back half of her sentence. “Wait, what!? What do you mean I’m gonna be part of- “His question died on his lips, once he noticed she was already attending her duties elsewhere.

Rolling his eyes, he was about to return to his work when he heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t even think about it!”

Following the sound, he found Mirabel and Camilo standing near a table holding the wedding cake. A comedically large pastry, covered in white frosting with elaborate pink designs. Topped with little strawberries.

Apparently, Julieta had made it. That’s all Hiccup needed to hear to know it was delicious.

Clearly, Camilo thought the same.

He was ogling the cake in awe, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Mirabel was next to him, pulling him back to stop him from drooling on it. “You know if you eat that you’re dead, right?” She warned. She grew a beaming smile once she noticed Hiccup’s approach, one he returned.

“She’s right.” Pepa added as she arrived. “If anything is out of place, Senorita Dramatica will kill us all.” She sighed, and began mumbling to herself. “Today was my off day, why’d I sign up for this…” She moaned.

Mirabel placed a supportive hand on her aunt’s arm, causing the woman to smile just a bit. “Don’t worry, Tia. Everything will work out fine!” She then sent a stern glare to her older cousin. “Right, Milo?”

Camilo looked aghast. “And just what are you implying? When have I ever caused trouble?”

At the three deadpan looks he was receiving, he crossed his arms with a huff. “It’s called sarcasm, sheesh…”

Pepa started to leave, as to resume her meditation and ensure the weather stayed pleasant. Before she left, she faced her son one last time with a no-nonsense expression. She pointed to him, then the cake, and simply said “Don’t.”

And then she was off.

Camilo’s pouting only increased. “Everyone always expects the worst with me…” He grumbled.

“Hey, that’s not true! They’re just…trying to catch your pranks before you prank them! You’re too good, you’re keeping them on their toes!” Hiccup awkwardly tried to reassure him, but it didn’t seem to be working.

The shifter sulked off, now in a sour mood. However, both Hiccup and Mirabel caught the devious look he gave the cake before he left.

Deciding he’d put it off long enough, Hiccup returned to finish setting up the wedding arch before the demon bride cut his head off. But not before surprising Mirabel with a small peck on the cheek.

He was almost done preparing it, when he realized he needed more nails to finish the job.

He strolled down the hill, catching the distant shouting of the bride berating some poor townsperson, and made his way to the forge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Hiccup returned, it was chaos.

All the decorations, including his meticulously crafted arch, were destroyed.

Broken bits of chairs were scattered around the field, as well as dozens of crumpled flowers.

Everyone in the vicinity looked like they were just in the midst of a tornado. Frazzled hair, messy clothing…

And the cake was completely missing. The only evidence that it was ever there were a few measly crumbs.

The bride, of course, was furious.

Hiccup watched as she threw a tantrum, shouting and stomping around like a child denied sweets before dinner. Her uncle, and increasingly anxious fiancé both desperately tried to console her. To no avail.

He noticed Mirabel watching her meltdown as well, and stepped closer to her. “Uh…What exactly happened while I was gone?”

Without glancing away from the shenanigans in front of her, she spoke. “Senorita Ortiz started yelling at Tia Pepa because the weather needed to be 20% sunnier, whatever that means. Then Tia got mad, and whipped up a tornado that blew everyone away and wrecked everything. Antonio’s Coatis got spooked, and started crawling all over people. When we got back, someone already ate the cake.”

Hiccup paused for a moment. “…So not much, then?” He joked, getting a laugh out of Mirabel.

Their laughter was interrupted by more shouting from the bride-to-be. “RUINED! The most important day of my life is RUINED!!!” She cried. Her fiancé attempted to calm her down. Fear sparking in his trembling brown eyes.

“I-It’s alright, we can get more chairs! And a new arch, and a new cake- “She placed a hand on his dark cheek, and pushed him away. Interjected with more shouting.

“NO! I don’t want a new cake, I want that cake!” She pointed to the mess of crumbs. “But someone had to go and eat it, because no one wants me to be happy!”

Her anger reignited, and she pointed accusatory glances to anyone and everyone in the area. Her fiancé looking more uncomfortable every time she yelled. “Who did it, huh? Who ruined my wedding!? Was it you? Or you? Or…”

Her eyes fell on Camilo, and her rage intensified. “YOU!!!”

She marched over to him, boiling with wrath. “You ate my cake! It had to be you, you’re always starting trouble!”

Camilo backed away, looking offended. “Relax, lady! I didn’t eat your stupid cake!” She then grabbed his hand, and pulled it close to her face.

“Oh yeah? Then what’s this!?” On his finger, was a small patch of white icing.

The exact kind that covered the giant wedding cake.

The shifter’s frown deepened. “Okay, yes, this is cake frosting. I was checking out the scene of the crime! I didn’t commit the crime!”

“Camilo?”

The accused teen stiffened, as he heard his name be called by perhaps the only person he truly feared.

A very haggard Pepa approached her son “Did you eat the cake? Did you do the one thing I told you not to do?” She asked, exasperated.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t!” He exclaimed. “I was just- “

“I can see the frosting on your hand! Stop trying to weasel your way out of this!” She scolded.

As Hiccup and Mirabel continued to watch the boy frantically try to defend himself, Hiccup saw that familiar spark of determination ignite in her eyes.

“We’ll prove it!” She declared. All eyes turned to her as she shifted her focus to Camilo.

“You said you didn’t do it, right?” He nodded. “Then we’ll just have to find out who did!”

As the gears started turning in his mind, he tentatively asked “You mean like…Detective Valdez?”

To which she smiled and nodded. “Exactly like Detective Valdez!”

The bride, still quite miffed, crossed her arms and sneered. “Fine then. The wedding starts in two hours, you have one to prove your innocence. If you can’t, then you’re guilty. And I’ll- “Pepa stepped in to interrupt her intimidation.

“Don’t you threaten my son!” She hissed, before turning back to the teens. “But yes, if you can’t prove your innocence in one hour you’re grounded for a month.” Her stern demeanor quickly shifted to a cheerful one. “Have fun, kids!”

The two women both left, one to try and get the weddings preparations back in order, and one to cry some more.

“So uh…” Hiccup started to ask “Who’s Detective Valdez?”

Mirabel grew a nostalgic smile. “He’s the main character from these kid’s books Milo and I loved when we were little! He would always crack the case, even though he wasn’t the smartest. They’re cute, you should read them sometime!”

“You know, if he could read!” Camilo snarked.

“I’m trying to help you get out of trouble, and you insult me. Okay, sure…” Hiccup grumbled.

“Enough messing around, guys! We need to look for clues!” Spoke Mirabel. At her urging, the three of them investigated their immediate area.

Camilo returned to the cake crime-scene, searching for any hints as to what may have happened.

He found three.

A paw-print, a petal, and a familiar hair.

“Hey, guys! Check this out!” At his call, Mirabel and Hiccup arrived at the scene. Camilo proceeded to present his findings.

“We’ve got a Coati paw-print, a flower petal, and a mustache hair. That gives us three suspects…” He morphed into all three as he spoke, just because he could. “Antonio, Isabela, and Osvaldo!”

“There’s three suspects, and three of us…” Mirabel mused.

Hiccup saw where she was going with this. “Let’s split up, gang! We’ll meet up again once we’re done.”

The three nodded, and all set off in different directions to clear Camilo’s name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t hard to find Antonio, just follow the ring-tail.

Camilo stealthily trailed the Coati, putting years of sneaking around for pranks to good use. He couldn’t help but notice the frosting covering the little critter’s paws.

He watched from afar as the creature approached a tree, a trail of crumbs leading to the other side of the trunk. And if he listened, he could hear all kinds of gobbling noises coming from behind.

The shifter smirked, he’d caught his little brother red-handed.

He casually sauntered up to the tree, waited for the perfect moment to strike, and then jumped out in front of the child. Eliciting a startled yelp from him.

“GOT’CHA!”

His smirk increased once he saw his baby brother’s frosting-covered face. “So it was you!” He declared.

Antonio hastily tried to explain. “W-Wait, no! I didn’t eat the- “

“Y’know, I really do wanna support your mischievous endeavors. But I don’t wanna be grounded for a month, so…” Camilo was about to yank the child onto his feet, before he shouted.

“I DIDN’T EAT THE CAKE!” Now that he had his older brother’s attention, he clarified. “This is a cupcake I got for doing good in Kindergarten! Honest!” He held up a half-eaten cupcake as proof.

“I wasn’t supposed to eat it until after dinner, but it looked so good! I asked them to grab it for me…” He gestured to the mammals sitting beside him. “Don’t tell mom…” He whimpered.

With a sigh, Camilo began ruffling the boy’s hair. “Don’t worry, Tonito. I won’t snitch!” He chuckled as his brother giggled, but soon his smile fell again. “So if you didn’t do it…”

One of the Coatis started chittering, and Antonio relayed what he’d heard. “He says he saw Isabela looking at the cake weirdly!”

Camilo’s smirk returned. “Isabela, eh?”

Time to check in on Mirabel…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isabela was back to flower decoration, and she didn’t look too pleased. She’d just come off of another round of being screamed at for the tiniest imperfection.

The bride was even worse than she was before, and she was already bad.

However, her mood improved upon seeing Mirabel. “Hey, sis!” She greeted warmly.

Mirabel tried to play it cool. “Hey, Isa! Isabela! My sister! My oldest sister Isabela!”

Emphasis on tried.

“Uh, are you alright?” Isabela asked, confused and a bit concerned.

The bespectacled girl kept the act going. “Nah, I’m cool. I’m fine! Don’t worry about it…” She subtly tried to question her sister. “So uh…you hear anything interesting lately? About…I dunno…wedding cakes?”

The flower woman frowned. “I’m gonna stop you right there. I didn’t eat the cake.” A look of agitation glinted in her eyes. “I should’ve, I really thought about it! Just to stick it to that spoiled, pompous, ungrateful, demanding, rude, self-important- “

“I think we’re getting off-track here…” Mirabel nervously chuckled. “You didn’t do anything to the cake?”

“No, I didn’t. Unfortunately…” Isabela seemed to be recalling something. “…But Osvaldo seemed really interested in it, earlier. You know how that man is with his sweets.”

With that clue, Mirabel set off to find the rotund man. But first…

“You know, Isa. You really don’t have to take that kind of treatment from her! You gotta stand up for yourself!” She called out to her older sister.

With that reminder, she left. Bumping into Camilo on the way.

“Hey, Mira! I was just looking for you! Did Isabela…”

“Nope.” She answered. “But she said Osvaldo was eyeballing the cake all day!”

Camilo considered her words. “Welp, I guess we gotta find your boyfriend.” He snickered at Mirabel’s sputtering.

“He’s not-We aren’t-Not yet-I mean- “

With a groan, she followed him to find Hiccup.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Hiccup! Remember last week, when you broke Mirabel’s heart? But then you worked it out on a mountain, and now you’re kinda-sort of-dating?” Osvaldo asked, as cheery as ever. Oblivious to the boy’s discomfort.

Hiccup pouted in response. “Yes, Osvaldo. I remember. I was there…How did you know that-actually, never mind.”

He focused on the topic at hand. “That cake was eaten, and you’re the primary suspect!”

“Actually, Camilo’s the primary suspect!” The man corrected.

“That may be so…” Hiccup started circling the man. “But I don’t believe he did it…”

“I thought you were just helping Mirabel because she’s your girlfriend?” At his question, Hiccup sputtered.

“She’s not-We aren’t-Not yet-I mean- “The teen sighed. “Could you stop talking for like, five minutes?”

“No matter how much you love your niece, there’s one thing you love more…food!” He got in the man’s face as his interrogation intensified. “I know you were staring at that cake all day, you were desperate to get a slice! So desperate, you’d sabotage your own niece’s wedding…” He finished in a gravelly tone, trying to be intimidating.

They stood in silence for a short while. “…Well?” Hiccup asked.

“It hasn’t been five minutes yet.” Osvaldo answered.

Hiccup’s eye began to twitch. “Did you eat the cake…yes or no…” He groaned.

“Oh, that’s easy! No!” He chuckled as he patted his belly. “I’m on a diet! Don’t get me wrong, I was very tempted to indulge in that rich, fluffy, sweet, enticing, irresistible…” He quickly tried to clear his mind of his pastry-filled thoughts. “B-But I’m on a diet!”

Now that, Hiccup didn’t believe.

But the scrawny teen trusted him about the cake. The man was too clueless to be capable of lying.

“Fine, you’re free to go…” He waved the round man off. “But I’m watching you!” He warned.

Hiccup then sighed once more. The Osvaldo lead was a bust. He hoped the others were having more luck…

Juts as he thought that, who should arrive but Mirabel and Camilo. Hiccup quickly trotted over to them.

“Hey guys, did you find anything?” The cousins shook their heads.

“No, what about you?” Mirabel asked, and Hiccup had to shake his head as well.

“Man, none of us found anything? No more clues? No more leads? Come on, guys! My life’s on the line here!” Camilo fussed.

“Well uh…what would Detective Valdez do?” Hiccup asked.

Mirabel could only shrug. “Usually at this point in the story, the culprit will turn themselves in because they feel guilty.” At Hiccup’s odd look, she crossed her arms defensively. “What? These were books for little kids, you expect a complex mystery? It’s just supposed to be small and cute!”

As Mirabel and Hiccup squabbled, and Camilo started to really worry about his fate, none of them noticed they were being watched…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon, their one hour was up. They had asked everyone they could, investigated the scene over and over, but they couldn’t find the answers they needed.

Camilo was about to be punished for a crime he didn’t commit.

They trudged back to the field, where the wedding was about to take place. Camilo felt like he was marching to his doom.

“It’s not fair! You didn’t do it, so you shouldn’t be grounded!” Mirabel protested.

“You know, the last time I was in a situation like this I hopped on a dragon’s back and flew to another country. Maybe you can try that?” Hiccup’s joke only earned him disgruntled glares.

“We’re not gonna take this sitting down. You’re innocent, and you will not be grounded!” Camilo didn’t look convinced by Mirabel’s declaration.

“Thanks for trying, guys. But we lost. It’s over. Even if we did find evidence, they probably wouldn’t believe me. I’m just Camilo the trouble maker…” He began walking ahead of them, wanting to just get this over with. “I’ll see you in a month…”

Hiccup and Mirabel watched him walk away, disheartened.

“This isn’t right!” She insisted.

“I agree, but what else can we do?” Hiccup countered.

“Not much on your own, but maybe I can help…”

They both jumped at the nervous voice from behind them. They turned around, to see the groom. Fiddling with his hands, and looking anywhere but at them.

“You…You can help Milo?” Asked Mirabel, hopeful.

The groom gave a frightful nod, and quietly said “Follow me…”

He stepped quickly after Camilo, Mirabel following closely behind. After a moment’s hesitation, Hiccup followed as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They arrived just in time to see Camilo getting his soul scolded out of him.

Pepa was absolutely letting him have it, while a very smug bride enjoyed the view. Leaning against a tree. Camilo just stood there and took it, not even trying to defend himself.

“Childish pranks are one thing, but this is too far! You know how long your Tia worked on that cake, to ruin it just for a joke? It’s inexcusable! And you even tried to get out of it by blaming someone else? That’s it, mister. You are- “

“STOP!”

Everyone turned to the groom, shouting with an uncharacteristic boldness.

“Don’t punish him, it was me! I ate the cake!”

Gasps rang throughout the crowd, while the bride looked positively confounded.

“You…ate the cake?” She whispered, disbelieving.

With a sigh, he nodded and explained. “I’ve always been prone to stress eating, and the wedding planning has been very…stressful…”

The bride scoffed at this. “What!? Who’s been making it stressful?” She missed the withering glares she received from everybody in the field.

“It was a moment of weakness…I was just so nervous and the cake was right there…” He tried to calm his jittering nerves. “I didn’t want to admit it, but I can’t let a kid take the fall for my mistakes. Let him go, he’s innocent…”

The crowd was silent, all taking in the revelation…

Until someone in the back shouted “PLOT TWIST!”

It was Osvaldo.

The bride looked angrier than ever before. “I can’t believe it! Even my own fiancé is trying to ruin my wedding! You’re all a bunch of jerks, you know that? How dare you- “

“SHUT UP ALREADY!”

It was Pepa who interrupted her rant. “My wedding was in the middle of a hurricane, and it was still one of the happiest days of my life. You know why? Because I got to marry the love of my life, and that’s all that matters! Weddings don’t have to be perfect, as long as you’re in love!”

Before the bride could shoot back, Isabela spoke next. “You don’t want to get married. You just want to be the center of attention. And you’ll bully everyone who’s just trying to help you, until you get your way.” She sneered.

“Y’know what? I’ve had enough of participating in weddings I don’t want to be a part of. I’m out.” With a flip of her hair, Isabela strutted out of the field and back towards Casita. To enjoy the rest of her day without someone screaming in her ears.

Inspired by Isabela, the helpful townsfolk who’ve been degraded all day started to head home. Sick of being yelled at.

“What the-Where are you going!? Get back here! I SAID GET BACK HERE!!!” She screeched and hollered and yelled, and ironically, that only served to make people leave faster. She fell to the ground, pounding the dirt in rage. “WHY!? WHY, GOD!? WHY DON’T YOU WANT ME TO GET MARRIED!?” She cried to the heavens.

Rubbing the back of his neck, the groom nervously laughed. “I’ll uh…I’ll take it from here. Sorry for the trouble…” He then went to retrieve his inconsolable fiancée.

As they watched him and Osvaldo drag the screaming woman back to whatever pit she crawled out of, Pepa faced Camilo. Looking apologetic. “Hijo, I’m sorry for doubting you. I should’ve believed you when you said you didn’t do it…”

For a moment, a look of earnest appreciation could be seen on Camilo. But he quickly shifted back to smug flippancy, he had to save face. “Yeah, whatever. It’s cool. Let’s just get outta here.”

Pepa, Antonio, and Camilo made to leave the field. Pepa especially eager to unwind with some nice, hot tea.

Camilo turned to Mirabel and Hiccup a final time. “Hey…thanks for helping me out. You didn’t have to.”

He was quickly embraced by Mirabel. “Don’t sweat it, Primo!”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal. Family helps family.” Hiccup was just repeating something he’d heard Mirabel say, it took him a moment to grasp the implications of what he had said. “N-Not to say that I’m part of your family, cuz I’m not! I just-I was- “

He cut off his frantic explanation as he saw their laughter, and just groaned instead.

Now, it was just Hiccup and Mirabel in the field.

“I gotta get back to the Forge, I haven’t taken Toothless flying yet today. See you later?” Mirabel nodded at Hiccup’s words, before growing a sly grin.

“Next time, I’m gonna show you some Detective Valdez books!” Hiccup contemplated what she’d said.

“Aren’t those for literal babies?” He asked.

“Well yeah, but we gotta start small! How else am I gonna teach you to read?”

At Hiccup’s glowering, Mirabel only laughed harder.