Very small chapter update! I've had this doc on my computer for at least a week now and decided I may as well post it! I hope you enjoy!
She had said yes. Dolores Madrigal had said yes to Mariano Guzman's proposal of marriage. This news was kept quiet, the families agreeing that such a sudden engagement would cause some serious questions, ones that would reflect poorly on the young couple. They had a hard time agreeing, Mariano in particular wanted to shout and announce it to the whole village, until they had explained why. Even so, Dolores and Mariano, the lovebirds that they were, were absolutely enamored with one another. Spending as much of their time together wherever they went just to be close.
New whispers circulated the village now, seeing the duo walk together. Before they had all been whispering and wondering who the perfect Madrigal woman would choose and the handsome romantic Mariano. Girls swooned over him and boys looked longingly after her. Even so, the townspeople had seemed to come to an agreement that two of the most perfect young adults should come together in marriage. Now they all watched and wondered, just how did this happen? Many assumed she had taken advantage of him, after all she was supposedly the 'gossip' of the Madrigal family with her super hearing. It was easier to ignore the harsh whispers now that Mariano was by her side, showering her with affection and declaring just how much he had always loved her.
When they walked together, it was a very romantic looking sight to see. The pair would be linked together, Dolores holding the offered arm with one hand on his bicep and the other nearer to his elbow while leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked. His mother sighed softly at the sight of the approaching lovers. Her son was well and truly happy with his choice. The Guzman family was having dinner with the Madrigal family once more tonight. They had become much closer than she thought they would, even when she was discussing a marriage with Isabela. She supposed that perhaps this was due to the fact that this was a choice made by their children that they were quite clearly pleased with.
"Mama!" He greeted as they stepped inside their home. "It is time for us to walk up for dinner." His smile was still as gentle and loving as ever, and she had to wonder if that would have changed had he not taken charge of his own life and instead done as she told and proposed to Isabela instead of Dolores. Dolores, who did not have to walk down here with him but insisted upon it anyway. With a nod of her head she moved to join them, coming down the final stair, watching, pleased, as Dolores stepped away from Mariano's side to retrieve her future mother-in-law's shawl before she helped drape it over her shoulders.
"Shall we?" she gestured to the door, and found herself walking between her son and his fiance. As she approached the intensely magical Madrigal household, her son and a Madrigal daughter by her side, she could help but feel Dolores had somehow managed to sway her opinion and win her over. Dolores treated her with nothing but love and respect, and she could see how in love she was with her son.
She no longer had it in herself to be angry and resentful over the matter, not when her son was being given the love story she wanted for him, the love story he deserved.She had, wrongly, assumed he had been enamored with Isabela Madrigal, not Dolores. She supposed it was her own fault for not paying closer attention, instead allowing the gossip around the Encanto inform and guide her decision. She knew better now, they all did. Her son's happiness was owed to his own courage to take his life into his own hands and declare his choice proudly to them when he asked Dolores to marry him at dinner that fateful night.
