Once Upon A Time In Colombia...

Pressure and Predictions

The next morning...

Okay, the good news is, I found Dolores, stacking his plate with food. 😉 I was perched on his shoulder.

The bad news is, I accidentally left Mirabel behind.

But she caught up. "Dolores, hey. You know, out of all my older cousins, you're like my favorite cousins, so I feel like I can talk to you about anything, even though you can talk to me about anything. Like the problem with the magic last night, that no one seems to worry about, but maybe you heard about, that maybe I should know about." Mirabel rambled, like it wasn't weird. 

This young woman never ceases to amaze me...

She said all that without taking a breather! 

By the way... She said that Dolores was her favorite older cousin. Her favorite is obviously Antonio. And she only has two older cousins; Dolores and Camilo. So if Dolores is Mirabel's favorite older cousin, then that means Camilo is her least favorite.

What a power move, but on the other hand, WHAT HAS HE DONE TO YOU, MIRABEL, TO BE YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?!

The funniest part of the morning started when Félix showed up behind Mirabel... Along with the REAL Dolores. 

"Camilo! Stop pretending you're Dolores so you can have seconds!" Félix told his son. That sounds oddly specific, like it's happened before.

*whispering* It has.

Camilo shapeshifted back into himself. "Worth a shot." He said with a shrug. I was laughing, until one of Casita's blinds smacked him from behind. I hissed. Camilo almost lost his food! I hopped off of Camilo's shoulders and back onto Mirabel's.

"The only one worried about the magic is you. And Oscar. And the rats talking in the walls..." Dolores whispered. Of course she heard all that. 

But... We have rats? I didn't know we had rats! Why didn't anybody tell me we had rats? I would've chased, caught, and eaten them ages ago if I knew we had rats! I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS!

"Oh, and Luisa. I heard her eye twitching all night."

IS THAT SO?

Speaking of Luisa, she just set the table down. "There we go." As everyone sat down to eat, I hopped up on Luisa's shoulders, and Mirabel sat in Pepa's seat so she could be next to Luisa.

Of which she got ticked about at first, but Félix, the magnífico husband he is, got her to settle down.

"Family, we are all thankful for Antonio's wonderful new..." Abuela went to sit down in her chair, only to find coatis in it. "Gift..."

"I told 'em to warm up your seat!" Antonio said with a smile, accompanied by his toucan, tapir, and capybaras. I. Love. Antonio. So much. Félix gave him a thumbs up.

Abuela managed a smile back. "Thank you, Toñito." The coatis got off her chair so Abuela could sit. "I'm sure today we'll find a way to put your blessings to good use... as must we all, we are the caretakers of this Encanto..."

Yeah. That's exactly what she told me the day after my gift ceremony. Almost as if I couldn't get a rest after a nerve-wracking event. I had to go straight to work that morning.

Apparently she forgot about my singing last night. That wasn't easy for me to do. Does she even care? 

While Abuela was talking, Mirabel whispered to Luisa, "Luisa, Dolores says you're totally freaking out, any chance you might know something about last night, with the magic—"

Mid-sentence, Luisa's eye twitched. And her eye only twitches when she's nervous about something. With that said... Mirabel pounded her hand on the table, excited. "You do!"