Moonlight

09 |Adjustment|

Luna waits on the chair for Bruno to get back. He had gone to the kitchen to get them food and water along with a few more of their items. Luna wanted to come with him but he told her to stay put. He didn't know how long the family would be out and he'd rather be the one who gets caught than both of them being caught.

She hears the familiar footsteps coming down the hall and she quickly gets up to open the door for him, Luna is startled when she sees him carrying a lot of things "Papa, how are you carrying all of that?" She asks. Bruno walks past her and quickly sets everything down "Lots of practice as a parent!" He answered. Bruno bends down to separate the food and water, then goes through their things "I grabbed some more of your clothes and some of your art stuff."

Luna helped put the food and water on the table, she noticed that it looked to be the fresh batch of arepas Julieta had made that morning "Papa..are these the arepas that tía made this morning?" She asks "Won't she be upset? She might blame Camilo again." Luna felt bad about letting her cousin take the fall for something he didn't do.

Bruno looked back at her "Luna, I know you feel bad but we need to eat. Your tía won't get too mad...your tía Pepa on the other hand.." They both shuddered when they remembered how angry she would get at Camilo's antics sometimes. Luna takes a bit out of an arepa "Still feels weird.." she mumbled.

"It's just a big adjustment." Bruno explained. He begins to divide their stuff and Luna noticed that he had grabbed more of her things than his own "Where's your stuff?" Luna asked "Oh I didn't really have much stuff to bring..." He answered. Luna felt the anxious feeling come back to her, she didn't like that he mostly grabbed her things.

"Oh! That reminds me." Bruno quickly left the room again and Luna watched him drag an old twin sized mattress back into the room "I think this is from when your tías and I were kids. I figured you could sleep on this." He explained. Luna looked around then back at him "Then where will you sleep?" She asked "Oh, I'll just sleep on the chair. Looks comfortable enough."

Luna gave him a look "Won't that be bad for your back?" She remembered Julieta scolding him once about sleeping in an uncomfortable position. Bruno reassured her that he will be fine "I'll have to adjust, but I should be fine." "Papa! You can't sleep somewhere that will be un...un..." Luna paused trying to think of the word "Uncomfy!"

"Do you mean uncomfortable?" Bruno asked, she nods "I appreciate your concern mija but I'll be ok." Luna shook her head and started to look around the small space, determined to find something that Bruno could sleep on. Luna spotted what looked to be a blanket of sorts and pulled it out "Papa, what is this?" Bruno looks to see what she was talking about "Looks like a hammock." He says.

Luna still looked confused "It's kind of like a bed you float in." He says, this made the girl perk up "Then I'll take this bed!" She says. Bruno sighs "Luna, I know you want to be considerate but I want you to be comfortable. I'll take the hammock." Luna gave him a look that reminded him of her mother "No Papa, I want this bed! I want to float in the air!" She exclaimed.

"Ok, ok. You can have the hammock." Bruno looked around the room "I just...have to find a place to hang it." He says to himself. Luna goes back to looking through her stuff while Bruno tried to find a place to hang the hammock. She finds more clothes and some of her stuffed animals before pulling out a picture frame. It wasn't one from her room. Luna recognized it as one of the pictures Bruno had next to his bed.

It was one of his favorites. A picture of him and her mother standing next to each other, she had a very noticeable baby bump in the picture.

Luna felt that familiar feeling wash over her whenever she thought of her, she didn't like how the only things she knew about her mother was what her family has told her. It always made Luna wonder how much she would know her mother if she was around.

"Luna?" Bruno's voice cut interrupted her thoughts and she nearly dropped the picture when she realized that he was kneeling down right next to her "Sorry I was...thinking." She says, carefully putting the picture down "What were you thinking about?" Bruno asked.

Luna thought of an answer "Um...food?" She said. Bruno knew better but accepted the answer, he always treaded lightly with talking about her mother. It was always a sensitive topic for Luna. She still didn't fully understand why Aminta wasn't here.

"I managed to put up the hammock." Bruno nodded towards it and Luna looked to see he managed to make enough room for it to be hung up by the mattress "And I think it's time to go over some rules for living here." Luna groaned "Rules? But Papa..." She whined. Bruno raised an eyebrow "Yes, there will be rules young lady."

Bruno sat Luna down in front of him "Rule one: Don't go anywhere in the walls without me. I don't know how old the wood is back here." He says, Luna looks confused "Doesn't Casita's magic come back here?" She asks "No. When I was leaving, I saw a lot of old flooring so I don't think it does." Bruno explained.

"Rule two: Don't leave the walls unless I'm with you or I actually allow you to." Luna gasped "So I'm trapped in here?" She narrows her eyes "Like a bad guy?" Bruno looked at her "First of all, you've been hanging out with Camilo way too much. And second, you're not trapped. I need to figure out a schedule with the family on when they aren't around so we can come out."

Luna nods at the explanation "Fine..." she mumbled, "And rule 3: We have to make sure not to make a lot of noise back here. The rest of the family might not hear, but Dolores could." Bruno says. Luna paused at that "..I can't see Dolores?" She asked, Bruno sighed "I'm sorry mija. We can't let anyone know we're back here." Bruno felt bad for saying it because he knew how close those two were.

The girl picks at her skirt "I didn't think the change would be so big.." she murmured. Bruno sat Luna on his lap "I know mariposa, but it'll be ok. It's just another adjustment." The word echoed in his mind and he found himself starting to regret the idea in the first place.

Would they really be able to live in the walls? And Luna was still so small, he was worried on how much she would be affected by this. But this was to help protect her and Mirabel. He had to do this.

Bruno swallowed the doubts and kissed the top of her head "Just an adjustment." He repeated.