Cocooned

Second Chances

That night was...rough. The kids barely ate their food. It took them 20 minutes to get the kids to detach from their fathers, and even then they were hesitant. Julieta and Pepa had to beg the kids to eat, which they only ate a little bit of. Once dinner ended, the kids all piled into the nursery. They hadn't slept in there in years but...it provided some kind of comfort to them. They didn't want to be alone, they wanted to be near each other.

Each of the adults kissed them Goodnight, and Casita made sure to comfort them and reassure them that nothing was going to happen to the house. Nothing was going to fall on them, or break, or hurt their family. They were safe, and Casita made sure of that. Pedro stayed in the nursery with them for a while, sitting in the corner reading to them quietly to make sure they didn't have a panic attack like they had a few times earlier that day since the incident at the fountain. They had a bad feeling it was going to be a bad week.

Once Pedro left, Mirabel sat up from her spot in the cuddle pile on the floor. Her butterflies, which had previously been resting in her hair, fluttered for a moment before resting again. The 9-year-old looked around for a moment, then Isabela sat up as well, looking at her while rubbing her eyes. "Bel?" She asked, looking at her sister. She watched Mirabel fiddle with her fingers for a moment.

"Isa..." Mirabel choked out, and Isabela frowned, hugged her sister tightly. Mirabel wrapped her arms around Isabela, squeezing her as she buried her head in her shoulder. The smaller sobbed, body shaking slightly. Isabela rubbed her back, gently petting her curls. She mimicked the way her mama or abuela would calm them down, though she didn't really know it.

"Don't listen to him. You didn't do anything," Isabela said quietly. They sat there for a minute and Mirabel finally stopped crying, rubbing her eyes and sniffling. Isabela took off her glasses, setting them aside and laying down next to her. She made sure her blanket was pulled up, then pulled her own up. Mirabel calmed down, closing her eyes. Isabela grabbed Mirabel's hand, moving a little bit closer.

"Gracias Isa," Mirabel mumbled, yawning.

"De nada," Isabela said, finally going to sleep with her sister.

—
The next day, the family decided to stay home—Alma had decided to let the family stay home for the rest of the week. She stated that she didn't want any of them out working, after what happened. A short vacation was fine anyway, the town could live without them for a while. Most of them were understanding anyway, completely agreeing with what Alma was saying and even encouraging them to take a few days more. She was grateful that they all were so understanding.

Breakfast was quiet. There wasn't much going on, not a lot of talking. The kids usually carried the conversations. There was the occasional whisper from the adults, mostly Pedro to Alma. Dolores had squeaked a couple times, but it remained quiet otherwise. Once they were all done eating, Bruno ushered the kids out of the room.

"You niños go to Dolores' room and play for a while, hm?" Bruno said, and they all exchanged glances before nodding. They didn't bother asking why, because they already had an idea. The adults were probably going to talk about what happened the day before. Anytime the adults wanted to talk about something important, they would always send the kids to Dolores' room—it was soundproof, so not even Dolores could hear what was happening unless the door was open. Once the kids were in the room, Bruno walked back into the dining room, sitting down next to Félix. They were quiet, until Alma finally spoke up.

"We have to tell them," she said, looking up. The others looked at her nervously, or like she was crazy. There were mixed reactions, and Alma continued. "We can't keep it a secret forever. And after what Manuel pulled the other day..." Alma pulled a face, one of anger.