Fly High, Butterfly

Chapter Four

Isabela had been in the courtyard, trying to see if her plants could produce edible fruit, and was making steady progress with mangos. She offered them to family members as they came out, Camilo snatching an armload and ducking away as one sailed by his head, launched by casita, him laughing as Isabela rolled her eyes at him and returned to her task

"Tío Bruno! Do you want a mango?" She offered a , finally perfectly ripe, mango. He paused in his step, " you want a mango...No. No Gracias.".

She watched in bewilderment as he walked inside, but soon shrugged it off as one of her tíos habits he'd formed in the walls and continued her task.

Dolores who'd been listening, tapped her chin in thought. He'd done it in the walls, but now that she saw it with her own eyes...hmm... This needed further investigation.

She followed him at a distance, hushing the rattling protests Casita made. Bruno didn't seem to notice, too caught up in his own thoughts as he made his way to Mirabels room.

Odd. But not unpredictable. Mirabel had always had a special connection with him, like she did with casita.

She ducked behind a potted plant as he knocked on the door, three times on the wood then once on his head while saying "knock knock knock, knock on wood.".

She focused to hear Mirabel's answer, "come in!". He pushed the door open but didn't step inside immediately. He crossed his fingers, held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he walked in, only releasing once past the threshold.

"Ah! Hola tío Bruno! Cómo estás?" Mirabel greeted.

Dolores heard squeaking, shifting of weight, and shuffling. She peeked out to seek he saw slowly rocking and clenching his hands at his sides. "Hola-" he started to rap on his head roughly"no no no!" Dolores heard Mirabel, not exactly a scold but she definitely wasn't happy with what he was doing, leapt from her spot on her bed, to hold Bruno's wrist. "No tío Bruno. We can't hit ourselves. Not even when we're upset. Happy hands. Okay?", He clenched this eyes shut tightly and flapped his hands instead, "Good...deep breathes. You want to lie down?" Her voice was soft and gentle, the same tone papa would give either her and mama when they got overwhelmed.

She stepped out from her hiding place and finally got a good look at what was happening. Bruno now laid in the fetal position at the end of her bed, Mirabel comforting patting his back.

"Take your time..I know it's hard- oh!" She noticed Dolores' presence.

"Hola Dolores, do you need something?" Mirabel was trying to act casual, like Bruno wasn't lying at the end of her bed making puffing sounds.

"No...I'm fine. ¿Está bien el tío Bruno?" She gestured to him inconspicuously.

"Yeah, just a bit of a rough-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Bruno's voice interrupted her.

He repeated again, this time a bit more confidently. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you. I'm fine.".

Dolores nodded, "oh, just checking. Also, please listen to Mirabel. Julieta already has Agustin to heal daily, and with what Camilo did yesterday she'd give you one of her lectures with your meal.". They shuddered at the memory of the walk of shame Camilo had to do after overexerting himself and getting stuck in the middle of his transformation... and when Agustin had to sit beside her miserably as she made fresh tortillas con arroz y pollo.

"Listen to Mirabel. Listen to Mirabel. Sí..Yeah, I can do that." He rapped his knuckles against the wall, rats soothingly licking his face. Dolores nodded with sympathy, "Tío Bruno... I know it's hard to talk about... Especially when you're stressed, but we're familia. We help each other.". She sat beside him determinedly, gently patting his hood.

"They don't understand in the way we do, but just like mamí spins, just like I flap, you do something that makes you feel better.".

" Feel better. Sí. "Bruno's voice was soft. Dolores let out a giggle before perking up excitedly. Which only meant one of two things. Really good gossip or-

"DOlOOORES!" Camilo called up, "Your boyfriend's here!".

Mariano. She happily squeaked as she ran down the stairs to meet him. Bruno and Mirabel following after, watching from the railing as she excitedly bounced in place before him, giggling and flapping her hands as she spoke.

Mariano didn't even seem to notice, or if he did he didn't seem to care, he was just smiling lovingly at her, listening intently to her. He didn't give her a dirty look, make a mocking face, or whisper nasty things about her under his breathe. He just smiled adoringly, as if she was his entire universe.

As if he could hear his thoughts, Mariano looked up and saw them and gave a big smile towards Bruno while waving at them. Dolores hugged him and began to pull him towards the garden.

Mirabel gave him a knowing smile, and gently nudged him with her elbow "come down when you're ready.".

It took ten minutes of deep breaths and counting repeatedly before he made his way down the stairs and outside. Dolores and Mariano were snuggled up together on the grass, enjoying the warm glow of the sunset while watching Mirabel doodle on a loose piece of paper, possibly a new design of some sort. He sat beside them, mesmerized by the delicate colors she was using. Each small detail beautiful on its own, but together seemed to flow seamlessly.

Without even looking up , she smiled "Gracias, for joining us Tío Bruno.".

"Gracias."he muttered back, mesmerized by how much detail Mirabel squeezed into her new skirt.

Beautiful.