The Lost Miracle

Chapter 10: The Aftermath

Mira pushed her glasses up to her forehead, rubbing her face with her hands in exhaustion. She removed her hands and put her glasses back in place to be met with a warm mug of chocolate caliente, small splatters surrounding it from when it was placed on the table. Josephina sat down in front of her and placed her hand on Mira's, which now rested on the table.

    "How are you feeling, Mija?" she asked as her thumb gently rubbed Mira's wrist.

    "Well, my uh..."  she hesitated for a moment before saying the next word. "Family... seems to have settled in well according to Esteban, and Alejandro and Mercedes didn't seem to mind cleaning up the house by themselves so I don't feel too bad right now." A weak smile grew on her face.

    "Yes, but, how are you feeling?" Josephina asked while taking a sip from her cup.

    "I..." Mira hesitated for a moment. "I don't know... I'm just confused. I don't know what they're doing here, or if they want anything, or what!" she sighed and sat back in her chair and tilted her head up to stare at the ceiling. "It's so strange, I haven't seen them in so long. You saw the boy outside, right?"

    "The one standing in the doorway with your other sister?" Mira nodded.

    "That's my primo, Antonio. He was only 5 the last time I saw him..." she stopped for a moment to reminisce over the moments she had with him. "He was always so sweet. When he was first born, I was so mad because I knew that I'd have to share the nursery with a baby. But he wasn't anything like I thought. I was prepared for this annoying, crying, squirming baby but- well, he did cry a lot, he was sensitive- but he was so... mature?" she paused to take a breath. Talking about her favorite primo caused her to speak faster, almost as if she was nervous to speak of him after so long. "He wasn't babyish, he acted like-like he was my age! Always asking questions and wanted to help out in any way he possibly could. Whenever I was sewing something, he insisted on helping, so I let him hold the spool of threads until I needed them. It made him so happy." the two women chuckled.

    "Oh, and my other cousin, Camillo," Mira began. "He was just... a complete wild card."

    "He's the one who could shapeshift, right?" Josephina asked. Mira hummed an mm-hmm while taking another sip of her drink.

    "The gift was fitting," she started again. "Before he got it, he was the family prankster. Always popped out of nowhere to scare anyone and everyone- but it was usually his cousins and siblings, I rarely remember him scaring either of our parents. " Josephina smiled at the thought.

    "Mercedes was like that when she was younger," Josephina commented. "Always finding ways to torment poor Alejandro. Thank goodness she grew out of it quickly." The girls laughed "May I ask you something?" She cautiously questioned.

    "Of course," Mira replied.

    "Aren't you... mad at them, at all?" Mira was surprised, almost shocked. Her face showed it well. "Well, from what I know of how they treated you, it wasn't the best. You always said that they would brush you aside, even forgetting about you completely. I'd understand if you were mad." Mira hesitated for a moment, taking the last sip of her chocolate caliente.

    "Honestly..." Mira breathed in and out, calming herself before finally saying the truth out loud. "I am... If I wasn't with Antonio, I was alone. Everyone else had chores that helped out the town and were useful. But I was just... in the way. It was rare when they invited me with them into town, the only time I remember was the day of Antonio's ceremony." She breathed out a sigh. "I always felt out of place. Not just with the family, but with the whole town. I was the giftless Madrigal, the unspecial one. I... I never understood why it was me, but that's just how it was." Josephina sandwiched Mira's hand between her own.