Love Me for Eternity || Bruno Madrigal

Chapter 50: Worries

FOUR YEARS LATER

There was a calm that settled in the Casita; the lull of peace that was brought forth by the humming of gentle summer air, the songs of palma de ceras just outside the sentient house, and the silent pitter patter of tiny feet that desperately scuttled around to find a place of hiding. Three wee children, no older than four years old, ducked and tiptoed their way over crevices of the house. Casita was kind enough to give them a helping hand (well, helping planks and tiles) whilst the house led them to a lonely corner and shoving chairs to cover them from anyone's view. The triplets snickered and shoved each other with gleeful squeals when Casita bounced its tiles below their feet.

"Ready or not, here I come—!" A faint voice sounded off from somewhere in the house. The children burst into fits of giggles just under the flight of stairs. Casita waved some planks around, as if to shush the triplets from their playful nudges. They all huddled together and covered their mouths in glee, eager to win this game of hide-and-seek.

"Papá won't find us here." Angelina snickered, crouching down low and bringing his two brothers down with her. It was a fairly easy task—she was taller than the both of them, after all!

"Oye, you're too noisy!" Ignacio quipped, giving Angelina a light jab on the side. She huffed and stuck her tongue out at her younger brother.

"You're the one who's noisy!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"K-keep it down, you two. Papá might find us." Javier, who was crouching between the two, wrung his fingers under his ruana and shrunk down low. Angelina and Ignacio stopped their banter almost immediately. They didn't want to upset their precious and youngest brother, after all.

"She started it." Ignacio huffed, puffing his cheeks out to pout.

"I did not—" Javier and Ignacio simultaneously put a hand on Angelina's mouth when they heard the sound of shuffling sandals go nearer and nearer from where they were. They all held their breaths in anticipation when they saw a shadow of a man from the kitchen; his hands to his sides and his pondering brow on his face as he scanned the open courtyard of the Casita. Angelia huffed at the hands that covered her mouth as muffled complaints uselessly fell from her lips.

"Now where are those three rascals hiding..." Bruno muttered to himself. From behind him were dejected forms of two three year olds. Mirabel and Camilo weren't as lucky in the game of hide-and-seek when they spent their time giggling under the spice cabinet of the kitchen. Plus, one of them forgot to close the cabinet door (Mirabel blames her primo for the mistake, but she let it slide when her older cousin stuck his tongue out and bribed her with sweets).

"It's not fair that you got to find us that fast, tio! " Camilo whined, tugging at the end of his ruana. Bruno merely smiled cheekily.

"Well, best you clean up those hiding skills, hm? I could literally hear you and Mira from a mile away." He laughed. Mirabel pouted and adjusted her glasses—they were far too big for her, but Julieta assured her that she'd grow to fit the glasses in a few months. She was a big girl now, after all!

A grin suddenly formed on her face when her eyesight got better when she fixed her crooked glasses. She tugged on Bruno's ruana just as he was peering over a large pot (Bruno knew there was no way the triplets would hide inside a pot, but just a week ago he found Ignacio stuck inside one of Julieta's bigger pans, so he wasn't taking any chances this time). Mirabel hastily grabbed Camilo's hand and dragged him to her whims. "Tio Bruno, Tio Bruno! Can we help you find them?"