Love Me for Eternity || Bruno Madrigal

Chapter 54: The Triplets' Gifts

Little Angelina wasn't nervous, not at all.

Well, maybe a little.

No, no. She wasn't nervous! She was Angelina Madrigal—she was her mother's daughter, the child of the revered town seer, granddaughter of the shepherd, descendent of the martyr who had sacrificed his life for a miracle!

She wasn't afraid of her abuela! Not a chance!

...

Okay, she was lying. She was terrified.

"Papá, did I do something wrong? I promise it wasn't me, it was Ignacio!" Angelina cried out while clutching her pet lamb tightly. Chica merely bleated, as if to reaffirm Angelina's claims. Before Bruno could sputter out a reply, Ignacio went forward and waved his arm around, as if to stop Angelina from talking.

"Oye, I didn't do anything wrong!" Ignacio practically cried out in indignation, clutching on to Javier's hand tightly. The youngest triplet stuttered and looked between his siblings in worry, his free hand clutching the ends of this pristinely white ruana lined with golden seams.

"Stop it, you two. It was probably me..."

"Hush, Javi." They immediately dismissed the claims of their darling brother. Although it was partially true; Javier was the main cause of today's fuss. After four hours of being missing, Ignacio had brought back Javier hand-in-hand. You had immediately crushed Javier in a hug out of worry with Bruno hot in your tail. Bruno had to ask Pepa why Angelina and Ignacio were out looking for Javier when he specifically told her not to let them out of the nursery, but one guilty look from Pepa was all you needed to know that she had fallen prey to Angelina's charm.

And because of that, a tray of snacks went missing from the kitchen.

It was a no-brainer on who did it (especially with the crumbs that stuck to her cheeks and a few cookies stuffed into the pockets of her favorite cousins). Mirabel was snacking on the last bites of a chocolate cookie when Julieta had found her with Camilo near the stairs, and she was not happy with stolen treats.

You left the scolding to your darling husband (even though you knew Angelina would just use her charm to worm her way out of trouble again), whisked your youngest child into his formal attire, and made sure he was ready for the night. Ignacio never left his side and almost threw a tantrum when you had to pry his hands away from Javier's. It was adorable, but you had to make sure Javier was ready as soon as possible before Alma had your head served on a silver platter for tonight's ceremony.

"No one's getting in trouble, Angi. although we have to talk about the missing tray of cookies later," you gave your daughter a pointed look. She just gave you a sweet smile and hugged Chica closer to her in hopes to enhance her charm. It didn't work on you, of course, so you just sighed. "...but since it's your birthday, I'm going to leave you off the hook. For now."

Angelina cheered while she spun around with Chica bleating happily. You sighed and sat them all on the bed with Bruno at your side. He immediately went to work fixing Angelina's crooked bow and fixed some stray coils that managed to get out of your daughter's twin buns. You played with Javier's hair—which was significantly growing longer—and hummed to yourself while you waited for your madrina to come into the nursery.

"You really look like papá, don't you Javi?" Ignacio commented while leaning his face close to his youngest brother's. Javier and Bruno blinked.

"W-what?" They both stuttered together; as if to make a point. You giggled and brushed some of Javi's hair out of his face.

"It's true. The both of you are like copies of each other. Some can even say that the resemblance is uncanny." you said. You gave Javi a smooch to the cheeks. "You're like a mini Brunito, mi vida. "