Dos Oruguitas (Camilo Madrigal)

Epilogue

Six years later, more things had changed. There everyone was, a happy family.

Doloresʼ son, Jorge, is now nine years old, and he got his gift five years ago. His gift was extraordinary speed, which actually came quite handy. Doloesʼ second child, Bellen, is six years old and her gift was the ability to fly.

Isabella had twins, who were also six years old. Their gifts are exact opossites, fire and ice. Matias had the gift of fire and Guido had the gift of ice. They were both dangerous gifts, but thankfully they were taught to use them wisely.

Luisa was married, but didnʼt have any children, and, just like her wedding, nobody had any idea when it was going to happen.

Mirabel was still single, but it was all out of her choice. She said she didnʼt really want to get married and prefered watching over her nephews instead, and everyone respected her decision.

Little Antonio wasnʼt so little anymore. He was now seventeen, and, he and Cecilia were still together. Everyone always thought this was cute and would continue thinking it all along as they remembered them playing when they were kids, and now seeing them all grown up.

As for Camilo and Veronica, it was their big day. One year after they got married, even briefly like that, they had a daughter named Sophia, who didnʼt only look just like Camilo, but had a huge soft spot for him as well. And, of course, identical personalities.

That day, was the day Sophia would finally get her gift. Just like every gift ceremony before this, the Madrigals were preparing the Casita for the event.

"Matias, Guido, Jorge, stop it right now! Somebody is going to get hurt!" Abuela yelled at the three kids.

The three of them had recently came up with a new game where Matias and Guido would throw balls of fire and ice to Jorge and he had to dodge them using his speed, but none of the grown ups really approved of that game.

"Uh, fine..." the kids all rolled their eyes at the same time as they scattered around.

Vero and Camilo were watching all of that from up the stairs, in front of Camiloʼs room, or, more likely, their room. They were watching all the people come and go, preparing for the fiesta, all the kids running around and playing, it was heartwarming.

Camilo had his arm wrapped around Veronica, holding her close to him. This was the life he chose. And he never even considered thinking about it twice. He loved everything about it. And so did Veronica.

"I love you," he told her.

"I love you too. Iʼm so proud of us..." she told him back.

"Daddy!" they heard Sophiaʼs voice as she was running straight to them, inside her dadʼs arms.

Camilo picked her up and held both her and Veronica close to him. This was ideal to him. The perfect family he wished for.

"How do you feel about your big day, huh?" Veronica asked Sophia as Camilo was holding her.

"Iʼm... kind of nervous..." Sophia admitted.

"Well, you shouldnʼt be. Everything will be alright," Camilo replied to his daughter.

"But what if it doesnʼt?" said Sophia.

"Has daddy ever lied to you?" Camilo said with a small smile.

"No..." the little girl chuckled.

"Sophie, you have to go get dressed!" Abuelaʼs voice echoed at that point, a sign that time was passing.

"Come on Sophie, time to get dressed!" Camilo shapeshifted into Abuela, his voice imitating her.

Sophia laughed as Camilo put her down and switched back to himself. Somehow, her father always helped her feel much better with his jokes.

"Come on, honey, let me help you get dressed," Veronica said as she grabbed Sophiaʼs hand and went with her to the nursery room.

A few hours later, everyone was gathered on the side as Sophia was standing in the middle of everyone, nervous to take her first step. The lights were on her, just like everyoneʼs eyes.

Her eyes immediately scanned the top of the stairs to find her parents. Then, she looked straight at her dad. Camilo gave her a little wink. That brought a smile to her face, as she was determined to start walking towards her new door.

She started walking, all eyes pierced on her. But she didnʼt care, she wasnʼt nervous. She was confident on herself and she knew she could do it. She reached the top where Abuela was standing, holding the candle. She leaned down a bit so Sohpia could touch the candle.

"Will you use your gift to honor our miracle? Will you serve this community and strengthen our hope?" said Abuela.

"Yes," Sohpia nodded as she turned around to face her door.

She extended her little hand to touch the handle, while everyone was watching. Camilo and Veronica were standing aside, Camilo hugging Veronica from behind. Her eyes were filled with tears, she was very proud of her daughter for who she had become, and now she was about to receive her gift.

As Sophia touched the handle, a beautiful, majestic shine took over the door and the whole room, leaving everyone in awe yet another time.

Happy smiles painted on everyoneʼs face as Sophia opened her door. It wasnʼt clear yet what her true gift was, but they were definitely about to find out. The room was big, and beautiful, like all the other rooms, and the walls were painted in splatters of different color of the rainbow. Paint was seen all around the room. Right in the middle, there was an easel with a blank canvas on it, and next to it, there was a box of paint brushes and another one with paints.

Curious, Sophia picked up a brush and dipped it in some paint. She painted the first thing that came to her head at that point, which was a butterfly, and right there, in front of everyoneʼs eyes, it came to life, flying all around the room.

"Come on, Soph, paint something else!" Camilo said, wanting to make sure her gift was what everyone thought it was.

Sophia nodded and painted a beautiful flower, and, just like the butterfly, the flower popped right out of the canvas into Sophiaʼs hands. Everyone clapped and cheered seeing that her gift was to bring life to everything she painted.

Camilo and Veronica approached their daughter.

"Did you see my gift? Itʼs awesome!" she said excitedly.

"See? I told you everything would be alright!" said Camilo as he picked her up with one arm, then hugged Veronica with the other.

It was them at that moment, just them. Their perfect little family. They could sense all eyes were on them, admiring how adorable they looked, but they didnʼt care.

After a while, Camilo let go of Sophia so she could go and play with her cousins. There was a fiesta going on in their daughterʼs room, and, while they loved the party atmosphere, they knew they just needed a few minutes to themselves. So, they walked out in the hallway where nobody was.

"Iʼm so proud of our daughter," Veronica said, holding Camiloʼs hand.

"Me too," he replied, looking deeply in her eyes.

They couldnʼt believe what they had built. Their own family. They were happy, they chose this life and enjoyed every single second of it. Who could imagine after everything the two had been through that they would end up so happy together? At first, they were strangers, then Camilo saw the poor little girl crying on the side of the playground and decided he wanted to support her and now they were married and had a kid. How fast everything could change.

And right then, just like the first time, Camilo leaned in and kissed Veronica. Sweet and gentle like ever before, expressing all his love to her. Just like the first time. They had evolved overtime. Dos oruguitas, who were now mariposas.

THE END.