s a n d i

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when tio bruno leaves, dolores is confused about why her mama’s face is twisted with anger while a dark rain cloud hovers over her head. what do you mean, mama? tio bruno is still in the house. he’s still here!

shush, dolores, tio bruno left. shush, they say, we don’t talk about bruno. 

eventually, dolores learns. she learns not to speak of her nervous uncle, with his incredible, humbling gift. shush, dolores, don’t speak of tio bruno, she says to herself. shush, dolores, they’ll get mad. 

but dolores knows tio bruno is still there. she can hear him muttering to himself, knocking on the wood, talking to the rats, throwing salt from tia julieta’s kitchen over his shoulder. he’s harmless, dolores learns. he’s just a little man who’s scared of everything and himself. 

dolores lets it go, she stays quiet but sometimes, she can hear his stomach rumbling after days of going without food. sometimes, she can hear him tossing and turning at night. sometimes, she can hear him pressing against the wall when he hears one of the kids laughing. sometimes, she can hear him crying for his mama. sometimes, she can hear him calling for his papa. 

one night, after everyone has gone to sleep, dolores goes to the dining room wall where she knows tio bruno is living. 

“tio bruno? it’s me, dolores,” she calls softly.

his breath catches and his heart begins to thunder.

“i know you’re there. i don’t know why you’re hiding. come back. everyone thinks you’ve left.”

dolores waits, listens to him shift nervously. 

“i can’t,” he finally whispers. “i’m not. . . no one will want me back. not after what i’ve seen.”

“i don’t get it.”

“i know. . . my gift. . . it’s not- i’m not helping, dolores. i’m only going to upset everyone if i come back. do you understand?”

dolores frowns and shakes her head. “no but if you don’t want me to tell, i won’t.”

there’s a pause where she hears him take a tremulous breath. “thanks.”

a few days pass where tio bruno and dolores don’t talk. mostly because tio bruno is busy patching cracks or something. she attempts not to listen to him for the sake of privacy, and tries to keep up with her chores. 

“hey dolores,” tio bruno’s voice calls over the din of the family working. 

squeaking, she hurries to the dining room, ignoring camilo’s confused stare. looking around to make sure no one is near, she mutters, “hi, tio bruno.”

he laughs softly and dolores smiles. “how’s mirabel? y’know after her ceremony.”

dolores sighs, shaking her head. “she’s trying to be brave for tia julieta and tio agustin, but she’s been crying all night for weeks.”

“has abuela been hard on her?” he asks, voice meek. 

“she hasn’t spoken to mirabel. she hasn’t spoken to anyone at all. abuela. . . she’s really sad that you’ve left. she keeps asking abuelo where you’ve gone and why you left. she’s really worried, tio bruno.”

he takes a shaky breath. he leaves to sit with his rats. dolores lets him. he’ll call her when he wants to talk again. dolores spins and hurries back to where her brother is, who is now playing with mirabel instead of doing his chores. 

time goes by. mirabel accepts she will not get a gift. luisa and isabela vie for abuela’s attention so mirabel will not fall under her scrutiny. bruno gets more and more anxious. abuela becomes stricter. antonio is born. 

tiny, sweet antonio is born and dolores realizes that tio bruno hasn’t met him. horrified by the thought, one night dolores steals antonio away from the nursery. thankfully, both mirabel and antonio stayed asleep.

“tio bruno.”

startled, he shouts, knocking things as he jumps two feet off the ground. dolores wonders how tio bruno managed to hide for so long without anyone else in the family knowing.  

“huh, dolores?” 

“hi, tio bruno.”

“what are you doing here? it’s the middle of the night.”

“i know, but i wanted you to meet someone,” she whispers. holding antonio a little higher, she moved closer to the wall. “tio bruno, meet antonio.”

dolores smiled when she heard the man gasp in delighted shock. 

“antonio?” he asks and dolores can hear the emotion clogging his throat. 

“yeah.”  

“pepa chose that name?” he asks.

“yep.”

“can i tell you a story, dolores?” he suddenly whispers after several long moments. antonio snuffles, his tiny hand curling over a ruffle of dolores’s nightgown. she nods and tio bruno inhales a long breath.

“you know, when we were younger, pepa and i liked to sleep in julieta’s room. we used to stay up all night, gossiping about everything like little girls. we talked about agustin and felix and they used to bug me all day and night, asking if i had somebody.

“one night, pepa asked if i could give her list of names for her future babies. i couldn’t decide on any so i went to my vision room and i saw the names she gave you three. dolores, camilo, and antonio. i gave her those three names and she smiled so wide, it was like the sun had come out to greet us.

“i always thought she would break my streak and name you guys something else.” he huffs a sad laugh. 

“i like my name,” dolores declares fiercely, her voice resolute. “i wouldn’t ask for a better one.”

there’s a long, long moment of silence. she hears tears splashing gently against her uncle’s cheeks. 

“thanks, nena.”

dolores leaves, cradling her little brother closer to her chest. as she walks into the courtyard of casita, she glances up at the candle, glowing softly in the window. she presses her lips into a thin line before opening her mouth again. 

“abuelo pedro. please, please, find a way to bring tio bruno back to the family,” she whispers. 

she stares a little longer, before heading to the nursery. as she walks away, she hears a soft voice say, “i will.”

the oldest sister who’s had to be the perfect one her whole life. a huge rise in power out of nowhere. change in color palettes and everything. they both even got their own transformation song. 

stays: is it temporary?

changbin, ranting to skz: *unintelligible noises* everyone says i’m huggable BUT NO ONE EVER HUGS ME *crying ensues*

hyunjin to skz (not including aussie line): saying shape and ship at the same time is shipe, and saying shipe is basically just the way australians say shape.

(several hours later)

jisung, to felix: can you say shape in english?

seungmin, muttering to himself: self care is important. sometimes self care is giving yourself poison immunity by eating appleseeds. but sadly i cannot.

chan, exhausted: my children are little devils on crack and will betray God himself for a chicken nugget.

skz: *watching supernatural*

random character: *refers to themself as an angel of death*

jeongin, in a deadpan: anyone who refers to themselves as an ‘angel of death,’ deserves death in my book.

jisung: british boys look like lesbians.

skz: *silently staring at him*

jisung: OH MY GOD CHANGBIN, GET DOWN FROM THE ROOF

changbin: . . . no.

jeongin: are you drinking chocolate milk?