#encanto birthdays | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

justanisabelakinnie · 1 year

Text

November 11

Aka my birthday fic for Felix! Dolores wants to make the best possible cake for Felix, with…mixed results. Enjoy!

“Camilo, don’t eat the frosting!” Dolores hissed.

Camilo groaned and rolled his eyes. “Whyyyy? I just like how it tastes!” he complained as he licked each white frosted finger.

“You’re disgusting,” Dolores hip bumped him aside. “Hands off my cake.” She continued beating the eggs and letting the yolk fall into the bowl. “Now all I need is the flour.”

Camilo reached for the flour with his free hand, Dolores taking it.

“You’re no fun,” Camilo huffed, glaring at her.

“No, I’m loads of fun, actually,” Dolores protested. “I can be silly too.” She remembered the time she and Antonio were coloring on Camilo’s face as he slept, or the time when she and Mirabel humbled him and Isabela in a pranking contest that lasted weeks. “But unlike you, I know when to be serious.”

“I can be serious,” Camilo said as he continued eating the frosting.

Dolores snorted, pouring a cup of milk into the bowl.

“No, I’m being for real right now. Dolores, look at me. I can be serious.”

Dolores rolled her eyes and ignored him as she stirred.

“You’re not looking.”

Dolores sighed, looking at her baby brother, whose face was forced into a grim frown.

Dolores blinked at him. “Oh my gosh, Camilo, you’re totally right,” she said sarcastically. “You’re being serious.”

But that seriousness didn’t last long, as the two siblings burst into laughter, Camilo gripping the edge of the counter for stability, Dolores bending down to the floor as she gripped the bowl and—

Wait, the bowl?

Unfortunately, Dolores gripped the bowl as she was falling over laughing even though she meant to grip the counter, and it came tumbling over as she collapsed to the floor in a fit of giddy hysterics. The contents of the would-have-been cake spilling onto her head, dousing her once radiant curls, face, and blouse as she sat on the floor and her laughter ceased.

Camilo paused, and stared at his sister.

Dolores lifted her arms and made sure to keep them a good distance away from her body as she shook the disgusting mixture off of her skin, it splattering on the floors and cupboards. Struggling to open her eyes, she felt Camilo pry a tissue into her hands. She grabbed them and began wiping furiously at her eyes until she could see again, but the tissue was barely usable enough to wipe her whole face by the time she was done.

She felt utterly crushed. Her cake, the birthday cake she had been making for her Papi, was all ruined. And now she’d have to start all over.

It wasn’t long before she felt tears streaming from her eyes, as she hiccuped and croaked in agony, disgusted with herself as the salty rivers mixed in with the cake mix.

Camilo didn’t know what to say.

Dolores could hear her brother bending down to where she was sitting, perching in front of her on his knees as she felt his hands place themselves on her shoulders.

“Princesa,” he said softly, uttering her pet name.

“What?” Dolores demanded fiercely.

“Hey, it’s okay, hermana. The good news is…”

Dolores listened, waiting for him to say something uplifting.

And then he began licking the cake mixture off of her face.

Dolores’ eyes widened in disgust.

“At least you taste good!” Camilo licked his lips and giggled before leaning in again, but Dolores wasn’t having it. She slapped him across the face with her palm before recoiling in disgust.

“What the hell, hermanito?” Dolores roared. “The cake was ruined and it’s all your fault!”

Camilo’s smile faded the instant he was slapped by Dolores. Still clutching his pinkened cheek, he stared up at her with widened, sad eyes. “My fault?” He said, a genuinely grim frown overtaking his boyish features this time. “But how is it—“

“Because, dumbass, you were fooling around while I was trying to be serious! I just wanted to make a cake for Papi that I knew he would enjoy, because he’s a total sweet tooth! Everybody knows that! But you had to go and keep up the jester attitude and couldn’t just focus on the damn cake! And then you tried eating it off my face regardless? How am I supposed to be happy?”

“But Lola,” Camilo sobbed. “I—“

“Shut. Up.”

Camilo felt tears of his own trickling down, for more reasons than one.

“I’m done.” Dolores stomped off. “I’m taking a shower and then I’m going to my room. I’m done.”

Dolores wasn’t done of course. She was still going to bake something for Felix, perhaps cupcakes instead of a cake? She just wasn’t going to tell Camilo or let him be in on it.

“Lola, I’m sorry—“

“I said I’m DONE!”

Camilo froze, watching Dolores storm upstairs, and sighed.

Mirabel walked out of the bathroom to see Dolores standing there, drenched in a sticky, soft substance. “Woah, prima, are you okay? You look like you got into a fight with a pastry and lost.”

“I’m fine, move.” Dolores shoved Mirabel aside and slammed the bathroom door.

“Huh. Oh. All right. Rude.”

Mirabel walked downstairs to see Camilo cleaning up the kitchen, the messy substance all over the floor, counter, sink, and cupboards looking exactly like what Dolores was covered in. Camilo placed an indigo bowl that was rolling on its side into the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet before wiping the rest of the counter clean.

He was crying.

“Camilo?” Mirabel said tentatively. She couldn’t stand to hear another sniffle.

Camilo wiped his eyes and mouth with a napkin, ignoring his cool-colored cousin.

“Camilo, are you okay?” Mirabel asked again, trying to get his attention.

“I’m fine.” Camilo said, turning off the faucet and washing the bowl.

“You don’t wanna talk about it or anything?” Mirabel tilted her head. “What happened with you and Dolores?”

“It’s none of your business,” Camilo curtly replied.

Mirabel crossed her arms. “If you did something to upset her—“

Camilo groaned and rolled his eyes. “Of course you take Dolores’ side without even knowing the situation. After all, I’m just a silly little clown who messes everything up, aren’t I Mirab—“

“But you did, didn’t you?”

Freeze. Then Camilo sighed. “Y-yes. And so what?”

“What happened?” Mirabel asked.

“We were making a cake for Papi’s birthday. Well, she was making it. I was goofing off like an idiot until I made her spill it.”

Mirabel chuckled. “Aww, I’m sorry about that, primo. Want me to help you make a new cake?”

“Hmmm. Can you bake?”

“Not a bit.”

“Neither can I.”

Mirabel sighed.

“Well anyway I’m going to my room. Goodnight.”

“You’re taking a nap?” Mirabel asked.

“Why not?” Camilo said, patting Mirabel on the shoulder. “G’bye.”

Mirabel shrugged as she watched Camilo strut off to his room.

🧡

A few hours later, Mariano made his way over to Casita. He had been cleaning his room when he came across a sketchbook that clearly wasn’t his. Recognizing it as Camilo’s based on the art style, he was intent on giving it back to him.

He walked up the door to Casita, but didn’t even get the chance to knock on the door or ring the doorbell before the door swung open, the tiles clattering in welcome.

“Hola Casita,” Mariano said, waving with a smile as was tradition to do when entering the sentient house.

He walked up the stairs to Camilo’s bedroom and knocked on the door. Flipping through the pages, he was indeed impressed at how good Camilo’s artwork was.

The door opened, and Mariano stepped in, but quickly realized that Camilo hadn’t opened the door but that Casita had done it herself.

He shuddered. He wasn’t scared of the house by any means, but it was going to take some time to get used to.

He walked through the multicolored room covered in mirrors until he got to Camilo’s bedside. He saw the boy lying down on his stomach, clutching a blue pillow as he buried his face in it, his breathing soft yet ragged.

Mariano knew not to trouble him just then, but he did so anyway.

“Camilo?” He asked tentatively.

Camilo’s entire body jerked up in shock as his head sprang up, and he placed a hand to his chest.

“Mariano?” He breathed. “Oh. Hey. Wassup.” He wiped his eyes with his fingers, and Mariano realized he had been crying. “Did you come to see Dolores?” He twirled, shapeshifting into Dolores in a millisecond, and made kissy faces at Mariano while clasping his hands together.

Mariano’s unnerved face was all Camilo needed to come back to reality. He turned back into himself. “I was just kidding man, chill out.” He laughed weakly. “I have a girlfriend, anyway.”

“Oh, you do?” Mariano asked.

Camilo didn’t answer, as he noticed what was in Mariano’s hands. He quickly reached and grabbed it, snatching it angrily and clutching it tightly to his chest like it was helping him to breathe.

“Why do you have this?!” He freaked out.

Mariano raised two hands in the air in defense. “Relax. I was only returning it to you. You left it at my house.”

“Oh.” Camilo said.

Mariano sat down on the bed. Camilo didn’t invite him to do so, but nonetheless he didn’t make him get up.

“Your artwork is very nice by the way.” Mariano chuckled. “I couldn’t even begin to draw that way when I was your age. I still can’t. You have a talent, chico. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“You mean…you looked? Without my permission?” Camilo demanded angrily.

Mariano blinked and turned to him. “Was I not supposed to?”

“No! If you want to look next time, you gotta ask first, man! Sheesh. This is why I don’t show anybody anything. Just because I can draw doesn’t mean I want to make a career out of it, y’know? I draw because it’s fun, that’s it. The last thing I want to do is make money from it because then it becomes all about the money and not about doing what I love. I have much better things to do with my life anyway.”

“Like?”

“Like none of your business.” Camilo flopped down to lie on his back, hands under his pillow. “Anyway, did you really come to see me or did you just want to see Dolores?”

“I—“

“Because if so she’s already asleep.”

“Oh. Well, since I’m here, I guess I can talk to you.” Mariano paused, looking at the book which was resting on Camilo’s stomach, moving with each inhale and exhale. “Can I see your artwork, ¿por favor?”

“No.”

“Oh, well, that’s okay. I respect that. So, why were you crying?”

Camilo was silent for a long time, eyes staring at the ceiling.

“Cami—“

Camilo shoved the book in his hands. “Sure, actually.”

Mariano turned his head down towards the book, then back to Camilo, who rolled his eyes and gestured towards the book with his head.

“What, do you, do you want me to take it back?” He stretched up from his position lying face up and reached with his right arm for the book, but Mariano held it out of his grasp.

“No, I…I want to see what’s in it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Mariano took a deep breath, then flipped through the pages of the book. He was rather impressed with what he saw in it. Although he was aware of Camilo’s eyes being fixated on him, he didn’t allow himself to become too tense as he admired each and every human portrait. Camilo didn’t just draw his family and friends, but random people he saw walking about in the Encanto as well.

“Wow, you sure do draw your sister a lot.” Mariano smiled, a blush spreading across his cheeks at the loveliest portrait of Dolores smiling and eating an arepa he had ever seen. “As well as you and her.”

“She’s not the only person I draw, but yeah.” Camilo nodded. “I draw her a lot because she’s pretty and I love her.”

Mariano nodded. “I agree.”

“Of course you do,” Camilo yawned and rolled his head to the side, as well as his eyes, as Mariano continued to look through the book. He chuckled as he saw a picture of Mirabel with her arms wrapped around Camilo’s neck, biting his ear as said older cousin winced, and flipped to see a drawing of—

Him.

One of him smiling a dashing, bedazzling grin as hearts were scribbled around his head.

He paused awkwardly.

Camilo sensed his tenseness and instantly sprang up, seeing the picture. “Th-that was then!” He stuttered, squeaking. “I—I’m over…that…now! Like I said, I have a girlfriend! And I’m happy with her! Hm!”

“Okay.” Mariano pretended that little…scenario…never happened as he continued to look through the pictures. One was of Isabela sleeping. “Did you actually draw this when she was asleep?” He asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah. She looked so peaceful and happy. I had to capture it. I thought she would kill me when she found it, but she was very happy, actually, and gave me the biggest hug and kiss. Heh. Which was kind of embarrassing, actually.”

“I see,” Mariano said as he continued combing through the pictures. “Oh! And is this your girlfriend?” He asked, gesturing to a picture of a cute young Black girl with her hair in a low puff, and who was sitting sideways on the floor, smiling.

“Uh…” Camilo blushed, heat rising around his collar as he tugged it. “Y-yeah. Her name’s Emiliana.”

“Oh? Well, she is quite lovely.”

Camilo giggled sheepishly. “I know right, she is, I’m so lucky!”

Mariano smiled at Camilo, who blushed and flipped his ruana to cover his face, and went right on looking. “Wow. You draw her a lot. Something tells me you really do love her.”

Camilo smiled. “Of course I do! I wouldn’t be dating her if I wasn’t utterly in love with her. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me in a good long while. You know, on our last date, we…”

Camilo continued to ramble on about him and his wonderful girlfriend, Mariano pretending to listen by nodding along as he continued looking at the artwork. One had Pepa and Felix holding hands with a younger Camilo in the middle of them. Another had two random kids from Camilo’s school, another had Julieta handing Dolores a pandebono. Another had Emiliana and Mirabel.

But the last picture was the one Mariano liked the most. A picture of Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio, each sitting behind the other. Camilo was styling Antonio’s hair in cornrows, Dolores doing the same to Camilo’s own hair.

It made Mariano smile and wipe the tears from his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he did such things with his siblings.

Camilo noticed his tearing up and sat up.“Huh…yeah, we do that a lot. You know, after we were done, I gave Dolores cornrows myself. Since after all there’s only three of us.” He awkwardly took the sketchbook from Mariano. “Aaaanyway, that’s enough of my show-stopping talent for today.”

Mariano nodded.

“What, are you crying? Duuuude,” Camilo giggled and bumped the man with his shoulder playfully. “There’s no need for the waterworks, bro. I’m proud of my artwork too.”

“It’s not that, it’s…my siblings don’t…they don’t like me.”

“Huh, how come? I mean, you’re a totally awesome guy!”

“You think so?”

“Well yeah, tonto! Except when you’re insecure about yourself, like you’re doing right now!”

“Thanks, chico. But…lately my sisters and brother and I haven’t been on good terms lately the way we used to. I’m not really comfortable going into how and why this happened, but…nowadays it’s like I barely even know them anymore. And that’s part of the reason I moved out too, because literally nobody in my family wants anything to do with me except for my little sister who begged to come along, she’s my best friend, and also because my Abuela really needs someone to take care of her. So seeing you be close with your sister and brother despite the large age gap makes me so happy.” He ruffled Camilo’s hair as if Camilo were his own little brother, making him grin. “Please never, ever lose that.”

“Awww, thanks,” Camilo smiled. “But I’m afraid I’ve already lost that.”

“What do you mean?” Mariano asked.

“Well…” Camilo bowed his head to the ground, staring into his lap. “We were going to make a cake for my dad’s birthday, hmm? And I didn’t really take it seriously and I spilled the cake mixture all over her and it’s all my fault.”

“Hey, chin up, chico!” Mariano said, lightly patting his shoulder. “It’s just a tiny mistake. You can always make the cake again. Just take it seriously this time!”

“But she said she’s done. She doesn’t want to make the cake anymore.” Camilo’s emerald green eyes glistened with tears that stung to the bottom of his eyelids and dampened his lashes. “That’s..that’s why I was crying earlier. I feel like such a disappointment, like I’m a terrible little brother. I should have helped princesa with the cake and not tried to mess everything up with those stupid jokes of mine. And now she’s mad at me. I wanna say sorry but…she won’t talk to me. And now she’s asleep.”

Mariano gazed down at the young teen sympathetically. And that’s when he had an idea.

“Hey,” he stood up and took Camilo’s hand. “How about you and I make a cake for your Papa? If you’re still up to it, that is. Maybe that can make up for you failing to help Dolores. While still having something for your Papa to enjoy on his birthday? That sounds like a good idea, no?”

Camilo paused and thought about it. “I…I guess so. Sure!”

“Great!” The two males exited Camilo’s room and shut the door behind them.

“But we should go to your house,” Camilo said. “Because Dolores is gonna wake up any minute, now.”

“Oh really?” Mariano asked. “How do you know?” He grinned. “Do you have super hearing?”

“Oh no. I’m just her brother. That’s all.”

Mariano chuckled, nodded, and then the two left.

🧡

Just as they were closing the door to Casita behind them, Dolores did wake up.

She yawned before slipping out of bed and walking up to her vanity. Frowning at her reflection, she noticed that her hair was messed up. She had to fix that. And not to mention she wanted to do her makeup too.

About half an hour later, she left her room to go brush her teeth and use the bathroom. Throughout all of this, there was something that she had forgotten to do, but she wasn’t sure what.

It was only when she was absentmindedly heading downstairs that she remembered. She was going to bake something for Papa’s birthday!

Hopefully Camilo wasn’t going to interrupt her plans.

She got downstairs to the kitchen, which had been miraculously cleaned up and polished, with all evidence of her and Camilo’s earlier baking accident completely nonexistent. She guessed someone else must have come across the disaster in the kitchen and cleaned it up because they wanted to use the kitchen too. After all, it wasn’t like Camilo to fix what he left behind.

“Yes!” Dolores said to herself, hurrying to get the mixing bowl, milk, eggs, white sugar, and baking powder out of the various cupboards. “This is the perfect opportunity to—“ she hiccuped.

Crap. Dolores hated when she got the hiccups. Once that happened, it always took forever for them to go away.

She poured herself a glass of water, and downed it all in one gulp.

“Anyway. This is the perfect opportunity to bake something that I know Papa will enjoy!”

She took out Julieta’s cookbook and flipped through the pages.

“Hmmm. I think I’ll make tres leches cake. Yeah. Papa will enjoy that!”

She preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, then took out a 10-by-15 baking dish and began greasing it. Now she was ready.

Beating the egg whites into a bowl, Dolores was happy to make this delicious cake for Papa. She was especially glad that Camilo wasn’t here to “help” her and ruin the whole thing. She was, in fact, so focused on the cake that she didn’t even know where Camilo was. She guessed he was in his room, wallowing in his misery and the fact that he wasn’t able to take anything seriously(not that that was her problem). But if she had actually listened, she would know that Camilo was at Mariano’s house and was currently taking baking a cake with him very, very seriously.

It wasn’t long before Mirabel came into the room. “Hey, prima. What’s up?”

Dolores didn’t acknowledge Mirabel at first, adding vanilla extract to the mixing bowl as her head stretched to look at the recipe dictated in her Tia’s cookbook, muttering and mumbling something to herself. She was so lost in focusing that she didn’t even notice her cousin was there. Mirabel almost wondered if Dolores even heard her.

“Mmm…I should add more flower.”

Mirabel walked over to her prima daintily and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Go away Camilo. I don’t want to deal with you today.”

“I’m not Camilo.”

Dolores turned around to look at Mirabel. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Dolores tuned in to listen to Camilo, who was entering Mariano’s house. “Oh.”

“So you’re making a cake?” Mirabel peered over Dolores’ shoulder.

“Yes,” Dolores said, moving so that Mirabel couldn’t see. “By myself. I’m not having Camilo help me because the last time he tried to help he ruined it. So if you don’t mind…”

“Why can’t I help?” Mirabel frowned.

“Because I can’t risk any more freak accidents,” Dolores stated flatly.

“I won’t let that happen!”

Dolores rolled her eyes as she stirred the bowl, tasted some of the cake batter, then frowned and went back to the fridge. “Needs more milk.” She took milk out of the fridge and poured some into the bowl.

Mirabel, for some reason, continued on talking. “Please, I promise I won’t mess up! I’m not like your brother. I’m not accident-prone and I won’t mess everything up! I just wanna help!”

Dolores sighed. “Ugh. Fine. But you must follow my every instruction to a T. Got it?”

“Of course Dolores!” Mirabel perked up, beaming.

“Great!” Dolores gestured with her hand for Mirabel to step over to the kitchen counter, which she did.

Meanwhile, Mariano had invited Camilo into his house. The two were in the kitchen, ready to cook something for Felix.

“So, what shall we bake?” Mariano asked.

Camilo pondered, flipping through the cookbook that Mariano has provided for him.

“Ooh!” Mariano stopped Camilo from flipping to point at a recipe for brazo de reina. “We could make that—“

“Can’t eat fruits.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, man. Look, how about we make Enyucado?”

“Enyucado? I’ve never had that…”

“Well, of course you haven’t,” Camilo snorted in condescension. “It’s something mi Abuela on my father’s side used to make him and his siblings, and is from the Caribbean region.” Placing the book to lean upright against the back part of the counter, clearly Camilo was insistent on making this, not accepting disagreement from the older man. “Dolores and I had it all the time when we were kids and it was delicious! But I stopped because I kept getting it stuck in my teeth and it made me cry.”

“Wait, but what about the coconuts and guava jam? Aren’t those in the ingredients?”

Camilo blinked, then shrugged. “I guess we’re just going to have to make it without them, I guess.”

“Really?”

“Yeah bro, I’ve been eating it like that for years.” The younger boy glanced up at his sister’s fiancé in disbelief. “Wait, have you really never eaten this before?”

Mariano shook his head.

“Shut up.”

Mariano shrugged awkwardly.

“Shut UP!” Camilo’s eyes glistened as he was on the verge of laughter.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Well, anyway, you’re really missing out. So let’s start making it now!”

Mariano nodded.

🧡

Dolores opened the oven to take out the cake. “It’s ready Mira.”

Mira placed her cards down—she was so close to winning!—and sprang up to join Dolores in the kitchen.

“Is it good?”

“Only one way to find out!” Dolores took a toothpick and stuck it into the cake. Taking it out, she was relieved to see that the cake was indeed baked properly.

“Awesome!” Dolores celebrated. “Now all we have to do is wait fifteen minutes before we get to the best part, which is pouring the milk on the cake.

Mirabel giggled. “I can’t wait!”

Fifteen minutes later, the girls had mixed the cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk and poured them onto the cake. They then added the whipped cream and cinnamon frosting.

“And now we’re all done,” Dolores finally stated, as she refrigerated the cake. “Wow. That was a lot of fun!”

“It was!” Mirabel squeaked. “See, I told you I could help you make the perfect cake for Tío! He’ll be so surprised, I just know he’ll enjoy it, and Mami will too!”

“I know, mi prima, I know.” Dolores reached out to give Mirabel a hug, which she reciprocated. “I’m sorry I assumed you wouldn’t be of any help. I shouldn’t have judged you. Without you, I wouldn’t have made the cake as quickly, and it sure wouldn’t have been as fun either. Some things are best done in a team! And a team in which both partners care about the outcomes too!” She kissed Mirabel softly on the forehead. “Thank you for helping me make the cake, I couldn’t be more appreciative.”

“You’re wel—“

“Cake? What cake?”

The girls froze and looked up. Dolores gulped. Standing right before the two cousins…was their father and uncle.

“Oh, hey Papa!” Dolores stammered. “What’s up?”

“Oh, I just wanted to talk to my lovely princesas!” Felix walked up to stand between them and wrapped an arm around both girls. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“No, not at all!” Mirabel said, shaking in her boots. They had to take out the cake in an hour so that they could properly wrap it in aluminum foil, but they couldn’t do that with Felix there…

“So, what are you girls making?” Felix asked. “I hear you two made cake! I sure do love a good slice of cake! Can I have some?” He turned to Dolores, grinning and leering closer mischievously. “Hmm?”

“Oh, I’d love to, Papa, but umm, me and Mirabel already had the last slice.”

“Oh, I see.” Felix removed his arms from around his daughter’s and niece’s waists. “Well, that’s a bummer. I suppose I have to wait till my birthday then.”

This was where Dolores and Mirabel started to panic. “B-b-b—“

Felix frowned, looking sad. “Aww, don’t tell me you forgot my birthday, chicas.”

“Oh no, Tío, we didn’t!” It’s just that—“

“It’s just that what?” Felix asked them, looking as disappointed as ever.

Dolores was on the verge of tears. She knew she had to keep this a surprise, but how could she say no to her father’s adorable sad eyes? She almost wanted to comfort him by letting him have a peek of some of the cake. Or even a tiny slice. But then that would ruin the surprise for when his actual birthday arrived. But leaving Felix alone felt equally guilty.

Mirabel was still trying to come up with a solution. “Well…”

“Papa!” That’s when the door opened.

“Yes, mijo?” Felix asked, Camilo running around the kitchen to join his papa on the other side.

Camilo wrapped Felix in a hug, then took him by the shoulders and bounced up and down. “Oh, papa papa papa, you won’t believe it! So I was at the store today, right? And I was going through the clothing isles, and I saw—“ he paused to take a deep breath, his fingers fluttering about as he grinned In ecstasy, tears stinging around his eyes as he fanned himself. “I saw the cutest ruana I ever laid my eyes on!!! And I wanted to buy it so badly, but I didn’t have enough pesos. It’s even orange, just like the shirt you wear, Pa!”

“Really?” Felix asked, raising an eyebrow as he grinned.

“Really! Yes! And it reminded me of you, so I begged the shopkeeper to keep it on hold for me while I ran to get my dad, and it’s the last one in stock too so this is a really big deal! So can you please buy it for me?”

Felix looked at the girls, who were confused but quickly nodded their heads.

“Oh, all right, son. You seem to be the only one who wants to spend time with me, lately.”

“Yay!” Camilo beamed, grabbed Felix’s hand, and ran away. “Then let’s go now! Because he said that if I’m not back in twenty minutes sharp he’s gonna give the ruana to the boy who was behind me in line.”

“Oh, that can’t be good,” Felix said.

They went out the door, Camilo winking at his sister and cousin before closing it behind them.

And Mirabel and Dolores were nonetheless stunned.

“Did he just…help us?” Mirabel asked.

“Seems like it.” Dolores was frozen in shock. Finally breaking out of her catatonic state, she shook her head violently. “Ah well, he probably has some ulterior motives, you know how it is.”

🧡

Felix walked at a quick pace behind his son who was running and panting. “Wait for me, Camilo, your father’s turning 52, his old bones don’t work like they used to.”

“Come on, Papa, don’t be a dinosaur,” Camilo retorted. “I really want that ruana!”

“I can tell,” Felix said.

When they finally got to the store, Felix noticed that Camilo was sweating bullets, and not the kind that come from overexerting yourself.

“Camilo?” Felix asked. “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, y-yeah.” Camilo gulped, wondering how he was going to get out of this lie.

“Where’s the ruana you want?” Felix asked.

“I-I don’t remember, I have to go find it.”

“Okay, take your time. I’ll wait here while you go search.” Felix waited at the door, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

Camilo nodded awkwardly and went into the clothing isle. But all he saw were…dresses? Whoops. Never mind. He was in the women’s clothing aisle. He went to the men’s clothing aisle.

Secretly he had lied to his father about a ruana that didn’t exist. Both so that he could cover for Mirabel and Dolores and so that his father wouldn’t know he was at Mariano’s house also baking a cake that was for his birthday. What was he to do?

All the ruanas he saw were pink, yellow, green, brown, blue, purple, and red. Not a single orange one. And he already had a yellow ruana, and he didn’t want to look like Bruno.

He walked out of the aisle sadly, ready to tell his father that the ruana had already been bought by someone else, and that was when he saw it.

The orange ruana.

Camilo almost choked up when he saw it. Sure, he had lied. But fate decided to show him mercy and he was glad it did. Because that was the most beautiful ruana he had ever seen. The texture, the patterns, the size, the warmth, it was too good to be true. He had to get his hands on it. Now.

But he was out of luck. Because the glorious, perfect ruana was already being held by someone else. Only it wasn’t a boy like Camilo had randomly claimed.

It was a girl. Yamilet Gonzalez. Aka one of Camilo’s friends, and Mirabel’s girlfriend.

Yamilet blinked when she saw him. “O-oh, hey Camilo, what’s up?”

“Hi, Yamilet. Mind if I…have this?” He started to awkwardly pull the ruana out of her hands. But Yamilet pulled it away from him.

“N-no, sorry Camilo, b-but I’m buying this ruana already. In fact, I’m…I’m about to do so now. S-so if you don’t mind.”

“NO!” Camilo roared.

Yamilet blinked. Her girlfriends cousin was acting a little bit…off…today. “Excuse me?” She asked.

“That’s mine!” Camilo noticed Felix walking over to Yamilet and him and, in a panic, reached for the ruana, attempting to tug it from Yamilet’s arms. “Yami, please, just give it to me! If you were really my friend, you’d realize that this is important to me! Just…”

“B-but Camilo, I want it, I saw it f-first, why can’t you just let me have it!”

“You did NOT see it first, I did!”

“No you did n-not! You did not!” Yamilet wrestled Camilo’s clawing fingers away. “The-there are so many other ruanas in this store that you can buy. Why can’t you just let me h-ha-have this one?”

Felix walked up to the squabbling pair. “Is everything okay?”

“No, everything is not okay!” Camilo said. “I really want that ruana but Yamilet won’t give it to me!”

“But I saw it first.”

“Wait,” Felix said to Camilo. “Camilo, before we left, you said that the shopkeeper agreed to let you leave the store, come back, and buy the ruana. So how come Yamilet has it? Did you tell the truth?”

“Yes I did!” Camilo basically sobbed.

Yamilet rolled her eyes.

“Okay, then, go ask the shopkeeper.”

Camilo gulped, but did as he was told. As he made his way towards the register with shaking legs, Felix turned his attention towards Yamilet. “I’m so sorry about my son, he can get a little wild sometimes.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” Yamilet said. “Mirabel told me all about the time when he—never mind. Anyway, I really want to buy this ruana because—“

“What? But—“ Camilo became flustered. “You said I could come back and buy it.”

“I never told you that, even once.” The shopkeeper shook her head. “This is your fist time coming to the store today, Camilo.”

Camilo paused, and turned to his father and Yamilet. Neither looked pleased.

“Hold on, I thought you said that the shopkeeper was a man.”

“You’re probably in the wrong shop,” Yamilet said.

Camilo glared at Yamilet. “Yami, if you don’t give me the ruana, I’m gonna tell Mirabel to break up with you.”

Yamilet just laughed at that. Then walked up to the cash register.

“Let’s go home, Camilo,” Felix said, but Camilo refused.

“Fine!” He sassed towards Yamilet in a mocking manner, Yamilet pretending not to listen. “That ruana won’t even look good on you! I mean, it’s orange, after all. And everybody knows that orange doesn’t go well with purple! So you’re the one who’s gonna look like an idiot!”

“Camilo, that’s enough, let’s go!”

That’s when Yamilet turned around. “Huh? It’s not even for me…it’s for my sister’s boyfriend.”

Camilo paused. “What?”

Yamilet sighed. “H-his birthday is in two days and I still d-don’t have a gift, but I know he-he’d like…this. So I came to buy it for h-him. I mean, it’s not like I have any oth-other options…”

Felix turned to look at Camilo disapprovingly. Camilo walked up to Yamilet and wrapped her in a hug. “Yamilet, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“I know.”

“Do you believe me? Do you believe me when I say I’m sorry?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Please…I’m really sorry. Buy the ruana. But all the ruanas you want. Make your sister’s boyfriend proud. I’ll…I’ll live.” He sniffled. “I am so sorry about my outburst, Yamilet. I was just very scared and lashed out because…” he whispered something into Yamilet’s ear that Felix couldn’t hear. “But that’s no excuse for my actions. Please promise you’ll forgive me. Promise!”

“I promise.”

Camilo smiled, crying tears of joy.

“And if it makes you feel better, I can help you buy another ruana next time!”

“That would be nice.”

The shopkeeper cleared her throat. “Umm, excuse me, señorita, but are you still going to make an order?”

“Oh of course!”

🧡

“Come on, Mama,” Mirabel said as she and Dolores led Julieta into the kitchen and showed her the cake. “You’ve gotta see the cake that me and Dolores made. You’re gonna love it!”

“Okay!” Julieta said as she found her way into the kitchen.

“Since you’re such a good baker, Tia, I decided to try my hand at it as well. And Mirabel offered to help me, and together we made torta de tres leches. Since Papa is out I would love for you to take a look and see if it’s good.”

Dolores and Mirabel took out the cake, showing it to Julieta.

Julieta examined the cake.

“Do you think she will like it?” Dolores whispered to Mirabel, while Mirabel only shrugged.

Fortunately, Julieta gave her a thumbs up. “It looks all right to me!”

“Yay!” Mirabel and Dolores cheered as they clapped and embraced each other in a hug.

“This is gonna be the best birthday surprise ever!” Dolores cheered.

“Yeah, Tío isn’t expecting us to make the cake for him. He’ll probably think Mami made it or something.

“Yeah!” Dolores turned to her Tia. “Oh. Thanks Tia Julieta,” she said as she put the cake back in the fridge.

“No problem.”

It was just as Julieta walked away that Felix and Camilo came in through the front door.

“Oh, chicas, you’re still here?” Felix asked.

“Y-yes,” they responded in unison.

“Did you get the ruana?” Mirabel quickly made an effort to change the subject.

Felix sighed. “Sadly, no,” he said, feeling at his hair.

“Your girlfriend got it before I did,” Camilo said. “She said it was for her brother. Or her sister’s boyfriend. Whatever. So I let her have it because, you know.” He shrugged.

“Wait,” Dolores remembered something. “Didn’t you cause a fit in the store because she wouldn’t give the ruana to you?! And also say that you were gonna tell Mirabel to break up with her if she didn’t?”

“HE WHAT?!” Mirabel roared.

Camilo turned pale, “B-but I apologized, I, Mira, hey! What’s going on, querida?”

“DO NOT CALL ME THAT!” Mirabel hollered at Camilo. “YOU SAID WHAT TO MY GIRLFRIEND?!”

Mirabel chased Camilo around the house. “I’m sorry!” He cried out.

“SORRY ISN’T ENOUGH!” Mirabel seethed.

Dolores smiled and watched an angry Mirabel chase a screaming Camilo out of Casita. Chuckling to herself, she went back upstairs to her room to wrap her gift for Felix.

🧡

At last, it was Felix’s birthday, and Dolores was more than excited. She could hardly wait for everyone to try her and Mirabel’s cake, and most of all, Felix!

Unlike most days, Dolores was the first to jump out of bed and get ready, running trough the halls and knocking on everyone’s doors, telling them quietly, “Get up everyone, it’s Papi’s birthday!”

Mirabel was the first to get up. “He’s gonna try our cake and he’s gonna love it!”

“I know, right?” Dolores squeaked.

Pepa woke up next. “Morning, mijas!” she said, wrapping Dolores and Mirabel in a hug and a kiss and ruffling Mirabel’s hair. “Today’s a very special day, is it not?”

“Of course, Mami!” Pepa said. “Today is Felix’s birthday!!”

“Oh, it is! You remembered!” Pepa joked with a giggle. “Well, we’d better hurry up and get the rest of the familia!”

And so they did, hurrying downstairs and setting the table, the rest of the family coming downstairs eventually, doing the same.

“Is Tío coming down yet?” Isabela asked restlessly.

“Almost!” Dolores told her prima-hermana. She listened for Felix, who was coming downstairs. “All right, now it’s time everyone!” They moved to stand in front of the stairway Felix was coming down from. “Here comes the birthday man!”

It was then that Felix came down, yawning. “Huh, what’s everyone—“

“Cumpleaños feliz, te deseamos a tí, Feliz cumpleaños a Felix, feliz cumpleaños a tí! Que los cumpla feliz, que los vuelva a cumplir, que los siga cumpliendo, hasta el año tres mil!”

“Happy birthday, Papa!” Dolores exclaimed, clapping and cheering with the rest of the family, who all looked as excited as ever!

Felix looked surprised. “My my, you all have really done so much!”

“And we’re just getting started!” Bruno said. “We hope you have a happy birthday, amigo!”

Dolores and Mirabel ran up to Felix and gave him a big hug. Felix chuckled and hugged them back, kissing them both on the foreheads.

Bruno hugged him next. “You’re 52 man, already! Pffft, making me feel so small. How’s it feel?”

“I suppose I feel…a year older, and a year wiser.”

Bruno laughed, Pepa giving Felix a hug and a kiss. “Happy birthday, el hombre mas guapo en el universo. I have a special birthday treat prepared for you tonight,” she uttered in a hushed seductive tone. Felix grinned and cleared his throat, while adjusting his collar, and everybody else laughed along, Dolores covering her face, Mirabel’s and Luisa’s mouths hanging wide open, Isabela squealing quietly as she covered her face with her hands and shook to and fro, and Camilo pretending to gag. Antonio didn’t know what was going on, but he laughed along anyway.

Agustin have him a birthday hug. “You’re like a brother to me, do you know that?”

“Likewise, hermano!” Felix said, hugging Agustin closely back, enough to even choke.

“And we’ll always be grateful that you’re part of the family Madrigal,” Alma said, grinning widely from ear to ear at her son-in-law.

“We sure will!” Bruno agreed.

As they sat down to eat, Dolores of course sitting next to her father, Felix engaged in small talk with Agustin on the other side of him. While Dolores beamed with anticipation for the evening party.

🧡

“And now it’s time for the cake!” Julieta announced.

Everyone cheered, including Mariano, whom Dolores has graciously invited to the party. He was, after all, soon to be part of the family. It made sense to be there to celebrate his future father-in-law’s birthday.

With an arm wrapped lovingly around his fiancée’s waist, he whispered to her “The cake you made? I’m sure it’s very good!”

“I know it is!” Dolores hissed back. “But shhhh! Don’t tell him it was mine!” She placed a finger over his lip, and the young couple giggled.

Tia Julieta placed the cake before Felix, who was seated in Abuela’s chair with the family around him He blew out the candle, the family clapping and whooping as Pepa cupped her husband’s face in her hands, kissing him on the cheek, nose, forehead, and lips. A rainbow hovered over Dolores’ parents’ heads, before Pepa parted from him and allowed him to cut the cake.

Everyone waited for him to take a bite. “Mmm! It’s good! So delicious!”

Dolores bit her knuckle in glee, her and Mirabel exchanging an ecstatic glance.

“Julieta, you have truly outdone yourself.”

“Agreed!” Isabela perked up obliviously.

“Oh, I actually didn’t make this cake!” Julieta stated. “Though I’m glad you enjoy it, I simply cannot take the credit for someone else’s hard work!”

It was silent in La Casa Madrigal. Even the floor tiles didn’t make a sound.

Then a quiet giggle could be heard. Confused, everyone turned towards Dolores, the source of the girlish sound.

“It was me Papa!” Dolores revealed.

“And me, Tío!” Mirabel chirped.

“Yeah!” Dolores and Mirabel wrapped an arm around each other as Dolores continued. “We made the cake! It’s what we were nervous to tell you! We just wanted to keep it a secret!”

“Surprise!” The girls said simultaneously.

Felix was elated, standing up to make his way towards the girls, he extended his arms as they too flounced towards him. “Come here, mis vidas!” The three formed a big bear hug!

Camilo frowed, looking at Mariano, who shrugged, then at Felix. “Nice how you still made a cake anyway even though you said you were done trying to make one!”

“I did, didn’t I?” Dolores shrugged. “Sorry about that, chiquito.”

“Oh, I should have seen this coming. Thank you, my beautiful girls!” Felix wiped a tear from his eye.

“You’re welcome, Papa/Tío!” Dolores and Mirabel said simultaneously.

“Come, come!” Felix ushered the two towards the head of the table. “You girls get to be the first to have slices!”

Dolores and Mirabel were elated, as Felix cut slices for each of them.

He were right. It was good.

“Wow, we did a really good job, Mira!” Dolores said, holding up her palm.

“Indeed we did!” Mirabel said, high-fiving Dolores back.

While all this was happening, Camilo was shoving Mariano into the kitchen.

“What are we gonna do?” Camilo asked.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just, I just realized I didn’t exactly think this through. The last thing I wanted was to try to show Dolores up, and now we have TWO cakes!”

“Two cakes are better than one, no?” Mariano whispered. “And it’s not like we have a choice. I’m sure he’ll love your cake just as much as he loves your sister and cousin’s one.”

“Our cake, man,” Camilo corrected as he punched Mariano lightly in the shoulder. “Take some credit. And I guess you’re right. Come on, let’s get this cake out and show it to my dad.”

The rest of the family, meanwhile, was delightedly enjoying Dolores and Mirabel’s cake.

“This is so good!” Pepa beamed, sunshine radiating off of her face as she pulled Dolores in for a hug with her free hand. “I couldn’t be prouder of you. You too, chiquita!” She pulled away from Dolores to give the same physical display of affection to Mirabel.

“I love it so much, too!” Agustin agreed. “You both have truly outdone yourselves. It’s as good as Julieta’s cakes!”

This made the girls beam, as they turned to look at Julieta. Rather than being offended, the woman merely laughed in agreement.

“I knew it would turn out excellent, didn’t I?”

Luisa also enjoyed her slice, feeding some of it to Antonio, who was perched like a baby canary on her lap. Seeing Dolores looking at him, the brother and sister duo made eye contact as he gave her two thumbs up.

And that’s when Camilo and Mariano came in, holding another cake.

“We made a cake too!” Camilo announced.

Dolores and Mirabel froze. They had not expected this turn of events, no, not even Dolores, with her super-hearing, had even bothered to listen to what Camilo was up to at Mariano’s house the same night she was making a cake with Mirabel. And how did they get the cake into Casita’s kitchen without anyone else noticing? She guessed it just have been the night before the celebration, when even she and her ears were asleep. But either way that didn’t make her any less irritated.

“Awesome!” Julieta said, as the rest of the family, including Felix of course, paid attention to the second cake.

“Mariano? You helped make this?” Felix asked.

“I sure did, señor!” Mariano huffed with pride.

Felix grinned. “That’s wonderful! I always knew you were a family man!”

“And it’s Enyucado!” Camilo added. “Your favorite from when you were small!”

“Oh, yes!” Camilo found himself buried in an avalanche of his father’s affections very quickly. “Mi chico guapo, you know me so well!”

“I do.”

Felix wrapped Mariano in a hug as well, not willing to let his contribution go unnoticed. “Thank you as well, Mariano!”

“You’re welcome!”

That’s when Dolores cleared her throat. “How nice of you to make Papa another cake behind my back after dramatically flunking the one we were going to make together.”

Mirabel snorted.

“Hey, it was Mariano’s idea!” Camilo said, pointing at him with both index fingers. “If you’re looking for someone to be wrongfully mad at, blame your future husband. And besides, you said you weren’t going to make another one. How was I supposed to know you were lying?”

“Whatever, hermanito.”

The two shot each other daggers across the table as Felix cut himself a slice and bit into it.

It was now or never.

Felix finally swallowed, and everyone awaited his decision with bated breath.

Then he said. “Mmm! It’s delicious!”

Camilo’s eyes lit up, as Dolores’ eyelid twitched. “Wow! Really? You think so?”

“Of course, mi corazon! Great job, both of you. Here, have a slice!” He gave a smiling Camilo and Mariano two plates and cut them slices of the cake.

Mariano winked at Dolores, Dolores forcing a smile back.

Upon biting into his slice of the cake, Camilo beamed. “Wow, it really is good!”

“Agreed,” Mariano murmured through a full mouth before clearing his throat and swallowing. “It’s delightful. I’m so glad we made this, Camilo.”

Dolores disagreed.

“Me too. Thanks, man!” Camilo said, giving Mariano a hip bump. “I really couldn’t have done this without you.”

Mariano chuckled. Normally the sound of her love’s joy would make Dolores feel serene and content, but she was too distracted.

“They can’t both be equally good, though. Papa, which one is better?”

“Lola, it’s not a competition!” Camilo condescended, pretending to sound more mature. “Although…if I had to pick, it would be mine.”

“Liar!” Dolores exclaimed. “There is no way your cake is better than the one mi primita and I made. Just accept it, Camilo!”

“Well, I suppose your cake is…okay, at best. But ours is clearly better? Isn’t it, Mariano?”

“Umm.” Mariano chose to stay out of this sibling squabble. And wisely so.

Dolores chuckled darkly, without mirth. “Oh, so you think you can betray me and join forces with my boyfriend to make a cake that will be better than the one I made with Mirabel?! You got another thing coming, Camilo.”

“Oh yeah, well—“

The two started bickering back and forth, the rest of the family watching the drama unfold, Mirabel shrinking away to go stand beside Isa.

“ALL RIGHT!”

Both kids fell silent when Felix spoke.

Felix cleared his throat. “I’m being honest when I say this. And it’s my birthday, so let me be the judge. I think both your cakes are equally delicious. I promise you!”

Dolores blinked.

Camilo blinked.

Then they went back to squabbling with each other.

Felix sighed and rubbed his temple in irritation. He had had enough.

“Children—“ Alma said, but for once, the two were too deep into their arguing back-and-forth to listen.

“Did you even try each other’s cakes?”

Dolores and Camilo both came to a screeching halt just then.

Dolores awkwardly gulped. “Umm, no, Papi, we didn’t. Hm!”

Felix rolled his eyes and chuckled, finding it hard to stay mad at his adorable princesa and chico guapo for long. “Well, here ya go.” He handed them each extra plates. “And that means you too, Mirabel and Mariano.”

Mirabel and Mariano exchanged a glance before coming forward to also take slices of each other’s cakes.

Dolores bit into the Enyucado. “It’s not that bad.”

Camilo bit into the tres leches cake. “It’s edible, at least. That’s always a good thing.”

Felix sighed.

Mirabel, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear. “Mmm! This brings back memories!” She swooned. “I remember when Camilo used to give me his leftover slice because he didn’t like it! It’s delicious. Great job, guys!”

“Thanks, Mirabel!” Mariano said. “And I like how milky and sweet Your and Dolores’ cake is. Which is only to be expected, because its tres leches cake. But still. It’s very sweet and buttery and nice. You both truly outdid yourselves.” He grinned at Dolores, a sparkle in his eye. “It’s great. Really great!”

Dolores blushed. “Thanks, Mariano!”

“Yeah, Mariano, thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

Felix raised an eyebrow at his eldest children. “Now, is there anything you two would like to say?”

Dolores grumbled and rolled her eyes. “I love your cake too. It’s good. But only because Mariano helped make it.”

“I love yours too, Dolores. But only because of Mirabel,” Camilo added.

Felix sighed, realizing that was the best acknowledgment of each other’s talents that they were going to give.

“All right then,” he said. “Back to the party!”

The awkward yet amusing situation had finally passed, and the Madrigals spent the rest of the night giving Felix gifts, dancing, playing games, and just overall enjoying themselves.

Dolores enjoyed herself too. But more importantly, she was glad that her father had enjoyed the cake she made for him.

Mirabel waltzed up to her while the rest of the family was dancing, shimmying and lightly bumping their hip. “Hey,” she teased. “I guess it paid off in the end, huh? The whole first cake being ruined thing.”

Dolores shrugged, staring into her glass of wine, but didn’t answer.

“By the way, and I never got to tell you this before, but that was the funniest thing I had seen from you in a long time!”

“Shut up!” Dolores snickered, giving Mirabel a light shove.

“Hey,” Mirabel shoved back. “Don’t blame me, blame Camilo! Or maybe don’t, since now we have two cakes and they’re both equally good!”

Dolores shrugged with a grin. “I guess you’re right.”

“I know I am!” Mirabel beamed and waited for Dolores to finish her glass and set it aside. “Anyway, prima, you wanna dance?”

Dolores pondered for a minute, then took Mirabel’s hand graciously.

“I’d love to!” She agreed.

The two girls giggled as they ran to the center of the floor with the rest of their family, dancing together and having fun.

The End

29 notes · View notes