Cocooned

Papá Will Protect You.

The husbands knew they were doing good. That their family was healing. It took a while but they were finally a happy family

They weren't oblivious and they weren't stupid. They had seen the thighs Alma said and did before the fall. Before the kids' deaths. There was no way to sugarcoat how they felt either. In all honesty, they didn't exactly appreciate how their mother-in-law treated their wives and brother-in-law. Frankly, she wasn't the best, and she didn't improve once the kids were born.

And then after Mirabel's first failed ceremony? She was even worse. It had lessened throughout the years, but it didn't change the fact that she still ignored and pushed Mirabel to the side. That she treated the gifted ones like tools and essentially ignored anyone that didn't have a gift. Bruno had it bad too, even when they were younger, before they even got married, they noticed how outcasted Bruno was.

But she's changed and for the better! Luckily she didn't go back to her old ways. After the fall something changed in her...neither man could quite pinpoint what it was, it was strange. During that period in which they had been without the children, she wasn't the same. None of them were, really, but Alma? By far she had changed the most.

Both husbands noticed that she was much more gentle when it came to explaining things. She was less easy to irritate and she was much more reasonable, especially when it came to chores. And after the kids were born, she had become even more lenient, insisting that they only work 2 days a week, and even then they could only work up until lunch or maybe a little after... But they weren't complaining!

Agustín was happy with the new change. Before he had to practically fight for his life to defend his kids. To defend Mirabel. His wife. Even his sobrinos sometimes. He never liked to argue with the woman, it was like arguing with a brick wall. And after the fall? He wasn't even sure if he could even consider her family. After he barely considered Mirabel family. For all he knew, she didn't even consider him or Félix family, or maybe she did. She gave off mixed signals and often didn't try to interact with him or his brother-in-law unless it was about their kids and their gifts (or lack thereof).

He wasn't sure about a lot of things. He worried often, but since the kids came back, he had calmed down a bit. Alma had been putting in the effort to change. She wasn't doing it for appearances, she was doing it for family. And Agustín admired her for that. It took a lot to change, he knew that he was glad she took the time and effort to do so. Glad that she was acting like an actual grandmother and mother. And he knew that his father-in-law, Pedro, was doing his best as well. Sure, the man might be confused sometimes, but he always had the spirit and put in 110% percent.

Félix was more than happy about Alma's change in behavior. He hated how she treated his wife and kids. And he hated how she treated his other family too-it made his blood boil at times with how rude she was. She rarely asked nicely, it was more like she demanded or assigned and excepted it to get done. More than once Félix pulled his children and even sobrinas from their chores. And then Mirabel. He felt like she had it the worst out of the grandkids. She was constantly left out, and he did his best to include her, it wasn't easy. And then there was his poor brother, Bruno, who went through Hell and back unfortunately.

It honestly broke his heart to see his family so broken, and he hated seeing them fight. And then when the house fell? And they were just...gone? He contemplated just grabbing whatever family he had left and leaving. But he couldn't, because he knew deep down, he knew his wife still loved her mother, and it would be a lie if he said that he still didn't care for her during that time. But he was glad he stuck around. Glad that he was able to get his kids back and get a second chance at raising.

-
Pedro smiled as he kissed each of his grandkids after his wife, sending them off to their rooms to go to sleep. They had been working hard all day---there was a really bad thunderstorm (not by Pepa, thankfully), and the houses on the far side of town near the forest line had gotten caught up and some of the roofs had to be repaired and replaced.