Who You Are: Camilo's Story (After Encanto)

Decisions

"The mother hasn't told them anything," said a voice from the doorway. Dolores then walked into Camilo's room. "When they got home, Mrs. Engel and Hanna were not saying anything about the...visit. They were both just carrying on with their day as usual as if it didn't happen," she said.

Dolores then scowled over at Camilo. "Which was very lucky, I'd say," she added.

Camilo looked over at his sister, unsurprised by her knowing exactly where he was at the time. It was no wonder she was scowling at him since he came home. But whatever Mrs. Engel's reason was for keeping quiet about his visit, he knew he would be grateful to her for the rest of his life. She wasn't so bad after all.

Mirabel turned to look at Camilo. "Did Amalia or the father see you?" she asked.

"No," Camilo said confidently. "I was gone before they came back."

"You're sure?" asked Mirabel.

"Yes," Camilo answered.

Mirabel breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, fine! But seriously! You need to be more careful next time!" she begged.

"I know," Camilo said. "I got it. I just gotta be stealthier, that's all."

When Mirabel and Dolores finally left his room, they were both scowling at him.

Camilo spent the next couple of hours going over in his head what he would say to Hanna as if he were reciting lines for a play. He paced around the stage occasionally stopping to look at his backdrop mirror to rethink his words. Soon after, he went back and checked the clock in his dressing room. He took a deep breath, grabbed the quilt that Mirabel had sewn for him as a gift, and left his room. He then jumped down the flights of stairs with the quilt under his arm.

"Where are you going, mijo?" Pepa asked. She and Félix were on the other side of the balcony when they saw Camilo heading towards the front door.

Camilo froze and then turned around to look up at them. "Um," he said. "I'm just going out for a walk into the village."

"At this hour?" his mother asked, suspiciously.

But Félix put a hand on her shoulder. "Come now, mi Amor. Let him go and enjoy himself. He'll be fine," he said with a smile.

"Gracias, Papi! I promise I won't be gone too long. See you later," Camilo said, and he walked out before Pepa could say anything else.

"Félix! Why would you just let him go off like that without question?" Pepa asked in disbelief.

"Well, this is just my theory. But he is most likely going someplace where he doesn't want them to be... disturbed," he said to her.

"Them?" Pepa asked, confused.

Félix grinned at her and said, "Si. Him and a...certain lady friend."

Pepa gasped. "You mean...?" she began to ask.

"Like I said. It's just a theory," Félix said with his hands raised up.

"He's sneaking off with her?" Pepa whispered quietly.

"Oh, come now, Peppy," Félix said. "It's not like we were completely innocent about that ourselves when we were their age. Right, mi amor?" He grinned once again and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Pepa put a finger to his mouth to shush him. "We don't talk about that," she said, slyly grinning back at him.

Félix took her hand and started to kiss it. He then left a trail of kisses all the way up her arm. Pepa rolled her eyes, but she was smirking at him. When he stopped, his voice became less mischievous and he said, "Anyway, don't worry. Johanna will be just fine. She'll be with our son, after all."