Cocooned

57 birthdays and a Festival

The Madrigal grandchildren didn't take very long to get used to their gifts. Now seven years old, they had broken into their gifts and were up and at it in town (which was like before, but with gifts this time). They enjoyed their time in the town, they loved using their gifts to make people happy, which is all they really wanted. Sure, they would help and stuff, but their Abuela and Abuelo often encouraged them to use it how they wanted.

The first year with their gifts was...rough. It was much like the triplets, but much more chaotic. Six kids with new gifts, it was certainly an experience. Sure, they had known about the gifts, sans Mirabel's, but they didn't know how the little ones would use them. The kids were different this time, they didn't have that pressure again. Alma had made a promise and she intended to keep it.

Another part of the pledge was moving the 'Encanto Day' event. See before, it was on October 17th-the triplet's birthday. Alma hadn't really taken into account that it had been the same day as their birthday. Sure, she celebrated it, but for years, especially after their gifts, she seemed more focused on the 2 day festival that celebrated the day the Encanto came to be.

She never really celebrated her triplets' birthday, except for their 15th (thank the Lord, she would've never let herself live it down if she messed up their 15th). But even then she only did it for appearances. She hadn't realized how Bruno had changed his sister' shoes. Or how he individually danced with both of them, seeing that their father wasn't there. How the three took pictures of each other. She was too busy making business deals on the side to notice. And she wished she didn't.

Because that meant that, even with all the people there, they spent their 15th alone.

Many people had been there, including their own mother, and yet none of them had really been there for the three siblings-they had only been there for the sake of keeping up their reputations. The only ones or were there for those three were Agustin, Felix, and their families. Alma had really only learned of it by looking through old pictures and from the stories the other adults told.

Hence why she moved the Encanto Day festival to the day after. A lot of villagers complained, but most of them were generally understanding. Anytime someone tried to complain about 'tradition', Alma or even Pedro would shut them down. They cared more about their kid's celebration than some festival that could take place on another day.

And the triplets loved it! And today was no different-their 57th birthday (though one could argue they were 35 or 36, seeing that they didn't look their age AT ALL, though neither did Alma nor Pedro). Immediately, they were told no work. While on a usual week it would be a work day, Alma had told them they weren't allowed to-Julieta couldn't even cook, Alma and Pedro had taken care of that.

And the kids seemed more excited for the birthday. Apparently they had planned to take them into town for the morning, and then the husbands would take them in the afternoon while the kids helped their grandparents set up for the party that would take place later that night.

The kids made sure they had fun. They were practically running around town the whole morning. They had even taken them all around the town. At one point Luisa had suggested a game of hide and seek, and which they obviously played.

The children went first and they weren't as easily found. Isabela had pulled herself and Mirabel into a small tree next to some cart, which look generally inconspicuous. Dolores and Camilo had gone and lurked in the shadows, keeping themselves hidden, thanks to Dolores' hearing and Camilo's shape shifting. Luisa and Antonio had arguably been the hardest to find, and that was because they were in plain sight. They just kept jumping behind carts and switching sides, so they were never in the same hiding spot for too long.