Cocooned

Second Chances

"But don't you think that it would be too much for them?" Pepa asked, a cloud forming above her head. Félix held her hand and she calmed down a bit more. " I mean it's such a sensitive topic. So much happened, and they're only 9!"

Alma paused. That's right, they weren't even ten yet (though their birthday was in a couple weeks). But she knew that they had to tell the kids. They would start asking questions, and they couldn't just leave them in the dark, not forever. It was only a matter of time before they realized anyway, what with how people gossip and talk in their community. So how would they tell them? They couldn't just dump it on them all at once, that would only traumatize them more.

"Why don't we just tell them part of what happened?" Agustín asked, and the others looked at him. "You know, water it down some? We don't have to tell them everything, but maybe we could just give them some information." He continued.

"That would work. But what would we tell them?" Alma asked, and Bruno spoke up.

"We can tell them about Casita's fall and the candle," he said. "But we'll wait till they're older to tell them about, um. Well, you know. That." He said, looking to the side awkwardly.

"But what about Papá? Do we tell them about his original sacrifice?" Julieta asked, and all eyes were on Pedro and he had a look on his face.

"Maybe? I mean they know about the scar across my chest, they just don't know how it's there. Maybe we don't tell them that I died yet," he said, absently touching his chest. "But maybe we can tell them that I was struck down and hurt, and that the miracle healed me. I mean it wouldn't be a lie." He said, looking up, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. We'll tell them a more...kid friendly version of the story. And we'll go into a bit more detail of Pedro's sacrifice, but not too much. Agreed?" Alma said and the others nodded.

"We should tell them after dinner, that way they won't think about it too much all day, and can sleep on it," Félix said.

With that, the adults left the dining room, off to do their small and menial tasks about Casita and to check on the children. Luckily the children hadn't been curious and stayed in the room. They were clueless when Félix popped his head in to check on them.

The kids stayed at Casita helping around the house or playing in the backyard. They had noticed that the adults were acting a little strange. Whenever they asked a question,they would get rather defensive. And Casita never elaborated, clearly waiting for whatever it was the adults were going to do. While the little ones were curious, they knew better than to keep asking or to keep pushing it. They would just have to wait for them to tell them.

Dinner couldn't come fast enough. The adults were nervous once it rolled around. Thankfully, though, the kids were back to talking again. Not quite their usual enthusiasm, but talking nonetheless. They also ate all of their food, much to Julieta's relief. Once the table was clear, the elders held them back, which they were confused about. They never did this unless they were in trouble, or they wanted to talk about something serious. And as far as they knew, they weren't in trouble, so it had to be the latter.

"Niños...we want to tell you something," Alma began, pausing. Pedro placed a hand on her lap, and gave her a sympathetic look. "It's about yesterday. Now this is very serious, and we want you to know that none of it is your fault," she continued, looking at Mirabel for a moment longer than the others.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Camilo said, scooting closer in his seat.

"Do you know how we got our Miracle?" Julieta asked. The children nodded.

"Yeah, there were some mean people chasing the town a long time ago and the candle formed from Abuelo and Abuela's marriage candle to protect us," Luisa said, the tallest tilting her head.