✨·˚ ༘ ┊͙ NEEDY !
➵ | an encanto book
♯̑̑ 𝖎𝖎 — 𝖔𝖛𝖎. CHAPTER ELEVEN !
𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆
𝕹othing was ever the same after the confrontation between the oldest Madrigal and the Espinosa family.
Rosalba had no one to care for her and no medication to help slow down the virus, she was dying quickly.
Oracio would rarely leave his daughters side, truly worried that she would just not wake up sometime in her sleep. He wanted to be with her every step of the way.
Diego was visibly becoming stressed. His appearance all disheveled as he took care of the triplets. He was worried for not only his wife, but for his eldest daughter as well.
Cara Maria would sit in her room, and cry. Everything was happening so fast for her, and she's only twelve.
Her mother was dying, they basically had no money, a foul old woman said some things that shouldn't be said to children, and her best friend left her.
Whenever the family would eat dinner, Cara Maria would say or do nothing. Just eat her food quietly and then walk away when she finished.
It had gotten to the point where even the triplets noticed her behavior. Each and every single one of them pointing out that she didn't play with them or show them her 'magic tricks'.
Cara Maria had to clear her head. She was way too stressed and it was taking its toll on the young girl.
So she did the one thing that came to mind.
Using her illusions, she was able to pick out some food without being seen, and even snatched a wallet, taking a good amount of cash before returning it back to the owner.
Cara Maria did anything and everything she could to help provide for her family. Even if it wasn't the right thing. She had hit rock bottom.
Diego and Oracio began to grow quite skeptical of how the oldest child had been buying household necessities and medications for the family. They weren't the ones giving her the money, so how?
Cara Maria used a simple excuse. Before she fell ill, Rosalba would teach Cara Maria how to dance. Cara Maria would tell them that she danced to entertain a crowd and earned money as a result. Oracio and Diego actually believed it.
Cara Maria continued this habit for weeks. She'd go out and see something that caught her eye and attention, grab it, and go.
The Espinosa girl had made it back home, setting down the newly "bought" goods for her family, before going upstairs.
The triplets had been asleep, and Diego and Oracio were not home, out to buy more medication for Rosalba.
Cara Maria looked towards the door to her mother's room. She wanted to check up on her, but she felt like she couldn't.
After the things Alma had said to the girl, she constantly thought about herself and her own self worth. Alma made her feel like a pawn on a chess board, and it was bad.
"Your mother would be very disappointed to hear how you speak to elders."
Your mother would be very disappointed...
Disappointed.
Cara Maria didn't realize that she was now standing in front of her mother's door. She couldn't just turn around now.
She slowly lifted her hand to knock on the door, her hand trembling as she hit the door three times.
"Mamá...? C-Can I come in?" Cara Maria silently cursed to herself.
Why was she nervous? Her body in shakes, her voice trembling. Cara Maria didn't like this feeling at all.
"Claro que si, mi princessa." Cara Maria stared at the door in shock.
'Wow... Camilo used to call me that.'
Cara Maria walked into the room as her mother began to sit up in her bed.
It took everything for Cara Maria to not breakdown in front of her mother. Rosalba was visibly paler and thinner, her face being visibly thinned and heavy eye bags. She looked almost like a completely different person.
With everything going on in her head, seeing her mother in this current state was definitely not helping her out.
"How are you, mi vida?"
'Broken.'
"Pretty good... I went out to buy groceries today." Cara Maria faked a smile on her face, hoping it would ease her mind.
Rosalba reached her hand out, placing it onto Cara Maria's, her thumb stroking small circles on the top of it.
"I know you like the back of my hand Cara. Tell me, what's bothering you?" Rosalba sadly smiled at her daughter.
"What do you mean, Mamá? I'm perfectly fine."
'No you're not.'
"Your eyes tell me otherwise. Talk with me, princessa." Rosalba pushed.
Cara Maria couldn't maintain eye contact with her mother anymore. She never felt emotions like the ones she's been feeling for the past few weeks, she didn't know how to describe them or how to even talk about them.
"I... I don't feel very comfortable talking about it right now... Can we talk about it later...?" Cara Maria stated earning a hearty chuckle from her mother.
"Of course, princessa. Whenever you're ready to talk, I'll always be here waiting and listening." Rosalba stated as she tightened her grip on her daughter's hand.
Cara Maria said nothing, relishing in the silent moment with her mother. It wasn't awkward silence, but very comforting. That's all Cara wanted. To be comforted by her mother.
"Cara, we need to talk about something..." Rosalba sighed as she reacher her other hand out to grab Caramaria's other hand.
"About what?" Cara Maria frowned.
"My health... Things aren't going exactly all too well, I'm sure you know that. Right, mi vida?" Rosalba asked, holding eye contact with Cara Maria, who was visibly shocked by her mother's comment.
"Don't talk like that, Mamá..."
"I just want you to know this. I don't want it to come as a surprise if I do, and when I do pass on." Rosalba held a small smile on her face as she continued to rub circles on her daughter's hand.
"Mamá," Cara Maria mumbled while looking down at her lap, "I don't think it won't surprise me... I still need you."
"And I will always be here with you. Right here, forever and always." Rosalba stated, while Cara Maria rubbed at her eyes.
"It's just really difficult, mamá..." Cara Maria mumbled as she looked at her mother.
"It will all be alright, mi cariño." Rosalba smiled as she gently ran her hand through Cara Maria's curls.
"Anyways, it's late, mi vida. Why don't you get ready to go sleep soon." Rosalba began to reset herself in her bed, ready to let herself sleep.
"Wait, I didn't give you an illusion yet." Cara Maria stood up from the bed and helped to tuck her mother in before holding out her hand.
Cara Maria would usually stay up later than the whole Espinosa family, so she would us her illusion gift to help ease everyone's minds and help them fall asleep easier.
"Qué quieres ver, Mamá?" Cara Maria asked as the golden whisps escaped from her finger tips.
Rosalba thought for a moment before an idea came to her mind.
"When I first taught you how to dance. Do you remember that, cariño?" Rosalba asked while Cara Maria chuckled.
"Of course I do. How could I forget." Cara Maria smiled as she lifted her hand into the air.
The golden whisps flew around the room as the scenery began to change. A small, four year old Cara Maria was learning how to dance bachata, with her mother, Rosalba.
Cara Maria and Rosalba smiled as they stared at the happy memory in front of them. How they both wished things could go back to then.
Rosalba turned to her daughter and gently grabbed her hand, placing a shaky kiss to the back of it. Cara Maria looked down to her mother who smiled sweetly at her.
"I love you, mi princessa." Cara Maria leaned down and wrapped her mother in comforting embrace.
"I love you too, Mamá." Rosalba placed a small kiss on the top of her daughter's head, before laying back down, shutting her eyes.
Cara Maria smiled softly as she watched Rosalba's chest rise up and down. She adjusted the blankets on her mother before leaning down, kissing her cheek.
"I'll love you forever and always." Cara Maria muttered before slowly walking out of the room, canceling the illusion.
That night was a beautiful, yet difficult night for the Espinosa's.
For that night was the last time Rosalba Espinosa had opened her eyes.
𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒂 — 2022