✨·˚ ༘ ┊͙ NEEDY !
➵ | an encanto book
♯̑̑ 𝖎𝖎 — 𝖔𝖛𝖎𝖎. CHAPTER TWELVE !
𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏
𝕹o one attended the funeral of Rosalba Espinosa.
No one really knew of her passing.
The Espinosa's only had themselves to mourn and depend on. And that was how it stayed.
It hit really hard to Cara Maria for a long time that she didn't have her mother anymore, but she wanted to be strong in front of Diego, Oracio and the triplets.
Diego and Oracia could clearly tell she was just putting on a facade, her siblings were too young to comprehend the obvious signs of Cara Maria's inner turmoil.
Every night, before going to sleep, Cara Maria would use her gift to show an image of her mother. The constant fear of forgetting her plagued the young Espinosa girl's mind, so she made sure she, along with Manolo, Xiomara and Alejo would remember her.
Cara Maria had began to look after her siblings more. Oracio and Diego knew that they couldn't just sit around and let themselves rot away in poverty, so they began to work more.
Oracio began to work once again at his tailor shop, which almost instantly bloomed with customers. Oracio was always the best tailor in the Encanto and everyone loved his unique hand crafted fabric patterns and outfits.
Diego had gotten a job at a local bar and received adequate pay, nothing like his father-in-law, but enough to supply the family.
So Cara Maria would be stuck at home majority of the time to take care of the triplets. It was beneficial for her, it helped her put a halt to her 'stealing tendencies' ( which was still unknown by the adults ).
But it was no easy task.
Usually Cara Maria had the help of her father to care for her siblings, a job split evenly between the two that they could both manage together.
She grew to find that on their own, the triplets were the bane of her existent.
Cara Maria had gotten Alejo and Xiomara to sit and play in the living room after nearly an hour of their shenanigans, and sat Manolo down to feed him.
She always knew that out of all the triplets, Manolo was the easiest. He didn't usually cause any problems, but would start bawling as soon as something he didn't like happened.
Then there was Xiomara. She was normally not a hassle either, so long as she was entertained whether by her brothers, older sister, or her toys. But when paired with Alejo, they were partners in crime.
Meanwhile Alejo was the worst of the three. He seemed to thrive off of chaos and loved causing trouble. But he could tell when he would go a little too far and would always apologize. Not before crying though.
Manolo had finished eating, so Cara Maria went to bring the oldest of the triplets to play with his brother while Xiomara would be taken care of.
Xiomara had always been close with her brothers, but with Cara Maria it was different. She loved her older sister and practically idolized her. She wanted to be just like Cara Maria when she got older, is what she told the girl multiple times, but Cara Maria wished for the opposite.
She knew she made poor choices before and didn't want her siblings to take after her in that sense.
Once she finished feeding Xiomara, Cara Maria chuckled as she watched her younger sister rub her eyes while let out a big yawn. Taking her out of the high chair, Xiomara immediately wrapped her arms around Cara Maria's neck, tucking her head in her sister's shoulder.
"Hermama... tired..." The middle triplet sighed.
"I know, Xiomi. Let's go to your cuna, okay?" Cara told the girl while walking to the living room.
Coincidentally, Manolo and Alejo were also asleep, the two holding onto little building blocks they both adored playing with.
Cara Maria smiled at the sight of her siblings. They always somehow were able to make Cara Maria happy even though they could be troublesome at times.
After placing the three into their shared crib, Cara Maria sighed while plopping down on the couch. She had some time now to head out and run some errands.
Cara Maria grabbed her satchel, a guitar, and one of her grandfather's hats before making her way out of the Espinosa home, and into the bustling Encanto.
It was difficult for Cara Maria to find a job, after all she was still twelve years old. She knew she could earn money in other ways that did not involve excessive amounts of labor, and that was through entertainment.
Cara Maria would go down to the town square, right in front of the water fountain and play music for the children and adults, dance as well sometimes to.
Once Cara Maria had arrived the fountain, she smiled at the sight of a group children playing around and enjoying themselves. Just like she used to do at their age.
"Señorita Espinosa!" Cara Maria chuckled to herself when one of the little girls cheered, earning all the children's attention.
"Señorita Espinosa!" The group chorused before running up to the young musician, each attempting to wrap their arms around the older girl.
"Hola niñotos! I hope you all didn't miss me too much." Cara Maria laughed as she made her way towards the water fountain to set her things down.
The children all followed the girl, bouncing in excitement as Cara Maria set up the guitar on her lap.
"So niñitos, where should we go today?" Cara Maria asked as the kids all raised their hands shouting different locations.
"To the big oak tree!"
"Las montañas!"
"La playa!"
"The waterfalls!"
"The waterfalls sounds beautiful. Let's go there, okay niños?" Cara Maria stated while raising her hand.
The golden wisps flew from her fingertips and surrounded the children. The scenery of the once beautiful Encanto centre changed into the waterfalls by the river just outside of the Encanto.
The children stared in awe of the Espinosa girls gift as they all began to sit down in front of the young girl.
To everyone else walking in the Encanto, it seemed like the children were still at the fountain, but once they noticed the girl who sat atop the fountain, they knew the children were somewhere else.
Cara Maria began to test the guitar strings, tuning the guitar at the same time while making conversation with the kids. They all had smiles of adoration across their visages. They truly did love the Espinosa girl, just as much as they did the Madrigals.
"I learnt a new song to play. Would you like to hear it?" Cara Maria questioned while the children cheered.
Cara Maria strummed the strings of her guitar, keeping the beat with her foot as she tapped the cobblestone rhythmically.
"Mi corazoncito está de luto por tu amor." The children giggled to themselves while watching the older girl sing for them.
"No le digas a nadie. Lo mucho que te quiero."
A crowd slowly began to form around the young girl as she sang and play the guitar. Everyone knew that the Espinosa's daughter was one gifted girl, as she was always able to put a smile on others faces by being herself.
She enjoyed making others happy and that alone kept her going.
"Déjenme soñar. Que el corazoncito es mío, mío, mío, mío, mío." The children rocked their heads side to side in beat of the song.
"Yo soy el poeta de mil penas y tú eres mi condena."
"¿Que importa que en mi mente sea tu hombre? Tú no me correspondes."
"Que el corazoncito es mío, mío, mami, no le digas a nadie."
Cara Maria strummed the last chord on the guitar before placing the instrument down on her lap.
The crowd that formed around the girl began to applaud while the children cheered and cried for another song to be played.
"Gracias." Cara Maria chuckled while looking down at her lap to hide the flush growing to her face.
Many individuals who watched the young girl sing walked towards her, throwing some money into Cara Maria's hat while she thanked each and everyone of them. The crowd all stayed around the girl waiting for the next piece to be played by her.
"Otra vez! Otra vez! Otra vez!" The children cheered while Cara Maria smiled at them.
"Of course! Anything for mis oyentes." Cara Maria picked the guitar back up and strummed the chords once again.
"Ya me estoy cansando de la forma que me tratas, hoy yo me voy de aquí."
𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒂 — 2022