The day was new, and the construction would officially start today. Many adults stayed up until midnight just so they could properly plan a better structure for the new Casíta.
While they were busy building, the younger people would take to caring for the old and the young.
The breakfast was delicious, as expected from the Madrigals' own chef, Julieta. Everyone took their time relishing the meal. The woman could make even just a common food like egg taste like a gourmet dish.
"We'll go now, you all take care of yourselves." Agustin waved as he held the door open for everyone else.
You and the Madrigal sisters wave back, each of your parents exitted the house, slowly, one-by-one.
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There was not much to do in the house, besides working on your own hobbies, and taking care of the toddler that is your baby sister.
Minutes turn to hours, as you repeated the same routine, rocking the baby and checking to see if she's hungry.
Your enthusiasm faded each minute that passed. Even if you were already aware of how to properly raise your baby sister, there was no changing the fact that this could get redundant really quickly.
And the silence between everyone did not help either. Very few words were exchanged, even between the sisters. The occasional sentences they would say would barely even be full sentences, sentences like "You good?" or "Your turn."
Taken by the lack of work, Isabela finally broke and asked the lingering question in everyone's mind.
"Can we do something else?" Isabela continued to rock Jasmine in her arms.
"I know, but we have to take care of Jasmine." Luisa was at the sink, washing the dishes that you ate on earlier.
Mirabel sat on the mattress, bored, "Can't we just leave one person to take care of Jasmine? I mean it shouldn't be THAT hard."
"Oh, come on, I've been doing this alot since she was born." You sighed.
"Well, can we leave you here to take care of her?" Isabela groaned, and extends her arms with Jasmine still on them.
You think about it for a second, you wanted to help to, but if someone had to stay behind to look after your sister, then it should most definitely be you.
"Okay, fine. I'll stay here with her." You carefully grab her from Isabela, and rested her small body on your arms.
"Oh, thank you. We'll try to see if we can get someone else to look after Jasmine." Isabela cheered as she stood up on the mattress.
Mirabel also rejoiced behind you, you could feel the cloth pulling from the girl's ecstatic movement.
Luisa continued to clean the pots and plates, but she still remembed to show how happy she was to help the Encanto.
"Goodluck on the construction!" You wave to the two sisters, Isabela and Mirabel, as they headed out first, Luisa was sure to follow after she had placed the plates and utensils back in the cabinet.
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You lay on the mattress, tending to all of your sister's needs, while your family and the family that stayed with you were off working on the Casíta.
"You wanna go outside?" You asked the baby, you didn't expect a response, because you were going to go outside with her either way.
Jasmine cooed like a bird, she didn't tell you what she really wanted, but you assumed that she agreed with you.
You carry Jasmine out, your arms holding her whole laying body, which gets heavier with every day that passes.
You slowly lower yourself on the bench in front of your house. You notice the townsfolk were mostly going back and forth between their houses and the Casíta, presumably because they were transporting materials.
You let Jasmine get the sunlight that a baby, like her, needs. Jasmine also looked amused by the passing townsfolk, amazed by their clothing and looks.
"Hey, (Y/N)! How are you!" A manly voice called your attention from a crowd that was walking by.
You look around to see who had called you, the voice was familiar, it wasn't anyone from the Madrigal family, and it wasn't one from your own family either.
You catch a glimpse of a tall and buff man that was the same age as you, maybe a little older. He was wearing a white polo shirt, and he had a bandage wrapped around his nose, which looked like a smashed papaya.
"It's me, Mariano!" The man waved as he walked from the crowd to you.
Mariano stopped in front of you and your sister, "Can I?" Mariano pointed his hand to the empty space on the bench.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure." You nodded as you scooted over to the other side to make room for the man to sit.
Mariano took a seat beside you and looked at the small baby that was your sister.
"Aw, she's so cute!" Mariano smiled, he showed his finger to the baby as she started playing with his finger with her small hands.
"Yeah she is." You moved your arms to move Jasmine closer to Mariano who was in absolute bliss playing with a baby.
"So, how's that nose?" You look at the swelling nose, the bandage was not doing much with covering the bruise.
"Isabela smashed it with a bud, I didn't think it would hurt this much though." Mariano pinched the bandage.
"That does look like it would hurt." You felt icky after noticing the bruising around the bandage.
But you were getting ahead of yourself, you are forgetting something very important. Mariano was the guy Dolores said she liked. Would befriending him really be a good thing to do for Dolores?
"We haven't talked much since the proposal dinner." That night was a big disaster, for both relationships that had gone together for it.
"Yeah, I guess I was busy." Being wrapped up in the affairs with Bruno had lessened your interaction with anyone else outside of your family and the Madrigals.
You were forgetting again. You should leave Mariano alone, before you do something stupid.
"Don't the Madrigals need you?" You question Mariano, "Oh, yeah, thank you for reminding me." Mariano scratched his head, he had forgotten that he was supposed to bring the cement to the Casíta.
"Well, I'll leave you and your sister to it, goodbye!" Mariano waved as he carried the sacks of cement to the Casíta.
You wave with one hand while the other holds your baby sister. You couldn't bother to get mad at him for what had happened, he didn't do anything wrong to you.
"Well, those two are getting along well." Said an overlooking person, who had tuned into the entirety of your conversation with Mariano.
You were yet to notice the person looking at you, so they stayed hidden until they had left the neighborhood.
So before you spot them, they ran off back to the Casíta, their red skirt flew in the wind as they ran back to the construction.
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You have been cradling your baby sister for quite some time now, so the surprise you got when you finally saw your family and the Madrigals, that were staying at your house, heading towards you from the street coming from the Casíta's lot.
They all looked tired and exhausted, even from the distance they were at, you could still notice the sweat's distinct shine light up their bodies.
Their hands were empty, gone were the items they had brought to the construction site.
Now that you were looking, you noticed that there were more people heading from the Casíta back to their houses, perhaps they told everyone to take a break.
You continued to hold Jasmine with one of your arms, and waved to them with the other.
They waved back as they continued to slowly strut until they reached the door to the house.
"That was exhausting, and I'm tired and hungry." Mirabel groaned, her sisters were practically panting from how tired they also were.
"I'll start making our lunch with the food that I managed to salvage from the debris." Julieta wiped the sweat off her forehead as she thought of the dishes she could prepare for a good lunch.
"Oh, I can lend you food from my fridge." Your mother suggested.
"Really? That'd be great." Julieta smiled and thanked your mother.
"Hey, (Y/N), you and Jasmine can come in, you know?" Your father was the last to go back inside the house.
The eggs from breakfast were already down your stomach, and eating another set of food surely wouldn't hurt.
"Okay, coming!"
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The wait was longer than you thought, Julieta was cooking way more food than you expected.
After asking around, you found out that she was also cooking treats for the people helping with the construction, it was a simple act of gratitude that she could show for the people that were helping her family rebuild their home.
The wait was going to be long so you had to find something else to do to kill time, now that you didn't need to take care of your sister anymore, thanks to your parents being there now.
The first thing that came to your mind was painting, which you were just reminded of last night, when Isabela called attention to your unfinished paintings.
The urge to finish your paintings was thankfully there to help you start on them again.
You stood up to head to the art room, when Isabela saw you, "Hey, can I watch you paint?".
The request startled you, "Sure, i guess..", you shrugged your shoulders.
Isabela cheered, "Yay!", She had gone to appreciate art and its abstract forms after she had dyed her once purple dress.
The girl followed you into the room, she was very excited, yet you really just wanted to work on your art.
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Isabela commented on every stroke you made with the brush, she was amazed with the different colours that she saw on the canvas.
While she was amused, you weren't, you prefer peace and quiet when working, and you would rather not hear the same voice over and over again while you were in the process of painting careful strikes of colours, the cheers would even sometimes startle you into accidentally painting somewhere you didn't want to.
Asking her to quiet down would have been too disrespectful in your opinion, so you just had to begrudgingly continue while she was still losing her mind with the colours.
But even someone as enthusiastic as Isabela couldn't keep all her focus on your painting the whole time, so she looked around at the other finished and unfinished pieces that you had made while growing up.
She came across one specifically which was under a desk, one painting that she had not noticed last night.
You notice that she had stopped reacting to your painting, and that it was suddenly quiet, you take it as a blessing and just continued quietly.
Isabela inspected the painting closer, it was a portrait of someone, with a slender body and about the same age as her.
The person in the portrait had brown skin, but lighter than her's, and had dark brown hair that curled up to a bun behind her head.
Sharp reds contrasted the person's dress, particularly on her skirt, and on her hair, which rested a ribbon.
As Isabela saw more of the person in the painting, it became more and more obvious who it was.
The painting was of her prima, Dolores, yet some parts were still unfinished.
Isabela didn't know how to react to the painting, because she knew that you and Dolores had just had a big fight back when the casíta was still built.
Isabela went to return the painting back under the desk, but when she looked back, she saw you looking at the painting she had just returned, with a gloomy face.
"Oh my God, I didn't mean to-" Isabela was already apologetic for showing you the painting.
"It's alright, I don't think I'll get to finishing that, any time soon." You replied.
"Lunch is ready!" Julieta's call could just be barely heard coming through the wooden door.
Isabela went to open the door, while you kept the painting tools in their respective bags.
"Hey, (Y/N)." Isabela had already put her hand on the doorknob, when she looked back at you.
"Yeah?" You notice Isabela's call, you continued to fix your things while you waited for he to say what she called you for.
"I know how much you and Dolores meant to each other, and I can only imagine how that fight affected both of you. I know none of us can fix what happened back then, so the least we could do is be there for you whenever you feel like you need a shoulder to cry on. I really hope that you're alright, especially after what you went through." Isabela smiled, she really did not want you to feel alone.
"Gee, thanks..." You thought about what she said, and it made you smile.