Chapter Text
Bruno had lived in the walls of his childhood home for an entire decade. He hated every second he spent away from his family, but he did it for them, which is why he wouldn’t change a thing about his time in isolation.
He did, however, regret not getting to know his nieces and nephews better.
He missed so many important things, he was gone long enough for the kids to start believing the rumors of creepy, filthy, horrible tío Bruno who curses people.
His new goal was to change the horrible perspective his family had of him. Starting with the younger ones who still had some faith in him.
Antonio was surprisingly welcoming to the strange man he had never seen in his short life.
“Hola, tio Bruno” Antonio found Bruno in the living room, laying down on the couch staring at the ceiling. He had been sleeping there because his room was still full of sand. Plus, he had always hated it, it was cold, it was dark, and the stairs were painful to get through.
“Hey, Toñito! Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Bruno asked and sat up to let some space for his nephew to sit beside him.
“I still have 14 minutes before bedtime.” The kid replied. He looked around to see if his mother was around before asking “Tio Bruno, are you happy here?”
Bruno replayed the question in his head once or twice before stuttering “I- w-what? Why a-are you asking m-me that?”
Antonio, with his beautiful big brown eyes, stared into Bruno’s and added “Because the rats say you cry a lot.”
Huh.
I do cry a lot, don’t I? He told himself, thinking about all those nights he cried himself to sleep, or all the times he let the tears roll down as he heard his family being happy without him.
Bruno was known to be dramatic and sensitive, but he also tried to keep it to himself. He rarely showed his feelings in public. Growing up, Bruno was used to keeping his emotions to himself and only crying when he was alone in his dark and cold tower. As a teenager, becoming the man of the house only made his mood worst since he felt as if he couldn’t even show vulnerability around his own sisters and mom. While the kids at school mocked him continuously, while his sisters pushed him away, while his mom put more and more pressure on him, while the town talked behind his back and judged him viciously, Bruno stayed strong. In conclusion, Bruno made it a habit to pretend he didn’t care about anything or anyone, pretend he barely had feelings, and let all his pain out on his own.
It only took 50 years for someone to notice.
“Hombrecito… I am happy here. I missed my family so much, and I’m happy to have you all back. I’m happy with my life and my home.” Bruno cleared his throat, trying hard to not start crying right there and then “Thank you for asking”
Antonio didn’t seem totally satisfied with his uncle’s answer. He felt as if Bruno was lying. “The rats don’t agree. They say you… regret a lot of things. What’s ‘regret’ tio?”
“It’s um… regret is wishing your past was different.” Bruno’s eyes sparkled with tears because he did have a lot of regrets.
He regretted overusing his powers when he was younger, making the town afraid of him. He regretted not spending more time with his sisters because he missed their friendship. He regretted not making his mother proud. He regretted not starting a family on his own. He regretted not getting to know his brothers-in-law, his nieces, and his nephews better. He regretted being creepy, filthy, horrible Bruno. He regretted trying to end his life, and he somewhat regretted failing.
The only thing that kept him from trying again was ironically a vision he had in his dreams. A vision of the future sitting at a table with his family, singing and smiling, eating dinner at Christmas dinner. He knew that night that his faith was to stay around his family, he knew that someday he would get the opportunity to get his life back.
By then, Bruno’s cheeks were wet with discrete delicate tears falling slowly. As soon as Antonio noticed them, he wrapped his little arms around his uncle who hugged him back lovingly.
Antonio whispered, “Do you regret leaving?”
Bruno genuinely thought of his answer “To be completely honest...Yes. I regret it a lot. i regret not spending more time with you, and your siblings, and your cousins.”
Antonio nodded understandably. Gosh, he’s so smart for a 5-year-old. The kid asked, “So you won’t leave again?”
Bruno shook his head like a little kid and cleared his tears with his only free hand. “No, chiquito”
“Never?” Antonio adorably asked
“Never.” Bruno pulled away slowly and carefully, he pulled out his pinky and wrapped it around Antonio’s miniature little finger to add “I promise.”
After that, Bruno carried the boy to his bed and insisted on tucking him in. With a loving kiss on the forehead, Antonio fell asleep and Antonio finished his day with a genuine proud smile.