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When Antonio woke up, he knew today was going to be a great day. It was his birthday, and even better, it was a Saturday, so his siblings and cousins (no, wait, they were his siblings too!) had the day off, too! They were going to have so much fun! Antonio bounded out of bed and jumped into the slide that took him down to the bottom of his treehouse. He had no idea what time it was, but he ran out of his room anyway. The sun was just coming up, meaning someone was in the kitchen. “Good morning, Casita!” Antonio chirped. The house spun Antonio around, making him giggle before being swept down to the kitchen. Antonio expected to see his tía cooking, but Camilo was there instead, his blue apron tied securely around his waist.
“Good morning, papá!” Antonio said as he ran up and hugged him from behind.
“Let’s see, who could possibly be behind me right now?” Camilo said playfully as he continued to knead arepa dough. “Is it…Juancho?”
“No!”
“Is it Cecilia?”
“No!” Antonio giggled.
“Then who could it be? I can’t think of anyone else.”
“Papá, it’s me! It’s Antonio!”
Camilo turned around and looked at his little brother. “But you’re not my Antonio. My Antonio turns six today. You’re only five.”
“I turn six today!”
“You do? Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm. Well, in that case-” Camilo spun around, shifting from his apron into his butterfly ruana that gave him access to Mirabel’s Gift. He produced a polvorosa and handed it to him. “Happy birthday, mijo. Don’t tell mamí, okay?”
Antonio smiled widely and took a bite of the cookie. “I thought tía made breakfast on Saturdays and you made it on Sundays.”
“We switched today because she had a headache yesterday and needs to sleep, just like you.”
“But I’m not sleepy.”
“Manito, it’s 6:00 AM. Breakfast isn’t for another two hours. You need to go back to bed.”
“But it’s my birthday.” Antonio yawned widely. “I don’t wanna sleep.”
“Would you rather sleep now or not be able to stay awake for your party tonight?”
Antonio thought for a second. “What if I help you cook and take a nap after breakfast?”
“The griddle’s too hot for you and I have to make the dough so it heals people. But how about this? I give you another polvorosa and you go back to sleep. I’ll come get you at 7:30.”
Antonio considered the offer. “Three polvorosas.”
“Two.”
“Deal!”
Camilo shook his head and produced the cookies. “Casita, take the birthday boy to my room and make sure he sleeps.” The house swept the boy away as the sun crept in through the kitchen window.
An hour and a half later, Camilo went up to his room to change and found Antonio curled up under the blankets, his messy hair sticking out in all directions. He smiled with satisfaction before shifting out of the dough-caked clothes he had been wearing and into a special ruana he made for this specific day. Camilo pulled back the covers and found Antonio clutching a plush chameleon Mirabel made for Camilo as a birthday present when he was younger.
“Good morning, pequeño,” Camilo whispered as he brushed Antonio’s wild curls out of his face. “Time to get up.”
Antonio looked up at Camilo and blinked heavily. “Qué hora es?” he mumbled.
“It’s 7:30 AM. You have to get ready for breakfast.”
“I don’t want breakfast. I wanna sleep.”
“Tough.”
Antonio whined when Camilo picked him up and carried him to his bathroom. Camilo started running the water for Antonio to take a quick bath while he tried to comb his hair with one hand. His other hand was supporting Antonio while he slept in his arms. Finally, Camilo helped Antonio get cleaned up for the day. The boy was so tired that he didn’t realize what he was wearing until Camilo lifted him up and stood in front of one of his mirrors. Antonio gasped.
“We’re matching!” he squeaked. He and Camilo were wearing matching jaguar print ruanas and white button-down shirts. “When did you make them?”
“After Mother’s Day. It’s a birthday present. Any time you want us to match, we’ll match, okay?”
“Thank you, papá! Te quiero!”
“Feliz cumpleaños, mijito.”
“Gracias. Come on, let’s go eat!”
Antonio wriggled out of Camilo’s arms and ran downstairs to a chorus of good mornings and happy birthdays while Dolores finished breakfast. Everyone gushed over Camilo and Antonio’s matching outfits. When Mirabel walked in wearing a jaguar print skirt, Antonio squeaked and giggled as she swept him into the air and spun him around. The icing on the cake came when he realized that Dolores had her hair up in a jaguar print bow, Luisa’s blouse had jaguar spots on the collar instead of little red stripes, and Isabela was wearing a necklace with a jaguar paw print on it. Even Mariano had jaguar print stripes sewn into his shirt. Antonio took his seat between Camilo and Mirabel, positively glowing with happiness. He giggled even more when Dolores set a plate in front of him. While everyone else ate scrambled eggs and arepas, Antonio was given his favorite breakfast in the entire world- two arepas de huevo. Dolores learned the recipe from Félix, who used to eat them all the time when his parents lived in the Encanto. Antonio looked up at Dolores.
“Did you make these just for me?” he asked.
“Of course,” Dolores replied. “It’s your birthday, you should get to eat your favorite food.”
Antonio jumped up and hugged his sister. “Gracias, hermana!”
“De nada. I have a few more in case you want a snack later. I made six of them.”
Dolores gently set one on her father’s plate. Camilo was typically the only grandchild to cook, but he only knew Julieta’s recipes. Dolores was the only one who had this recipe, so she made her grandmother’s arepas stuffed with a fried egg whenever she got a chance to use the stove. She always made sure to save one for her father because he loved them as much as Antonio did. Félix flashed his daughter a dazzling smile before taking a bite and sighing happily. It tasted just like his mother’s. Dolores sat down next to Mariano, her husband of one month, as Abuela stood at the head of the table.
“Family, I am so happy that we are all here together to celebrate Toñito and his birthday. Feliz cumpleaños, mi vida.” Antonio smiled, his mouthful of food making his cheeks pop out even more than normal. “To celebrate, we should all take the day off.”
“What about the stand?” Julieta asked.
“Abuela told me to tell my abuela to spread the word that the family has the day off,” Mariano said. “If something happens, Dolores will hear or they’ll come to us.”
“Then why did I make a hundred arepas this morning?” Camilo asked.
“Because we needed them for breakfast,” Dolores replied.
“Anyway, everyone enjoy your day,” Abuela said. “Antonio’s party will begin at 7:00, so make sure everything is ready by then.”
“Mamá Juli and I will make sure the food is ready,” Camilo said with a look at Julieta, who was wearing a set of blue earmuffs. She gave him a big smile, then laughed as Pepa crossed her arms and pouted.
“First, Camilo and Mirabel steal Antonio, then you steal Camilo,” she whined, making sure to look at Camilo and assure him everything was fine. “What next, will you be making Dolores one of yours, too?”
Camilo smirked and shifted into a blue ruana that looked like Mirabel’s normal skirt. Julieta beamed, which was just the reaction he wanted from his aunt who needed something to smile about while she was dealing with a migraine. He was not expecting his siblings to throw food at him for disrupting the jaguar theme, though. An arepa to the face from Isabela forced him to switch back.
“Wait,” Antonio said. “If tía stole papá and papá stole me, does that mean she stole me and she’s my abuela now?”
The roar of laughter that came from Pepa made both Dolores and Julieta’s ears hurt.
“Pepa!” Abuela scolded with a smile before laughing herself. “Not so loud, mija.”
“You should have seen your face!” Pepa gasped, tears flowing down her cheeks as she continued cackling. “What, do you not want to be an abuela?”
“I am fifty-one years old,” Julieta replied. “That is too young!”
“I was fifty-four,” Abuela supplied. “Is that too young?”
Pepa started giggling again as Julieta tried to climb out of the hole she dug herself into. That was when Camilo had a truly excellent idea. He looked across the table at Dolores and gave her a look that she immediately understood. Dolores grinned before whispering something into Mariano’s ear, then Bruno’s since he was sitting next to her. She cleared her throat loudly, which startled everyone.
“Speaking of abuelas, um, Mariano and I have an announcement to make,” Dolores said. “I’m pregnant. Eight weeks.” The collective gasp from the table nearly broke Camilo, but he held back his laughter. “Looks like you’re going to be an abuela, mamá.”
“I’m gonna be a tío!” Antonio squeaked. “This is the best birthday present ever!”
“I-I even had a vision about it, Pepa,” Bruno supplied. “It’s twins.”
Everyone looked at Pepa, who was trying to figure out what to say. “That’s-that’s great, amor,” she mumbled. “I’m gonna be a- wait.” Pepa looked at Mariano, a dark cloud forming over her head. “You got my daughter pregnant before you got married?” she said, her voice dangerously low.
“Pepa, I-” Mariano stammered.
“You promised me you would wait. Both of you did.”
“Pepa, they’re married now,” Bruno said. “Don’t murder your son-in-law.”
The tension was so thick in the air as Pepa glared at Mariano. Camilo couldn’t take it anymore. He broke down into giggles, as did Dolores and Bruno. Pepa was confused, and Mariano seemed happy that he would live to see another day. “What am I seeing right now?”
“It was a joke, mamá,” Dolores said. “To see if you would be excited.”
“Apparently not,” Bruno said with a snort. Julieta started laughing.
“That’s what you get!” Julieta cackled.
“I wanted to be a tío,” Antonio pouted.
“You will someday, hermanito,” Camilo said. “But for now, you’re still the youngest. Even if you are six today.”
“Yes, let’s try and remember that today is about Antonio,” Abuela said. “Although this was one of the more eventful breakfasts we’ve had in a long time. Everyone finish your food so we can enjoy Antonio’s day.”
“A toast!” Camilo said as he raised his glass of orange juice. “To Antonio, our jaguarcito. May this be the best birthday ever. Salud!”
“Salud!”