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Bruno wants kids. Always has. He watched the younger kids run around in the town, making sure they didn’t hurt themselves. He saw it happen before it did. Not because of his gift, just common sense. Running around in the rocky paths, going up the steep hills, climbing the trees. And he helped be careful, or he took them to Julieta when they got hurt. When he carried a sniffling child and told them it would be ok and they calmed down and, for once, someone understood he didn’t want to do wrong, he wanted kids.
Bruno wants kids. But he’s not married. No one wants to marry him. Pepa and Julieta have been married for a while, them and their husbands try to help, but there are some things you can’t fix. You can’t fix people. You can’t fix a personality. You can’t fix a gift. He appreciated them trying, he did. But if no one wanted to be with him, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
Bruno wants kids, but kids don’t want him. He tries to talk to them, interact, try and be nice, but they all run away from “creepy Bruno”. Their parents have told them he’s a jinx, or a bad person, or whatever they’ve come up with in their heads. If he can’t even get a few 5 year olds to talk to him, how is he gonna deal with his own kid?
Bruno wants kids, and his sisters have them first. Two girls, a few months apart, named Isabela and Dolores. Bruno was the last person allowed to hold the girls every time, but he didn’t care. They were perfect. He was allowed to babysit Isabela with Agustín while Julieta slept. Pepa wouldn’t let him near Dolores, which was fine. After a while, Abuela didn’t let him near Isabela either. Which was fine. Because Luisa was born a little while after, and he could spend as much time with her as he wanted. He couldn’t wait to have kids of his own.
Bruno wants kids, and kids want prophecies. His neices decided they did, anyway. He was nervous, because why wouldn’t he be, but he accepted. Three prophecies, that’s all. Luisa was first, and he saw that she would get a new dress. She was happy. Next was Isa. She would get the life she wanted and her powers would grow stronger. She was happy. Then was Dolores. The man she loved would be betrothed to someone else. She wasn’t happy. She wasn’t mad either. She didn’t really understand, which was fine. As long as she wasn’t mad.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. By the time Mirabel and Camilo are born, he’s given up on it. Pepa grants him the honor of holding Camilo this time, which he takes gratefully. Abuela isn’t at home when Mirabel is born, so he’s the third person to hold her, after her parents. She’s a little small, he thinks. But she’s perfect. They both were. He babysat them together sometimes. They loved each other, and said they were twins. They might as well have been. Bruno watched how close they were, how happy they were that he was there, and he cried.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. He’ll never have any. Not if Abuela would treat them like this. You can’t meet people in the walls, anyways. If his kid ended up without a gift and they got the same treatment as Mirabel? He wouldn’t stand it. He couldn’t. He can’t stand it as it is. Every time Mirabel is upset he has to cover his ears and try so hard not to listen. He’s a coward. He can’t believe himself.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. But he keeps a little hope, once Antonio is born. Both Félix and Pepa are 45. So is he. It’s not too late, then. He can’t hold him, he knows that, but he sneaks into the nursery at night sometimes. Just to look. To introduce him to the rats, and to his Tío Bruno, that he will only meet under the cover of the night when everyone is asleep.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. He’s a bit busy nowadays, what, with the family, and the house, and he’s doing prophecies again. He doesn’t have time. There are enough kids in the house. Isabela and Dolores are old enough to marry and have kids of their own, he can’t have kids now. But when he watches Antonio talk to the rats, enthusiastic and listening to whatever they say, he can’t help but feel a pain in his chest.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. But he likes them. He plays soccer with the kids in town. He gives them prophecies. He talks to them, tells them stories, helps them out sometimes. One little girl asked for him to braid her hair, so he did. Before she ran off to play, she said “thank you, Tío Bruno!” and Bruno froze. Other kids started calling him that as well. Adults started after a while. He’s not “creepy Bruno” or “the one we don’t talk about”. He is Tío Bruno.
Bruno doesn’t want kids. He already has them.
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