The head of the family didn't seem as happy as the rest, however. Alma Madrigal sat with an unreadable expression on her face while the others congratulated them.
"Is <i>that</i> why you were sneaking around at night?" Julieta asked curiously.
"Well... uh, yeah." He chuckled. "I was trying to find her. I had a vision so I kind of knew where she would be."
Camilo pointed at Elly. "<i>You're</i> the puma," he blurted out all at once. "I can see your nose underneath!"
"The what?" Pepa blinked in confusion at her son.
"I met uncle on the road leading into the jungle a few days ago," he explained, excited and talking fast. "He said he saw a purple puma."
"She's a person, not a - ohhhh!" Antonio backtracked as Elly's ears poked up out of her short purple hair.
"Wait, I thought only we had magic."
"What's going on?!"
"I don't know why I'm like this," Elly told them truthfully. "I was young when it happened, and upset since I couldn't be with Bruno -" She tried very hard not to word things in an accusing manner. "My last memory was plunging through the jungle as I changed."
Alma's posture stiffened as if she realized something important. She addressed her son instead of the woman beside him, ignoring the question of magic and cutting to the heart of a different matter. "Brunito, did you smuggle this woman into the house last night?" Her unspoken displeasure suggested what most of the adults were thinking: <i>did you sleep together</i>?
He answered with another question. "Did you turn her away all those years ago, mamá?" His expressionate eyes filled with a deep, abiding sadness. He knew the answer and at that moment, they all did.
"Oh, ouch." Félix whistled lowly.
"I thought I was doing the right thing."
"You told me she never came." Bruno shook his head, bewildered. "I thought she'd found another."
"They tried to force me to marry someone else!"
"Please understand." The older woman switched tactics, appealing to Elly. "Your parents didn't want you involved with him and, quite frankly, neither did I."
"I wasn't a child!" Her lips thinned and she started to tremble. "You <i>knew</i> we were in love. Why did you let your daughters have that happiness but deny him?!"
"It would only have confused him if you suddenly showed up like that after so long."
"My parents <i>locked me up</i>! I couldn't get out and then when I did, you told me to go away." Elly paused. "I didn't, of course. I tried to see him but he wasn't there - he wasn't anywhere." Her voice trailed down until she was whispering the last words.
"Your parents wanted what was best for you, like I did with Brunito." She gestured towards him.
"Whoa." Mirabel's hands stole up to her face, trembling as she covered her mouth.
"He didn't need a woman getting involved when he was struggling with that power of his!"
"He <i>needed</i> love and acceptance." Elly's fangs flashed in the morning light as she bared them in anger. "You treated him like a villian and he's the sweetest man I've ever known!" She shook her head and curled her arm around his, hiding under his poncho. "I don't want to fight. Please, can we not?"
"It's okay, <i>gatita</i>," Bruno pulled his chair out so he could hold her on his lap. She softly begged him to stay and he held her closer, tighter. "No one's fighting, and I'm, um. I'm here. I'm still here."
Dolores winced. She could hear the puma lady sobbing and the look on Bruno's face nearly broke her heart. She held up her hand and addressed the table quietly but firmly, with a smile on her face. "We're all very happy to welcome someone new into our home. It can be a little challenging sometimes, but that's how family is, right?"
Bruno nodded gratefully and stroked his lover's furry ears. "We'll be together now, okay? As soon as possible." A cheer went up from the others and the house celebrated by rattling the furniture merrily about. "I'm not into big celebrations, but I guess our wedding has to be an exception, huh?"
"Of course!" Mirabel was so thrilled she got up and began spinning around the room with her sister Isabel, who produced a beautiful crown of orchids for Elly.
Camilo snickered at the white flowers when they were placed on her head. "They're both old," he pointed out. "There's no way the white's - ohhh! Sorry." He started to sweat as he found himself eye to eye all at once with the purple puma. Bruno was holding the rear half of the big cat with a wide-eyed, startled look on his features.
He changed into his uncle right away and held his hands up. "Whoaaa, you wouldn't hurt <i>this</i> handsome face now, would you?" He winked outrageously.
Luisa, who had been quiet the entire time, slapped a hand to her face, shaking her head at the young man's antics. "Camilo."
"Easy," Bruno spluttered, grabbing in the air and missing as her tail smacked him in the face. Several rats were now clinging to it, squeaking in terror as they failed to control its angry whipping around. "He's joking. Hey, nephew, you better apo-o-o-logize!" He comically drew out the last word, raising his bushy eyebrows at him.
A fogbank swirled around Pepa's head as she watched her brother rein in his wife-to-be. "My son deserves that," was all she said, however, when Bruno grinned sheepishly at her in apology.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," the teen nodded, changing back to himself. "That was kinda tasteless of me."
"White is doable. Perfectly okay," Bruno assured everyone in a loud voice as he rocked in his chair holding Elly, who had reverted back. "For both of us," he added. "Oh. I think. I don't want to assume anything."
She sighed and nodded, though her cheeks were stained pink. "I spent the years hidden away in the jungle by myself, remember? Not that it would have mattered. You're the only man I want."
The smile he directed shyly at her was like the sun coming up.
"Awwww!" Mirabel, Luisa and Isabel clutched their hands to their hearts as one.
"Okay, then! Who wants to plan a wedding?"
There was scattered applause along with lively chatter as the family turned to that happier topic.
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