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     INVITATIONS HAD BEEN SENT out by the madrigal family. and that's when you know that it was serious business.

     almost everyone in town knew about the shapeshifter's upcoming birthday, with mirabel's not far behind. however, camilo's party came first of course.

"ay, let me help you with that, princesa!", camilo offered, as he spotted felicia from across town, carrying two bags of flour and coffee beans.

     "camilo, you don't have to help me if you're already preoccupied", felicia stated, noticing that the mother was still tiredly holding her crying child.

     "well...well could you wait for me?? I'll be back real quick!", camilo promised, to which felicia had nodded, allowing her arms to take a short break by setting down the bags.

     the sixteen year-old watched as camilo shape-shifted into the child's father, allowing the woman to take a break, as camilo rocked the baby to sleep. according to the woman, her infant dearly missed his dad, who didn't come home until after work.

     "he'd make a great father someday...", the diaz muttered to herself with a petite smile.

     recently, felicia has been working on her present for camilo, meaning that she didn't have much time to spend with the boy, as she had to keep her gift a surprise.

     "okay! I'm ready to help now!", camilo huffed, as he jogged over to the sixteen year-old, picking up the bags immediately.

     "camilo, you really don't have to overexert yourself. I know you spend every morning taking care of the kids at church, and you end up spending the majority of your afternoons helping the rest of the villag—"

"relax, princesa~ helping everyone in encanto is just a part of my duty. and plus, since I'm turning sixteen soon, I'll have to take on more responsibilities", camilo grinned.

     "more responsibilities?? camilo, you're only sixteen", felicia reminded.

     "yeah, and at sixteen, my tía julieta was already giving out arepas by herself. my tío bruno was going over to people's houses to read prophecies. and mi mamá was casting rain upon the crops and using the sun above her head to dry people's laundries!"

     "well...I just don't want you to tire yourself out. that's all", felicia mumbled.

     "I'll be fine, felicia", camilo responded, "though on the days that I'm not...I have you to confide in, right?"

the diaz's cheeks flushed, as she suddenly remembered what she had said about a month ago.

     "I—"

     camilo lightly chuckled, as felicia held open the door to the café for him.

     "good afternoon mrs. diaz!!", camilo greeted.

     "good afternoon camilo! I see you're helping out our princess again", daniela teased, earning a soft whine from her daughter.

     "I'm not a princess, mama", felicia rebutted.

     "aw, but you're definitely a princesa in my heart", daniela giggled, giving her daughter a tight hug and a quick kiss before returning back to work.

     felicia glanced over at camilo, who just shrugged with his usual charming smile.

     "I was just joking by the way. no need to be so tense. how long have we known each other already?? and you still act like you don't trust me", camilo playfully commented, placing the bags on top of the counter.

     "i-it's not that, camilo!! really!! it's just that...I'm not very good with interacting with people", felicia replied.

     "hm? that's not true! I see you laughing with the girls all the time, especially mirabel", camilo noticed.

"that's because—that's because...you're different...", felicia muttered, dropping a couple of pandebonos in a paper bag, as she leisurely turned back towards the madrigal.

     walking the fifteen year-old out the coffee shop so that they weren't in the way of her mother's business, felicia had handed the warm pan de bonos to her crush.

"how so?", camilo questioned, causing the sixteen year-old to hesitate on answering.

     "I'll...I'll wait until your birthday to tell you", felicia promised with a slight smile.

     "for now, just focus on not overworking yourself, and enjoy these".

     the shapeshifter unwrinkled the paper bag and took out the bread filled with cheese and eggs. his lips curved upwards, as his freckles stretched across his cheeks in a cute manner.

"then I'll be anticipating your answer, princesa. thanks for these, and see you tomorrow!", camilo proclaimed.

"see you tomorrow", felicia waved.

camilo happily sighed, as he chewed on the cheesy bread. though before the fifteen year-old could even reach home, he was hauled towards the outskirts of encanto by a child no older than six.

     "CAMILO, CAMILO, I NEED YOUR HELP!", the child — who the madrigal occasionally babysat at church — cried.

     "hey hey hey, calm down, felipé! slowly tell me what's wrong", camilo tried to soothe.

     "m-m-my cat's too high up on the tree and he can't get down!! c-can you turn into isabela and use the vines to reach him??", felipé explained, pointing to his orange kitten that was mewing and clenching tightly onto the tree's branches.

     "I...I can't get him with the vines", camilo stated.

     "but why?! I thought you could turn into isabela!"

     "I can, but I don't have isabela's ability to make flowers and stuff grow, because that's her gift, and her gift only...", camilo tried to elucidate.

     felipé's bottom lip quivered, as his eyes had only gotten glossier.

     "t-then can you turn into luisa and break the tree branch so that mimi could get down??"

     "that's not how—"

     "THEN WHAT ABOUT ANTONIO?? CAN YOU CALL THE OTHER ANIMALS TO HELP HER?? PLEASE, I LOVE MIMI!!", felipé hiccuped, as tears and snot were now streaming down the boy's face.

     "h-hey now, deep breaths in and deep breaths out, okay?! I can still help you even though it's just me", camilo assured, patting the boy's back, as felipé had ceased his screaming.

     "y-you promise??", he deeply exhaled, calming himself, as he kept hiccuping from time to time.

"I promise! now, watch how it's done!", camilo proclaimed, rubbing his hands together, as he clomped onto the trunk of the tree, trying to get a good footing even though he was wearing sandals.

'I can do this. I can do this even though I'm not as strong as luisa. I can do this even though I'm not as graceful as isabela. I can do this even though I can't talk to animals like toñito'.

felipé anxiously watched from the sidelines, as mimi the cat was shivering like a leaf. she bared her fangs and hissed at camilo, whose body was pressed flat against the branch.

"here kitty-kitty~ it's okay, I got you", camilo softly cooed.

     "come on, mimi. come here", the madrigal persuaded, extending his arm out, as the kitten slowly clawed its way back towards the center of the tree.

     mimi's paws had nearly touched camilo's hand, before one of her toe beans had scraped too roughly against the branch's coarse surface, causing the kitty to lose balance and trip.

     in a moment's panic, camilo had shape-shifted into luisa, his body dipping sideways and catching the kitten in his right palm, as he sighed a breath of relief.

     though because luisa had more muscle mass, the weak branch started cracking, it's edge breaking.  camilo clumsily thumped onto the ground, with mimi digging it's claws into his hand and drawing droplets of blood.

     shapeshifting back to himself, camilo groaned in pain, as felipé kneeled beside the madrigal to check on him and his cat.

     "a-are you okay, camilo?? should I go call señora julieta??", felipé questioned, taking mimi from the boy's hand, as camilo just shook his head.

     "nah, it's okay. you run along now! and next time, keep a leash on her or something", camilo joked, slowly sitting up, as he flashed the child his usual smile.

     "okay, thank you!!", felipé exclaimed, rushing off to go back home, as camilo winced when getting up.

not only did his entire back hurt, but his right arm was not functioning like a normal right arm should.

"I definitely need tía julieta's arepas this time..."

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"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST CALL FOR LUISA OR ISABELA?! EVEN TOÑITO WOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO CLIMB UP A TREE RECKLESSLY!", pepa reprimanded, as thunder and lightning flashed above her head.

camilo was currently slumped over in his chair, patiently waiting for julieta to whip up some freshly made arepas, meanwhile his mother chided him.

dolores covered her ears, as she shook her head in disappointment at her brother, clearly mocking him.

"ah, sorry sweetie", pepa apologized to dolores, taking deep breaths in and out, as the heavy rain had steadily decreased.

"well, I just thought that—"

"ah, félix! come, come look at what your son did to his arm!", pepa commanded, stopping her husband from passing the kitchen area.

félix sauntered over towards the rest of his family, knowing that whenever pepa referred to camilo as HIS son, that he had royally messed up. his face was clueless, though pepa hastily explained what camilo had done.

"no need to get upset, mi vida! camilo's a teenage boy. and teenagers love climbing trees!", félix comforted, rubbing his wife's back in a soothing manner, as he escorted her up the stairs.

slyly turning his head a little, félix mouthed, "you're welcome".

dolores had then sighed, as she gently patted camilo's shoulder before leaving as well.

"even without tío bruno's gift, I could foresee you getting lectured", dolores mumbled, "hm!"

julieta finally finished making the arepas, as she offered a lot to the madrigal boy.

"please don't blame pepa for yelling at you, camilo. she's just worried because you're one of her babies", julieta solaced.

"I don't. I shouldn't have worried her in the first place", camilo replied, taking a large bite of the arepa, as he instantly felt better.

though angering his mom wasn't what was weighing his smile down. it was the fact that he couldn't even help a child without hurting himself with his original body.

     it made him wonder, 'am I only useful when I am someone else?'

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