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Allergies

Summary:

Part I: It's Mirabel's quinceañera, and Camilo is sick. They end up spending the day together.
Part II: Camilo developed asthma after Casita was rebuilt. He can't tell anyone his trigger, or it'll ruin everything.
Part III: Today is a special day, and no asthma attack can ruin it.
Part IV: Today is a special day, and Camilo is stressing out about it.

Happy birthday Mirabel!

Notes:

Yes, I know it's technically 3/7 but I'm jet-lagged, sue me

Chapter 1: Part I

Chapter Text

When Camilo opened his eyes, he knew something was off. His eyes couldn’t quite focus, even with his glasses on. He had a stuffy nose, and his shirt was soaked with sweat. Even blinking felt like he was lifting weights. He had been up nearly all night putting together the finishing touches for Mirabel’s quinceañera. He finished Mirabel’s insanely complicated dress, finally decided how the group waltz with Mirabel’s court would go, and completed the embroidery on the last doll as Agustín requested. It was 3:00 AM when his head hit the pillow. Now, at 5:00 AM, he was miserable. But it was time to get up. Camilo sat up, trying to ignore how dizzy that made him. He trudged over to one of his many mirrors and looked at his reflection.

Wow, I look rough,” he thought as he studied his face. There were some dark circles under his eyes. His eyes didn’t have their usual sparkle. “Nothing a shift can’t fix.” Camilo blinked and tapped into his magic, but nothing happened. He still looked like someone had beat him unconscious with a wet towel. The effort brought a headache to life inside his brain. Camilo stumbled to his closet and grabbed his ruana. The clothes he would wear for the party tonight were already laid out, ready for some fun. “I can’t let this ruin tonight,” Camilo thought. “It’s just my allergies. Only allergies. Push through it. Be strong for Mira.” He slowly changed clothes before walking out of his room and down to the kitchen. He hoped that he would be the only one down there so he could make the morning’s coffee in peace, but there was no such luck.

“Good morning, Camilo,” Julieta said as Camilo sat down at the table and immediately put his head down. The coolness of the wood felt good against his pounding head.

“Morning, tía,” Camilo mumbled. “You’re up early.”

“There’s a lot of food to make for tonight.” Julieta looked closer at Camilo’s face. “Ay, sobrinito, you look terrible.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you even sleep last night?”

“I got a couple of hours.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“It’s just my allergies, tía, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to try eating something?”

“I won’t make you waste the food. We both know it won’t work.”

Julieta walked over and put a hand on Camilo’s forehead. “You’re burning up. Go back to bed.”

Camilo shook his head, which only intensified his headache. “I just need coffee, tía. A tinto will get me back to normal.”

Camilo stood up from the table. He had to put a hand out to steady himself, but he managed to walk over to where he kept the coffee supplies. Julieta watched him with concern. “Did you finish everything you needed to finish?”

“Yeah,” Camilo said as he filled a container with water and got down the coffee. “The dance, doll, and dress are all done. I just hope these allergies go away before the party tonight.” Camilo poured the grounds into the water.

“You’re still saying it’s allergies?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you just poured a cup of flour into the water for coffee.”

Camilo looked at the container of flour, confused. “Oh. I was trying to make more arepa dough for you?”

“Mm-hmm. Sure. Go back to bed. Maybe some more sleep will help.”

“I can’t, tía. I have to teach the dance to everyone before the party on top of all my chores.”

“We’re all pretty good at dancing, Camilo. We’ll figure it out. If you don’t slow down, whatever sickness you have is just going to get worse.”

“I’m not sick!” Camilo wheeled around and faced his aunt. Unfortunately for him, he did it too fast. Julieta watched his face instantly turn green. She quickly directed him to the empty sink so he could throw up without making a huge mess. He started shifting uncontrollably with every heave and cough. Julieta rubbed soothing circles on his back and held his curly hair out of his face. After a few minutes, he stopped throwing up and settled back on himself.

“Sure, you’re not sick. You throw up all the time.”

“I can’t ruin tonight, tía,” Camilo said as he wiped tears from his eyes. “If I’m sick, Mira doesn’t get her dance.”

“She’d rather you feel better, mijo,” Julieta replied gently. “Go back to sleep. We’ll wake you up for lunch and see how you’re feeling.” Camilo nodded and swayed on his feet, barely able to keep his balance. “Casita, take him back to bed.” The house complied and swept Camilo away, depositing him on his bed. Camilo didn’t even bother taking off his ruana. He fell asleep immediately.

A few hours later, it was time for breakfast. Mirabel bounded down to the dining room, soaking in the birthday greetings. “Feliz cumpleaños, mi vida,” Abuela said before giving Mirabel a kiss on the forehead. “Are you excited?”

“I’m so excited, Abuela!” Mirabel squeaked. “I can’t wait to see my dress, all the outfits you’re going to wear in my court, the food, everything!”

“It’s going to be wonderful,” Agustín said with a kind smile. Mirabel turned to the seat next to her, which was typically filled by Camilo. She looked confused when she saw an empty chair.

“Where’s Camilo?”

“He’s having allergy problems, corazón,” Julieta replied. “He needed some more rest, so I sent him back to bed.”

Mirabel’s face fell. “Is he okay?”

“I think he’ll be better for the party. Just let him sleep, okay? You can check on him at lunchtime.”

Mirabel nodded softly before making her plate and grabbing a cup of coffee. She waved her fingers over the cup, adding sugar to her liking. “I hope he feels better. I want him to be there for the party.”

“I do, too.”

The next couple of hours went by fast for the family as they made final preparations for the house. Julieta was still in the kitchen, making an incredible amount of food for the party while keeping a watchful eye on the pot of caldo de pollo she started for Camilo. As Mirabel swept the courtyard, she heard a door open and close. She jerked her head up toward Camilo’s door, hoping he was better. She slumped a little when she saw Dolores walk down the steps.

“Are you disappointed to see me?” she asked with a playful smile.

“I was hoping you were Camilo.”

Dolores smiled sadly. “Nope. He isn’t really in any condition to shift right now.” Dolores squeaked like she was revealing a piece of secret gossip. Mirabel picked up on it right away.

“His allergies aren’t so bad that he can’t shift when they hit him. What’s really happening? If Abuela locked him in his room again-”

“It’s not Abuela. Camilo’s sick.”

“Sick? Camilo doesn’t get sick.”

“Well, he is today. I don’t know what he has, but I do know that he’s thrown up several times today.”

“And he’s in there by himself?”

“You don’t know what he has, Mira. You don’t need to get sick, too.”

Dolores winced as she heard Camilo start throwing up again from inside his room. The two girls looked up at his door. Their jaws dropped when they saw its light flicker just a little bit. Mirabel looked at Dolores. “Get me a glass of water and some damp towels. I’ll be in there.”

The two girls ran, Dolores to the kitchen and Mirabel to Camilo’s room. Casita opened the door before she even got there. He wasn’t on the bed, he was in a different room. Somehow, his room made a bathroom for him to use. When she walked in, she gasped. Camilo was hunched over the toilet, throwing up. His skin was pale, and he had sweated all the way through his ruana, which was filthy.

“Camilo!” Mirabel said as she rubbed his back and pulled his hair back, ignoring how dirty it was. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin your day,” Camilo sobbed before heaving again. At this point, he had nothing left to throw up. Dolores walked in with the water and towels, her eyes wide.

“I didn’t know it was this bad, hermano,” Dolores whimpered. Her eyes filled with concern as Camilo’s body tried to shift, but it couldn’t.

“How long have you been like this?” Mirabel asked.

“Since before breakfast,” Camilo moaned before wiping his mouth. “We thought sleep would make it better, but I woke up even worse.”

Mirabel handed him the glass of water. “Drink this. Dol, get him some hot tea for his stomach.” Dolores nodded and left the bathroom. “Come on, let’s get this filthy thing off of you.”

Mirabel cringed as she took the ruana off, but Camilo didn’t notice. “How did you find out?”

“‘Milo, your door flickered. You’re so sick that your Gift is trying to leave you.”

“I don’t think I can even stand up right now, let alone shift. I just want to go to sleep.”

“Oh, you’re not going back to bed like this. You’re getting a warm bath and some fresh clothes.”

“Mira-”

“No talking back! I’m your older cousin, you have to listen to me.”

“You’re only older than me for ten days.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up.”

Camilo looked Mirabel in the eyes, silently thanking her. “What time is it?”

“10:00.”

“You don’t have time for this. You’re supposed to be at the mass in an hour.”

“I’m not going.”

“Mira-”

“I’m not going! If you’re not going to be there for my quinceañera, I don’t want to have it.”

“Don’t do this because of me, Mira, please.”

“You’re my mellizo, Camilo. You’re my escort for the day, you’re the leader of my court. I won’t do any of this without you. You mean too much to me.”

“Abuela won’t be happy.”

“Abuela won’t mind if we postpone by a day. She won’t want to throw a party without the guest of honor. I’m going to take care of you until you’re better, then we’ll have the party.”

Camilo was in no position to argue. He started to cry again. “I’m sorry I ruined your birthday.”

“The only you could have ruined anything was if you didn’t show up at all.” Mirabel stood up. “Now come on. Drink the water and take a bath. I’ll get some clean pajamas for you.” Mirabel started the water for the bathtub before walking out, closing the door behind her.

Camilo drank the glass of water before managing to drag himself up off the floor, take off his clothes, and get in the bathtub. The water was at the perfect temperature. Before the tub was even full, he fell asleep, his entire body relaxed by the warmth surrounding him.

A few minutes later, Mirabel knocked on the bathroom door but got no response. She walked in anyway to find the tub overflowing. Casita had to make a drain in the floor to keep the water from leaking into the rest of the room. Mirabel threw open the shower curtain and stopped the water before smiling at Camilo. He was floating on the water, shifted into a much smaller version of himself. Mirabel grabbed a washcloth and washed his hair gently so she didn’t wake him, then she picked him up out of the water and wrapped him in a towel. Dolores walked in with a cup of tea and found Mirabel cradling Camilo. She smiled widely. “Looks like he won’t be needing the tea. Do you want me to get him into some of Antonio’s old pajamas?”

Mirabel nodded silently before handing Camilo to his sister. Mirabel followed her out of the room to explain to the family that the party was postponed until the next day. Her birthday this year would be spent with her mellizo. After Dolores found Camilo some comfortable pajamas, she handed him back to Mirabel, whose heart nearly melted when she saw Camilo sucking his thumb in his sleep. Camilo slept for the rest of the day as he was passed between the women of the family, who couldn’t get enough of how cute he was. Mirabel held him the most, taking him for nearly eight hours that day, even during the dinner that Camilo slept through. It was a slow day, but she enjoyed every minute of it. Finally, after twelve hours of babysitting, Mirabel settled into Camilo’s bed for the night, wrapping them both in blankets before kissing him on the forehead.

“Good night, primito,” she whispered. “I hope you feel better in the morning. Thanks for an amazing birthday.”

When Camilo woke up the next morning, he wasn’t necessarily surprised to find Mirabel snuggled up next to him. They had sleepovers all the time. He was in his normal body again, which also wasn't surprising considering he didn’t remember most of yesterday anyway. The change in his breathing woke Mirabel up.

“Good morning, mellizo,” she whispered. “How do you feel?”

“Much better than yesterday,” Camilo replied.

“Good. Do you remember much about it?”

“Not really. What happened?”

“I’ll fill you in once you get changed and show me my dress.”

The rest of the day went exactly according to plan. Mirabel loved her dress so much that she wore it all day. She couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful it was, even if she couldn’t say it was Camilo who made it. Abuela wouldn’t have liked that. When the party started and the time came for her dance, Camilo dazzled her with a dance that he created himself, one that spun her around like a top and showed off her dress. Mirabel loved every second of it. Somewhere along the way, someone took a picture of the two of them dancing, their faces beaming. Mirabel hung that picture on the wall in her room and looked at it every day to remind herself just how happy she was to have Camilo as her mellizo. She didn’t know it then, but that picture would bring Camilo back to her in the worst hour of his entire life a few months later. Until then, she smiled, remembering both the party and the day they spent together.