"It must be hard."

Camilo always appeared when you least expected him.

"It's no big deal, I've already wrung out my pants and shirt. With the heat and the air, they will dry out soon."

"Not that! It must be hard being in love with your niece."

Did not see that coming. My body stiffened like stone and the shirt fell back into the river where I was wringing it out.

"Ow… that's gonna take you quite a while again."

"I… I don't know what are you talking about, Camilo. Any acquaintance? Has it happened to a friend of yours? Is it a hypothetical situation?"

Please let it be that. I can deal with a hypothetical situation.

"You've gone crazy as soon as you've seen her lying there, you've risked drowning unnecessarily because you didn't know more than to look at her and, when you hugged her… that wasn't the worry of an uncle. I have uncles, I know what I'm talking about."

"So it wasn't about a friend…"

"Tío Bruno… what are you gonna do?"

"Hang out the shirt so that it takes less time to dry, Antonio is waiting."

"That's not what I mean! What are you going to do with Mirabel?!"

I got up with my freshly re-wrung shirt and hung it from a low branch while I asked myself the exact same question that Camilo had just asked me.

"I'm not gonna do anything, Camilo. It is something that must not be."

"But… You don't know what she feels. Maybe…"

Of course, he could not know. Better this way.

"No, that won't happen. It is not possible and it will never be."

"I think… it's… not so terrible to fall in love with a relative. It's not like she's your daughter, you know? Do you think it would be so terrible if I fell in love with one of my cousins?"

"It's not so easy, sobrino. Just… leave it, okay? Please."

I guess the pain showed on my face, because Camilo relaxed his shoulders and nodded. I didn't deserve such an understanding nephew; I was indeed a lucky man.

"Don't worry, tío. I will introduce you to some good woman."

"Oh, no, please. I don't want to…"

"Feel tied down? Experience? Take a risk?"

"Forget her… I don't want to forget her."

"Oh."

"Camilo, tío Bruno! You coming? We're gonna play 'Statues'!"

Antonio was, definitely, a true lifesaver.

"Uhm… the clothes…"

"The ruana is almost dry now. You'll get the shirt back later. It's not cold."

"Uh… okay."

I quickly put on those damp pants and my ruana and hurriedly followed my youngest nephew, anxious to escape from that uncomfortable conversation that had just turned my guts.

There was no other woman in the world; I didn't want there to be.

"One-two-three… statues! Come on, Camilo is the one who is playing along. Couldn't you put a little more complicated postures?

"Agustín, don't push your luck," Pepa answered.

"Pepa, your cloud has moved: you start over."

"That's not fair!"

"They are like kids…" I heard Antonio saying behind me.

"Come on, it's not hard to make it a little more fun," Mirabel then said using her power to drag the masses.

"Fiiine, we'll make poses," Pepa said. "But I'm not starting over."

"Deal!" Agustín agreed happily just before turning around to count.

"Remind me why did you marry him, Julieta," she added then.

But Julieta didn't answer, she was busy preparing the next posture with which she would gift her peculiar husband. That pair were made for each other and they had no need to hide it… How envious I felt…

"…three…"

Agustín was finishing and I still hadn't even thought about what position to take. Those things made me tense. Making a fool of myself was my specialty, but if it wasn't improvised, I didn't know how to…

"Here!"

"…statues!"

"Don't move," Mirabel whispered less than a foot from my face, with a rat on her head and raising my arm pretending that I was going to grab the rat from there.

"Now this is fun!" Agustín said enthusiastically as he walked slowly among all the participants, bringing his face closer to try to make them falter while I sweated profusely as I felt the small distance between me and his daughter.

Agustín kissed my sister's neck a little cheekily and made the other one some tickles that would soon take its toll on him; then pretended to be in front of the mirror before Camilo shifted into him, and, finally, he stood before us, brought his face closer ours and looked from one to the other for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity.

My gaze was fixed on Mirabel's and hers on mine while our breaths were partially held; the tension between us was palpable. How had she thought about such madness? It was his father who was there rubbing his chin while he analyzed our posture… And… why did that seem so exciting and fun to me? I was digging my own grave.

"Incredible, not even the rat is moving… Good job!"

And he left. He really went to look at someone else after seeing her daughter like that. I couldn't believe it. Was he so innocent? Or worse, how much did he trust me?

I didn't know who Agustín was putting his eye on next, because Mirabel's wink almost stopped my heart. She was playing with me and, I… I liked her game. Shit.