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Chapter seven
Warning; Martín being Martín. I hate him, too.
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It was the day of Isabela's gift ceremony and Katerina was watching Julieta rush around, double-checking everything with a baby Louisa on her hip. Alma tried to get her to calm down but nothing seemed to faze the young mother.
"Kat, did you paint the decorations?" she asked, suddenly turning to her sister-in-law with a worry-struck face. Kat sipped her coffee and pointed to the banner hanging right above her head with Isabela's name written in large calligraphy. She had her mother to thank for her steady hand.
"Remember to keep your head screwed on, dear sister of mine," the brunette quipped, one leg draped over the other. Julieta opened her mouth to snap at her then paused to take a deep breath. She smiled, hugged her for a moment, and then ran off to fret about something else.
Katerina couldn't remember the last gift ceremony she had seen. The triplets' had been so long ago that she could barely recall that night's events or if she had even attended. In a way, that night was going to be her first time watching a Madrigal get a gift. Boy was it something.
That evening's celebration was much more exciting than she initially thought. After Isabela got her power of chlorokinesis and her giant flower-filled room, the guests were allowed to party to their heart's content with the plant princess.
For Katerina, that meant getting wasted by the snack bar.
"Remember to leave some for the rest of us," teased Pepa, who watched her steal empanadas with Dolores and some other children. The kids looked to the adult leader of the coup then to one another before hastily piling more food onto their plates.
"She caught us! Scatter!" Kat shouted. In an instant, all the kids (plus a hungry thirty-two-year-old) ran in different directions. She giggled when she heard Pepa catch up to Dolores. After about five minutes of eating empanadas on her own with no guilt towards the kid she got in trouble with, Bruno appeared.
"Did you stage a rebellion with a bunch of five-year-olds and pledge to overthrow society?" he interrogated as he approached his wife from behind. She simply shrugged, mouth full of deliciousness and heart lacking regret. Bruno shook his head, knowing he shouldn't have expected anything else. When he snaked his arms around her neck, she giggled then tilted her head back to kiss him in return.
"You can have one if you join my alliance. I don't share my loot with rats." She paused for a second before correcting herself, "Actually, that was a lie. I fully intend on giving some to those sweet babies."
"My loyalty lies with you," Bruno jokingly saluted, earning more of her infectious laughter. When it died down, he rested his chin on her head. "Are you excited?"
"For what?" she asked, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing.
"This will be the first family picture with you in it," he answered happily before switching to a whisper, "And the first family picture I'll actually enjoy taking." He'd never hear the end of it if Pepa knew he had said that.
"Aye, don't get all sappy on me, mister. This day's about Isabela," Kat chastised with a playful smirk.
When the time came for the family picture, the two made their way into their niece's room and stood beside their family. Kat was placed between her mother-in-law and her husband, looping one of her arms with that of the latter.
"I need to talk to you," Alma abruptly whispered while the camera was being set up. The younger woman may have laughed but inside she was grumbling swears. Of course, the old bat had something to say about her drinking habits.
"It's champagne, you ancient hag. You should try some, it might help you lighten up," she smiled as the cameraman instructed them to and smothered her impulse to throw something at her mother-in-law. The photo was snapped with a click, and she was allowed to step away from Alma.
"It's not about that," her amber eyes softened, catching Kat off guard. Bruno warily watched his mother gently pull his wife out of the crowd and into the hall outside of Isabela's room. He couldn't stop the worry that welled up within his chest and ruled his thoughts. Alma and Kat having a private conversation rarely ever ended well.
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"I've locked him in the barn as punishment for coming near you. He broke the terms of our deal and I…I don't know how to handle this," Alma spoke in a hushed voice, hoping no one but Kat could hear her. The younger woman furrowed her brows, instantly understanding the situation. Bruno, on the other hand, was as clueless as ever.
There was a long, thoughtful pause that she spent biting her nails, "He was here? In Casita?"
"Pepa saw him walking away from the left side of the house about a week ago," Alma explained, witnessing the sudden shift in her daughter-in-law's expression.
"Oh, that bastard's going to pay for coming near mi familia," she growled, seeing nothing but red. Before she could storm off to beat the hell out of Martín, her mother grabbed her arm and kept her back.
"We need to be civil about this, Katerina," she hissed through a clenched jaw.
"Fine," Kat spat with more venom laced into her words than poison in her snake's fangs. Alma sighed, rubbing her aching temples.
"We can plan a way to have his settled peacefully and—"
"No."
There was a long pause, where the two women just stared at one another. Kat crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot against the ground impatiently while Alma waited for her to say she was joking.
"No…?" the Madrigal family head let her eyes reveal the concern that her tone didn't. Kat nodded. She wasn't going to fall into the wicked witch stereotype the townspeople had painted for her.
"I'm living my life in fear and I'm sick of it. He's not going to come in between me and my family any more than he already has. Take care of it for me?" she smiled, sapphire eyes filled with a hardened resolve that tried desperately to mask her fear.
"I'll take care of it then," Alma slowly came to accept the woman's proposition. The two shared a brief hug before discretely re-entering back into the party.
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"What do you mean you're done with him?" Bruno worriedly watched Kat pace around their room. It took everything in him to snap at her to stop.
"Well, I'm not going to be the one to kill him if that's what you think. I'm better than that. Better than him. It's enough to know he'll die before me," she shrugged indifferently. With a raised brow, her husband took her hands and held them tightly.
"And you're sure you're okay with that?" he asked tenderly. "It's not going to make you feel better."
"You don't know that. Besides, I'm completely fine with this — looking forward to what Alma decides, actually," Kat narrowed her eyes in an annoyed manner. When she pulled her hands away, Bruno scoffed at the sight of her bitten fingernails.
"Darling, you've nearly chewed your nails off, you won't sit down, and you're sweating bullets," he noted bluntly, an uneasy glint in his jade orbs, "Something is eating at you." There was a moment when Kat opened her mouth to shout at him that she realised that he wasn't taunting her.
She frowned and dropped down into a chair in the corner of the room, "I want to be angry at him. Hell, I want to kill him, but I know it won't bring my mom back. Encanto was made to protect us from guerillas, not each other."
"You have a point there," Bruno stood behind the chair and gently massaged her shoulders, drawing a content sigh out of the tense woman. She cracked open her eyes and stared at the decorated walls. Her mind had gone from running a mile a minute to motionless in a matter of minutes.
"Flattery is going to get you nowhere, you know that?" she purred as she sank into the chair.
Bruno simply chuckled, "It works pretty well, I think." A bright red tint spread across his face at the soft moan that came from his wife. She had been so on edge lately and now felt like a great time to just let go of everything that was on her mind.
"I'm glad I'm in this family, Bruno. You, Pepa, Julieta, Fèlix, Agustìn, Dolores, Isabela, even Alma…I'm thankful for everyone and I'd do anything to keep you all safe. Mi querencia," she rambled on about things that had been troubling her during the well-needed therapy session. "When that demonio is gone, I think I'll be able to focus on my life more. Maybe get a job at the school. Señora Guzman offered to let me teach an art class on some days."
"You think you can handle that many kids? You start to freak out when you're left alone with Dolores or Isabela for more than two hours," he jokes in a tone that made Kat raise a dark brow.
"I just so happen to love teaching those sweet beans how to paint," she explained while grabbing his hands and placing them on her shoulders again. "Now, if you don't want me to turn into the Witch of the Woods, I suggest you get to work."
"Yes, Ma'am," he began to massage her again, moving further down her back this time.
"Don't call me Ma'am," she said sourly, "Makes me feel old."
"We are old."
"I'm younger than you by two years, anciano. You might as well have one foot in the grave."
"Whatever you say, Darling." With a soft smile, Bruno resumed the therapy session he wasn't aware he had offered.
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Kat groaned in discomfort as Julieta placed a hot breakfast platter in front of her. She had slept in so late the night before that everyone else already had breakfast. Her sister was indeed a goddess for offering to cook another meal this late. Unfortunately, she had partied a little too much with Bruno that night and was suffering the consequences.
"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to be sick," she grumbled, lifting her head off the table so that she could glance pitifully at the plate. A silent prayer was said in hopes that it would make her hangover go away.
"You didn't drink as much as you normally do," Julieta noted with a worried look. Kat paused, furrowing her brows before picking up a fork-full of chorizo.
"Okay, that really makes me sound like an alcoholic…" she mumbled. Her sister shook her head and was about to tell her that she should consider laying off the booze for a bit when the brunette suddenly rushed towards the bathroom. Julieta followed with a plate of food in hand.
"Any chance it's the food and not my horrible habits?" Kat groaned after throwing up in the toilet. Julieta suspiciously eyed her for an uncomfortable minute.
"I heal, remember? If you couldn't stomach my food then it's...it's something else," she sat down next to her sister and rubbed her back. When she offered her a slice of bacon, Kat couldn't even look at it without discarding what little food was already in her stomach. Luckily, she had someone to hold her hair back.
"What do you mean something else?" she croaked. Julieta turned to make sure no one was nearby before continuing.
"When's the last time you bled?" she asked in a low, cautious tone.
"I don't remember," the curly-haired woman shrugged. When her sister raised a brow, she scrunched her face in confusion. Realisation set in after a minute. "Oh my God, I don't remember!"
"Is there a chance you could be—" "No! No, no, no! Bruno and I agreed we would wait and have a kid when we're ready," she began to hyperventilate. Julieta took her hands and led her through a breathing exercise to help her calm down.
"Kat, you have to consider that—"
"I am not pregnant."
"You don't get to decide that now!"
"Ow!" Kat's hands flew up to her forehead after Julieta jabbed her with her index fingers.
"I've only ever seen anyone react like this to my food when they're pregnant. Pepa and I included," her amber eyes shone with both pity and love. "You have to face it, Kat. You're pregnant."
"I know I should be happy," she paused to gag, "but I feel really shitty, right now."
"Let's get you back in bed. You should rest for tonight," Julieta helped her to her feet.
"Right...Alma's declaring the sentence. Is everyone going?" Kat asked, taking a few wobbly steps forward.
"About half the town, yeah. They were already divided on their views of Martín but now? Some of these people don't want any more tension, you understand that better than anyone," her older sister explained softly as they traversed Casita's stairs.
When they made it to Bruno's door, Kat tightly grasped Julieta's arms and looked her dead in the eyes; "Not a word about this to Bruno. He cannot know...not yet, at least," she begged in a hushed voice.
"Of course," her hermana nodded, then guided her through the door and up to her room. Neither took notice of the flower-growing princess around the corner.
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It was hard to put that morning's revelation out of her mind but Katerina didn't want to feel any remorse for doing what needed to be done. If she were going to bring a child into this world, Martín Ruiz needed to be dead. That's that.
"Mi amor, quit biting your lip. It's already bleeding," Bruno carefully wrapped an arm around his shivering wife. It was a cold night that, when mixed with the silence that reigned over the town, was just plain creepy. Kat opted for biting her nails instead.
"Here they come," Pepa whispered. The entire Madrigal family minus the children stood at the front of the crowd.
"Is it just me or does he already look like death?" Fèlix scrunched up his face at the sight of Martín. Kat's eyes danced around his form as two big men ushered him forward. Martín looked like absolute shit and she wasn't ashamed to say she was loving it.
"People of Encanto," Alma spoke up, standing on the platform in front of the mob, "This evening you will hear what I have decided for the fate of this man and the future of this town."
"Alma, this is crazy! We're a peaceful people," a random man shouted. Kat tightened her grip on Bruno's arm unconsciously.
"Tell that to Lupita," another woman scoffed. A few murmurs erupted in the square, making Alma narrow her eyes cautiously.
"Indeed, we've rarely had to impose a justice system since the night we were blessed. However, would you want to raise your children in a world where men like him are allowed to live alongside us?" she motioned towards Martín's dishevelled form, his wrists bound with rope and his face covered by a burlap sack.
"What about his kid? How do we know she hasn't got the same crazy genes?!" In an instant, Kat separated herself from the group and spun around angrily.
"I know what you think but this isn't for me! It's for my mother, who made plenty of you smile, laugh, gave you a shoulder to cry on, and allowed you to be weak when no one else would," she turned to Alma with an empathetic look in her sapphire eyes. The crowd quieted down with guilty looks on their faces.
"All I want is for Encanto to be safe, which is why I thought long and hard about this. My decision affects everyone," explained the Madrigal family head. Her head turned ever so slightly so Martín was barely in her peripherals. With a slight frown, she ordered the men holding him in place to cut the rope.
"Martín Ruiz will live the rest of his days isolated and working for his survival. When he can no longer provide service to Encanto, he will sit and wait for his time."
As the bag came off of Martín's head, a wave of gasps erupted from the townsfolk. When Kat turned to face her "father" she only saw a bruised Santiago in his place. The burro-wrangler whimpered as the rope in his mouth was cut off.
"It was dark and...and he was so strong," he collapsed into Katerina's arms from exhaustion. She stood so still, she could have been mistaken for a corpse.
"He's out?!" Pepa thundered and snowed simultaneously.
"Everyone, go back to your children. Lock everything," Alma ordered. When no one moved, she stomped her foot on the wooden platform. "NOW!"
The crowd scattered like bugs, rushing to get their kids from relatives or friends. Bruno gingerly pulled Santiago away from his wife and placed him in Augustín's arms.
"Kat, are you alright?" He carefully his hands on her shoulders before pulling her into a tight hug. Not a word was uttered as she blankly stared at nothing. She looked so empty.
"I want him found. As soon as you do, bring him to me," Alma hissed demandingly at one of the men who brought Santiago out. He nodded then began his search with some other able-bodies.
Hearing Kat muttering something under her breath, Bruno looked down at her anxiously, "What is it?"
"I can't live like this," she pushed herself out of her husband's arms.
"Kat, they'll find him, just be patient," he pleaded. Kat simply shoved him out of her way and stomped in the direction the search party had gone.
"I've been patient long enough," she growled, eyes burning with animosity. Julieta hastily grabbed her little sister's wrist and kept her from doing something she'd regret.
"You can't go out there! Not when you're—" "Don't," she eyed the healer dangerously. Bruno's emerald eyes danced between them for one tense moment.
"When she's what?" His words went in one ear and out the other. Kat clammed up again as she tried to walk into the lining of the forest. Before she could reach it, a mass of roots and vines grew up from the ground and created a cage around her.
"What the hell?!" she snapped. The adults watched in shock as Isabela and baby Louisa held by Dolores walked out from behind a corner.
"What are you doing here?!" Pepa shouted, storm cloud rumbling above her.
"I heard you whispering with Tía Katerina this morning and we've been following you around all day," Isabela explained with an annoyed pout. Kat and Julieta went quiet, the former giving the young girl a death glare.
"Isa thought that you guys were planning a party," Dolores mumbled, somewhat ashamed of what she was roped into. Louisa babbled innocently.
"Díos mio, will someone please tell me what is going on?!" Bruno's eyes frantically darted between all of his family. Kat gnawed her lip anxiously as Isabela removed her cage of foliage.
"I'd like to have this conversation in private," she said softly with downcast eyes. For whatever reason, that only infuriated the clairvoyant man.
"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of everyone," he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. Katerina's pursed lips formed a fine line until she let out an exhausted sigh. The brunette said a silent prayer as she shifted uncomfortably under the weight of everyone's watchful eyes.
"So, Julieta and I were having breakfast and I couldn't stomach anything and so she asked me when the last time I had my period was and I know we agree to wait but apparently the ladies in this town breed like damn rabbits and I — "
"Slow down," Fèlix scrunched up his face in confusion, unable to follow along. Kat finally looked up to reveal her trembling lip and red eyes.
"I'm pregnant," she answered in a broken whisper as tears fell down her hot cheeks. Not a word was said for what felt like an eternity. Bruno had gotten so pale and weak in the knees that he could have been blown over by a light breeze.
"Oh, my God, Katerina! That's great news," Pepa, who was also expecting her second child, threw her arms around her younger sister.
"I told you, did I not? She's next," Fèlix nudged his brother, who had yet to move or even breathe. Augustín turned to Julieta with a suspicious gaze.
"You knew about this?" he asked sceptically. She laughed his question off nervously while wrapping an arm around her mother. The poor woman looked like she was about to faint.
"Are you mad? Geez, how can you not be? I've ruined things. I know we planned on waiting but now that Martín's on the run, it feels like horrible timing. We can always put him or her up for adoption — " Kat froze as Bruno grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a tight but careful hug. She had effectively been shut up.
"How on Earth could I be mad at you, my love? I'm gonna be a dad!" he laughed breathlessly when they parted, leaning down to keep their foreheads connected. His left thumb stroked her tear-stained cheeks.
"Are we even ready for this?" she asked through her emotionally confused sobs. Should she be happy? Sad? Bitter? It was all so uncertain…but that's the good thing about love, right?
"It doesn't matter. This little bean is going to be our pride and joy. I know everything will be alright," Bruno assured her. There was no way he was going to let her regret having this kid. He had waited so long for this. He was going to be a father!
"¡Señora Madrigal!" The group came crashing down to Earth when one of the search party members rushed back to the family.
"What is it?" Alma asked, shaking her head to refocus on the matter at hand.
"We found him," the man announced. As if on cue, everyone turned to Katerina. Her wide eyes stared at the messenger for a long while, then she snapped her jaw shut and nodded.
"Take me to him," she ordered. As she walked with the search party, her family watched her back with uncertain eyes.
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"What are you doing here?"
"Figured it wouldn't take you long to find me…"
"That's not what I asked," Kat hissed, eyes burning with violent rage as Bruno stood a few feet behind her. Sitting in front of her mother's grave was that bastard Martín.
"I've come to terms with my fate. I know what I've done...but I can admit that there was a time I truly loved her," he spoke so quietly he might not have meant to say it. How dare he?! Kat mentally screamed.
"You loved her?! You stabbed and left her to die on the floor!" she shouted, not caring who bore witness, "What kind of sick freak kills his own wife?!" Bruno held her shoulder tightly, more for Martín's safety than her own.
"I was trying to save her," Martín closed his cursed ocean eyes, "Save her from the evil plaguing this world."
"Well, you did a horrible job," Kat threw her hands up dramatically. Bruno allowed her to step closer to her father and stand over him. She watched the man she despised with all her heart shed a single tear and run a hand over his wife's grave. "Trying to act human isn't going to work. Enjoy your final breath of freedom because I'm going to — "
"Sweetheart, give him a minute," Bruno grabbed her tanned arm and kept her from grabbing Martín. She stared at him incredulously.
"Oh, don't even start sympathizing with him," her words sounded more like a warning than a sarcastic remark. When she turned towards her father again, he was looking up at her with the most pitiful eyes he had ever seen.
"Lupita named you Katerina, a Latin form of the Greek word katharos, meaning pure," he hesitated for a beat, "Cleanse me, pure one. Cleanse this failure of a soul like your namesake."
Katerina helplessly watched him crawl towards her. There was no spite or malice contained in his words, just the hollow plead of a broken man. That thought alone kept her rooted in her spot as he clung to her. He wept quietly and rested his head on her stomach, tears staining her loosely-fitted clothes.
Just as Alma and the rest of the Madrigals rounded the corner of the church, they caught sight of the figures in the back graveyard. Her chest tightened as she took notice of the pathetic man snivelling at Kat's feet. When she got closer, his empty cries turned to low, wicked laughter.
"Cleanse me, Witch."
"KAT!"
The air left Katerina's lungs as she doubled over in pain, Martín's fist still buried deep in her gut. Bruno moved first and shoved him so hard that he fell onto his back. He then pulled his wife out of the man's reach, the words "protect her, protect them" repeating in his mind.
"Kat, are you okay? Talk to me, Darling," he whispered frantically. Kat's jaw hung open in a silent scream as her trembling hands came up to hold her stomach. Julieta rushed over to her and began to fret over her sister. She lifted her shirt a bit to find a large bruise in the spot she had been struck, already purple from the broken blood vessels.
"We need to get her back to Casita," she urged. Kat suddenly shook her head and took a few deep breaths. The brunette pointed to Martín with the eyes of a woman who had just been pushed over the edge of insanity.
"We're doing this now," she rasped through grinding teeth. The large men from the search party grabbed the cackling man's arms and lifted him. His feet dragged along the dirt as the group (minus Julieta, who had gone to take the children back home) made their way to the barn.
It was the darkest part of town at night because of how far it was from every other building. When Alma lit a gas-fueled lantern, a cellar door was illuminated. Bruno took one look at it and tightened his grip on Kat's oddly still shoulders.
The men carrying Martín threw him down the cellar's stairs and then turned back to Kat. Understanding their silent signal, she took a single step forward and spat into the dark hole.
"This is for Mamá," she whispered before backing up and standing next to Bruno. He eyed her for a careful moment then wrapped his arms around her small form. She took a shaky breath when Pepa and Fèlix joined their little hug.
"You've earned your place in hell, Witch," Martín snickered. "That little one will shatter this illusion of a life you've created. You will crack and crumble, mark my words."
Before he could continue his taunt, Bruno spoke up, "Our daughter will dance on your grave." Kat placed a gentle hand above his heart in silent consolation.
It's okay, she seemed to say, they're empty threats. With a swift kick, she slammed the wooden doors shut. She didn't look scared, she didn't look angry, she didn't look anything. Whether it was her coming to grips with what she had done or the fact that she had stressed herself out so much, she found it hard to stay upright. Bruno caught her as she stumbled backwards and into his arms.
"I think you've had enough of this for one night. Let's go," he whispered, earning a slow nod in response. They got her onto his back with some help from Fèlix.
"I want someone checking on this door every hour," Alma urged quietly to the two men from the search party. Kat watched them attach a heavy lock to the cellar doors.
Bruno wasn't the strongest man around, so when he refused to put her down, she looked to her non-biological siblings for help. They all shook their heads with apologetic smiles. Giving up, she tucked her face into her husband's hair and hugged his neck tighter.
"I'm going to close my vision cave," he announced when they made it to their bedroom. Kat scrunched her forehead in confusion as he placed her down on the bed. "So I can be with you when the baby comes. We're making our own family and I want to do it right."
Kat made a soft sound that might have been a whimper as she pulled him into the bed. He kissed her cheek then rested his chin on top of her head, cuddling her balled up form. Neither of them would sleep until several hours later, but they'd sit there in silence until they could.
It was finally over.