Their Love Could Never Be

A strained sort of peace settled in La Casa Madrigal by the time that the triplets were twenty years old. Mamá was pleased with their consistent work for the Encanto, and that was all that mattered. Pepa still struggled with anxiety, but Félix was an expert in calming her down. This helped to improve Pepa's grasp of her gift. Agustín's company made Julieta less tired; his need for her gave Julieta newfound purpose for her gift. Bruno had become less volatile though the stairs in his room seemed to go even higher with each year.

At this point in their lives, Mamá mostly left the three of them to their own devices. If she'd heard about her children coming to see the so-called witch in the woods, she never mentioned it. But Julieta often caught the worry in her mother's eyes when looking at each of them.

One evening, after dinner, Julieta went to Bruno's room with a cup of peppermint tea. On the mattress near the door, she found a note: "Going out. Don't look for me. I'll be back soon."

Julieta's curiosity got the better of her. On any other day, she would have just not looked for Bruno like he'd asked her to. But Julieta has had this suspicion for the last two years. Julieta fought the urge to follow Bruno for an hour and a half. Then, without being noticed by her Mamá or Pepa, Julieta slipped out of the front door, her feet tracing the familiar trail toward Aya's home. All the way there, Julieta cursed herself for this foolish trek. I should not be doing this!

But her feet didn't stop until she hid behind a large tree from which she could see the river and her circular hut. Bruno stood facing away from the hut, silhouetted in the moonlight, buttoning his shirt. His hair was a bird's nest, not the shiny halo of curls that he had left the house with, only less than two hours ago. A moment later, Aya emerged from the hut wearing only a chemise. She tugged the back of Bruno's collar and started kissing the side of his neck.

Julieta looked away and sat on the ground, her back against the tree. I should go. But her body was frozen in place. No wonder Bruno was significantly less depressed recently. Julieta realized that she'd stayed in place for too long when she heard her brother's footsteps coming. He didn't see her and passed by. His hair was slightly damp; he had taken the time to tame his hair with a bit of water. Julieta stood, approached him from behind quietly, and she grabbed the hood of his ruana.

"So, you and Aya, huh?" she said with a wide smile.

"Juli, you pervert! Were you watching?!"

"Don't worry. I got here when it was over, I promise."

"Ugh! I told you not to go looking for me!" Bruno groaned in embarrassment.

Julieta hugged Bruno and then held his hand, leading him back home. "I'm sorry, Bruno. Call it my big sister instinct. You barely ever show yourself to us at home and suddenly you're sneaking out at night? I was just concerned."

"How did you know I would be here? It's almost like you're the clairvoyant around here."

"I know that you and Aya have become really close recently. You always stay beside her when we're all together. When she happens to be in the market, other people have noticed that you walk with her sometimes. I've heard that people see you on the forest trail coming from where they're going. I've seen it, and the village has seen it, too: You two look happy."

"We tried to hide our relationship when all of us are together."

"But why do you have to hide? She is our friend. And couldn't you have waited?"

"We were trying to figure out how to tell you. Anyway, it doesn't matter."

"How can it not matter, Bruno? It's a miracle that there haven't been any babies before you're ready to settle down."

Bruno tightened his grip on Julieta's hand. "We can't have babies."

They paused in their footsteps at the edge of the forest. "What?"

"She's never bled. Aya thinks she doesn't have a womb at all."

Dumbstruck, Julieta took a moment to process everything that she'd just heard.

"She'd come to terms with her handicap some time before the attack on her family. And now, well, she likes me, and I like her, so... I looked into my future. She's the only one who would want me, and I'm the only one that wants her, so... Yeah. So, I laid with her. If we had never met her, though, I probably would vow celibacy, anyway. I don't want to pass on this." Bruno pointed at his eyes, which flashed green for emphasis.

"We can pass on our gifts to our children?"

"Not our gifts, necessarily. But I've seen some of Pepa's children and yours. Wonderful kids. I haven't seen their gifts exactly, but they're going to have doors like ours. I'm never going to have any. That's okay. I love yours already. I love them all."

Julieta looked at Bruno. What a strange thing to say, to love children that hadn't even been conceived yet. But there was serenity in his demeanor now. He wore a tranquil smile.

Julieta and Pepa encouraged Aya and Bruno to marry anyway, but they gently declined.

"I don't want to sully your family's reputation with my presence in your household," said Aya with a self-depreciating smirk.

"Oh, Aya, we're hoping that joining our family would get you the respect you deserve from the community, not the other way around," said Julieta.

"And Bruno's done most of the sullying on his own," quipped Pepa.

Julieta elbowed her sister while Bruno giggled. "What? It's kind of true!" whined Pepa.

Aya hugged Julieta and Pepa. "I love you, girls. You already are like sisters to me."

It was a short time after Julieta's wedding that Mamá finally took Bruno aside for a talk. "Brunito, I held off this talk with you because I had hoped you would say something, but you never did," she said as gently as she could.

Julieta was preparing food in the kitchen at the time when she heard her mother and her brother whispering in the back garden. She stopped what she was doing, so she could hone in.

"Say something about what?"

"The neighbors have shared rumors with me about you being involved with Aya la bruja."

"We are friends, Mamá. My sisters and I are all friends with her. She is a good person."

Julieta moved closer to the wall near the window to listen closer but unseen. She was surprised at how easily and calmly Bruno answered their mother's questions. He had obviously prepared for this, perhaps years in advance.

"Mijo, I would not have objected to a union with her. I only feel hurt that you felt the need to keep it a secret from me."

The pounding of Julieta's heart nearly drowned out her brother's voice. Bruno's voice sounded less confident, but the words were still rehearsed. "I saw my future. I will not be with her. Not like my sisters and their husbands. I had a vision that I'm holding six children, none of them mine. I'm not wearing a ring."

"Is there another outcome?"

"Yes. But the one I told you is the better one."

Julieta frowned. How much worse is the other outcome?

A moment later, Bruno came in through the kitchen. Julieta felt a prick in her heart at the pain in her brother's face.

"Bruno—"

"NO! Nothing you say can change the anything!"

Julieta understood. She said no more and trapped her brother in her embrace. Alarmed, Pepa and Mamá joined them in the kitchen. Julieta gave her mother a warning look to not ask what the other outcome is. Bruno tried to push Julieta away for a moment. When she only tightened her hold, Bruno surrendered and held his sister just as tightly. Then, he let out an animal cry of agony.

That night, Julieta put sedatives in Bruno's drink. "I'm sorry," she whispered, softly enough that no one would hear. A tiny justification in her mind was that Bruno probably needed this anyway because his insomnia was getting worse. He'd had those awful dark circles under his eyes since they were seventeen.

Later, when she was sure that her brother was fast asleep, Julieta used a spatula to unlock Bruno's room and look for that specific vision in the shelf of tablets that he kept near his mattress on the floor. She had helped him organize the glass tablets before, so Julieta was familiar with how Bruno liked to organize them. It only took her five minutes to find. As Bruno had described, there was an image of a middle-aged Bruno surrounded by six children with beautiful curly hair—no wedding ring on his finger. Julieta took a deep breath and tilted the tablet to see the alternate outcome. Julieta's grip tightened. There was Aya wearing a wedding ring and crushed by a heap of rubble.