Chapter 34
A/N: Osvaldo finally delivers with his Savior Special. Lucía and Bruno enjoy their first 'official' date.
I know I usually put these at the end, but I think the context for this to work means this particular note needs to be in the beginning, lol.
suegro – father in law
"Okay, okay, but let me just - "
"Julieta, I am fine," Bruno hissed as he brushed her hands away from his hair and stepped away, attempting to escape her clutches – but he couldn't help but smile.
He hadn't stopped smiling since his vision last night.
He wasn't sure he could stop smiling if he tried.
Julieta laughed, drawing the attention of the rest of those in the town square. Agustín was already passing out the food they'd made for the day, and Bruno saw the telltale signs of a black eye disappear as the first patient chewed.
Bruno shrunk instinctively to avoid any stares, but his efforts to disappear into the shadow of the stall were hindered by his lack of desperation. It was hard to keep worrying about what other people thought about him when he knew the person whose opinion mattered most would one day commit to marrying him.
Plus, there was Pepa. "Ay, Bruno – get going! You don't keep a lady waiting on your first official date!"
She turned him away from the stall and gently pushed him in the general direction of Lucía's house, and he looked over his shoulder and wrinkled his nose at her. "Technically she's not waiting if I haven't asked her yet!"
They'd all walked to the town square together – Julieta and Agustín with their food; Pepa preparing to walk the fields with Isabela so that Isa could tell her exactly what the crops were craving. Félix was assisting Mamá at home with plans for Dolores' birthday. Luisa was working on the main road again. She planned on meeting up with Isabela after lunch to watch her attempt her new dyeing process with some of the fabrics she'd gotten from her birthday. Dolores had walked with them into town with the lone book on midwifery Lucía had found in their makeshift library, and Dolores was planning on visiting Señora Cabrera to discuss it and to consider attending the next birth with her as well – which was admittedly months away. The rest of the Madrigals were at school.
Which left Bruno free to go spend the day with Lucía.
"Trust me, Bruno. When a woman decides she loves you, she'll always be waiting for you." Pepa smirked.
"But Tío! Wait! You should bring her something nice," Isabela said, waving her hands to create a pretty bouquet of dahlias. She turned the bouquet this way and that, adding heliotrope, jasmine, and primrose in complementary colors.
Bruno snatched the bouquet before it could grow any bigger. He was asking her on a date, not proposing, for crying out loud.
At least…not yet. His heart fluttered at the memory of the vision he'd had last night.
He shook his head. "Thanks Isa, this is – more than enough – she'll love it. Thanks."
He turned on his heel, took one step, and then turned right back around to Isabela. "What – what - what do they mean?" He asked, looking over them apprehensively. "She's not going to look up this one and find it means – something weird, is she?" He pointed to a dahlia.
Isabela raised an eyebrow at him and carefully took the bouquet back. "Grace, kindness, and beauty," she said, pointing to the pinkish-purple dahlias. "Love and beauty," she pointed to the white jasmine. "First love, renewal, optimism," she pointed to the bright pink primrose. "And…eternal love and devotion," she added casually, pointing to the deep purple heliotrope with a smirk.
"Eternal love and devotion?" Pepa said, amused. "They've been courting a week!"
"Ay, Pepa, pretty sure it hadn't been a week you and Félix were courting before he knew he'd be eternally devoted to you," Julieta said with a grin.
Isabela rolled her eyes. "It's just a symbol of commitment. It doesn't mean he's going to propose or anything. I don't think she knows that much about flowers anyway; but now, if she does happen to look it up – Tío, it doesn't mean anything weird."
Bruno was staring at the bouquet with a goofy, lopsided grin, and Isabela's expression softened. "If it's too soon, though, I can take out the - "
"N – no," he said, taking the bouquet back before she could change anything. "It's – it's perfect the way it is. I love it." He looked back up to Isabela with a sincere smile on his face. "Gracias, Isa."
"De nada, Tío," Isabela said, kissing him on the cheek with a smile. "Now – go on and give them to Lucía so she can put them in water."
Bruno started through town and held the bouquet carefully in front of him, not wanting to squish any of the blossoms. He'd only made it half a block before quiet footsteps fell in step beside him.
"Hm! Have any interesting visions last night?" Dolores asked casually, and he stopped walking to stare at her, his eyes wide and the smile falling right off of his face in shock.
He hadn't told anyone about the vision, because he didn't want anyone to know. He especially didn't want Lucía to know. They'd only just begun courting and he didn't want to make things awkward by announcing they were getting married a week into it. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel obligated to marry him just because he saw it in her future. Their future. If – when - when he proposed – when he asked her to marry him – he wanted her to say yes because she wanted him, free from any weird duty to fulfill a prophecy. He wanted to know that she chose him of her own free will. Did that vision give him a confidence he'd been lacking? Yes. Did he want to share it – or the details of his future - with everyone and their brother? Absolutely not.
Besides – if he was being honest – he wanted the full experience. He'd written about courting and longing and romance for so long – was it bad that he wanted to experience it all, too? Minus the misunderstandings, love triangles, and attempted murder, of course. He wanted to go on dates and do romantic things and know her more and be loved by her and show her how much he loved her. Just like Gus and Félix said.
But apparently his standing there stupidly in the street with his mouth hanging open was answer enough for Dolores' question.
She gave a little squeak and a knowing little smile, holding her book to her chest. "I thought it might be a vision. I heard you talking. To the rats." She whispered. "Be careful what you say to them, because they'll tell Antonio, and he will say something."
Bruno froze, a look of mild horror on his face.
He had not…anticipated that.
Some seer he was.
"I'm just saying, I don't know what you saw last night, but I heard you mumbling about what an angel Lucía was and you were cut off. There was a long pause and then a very clear and very emotional 'you guys, I think I'm going to - "
Bruno held up a hand and looked around, frantically shushing her, and Dolores pushed his hand down. "You're shushing the person who can hear if anyone is listening in? Trust me, tío, no one is listening to this right now."
"Heh." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, still carefully holding the bouquet in the other. "Okay. Okay. Right. Um – so – the thing is – I don't…want anyone to know." He looked up at his sobrina with a pleading expression. "I want her to choose for herself. When – when it's time. Not – I don't want her to say yes just because – I told her she would. You know?"
Dolores studied him for a moment and gave a sharp nod. "Your secret is safe with me, tío."
Bruno sighed with relief. "Gracias, Lolo. Just – gracias. If I – do you think the rats - " he pursed his lips. "I'll ask them not to tell and if Antonio - "
"I already told him this morning that if the rats tell him any details about your latest telenovela episode that he shouldn't spoil it for the rest of us. Personally, based on what I hear Antonio saying when he talks to them, I think the rats are so easily distracted that whatever they say wouldn't come across all that plainly anyway, but it's better to be safe with these sorts of things."
Bruno stared at her for a moment. "Lolo," he said. "Remind me to stay on your good side. Forever."
Dolores smiled at him, but it wavered for a moment and Bruno wasn't sure why.
"Shouldn't be a problem, Tío." She gave him a side hug, careful to avoid the flowers in his hands. "Enjoy your day, okay?" She whispered, and then she broke away and turned down a side street, on her way to Señora Cabrera.
Lucía was already at work attempting to help her padre organize the chaos on his desk in the print shop when Bruno arrived.
She recognized him by his shadow and his knock, a rapid knock-knock-knock-knock-knock and then a pause, another knock, and the sight of his silhouette knocking on his head as well.
She smiled and her heart fluttered in anticipation of seeing him again. When she opened the door, she was met with a faceful of flowers in an array of whites, purples, and pinks.
"Oh," she said, taking a step back and gathering the bouquet in her hands. "Gracias, Bruno. Are these for me?"
She peeked around them to see Bruno, and he was staring at her as though she was everything good in the world. Lucía felt her cheeks grow warm and she pulled the flowers to her face to hide it, breathing in the heady jasmine and the sweet, almost citrusy scent of the primrose. "Buenos días, Bruno."
It took him a minute to respond, and when he did, he gasped a little as though he were just remembering how to breathe. "Buenos días, Lucía." He smiled at her and butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
Heaven help her, if he kept looking at her like that she'd melt into a puddle and be entirely useless for the rest of the day.
"Hola, Bruno. What brings you to the shop today?" Papá asked, getting up from his desk, and Lucía shook herself out of her daydreaming and stepped out of the doorway to allow Bruno to enter.
Papá shook his hand, and Bruno blinked, his focus turning away from Lucía. "Ah - b-buenos días, Jos-suegr - ah - sa - saguaro! I mean - obviously. You're not ah - a saguaro." Bruno started to flush and tugged nervously on the collar of his ruana. "But I - remembered that - I thought - um - you might like…a little…cactus. From Isabela? Might ah - look good. On your…desk? But - obviously I already had these so - heh - uh - maybe next time…?"
Bruno grew more and more tense as he stuttered awkwardly through his greeting. Papá gave Lucía a confused look and she inclined one shoulder slightly.
Bruno exhaled and gave her padre a stiff smile, trying again. "Ah - sorry. I meant - buenos días, Señor Hernandez. How are you this morning?"
Papá blinked at him again before shaking his head with a smile. "Ah - I am well, Bruno, thank you for asking. Lucía was just helping me tidy up the shop, and my desk alone is quite the undertaking." He chuckled.
Bruno seemed to wilt a bit at that and Lucía stepped in. "Thank you for coming," she said. "And for the flowers, they're lovely! Did Isabela help you with them?"
"Ah - yes. Yes. She did."
Lucía beamed at him. "Would you like to come with me while I find a vase and some water for these?"
Bruno sighed in relief and nodded. "Uh - yeah. That's - that would be - good, gracias."
He followed her to the kitchen, and she handed the flowers back to him while she poked around in her cupboards until she found what she was looking for. She filled the vase with water from the sink and then took the flowers back, arranging them until they seemed full and even in the vase. Lucía placed the vase in the center of the kitchen table and then turned to Bruno, who looked decidedly more nervous than he had been when he arrived that morning.
"Gracias for these," Lucía said, stepping closer. "They're beautiful. I love them."
Bruno smiled sheepishly. "Ah - you're welcome. It was - mostly Isabela, but - "
"You gave them to me, and I love them," Lucía repeated, taking another step closer. She took his hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze.
He smiled down at their joined hands, shifting them so that he held hers, his thumb brushing reverently over her knuckles. After a moment he shook his head. He took a fortifying breath, squared his shoulders, and looked up at her with determination.
"Lucía, I know - I know we're already courting, and - and - it's kind of - it might be weird to ask this, but - would you - would you - "
Lucía tensed, unsure of where this was going. She hadn't missed Bruno's slip up earlier, almost calling her padre 'suegro', and with the flowers and the way he was holding her hands - but it was too soon. Oh, please - she thought desperately. Please don't make me have to tell him to slow down -
It wasn't that she didn't want to marry him; she wouldn't have agreed to court him if marriage wasn't on the table. But she wasn't ready for anything more than courting at the moment. She was still very aware of the concerns her friends presented the other night and she was still wary of doing anything that would encourage further rumors - especially among people whose names began with a 'V' and ended with - 'alencia'. Especially when said person had a child who attended school with Josefina. And of course there was Josefina. They all had to be careful and take things slowly for Josefina's sake.
"Would you - like to go on - a date?" Bruno finally asked.
"Oh. Oh!" She almost laughed with relief. "Yes! Of course I would!"
Bruno looked so relieved at her answer to his question that Lucía couldn't help but laugh and kiss him on the cheek. "Bruno," she said. "I would love to go on a date with you. What did you have in mind?"
Bruno rubbed the back of his neck and smiled apologetically. "Well, ah - I didn't know you'd be helping your padre clean the shop today, so if you - if you need help with that, we don't have to - "
"I can handle my messes by myself, thank you very much!" Papá called across the courtyard from the doorway of the print shop. "Have fun on your date!"
"Papá!" Lucía called back, her brow furrowed and her hand on her hip. "Last time you organized the shop yourself you lost three orders and misplaced a whole box of Señora Ruiz' research and materials from her travels. It took us a month to find and catalog them all!"
"That was one time, mija! I am not so bad!" He chuckled. "And you've already got me started! I'll be fine."
"You're the one who asked me for help!" Lucía reminded him, unconvinced.
"Courting without dating? Es más largo que una semana sin carne. (1) Go! Enjoy the day! I'll take care of lunch with Josefina and I'm locking the door behind me! If you come in the front door you shall be a customer and nothing more, so you'd better have an order for me or a desire to borrow some books!" With that, he closed the door behind him.
Lucía looked at Bruno for a moment and then giggled. "Well," she said, smoothing her hair into place. "It appears I've been fired and have all the time in the world now. Was there anything in particular you wanted to do?"
Bruno swallowed. "Ah - maybe - would you like - to get some food from the market and - just – go on a picnic?"
Lucía stepped to his side and tucked her arm into his. "I would love to do that with you."
They made their way to the market, Lucía's arm still tucked through Bruno's, a small basket on her other arm.
They'd just begun perusing the produce and wares set out on the tables in the market when they heard the unmistakable sound of Tatiana Valencia, and she was not pleased.
"What do you mean that's two pesos?! It was one peso last week. One! And I'm not paying fifteen ears of corn for a dozen eggs. That's ridiculous!"
The merchant in question crossed her arms and leveled a no-nonsense stare at Tatiana. "Well then," she said flatly. "You can take your business elsewhere, Señora Valencia. That's my price and I'm firm on it."
"I just heard you sell Señor Balard two dozen eggs for five papayas! Five!" Tatiana stamped her foot in offense.
The other woman sniffed and inspected her nails. "I have a taste for papaya today. I do not have a taste for corn. If you're not going to buy anything, you can move along, Señora."
Tatiana huffed, her lips pressed into a thin line, but she only glared at the stall-keeper for a moment and then moved on. She hadn't noticed them.
Bruno sighed in relief. "I - really didn't want to deal with her today."
"Honestly," Lucía said. "Neither did I. Now, what do - "
"Bruno! Bruno Madrigal! I'm so glad I ran into you!" A familiar voice boomed from behind them. "And I notice you're with Señora Moreno again, today, eh?! I think you'll both enjoy what I've found for you this time!"
They both startled at the sudden greeting, Lucía gripping Bruno's arm and then laughing quietly at herself for her jumpiness.
"I think I've finally done it!" Osvaldo said, cheerfully oblivious as they darted a look to him and to those surrounding them at the marketplace in town.
"A basket fit for a future seer with a mysterious past who's ah - seizing the moment and stepping out into the world of romance, if you know what I mean?" Osvaldo laughed and held out his basket.
It was filled with two bottles of wine and two glasses wrapped carefully in linen to go with it, two unfamiliar smaller glass bottles filled with a dark liquid, and an assortment of cheeses, pandebono, empanadas, and crackers. There were also small, carefully wrapped chocolates and candies that Lucía recognized from Ana's shop, and fresh fruit cut into small shapes and arranged artfully in a small wooden bowl. She thought she saw a blanket folded up beneath all the treats.
"...get it? Future seer? Mysterious past? Seizing the moment with a present from me? I came up with that myself."
Lucía and Bruno blinked at the basket, and then at each other. Lucía's mouth tugged up at the corner and she cleared her throat in an effort not to laugh. Bruno gave her subtle nudge with his elbow. He still wasn't all that enthusiastic about accepting Osvaldo's thanks - or his gift - but Pepa had been right. Osvaldo was quickly wearing away his stubborn insistence that he wouldn't accept anything from him.
"I noticed you had lunch together the other day. And you were dancing," Osvaldo continued loudly. "You know. At the festival. You've been spending a lot of time together. That kiss on the cheek last week wasn't just between friends, eh?! Osvaldo Ortíz notices these things. I thought to myself - 'Osvaldo - the rat basket was a bust. The other baskets were just plain stupid. But you know what he'd like? A nice romantic picnic basket for his new lover!'" He grinned at them.
When they didn't immediately respond, he plowed on, undaunted. "You know. Since it's been years since you've been on a date," he nodded to Lucía. "And like…your whole life since you've been on one." He nodded to Bruno. "So it really is a Savior Special! Because you saved me and now I'm saving your ah - day! Your date!"
He leaned forward and whispered from the side of his mouth. "Just between you and me, shopping for groceries isn't exactly the most romantic thing in the world."
Lucía's mouth dropped open at that and her eyebrows rose clear to her hairline.
Bruno stared with wide, horrified eyes at the well-meaning man who had just insulted both himself and his novia in the same oblivious breath. People were starting to look at them and his plans for an intimate, quiet, private little date were evaporating before his eyes. "…thanks for that," he muttered under his breath.
Apparently not far enough under.
Osvaldo beamed with pride. "Does this mean I've done it?!"
"Oh, you've done it, alright," Bruno said flatly, his eyes taking in all the people surrounding them. Señora Pezmuerto, in particular, had been turning the same avocado over and over in her hands for the past five minutes, staring carefully at it and not at the odd trio to her left.
"Great! Here you go!" Said Osvaldo, shoving the basket into his arms. Lucía had to let go of Bruno's arm and help him catch it so he didn't lose it all. "One Savior Special, a romantic picnic date for two. For the courting couple."
Bruno and Lucía stared at the basket and then at each other again.
"...for the courting couple, right?" Osvaldo asked, his grin dimming slightly.
Lucía gave Bruno a shy smile over the basket and Bruno swallowed his anxiety at all the people in the market leaning forward, doing a pretty poor job of pretending they weren't listening to his answer.
"Yeah," he said, and the way Lucía's smile grew made something inside him glow. He cleared his throat and repeated himself. "Yes. We're courting." His smile grew to match hers, and his voice softened. "For the first time in my life, I'm - heh - I'm a very lucky man."
"I knew it! Wonderful! Congratulations!" Osvaldo's grin was back in full force and he pried one of Bruno's hands away from the gift basket to shake it with gusto. "You'll enjoy the picnic basket, then, right?"
Bruno sighed and stared at the basket, still supported between himself and Lucía. Might as well throw in the towel and just…accept it.
"Um…yeah. Gracias, Osvaldo. It's - it's - "
Lucía turned to Osvaldo with a gracious smile. "It's very thoughtful. We were just thinking of going on a picnic today. Now you've saved us time and it looks absolutely lovely. Gracias, Osvaldo."
He grinned at both of them. "Wonderful! Happy to help! Enjoy the Savior Special! Congratulations!" He called over his shoulder as he strutted away with his head held high, obviously very pleased with himself.
Everyone at the surrounding stalls stared at Bruno and Lucía for a moment before Señor Balard smiled and offered his sincere, heartfelt congratulations - and then they were swarmed with both genuine well-wishers and pointedly curious busybodies.
Bruno was nearly overwhelmed at the steady flow of smiles, claps on the back, and the attempted handshakes as he and Lucía navigated a wave of polite but pointed questions. Thankfully, the giant basket Osvaldo had left them prevented people from pressing in too closely or staying too long.
After they nearly dropped the basket for the second time, Bruno gently pulled it away from Lucía and almost fell over as it put him off balance, but he managed to right himself. He accidentally bumped into someone in the process. "Great," he mumbled. "Ah - lo siento - "
"Just because Osvaldo thinks you saved his life doesn't mean we all do."
Lucía tensed as Bruno turned to see that the person he'd run into was Señora Pezmuerto. The majority of the rest of the crowd that surrounded them had dispersed. Past Pezmuerto, in the distance, Bruno could see Tatiana Valencia watching them. When Tatiana saw that he'd noticed her, she turned on her heel and walked away with her shoulders back and her nose in the air.
Well, at least there was that to be thankful for.
Bruno turned his attention back to Ozma Pezmuerto, his expression unreadable.
Lucía straightened beside him. "Well, if Bruno didn't save him, Ozma, then what exactly do you think he did do?" Her tone was polite but there was steel behind it.
Ozma Pezmuerto looked at her and pursed her lips.
Lucía waited.
Ozma sighed and went back to handling her avocado, putting it into her bag and offering the seller a coin in exchange. "I think," she said slowly and carefully, "that he got lucky." She looked between the two of them and pressed her lips into a thin, wry smile. "Let's hope that luck doesn't change."
She turned to go but nearly ran into Raquel, who must've snuck up on them in the past few minutes. Raquel had appeared like some sort of apparition just behind Pezmuerto and fixed her with her blank stare, her sandy brown hair carefully coiffed and her own basket dangling delicately from her hands.
"Eah!" Ozma exclaimed, nearly dropping her bag. "Ah - I mean - "
"I am so sorry," Raquel said solemnly, her expression very unimpressed. "For your loss."
Ozma's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"The death of your manners," Raquel continued. "Their loss must grieve your mother terribly."
Ozma's mouth dropped open in offense.
Lucía snorted and broke into a coughing fit in an attempt to keep herself from laughing.
Raquel turned to her friend. "That cough sounds bad, Lucía. I think you might need to go open that wine and have a drink. You should help her out, Bruno." Her mouth lifted up just a little at the corners. "Congratulations, by the way."
Her face fell back into its deadpan stare and she turned back to address Ozma. "As you can see, it's very, very simple, Ozma. 'Congratulations'. One word. That's all you need to say to be polite. But if that is too difficult for you, silence is also an option - "
Bruno's eyes widened and Lucía grabbed his hand and pulled him away before they got into any more trouble.
"Sorry about all that," Bruno mumbled as he shifted the large gift basket to the side. Lucía took a few things out of it to put in the basket she'd brought to the market, and it was a lot easier to handle now that they each carried half the load. She told him she knew a place nearby where they could go and enjoy their picnic where no one would bother them, which sounded absolutely perfect to Bruno. Being ambushed in the marketplace had delayed everything and they didn't have time to go to the small lake nearby that most picnickers went to; at least not if Lucía wanted to be home in the afternoon when Josefina got back from school. It was already almost lunchtime.
"Don't be sorry," Lucía said. "I think it went as well as it could have, all things considered. Now the whole town knows we're courting, Osvaldo no longer feels indebted to you, and look!" She lifted her basket to show off the items she had inside. "Free picnic!"
"Mmm." Bruno pursed his lips and shrugged, relieved to finally get to the actual date part of the day. "You've got a point. Honestly - heh - I'm impressed everything today went that well. People actually congratulated you, you know. I was half-expecting them all to offer their condolences." He laughed dryly.
Lucía frowned. "If they had I'd have had to take a page from Raquel. 'I'm so sorry for the death of your manners. Their loss must grieve your mother terribly.'" She put a hand over her heart and sniffed in mock sympathy before bursting into giggles.
Bruno snorted. "You'd say that?"
Lucía shrugged sheepishly and smiled to herself. "Probably not. But it sure sounded good when Raquel did, didn't it?"
After a moment her brow furrowed and she shook her head. "Anyway. Let's not let anyone else interrupt us today. I'm looking forward to this picnic." She led Bruno back toward her house and past it, wading into the cornfields that were just coming ready to harvest. She turned sideways and grabbed the handle of the basket Bruno held, gesturing for him to let go of one side, and together they moved single-file through the tall green and yellow stalks. Having Pepa and Isabela meant that unlike most of the rest of their climate zone, they got two solid crops of corn per year, and the second harvest of the year was almost ready.
They walked without speaking; the only sounds Bruno heard were the whispering of the corn stalks as the basket brushed against them and the sound of their feet on the packed ground.
They reached a tall spreading cedar tree near the outer edge of the field and Lucía stopped beneath it, setting down the basket she carried. Bruno stooped with her, lowering their shared basket to the ground.
Lucía turned to face Bruno. "Well?" She said softly, rubbing her hands on her skirt. "It's not much, but it's close, and I like coming here when I need to think. It's quiet and pretty and peaceful. It belongs to the López family, but I have their permission to come anytime I like."
Bruno stretched his shoulders and shook out his hands and looked around. The ground around the tree was soft and grassy; sunlight filtered through the cedar's branches and offered cool, dappled shade to rest beneath, and the corn growing around them gave them a privacy that would be fairly hard to find anywhere else this close to the Encanto.
"Wow," he said, giving her a lopsided grin. "This is - nice."
Lucía bit her lip and smiled right back at him. "I know it's not the lake or a waterfall or anything beautiful like that - it's just a tree in the middle of a corn field - but it is special to me."
"Well I think it's perfect." Bruno said. "Thanks for sharing it with me."
Suddenly, Lucía stepped toward him, threw her arms around his shoulders, and pulled him into a tight hug. He staggered for a moment but regained his footing and hugged her back just as tightly. "Wha - "
"I'm just - happy," Lucía whispered, her face pressed against his neck, and her breath tickled. "I'm happy. Thank you."
She stepped back after a moment. Her hands rested on his shoulders and his hands rested on her waist. Bruno's heart stuttered again at the thought that one day - one day - she would look at him like that again, full of joy and affection, and they would stand before an altar together, and it would mean forever.
He pulled her back into his arms, all at once longing for the future and also completely content to wait for it. She made a small sound of surprise, but quickly settled against his chest and wriggled her arms around his waist to hold him just as tightly. He pressed his lips to her hair and reveled in the way everything just felt good. He and Lucía stood comfortably there for a good long while, and then she pulled away, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.
"Let's see what we have, shall we?" She said as she knelt down to go through the picnic basket. She took out the blanket first, and Bruno helped her spread it out on the ground. Together, they explored the contents of the basket, laying everything out on the blanket. Everything looked fresh and delicious, and the only unfamiliar items were the glass bottles with a dark liquid inside and a red metal cap on the top.
"I wonder what this is?" Lucía said, holding one of the mystery bottles up and turning it this way and that. There were letters blown right into the glass and she peered at them in an attempt to read them. "He must have gotten these from San Cristobál. It says… 'co-ca-co-la'?" She said slowly, drawing each syllable out. (2)
Bruno blinked and was suddenly thrown into a vision with a stream of confusing images.
A large group of people holding the same bottles and singing on a hilltop like some sort of choir.
Strange, uncanny looking bears wearing scarves, skidding and slipping on ice in an effort to reach the same sort of bottle.
People twisting the caps off of the bottles and tapping them together in celebration.
Even stranger little beings inside some sort of boxy machine clumsily filling bottles.
A huge group of people in strange clothing, dancing and celebrating around some sort of Coliseum-like field for competing fútbol teams to play on; the words 'Coca-Cola' displayed on banners around it.
He shook his head as the vision faded, thoroughly disconcerted.
Lucía had moved to sit beside him during the vision and her hand rested on his. She searched his face with a neutral, slightly expectant expression on hers. He blinked at her.
"Well," he said flatly. "That was…weird." He frowned at the drinks Lucía had left on the blanket when the vision struck him.
"Was it the Co-ca-co-la?" She asked. She didn't sound concerned, just curious. "What did you see?"
Bruno shook his head. "Ah. I - I don't even know. People singing, holding bottles of that?" He gestured to the bottles. "Bears like it? Maybe? Other weird little - little - things make it? But I don't - they didn't seem real? Apparently people drink it when they play fútbol? I - I have no idea here Lucía. This was one of those weird ones like 'we're going to go to the moon one day' or 'people will see and talk to other people on little box things that are small enough to fit in their hands'. Really – ah - vague pieces of information and very little context. Whatever that stuff is, lots of people are going to be drinking it for a very long time."
Lucía pressed her lips into a thin line, attempting to quell her smile as she contemplated the bottles across from them.
"I'm gonna try it," she said decisively after a minute.
"Really?" He asked, giving her a side-eye.
She laughed. "Why not? I'm feeling adventurous. What's the worst that could happen? I don't like it? I suddenly become an expert at fútbol? I attract bears to the area? Antonio'll help me if that's the case."
Bruno stared at her for a moment and then a snort turned into full-on laughter.
Lucía reached for the bottle and studied it for a moment, prodding at the cap in an attempt to open it. Bruno reached over, covered the cap with his ruana, and gave the cap a sharp twist. The bottle made a soft hiss as it opened and he handed it back to her, keeping the cap to look at. Sometimes visions came in handy.
Lucía eyeballed the dark liquid inside for a minute, took a deep breath, and then lifted the bottle to her lips and took a swig.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, coughing slightly. "It's bubbly. It's carbonated! And sweet. A little strange. I can't tell - " she took another sip, rolling it around on her tongue. "I can't tell what it's supposed to taste like, exactly. But I like it."
She waited a moment and took another sip. "You want to try some?"
Bruno took the bottle from her and swirled it around, watching the bubbles pop as they reached the surface of the liquid. He took a sip and snorted as the bubbles fizzed on his tongue. "Oh, you weren't - " he hiccupped a little at the strange, syrupy-sweet sensation. "You weren't kidding. Definitely carbonated. Definitely sweet. Definitely strange." He handed it back to her. "I think I prefer aguapanela. Maybe Josefina would like to try it. We can save the other one for her."
"She'd love that," Lucía agreed.
Bruno and Lucía spent what was left of the morning and the entire afternoon sitting beneath the shade of el cedro de Líbano, snacking on treats and trading stories and talking of everything and nothing. (3) They discussed Josefina, Bruno's sobrinos, their families, their friends, Osvaldo's baskets, the sermon from Mass yesterday, San Cristobál and other dates they could go on in the near future, and the potential for further plays involving Bruno's rats.
They had a good natured argument about what a sequel for Imelda and Ramón might look like, which Bruno definitively ended by saying he'd pretty much dedicated ten years of his life to writing sequels, so he was kind of an expert, thank you very much.
Lucía allowed her laughter to trail off at that and stretched out on the blanket, leaning back on her hands, crossing her legs at her ankles, and adjusting her position so the leaves shaded her face. Bruno sat cross-legged beside her, pushing the pile of crumbs from the food he'd eaten around and around with his fingers. They'd only had a glass of wine each and finished the one bottle of Coca Cola, but Bruno felt warm and happy and completely at ease.
"…Is that what you did for ten years? Write sequel after sequel about Tatiana and Lareina and Lorenzo and Valentino?" Lucía asked quietly. She paused for a long moment. "...did it help?"
Bruno stopped sweeping up the crumbs and looked at her, but he couldn't quite place the emotion on her face. Not pity, but something similar and sad and trying hard not to be.
His whole body tensed and he drew in a sharp breath and looked away.
"Sorry," she said, her own body mirroring his tension. "You don't have to talk about it, not right now. I just - want you to know that I want to know. What it was like for you. Whenever you're comfortable telling me about it."
He was quiet for a long moment, the radiantly happy sense of calm and trust from a few moments ago still lingering. He kept waiting for that sharp spike of anxiety, dread, and shame to wedge itself somewhere beneath his ribs. It still pierced his heart whenever his siblings or his mother brought up his time in the walls when he wasn't expecting it. They'd gotten to the point where most of the time he could brush it off with a joke – his stupid mistake, how dumb it was that he was there all along – because laughing about it was better than crying again and again and again, right?
He had a sneaking suspicion they were just – humoring him. Letting him choose when to talk about it. Everyone was so relieved to be together again after Casita fell that they all wanted to smooth things over as quickly as possible - and it felt good, they'd all been relieved to just forgive each other and move on – but apparently, none of them could forget it.
They all talked, and it was getting easier, but it still hurt to talk about. And there were some days he just – didn't want to talk about it. There were days he just wanted to be happy and not do the hard work of muddling through all the emotions tied to the why and how of his leaving. There were some days Pepa couldn't handle talking about it without flooding or tornado-ing the house, or when Julieta busied herself in the kitchen instead of sitting down to listen, or when Mamá teared up instead of laughed when he told Camilo if he kept up the teasing he'd go right back into the walls.
He realized, after a moment, that while those feelings of anxiety and dread and shame were still there – they weren't as sharp or dense as they typically were. Less of a spike, and more of a dull weight pressing on his heart. He scooped the crumbs into his hand, grabbed a pinch of salt from his pocket to go with them, and tossed the whole pile over his shoulder into the grass. He sighed and lay down beside her, his hands folded over his stomach, feeling his own heart beat somewhere just north of his palm. He just breathed for a bit, thinking of where to start and if he even wanted to.
He didn't want to burden her with this. He didn't want the ugly truth of it to change how she saw him. But - she should know. Gus had been right, the other night. The hard things wouldn't just go away, and his time in the walls was one of the hardest things of all to wrestle with.
If she was going to marry him one day, she should know.
Lucía sat forward and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and playing with her skirt. "Sorry," she said again. She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say more, but frowned and shut it again, biting her lip.
"You're okay," Bruno said softly. "I'm just thinking."
She waited.
Bruno concentrated on the pattern of the leaves above him as the rustled in the wind. "At first, it was - " he said quietly - and then he stopped. "When Mirabel didn't get a Gift - "
Lucía continued to wait.
"I guess…it was mostly - "
He sighed.
"I don't even know where to start."
Lucía rested her cheek on her knees and reached a hand out to smooth Bruno's curls. "You left for Mirabel."
He closed his eyes and focused on the feel of her fingers threaded through his hair. "I left for Mirabel," he agreed. "I had a vision, after she didn't get a gift. Ma asked me to, and I didn't want to, but I knew - I knew I should, but it was - did I ever tell you what I saw?"
She made small sound in her throat that he took as a 'no'.
"We were all confused and worried. For Mirabel, and about the Miracle. If – if the candle was going out, if our gifts were fading – even if Ma hadn't asked me to have a vision that night, I – I probably would have looked eventually."
He sighed deeply. "It was the first time a vision had two outcomes. Two separate futures. Or at least, that's what I thought. In one, an older Mirabel stood in front of a whole Casita. In another, she stood in front of a cracked, crumbling Casita. And I didn't - I didn't know what it meant! I'd never seen anything like it. But I knew what people would think. I knew what Ma would think. She'd already been - reprimanding me about my visions for years, as if I could control what I saw or as if - if I just – just – worded things a little more nicely, a little more vaguely, that being polite would somehow lessen the blow of bad news. But - pbbffft. Bad news is bad news no matter how nicely you say it, you know?"
"But I'm - " Bruno winced. He was getting off track. There was just so much…
"And I didn't – I didn't know how to – there was no good way to tell her that our home was going to crack and fall apart and that it all centered around – Mirabel. I knew – things were already hard, between all of us. But I thought - maybe - maybe I could do something right and at first I just - wanted to buy time. I don't think I ever planned on being gone for ten years. I just wanted to buy some time."
"I tried to leave - actually leave the village." Bruno snorted. "I lasted two nights in the jungle, Lucía. And I was so miserable, and so ashamed that I couldn't protect Mirabel like I needed to. Ma would be furious, my sisters would be hurt, Mirabel still wouldn't have a gift and I'd be harassed every day until I eventually folded and told Ma everything, and then Mirabel would be cursed to an existence even more miserable than mine had been. I – I couldn't let that happen."
Lucía shifted beside him, and he closed his eyes again. If he looked at her right now he might not be brave enough to keep going. "But I came home, thinking maybe - I'd just get some of Julieta's food and try again - but I snuck in that night and took some leftovers and some water, and I – couldn't. I couldn't leave. I didn't really want to, and Casita could tell, and I knew – if I tried to leave again, she might – wake the whole house or something. She kept moving me away from the doors. So I asked her for help because I couldn't – I could not just come home like nothing had happened. I didn't trust myself to – to – anyway. Casita - she shuffled me right up the stairs and down the hall and opened a portrait on the wall like a doorway and she showed me these - cracks. It was easy to tell they'd already started. Way, way before Mirabel. She had a whole - heart inside her, that was breaking to pieces."
He glanced up at Lucía, who was still stroking his hair and hanging onto his every word. "And I'm not just being metaphorical here, Lucía. Casita had – I don't know, maybe she made it for me, when I came home - maybe it was there already, but - a secret room and halls inside the walls that were cracking and crumbling away. And so I figured - I'd stay there, you know? Maybe I could fix the cracks and keep an eye on Mirabel and stay hidden away and eventually, I'd have enough courage to leave and stand up to Ma and not tell her about the vision. I think part of me hoped I could just fix the problem behind the scenes and come home and never – never say anything about the vision at all."
Bruno tensed and began digging the nail of his thumb into his opposite hand. "Dolores heard me. She talked to me and tried to find me but Casita wouldn't let her in and the first week I just – lay there, in the walls, trying to be as quiet as possible."
"You…just…laid there? In the walls? On the floor?" Lucía asked, her voice quiet and broken as she reached over him to still his hand, holding it in hers. "How – how did you – didn't you eat?"
"I'd taken some food and water from the kitchen, remember? I just – ate that at night. And lay there, during the day. Tried to come up with a better plan. But Dolores kept telling everyone and I thought – I'd leave, if they came after me. Part of me wanted them to believe her, because I already missed them. But part of me was glad that they didn't. I was - " he pulled his hand away from her and covered his face with his hands.
"Válgame Díos, Lucía, I was such a horrible tío to her. I was a horrible brother, a horrible son - I let everyone believe I'd abandoned them all and left them without answers and I let them believe that Dolores was just – hearing rats in the walls and she cried, Lucía – Dolores cried for me and begged me to come home and I told her I couldn't come home and I didn't come home and I stopped answering her - " (4)
He sat up suddenly, drawing his knees up to his chest and pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Lucía reached out hesitantly and lay a hand on his shoulder. When he didn't flinch or shy away, she scooted closer, rested her cheek on his shoulder, and began rubbing small circles on his back.
"And you know – the worst part?" He mumbled. "The first few weeks I was still swinging between being terrified I'd be found out and feeling like I was on - a sort of vacation. No one asked me for any visions. No one asked me to try harder for la familia. No one asked anything of me at all. And I was happy about it. About that part of it."
"I – I spent the first few months just – figuring out how to live in the walls. It wasn't all bad, all the time. Dolores talked to me for months, even though I didn't answer. She stopped, eventually, after Ma – my ma – shamed her out of it." He swallowed. "And Casita helped. She got me – furniture. I figured out how to reroute some of the pipes for water. I learned to make spackle and tried fixing the cracks. I was determined. I was going to – I was going to help. The rats brought me food. And – books. And I took things, sometimes, when the house was empty or when everyone was asleep, and - "
He cut himself off again. "The first few times, Dolores would run home and try to catch me outside the walls. I never – I never let her."
Lucía's hand stilled on his back.
"How does she not hate me?" He whispered. "How can she possibly, possibly forgive me for what I did to her?"
"…you regret leaving." Lucía whispered back, and it was almost a question.
He stared straight ahead for long moment and then it all came rushing out.
"I – Díos ten piedad, I regret – everything," he choked out. "I regret leaving, I regret not coming home, I regret – every minute I missed with them."
His breath caught as he tried to explain himself. "It wasn't all bad, no - " he gestured with his hands as he spoke. "I wrote telenovelas, I took care of myself, I – I made a routine for myself. I learned how to do things, things like spackling and plumbing and how to make – tables and shelves and little – little artsy things for the rats. I took care of the rats. I snuck out sometimes. I still felt sunshine, I still saw the stars, I still – watched my family and laughed with them and there were little – little pieces of something good, in there, that I held onto but - "
He inhaled sharply, and he picked at the edge of his ruana before gripping it hard in his hands. "Lucía, I was lonely." His voice was small and plaintive, and she shifted closer to him in response.
He swallowed. "I thought I was going mad, some days. I think – I did lose my mind a little. I made myself a - a plate."
Lucía sat as close to him as she could, her side pressed against his, but he was too anxious and too jumpy to be soothed by anything more than that at the moment. "You made yourself a…plate?"
"I – everyone in my family had these, these plates." He looked down at his lap, his hands outlining the general shape and size. "Special plates, with our names on them. I – left mine behind and I – think my madre took it, put it away after she realized I wasn't coming back. So I made – I drew – I painted a plate on a little wooden table I'd pieced together and I drew my name on it and I pretended – I pretended I was still at the table with them, every night. I still – I told myself I was still a part of the family but I wasn't, Lucía. I wasn't."
He darted a glance to her and she was staring straight ahead, her hands clasped tightly into fists and pressed over her mouth, tears streaming down her face. He hung his head and looked away, but she noticed.
"You are, though," She said thickly. She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "You're a part of your family, you always were and still are and always will be. They love you, Bruno, and they're glad you're here. Home. Where you belong."
He pressed his face to his hands again, overwhelmed but still trying to hold onto the threads of what he was trying to tell her. He'd thought there wouldn't be this much to tell; he was just – there in the walls for ten years. The end. But there was just – so much.
He felt the weight of her hand back on his shoulder, her hand trailing up and down his arm in an effort to soothe. "You can be done, if you want to. It's - a lot. But if – if you want to, you can keep going, too. Tell me everything you want to tell me, Bruno. I want to know."
"But I'm just – making you sad."
"Of course it's making me sad!" Lucía gestured emphatically. "Your time in the walls was horrible, Bruno!"
"But shouldn't it have been?! I left them! I – it wasn't awful all of the time, but I feel like it should have been. I should have been miserable. I deserved to be miserable!"
"No you didn't!" Lucía cried. "No one in your family deserved to be miserable. Including you!"
Bruno felt the bitter swell of tears sting his eyes. "God help me, Lucía, I regret it every day. Every day. I missed so much that I'll never get back. Birthdays! Quínces! Christmases and Easters and bad days and good days and stupid inside jokes and I'll never be able to make it up to any of them, Lucía. I'll never get that time back."
His voice was thick and wet and hoarse. "But I'd also go back and do it all again if I had to because I wouldn't - I wouldn't know any other way to keep Mirabel safe. To protect her. I hate that I left but I'd do it again, and doesn't that say something about me?" He asked bitterly.
"I think it does," Lucia said softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and locking him into her embrace, pulling him down so that his head rested on her shoulder. She pressed her mouth to his curls and mumbled into them. "I think it says that you're a man who loves his family so desperately you'd sacrifice years of your life to protect even one member of it."
He sighed and sagged against her.
"I think," Lucía continued gently, "that two things can be true at the same time, you know. Is it true that leaving was a mistake that hurt you and your family and that you regret it? Yes. But – it's also true that leaving protected Mirabel in the only way you knew how to, and it was hard, and a sacrifice, and something noble."
She pressed a trio of soft kisses to the side of his forehead. "I love you."
Bruno rubbed his face with his hands, breaking away from her embrace and allowing himself to fall back onto the picnic blanket. "Te amo. I'm so sorry I ruined our date. That – was not how I hoped it would go."
Lucía attempted to pry his hands away from his face. "You didn't ruin anything. Bruno," she said seriously, and finally succeeded in getting him to look at her with his red-rimmed, remorseful eyes, her hands framing either side of his face. "I will not run from your suffering, remember? I know that - telling me all that? It wasn't easy. But I'm glad you told me. I needed to know. I love you."
Bruno held her gaze for a moment, and his expression softened. He reached up to brush his knuckles against her cheek, clearing away the last of her tears. "I love you, too," he said softly.
She smiled at him and lowered herself to press a slow, careful kiss to his lips, and then she tucked herself against him, her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest, over his heart.
He closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around her. He was so tired after all of that.
"Next time," he said, "can we just – do something fun? I don't want all my dates to end in tears."
Lucía laughed. "Next time," she agreed, "We'll just do something fun. I promise."
A/N:
1) Es más largo que una semana sin carne – It's longer than a week without meat. A Colombian saying meaning something is very dull and hard to get through.
2) Coca-Cola was invented in 1886. Its trademark bottle was designed in 1916, and there were Coca-Cola bottling factories in Colombia as early as 1927. Bruno saw…a lot of future commercials.
3) el cedro de Líbano – the cedar of Lebanon; a very common tree in Colombia
4) Válgame Díos – God save me/God help me
5) Díos ten piedad – God have mercy
So, as is typical with my chapters, this one did something I wasn't planning on. There were supposed to be two other scenes here but they'll have to wait for the next chapter.
Thanks so much for reading and for all your support! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. :D