A/N: Bruno gets an unexpected vision request and Josefina learns an important life lesson.

Thanks to Britt30 and impossiblefangirl0632 on ao3 for helping me work through the whole vision thing in this chapter, I appreciate you both so much!

Chapter 35

The next two weeks were unexpectedly busy for both Bruno and Lucía. Both schoolteachers - Señora López and Señor García – had taken a trip into San Cristobál and returned with a cartful of books. They'd requested José and Lucía's assistance in cataloguing the books, and when they'd all finished sorting through them, both the school shelves and the school's storage room were stuffed full. They'd asked the Hernandez family to keep the rest in the print shop. The shop's shelves were now full as well, and Lucía and her padre were still in the process of reorganizing everything. They'd also needed to print more vision contracts on top of their regular work load, as people were slowly growing more and more interested in utilizing Bruno's gift again.

Bruno had Osvaldo Ortíz to thank for that. Osvaldo was the first to request what Bruno began to refer to as 'low-stakes visions'. Osvaldo wanted to know if the weather would be good on his sobrina's birthday so that he could prepare his gift basket and her party accordingly.

The weather would be rainy, but Osvaldo hadn't seemed to mind. He was cheerful and grateful and told everyone and their mother about how helpful Bruno's vision had been.

Thus began a steady flow of villagers interested in knowing things that Bruno had little to no emotional investment in but that the vision seekers seemed to appreciate all the same. They wanted to know – should they use their mother – in – laws' recipe for sancocho at the next family gathering, or their own mother's? Would a trip to San Cristobál go more smoothly next Tuesday or next Wednesday? Would holding their daughters' quince during the harvest work or should they wait until after? If they built a barn here, would it still be standing in ten years?

And Bruno was grateful. He was helping! (Some vision requests he thought he could predict even without using his gift. Everyone knew that Señora Caldera's sancocho recipe was by far better than Señora Herrera's, but he figured people would probably be offended if he told them stuff like that.) He liked experimenting with his gift and he liked feeling like he could use it to help in a way where the stakes were relatively low. He knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of security – even mundane visions could have unexpected and far-reaching consequences, but so far – the contract was working, his gift was helping more than it was hurting, and he was happy for it.

Lucía's cuñado Lorenzo was one of those who'd sought Bruno out. He asked if Bruno would mind having a vision about which section of the fence would need repairing next in order to stay ahead of the issue. Lorenzo signed the contract, Bruno had the vision, and the Rojas boys had their work cut out for them. Bruno had volunteered to assist them. While the vision business was steady it wasn't exactly booming, and he preferred to keep it that way– he was hesitant to over-commit to even low-stakes visions. Lorenzo gladly took Bruno up on his offer to help.

And so, a few days after he'd had a vision for Lorenzo, Bruno plopped down into his seat at the table for lunch, tired but pleased. The Rojas boys had dedicated most of their time and attention to mending the fences, but maintenance and everyday tasks still needed to be done in the barn. He'd split his time the past several days between helping with the fence and doing those everyday chores, and this morning he'd begun cleaning all of the riding gear for the horses and leads for the donkeys.

"Tío," Dolores whispered as she slid into the seat beside him, so quietly it was difficult to hear over the sounds of dishes clattering and the rest of the family talking.

"Hmm?"

"You've been doing a lot of visions lately."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "…sí."

"And it's been going well, sí?"

He nodded.

"Mariano is going to ask you for a vision soon. Hm!" she squeaked, pressing her fingers to her lips to hide her smile. "About how his proposal is going to go. It's up to you whether or not you want to give him one. It's okay if you don't want to. But if you decide to say yes, I just wanted you to know – I'm okay with you looking to see. The best way for him to propose to me."

She sounded somewhere between nervous and excited, and he turned toward her, giving her his full attention. His brows furrowed as he studied her, still wondering if she'd heard anything he'd said while on his date with Lucía two weeks ago. She hadn't mentioned anything. The fact that she'd been in a meeting with Señora Cabrera discussing midwifery tilted the odds into 'she wasn't listening' territory.

But she was also an expert in keeping secrets.

"He's…felt a little insecure after the last attempt and is trying to surprise me," she smiled to herself. "He wants it to go well so badly. I just didn't want any worries about what I thought about it to affect your decision. But please don't tell him that I know. About the vision request. Although whatever you see if you do look will still be a surprise for me when it does happen, so - " She gave a little squeak, her eyes wide, and slid out of the chair, moving quickly to the front door to help Isabela with a large stack of papers – orders and samples for dyed fabrics for Señora Villanueva's shop.

"Gracias, Lolo," Isabela said, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes with a huff. "This is…a lot. But I'm excited to try the two-tone coloring Señora Villanueva requested, especially - "

Bruno watched as Dolores took half the papers from Isabela and followed her prima up to her room, listening with a small smile on her face as Isabela animatedly explained her plans for the fabric.

He swallowed.

The last time he'd looked into Dolores' future it was less than stellar. It had turned out all right in the end, but still.

He didn't want to do that to her again.

On the other hand, she so badly wanted that proposal to go well, and his sobrina deserved the world after everything she'd gone through the past ten years.

Josefina skipped back to the schoolyard after lunch, her schoolbag bouncing off of her hip as she moved. The late August air was humid but on the cooler side today, with a stiff breeze blowing down from the mountains. Her mamá had finally allowed her to begin walking to and from school on her own again.

Cecilia and Alejandra and Juancho and Antonio and her primas Gabi and Emilia waved to her and she ran over to greet them all. She made sure to give special attention to Parce before the jaguar took off for a nearby tree to nap until Antonio was done with school.

"What'd you have for lunch?" Juancho asked as Josefina finished nuzzling Parce.

Parce sniffed her shirt curiously and Josefina pushed him off, laughing. He chuffed in annoyance.

Antonio smiled. "Parce says you still have some in your pocket."

"I do. I brought him a snack." Josefina pulled out a small banana leaf with a pork tamale carefully wrapped inside and opened it for the jaguar, and he swallowed it in one lick.

"Tamales!" Juancho nodded in approval. "I had coffee and bandeja paisa. But only the chorizo. And rice. And plantains. And coffee."

The rest of the kids shared what treats they'd had for lunch and dessert as they waited for Señora López to call the class in to the school.

"Josefina!" Someone said brightly from behind her. "Josefina Moreno!"

Josefina looked around in confusion. It was Nina Muñoz, a twelve year old in the older grade with Camilo and Mirabel. She was very pretty and very popular and didn't generally hang around the younger kids anymore. Not in a mean way, she just was older now and focused on older kid things.

"Uh…hi, Nina," Josefina said politely.

"Hi!" Nina tossed her braids over her shoulder and the beads on the ends made satisfying clinks. She had a small basket in her hand that had a large bunch of green and purples grapes in it and a glass jar with something dark inside. "Mi madre and tía made some fresh grape jam out of the table grapes on the eastern side of the vineyard. We had a little extra and thought you and your madre might like some."

Josefina's eyes widened as she looked at the grapes. She did love juicy fruits, and grapes were very juicy.

"Oh," she said. "Really? This is for me?"

"And your madre," Nina said with a smile.

"Oh!" Josefina said again. "Gracias!"

Nina handed her the basket, and Josefina took it, looking again between the unexpected gift and the giver of it. "Gracias!" She said again and turned to her friends. "Hey, everybody, want some grapes!"

"Oh, yes, thanks!"

"Gracias!"

"Mmmmm."

"Hey!" Shouted Alejandra as Antonio bit into a grape and its juice squirted right into her face.

Antonio giggled. "Sorry," he apologized.

Alejandra laughed and wiped her face off. "S'okay," she said.

Nina sat down beside them and watched them eat.

"Oh," Josefina said, wiping her face with her sleeve and holding out the basket. "Did you want some too?"

Nina grimaced. "Ah – no, gracias, I'm still full from lunch." She watched them eat with that same grimace on her face, until some of her friends from the older class came over. They greeted her and sat beside her under the tree, and some of them accepted the grapes that Josefina offered. Nina seemed to relax. They made a game of throwing the grapes into the air, and the older kids would try to catch them in their mouths. They ate and played and talked until they'd finished all the grapes and all that was left was the jam for Josefina to take home to her madre.

Josefina laughed and turned to Nina, taking the jar of jam out and handing her the empty basket. "Gracias for bringing this! It wasn't even my birthday!"

Nina smiled and played with the ends of her braids. "I'm glad you liked them. It was nice of you to share with everyone."

One of the older boys, thirteen-year-old Juan Luis, nudged Nina and she frowned at him.

He raised his eyebrows at her and tilted his head in Josefina's direction.

Nina crossed her arms and tilted her head right back.

"What's going on?" Josefina asked, looking between them.

"Nothing," said Juan Luis.

"We – were all just - " Nina bit her lip.

Just then, Señora López and Señor Garcia called everyone in to begin the afternoon session of school. Josefina ran with her friends to the younger class and Nina and Juan Luis ran with their friends to the older class, and Josefina remembered the gift but forgot all about the strange interaction.

Bruno grunted a greeting as someone stepped into his peripheral vision. He'd returned to the Rojas stables to help finish cleaning and oiling the tack, which had all been laid out on the large worktable just outside the barn. He had to admit he appreciated the quiet, simple routine of cleaning the leather: Wipe away the dust and dirt. Clean. Dry. Oil. Wipe again. He'd finally finished cleaning all of the gear before lunch, and now the saddles and reins were ready to be oiled. He applied the oil to the clean cloth and worked it carefully into the leather to keep it supple, meticulously wiping any excess drips away.

It was something to do that was quiet but productive. He liked caring for the gear more than he liked caring for the animals themselves – the donkeys were ornery and he was too skittish for every horse but Itziar. But he liked the sounds and smells of the barn and yard nearby as he worked – all warm hay and old wood and leather and metal and dust. He didn't even mind the dry earthy stench of manure; he got used to it after awhile.

Sometimes Sofia and Diego came by with a drink or a snack, and he'd play at Jorge or Hernando or El Hombre Rata for Diego. Sometimes other village kids would notice and beg for an audience with Jorge or Hernando as well. Sometimes Lorenzo and his older children would come and work together with him, and Lorenzo always insisted on paying him and Bruno said it wasn't necessary. Lorenzo always said then he'd just add the deposit to Bruno's account, and Bruno didn't know if there was an actual account or if Lorenzo just said it to make them both feel better, but it was just nice, like that – helping a friend.

Bruno was halfway through oiling a saddle when he realized that the person he'd greeted earlier hadn't moved from his side and definitely wasn't Lorenzo or his sons.

He looked over his shoulder and a double take when he saw it was Mariano.

"Uh," he cleared his throat and renewed his grip on the oilcloth, as Mariano's sincere expression only grew more wide-eyed and…well, sincere. "...hola?"

Mariano smiled. "Hola, Señor Madrigal-"

"Bruno. Uh - Bruno is fine."

"Señor Bruno," Mariano said, as though his name was a profound thing, and then he set a small rectangular wooden box on the worktable outside the barn. It was the size and sort that Julieta had kept her recipes in before she'd memorized them all.

Mariano pantomimed buttoning his lips shut and raised his eyebrows meaningfully. He flipped open the lid and pulled out the first card, on which was written in careful, precise script:

I would like to request a vision. Please.

Bruno blinked at Mariano. "Oh. Um - look, I-"

Mariano held up a hand and shook his head, once again putting his finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. He pulled out the next card.

I want to see the best way to propose to Dolores.

Bruno sighed and set the oilcloth down on the table. He rubbed his hand over his face and stared at the earnest young man beside him. As far as visions go, proposals were usually a fairly safe bet, especially when they all already knew Dolores would say yes. As long as they didn't look too far into the future to see all the details of the wedding- the wedding itself, the wedding night (horribly embarrassing the first time that had happened when Bruno was a teen), the marriage, disagreements, babies, etcetera - proposals were a fairly straightforward and positive thing to look into.

Except for that whole Señor Ruiz thing.

Mariano nudged him apologetically and Bruno blinked down at the next card.

I have had two proposals end in disaster and I'd like to avoid a third.

Another card.

I just want her to be happy.

Another card.

I'll sign the contract.

Bruno frowned at the number of cards on the table in front of him and the number of cards still in the box. "How many of those did you make?"

Mariano held up a finger and flipped through the cards to lift out his answer.

57.

He pulled a small slate and chalk out of the box and handed it to Bruno, and then flipped through the cards again and pulled out another.

Please use the slate to talk.

Bruno snorted and then took the slate and chalk and stared down at it, trying not to smile. The man had painstakingly thought through Bruno's possible questions and protests and had apparently come up with an answer card for a whole lot of them.

He raised an eyebrow at Mariano and scribbled on the slate.

You know you could have just used the slate, too.

Mariano squinted as he read it and then he sat back and blinked. He looked a little embarrassed, but pulled out another card.

It would take me too long to write all the things I want to say on the slate.

Bruno pursed his lips, used his ruana to erase the message, and quickly wrote another message.

Fair. The cards are a nice touch. Very dramatic.

Mariano read it and smiled sheepishly. He filed through his cards and held up two in quick succession.

I would do anything for Dolores.

I love her.

Bruno looked at the cards and then at Mariano. Mariano held up the first card again and tapped on the 'please', his eyes growing large and pleading.

Bruno sighed and thought. Although seeing proposals were generally a better bet than looking into an entire marriage, he still wasn't sold on the idea. Especially for family. Especially for Dolores.

But they already knew Dolores would say yes, she'd already okayed the idea, and as long as he just…focused on the proposal, it should be okay.

He reached over to the table to knock rapidly on wood.

He opened his mouth but Mariano pushed the slate back into his hands and gave him a meaningful look.

Bruno sighed and picked up the slate.

Let me finish my work here and I'll get you a contract.

Mariano beamed at him and suddenly Bruno was pulled into a bear hug that rivaled one of Luisa's. Bruno wheezed slightly and Mariano set him back on the ground, his hands on Bruno's shoulders, his expression openly eager and excited.

Bruno erased the slate and scribbled something else on it.

We are only looking at the proposal. No further than that.

Mariano nodded, and Bruno erased it and added more.

No peeking at the wedding or babies or anything else, nothing but the proposal.

Mariano grinned and nodded so eagerly it made Bruno's own head hurt to watch it.

"Josefina!" Someone called her name as she walked home from school, a small group of friends spread out on their way home. Alejandra and Manuel walked beside Josefina; Juan Valencia walked a little ways ahead of them with his friend Jorge.

"Josefina Moreno!" Nina Muñoz called again, and Josefina stopped to wait as Nina and Juan Luis and Esperanza and Chico caught up. His name wasn't actually Chico; he was actually another Juan, but everyone called him Chico, and Josefina thought it suited him.

"Oh, hey Nina," Josefina said cheerfully. The groups didn't always walk home together but their houses were all in the same general direction. The children all fell in step together, and Juan and Jorge hung back to kick the fútbol Chico brought with him back and forth as they walked.

Chico hesitated to kick the ball to Juan, looking between him and Josefina.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "Well?" She said, gesturing to Juan. "You gonna kick it or not?"

Chico smiled a little sheepishly and kicked it to Juan, and the weirdness that had built up between them all in that moment disappeared.

They spoke easily of the day; the older kids complaining about the homework Señor Garcia had given them and the younger kids worrying about the math exam the next day.

"I hate subtraction," Josefina huffed. "The numbers get all jumbled in my brain and why can't 24 – 18 = 4? Eight minus four is four; four minus eight should be four too. Why are all these numbers borrowing from each other? Carrying stuff around? They're numbers. They should just stay put and do what I want them to do."

Juan Luis gave Nina a look the other kids didn't notice and she glared back at him.

Chico stopped the ball with his foot and shook his head sympathetically. "Gee, Josefina, that's rough. Sorry about all your bad luck lately."

Josefina sighed, but after a moment she wrinkled her nose. "What do you mean?" She asked. "I mean the math test isn't lucky I guess but everybody has to take that and everything else has been pretty good lately. Nina even brought me grapes today! For no reason!"

The older kids looked at each other and Nina bit her lip.

"Oh, there was a reason," Esperanza said matter-of-factly.

Josefina turned her head sharply to look at her, her confused feeling sinking somewhere inside her chest and making it feel heavy.

"You know," Juan Luis said. "That…your mom started courting Bruno Madrigal."

Josefina stared at him for a moment. "…what do you mean?"

The older kids gave each other looks and Alejandra crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at them all.

"Josefina," Nina said, obviously a little horrified – "you do know that your mama is courting Bruno Madrigal, right?"

"Of course I know!" Josefina said. "I just – why is that a reason to give me grapes?"

Esperanza tutted. "So brave," she whispered, nodding knowingly to Nina and Chico.

Juan Valencia and Jorge had stopped talking and were watching and listening now, too.

"Well, I mean - you do know that Bruno is…bad luck…right?" Juan Luis whispered dramatically.

Josefina's mouth dropped open. "No he is not!"

The older kids exchanged another look and shook their heads. It was a look grown-ups gave to kids if they thought they knew more than them and were being all smug about it, and Josefina hated that look.

"I mean," Nina said nervously, playing with the beads on the end of her braids, "I mean – he's not…bad, Josefina. We know he did that play with your mama at La Feria de Las Flores and it was really cool - "

" – but just because he helps out your tío with the horses and puts on a rat play doesn't mean he's not bad luck." Esperanza finished. "Why do you think he spends so much time around animals? It's 'cause his bad luck can't hurt them."

"What?! No - "

"He told my mamí a long time ago that she'd never have another baby after me and he was right," Juan Luis said.

"He told mi abuelo we'd lose an entire season's worth of wheat to blight and it happened," Jorge piped up.

Esperanza pursed her lips and nodded along at Jorge's inclusion. "Mi padre always told me it was bad luck to talk about Bruno when he was gone and one time I asked about him and the next day I lost my favorite bracelet."

Josefina looked offended at that. "He was gone! How'd he make you lose your bracelet? That's - "

" - stupid!" Alejandra supplied, glaring at the older kids and standing up for her friend.

"-and the day he came back Casita fell. And then at the Festival - " Juan Luis began.

"You're all wrong!" Josefina cried, clenching her hands into fists beside her. "You're all wrong and you don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah!" Hollered Alejandra, who was always willing to raise her voice for a good cause. "Don Bruno is nice! And funny!"

"He's not bad luck!" Josefina insisted. "He didn't make any of that stuff happen, he just told you about it! Like – like – like Joseph in the Bible! He didn't make the hungry years come, he just helped people get ready for them, and that's what Bruno does too! And – and – and he sees good stuff too! He saw where to find me when I was in the jungle! And he saw how to help at the Festival! He was amazing! Dolores heard the motorcycle coming and then Bruno looked and saw that it would crash and he told everyone what to do so that no one would get hurt when it did!"

"Well mi madre said that at the council meeting Juan's madre said - "

"Leave my madre out of this!" Juan said, the first thing he'd contributed to the conversation.

"Your mama thinks he's evil," Esperanza accused. "We don't think he's evil. He doesn't mean to make bad things happen, they just do when he's around, he can't help it!"

"We're sorry," Nina explained to Josefina, "that your mama's replacing your padre with Bad-Luck Bruno. I thought…we thought maybe some grapes would cheer you up."

Josefina stared silently at Nina for a moment, her eyes wide and unblinking and filling with angry tears.

Alejandra spoke first. "It was PITY JAM!" She hollered, her arms flailing. "You gave her PITY GRAPES!"

Josefina's stomach turned over at the thought of all the grapes she'd eaten earlier that day and how fun it had been. She didn't think she'd ever want grapes again after finding out they'd only given them to her because they felt sorry for her. Because they thought that Bruno made bad things happen and that bad things would happen to her now that he was replacing her padre.

"He's NOT replacing my papa!" She yelled, her voice cracking with volume and rage and her hands balling into fists at her sides. "Mamá is NOT replacing anyone! We're – we're not – taking away my papa – we're - we're just adding! He's just – adding in and he's Bruno and he's not bad luck! He's – he's fun and funny and nice and he - "

"He came back and Casita fell down! And then he lived at your house and then your papa's murales was ruined and covered over! And then you got lost in the jungle! And - "

"No – you're – you're WRONG!" Josefina screamed the last word so loudly her voice broke.

"Yeah!" Alejandra yelled right along with her. "You're all wrong!"

The older kids' faces shifted then, from pity to something different and pinched and almost angry.

"Well, we'll see who's wrong," Juan Luis said, his own voice growing louder too. "We'll see who's wrong when bad things keep happening to you and your madre and it's all because of Bruno Madrigal."

"You're not allowed to say that anymore," Juan Valencia said softly as he took a step back to distance himself from the group, his voice a low warning. "You'll get in trouble and then the Madrigals won't help you anymore."

"I didn't say anything wrong!" Esperanza insisted, narrowing her eyes at the younger boy.

"You said - "

"SHUT UP!" Josefina screamed. "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

"You shut up!" Esperanza yelled right back. "You shut up! Are you stupid? We were being nice! We were just trying to be nice you dumb - "

"Niños!" A stern voice stopped their yelling. One of the older women in the village approached the shouting match growing on the road. "What is the meaning of all this noise, eh? Are you trying to wake the dead? Or disturb your neighbors? Because you've already succeeded at one."

The children all froze.

The woman stood there with her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. "Shoo. Go home."

Josefina took another look at the faces of the people she'd thought were friends, turned, and ran, tears stinging her eyes and blurring her vision the entire way home.

Bruno pushed open the door to his vision room with his shoulder, his fingers crossed and holding his breath. Mariano followed and his mouth dropped open in shock. He stepped forward and reached up to touch the leaves of a nearby tree, his eyes wide and expression filled with awe.

Bruno shut the door behind them, knocking on a tree trunk and throwing salt and sugar over his shoulders. "You can talk now. We'll have to be able to talk during the vision anyway, but she shouldn't be able to hear anything in here with the door closed and the waterfall and everything. Besides, I don't think she's – ah – I don't think there's any reason she'd be listening in this direction today. You know?"

He was lying. Dolores probably knew very well exactly where they were and what they were about to do, although he didn't know if she was listening intently to make sure everything went well or trying her hardest not to listen so that she could be surprised.

If it was him, he'd probably be listening.

"It's beautiful," Mariano breathed. He turned to Bruno, his eyebrows drawn together and his hands outstretched imploringly to encompass the entire vision room. "It's – wonderful! It is nothing compared to Dolores herself, of course," he hastened to add, "She puts even the sunrise over the mountains of the Encanto to shame. But still! A room like this – imagine the poems! Do you write your telenovelas here, in this garden?" His eyes lit up and his gaze grew distant. "A garden…that links the present…to the future! The harsh sands of Father Time balanced by the gentle presence of – of – of - "

"- Mother Nature?" Bruno supplied, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

Mariano smiled. "Sí! That's it! Do you write poetry too?" He didn't wait for an answer and propped his chin in his hand and contemplated the scenery. He was silent for a long moment before he began muttering to himself.

"…rhymes with roja – but no – no, that wouldn't – ah – amada - yes, yes – that might - "

"Ahem?" Bruno cleared his throat and brushed past him, gesturing to the circle of sand across the small bridge. "Mariano Guzman," he said, his voice low and dramatic. "Your future awaits."

Mariano shook himself out of his musings and gave Bruno a big smile. "Oh! Gracias. Let's go."

They sat in the center of the circle and Bruno made his piles and lit his leaves, tossing more salt and sugar over his shoulders and finishing the ritual for the vision. Mariano took his hands when he held them out, and they began.

Bruno concentrated his power and focused on seeing the moment Mariano proposed to Dolores. The swirling dome of sand began to coalesce into a picture of the town square, filled with people on a busy afternoon.

Mariano frowned, twisting this way and that. "There? But she doesn't want - "

"Kid, look. There you are." Bruno released one of Mariano's hands and pointed.

Mariano, standing on one side of the town square, a look of breathless adoration on his face.

Dolores, facing away from him on the other side of the square.

Dolores, turning to look over her shoulder.

A ring, sparkling on Dolores' finger.

Dolores in Mariano's arms, lifted off the ground, a huge smile on both of their faces.

A tender kiss.

Bruno stopped the vision there. No further than that. Proposal, she said yes, the end. Just like he promised.

Mariano looked at him, confused. "That's it? Just – in town square one day I propose?! But she doesn't even want a big public proposal!"

Bruno blinked at him.

"What if I take her to the lake? On a rainy day? She likes the sound of the rain hitting the lake. Not a big storm, just a drizzle. What if I do that?"

Bruno sighed. Of course it wouldn't be that simple. "You want – you wanna look for butterflies?" He asked.

Mariano's face lit up. "Oh! Sí! I would love to look for the butterflies. What if - "

Bruno focused on returning to the start of the vision, and Mariano braced himself.

To Bruno's surprise, what seemed like a hundred different butterflies burst to life around vision Mariano, fluttering in a hundred different directions.

"What the - "

"That's a lot of butterflies, Señor," Mariano said.

"Uh – yeah. It – it definitely is." Bruno was confused. How could there possibly be this many potential outcomes to Mariano's proposal? It made him nervous.

"Let's follow that one," Mariano said, pointing to the largest butterfly.

They watched as vision Mariano led Dolores to the lake in a rainstorm. Mariano leaned forward eagerly, watching as his vision self knelt down to propose…

…and the umbrella he carried promptly got hit by lightning.

Mariano's lips parted in horror, but in the vision, Dolores stuffed an arepa in his mouth, and the vision ended the similarly to the first –

A ring, sparkling on Dolores' finger.

Dolores pressing a kiss to Mariano's forehead, a huge smile on both of their faces.

A tender kiss.

Bruno returned to the start of the vision, and Mariano closed his mouth and set his jaw. "Well," he said hopefully, searching through the swarm of butterflies for another. "Let's try – that one."

Mariano and Dolores in San Cristobál; Dolores wearing earmuffs, taking in the sights of the city while Mariano stares in awe at her.

Mariano, kneeling to propose.

A hooded figure, snatching the ring from Mariano's hand and vaulting over him.

A ring, sparkling on Dolores' finger as her hand tenderly frames Mariano's face. He has a broken nose and a black eye.

A tender kiss.

"Oh. Ah…maybe…third time's…the charm?" Mariano asked, grimacing.

Bruno sighed and pressed back to the start of the vision. That already was the third proposal they'd seen. Unless Mariano wasn't counting the original. Oh well. Whatever the count was, they obviously had a long way to go.

There were so many possibilities.

Mariano proposing at Casita resulted in Camilo and Mirabel chasing several of Antonio's animals around; all the animals were covered in something – some sort of mud or paint that dripped all over them and the floor. Mariano knelt to propose, slipped on the sludge covering the floor, and somehow got trampled by a herd of capybara. Still, it ended the same way – a ring on Dolores' finger and a tender kiss.

"What about – what about at my house?" Mariano asked desperately after two more proposals ended in disaster.

Somehow, a proposal at La Casa Guzman ended with one of Isabela's pollen experiments next door causing Mariano to have an allergic reaction. Dolores nursed him back to health with Julieta's food, and it ended, as they all did, with a ring on Dolores' finger and a tender kiss.

Bruno and Mariano went through at least ten more butterflies in the same manner, and at some point, Mariano's tone changed from apprehensive to resigned and then morbidly curious.

It was always the same.

Mariano asked 'what if…?', and they followed another butterfly to another proposal that ended in complete disaster.

After the nineteenth butterfly, Bruno's hands were starting to shake and he could no longer stomach the anxiety rising up in his chest. "Look, ah – Mariano, I'm – I'm so sorry. I – I wanted this to – I wanted to help - but - "

"Sorry?!" Mariano turned to him with a look of utmost concern on his face. "Señor, why are you sorry?" He gripped Bruno's shoulder with his free hand, his eyes filling with tears. "This is the best thing I've ever seen in my life! You could not have given me a greater gift, mi tío futuro!"

Bruno blinked at him. "W - wait…what?!"

Mariano released him to fling his arm wide, the vision currently frozen at the beginning scene, with butterflies flickering around the vision version of himself in the town square. "She says yes! No matter how awfully it goes, no matter how terribly I mess up, no matter what disaster comes our way – she says yes every time. In every future, in every way, mi tesora, my corazón - she says yes, and we are together. What could be a better future than that? I have never seen something so romantic!"

Bruno stared at him, unable to come up to a response to that for a solid minute. "Uh - well – ah – should I – make you a tablet then? I'm - getting kind of tired so - "

"Oh, lo siento, Señor! I am so sorry! I am just – so full of love for mi amada and so overcome with gratitude to you. Sí, sí. A tablet. Of the first proposal, por favor. It will be displayed in a place of honor for generations to come. We will tell - "

"Original future coming up," Bruno interrupted, allowing the vision to end and condense itself into a tablet.

He handed it to Mariano, who stared silently at it for an increasingly awkward amount of time before crushing Bruno, once again, in a bear hug.

"Gracias, Señor. Tío. May I call you tío, now? Gracias. I will – this will be – perfecto."

The print shop was closed and the courtyard at La Casa Hernandez was strangely quiet as Bruno let himself in, looking forward to seeing Lucía and Josefina and telling them about the chaos that was his afternoon. He wouldn't tell them the details of Mariano's vision – that was for him and him alone to share – but he knew they'd appreciate Mariano's reaction to his vision room.

"Hola?" He called softly. "Anyone home?" He frowned. He didn't think Lucía was out. It wasn't her night to visit with Ana and Raquel and she hadn't said anything about going to Sofia and Lorenzo's for dinner.

"En la sala, Bruno," José called from the living room, and Bruno made his way there.

Josefina was curled up on the couch with her doll Beatriz, stroking her hair and adjusting her dress. José sat beside his granddaughter, his glasses perched on his nose as he read through several papers. "Hola," he said, looking up at Bruno from over his glasses.

"Ah – hola…?" Bruno said, giving him a small wave. "Hola, Josefina. Where – ah – where's Lucía?"

Josefina pulled her knees up in front of her and hid her face from him behind her doll and José sighed. "She's at La Casa Muñoz returning some jam and correcting some…misconceptions."

"It's pity jam and we don't want it," Josefina mumbled.

Bruno blinked at them. "…who's what now?"

José sighed. "Josefina? I need to get dinner started. Is it all right if I ask Bruno for some help making it and tell him what happened? Or would you like to tell him?"

Josefina shrugged in the way children did when they were clearly only participating in the conversation under extreme duress.

"What happened?" Bruno asked, anxiety nibbling at the edges of his ruana and prickling at his skin.

José looked at Josefina for a long moment.

"I don't wanna tell him," she said stubbornly. "…but you can."

José nodded. "That's fine, mi fresita." He kissed her on the forehead and stood slowly, placing his hands on his lower back and stretching as he did so. "Come, Bruno. I'll tell you all about it."

"…she was inconsolable when she got home," José continued softly as Bruno mechanically chopped onions and peppers to go with the arroz con pollo they were making for dinner. With every chop and every word from José, the knife felt heavier and heavier in his hand. "It took Lucía twenty minutes to calm Josefina down enough to understand what was wrong; what had happened in the first place. Josefina was embarrassed she'd gotten into trouble for yelling in the street, she was angry at Nina and Juan Luis and the others for their attitude about you. I think she was also angry at herself for not realizing what was going on sooner. She feels…" José hesitated.

"…dumb."

Bruno heard Josefina's soft self-reproach at the same time he felt her fling her arms around his waist, burying her face in his ruana. He froze for a moment, staring at the vegetables on the cutting board. He took a deep breath, knocked on the wooden counter, and twisted, attempting to kneel down so that he could talk to Josefina.

She didn't make it easy and refused to let go, so that he only ended up twisting himself up instead.

"Ah – hey," he said softly, patting her head. "Josefina. You're not – you're not dumb."

She shrugged again, her reply muffled by his ruana.

"You're not dumb, okay?" Bruno repeated. "This isn't – you didn't do anything wrong. Those kids - " he sighed, his heart breaking for her. He knew this would happen. It killed him that he'd gotten her into this mess. But if – one day – she was going to be part of la familia Madrigal – she was going to have to learn how to navigate these sorts of things. And he had a lot of experience, there. Maybe he could find some way to help.

"Those kids were wrong," José continued evenly, taking the vegetables Bruno had chopped and sliding them into a pan with garlic and oil to sauté.

"But they – they were so nice," Josefina turned her head so they could hear her more clearly. "At first."

"They had good intentions," José agreed. "But their motivation was misguided. And they were wrong in their assumptions about how you felt about Bruno."

"They were wrong about Bruno, period!" Josefina said hotly.

"Eh," Bruno said, waving his palm side to side. "I did tell their parents all those things. I didn't make them come true, but I did tell them - about the baby and the wheat. Didn't have anything to do with the bracelet. Heh. But – I did give them bad news, all those years ago. And they – didn't like it."

"That's not fair," Josefina said. "They're just making stuff up about you and mixing all the true stuff up with stuff that's not true and when I told them that they got mad at me!"

"I'm sorry," Bruno said softly. "That's not fair, either."

"And they kept giving each other looks like they knew what they were talking about and I was just a dumb kid! It was so annoying! They're not that much older than me!"

"That is annoying."

"And Esperanza was rude."

"People can be rude when things don't go the way they planned. Or – ah – when they hear something they don't want to hear."

"And they were all wrong!" Josefina's voice wobbled and she bunched Bruno's ruana in her fists, squeezing and squeezing.

"…I'm sorry," Bruno said lamely, looking helplessly at José.

"I'm tired of thinking about it!" Josefina announced angrily. "It's just making me mad all over again! But I can't make my brain stop thinking about it!"

Bruno sighed. "Do you want to play a game?"

Josefina thought it over and shook her head. "…I don't want to play a game."

Bruno rubbed his fingers together nervously, as his ruana was currently still being used by the child at his side and was unavailable to scrunch in his hands. "How…how about I read you a story?"

Josefina made a face.

"…how about…Hernando reads you a story?" Bruno asked desperately.

Josefina paused and looked up at him, her expression clearing just a bit.

"…okay. We can try that."

"Let's see…ah! This one will surely satisfy you, good sir!" Bruno-as-Hernando swaggered, laying out Alejandro Moreno's book of fairytales on the table beside the couch, open to the story of Cenicienta.

He quickly jumped to the other side of the rug on the floor, flinging off his hood and plonking a bucket down on his head in one fell swoop. "No." He said in the stubborn, flat voice of Jorge.

Back to Hernando, his hand over his chest in mock offense. "Why not?! What flaw could you possibly find in a story as classic as this?"

Back to Jorge. "No. The prince dances all night but forgets Cenicienta's face. Jorge thinks the prince is stupid."

"Hey!" Josefina said, crossing her arms and trying to laugh. "That's rude, Jorge!"

"Jorge is not rude. Jorge is honest." Jorge responded flatly.

Bruno took the bucket off, hopped back to the other side of the floor in front of the couch, and pulled his hood back on, over his face. "La Gente Mono?" He suggested with a flourish.

Back to the bucket and Jorge. "No."

"Why not, Jorge?" Josefina cried, leaning forward. Her eyes had brightened considerably as Bruno acted out the argument between the swaggering Hernando and stubborn Jorge, and she was visibly trying not to smile.

Bruno was completely in his element, all of his focus on cheering Josefina up with his outrageous characters. And – maybe she'd get a little encouragement from it all, too.

"Jorge thinks everyone should know. Stick people cannot do chores for humans! They are small. Their stick arms would snap. In two. Jorge has made the spackle for them before. Jorge knows."

Back to the hood and Hernando, who crossed his arms in indignation. "Fine, Señor Jorge of the Bucket! If no suggestion I make satisfies you, perhaps you should choose the story we read to the good Señorita!"

Once again, the hood came off and the bucket went back on. Bruno was starting to sweat a little. "Jorge will choose the story." He flipped the pages haphazardly, lifting his chin to get a view of the book through the small window of vision he had at the rim of the bucket. "Here."

He made a great show of Hernando accepting the book and looking at the page. Hernando groaned dramatically. "Los Tres Cerditos! I should have known!"

"Jorge likes Los Tres Cerditos. Jorge knows los tres cerditos. I am Jorge. I make the mortar. And the spackle. Mud, okay. Plaster is tricky. Bricks, okay, I can do that." Jorge said flatly.

Back as Hernando, Bruno narrowed his eyes at where he stood as Jorge only a moment ago and harrumphed in irritation. He cleared his throat and began to read. "Once upon a time, a mother pig had three little pigs and not enough food to feed them."

He leapt to the other side of the rug on the floor. "Wrong!" Jorge proclaimed.

Back to Hernando. "What?!"

"Wrong." Jorge said flatly.

Josefina giggled.

Bruno's heart fluttered with pride.

Back to Hernando. "What do you mean, wrong?!"

Back to Jorge. "There were seven pigs. They had plenty of food. The three pigs were bored and wanted adventure."

Josefina snorted. "That's not how it goes!"

Jorge shifted so that he was, in theory, staring at her. Through the bucket on his head. "Jorge knows. Jorge made the mortar. And the spackle. Mud, okay. Plaster is tricky. Bricks, okay, I can do that."

Josefina pressed her lips into a thin line and lifted her chin, her eyes glinting with amusement as Bruno shifted back to the other side of the rug as Hernando. He sighed dramatically. "Fine. There were seven pigs. One day, three of the pigs set out to have an adventure and seek their fortunes. The first little pig was very lazy. Oh, that is not a good character trait, chicita. Not good at all. Hernando cannot - Ah. Yes, moving on. He was not interested in work, and so when he came across a man selling straw, he - "

"WRONG." Jorge proclaimed, his voice echoing in the bucket. "The first little pig built his house of hay. He was not lazy. He liked the smell of hay. In the sun. And to eat it. Actually. He built his house of hay and flor de mayo. And palm leaves. And banana leaves. All plants. He was a gardening pig."

Josefina giggled again.

Back and forth Bruno went, attempting to read through the story of los tres cerditos as Hernando, and continuously interrupting himself as Jorge with increasingly outrageous adjustments to the tale. There was no wolf. The wolf was a lie. The first pig simply ate his house himself. The second pig made his house of sticks, but they were actually the sticks the old man used to make the stick men in La Gente Mono, so a wolf didn't blow that pig's house down. One day, he clapped with delight at a gingerbread man he'd made, and the entire house walked off on its own.

The third little pig ordered his bricks and mortar from Jorge himself and invited him to a delicious meal in thanks. When the other two pigs came knocking on the door, crying about a wolf, once again Jorge interrupted.

"Wrong!" He announced, his flat monotone sounding strangely arrogant.

Josefina was doubled over with laughter. "Jorge!" She cried. "Jorge, you're being rude!"

"And annoying!" Bruno-as-Hernando announced.

"And you're wrong!" Josefina added, unable to stop giggling. "None of what you're saying is true!"

"Jorge is not wrong," Bruno, now as Jorge, insisted. "Jorge makes the spackle. You make nothing. You know nothing."

He spun to the side and was Hernando once again, pulling an imaginary sword form its scabbard. "That is three strikes against you, my friend. You are rude! Annoying! And wrong! And now you insult the fair Josefina's honor! I challenge you to a duel! En guard!"

Back to Jorge, who made a small, scared 'eep' from inside his bucket.

Josefina leaped up from the couch, sprawling her arms out in front of Bruno, who was Hernando once again.

"Step aside, fair lady! I will skewer this man like the pig he is!"

"No! No, Hernando! You can't duel him!" Josefina cried. "You're right! He's annoying, and rude, and wrong, but we've told him and told him and he's just not listening but you can't – you can't duel him for that!"

"Well then what do you suggest I do?!" Hernando responded.

Josefina stopped for a moment. "…ignore him?"

"Ignore him! Pbffft!" Hernando scoffed. He paused. He looked at her. "…do you really think that would work?"

Josefina smiled at him. "We can try it."

Lucía stood watching the scene play out from her spot just behind the entryway to the living room. She'd arrived shortly after they'd begun reading Los Tres Cerditos and had a clear line of sight to Bruno's spirited performance.

She'd returned the jar of jam to Nina's madre, who seemed embarrassed and said she'd talk to Nina about it but also made no apologies. When Lucía had explained, firmly and politely, that both she and Josefina were thrilled to have Bruno in their lives, Señora Muñoz had simply given her a strained smile and said 'Of course. My congratulations.'

She'd left feeling both like she'd done too much and too little at the same time – that she'd made it into too big an issue while at the same time not doing enough to address it. And then she'd come home to the savory smell of arroz con pollo on the stove, and her padre had put his finger to his lips and nodded toward the living room.

She watched everything play out with tears building in her eyes, a smile growing on her lips, and warmth blossoming in her heart that threatened to consume her.

She loved that man more with every passing day, with every word he spoke, with every giggle he elicited from her daughter.

"If you don't marry him one day," her padre whispered quietly at her shoulder, "I'm just going to adopt him."

Lucía gave him an incredulous look.

Papá smiled at her and tapped his nose with his finger. "That's the best bit of improvisation in storytelling I've ever seen in my life." He turned back to the stove. "Let them know dinner is ready in ten minutes."

Lucía turned to watch them for another moment or so.

"Ignore him! Pbbbft!" Bruno-as-Hernando exclaimed, skeptic. "…do you really think that would work?"

"…we can try it," Josefina said with a smile.

Lucía stepped into the room and cleared her throat. "I'd be willing to help with that," she said, and Bruno and Josefina froze and looked up over the couch at her.

Bruno pushed the hood back from his head and gave her a sheepish smile. "Ah – hola, Lucía. We – we were – we were just - "

She stepped forward and scooped up the bucket, smiling at Bruno and kissing him on the cheek before stepping back and holding the bucket out to him. He took it, his awkward smile growing into more of a grin, and he plopped it gently on his head.

"You were just telling a story, right? Let's finish the story and see if we can - "

"You cannot. Only Jorge can finish the story of los tres cerditos. Only Jorge knows the truth!"

" – let's see if we can ignore Jorge's attempts to spoil it, shall we?"

Two days later, Mariano was on his way home when he spotted Dolores across the town square, making her way home after assisting Señora Ruiz in the jungle, continuing her research on various animals.

She was – beautiful. Absolutely perfect. The love of his life. He was so incredibly full of adoration and affection.

"Oh, Dolores," he whispered to himself, so softly the people walking by didn't even stop. "Mi amada, you are the love of my life. The wisest, kindest, and most beautiful woman of my acquaintance. You hear me, and I long for the day I can see you every morning when I wake up and every evening before I close my eyes. Dolores, Dolores, mi amor, mi tesora, mi corazón – when will you marry me, beloved? Will you, soon? Will you be my wife?"

And then she turned, slowly, and their eyes met across the crowded square. His heart caught in his throat as he remembered Bruno's vision and the tablet he stored safely in his drawer at home, and he watched Dolores' mouth turn up into a smile.

"Sí," she mouthed, across the square. She started walking toward him, moving through people and around animals, and he started toward her as well, moving faster and faster until they were nearly running.

They stopped, just before each other, arms length apart.

He was breathing hard as he took the ring out of his pocket, but before he could kneel Dolores took hold of his hands and pulled him closer.

"Was that a yes?" He murmured. "Please tell me that was a yes."

Dolores blinked back tears and smiled and nodded. "Si," she whispered back. "Yes. Yes. A million times, yes."

He slid the ring onto her finger, and it caught in the sunlight and sparkled. Mariano whisked her into his arms and spun her around and the sound of her laughter was the most glorious thing he'd ever heard in his life.

When they sealed their promise with a tender kiss and the people witnessing their display began their congratulations, Mariano thought his future never looked brighter.

A/N: Yeah, totally ripped off the Bluey episode "Unihorse" with the annoying Jorge performance bit, but I make no apologies. It's a cute show and I love it.

The idea for the proposal between Mariano and Dolores being him whispering it across a crowded plaza is from a comment Sue_Clover made way back in Chapter 28 on ao3. Thank you Sue_Clover! It was a super cute idea and I decided to incorporate it.

Thanks so much for reading; I appreciate you all!