"Oops! I dropped my spatula!"
Julieta loved "accidentally" dropping things whenever she thought Agustín might enter the kitchen. This time, her little game wasn't as fun as it used to be.
Julieta struggled to breathe as she bent over to pick up the spatula. She didn't know why, but she had often been short of breath lately. Okay, so maybe she had put on a few pounds…
Unfortunately for her, it was only Mirabel was walking past.
"Mirabel, can you help me pick up my spatula?" Julieta asked.
Mirabel ignored her mom and kept walking.
Oh, no. Did she not hear me? Maybe she needs hearing aids!
Julieta sighed.
"I'll just have to try again."
She bent over again, and her skirt ripped.
"Oh, no!" Julieta cried. "That was my favorite skirt. Now everyone's going to see my underwear…"
Alma glided into the kitchen, followed by Pepa.
"Ha! Your skirt ripped, because you're getting fat!" Alma laughed.
You're not exactly slim yourself, Julieta thought, but she wasn't brave enough to say so.
"Mamá, please stop. I'm already having a bad day," Julieta pleaded.
"Really? Why?" Alma asked.
"I miss Mirabel," Julieta said.
"Miss her? But she's still alive," Alma said.
"Unfortunately," Pepa added.
"I know but she never talks to me anymore. It seems like she's avoiding me," Julieta said. She was used to Pepa hating on Mirabel.
"Maybe she hates you!" Pepa cackled.
"R-r-really? But why?" Julieta asked.
"Never mind that. Go change," Alma said. "Nobody wants to see your underwear."
Agustín was waiting for Julieta in their bedroom.
"Hello, my love!"
"Oh, hey," Julieta replied. "Have you been doing nothing all day… AGAIN?"
"When I have to spend so much time away from you, I'm too sad to do anything."
"Well, I have to go back soon," Julieta said. "I just came here to change."
"No! Please don't go!" Agustín said, wrapping his arms around her. "Stay here. Just for a little while. Please?"
"You know what Mami always says. My only purposes in life are to cook, and to have babies. And I'm too old to have babies!"
"Ha!" Agustín laughed. "That would be funny if you did have another, wouldn't it?"
"Oh, no! I think that Pepa would get jealous! And Mirabel wouldn't like that, either. She already hates me enough…"
She paused, trying to stop herself from crying.
"I don't understand why Mami forces me to do so much work, while Pepa gets to lie in bed all day."
"Yeah, your sister has gotten quite lazy…" Agustín agreed.
"It's favoritism! She clearly loves Pepa more than me."
"I can try having another talk with that evil bitch."
"Okay, but please don't resort to violence."
"I'll try not to," Agustín chuckled. Secretly, he wanted to throw Alma down the stairs.
"I don't see what good it would do, anyways. It would take a miracle for her to start caring about my feelings," Julieta said, after she had changed her skirt.
When she returned to the kitchen, she began cooking beans for some reason.
"Wow, this is an extremely heavy pot of beans. Hopefully, I don't drop it and spill beans everywhere!" she said, dropping the pot and spilling beans everywhere.
"Well… I guess we're not having beans for dinner," she sighed.
At dinner time, Alma had an announcement.
"As you all may have noticed, Julieta has gotten quite fat. Therefore, I have decided that I will let her outside to take a walk once day."
"Wow," Julieta said. "Thanks, Mami."
"I know that you desperately needed the exercise," Alma said. "Just be back in twenty minutes."
"Okay, Mami!" Julieta said, putting on a fake smile. She had forgotten how to be happy long ago, but she could at least pretend.
"Oh? Uh…okay," Mirabel said.
Julieta kept trying to talk to Mirabel as they walked, but Mirabel wouldn't respond.
"Why do you hate me?!" Julieta whined.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Mirabel said, grinning. "Who says that I hate you?"
"I can tell by the way you act. You're always avoiding me, and you don't ever want to talk to me anymore."
"You're the one who's avoiding me! And everyone else in the entire family!" Mirabel said, crossing her arms angrily.
"Not on purpose! I'm just trying to do what your Abuela says…" Julieta said nervously.
She noticed that Mirabel looked upset, and tried to relax.
"Listen. I know things have been a bit weird lately. But I just want you to know that I'll always love you, no matter what happens… okay?"
"Okay, now you're starting to freak me out. What's going on, Mami?"
"I think that I might be… no, I'm pretty sure that I am…" Julieta started, but was interrupted by a clap of thunder.
"Oh! We'd better head back inside," she said, relieved.
Mirabel stayed up all night, trying to figure out what her mom was talking about.
Suddenly, Pepa barged into Mirabel's room.
Mirabel screamed as Pepa began searching.
"Tía, what do you want?" Mirabel groaned.
"I WANT ANTONIO!" Pepa screeched. Her eyes were glowing, and she appeared to have a grin on her face.
But this wasn't an expression of happiness. She had gone insane.
"He's not here," Mirabel said. "This isn't even his room…"
"What are you talking about?! Of course it is!" A storm cloud formed over Pepa's head as she glared at Mirabel.
Mirabel began shaking. She didn't know what she could do to stop her crazy aunt.
Suddenly, Agustín charged into the room.
"Stop harassing my daughter, you idiot!"
"SHE STOLE MY BABY! TELL HER TO GIVE HIM BACK!" Pepa wailed, nearly drowned out by the sound of pouring rain.
"She doesn't have him."
"WAAH! WHY ARE YOU WITHHOLDING MY CHILD FROM ME?!"
Pepa dropped to the ground, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed.
Agustín sighed. Then, he dragged her out as she screamed and cried.
Pepa continued to scream and cry all night. When she finally fell asleep, she slept past lunch time.
"Come on, Pepa," Félix coaxed. "You need to wake up and eat."
Julieta stood in the doorway, trying to catch her breath.
"It's oka, we can just use the tube feeding kit."
Pepa suddenly woke up.
"No, no, no! I'll eat! I'll eat!" she panicked.
Félix and Julieta laughed.
"You… uh… don't really have a tube feeding kit, do you?"
The laughter continued.
"Hmph! Dolores is skinny, and you don't treat her this way," Pepa complained.
"Well, that's because she actually eats," said Julieta.
"Yeah, even Antonio eats more than you do!" Félix chuckled.
"Whatever! I'm getting outta here!" Pepa tried to leave the room, but Julieta sat on Pepa to prevent her from getting out of bed.
"GET YOUR FAT BUTT OFF OF ME!" Pepa screamed.
"Not until you eat your food!" Julieta said.
"WAAH!" Pepa wailed. "I just woke up, and my day is already ruined!"
Julieta shoved a spoonful of food into Pepa's mouth.
Pepa screeched and grabbed at Julieta's apron strings.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Julieta asked.
Pepa started untying the apron, but Julieta smacked her hand away.
"No, no, no!"
"Hmph. I'm an adult. I should be able to do what I want!" Pepa protested. "Why do you always keep that apron on anyways? Are you trying to hide something?"
"What? No, of course not!"
Julieta said, sweating nervously. Her stomach was hurting.
Ow! This feels even worse than when Luisa hugged me too hard!
"I… uh… have to go," she said, quickly exiting Pepa's room.
The pain rapidly worsened as Julieta stumbled back into the kitchen.
She tried not to make a sound, but it was no good. She soon found herself groaning in agony.
Isabela and Mirabel rushed into the kitchen.
"Mami! Are you okay?" Mirabel asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… pulled a muscle or something."
"Maybe you need to sit down…" Isabela said.
"No, I have to keep working… " Julieta groaned.
"Casita, Casita! Give her a seat-ah!" Mirabel sang.
"NO! NO!" Julieta protested. "I must keep cooking!"
Casita forced her to sit down. Stupid Casita.
Julieta sighed.
"I'm useless. I can't help anyone, not even myself…"
"Oh, no! You're losing your gift?" Mirabel asked.
"No, no… maybe I just need to untie my apron…" Julieta said. The apron did seem unusually tight, and she felt as though her ribs were being squeezed.
"That's okay. We don't mind… right, Mirabel?" Isabela said, staring sternly at her sister.
Mirabel whimpered and squirmed as Julieta began untying her apron.
Dolores, who was on the other side of the house, decided to tattle.
"Abuela, Tía is removing her apron!"
"Ugh! What an annoying brat!" Alma said.
"Are you gonna punish her?" Pepa asked.
"I'll go punish her, after I finish my coffee," Alma said.
"Kick and punch her really hard!" Pepa cackled. "Don't hold back!"
"Wow, Mami! Why do you hate Tía so much?" Dolores asked.
"Because…" Pepa said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She didn't help my baby…"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
It wasn't often that Dolores didn't know what someone was talking about.
What baby? Did she mean Antonio? Nothing happened to him! Otherwise, I would've heard it! Dolores thought.
"Forget it. You'd never understand," Pepa said, and then stomped out of the room.
Julieta had just finally started to relax, when she heard Alma approaching.
"Oh, no! I'd better put my apron back on."
"I'll help you, Mami."
"Thanks, Isabela."
Isabela spent a ridiculously long amount of time tying the apron. As her hands brushed against Julieta's bulging belly, chills ran up and down her spine. Although she didn't know exactly what emotion it was or why, she had become overwhelmed by a strange feeling.
"I'm so glad that you don't hate me, like Mirabel does," Julieta said, smiling through the pain.
"What? I don't hate you, Mami!"
"You don't?"
"No! I love you!" Mirabel said, grinning.
"And I love you, too!" Isabela said.
Mirabel and Isabela hugged their mom, while Luisa watched them through the window like a creep.
"Aw… I'm so glad to have three beautiful daughters who are so kind and loving," Julieta said.
"And wouldn't it be wonderful to have four?" Agustín said, entering the room.
"Agustín, no. We've talked about this already."
"Uhh…what does he mean?" Mirabel asked.
"He's just being silly," Julieta said.
"Y-y-yeah, of course…" Agustín said, embarrassed.
The next day, when Julieta was making her special red sauce, her stomach started hurting again.
Her hands shook, and she nearly dropped the saucepan. Special red sauce splattered all over her apron.
"I think I need to lie down…"
After tearing the apron off and throwing it to the ground, Julieta stumbled back to her bedroom.
"Oh, no! Mami's apron is here, but not Mami!" Mirabel said, when she entered the kitchen later that day.
Her heart raced as she looked closer at the apron and saw the special red sauce stains.
Turning around, Mirabel saw that Alma was behind her.
"D-d-did Mami get hurt?"
"No, she just went back to bed because she's lazy," Alma said.
"Oh, okay!"
Mirabel started to cheer up, but then she heard Julieta groaning in pain.
"Oh, no! Mami!"
Mirabel ran to her mother's room.
Julieta was lying in bed. Her stomach looked like it had somehow gotten even bigger than the day before.
"Oh, Mirabel!"
Julieta tried to cover herself with the blanket.
"Mami! Are you dying?" Mirabel asked.
"I don't know about that. I'll be fine. I think…" Julieta watched the world darken around her, as she struggled to stay conscious.
Mirabel climbed into the bed, and got under the blanket with Julieta.
"I love you, Mami…"
Alma rushed into the room.
"MIRABEL! Get out! You're way too old for this nonsense!" she nagged.
"But she's dying!"
"That's even worse! Do you really wanna wake up next to a dead body?"
Mirabel clung tightly to Julieta and cried.
"I've had enough," Alma said. "This is ridiculous."
She forcibly removed the blanket.
"Come on, Mirabel. Get out of here."
"NOO!"
Mirabel screamed and flailed as Alma dragged her out of the room.
Julieta became even more determined not to let her mysterious pains stop her.
"Good morning, Casita!" she chirped, as she woke up the following the morning.
"I'm gonna be happy today, no matter what!"
Julieta tried to put on a blouse, but it ripped.
"Oh, no! Yesterday, my skirt ripped. And now, this?"
She sighed, trying to collect herself.
"It's okay. Today can still be a good day."
After getting dressed, she headed to the kitchen and immediately began cooking.
"I am going to make arepas, because they're my favorite!"
Julieta sang to herself as she cooked, but was interrupted.
"Hello, my love."
"Oh! Hi, Agustín…" Julieta barely turned to look at her husband.
"You seem cheerful today. Do you have some exciting news to share, perhaps?" Agustín bounced up and down.
"No. I just woke up in a good mood today, for some reason," Julieta said.
Agustín looked down and saw that there was a heart-shaped arepa among all of the normal circular ones.
"Hey, look. You made a heart."
Julieta looked at the arepas. "Huh. I guess you're right…"
"Why would you do something like that?" Agustín snarled, his voice dripping with disgust.
"Because I am just filled with so much love for my family," Julieta giggled.
"Okay, something must be up. What is it?"
"Nothing! I'm just really happy."
After she was done cooking, Julieta brought the arepas to the table for some reason. Fortunately, she tripped and fell. The arepas spilled all over the floor, including the heart-shaped one.
"Ugh! You're so clumsy!" Alma shouted.
Then, she saw the heart.
"EW! And one of them is heart shaped!"
"I know, I know…" Julieta said, standing up again.
"They're supposed to be circles!"
"I'm s-s-sorry!"
Julieta ran away crying.
Alma smiled with satisfaction.
"What an idiot. She doesn't even know basic shapes…"
After she had finished crying, Julieta returned to the kitchen and found a pair of glasses.
"Those look like Pepa's!" Agustín said, bouncing again.
"Pepa has glasses?" Julieta said, amused.
"Yes. But she rarely wears them, because…"
"… they remind her of Mirabel, and she hates Mirabel," Julieta sighed.
"Hmph. I don't see why. Mirabel is so beautiful, funny, and smart," Agustín lied. "Anyways, I should probably return these glasses to Pepa."
"Okay, thank you. I would do it, but I'm not supposed to leave the kitchen," Julieta said.
Agustín took the glasses to Pepa's room.
Alma turned to Mirabel, a smug smile still on her face.
"I have a sewing project for you."
"Ooh! What is it?" Mirabel asked excitedly.
"Your mother's skirt. It ripped, because she's fat."
Alma could barely contain her laughter.
"WHAT?! No, she isn't!"
"Yes, she is! Have you even looked at her lately?" Alma shouted.
"I think you need glasses, Abuela."
"NO, I DON'T! MY EYES ARE PERFECT, JUST LIKE THE REST OF ME!"
Julieta began shoving food into her mouth.
"Mmm… yummy food…"
"Hiiii!"
Ugh. Pepa.
"Hi, Pepa," Julieta greeted her ugly, annoying sister. "Are you looking for your glasses?"
"What? No! I don't have glasses!" Pepa panicked.
"Okay, if you insist," Julieta said.
She laughed awkwardly.
"So… what do you want?"
"I'm hungry!" Pepa said. "Give me some food!"
Once again, she had missed breakfast.
"Sorry, I don't have any food to give you," Julieta said.
"That's because you ate it all!" The flames of insanity began burning in her eyes again.
"N-n-no… I just haven't cooked anything yet!"
"YOU LIAR!" Pepa screeched. "You have crumbs all over you!"
She began running her hands over Julieta's apron.
"Hey! Get your hands off of me!" Julieta laughed.
"I'm just trying to help you clean up those crumbs…" Pepa grinned.
"Pepa! Stop harassing your sister!" Alma scolded.
"But I'm bored!" Pepa whined. "What else am I supposed to do?"
"Maybe you could go and see if there's any crops to water," Alma suggested.
"FINE! I'll just go to work hungry!" Pepa snapped.
Alma picked up a banana that was randomly lying around for some reason.
"You can eat this."
"BANANA!" Pepa laughed, grabbing it.
"Here, let me peel it for you," Julieta offered.
"No! Do you think that I'm a little baby who doesn't know how to peel a banana?" Pepa glared at her.
"N-n-no…"
Pepa headed off to work, eating the banana. She dropped the peel onto the floor.
"Someone else can deal with that."
When Agustín went to return her glasses, she didn't answer the door. That's because she was already gone, of course.
"Oh, no! She didn't answer! Maybe she's dead!"
"Why are you trying to get into my wife's room?" Félix asked.
"I… uh… well…"
"You'd better not do anything to hurt her."
"Of course not! Pepa is my friend! You know that!"
Agustín pulled the glasses out of his pocket. "I just wanted to give her these…"
Félix took the glasses, grasping them firmly in his sweaty hands.
"I'll give them to her."
Little did he know that Pepa wouldn't be back for a while.
She had become dizzy and passed out while she was outside.
Meanwhile, Julieta wanted a bathroom break.
"Again? Do you have diarrhea?" Alma asked. "That's the fourth time this hour!
"No. I just really need to go."
"Fine, but make it quick."
On the way to the bathroom, Julieta slipped on a banana peel.
"Ow…"
Julieta tried to get up, but couldn't.
"Help! Help!" she called.
Either nobody heard her, or nobody cared. She was left all alone to wet herself and cry.
A few hours later, Pepa finally returned home. Everyone ignored her.
"Hmph. I guess I'll just go to my room, since nobody seems happy to see me."
Félix was waiting for her.
"Hello, my love!"
"Oh! Hi!" Pepa squealed.
Félix was about to hug her for some reason, but was deterred by a foul smell.
"Pepi, you stink!"
"I know, I know…" Pepa said.
"When's the last time you took a bath?"
"I don't know!" Pepa snapped.
"Why aren't you taking care of yourself?"
"Because! I can't be alone right now!" Pepa wailed. "The bad thoughts are flooding my brain again."
What in the world does that even mean? Félix wondered.
"Get in the bath. Now."
"Carry me?" Pepa asked.
"Are you sure you want me to try that? You know how it went last time…"
He'd dropped her down the stairs, and they'd both ended up crying.
"Yes! I believe in you!" Pepa giggled.
"Okay, sweetie…"
Félix successfully picked up and carried his wife to the tub. She felt a lot lighter than last time.
"Yay!" Pepa cheered.
"I must have gotten stronger," Félix said proudly.
Pepa still didn't bathe. She only stood still, trembling, with a distant look in her eyes.
Félix sighed. "Do you want me to stay here with you?"
"Yes, please."
And so, although he didn't understand her sudden anxiety, Félix helped his wife every step of the way.
He drew a bubble bath, scrubbed her clean, and washed her hair.
After the bath, Pepa found that a mysterious bowl of beans had suddenly appeared on her bedside table. They had been spiked with a heavy dose of "calm down pills".
"I should eat them," she decided.
She stuck her face directly in the bowl and slurped the beans.
Immediately, she began to feel funny.
"What was in those beans?"
Pepa fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the day.
When Pepa woke up, Julieta's voice was the first thing she heard.
"Oh, no! I can't find my apron! Where did I put it?"
Julieta sighed in frustration. She had been very scatterbrained lately, probably because she was getting old.
"Oh, Julieta! Are you looking for something?"
"Huh?" Julieta turned around and saw that Pepa was behind her.
Pepa waved Julieta's apron in the air.
"Hey! Give that back!" Julieta said.
"Come and get it!" Pepa teased.
Julieta jumped up and down, as Pepa held the apron just out of reach.
"Come on! Let me have it!" Julieta said.
"But it's so nice to finally see you without it!" Pepa said, grinning mischievously.
Alma glided into the room.
"Oh! You're finally getting exercise! Good job, Julieta!"
"Mamá, it's not funny!" Julieta whined. "Pepa stole my apron, and she won't give it back!"
Pepa took off running.
"Ha, ha! You can't catch me!"
Julieta ran after her, and the kitchen remained empty for several minutes until Agustín entered nervously.
"Hey, Julieta? I know this is going to sound weird, or even stupid…"
He paused took a minute to reconsider. Did he really want to ask her?
"But it's been on my mind for a long time, and I simply must know!"
Upon finishing his monologue, Agustín immediately realized that Julieta wasn't around.
Oh, no! What if she's dead?
She had seemed a bit… different lately.
It didn't make any sense, really. Julieta always healed everyone else with her food.
If something was wrong with her, she should have been able to heal herself… right?
Julieta stopped to catch her breath, beginning to admit defeat.
"I'm never getting that apron back," she muttered.
Then, she noticed that she was near Bruno's room.
"Hmmm… I wonder if he's in there," she said to herself. "I haven't seen him much lately."
Bruno wasn't alone in his room. Félix was also there, telling him an absolutely riveting story about braiding Pepa's hair.
"Hi, Bruno!" Julieta said, barging into the room.
"Uh… hi?" Bruno said, confused and annoyed.
"How are you? I haven't seen you in a while!" Julieta said.
"Uhh… I'm fine?" Bruno said. "What about you? You're very sweaty."
"Yeah, you look exhausted!" Félix said.
"Oh, that's right," said Bruno. "Félix is here, too."
"I'm fine. It's just… all the stairs, y'know?" Julieta said, with a tired smile.
"There aren't that many stairs!" Félix said. He had climbed them all with ease.
"I know. I'm just…really… uh… out of shape," Julieta said. She didn't like to admit it, but she really had put on quite a bit of weight lately.
"Okay!" Félix said cheerfully. "Anyways, we were just talking about how Bruno could get himself a girlfriend."
"He said that I should show off my chest hair!" Bruno said, excitedly picking up a rat. "What do you think?"
"No, that's gross!" Julieta said. "Nobody should be showing off their chest hair."
"Oh, okay," said Bruno. "Why are you really here, Julieta? Have you come to demand another vision from ole Bru Bru?"
"No, no," said Julieta. "I just wanted to check in on my favorite sibling."
"Aww! I'm your favorite?" Bruno asked.
"Yes, if you promise not to call yourself Bru Bru ever again," Julieta said.
Bruno didn't seem to have anything else to say, as he stared silently for several seconds.
Several minutes passed by, and Agustín continued to search for Julieta.
Thud! Crash!
Julieta had fallen down the stairs.
"AHHH! No, no, no!" she cried.
Pepa saw this as she was walking by.
"Oh! Hi, Julieta!" she giggled. "What happened? Did you trip and fall?"
"Yes. I fell down the stairs," Julieta whimpered.
"Well, what were you doing upstairs? You know you're supposed to be in the kitchen."
"I just wanted to see Bruno," Julieta said.
"And he pushed you down the stairs? Ooh! I knew he was an awful, good-for- nothing…"
"No," Julieta cut her off. "It's not his fault. I just fell because I was clumsy."
"Oh, Julieta! There you are!" Agustín said, running up to her.
"Hi, sweetie…" Julieta said meekly.
"What happened to you? Did Pepa push you down the stairs?"
"N-n-no…"
"She just tripped because she's clumsy!" Pepa said. "Just like me, when I was pregnant!"
"But… she's not…" Agustín started.
"Just ignore her; you know she's crazy," Julieta said.
"Okay, my love. Do you need help getting up?" Agustín asked.
"Yes, please…" Julieta said.
With great effort, he managed to pick her up.
Pepa laughed hysterically.
"Take her back to the kitchen, where she belongs!"