Chapter Text
March 6th.
“I’m sorry, Pepi.” She whispered, and with surprising strength, she managed to break Pepa’s pelvis.
A defeating crack rang out through the room, mixing with Pepa’s screams.
Julieta’s eyes snapped open, breath catching in her throat as she once again woke up from the horrible nightmare.
She had been having it every night since her sobrinos birth, and last night was no exception.
The sun was barely rising outside, and Agustín slept peacefully beside her.
She knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep anyway, so she decided to get up and start her day.
Although she had a horrendous headache, to the point she could barely see straight.
Perhaps an arepa would help.
She didn’t need to check Pepa’s door as she passed it, as she normally would.
Camilo’s birth had been traumatic for them all, but Julieta had suffered the most afterwards.
She had horrible nightmares and flashbacks of those events, and constantly checked on her sister and sobrino through the night to see if they were still safe and well.
To see if they were still with her.
But this morning, she heard soft thunder and baby cries coming from the kitchen.
Camilo must have been up a lot through the night.
Pepa chewed her bottom lip when she saw her sister, cloud still thundering.
She looked exhausted, poor thing.
“I’m sorry if I woke you, hermana. He’s been fussy and I didn’t want to wake Félix.”
Julieta offered an understanding smile in return.
“No need to apologise, Pepi. Babies are just that way sometimes. Do you want me to take him for a while?”
Although she wasn’t sure how much use she would be, she’d had a bite of an arepa and it did nothing for her headache, in fact, she rushed to the sink and vomited it up as well as last night's dinner.
“Juli?” Pepa cautiously approached, Camilo’s cries had turned into soft whimpers as he ran out of steam.
At least he was being considerate of his poor tia.
Julieta’s skin on her face felt tight and swollen, her heart was racing in her chest, her vision blurred beyond recognition.
“Pepi, the baby’s stuck. There’s a reason you could barely walk, hermana. The baby is too large so I’m going to help you. I need you to be brave, okay?”
Pepa didn’t protest, the safety of her baby being her priority.
The shriek that came from Pepa broke her heart as she made the cut. Julieta felt sick to her stomach.
And everything went black.
-x-
“Casita! Get Félix and mamà! Quickly!” Pepa quickly but gently placed a worried looking Camilo in his carrier as she rushed to her sisters aid.
She hadn’t looked well at all, and all of a sudden she was down, twitching and jerking as she foamed at the mouth.
She hadn’t seen a seizure before, but she had read about them and she knew this was definitely what it was.
It scared her to death and a huge cloud filled the entire ceiling space, but she ignored it.
Julieta had helped her all those weeks ago, and now it was her turn to repay the favour.
Her sister was thirty weeks pregnant. This was a terrible sign.
It was too early.
“Shhh. It’s okay. Mamà’s coming.” Pepa held her sister on her lap as she tried to coax some arepa into her mouth.
Even if the magical food would have helped in this situation, Julieta was in no fit state to be able to swallow it.
Mierda!
Alma, Félix and Agustín came running. Félix immediately saw to Camilo while the others focussed entirely on Julieta and Pepa.
“Pepa! What’s happened?” Alma panicked as rain started to fall around them.
“She’s having a seizure, mamà! She was talking to me and then-.” She cut off as she remembered something.
One of Félix’s sisters had had the same thing happen to her years ago.
It was called preeclampsia, where the mothers blood pressure could get dangerously high.
The only treatment was to end the pregnancy, and quickly.
Or else…no. She couldn’t think about that.
“Mamà, go and get Julieta’s medical kit. Félix, keep an eye on Camilo, Agustín, go get an umbrella and hold it open while I do this.”
Agustín paled even more.
“Do what?”
Julieta was still seizing in Pepa’s lap, and Pepa had to bite back tears.
“I’m saving your wife and baby.”
-x-x-
Come on, Pepa. You can do this. She told herself as she held the scalpel in her hands.
Just weeks before, Julieta was in the same scenario with Pepa and Camilo, and here she was, preparing to give her sister a Caesarean section with no medical knowledge.
Julieta was unconscious now and couldn’t tell her what to do, mamà knew a little and could help her, but Pepa knew that she would panic too much to perform the operation herself.
That left her.
She took a deep breath, rain pelting the umbrella over her head as she left out a soft whimper and made the first cut.
She felt sick to her stomach when she saw the blood, and the fatty tissue beneath the skin.
Apart from the rain, there was silence as Pepa worked.
Until Julieta came round and started screaming.
Pepa felt her heart thudding in her chest.
She knew that Julieta had experienced something similar a few weeks ago.
Having to cut Pepa open as she screamed in agony.
Pepa had never thought their roles would be reversed.
But right now her hermana truly needed her, and she would be there every step of the way, even though she hated what she was doing right now.
“Juli, it’s me!” Pepa called over her cries and the rain, “Agustín, hold her still, please.”
Agustín did as she asked, in awe of how Pepa was taking control in such a horrible situation.
Pepa quickly but carefully cut through the skin and muscle, before she finally reached the amniotic sack to rupture it.
Alma just stood there in silence, looking almost green at this point.
She hadn’t said a word, and Pepa could really have used her guidance.
She knew mamà found things like this hard. Camilo’s birth had proven that.
There were gloves in Julieta’s medical kit so she had those on her hands, thank god.
She hated the feeling of anything wet and icky on her hands, and the last thing any of them needed was for her to have a meltdown and freeze.
She removed the tiny baby girl from her mothers womb, along with the placenta.
“Mamà, take the baby and revive her!” Alma did as Pepa wanted, no questions asked.
Finally releasing a sob now that her part was done, Pepa crawled to her sister’s head as Agustín fed his wife an arepa, tears streaming down his own cheeks.
“It’s a girl, Juli.” Pepa whispered as she pressed a kiss to Julieta’s forehead. “A beautiful baby girl.”
Her incision healed as Julieta finally managed to swallow the bite of arepa.
Julieta’s brown eyes met Pepa’s green ones, and she gave the weakest smile before unconsciousness took her again.
-x-x-x-
When Julieta woke up next, she was in her own bed, sunlight peeking in through her curtains.
The first thing she noticed was that her stomach was flat, and this confused her.
She remembered having a headache and getting out of bed one morning, but nothing beyond that.
She wasn’t pregnant anymore.
She didn’t remember her baby being born.
Were they a boy or a girl?
Were they alright?
Were they alive?
Was she ever pregnant in the first place?
Had she been dreaming?
She looked over to her right when she heard someone’s huff off breath.
She expected to see Agustín, but she saw Pepa instead, dozing lightly beside her, snuggled close and holding Julieta’s hand.
“Pepi….” She croaked. Her throat was so dry. How long had she been out for?
Pepa opened her eyes immediately, before rubbing them and giving her hermana a smile, the sun outside brightening a little.
“You’re awake.” Pepa stroked Julieta’s face. “How are you feeling?”
She didn’t care about herself. She needed answers.
“I had a baby,”
“You did.” Pepa laughed softly, but she could see the worry in Julieta’s eyes. “She’s very small. She had some trouble breathing but mamà managed to revive her. We managed to express some milk while you were asleep. It seems to be keeping her going. She just needs some time to grow and develop.”
This was a lot of information to take in, and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
Pepa gave her a glass of water.
“Who’s with her?”
“Agustín, Bruno and I have been alternating between you and the baby. Now you’re awake, you can go and see her.”
Pepa sat up and stretched.
“I don’t remember anything.” Julieta chewed her lip.
The seizure had wiped her memory, and there was no telling whether or not she would ever remember.
It was probably best she didn’t.
“It’s okay, Juli. I saved your life, like you saved mine and Camilo’s. We’re even. You’re welcome.”
Julieta rolled her eyes.
There was nothing wrong with Pepa’s sarcastic side, obviously.
The arepas had healed her physically, but she was stiff as she tried to get up.
Pepa took her hand and eased her sister to her feet.
“Take me to see her.”
“Of course, hermana.”
-x-x-x-x-
The baby was so so tiny.
Tears filled Julieta’s eyes when she was the much too tiny infant laying with a tube in her nose in order to feed her.
Her little fists curled as she slept.
They could see every vein in her teeny hands.
In spite of it all, she was so beautiful.
She had been too busy to be with her older children nearly enough.
She regretted it every day.
But this little one needed her. She wouldn’t fail her. Not ever.
Overall, she was doing well. Thankfully, Julieta’s breast milk had kept her baby alive.
She was just so little.
“Has mamà been to see her?” Julieta asked Agustín, feeling her husband's arm stiffen.
“You know your mamà, she finds it hard. She’s thrown herself into her work. She’s been a couple of times, but Pepa and I make a pretty good team looking after you both.”
“Ay, and Bruno.” Pepa scolded. “He deserves some credit.”
“And Bruno.” Agustín agreed. “But seriously, Pep. You did great that day, and ever since. I would have lost them both if it wasn’t for you.”
Pepa shrugged with a smirk.
“Well I guess we can add surgeon to my list of many talents. But please don’t make me do it again.”
All three adults chuckled softly as they watched the baby sleep.
“What’s her name, anyway?” Pepa asked, eventually.
Julieta answered right away.
“Mirabel Josefa.”
Pepa felt her heart pull.
Her new sobrina was being named after her.
“Really?”
“Of course. There’s no better way to honour the woman who saved her life.”
-x-x-x-x-x-
Mirabel Josefa Madrigal.
March 6th.
2lbs 11oz.