Chapter Text
Sergio reached for the remote and turned off the TV.
They had been watching Moana for what seemed like the millionth time. Paula never tired of the animated movie or its catchy songs.
In fact, it was what she most enjoyed playing in her free time – the beach and the ocean view served as the perfect stage to play as her favorite character.
But Paula had finally fallen asleep between Sergio and Raquel in the family couch.
As swiftly and as silently as humanly possible, they worked together and picked up their sleepy little girl.
Sergio held Paula close to him; but as they moved toward Paula’s bedroom to put her in bed, there was a sharp sound from the kitchen area.
They glanced up to see Mariví numbly staring at a tea cup she had just broken.
Raquel’s shoulders slumped, emotionally exhausted.
“I’ll tuck her in,” Sergio offered.
He knew that, no matter how tired Raquel was, she would always want to be the one to help her mother.
She squeezed his arm, grateful.
Sergio left the room with Paula safely tucked into his strong arms, while Raquel went to help her struggling mother.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Oh, of course, of course…” she said. “I just got a little distracted.”
Together, they cleaned up the spilt tea and Raquel carefully collected the shards of the cup.
When they were done, Mariví took her daughter’s hand.
“Thank you for helping me,” she told Raquel.
“Of course.”
Suddenly, her mother glanced up from their joined hands and stared at Raquel with a confused expression.
“I’m sorry. Do I know you, dear?”
Then, looking around the place, she said, “Is this your house?”
Luckily, Maria showed up just in time and gently took Mariví away, guiding her toward her bedroom and murmuring soothing words.
All the while, Raquel just stared miserably at her mother.
Her mother was losing herself slowly, day by day.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
Nothing but wait – for the illness to take her mother… and eventually come for her.
***
When Sergio was done with Paula, he went out to look for Raquel.
He found her sitting on the steps looking out at the ocean.
“Sorry for the delay,” he told her with a smile. “Our little tyrant wasn’t as tired as we’d thought and demanded a bedtime story.”
Sergio had expected her to laugh or at least smile.
But neither happened.
Instead, Raquel tried to clear away the tears that had fallen without him noticing.
But it was too late.
He’d seen them.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Stupid question, Sergio reprimanded himself.
Of course she wasn’t alright.
Otherwise she wouldn’t be sitting here alone crying.
He sat next to her on the steps – a comforting hand gently rubbing her back, hoping to soothe.
“Raquel, what is it?”
She was silent for a moment.
“Did you know some types of dementia can be genetically inherited?” she asked numbly, her eyes never meeting his. “And that it’s more likely for it to get passed on from the mother than from the father?”
She sounded calm and controlled. But on the inside, she was anything but…
Her mother had looked at her and seen a stranger.
Do I know you, dear?
Sergio gave her time, allowing her to continue.
“My mother didn’t recognize me,” Raquel admitted. She looked at Sergio with a helpless expression on her face. “She looked at me and had no idea who I was.”
Having discovered recently that she was pregnant only made things all the more daunting.
“I’m scared,” she told him, a single sob escaping her. “I can’t imagine it happening to me. I can’t imagine not remembering the people I love.”
Sergio didn’t know what to say to that.
And he could tell that Raquel needed to let it all out.
So he just kept rubbing soft circles on her back and let her talk.
She wiped her hands over her tear-streaked face.
“I’m not exactly in my younger years and it might be coming. And sooner than we expect,” she murmured miserably. “I don’t know if I can handle that. Not losing myself, that wouldn’t be the worst part for me. But I can’t even think of forgetting Paula or you… or the baby.”
Raquel placed a hand over her flat stomach where their child rested.
“Have you ever gotten tested for it?” Sergio asked her gently.
He knew there were tests that could be done to know if Raquel had the genetic predisposition to one day get her mother’s dementia.
“No, no.” She shook her head. “The truth is I’m too scared to know for sure.”
Sergio nodded in understanding.
“It’s your choice, of course,” he supported. Then, he offered, “If you want, whenever you want… we can get an appointment to get the test done, so we can be sure.”
Raquel took his hand in hers and nodded in appreciation.
“Thank you,” she said. “I still don’t know if I want it, but… thank you.”
They sat together like that for a moment, in a companionable silence, just holding hands.
Despite this, the mood around them was incredibly heavy with the thought of Raquel potentially getting the same dementia as her mother.
“If something like that happens…” she began.
“If something like that happens,” Sergio interrupted easily. “We’ll handle it.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him, comforting.
“I’m not going to leave you, Raquel,” he swore. “You’ve got me.”
She smiled through the tears.
“I want to be with you for the rest of my life,” he told her, squeezing her hand. “I want us to stay here in our paradise until we’re really old.”
“And if bad luck strikes and I get my mother’s illness. If I forget you, forget us…” she continued, a small smile forming. “I want you to tell me our story every day. I want you to tell me the story of the Professor and the Inspector, of how they met and fell in love despite all the odds being against them... Just like in The Notebook.”
Sergio smiled.
He wasn’t quite sure what The Notebook was, but he promised himself that he would investigate.
He nodded. “I promise.”
They shared a loving smile.
Raquel leaned against him and Sergio held her as the moonlight shone upon them.
As long as he was with her, everything was going to be okay.
***
Sergio Marquina was a man of his word.
And, above all, he was a curious man.
After Raquel had mentioned The Notebook the night before, he had been immediately intrigued and he’d made sure to find out what it was.
When he had found that it was a movie based on a book with the same title, Sergio had decided to stick with the movie – at least for now.
So, in the middle of the night, he’d snuck out of bed, reached for his tablet and searched for the movie in question.
He wouldn’t deny it – the movie had moved him and shaken up his soft heart. He had even shed a tear or two while watching it. The love story between Allie and Noah was an incredibly beautiful story, and that ending made him understand what Raquel had meant.
Sergio promised himself that if things went to hell, he would be the Noah to her Allie.
He would never leave her side, under any circumstance.
He would tell her their story every day like it was the first time she heard it, because to her it would be.
And, when their time finally came, when they were old and gray and done with life… they would lay down on their bed and fall asleep together, holding each other. Never to return.
Now, he would promise her the certainty that, while they couldn’t predict the future or even prevent the bad things that came along with life, he would always stand by her side.
Come what may.
That morning, he found Raquel sitting at the breakfast table, doing a crossword puzzle from the daily newspaper, the remains of her food discarded.
He supposed she was still feeling ill from morning sickness.
Walking up to her side, Sergio placed the rectangular red box he’d been carrying in front of Raquel, right on top of her newspaper.
She looked up at him with a frown.
“What is this?”
“I watched The Notebook last night.”
Raquel stared at him, not knowing what to say.
Sergio pulled back a chair and sat next to her.
“I understand, Raquel. And I’m making you a promise,” he told her. He placed his hand on top of hers. “You will always have me. Always. No matter what happens, I will be by your side and I will help you through whatever may come our way.”
She swallowed the knot that was forming in her throat, her heart beating a thousand miles per hour…
Then, Sergio pointed at the box.
“And there’s something else.”
With one hand, he opened the box to reveal… nothing.
The box was empty.
What the hell?
She glanced up at him in confusion, but waited for him to continue.
He smiled at the expression on her face.
“The movie gave me another idea,” he explained. “I’m going to write you a letter every single day for the rest of my life and put it in here. I’ll write about you, about us, I’ll describe moments of our life together, I’ll write about the things you do that move me or inspire me or…” he choked on the emotion. “Or that make me fall a little bit more in love with you every day.”
They were both crying now, fat tears dripping down their faces.
“So, whenever you’re scared or unsure, read them,” Sergio gently instructed. “Let the words in this box remind you of who you are. And of what you mean to me.”
Raquel smiled through the tears and took his face in her hands.
She pulled him close and they kissed tenderly.
Without breaking the kiss, Raquel moved to sit on his welcoming lap.
When they parted, Raquel leaned back to look into his soft brown eyes and grinned.
“Journal entries as love letters?” she asked, amused.
He chuckled. “I suppose so.”
More than what he’d promised, Sergio would also use the letters as an opportunity to tell Raquel all the things his cowardice wouldn’t let him say to her face.
She leaned her forehead against his, never leaving his eyes.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
***
Every single day, just as Sergio had promised, there was a brand new letter on large red box.
He always begun the loving texts with ‘My Dear Raquel’ and always ended them with ‘always yours, Sergio’.
His words always melted her heart without fail.
One morning, as she went to collect her daily letter, she found something she didn’t expect.
She sat on the edge of their bed and opened the box, eager for a new love declaration.
Instead, Raquel found a red envelope on top of the older letters.
It was a bit bulky.
Frowning, she opened the envelope.
The delicate piece of white paper inside read, ‘I think it’s time. -S’
Time for what? she wondered.
Then, reaching inside the envelope, her hand found a small square-shaped item.
Pulling it out, she saw that she was holding a ring box.
Raquel froze.
The red velvety box sat on her hand while she just stared at it.
Suddenly, she saw a shadow emerge from her side.
She glanced up to find Sergio standing there.
He looked incredibly nervous, his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. And yet, despite this, he wore a loving smile on his lips.
Slowly walking up to her, his gaze never left hers.
When he reached Raquel, he gently took the box from her trembling fingers.
His eyes met hers for a second and she gave him a reassuring nod.
This was right. It was time.
They both knew it.
Sergio slowly got down on his knee in front of her and opened the box, exposing a gorgeous classic round diamond solitaire engagement ring.
Being the classic man that he was, of course he would choose a classic ring.
“Raquel Murillo,” Sergio began. He was well aware that he wasn’t great with words when it came to speaking face to face with someone who truly mattered to him; but for Raquel, he would try his absolute best. “You’re the love of my life. I can’t picture my life without you. I need you. I love you. Completely.”
She could feel tears beginning to spring.
He took a deep breath before continuing.
“So, I’m asking you, heart in hand… Will you marry me?”
Raquel nodded enthusiastically, a stupid grin forming. “Yes!”
“Yes?” he asked, needing confirmation.
“Yes!”
His fingers trembling, Sergio took the ring out of its place in the box and guided it to Raquel’s waiting finger.
For a long moment, they just stared at the ring on her finger, totally in awe.
“I wasn’t sure what you would like,” Sergio told her, helplessly, gesturing at the ring. “If you want something more intricate or–”
She silenced him with a deep, passionate kiss.
“It’s perfect,” she told him. “You’re perfect.”
They laughed, drunk with love.
Their lips met again, adoration and desire filling their hearts as they fell together onto the bed.
***
Two months had passed since they’d found out about Raquel’s pregnancy.
Her private OBGYN had told her to take it easy.
Although both she and the baby were perfectly healthy, a pregnancy in a woman in her 40’s was always potentially more complicated than a regular one. And of course she had the very best prenatal care money could buy – they both made sure of it – but one never knew for sure.
That meant they had postponed the wedding planning until the baby was safely delivered. The last thing Raquel needed was the stress of planning something as complex and mentally exhausting as a wedding ceremony.
They had time.
And, honestly, it was for the best.
It let them enjoy their engagement and the pregnancy in peace, no unnecessary pressure.
Sitting on the dock by their house, overlooking the quiet ocean, they held each other in perfect harmony.
Sergio caressed her swollen belly sweetly.
The utter glow and dumb smiles of happiness couldn’t be avoided, for either of them.
Being three months along came with its perks; the morning sickness had passed and Raquel felt beyond amazing.
And Sergio had kept his word.
Without fail, every single morning, there was a letter inside of the red box.
A soft declaration of love, a poem, a memory… sometimes even pictures from back home or the occasional seashell they found on one of their walks on the beach.
The box was slowly filling with pieces of both of them, with mementos of their love.
Every day, he proved to her that he was there for her, that she could rely on him.
Every day, they showed each other how much they loved one another.
Back in the present, Sergio held her a little bit closer and snuggled her neck with his face, his short beard tickling her sensitive skin.
Raquel smiled.
There was always the fear in the back of her mind, but she was certain of one thing.
No matter what happened, they would be together.
And everything would be okay.