Work Text:
When Julieta had greeted her family in the morning, her mother had given her a confused look as she had walked into her daughter in the middle of making breakfast. That in itself wasn’t the unusual part, Julieta was the one making most of the food in the Madrigal household because of her gift.
What was unusual however, was what she was wearing. A blouse, and a matching set of pants. No dress or skirt in sight, something which was practically unheard of when it came to the young woman. Alma had even forgotten the fact that Julieta even owned a pair of pants in the first place.
“Morning mamá,” she tells Alma as she flips the arepas around in the pan, the sound of frying in the air. The scent spreading around the kitchen was divine. “Breakfast is ready in a minute, I asked the Casita to set the table for us.”
“Morning mija. What’s the occasion?” she asks, gesturing towards Julieta’s attire with her hands.
“Oh! Agustín is taking me fishing today because I told him I wanted to experiment more with fish in my dishes. And you know, Agustín is… well, Agustín, so I figured it will be easier to swim to shore without a dress when we eventually fall out of the boat.”
Julieta hears her mother snicker at that comment, and she sees a smile on her face. Julieta had been dating Agustín for about a year, and since he had been a family friend since the age of one, Alma had approved of him. She always went on about how well mannered and proper he was in their courting, which always caused the young woman to internally snort.
“That does sound like a very real possibility. Be careful out on the water, dear. Is he coming for breakfast?”
Julieta gives her mother a nod as she turns her attention back to the arepas, almost done.
“Yes he is, and then we’re leaving after. We’re going to the river later to get one of the boats and we’ll paddle downstream to the lake.”
“Very well, I’ll leave you to it.”
Alma leaves the kitchen, and Julieta continues to make the breakfast. After a few more minutes, she heard a knock on the front door and how Bruno let’s Agustín inside. She can’t help but smile as he hears his happy, cheerful voice as he greets her brother. Soon, he is peaking his head into the kitchen.
“Morning, mi amor,” he says as he walks up to her, kissing the side of her cheek.
“Morning, cariño.”
She kisses him back and ruffles his hair before she begins to place the arepas onto a large plate. The coffee is done too, and the Casita decides to move the cups to the dinner table by itself.
“I really like your outfit today,” Agustín says, and Julieta smirks at him as she sees him eyeing her pants. “It’s really different, really pretty.”
She giggles.
“It’s to help me get to shore quicker once you manage to flip the boat. I find it endearing that a pair of pants has seemed to really catch your attention, especially since you’ve seen my legs bare.”
She playfully touches his nose with one of her fingers as she gives him a mischievous yet sweet smile. Agustín’s face reddens.
“Come on, let’s have some breakfast. Do you think you can manage to carry the arepas without dropping them?”
As it turned out, he could. All of the arepas made their way to the table without a single one being dropped, and Agustín did not trip even a single time. Julieta therefore made a mental note to bring extra food with her, since this probably meant that Agustín’s bad luck would catch up with him later during the day. It was always like that, good mornings usually meant afternoons filled with accidents. It also made the likelihood of them falling into the river even more likely, and she thanked herself for having chosen her outfit the way she had.
The entire Madrigal family and Agustín ate breakfast together, Julieta holding his hand under the table through all of the conversations. Soon, breakfast was done and Agustín helped her with the dishes. She made sure to fill a small bag with ten arepas, since the pockets of her pants were way too small, they could barely fit one unlike the pockets of her dresses and aprons that were always filled with food and herbs.
“Ready to catch some fish?” Agustín asked her with an excited tone in his voice as he grabbed his fishing rod and a bucket that he had placed right outside of the walls of the house. Julieta nods and grabs her own fishing rod as well as the other bucket filled with bait in one hand.
“Of course. I’m excited to make sancocho de pescado tonight, you’ll need to stay over, of course.” She uses her free hand to give him a quick embrace as they continue to walk down the path towards the river.
“You know I can never say no to your cooking.”
“That’s fortunate, since my cooking is probably what’s keeping you alive at this point.”
Agustín’s laugh echoes through the air. All Julieta wants to do is to hug him again.
“That’s pretty much spot on. Wouldn’t have it any other way though, I love spending time with you, my querida, even if my bad luck can be described as… a minor inconvenience.”
“You know I’ll always have time for you, Agustín. I love you, accidents and all.”
“And I love you, mi amor.”
They continue walking down the path while showering each other with compliments and declarations of love, and Julieta is beaming in happiness over the affection Agustín is giving her. Finally they reach the destination, the bridge by the river. Several wooden boats are tied to the bridge, all for the community to use freely whenever they want. Julieta sees how Agustín lets his eyes run over all of the boats before he seemingly picks one at random and gestures for her to follow. He gets in first, and Julieta sees how the boat lightly wiggles at the addition of his weight.
“Careful dear,” she tells him as he sits down, before she hands him the buckets and the fishing rods. It goes well, and everything is still afloat and in order. She can’t help but worry, though. There was always a worry when it came to Agustín and moments that were literally made to turn into accidents, for all she knew he could have easily slipped by now and hit his head against the bridge, needing an arepa to fight off a concussion.
As she is absolutely sure Agustín won’t fall out, Julieta jumps into the boat herself. It wiggles a little, but not as much as before with the already added weight of Agustín keeping it more grounded in the water. She sits down beside him and presses a kiss onto his lips, excited about spending the day with him.
“Shall we go?”
“Of course, mi amor.”
He unties the boat from the bridge, and off they go. The boat slowly travels downstream, but they sit together by the oars in case they need to use them before they get to the lake. Otherwise, Julieta is simply enjoying the moment. The scenery is beautiful, lush green trees everywhere she looks, with flowers growing in the grass. She grabs Agustín’s hand and holds it tight as she lets her head lean on his shoulder.
They sit like that in silence as they enjoy the ten minute ride down to the actual lake. The river loosens its speed when they get close, and the two of them decide it’s time to row. Julieta volunteers to take the oars, saying that she’s stronger than Agustín, and he doesn’t deny it. Spending her whole life constantly working in the kitchen, kneading and baking and carrying all the heavy equipment and ingredients makes someone build quite a bit of muscle, and her arms were proof of that.
The lake is beautiful, with nice clear water, and they’re the only boat there. Julieta rows out into the middle of it while Agustín puts bait onto the fishing rods. When he’s done, he handles one of them to her.
“A fishing rod for my dear,” he says, making Julieta roll her eyes as she gives him a small smile. She giggles.
“Thank you. Can you fill up the other bucket with some water so we have somewhere to put the fish?”
He does, and the two of them throw the lines out into the water. What follows is silence to not disturb the fish, and Julieta spends most of the long waiting game with her head resting against Agustín’s shoulder.
An hour passes, and then another. Julieta grows bored, sometimes whispering to Agustín that it is taking too long. He agrees, but the two of them know they need to have patience when it comes to fishing.
Then finally, after almost three hours have passed since they arrived on the clear lake, Julieta catches something. It’s a fish slightly above average size, and Agustín basically sings praises at her as she puts it into the bucket. First fish caught, hopefully the first of many more.
“You’re a natural at this.”
“I prefer the term luck.”
“Nonsense. The way you reeled that fish in was practically professional! You’re amazing at everything you do.”
“If you’re trying to charm me, it’s working.”
She puts her fishing rod aside in order to give Agustín a full embrace with both of her arms wrapped around his frame. She kisses his forehead, his nose, and at least his lips as she hugs him tighter. Julieta would never admit it, but she actually felt a bit embarrassed over the fact that Agustín could make her feel flushed so easily, by just a few simple compliments or a few lines of praise. That man, that amazing, accident-prone silly man always made her heart go haywire.
She kisses him again, and again, totally lost in the moment, not caring about the fishing rod or catching anything. She just wanted to huddle closer and closer to him, feeling his lips against her own as she felt a familiar ache. Love was radiating through her body, starting at her heart, running all the way out into her fingertips. It’s like the entire mood has switched in the blink of an eye.
“Looks like I played my cards right and found the right compliments,” the man jokes as he chuckles. He kisses her cheek and she tightens their embrace. She wants more.
“You make me feel wonderful.”
There’s almost a pleading in her voice, and the two loosen their embrace for Agustín to take her hands in his own, holding her tightly as they gaze into each other’s eyes.
“You’re absolutely stunning today.”
As he utters that line, it is like something goes off inside of her. Julieta can’t contain herself anymore, not when her loved one is right next to her. She kisses him once more, much more violently than previously. In return, he runs his hands across her back.
As the kiss deepens, she begins to unbutton his shirt without a second though, while he fidgets with the buttons of her blouse. There’s a fire burning in her, she grabs him by his collar as she drags him towards herself, quickly and violently. They fall backwards, and before she has any time to realize what has happened, she hears the distinct sound of something being thrown into the water before she’s thrown under as the boat tipped from their sudden motions. The water is lukewarm, but in the surprise it feels chilling. She sinks for a bit before she naturally begins to float up towards the surface, and she soon breaks the surface and takes a deep, surprised breath. Agustín follows right after, with his glasses still surprisingly on his face.
The boat is lying upside down a few meters away from them, as well as the buckets and the fishing rods floating on the surface. The previously caught fish has made its escape, never to be found again. Julieta let out a loud groan, now her dinner plans were ruined, and there was no way they would be staying any longer to catch anymore when they were both soaked.
“Everything alright, mi amor?”
Agustín’s voice causes her to flush red as she remembers that it’s for once her fault that their plans had gone astray, not his.
“Yes, everything is fine. Sorry, I guess I… got a bit carried away over there.”
She hears him laugh, and even as they’re swimming in the middle of the lake, his laugh feels magical.
“You really did. Nobody would ever believe us if we told them you were the one that made us fall out of the boat.”
She rolls her eyes.
“Come on, we need to turn the boat and get back home before we start freezing. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the mood for swimming any longer. You can borrow some of my clothes again, mamá will let you stay the night until yours are dry.”
They do exactly that, and when they arrive back at the Madrigal household half an hour later, completely drenched and with no fish to be seen, Alma simply rolls her eyes.
“Agustín?” she asks, as if that is enough of a question.
“Yes,” both quickly said, knowing that lying about who made the boat fall over would spare them from having to answer some very embarrassing questions. If it was Agustín, no one would bat an eye or question it further. If Julieta was the culprit, questions would be asked, questions none of them would want to answer.
“I’ll get the couch ready. I suppose he’s staying the night like both the times you fell into the fountain? Or when you fell off the bridge?”
Once Alma leaves the room and Julieta drops the bucket she had been carrying in her arms to the floor, Pepa who had been sitting in the same room quickly sneaks up to them, whispering.
“Julieta, your blouse is halfway undone.”
Julieta and Agustín’s faces immediately light up in shame as she quickly buttons it back up, both praying that her mother hadn’t seen anything. For once, they seemed to have luck on their side.