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He tried to stay awake as long as he could but even he couldn’t overcome the power sleep had on his body. He was wracked with worry for the first couple hours, but when the rest of the Madrigals slowly trickled in for the night and updated him on the situation in town, relief flooded his body followed by a release of melatonin. He decided to just rest his eyes while he waited for his wife to come home.
“Agustín?” Julieta’s shy voice said into the darkness of their bedroom. She quietly pushed the door open and light from the hallway illuminated Agustín’s sleeping body on the bed. He blinked his eyes open and saw his wife standing in the doorframe. Some of her hair had fallen out of her bun and her skirt had scuff marks at the bottom. He sat up and felt the uncomfortable tug and pull from his fitted daytime clothes. Changing into pyjamas while he waited would have been a smart idea.
“Mi amor, you’re back.” He said breathlessly, sleep in his voice as he reached for his glasses. Julieta closed the door behind her and immediately began stripping out of her dirty clothes. She searched for her nightgown in the dresser, pulling out a few cabinets at a time as she looked. The way she slammed them closed projected her inner irritability but the sounds were quiet enough to not wake the whole casita.
She was on edge, still feeling residual stress from the matter her and her family just had to deal with in town.
A few hours ago, the family was alerted of a fire that had set in one of the farmer’s barns. Abuela rounded up the family and everyone rushed to the scene to help except for Agustín and Félix who stayed home to watch a sleeping Antonio, Mirabel, and Camilo. Ultimately, Pepa put out the flames with her rains. Bruno tried to find the source of the fire, but since his visions could only see the future and not the past, he wasn’t of much help compared to his sisters. He returned home first with Abuela, both sweaty and exhausted from rushing to the village. Bruno explained to Agustín and Félix that the farmer and his family had their home next to the barn where the flames had also caught. Their young children suffered from smoke inhalation and the father broke his leg trying to shoo his animals out of their pens. The mother was unconscious when they arrived, so Julieta ws having problems trying to heal her. They had to wait until she woke up and could swallow before she could do anything.
Bruno helped his mamá to bed and left Agustín at the front door waiting on his wife. Dolores returned home with Isabela, alerting Agustín that Pepa was still putting out flames and Luisa was on the search for the missing barn animals. Later, Luisa trudged up the steps and gave her father an exhausted look before heading up to her room wordlessly. The mud and smoke smell on her clothes told him enough. When he felt his eyes becoming heavy, Pepa returned and said it might be a long night for Julieta, looking just as exhausted as Luisa did. He didn’t want to pry her for more information, so he headed to their bedroom to wait.
“Are you okay? How did it go?” He asked, watching his wife pull the nightgown over head. She looked in the mirror and began taking her hair down, using the little bit of moonlight to light her way. She didn’t answer him. Instead, she pulled aggressively at her tangles as she tried to run her hands through her hair.
Agustín remained quiet. He watched as she reached for his pyjamas on the chair and tossed them over to him on the bed, not looking in his direction. He got to his feet and followed suit; stripping his day clothes and putting on his nighttime trousers and shirt.
He didn’t want to pry at her for details of the evening. She was exhausted and tired and frazzled from saving another life once again. He understood how draining it was for them all to use their gifts. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the lack of energy she was feeling right now.
He started buttoning his shirt one button at a time. When he reached the middle, he noticed his shirt was lopsided and realised he skipped a button space half way up. He fiddled with the fabric to redo his work while Julieta watched him through the mirror. She turned around and sighed, walking up to him to fix his buttons herself. Her fingers moved quickly as if she was fighting against the clock, and Agustín slowly reached up and put his hands on her arms to steady her. When she did the last button, her fingers didn’t leave his chest.
Agustín ran his hands down her arms to her waist and pulled her in for a hug, which she gratefully accepted as she slid her hands around his neck. She buried her face into his neck and sighed deeply, letting the stress blow away onto his skin.
“What happened, mi vida?” He asked quietly against her skin. He placed a delicate kiss on her neck in the same spot.
“I don’t want to talk about it tonight.” She answered after a few beats. When Agustín pulled away, he cupped her cheek and brushed her skin with his thumb, bending down to place another kiss on her soft skin.
“Ok. Tomorrow.” He said.
He led them into bed, sleep tugging at his eyes again. He tucked himself under the covers and removed his glasses but Julieta moved slowly. She sat on the edge of the bed, feet hanging over the edge, and slowly took off her shoes. Agustín watched her body move solemnly with her actions. She played with her hair one more time before settling under the covers with her back turned to him.
Agustín allowed himself back to sleep by closing his eyes. He almost didn’t hear Julieta’s tiny voice right beside him.
“Sometimes I hate my gift.”
She didn’t turn over to look at him, and Agustín thought she was talking in her sleep.
“I’m always the last call. I’m always there for the worst of it.”
He assumed she was talking about the father with the broken arm and the mother who was passed out.
“I don’t like having people’s lives in my hands.”
She shifted under the sheets and Agustín took that as an opportunity to move closer to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her body closer to his. She gladly pressed her back into his frame, settling into his familiar and warm figure.
“I always fear that my gift will weaken and I won’t be able to protect my family.”
She buried her face into the pillow as she spoke and sniffled. Agustín’s response was to just hold her tighter.
“That family was so scared, Agustín. The children were screaming, the papa thought his wife wouldn’t wake up. He was broken, physically and emotionally. And then I had to fix it. It was so much. I don’t even-” she sniffled again, not knowing where her train of thought was going. She was rambling which was something she usually did when she was worked up. All her fears were melding into one and her brain couldn’t decipher what was logical or illogical.
“Julieta,” he began. She quickly turned over in his arms, looking at him directly in the eyes. In the moonlight, he could see that her eyes were watery and a tear threatened to fall.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she said feverently. “Please, just try to always be okay.”
“I promise,” he answered without hesitation. “I promise I will always try.”
Julieta sniffled as she nodded. Her shoulders relaxed at her husband’s words and she curled closer to his frame, resting her hands on his chest. She felt Agustíns slow heartbeats under her palms. Agustín placed a kiss on her forehead and watched her fall asleep against him, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t go back to sleep until she did first.