Work Text:
Third Person POV
Antonio and Pepa glanced between each other and the dark brown lump that was supposed to be torta negra. They had been working for the past three hours in the hopes of surprising Abuela with her favorite cake, but the results weren't exactly promising. Pepa broke off a small piece of the mud-like creation, popping it into her mouth.
"It...it's not terrible." She swallowed, grinning weakly.
Antonio took a bite of their "masterpiece". "It tastes sour. And-" el niño poked the baked good, his finger practically sinking into the cake-"I think we added too much water. Or that dark stuff you wouldn't let me taste."
Pepa winced. "Well, I think that Abuela and the others will like the cake a lot!"
Antonio appeared doubtful, and opened his mouth to reply, when Bruno came striding into the room. Grinning, Antonio grabbed Bruno's hand, dragging him over to show him what he and Pepa had made.
"We baked it for Abuela, but I'm not sure she'll like it." Antonio admitted, looking at the floor.
Bruno ruffled Antonio's hair. "I'm sure she'll love it." Bruno replied, squeezing his nephew's shoulder.
Antonio beamed up at him. "Really? How do you know?" Antonio asked, tilting his head. "You haven't even taken a bite yet!"
"Because the dessert came from you, and regardless of how it tastes, she'll know that you made it with love." Bruno told his sobrinito.
Antonio pursed his lips. "I guess that makes sense." He agreed after a moment. "Will you try some? Please?" He requested hopefully.
Wincing, Bruno glanced between the cake, the ingredients they used, and his nephew. "I'm sorry, but I can't try your creation this time." Antonio wilted, his eyebrows furrowing.
Seeing this, Bruno hurried to explain. "However, I will make it up to you by eating double of whatever you make next time, so long-"
"What Bruno meant to say, is that he would absolutely love to try it!" Pepa interrupted, glaring at her brother.
Bruno frowned. "Pepa, I would if I could, but I can't-"
"I know you want to save room for dinner, but we won't tell anyone else!" Pepa winked at her son, who glanced hesitantly between his uncle and his mother, a concerned look on his face.
"Tío Bruno doesn't have to-"
"Pepa, you know that I'm-mmph!" Bruno swallowed the cake stuffed into his mouth instinctually, gazing at his older sister in horror.
"See? It tastes great, right?" Pepa prompted her brother, elbowing him in the side.
"Tío Bruno? Are you alright?" Antonio questioned, noticing how his uncle was holding his throat, and stumbling over to where the emergency food was usually kept.
Unfortunately, Pepa and Antonio had moved the jar to make more room for their ingredients, which Bruno noticed right as he collapsed. Pepa and Antonio gasped, rushing over to the asphyxiating man.
"Nuts...allergic..." Bruno wheezed, before going completely limp.
Pepa paled. Whirling around the room, she searched everywhere, frantically trying to remember where she'd put the lifesaving jerky. Meanwhile, the floor tiles raced Antonio to the dining table, straight to the glass of lulada that Julieta had made that morning. Grabbing it, Antonio held on tightly to the life-saving juice as the house raced him back to Bruno.
Kneeling next to his uncle, Antonio quickly poured the drink into the dying man's slightly open mouth. A moment later, Bruno inhaled loudly, his eyes flying open. Quickly, Antonio helped his tío sit up, rubbing his back while he coughed.
"I am so sorry Bruno." Pepa cried, a rain cloud forming above her. "I completely forgot about you allergy. I should never have even brought nuts in here."
Bruno, who was focusing on taking deep breaths, barely even heard his sister. Finally, he leaned forward, placing his arms on his bent knees. Taking one last long inhale, he lifted his head, glancing at Pepa.
"It-it's fine." Bruno gave her a weak smile. Pepa relaxed, smiling back at her brother, neither of them noticing the way that Antonio was frowning at the expression on his uncle's face.
Placing his hand on the ground, Bruno slowly stood up with the help of his nephew and sister. He swayed slightly on his feet, but the five-year-old quickly steadied him, staring up at his uncle in concern.
"I'm fine, Chiquito." Bruno reassured el niño. "I think I might call it a day, though. I'm a little tired." He admitted, fighting back a yawn.
Antonio smiled warmly. "I'll help you to bed then." He offered, putting his tío's arm around his shoulder. Bruno blinked in surprise, giving his nephew a warm look.
"Thank you, Antonio. For this and for, uh...helping me back there." Bruno said as they walked out of the kitchen. Antonio merely nodded, leading the way to his uncle's bed.
Soon enough, they reached their destination, and Antonio raced forward to pull back the sheets. Bruno laughed, thanking his nephew, before practically collapsing onto the mattress. Antonio watched him for a moment, surprised when he noticed his uncle seemed to fall asleep the second he was laying down.
Careful not to wake his tío, the little boy lifted the blankets over the sleeping man, tucking the fabric in around him. Content that his uncle was now sleeping peacefully, Antonio tiptoed away, heading to the dining table where he could faintly hear his family getting ready to eat.
Entering the room, Antonio sat down in his spot, glancing sadly at the seat where Bruno usually sat next to him. Eventually, everyone else but Abuela was seated around the table, who came in with the platter of food she'd prepared earlier in the day.
Sitting down, Abuela frowned when she noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Bruno?" She asked in concern.
Antonio opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, his mother spoke.
"He decided to go to bed early. Said he was feeling tired."
Antonio stared at his mamá, waiting for her to explain what had happened. However, that seemed to be all she was going to say, as she went back to using her fork to push around the food on her plate.
Antonio scowled. "Yeah, he did seem pretty tired, after you practically poisoned him."
Immediately, all other talk stopped, la familia glancing back and forth between Antonio and Pepa in horror. Pepa winced, the guilty look on her face only serving to make everybody more perturbed.
"I-well, Antonio and I-we wanted to surprise Abuela with torta negra, but then the cake didn't turn out so good. And, I kind of...insisted that he try some for us." Pepa confessed self-reproachfully.
Instantly, the parents in the room began swearing, to the great confusion of the kids.
"I don't understand-why is it so bad that Tío Bruno ate some torta negra?" Camilo asked, apprehensively glancing between the angry adults and his contrite mother.
"It's important, because your Tío Bruno absolutely cannot have nuts. They make his throat close, to the point that he cannot even breathe." Julieta emphasized, louring at her sister.
"If he doesn't have Julieta's cooking within minutes..." Abuela pursed her lips with a sigh.
"Which is mostly why we have the emergency jerky." She added. "Just in case anything we get from town is ever tainted by the rare ingredient."
"You mean the jerky we keep in the small blue jar?" Antonio inquired, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, that one. Why?" Julieta asked, turning to face her nephew.
Pepa cringed. "We, uhm...we kind of misplaced the jar, when we were baking." She mumbled, grimacing.
"You WHAT?!" Julieta shrieked, everyone else chiming in with their own exclamations of alarm and anger.
"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. It's been so long since anything happened that I forgot." Pepa sobbed, rain pouring down on her.
"You all should have told us about this!" Camilo pointed at his elders. "What if one of us who didn't know gave Tío Bruno something made with nuts from town?!" He stressed, running his hands through his hair.
"You're telling me we could have accidentally killed our uncle, with nuts?!" Luisa panicked.
Agustín rubbed his forehead as the other kids made their indignation known. And quite loudly, at that.
"You're right. We should have told you sooner." He admitted. "We didn't want you to have to worry about it when you were younger, and then he was gone..." he trailed off, shaking his head.
"But still, he's been back for enough time now that we should have made sure you were aware of the issue." He finished, giving the children an apologetic look.
The kids begrudgingly accepted his explanation, though their anxiety over what they'd just been told was clearly not mollified in the slightest. Suddenly, Mirabel turned to Isa, whispering something into her ear. Isa nodded, passing on the message to her other younger sister.
The message worked its way from Luisa, through Dolores, before reaching Camilo, who leaned across the empty chair to whisper the message to his little brother. The parents watched, confused, as the children silently reached some sort of agreement. Then, like the past fifteen minutes hadn't happened, they went back to their meals.
The adults waited for some sort of explanation to be given. However, when the kids went back to the conversations they were having earlier, they realized they wouldn't receive an answer unless they asked for one.
"What-what was that?" Julieta questioned hesitantly.
"What was what?" Dolores feigned ignorance.
"You know what she means." Félix replied, his tone exasperated.
"That was a pact." Mirabel piped up.
"What sort of pact?" Abuela interrogated, suspicious of the children's secrecy.
"A "keep Bruno alive" pact, cause you guys suck at it." Camilo responded sarcastically.
"What?!" Camilo rubbed his arm where his sister had elbowed him. "I can't say they suck at it?! He literally almost died because Mamá shoved cake down his throat."
Mirabel cleared her throat, glancing pointedly between her Tía, who looked one second away from causing a full-on hurricane, and her oldest primo. Camilo sighed, slumping in his seat.
"Sorry." He muttered, crossing his arms.
"We decided that it would be best if we carry around a piece of Mamá's cooking with us at all times, just in case anything he does eat in the future happens to be contaminated." Mirabel continued.
"That way he'll always be safe, even if he's not in the kitchen." She declared, content in the knowledge that they would be prepared should anything hurt her uncle. There was a beat of silence, the older generation of Madrigals looking somewhat ashamed at the fact that they had never even considered what would happen if Bruno had an allergic reaction outside of the house.
"I don't want to lose Tío Bruno. I like talking with him about our animals." Antonio murmured softly, his eyes wet.
"He puts on shows with his rats for me whenever I hear something upsetting, just to distract me." Dolores mentioned, acknowledging her own appreciation for their uncle.
"And he goes exploring with me, even though it always makes him exhausted." Luisa piped up with a grin.
"Tío Bruno paints with me, and helps me mix colors." Isa commented, happily showing off her beautiful dress.
"Tío lets me use him as a model for making clothes, even when I accidentally prick him." Mirabel added smiling sheepishly.
"And he saved my life." Camilo calmly remarked, taking a bite of his arepa. He chewed, and swallowed, before his eyes widened, as if he just realized what he'd said.
"From being boring! By reintroducing me to my love of books." He hurried to add, letting out a nervous chuckle.
Camilo got a few suspicious looks from around the table. Fortunately for him (and Bruno), no one seemed to want to press the matter at the moment. Instead, Abuela cleared her throat.
"That is a very smart idea, Mirabel. In fact, I think that it would be wise for all of us to have some of Julieta's food with us wherever we are, just in case." She stated, to the agreement of the other adults.
"We should also clean the kitchen, and get rid of all the nuts in there." Antonio pointed out. "So that none of them accidentally end up in any of the other food."
Pepa herself rushed off to do this, not wanting to even risk ever seeing her little brother dying in front of her again.
"And we ought to put the blue jar back where it belongs. And never, ever touch it again, unless it's an emergency!" Antonio exclaimed, running after his mother to help her clean up.
The rest of the family laughed at his exuberance, and finished eating quickly so that they, too, could help inspect the kitchen for any sign of nuts. An hour later, la familia was still inspecting every nook and crevice carefully, not wanting to miss spotting even one of the dangerous oval seeds. Even la Casita assisted them in their search, making sure none of the dangerous ingredients were left behind.
Everyone went to sleep late that night, tired but content in the knowledge that their loved one was safe once more.
•~•
The next morning, Bruno awoke earlier than usual, probably because he went to bed so early. His stomach growling due to missing dinner, he hesitantly entered the kitchen, shocked to find it completely empty. The middle-aged man walked around the room, searching for something to eat, but all he found was the emergency jar of food that was missing yesterday.
Glancing at it, he was surprised to find that it was now tied down to the countertop. Examining the container more closely, he noticed a note was attached to it as well.
"'Do not touch, except for emergencies, unless you need to refill your carry-on stash.'" He read quietly. "What on earth does that mean?" He muttered to himself.
However, he didn't have much time to ponder what it meant, as at that moment Julieta came into the room. Before he knew it, he was being put to work making breakfast with the ingredients she had just gotten from town. When Bruno asked her what happened to all the food that was in the kitchen yesterday, she grimaced slightly, saying she had to throw it out because it was spoiled.
Bruno could have sworn that everything seemed fine to him, but he simply shrugged, and went back to shredding cheese for the arepas.
It wasn't until several months later, on an outing with his whole familia, that Bruno found out what "carry-on stash" meant, exactly. He had just taken a bite of a cookie that he got from one of the street vendors, when he grabbed his throat, and began wheezing. Suddenly, he was being bombarded with pieces of jerky, arepas, empanadas, and even a solterita. He baulked slightly at all the food, clearly wondering where it'd all come from, but grabbed the arepa from Camilo, taking a bite.
Noticing his uncle was swaying unsteadily, Camilo helped him sit down, rubbing his back gently. Taking deep breaths, Bruno watched in bewilderment as his family members all put their pieces of food back in their pockets. Confused, he opened his mouth to question what that was about, when he noticed Pepa thundering down the street the way they'd come.
Eyes widening, he tried to stand back up, hoping to save the poor seller from certain doom. Unfortunately, he found himself being physically encouraged to stay resting on the ground.
"Pepa!" Bruno croaked, coughing.
His sister turned around, her furious expression quickly becoming one of concern. Shooing away the cloud above her, she rushed back over to Bruno, asking if he was okay. Bruno assured her, and the rest of his family members, that he was fine, but ate the rest of Camilo's arepa at Pepa's insistence.
("Just in case," she whispered worriedly.)
When asked why his family seemed to have food already, even though they'd come into town to have dinner together, they slowly explained why they just so happened to have Julieta's cooking on them. By the end of the story, Bruno was absolutely speechless, tears of happiness running down his cheeks. All he could do was spread out his arms, hoping that his relatives would understand.
Smiling, they kneeled down, hugging him carefully. La familia sat there, holding onto each other tightly, completely oblivious to the townspeople milling about around them. Eventually, the family embrace ended, and everyone unanimously agreed that it would be a good idea to head back home so that Bruno could rest.
Bruno protested this idea greatly, but he kept yawning mid-sentence, so nobody really believed him when he said he wasn't tired. Blinking heavily, Bruno yelped when he found himself being picked up by his niece. At this, Bruno argued greatly, struggling to get out of Luisa's arms as he loudly claimed that he was definitely strong enough to walk.
Unfortunately, he was not mentally strong enough to withstand the concerned glances being sent his way. Groaning, he crossed his arms, accepting defeat once more. However, he soon found his eyes getting heavier, the rhythmic pattern of his sobrinita's steps and the quiet whispers of his family lulling him to sleep.
There were several other similar scares throughout the years. No one in la familia really got used to seeing Bruno clutching his throat, or, a few times, collapsing to the floor in a heap. However, never again did nuts enter the casa de Madrigal. Never again did Bruno wonder if Julieta's cooking would be found in time.
And, most importantly, never again was anyone unprepared to help their son, brother, or uncle. He was always there for them when they needed him, whether he realized it or not. So, carrying around a little bit of food at all times, just in case he ate something with nuts?
Some would call it a piece of cake. But the Madrigal familia, well...
They just called it love.