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Agustin grinned sheepishly at his wife and the few family members who had gathered around to see the chaos unfold. His hands were burnt to a crisp, and flour had made its way onto every surface imaginable, and in his hands he held a plate of what was meant to be arepas. Somehow, defying all laws of nature known to man, they were more of a liquid than a solid.
“Agustin, mi amor. That’s… uh…” Julieta stared at her husband, visibly struggling to find a single kind thing to say, “That’s quite thoughtful of you?”
He laughed, “I think it worked better in my head. You do all the cooking, so your loving husband would cook for you.” Standing up straighter, he smiled, “It was quite romantic in theory.”
“How you managed to live past the age of nine is definitely one of the Encanto’s greatest miracles, bro.” Felix snickered, causing most everyone in attendance to laugh as well.
Agustin shrugged and set the plate on the counter as he looked around at the chaos he had caused. All the grandchildren had arrived, and were in various states of disarray at the sight, most having to work hard to stifle their laughter.
Surprising them, Bruno gestured vaguely with an aged expression on his face, “This is far too reminiscent of the Great Arepa Disaster.”
Madness instantly broke out, with all the adults present bursting into laughter while the grandchildren practically demanded to know what had happened.
“Oh, Brunito, you gotta tell them!” Pepa insisted through snorts and giggles, “Especially Isabela and Dolores!”
Both aforementioned girls looked intrigued, and Bruno sighed dramatically.
“Isa, Dolores, you were both around six at the time, okay? And I was a fool.” He grinned.
Julieta walked past Bruno. It seemed she had come from the kitchen, despite this most certainly not being the case. Still, the way things unfolded, it seemed like that was what had happened. And at that time, Bruno Madrigal had been in the throws of a headache, deciding to try and eat an arepa to get the pain to fade.
Stepping into the kitchen, he was met with his sobrinas, excitedly putting arepas on a plate. They heard him come in, and turned to him with wide smiles.
“Tio! Me and Dolores made arepas!” Isabela cheered, delighted. There wasn’t too big of a mess, all things considered, which Bruno had taken as further proof that Julie had been helping them.
“Si,” Dolores spoke in her much softer voice, “Would you try one? I’m sure they’re real’ good!”
With absolutely no reason to think anything about the situation, Bruno nodded as he stepped forward and took one. It looked decent enough anyway, and he took a large bite.
“It was at this moment that I learned three vital pieces of information about the arepas.” Bruno spoke dramatically, holding up a finger to correspond with the numbering system. “Number one! It was the hottest thing I have ever put in my mouth in my entire life!”
Several grandchildren snorted, listening intently. Bruno shuddered at the memory.
“It is as if I have just swallowed pure lava. Fire! Coursing through my very veins!” he spoke dramatically as if performing a telenovela, which was greatly appreciated by the grandchildren that were still standing and hadn’t fallen to the ground laughing. “But do I let this show on my face? No! I love my sobrinas, and they clearly made the food with love, so I keep a straight expression.”
Dolores and Isabela glanced at each other, turning slightly red.
“The second vital piece of information about the arepas. It is the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten!”
Mirabel, Camilo, and Luisa who had at this point remained upright collapsed to the floor laughing, while Isabela and Dolores snickered at the whole thing. The adults were still losing their minds, with Pepa basically shrieking in laughter.
“It’s like someone stepped in cheese and then kicked me in the mouth! It’s so gross smelling and tasting, that even Agustín over there if he had made them now would’ve been like ‘oh, no, I can’t serve this.’ But do I give up? No!” He threw his hands up dramatically, “Because my sobrinas look so happy to have made something, and I love them! I eat every single bite of that cheesy pocket of misery!”
He stopped for a moment, fighting down a laugh himself.
“And then, mi familia. I learn the third and final vital piece of information about the arepas. If Julieta has helped someone cook something, it will indeed heal your headache. But! If, like it was that day, your sobrinas have made the arepas completely unsupervised and without anyone else’s knowledge, it will have absolutely no effect healing-wise whatsoever!”
At that point, Isabela broke down laughing, while Dolores still just stood giggling as her face turned redder than her hairbow.
“Oh dios, Tio Bruno,” Dolores spoke through giggles, “Lo siento!”
He waved her apology off with a shrug, “You were six, I don’t exactly harbor any resentment.”
“Maybe you don’t, but what about your taste buds, bro?” Felix snorted.
Miraculously, Bruno kept a straight face as he nonchalantly replied, “Oh, yeah those were burned off during the Great Arepa Disaster.”