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Agustín dries the last plate that Julieta hands him, putting it aside along with all the other ones. The whole family had just finished having lunch and the two of them were washing the dishes. It had been a nice lunch, where Julieta had eaten several bowls of ajiaco, truly craving the soup today. She’s craved ajiaco every day for the past two weeks, and they had served it for almost every meal because of it, knowing just how intense her pregnancy cravings got. And at five months pregnant, her cravings were constant. Agustín got out of bed almost every night to get her something from the kitchen.
No one dared to object to Julieta’s choice of food when she was pregnant, they had learned from the past. And the time Julieta and Pepa had been pregnant together had been a nightmare for everyone since their cravings had clashed so wildly.
As everything is put aside, he hears her let out a sigh of relief at the chore being done. He walks up to her, embracing Julieta from behind as he lets his hands rest on her belly, feeling a soft kick from the baby on one of his palms that makes him chuckle. This baby was a very active one.
He kisses her cheek as he holds her tightly, and she hums in return.
“Everything okay?” he asks. “The baby seems very active.”
“The baby is active, yes. He’s kept me awake half the night kicking and punching me and he still has energy. I just want to nap.”
He chuckles at her words, feeling the happy fondness of having her close, and knowing that their baby was doing well and was strong. Even if Agustín was sure it was a girl, and not a boy like Julieta insisted it was.
“Well, she’s a very lively one, isn’t she? Almost as wild as Luisa.”
“He’s more wild, trust me,” Julieta says, laughing. “I love him, but he can get annoying when I need to sleep.”
“Well, you can take a nap now if you want. I can tell the others to not disturb you. They’d understand, especially with how hard the pregnancy is right now.”
When speaking, he is of course referring to Julieta’s constant back pain and her aching feet. She was plagued with fatigue in a way she hadn’t been with the girls, with this pregnancy being especially hard for her body, meaning she needed more breaks and rest. And thankfully, her family understood and let Julieta rest as much as she needed whenever she needed a break. She was pregnant after all, which was a huge strain on the body.
She hums, and then nods.
“Yeah… I think I should. I’m really tired,” she says. “But I also want papaya. And we’re out of it.”
“No problem, amor,” he quickly replies, kissing her again. “You can go and take a nap and I can go down to the market and buy some for you. Is that okay? Then you can eat some when you wake up.”
“You’d do that?”
He nods immediately, giving her a smile.
“Of course. I’ll buy a whole basket so I know that we’re stocked up. If you and the baby want papayas then I’ll get you papayas.”
Agustín helps Julieta up the stairs and gives her a quick kiss as she enters the bedroom, ready to take a nap. He makes his way back to the kitchen, takes one of the baskets, and then makes his way down to the village. It’s a slow walk since he takes his time, enjoying the nice and sunny weather. He knows Pepa and Félix are away on a daytrip with Dolores somewhere, and the nice weather probably meant it was a success.
He enjoys the fresh air as he walks down the familiar path, and soon finds himself at the town square, making his way to the fruit stand, buying so many papayas that the entire basket is full, playfully telling the vendor that Julieta is craving them. The vendor laughs, saying that his wife is currently the same. She would be due about a month before Julieta, and had just as many cravings. It’s nice chatting with him, especially since they’re both going through the same thing at the moment, and since Agustín knew this would be the vendor’s first child, he wishes him good luck with the childcare. Already having two wonderful daughters himself, he hoped the vendor would enjoy parenthood just as much as Agustín did. He treasured his girls, and was so excited to meet their newest little one in a couple of months.
As everything is purchased, he slowly makes his way back home, crossing the town square as he runs into two people he and Félix sometimes chatted with. Fernando and Victor, who both worked with building new houses alongside Félix. He didn’t know them well, but was well acquainted with them since they had been children at the same time, though Agustín had mostly been around the triplets as a child.
“Hey Agustín, why so many papayas?” Fernando asks, getting his attention.
“Oh, these are for Julieta, pregnancy cravings,” he answers.
“Right, she’s started to show,” Victor says. “Do you think it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”
“Julieta thinks it’s a boy but I think it’s another girl.”
Victor laughs.
“Well let’s hope it’s a boy then. If it’s another girl and you still don’t have a son you’ll just have to try for a fourth.”
“Yeah, it can’t be easy being a man with so many girls around you,” Fernando says. “That would be tough and boring.”
At once, Agustín tenses up, clearly not understanding their mentality, or what they mean.
“Why would us having only daughters be boring and why wouldn’t it be easy for me?”
“Well you know, all men want a son to carry on the family name. You need someone to teach how to be a man, bonding like men do. For that you need a son, because everyone knows a man can’t be happy without having at least one,” Victor says. “It would be a shame if you just had daughters, I feel so sorry for all the men who can’t be a dad because they don’t have a son to parent. But well, if it’s a girl then you can just hope for better luck next time. She’ll make a boy eventually if you’re lucky. That’s what wives do, they know they have to give their husbands some sons.”
As he hears those words, Agustín immediately feels his blood boil.
And without thinking, he hits Victor right in the face without hesitation.
“Don’t you ever speak such nonsense ever again.”
“Hey, what’s gotten into you?” Fernando asks. “He was just joking around.”
“Well, first of all, the way you’re speaking is disgusting. You’re acting like my life would be in ruins if I don't have a son. I don’t need a son to be happy, I love my daughters and being a girl dad and have nothing against having only girls. I find it offensive that you think I would need a son to be happy, because it sounds like my daughters shouldn’t matter to me and that they could be discarded if a son came along. What do you mean that a dad can’t be a proper parent unless it is to a son? That’s just vile. A dad not taking responsibility for daughters is a shame and shouldn’t consider himself a father in the first place. I hate seeing how men favor their sons over their daughters like this. And I am furious about the fact that you’re implying that I should force Julieta to have more children just to try for a son. If we have more children it’s because we want to have more children, and not to try for a boy. The gender of a child shouldn’t matter, and I am not entitled to her body or her giving me more children than she wants to give me. I am never going to tell her we should have more solely to try for a boy, and I am ashamed you think this is a normal thing to do. Now if you excuse me, I am going to go home to my wife and my daughters, and if you ever say anything crude about them ever again that implies they’re worth less because of their gender, I will break your bones and make sure that Julieta knows she isn’t supposed to heal you. And I'll of course tell Señora Madrigal what you think of her daughter, and you don't want her on your bad side. Goodbye.”
He turns around and walks home in silence, carrying the basket of papayas with him. As he arrives, he puts most of the papayas in a bowl in the kitchen, and then cuts one open and prepares it on a plate, and then makes his way to their bedroom. Julieta is finally asleep, nuzzling her face into the pillow with a smile.
She looks absolutely beautiful.
He stays with her until she wakes about an hour later.
“I got you your papaya, corazón.”
“Thank you, I really needed this.”
When he sees her smile, he feels the warmth inside of him. Whenever she was happy, he was happy.
“I love you.”