Agustin changed clothes, and sat on their bed for a long time, crying. He cannot accept that he was just laying in the same bed with Julieta earlier, but now she's gone.
"¿Dios, qué pecado he cometido para merecer esto?" He cried out.
He cried on Julieta's pillow that she used earlier tonight.
...
The rest of the family was still on the scene. Isabela and Luisa are crying beside their dead mother. Pepa created a huge hurricane while getting Antonio wet. Camilo kneeled beside Julieta, frozen.
"It was what I thought it was," he mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Luisa asked
"Long story, I don't have the courage to talk about it now."
Abuela was just watching from afar, with her eyes largened, she realized she had created a domino effect.
"What have I done...?"
Antonio wants to get nearer to the scene, but Pepa pulls him back, as the scene was too gory.
"Mami, why is Tia Julieta sleeping like Mirabel?"
...
Agustin looked at Julieta's things, their pictures, the photo albums, their children's old stuff, and when he looked into the closet, he saw his wedding suit and her wedding gown. He unhooked the gown from the hanger and tightly hugged it. Then he looked at his suit, and saw a note
"You'd look good in this, mi amor"
He cried even louder.
Then he checked their table where Julieta had been writing for the past few days. He opened the drawers, there was their photo album of their relationship, he scrolled through the album's pages and arrived at the page where their wedding photo is kept and saw an envelope sealed with wax. In the back it said "To my dearest husband". He carefully opened the envelope without breaking the wax seal.
The letter read:
To my dearest Agustin,
Hola! Of course, this letter is for you as you can see. If you're crying now as you read this, stop.You're gonna smudge the ink and you can't read what I wrote for you, mi amor. I apologise for the times I have been cold to you after Mirabel...died. Now, I have never meant to hurt you, but I feared that being with the family...being with me hurt you even more. Ever since that day, I had never been the same. I've been living in nothing but pain and guilt mercilessly torturing me. It was like my fault for not trying hard enough. Even though I'm supposed to be the healer here, you helped me heal, amor. So, don't you even dare blame yourself for what happened! Don't live like me. Thank you for loving me and caring for me when my own mother didn't. I bet you wished you wished that you never fell for me in the first place, because I know what my mother has been putting us through, even more after Mirabel's failed gift ceremony, Luisa's failing gift, and Isabela's forced betrothal. You made me so happy in my fifty-odd lifespan, mi vida. Take care of our children for me, okay?
Lovingly & always yours,
Julieta
"You have never hurt me, mi amor!" he cried. His excruciating cries were heard by Dolores from the town square, and it was enough to reduce her into tears.
He saw another piece of paper inside the envelope. It said "Julieta's Recipes"
"Make them whenever you are missing me"
He tried not to cry on the paper, as Julieta gave him all her recipes so he can cook them whenever he or the children miss her.
He saw another piece of paper in the drawer, it said "La Última Voluntad y Testamento de Julieta Madrigal. It said in the document on who will get which, which most of them is passed on to him, like her wedding gown and cooking materials. Her jewellery will be divided among Isabela and Luisa, and their wedding ring will stay with him. Most of her money is passed on to Agustin.
...
The rest of the family already returned. Everyone circled around Agustin. Everyone was feeling blue, as they lost another family member in a matter of months. Abuela tried to pat his shoulder, but...
"Don't touch me. You're the reason why the family fell apart in the first place! Your blaming of Mirabel hurted her and that's why she attempted to save the miracle and make you proud and that killed her, the guilt of her death now killed my wife, what's next? My life is ruined!"
"Agustin."
He left without a word. He went into what used to be him and Julieta's room and slammed the door. He is angry at Abuela for tearing his family apart, for ruining his life, for ruining his daughters' lives. He wonders what his next steps are, without his wife at his side. Her name on her door was replaced by his.
"She changed my life, she made my life worthwhile"
YOU ARE READING
dominoes | an encanto angst au
Fanfictionit was too late. the miracle had already flickered out. mirabel was crushed to death, but the question is, how will the family deal with her death? TW: death & suicide ahead
