I know my worth.. I think

Chapter 1

It had started raining the night before, drizzling before becoming fat droplets falling faster and faster every minute. You loved the rain, the way it would sometimes be just a cooling mist or a downpour, soaking everything. It always smelt earthy after it rained. It reminded you of the times Mama would take you outside to splash in the puddles or to just lay in the wet grass and let the rain fall on you. After the rain would stop, Mama would bring out her paints and together you would work on capturing the forest around you. The flowers and trees would be glistening with water, the sun hitting the water just right to make it seem mystical, like you were living in a fairytale. There wouldn't be a cloud in the baby blue sky but there'd be a beautiful rainbow and Mama would tell you stories of Leprechauns and pots of gold.

On days like this you would miss your Mama more than ever. Even though it's been two years, almost three, it still felt like you would wake up to find her in the kitchen, cooking and humming a song. After Mama had passed away, Papa had slowly withered away, like he died that day too. Julieta Madrigal, one of the amazing Madrigals, had brought some of her empanadas to help, but it seems that not even her cooking could heal a broken heart.

Mama and Papa had an amazing connection, if anyone could be soulmates, it was them. They had met when they were teens. They ended up marrying by age 19. Though they had wanted to have children, fate had other ideas. Mama had had two miscarriages and a still born before they eventually decided that it wasn't meant to be. The pain of losing three children being too much. Years later when Mama and Papa were in their late 30's, they found out that Mama was pregnant again.

They didn't know how to feel about it. Of course, they were overjoyed at the thought of having a child, but at the age of 38 and the previous pregnancies, Mama would be at high risk of losing you too. Even with the risks, the pregnancy went smoothly, with little to no problems. Besides the normal pregnancy symptoms, that is.

When Mama went into labor is when their good luck seemed to run out. You ended up being a breech baby. With your feet and bum wanting to come out first. Mama almost didn't make it after you were finally born. Luckily Julieta had brought some arepas when she heard that Mama was in labor. Even with Julieta's food, Mama ended up with some side effects from giving birth. Which is what ended up taking your Mama away at the age of 54, taking a part of Papa with her.

With Mama gone, you had to take care of Papa, making sure he ate and showered. All he seemed to do anymore was sit in Mama's chair outside and look at the forest with a drink of whatever alcohol he could get his hands on. Papa looked like a husk nowadays. No matter how much you tried to feed him or how much you tried to bring him back to you, he was so skinny his cheek bones jutted out sharply and his eyes were sunken. You feared that Papa wasn't going to make it much longer. He refused the help of Julieta and her family.

While Papa refused the help of the Madrigals, you didn't. You were lonely and scared, and they always took you in when you needed some time away from Papa. You soon became fast friends with them, especially Maribel and Camilo. Mirabel was always asking you to help her with things like sewing or taking you to the market just to get out. With Camilo you would always find ways to prank the villagers or the Madrigals, though we would stay away from his mama, Pepa. He was such a mama's boy.

Of course, you would see the other members of the Madrigal family, you never interacted with them much. Alma was always busy in the village making sure everything was well, especially after what had happened a few months ago. What with the Miracle dying and Casita breaking and all. You would visit with Julieta in the kitchen, sometimes her husband Agustin would be there with a bee sting or two. You would see Dolores making her way to the village to meet with Mariano and you even talked to Isabela once in a while. But Luisa, she was a different story. She was always busy with chores. Never seeming to take a break. You never got the chance to talk to her.

That was fine though. Every time you saw her, you could feel your face and ears warm. She was beautiful and kind, always placing everyone else's needs before her own. You knew if you ever met her, you would stutter or freeze up. Even though you never officially met her, you had the biggest crush on her, always trying to catch a glimpse of her whenever she was around. You loved to watch as she worked, her muscles would flex when she picked something up.

You stared off into space not realizing that you were once again staring at Luisa. You were startled out of your thoughts when a hand passed in front of your face.

"Y/N, hey are you okay?"

Luisa was standing in front of you. Oh no. You could feel yourself start to blush. "U-uh, Luisa! Fine, I'm fine, thank you." You stuttered, looking anywhere but at her.

Luisa gave you a look that said she didn't quite believe you but left it alone. She started talking but you weren't listening. Your head was craned upwards to see her. Luisa being at least a foot taller than you. You couldn't stop yourself from taking in all the details of Luisa's face up close. The many freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose to sprinkle her lightly flushed cheeks. The gorgeous soft brown eyes, pretty pink lips, strong jaw and a few fly aways that framed her face in a way that made her look more feminine.

Your eyes slowly traveled downwards, over her broad shoulders and down to her biceps. You wanted to touch them, but you didn't want to embarrass yourself further than you currently were. Eventually you landed your gaze onto her hands. They were much larger and stronger than your own. Her fingers are longer and thicker too, making you imagine how they would feel on certain areas of your body. You almost moan at the thought, just barely holding it in.

You can feel your blush traveling down your face and to your shoulders. A shiver went down your spine at your thoughts. Your stomach was full of a million butterflies and a heat was growing between your legs. When your gaze traveled back up again, Luisa's face was red as a tomato, but she was also smirking at having caught you ogling her.

"I-i, oh, i have to, have to go. Yeah, okay, bye!" As you were speaking, you started backing out of the kitchen and towards the front of the casa. As you went Luisa watched wide-eyed as you left, wondering how she felt about all the staring. Did you like her? Butterflies filled her stomach at the thought. Luisa thought you were adorable when you blushed and stuttered. She didn't know what the look in your eyes was, but it made her feel warm inside. Did that mean she liked you too?

Luisa's never thought about liking someone before, never really thought about dating anyone. She shook off these thoughts before resuming her search for her Mama for some of her food for the villager.