"What kind of marriage would you each like to have one day?" Abuela asked out of the blue one night while the whole family sat eating dinner, making Isabela nearly choke on her juice while Dolores squeaked.
"Why do you ask Abuela?" Camilo asked confused as he looked at her while she just shrugged a little bit.
"It just kind of struck me just now that I don't know what kind of marriage or wedding any of you would want even though Isabella almost got engaged a few months ago," Abuela said glancing at Isabela who was wiping her mouth with a napkin her sister had given her.
"So, you want us to think about what kind of wedding we might want one day?" Louisa asked and Abuela shrugged her shoulders again while Pepa and Julieta eyed her curiously.
"Less on the wedding, we could do anything you want for a wedding, and more on what kind of person you might want to marry or what kind of marriage you'd like to have," Abuela said and each of the grandkids hummed to themselves in thought for a moment.
"What's marriage?" Antonio asked his mother in an attempt at a whisper, which meant that of course, the whole table heard the five-year-old.
"It's like me and your Papi. It's two people who love each other very much and want to spend the rest of their lives together." Pepa said smiling at her youngest who brightened up immediately.
"Their whole lives?!" Antonio asked making his mother nod and Antonio's head immediately whipped around to his favorite person.
"I want to marry Mirabel!" Antonio said brightly and Mirabel nearly choked on her arepa while Camilo began to snicker. Pepa grinned as Dolores and Julieta aww'd at Antonio while Felix laughed. Abuela chuckled as well while Isabela and Louisa were torn between laughing or denying the possibility of their baby sister getting married.
"Sorry Antonio. You're a bit too young right now. Try asking me in ten years." Mirabel said smiling at Antonio who pouted at this.
"But I never really thought of getting married. I'd probably just want a happy marriage." Louisa said glancing at her Abuela as she answered the woman's question.
"I'd want someone who can get along with my sisters...definitely want it to be happy though. Kind of like Mami and Papi's marriage I suppose." Isabella said answering the question as well and making Dolores squeak.
"Definitely happy like Tia's," Dolores said blushing a bit while the other grandkids smirked at her knowing well and well who was likely to be her spouse at the moment.
"Huh...someone who gets along with mi Familia definitely. Has to have a sense of humor and I definitely want it to be a happy marriage like Tia's and Tio's." Camilo said after a few minutes of thought as he chewed.
"What about you Mirabel?" Julieta asked looking at her youngest daughter who had been focused on her food again while her cousins and sisters talked.
"Oh, I'd want a marriage like Tia's," Mirabel said without looking up and everyone paused as heads swung to look at her.
"Considering how everyone was saying that they wanted a marriage like Julieta's and Agustin's that's a bit of a surprise to hear from you Nieta," Abuela said looking at her youngest granddaughter who looked confused.
"I mean...I can see why they'd say that and why you might be confused but I'd probably rather have a marriage like Tia Pepa's and Tio Felix's than Mami's and Papi's." Mirabel said as she finished chewing her food and Pepa had a small rainbow over her head as she beamed at her youngest Sobrina.
"What's the difference? I mean...both Papi and Tio Felix love Mami and Tia Pepa." Isabela asked staring at her Hermana Menor confused and curious.
"They'd better love my sisters," Bruno growled slightly as he sent pointed glares at Felix and Agustin, immediately getting a bread roll thrown at him by Pepa.
"Bruno! Don't start that again Herminio! Honestly, we've been married for twenty-eight years and you're still glaring at them!" Pepa said shooting her brother an exasperated look.
"To be fair. You two are my twins. Two other halves of my soul. Of course, I'm protective of you two. Besides, I won't do anything as long as they still love you both and don't hurt you. I see a single thing they do that hurts you though..." Bruno trailed off as his eyes glowed green and Felix and Agustin both paled as they remembered his threats from when they had started dating Pepa and Julieta respectively.
"That's my boy," Abuela said proudly, making Bruno flush slightly while his sisters looked torn between exasperated and happy.
"So, what's the difference between their marriages Mirabel?" Dolores asked hurriedly bringing the attention back to her prima who hadn't even glanced up during the whole commotion.
"Well, there's no doubt that they still love each other but most of the differences come in the way they interact. Papi and Mami are still obviously in love but aside from a few looks and kisses and occasional holding each other for a few seconds they almost never show affection to each other around other people." Mirabel said pointing her fork at her parents who blinked as she pointed that out. It was true after all but that was because they didn't think they needed affectionate loving gestures for people much less each other to realize they were still happily in love.
"Tia Pepa and Tio Felix however can barely keep their hands off of each other," Mirabel said pointing her fork towards her aunt and uncle this time and making them look startled to be called out like that.
"What do you mean?" Louisa asked confused while Mirabel took a sip of her drink.
"There's a nine out of ten chance that right now one of his hands is on her leg. The other one out of ten is that they're holding hands under the table." Mirabel said dryly and Camilo quickly ducked under the table to check while Pepa blushed a bit at being caught.
"Yep, Papi's hand is on Mami's leg," Camilo confirmed with a small grin as a small sun shone over Pepa's head in embarrassment.
"While it's obvious that Papi and Mami still love each other and are affectionate most of the time they don't show it or seem too shy to even hold hands in town sometimes. On the other hand, Tia Pepa and Tio Felix are never far apart and almost always touching in some form. Literally, I've seen Mami and Papi go almost all day without seeing each other and only share a soft peck while if Tia and Tio are away from each other for half an hour Tia Pepa literally pulls him into a kiss that lifts him off of his feet." Mirabel said and she was giving the entire table a flat look.
"When walking beside each other, Mami and Papi might hold hands occasionally, but Tio Felix literally has his arm around Tia's waist the entire time. At the ceremonies, Mami and Papi might hug or stand close by, but Tia and Tio are literally wrapped around each other. Aside from the standard Amor Mami and Papi have almost no nicknames for each other. I can't begin to count the number of times I've heard Tio Felix call Tia Mi Vida, Carino, Mi Cielo, and other terms of endearment and she literally melts when he does it. Not to mention that pretty much any time you see them they're holding each other in some way or if they don't realize you're there he's literally peppering her in kisses from her hand all the way to her neck before kissing her on the face. You two need better situational awareness by the way. I've walked into a room to see you two necking at least four times this week already and you never realized I was there. And it's only Monday." Mirabel said and there was a bright sun but also some clouds of embarrassment above her aunt's head as the woman blushed brightly.
"That and they literally give each other bedroom eyes whenever they think no one is looking. And despite how old they are now and that they've been married for more than twenty-five years they obviously aren't tired of each other yet. Antonio was proof of that a few years ago. And the new baby is proof of that now. So, I'd rather have a marriage like theirs where they're still obviously in love even almost three decades later and aren't afraid or embarrassed to show it." Mirabel said and the whole table was silent for a long moment as they processed all this.
"Wait..." It seemed Pepa realized something Mirabel said first as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
"What new baby?!"
