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includeangieinthesequel · 2 years

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Can we have a triplet snippet please? Bruno and Pepa about to do something chaotic or stupid and Felix is of course a Ride or Die for Pepa. And Julieta is chasing them either trying to get them to stop or holding a camera and having healing food on standby?

Of course! Triplet chaos with a side of our two favorite couples. :D

“Remind me again why they’re doing this?”

“Because Bruno dared Pepa to do it.” Julieta adjusted the basket hanging off her arm, shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched her triplets approach the tree.

“What I said was that she couldn’t do it,” Bruno corrected her, sizing up the tree they’d chosen.

“Which is as good as daring me to do it.” Pepa scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Did you think I’d let you get away with that?”

“And Pepa can’t resist a dare.” Julieta completed the thought, turning to face Félix. “So here we are, waiting for my ever so mature siblings to climb a tree onto the church.”

“I see.” Félix gulped, but quickly put on a smile when Pepa and Bruno looked back towards him. “You can do it, Pepi!” He shot her a thumbs up.

Pepa giggled at the encouragement, tucking a strand of fallen hair behind her ear. “Gracias, Félix,” she sing-songed.

“Why are you only saying she can do it?” Bruno protested. “What about me?”

“No offense, Brunito, but I’ve seen you try to do anything athletic. It doesn’t end well.”

“Personally, I can’t see this ending well for either of them,” Julieta confided to Félix behind her hand. “But thankfully, I can heal whatever ridiculous and unnecessary injuries they sustain with a pandebono or two.” She patted the side of the basket, making something shift inside.

“Let me guess, that’s the only reason you’re letting them do this in the first place?”

“Oh, I absolutely would have put a stop to this nonsense otherwise,” Julieta agreed.

“Hey guys, what did I miss?” Agustín appeared next to them. He seemed to be missing his usual injuries for a change.

“Bruno dared Pepa to climb the church into the steeple and ring the bell,” Julieta explained. “You’re just in time for the show.” She gestured towards the two, grappling with the tree trunk.

“You’re awfully calm about this,” Agustín noted, rubbing his arm unconsciously.

“Only because I can heal them if they get hurt.”

Agustín nodded warily, taking a step back away from the church.

“They won’t make you do it,” Julieta reassured him. “You can stay right here on the ground where you’re safe.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I get hurt enough as it is without leaving the ground.”

“You just stay here with us, hombre.” Félix clapped a hand on his back, making him wince. “We’ll keep you safe.”

“Especially Julieta,” Bruno called out, grinning wolfishly. “She’ll keep you nice and safe. Take real good care of you.” He made kissy faces at his sister.

It was hard to say whether Julieta or Agustín turned a brighter shade of red.

“Are you guys going to do this or not?” Julieta cleared her throat, still flustered.

“Yeah yeah, don’t rush us.” Pepa waved off her question nonchalantly. “We’re just trying to figure out the best way to get onto the tree.”

“Of course you are,” Julieta replied. “Because you’re still going through with this idea you had on a complete whim ten minutes ago. Climbing twenty feet up into a tree and jumping onto the roof of the church.”

Pepa shot her a scathing look. “Your lack of faith in my climbing abilities hurts me.”

“I have complete faith in your climbing abilities,” Julieta responded. Lowering her voice, she added to Agustín and Félix. “It’s this whole insane idea I’m questioning.”

“I heard that,” Pepa yelled, jumping into the air and barely missing the lowest tree branch. “Bruno, give me a boost so I can reach.”

Bruno sighed but complied, kneeling and cupping his hands together for Pepa to step on. “Hurry up, Pepa,” he groaned, his hands wobbling under her foot. “You weigh a ton.”

“I’d hurry up if I could get my footing,” she retorted. “Your hands are so sweaty and gross it’s a wonder I haven’t slipped and broken my ankle.”

Agustín shuddered reflexively. “I get hurt just looking the wrong way at a beehive and here they are, tempting fate.”

“No te preocupes, they’ll be fine.” Julieta rested her hand on his shoulder absently, splaying out her fingers. She jerked it away as soon as she realized what she was doing and cleared her throat roughly.

He touched his shoulder, entranced, then smiled at Julieta shyly.

She returned the smile, creating a small bubble around them.

The silence that followed was finally dispelled by Agustín asking, “How did they even come up with it?”

“Well, Pepa was bragging about how there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do, so Bruno called her bluff and asked her to climb the tallest building in town.” Julieta rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “And of course, Pepa couldn’t turn down a dare.”

“Eh, I think Pepa can do it,” Félix disagreed. “She’s a good climber.”

“Is she that good though?” Julieta asked apprehensively, eyeing the side of the church.

“She is,” Félix insisted confidently. “You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” Julieta said grimly, looking back over to where Pepa had finally swung her leg over the branch, struggling to clamber on. “Do you guys need help?”

“I’m fine.” Pepa was hugging the branch with her arms and legs, righting herself and moving towards the trunk in pursuit of the next branch.

“I’m not.” It seemed to suddenly strike Bruno that he was left alone at the bottom of the tree. “How am I supposed to get up there?” He frowned up at the tree. “Can someone give me a boost?”

“Sure thing.” Félix walked over, lifting Bruno easily into the branch then rejoining his friends.

“What I don’t get is why Bruno is doing this too.” Agustín scratched his head, confused. “I thought he only dared Pepa to do it.”

“He did, but then Pepa said that after she did it, she would rub it in his face forever that she climbed the church and he didn’t, so obviously that meant Bruno would have to do it too.” Julieta snorted.

“So, he’s risking his life just so Pepa doesn’t tease him?”

“He’s not risking his life; Julieta is right here.” Félix gave both of them an encouraging smile.

“But still…isn’t this a bit extreme?”

Julieta smiled at him indulgently. “You don’t understand, Agustín; you’re an only child.”

“Yeah, it makes sense if you have siblings. Can’t let them have anything over you.” Félix chuckled.

“Especially not someone as petty as Pepa,” Julieta pointed out. “Bruno ruined her favorite dress once, and she made it rain on him for a week.”

Agustín didn’t appear convinced, but he accepted the explanation. “If you say so.”

They turned their attention back towards the tree. Pepa was already halfway up, her gangly limbs flopping around awkwardly as she reached from one branch to the next.

(When confronted about this, she’d say that she was a good climber, not a graceful one.)

Bruno, on the other hand, was having some trouble getting past the first couple branches. He missed grabbing onto the next branch up, throwing him off balance and making him flail about.

“It’s okay to admit defeat.” Pepa snickered, glancing down at her brother.

Bruno gritted his teeth at the remark. “In your dreams.” Peeling himself off the trunk he was hugging for support, he pushed up using a small knot in the tree to reach the next branch.

Pepa’s eyes widened, seeing her brother begin to close the distance between them. Quickly, she scrambled from branch to branch, almost losing her footing on more than one occasion.

Their audience on the ground watched with a mixture of horror and amusement as the two ascended higher and higher. Agustín peered through his fingers, clearly unable to stomach witnessing the daredevilry directly. Julieta seemed calmer, but had begun fingering the edges of her basket, lifting the lid and letting it fall over and over. Even Félix appeared a bit worried, his brow furrowing as Pepa and Bruno climbed.

“Maybe you guys should come down,” Julieta suggested, toying with the sleeve of her dress.

“Are you kidding? I’m almost there.” Pepa was almost at eye level with the roof of the church. “Might be a good idea for Bruno to give up though.”

“I’m not quitting, Pepa.” Bruno’s face strained from the exertion, but he forced himself to continue climbing.

After an excruciatingly long wait for those below, Pepa perched on a branch that was level with the church roof. She inched her way forward, keeping her arms out for balance. As she neared the edge of the roof, the branch started dipping under her weight. Gauging the distance, she realized she only had one option.

“I’m gonna jump,” she informed everyone before taking a few steps back.

It took everyone a second to process what she meant, and by that point, she had already taken a running leap.

“Pepa, no!” Julieta cried out.

“You’re gonna fall,” Agustín groaned, burying his face in his hands.

Only Félix was left watching as she flew through the air, landing on the roof on her hands and feet. “It’s okay, guys, she made it!”

Julieta and Agustín let out twin sighs of relief.

“Check my head, Agustín; I think she just gave me my first grey hair,” Julieta muttered darkly.

His fingers gently ran over her plait, making her breath hitch. “No, you’re good.”

“I didn’t mean that literally, Agustín,” she complained, but the satisfied smile on her face gave her away.

“You two are so cute,” Pepa trilled from the rooftop. Climbing into the steeple was far more straightforward now that she’d made it onto the roof, and she did so without any trouble. “Tada!” She proclaimed, holding up her arms victoriously.

“I knew you could do it, Pepi!” Félix smiled at her warmly.

The semidarkness of the belltower made the faint rainbow haloing Pepa stand out.

Julieta turned to Agustín with a knowing smile. “Look who’s talking about cute.”

Bruno cleared his throat. “Yeah, yeah, all you lovebirds are adorable,” he griped. “Meanwhile I’m fighting for my life here.”

“You can always climb down, Bruno,” Julieta reminded him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“And give Pepa the satisfaction?” He blew air through his nose disbelievingly. “No way.”

“You’re taking forever, Bruno,” Pepa observed, examining her nails as she waited. “I should have brought a book.”

“Hilarious, Pepa,” Bruno huffed, focusing on making his way upward. “You’re a real comedian.”

The other four watched him with bated breath as he finally made it to the branch where Pepa had jumped. He shuffled forward, reaching the point where Pepa took the leap, but froze in fear. “I,” he stammered, “I can’t do it, guys.”

“Sure you can, just take a running start and don’t think about it,” Félix encouraged.

“Not helping, Félix,” Julieta gritted out. Her eyes were wide in fear and her hand gripped the basket so tightly her knuckles grew white.

“No, I, I really can’t do it, guys.” Bruno gulped, trying not to look down.

“You’re so ridiculous,” Pepa declared, climbing out of the window again. “Here,” she reached out her arm towards Bruno. “Take it.”

Bruno looked at the proffered hand suspiciously.

“Take it before I change my mind.”

That was all the motivation he needed to grab on. He yelped as Pepa yanked him onto the rooftop, sending them both toppling forward. It took him a couple minutes to catch his breath. “Thanks, Pepa.”

“I wasn't gonna let you die,” she dismissed his gratitude, dusting herself off and getting back up. "You're annoying, but not that annoying."

He gave her a dirty look then her words struck him. “Wha-I wouldn’t have died!”

“Yeah you would have. Either you would’ve fallen off the tree or you would’ve stayed up there so long you would die of hunger.”

“So supportive,” he mumbled under his breath.

“I helped you on, didn’t I?” Pepa questioned impatiently. "Besides, it just proves my point that you couldn't do it and I could." Before he could reply, she continued. “Now come on.” She climbed back into the belltower, waiting for Bruno. “Let’s ring it together.”

Soon, Bruno joined her, grabbing onto the rope she held out. “Count of three?”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three!” They yelled in unison, pulling the rope as hard as they could.

The bell rang loudly, and the two whooped excitedly.

“Man, the whole town can hear that,” Bruno whistled lowly. “Wait…” A frightened expression flitted across his face. “The whole town can hear that! Let’s get out of here before we get in trouble!”

Pepa quickly climbed out the window, descending the tree far more nimbly than she’d ascended. She made it all the way to the bottom branch before realizing she was still too far up to just let herself down. “I’m gonna jump again.”

“Oh no you’re not,” Julieta hmphed.

But it was too late. Pepa had already sat down on the branch and pushed herself down…

…right into Félix’s waiting arms. He cradled her, adjusting his hold. “I got you.”

“My hero.” Pepa smiled demurely, gazing up into his eyes.

Everyone was so focused on what was happening under the tree that at first, they didn’t even notice Bruno had disappeared.

“Wait, where’s Bruno?” Agustín asked.

Right at that moment, the church doors flew open and out strolled Bruno. “Hey, guys,” he greeted them casually.

“How did you get down?” Julieta finally set down her basket of food.

“I went down the stairs.” Bruno shrugged. At everyone’s confusion, he elaborated. “The dare was to climb up. Didn’t say anything about climbing back down.”

Julieta closed her eyes, rubbing her temples. “That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve heard you say all day.”

Seeming to realize they were surrounded by people, Félix finally set Pepa down on her feet. “We should probably head back.” He pointed at the clock on the church. “It’s getting late.”

“You’re right.” Julieta picked up her basket again.

The group started walking back to their houses. Julieta leaned her head on Agustín’s shoulder. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her close. Félix and Pepa held hands.

“You guys are all nauseating,” Bruno let them know cheerfully. He sounded much better with both feet firmly planted on the ground.

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you just let us find you a girl,” Pepa threw out, fingers intertwined with Félix’s.

“What, so I can be disgusting too?”

“You wouldn’t think it’s disgusting once you find someone.”

Bruno opened his mouth to counter her remark.

“Guys.” Julieta interrupted their bickering.

“What?” Her triplets whirled around to face her.

“Promise me you’ll never do that again.” She took a deep breath. “It was too dangerous.”

Bruno’s eyes met Pepa’s. “We promise,” he said, stifling a smirk.

“Yeah.” Pepa’s eyes gleamed wickedly.

“Why do I get the feeling that they don’t mean it?” Julieta asked Agustín, dread creeping into her words.

“Probably because they don’t.”

“Oh, we won’t do that again,” Pepa said matter-of-factly. “But there are plenty of other things we could do.”

Julieta ground her teeth in frustration. “You two are going to be the death of me.”

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