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#head over heels is on my nightstand and life is a bowl of cherries!
rosepompadour · 6 months
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My parents were inexorable, they were forever. They chose each other over and over, sometimes in spite of, sometimes because of. It wasn't always a fairy tale, but I wanted to remember the best, dreamiest, most sublime part, and that part just happens to be true. - MELISSA NEWMAN
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honey-dewey · 3 years
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Family Reunion
Pairing: Javier Peña /Reader
Word Count: 2,702
Warnings: mentions of canon-typical violence, probably inaccurate Spanish, but otherwise none! This is all fluff!
Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell @star-wars-hell
Returning home is hard, but with you by Javier’s side, he can face anything. Including a Peña family reunion.
“I’m really not sure about this.”
You laughed, putting a hand on top of his and watching the Texas countryside pass you by. “Javi, it’s two days. What could possibly go wrong?”
Javier sighed. “Ay dios míos, you’re gonna regret saying that.”
The Peña family ranch was all set up for the reunion, and for the first time in a long time, Javier was actually able to go. He pulled up the driveway, face already scrunching as three women rushed out and stood eagerly on the edge of the driveway. “Here we go.”
Immediately, as soon as Javier’s feet hit the pavement, the three women were upon him, hugging and squealing that they’d missed him. You grinned, stepping out of the car and simply watching as Javier tried to brush off his sister’s affection.
Finally, once they were all done greeting Javier, he pulled you close to his side. “These are my older sisters, Maria, Cynthia, and Patricia.”
You smiled. “Pleasure to meet you all. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Cynthia bounded back into the house, apparently eager to tell everyone Javier was home. Maria, who you were pretty sure was the oldest, helped you and Javier grab your bags and take them inside. While Javier got lost in the sea of family members who hadn’t seen him in a decade, you found near silence in Javier’s old bedroom, which was where you two would be sleeping.
“Y’know, Mamá couldn’t believe it when he called home to say he got married,” Maria said, setting Javier’s bag on his bed. “Our little Javi, all grown up and married.”
You put your bag down next to Javier’s. “Is he the youngest?”
“Nah,” Maria said, pointing to a framed photo on Javier’s nightstand. “Melissa and Lori are both younger than him.”
Examining the photo, you suppressed a grin. “He’s the only boy?”
Maria’s Cheshire grin grew. “Yeah.”
An unfamiliar woman poked her head into the room. “Is this Javi’s spouse?”
You nodded.
“Ah!” The woman pulled you into a tight hug. “Hi! I’m Melissa!”
“Lissa!” Javier said, and Melissa put you down with a pout. “Bájalos, ahora.”
Another call of Melissa’s name, and she was racing out of the room with a cheerful laugh, Maria hot on her heels.  
Javier fell onto the bed, and you pulled the door shut, falling next to him. “Home sweet home,” he groaned, putting his hands over his eyes.
You rolled over and ended up laying on Javier’s chest, resting your ear on his collarbones. “I like it,” you said softly.
After a few minutes of simply enjoying each other’s company, a loud shout echoed through the house, disrupting your peace. “Lori’s home!”
The house began to bustle, but you stayed on top of Javier, keeping him trapped. He didn’t seem to mind, and actually wound an arm around your back to keep you secure. Voices filtered around you, but they were fuzzy, like they were underwater or behind a closed door.
Finally, someone opened the door to Javier’s bedroom. “Hijo?”
“Si mamá?”
Javier’s mother looked at you on top of him and smiled. “Lori is home. Do you want to say hello?”
Javier sighed, and you laughed as you were lifted up as he breathed in. “Yeah, I’ll come say hi.”
He stood, and you stood with him. “Come on. You’ll like Lori.”
Lori, if you remembered correctly, was the youngest and the most mature. She looked damn near identical to Javier, despite her feminine features and the fact that she was clearly younger.
“Ah, you must be Javi’s spouse!” She said, shaking your hand. “Damn, Javi really knows how to pick them!”
You laughed. “Thank you, but I think I picked him.”
Lori smiled. “Of course. C’mon! Can you bake?”
Turned out, Lori needed help with the pies, and you and her spent almost half an hour making various pie crusts and fillings. Javier tried to help for a few minutes, but he got dragged off to help somewhere else. You waved as he went, following one of the younger cousins.
“So, how was Columbia?” Lori asked, mixing another apple pie mix in a glass bowl.
You took a breath, continuing to knead lest your emotions get the better of you. “Hard,” you finally admitted. “Very hard. I wasn’t even in the thick of the fighting most times, but it was harder than anything I’ve ever done. We had to move four times, and we caught bombs in Javi’s car on two separate occasions. It was a good day if no one shot at him, and then there was all that shit with Los Pepes.”
“Oh I heard about that,” Lori said sadly, grabbing another pie pan. “That must’ve been hell for him, not being there when they finally put a bullet in Escobar.”
“Steve called us immediately,” you said. “The body was still warm, I don’t think the news knew yet. But we did. Javier cried.”
Lori shrugged. “What’s he gonna do now?”
You looked around, making sure the kitchen was empty. “Going back.”
“What?”
You nodded. “They’re sending us back, something about the Cali cartel? I dunno, but apparently it’s big and it’s a problem. They want Javi because, well, he’s had connections with those people.”
“Oh,” Lori breathed, passing the pie to you so you could lattice it. “That’s awful.”
“That’s government work,” you said with a sigh.
Before Lori could speak again, Javier came back with two men, one of whom put an arm around Lori’s waist.
“David, this is Javier’s spouse,” Lori said, smiling as the man kissed her cheek. “The one who was working with the DEA.”
David nodded to you. “Pleasure. I’d shake your hand, but,”
You grinned, holding up your pie crust covered hands. “I’ll spare you the feeling.”
“And this is my cousin Chris,” Javier said, leaning on the counter and watching you expertly lattice the pie in front of you. “How many of those are you making?”
“Three apple, two cherry, one pecan for Cynthia, one blueberry, and a peach pie for Javi.”
Javier lit up. “I thought you weren’t making a peach pie!”
Lori laughed. “Beth brought Georgia peaches, so I had to.”
Chris opened the oven, examining the pies. “Damn, these look divine.”
“Off,” Lori said, giving Chris’s hands a light smack with a wooden spoon. “These are for dessert!”
Once you were finally done and the pies only had to be baked, you were able to wash your hands and sit on the couch. Javier sat next to you, along with a few aunts and uncles you didn’t know. Javier’s father sat in a recliner, his mother sat on a loveseat, and beside her sat a wonderful old woman who you quickly learned was Javier’s grandmother. You closed your eyes, leaning against Javier’s shoulder and dozing a bit. You didn’t fall asleep, but damn you wanted to. Conversation filtered around you, but you didn’t pay much attention.
People came and went, and eventually, everyone was moving outside. Javier nudged you to awareness and you blinked blearily in the Texas sunlight as you followed him outside.
“Veteran DEA agent, bothered by a bit of sunshine,” Javier teased, handing you his aviators. “Ain’t you a sight.”
You huffed at him. “Don’t make me regret saying yes to marrying you,” you said, waving to Patricia and Melissa.
Lunch was a happy affair. You sat beside your husband, chatting eagerly with some of his cousins. His sisters sat with you, happily telling you stories about Javier that made him turn red and you bend over with laughter. Finally, once they’d had their fun embarrassing him, Cynthia, Maria, and Lori all left to go oversee some game the young cousins were playing. Melissa leaned over the table and grinned, Patricia already rolling her eyes.
“Javi,” she said sweetly, fluttering her eyes. “Have you taken Bella out yet?”
“Bella?” You asked, seeing Javier copy Patricia’s eye roll. “Who’s Bella?”
Melissa pointed to the stables that the ranch had. “Javi’s horse. She’s getting old, but she still runs.”
“She’s thirteen,” Javier said. “Not old.”
Patricia smiled. “Javi managed to get her off a man trying to sell her for meat,” she explained to you. “Right up until the day he left for Columbia, she was his pride and joy. Brought her back basically from the dead.”
You tried to imagine Javier caring deeply about a horse, deeply enough to save her. Unsurprisingly, the thought came easy. “Bella, it’s a beautiful name.”
“Short for Belladonna,” Javier said. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”
The ground was warm beneath your feet, still bare because you hadn’t had time to put shoes on before lunch. The Peña stables didn’t have many horses, maybe three or four. Right at the end was a stall painted with gorgeously intricate vines and flowers, the belladonna plant. Javier leaned over the door, whistling.
The effect was almost immediate. He was shoved from the door, a black horse pushing him out and butting against his body, searching him.
“Bella!” He said happily, scratching behind Bella’s swiveling ears. “Hello! Did you miss me?”
Bella snorted.
“I know, I missed you too,” Javier said, lost in his own little world. “Hey, guess what! I got married. Mhm, I think they’re perfect too.”
You smiled, leaning against the wall and watching Javier talk to Bella. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Javier said. “C’mon, I’ll take you on a ride.”
He introduced you to another horse, Bella’s neighbor Aristotle. Aristotle was well behaved, and within no time, you were sitting in the saddle and following Javier down a trail. Aristotle was an easy ride, and it helped that you had some prior riding knowledge. Javier, however, was leagues above you, riding as if he’d been doing it his whole life. Which you supposed he had.
“The ranch is huge,” Javier said, leading you through a section of forest. “But even if it wasn’t, we’re all good friends with the neighbors, and they don’t mind when we ride on their land.”
You left the forest and entered a large field that stretched on for miles, a wooden fence bisecting the field. “Is that where the neighbor’s property starts?” You asked, pulling Aristotle to a stop on the edge of the woods.
“That’s still ours,” Javier said. “Technically the neighbor’s land starts at the end of the field on the other side of the fence, but the fence was there when we bought the land and no one wants to take it down.”
You nodded. “How far is it back to the ranch?”
Javier looked at you, confused. “Twenty minutes at a steady trot, maybe thirty at a walk, why?”
Pushing Javier’s aviators up your nose and wiggling in the saddle, you grinned. “Over the fence, race you back!”
Just like that, you were off. Aristotle seemed just as joyful as you as you leapt the fence with ease, using what little riding knowledge you had. Javier caught on to your game and followed suit, laughing as Bella and Aristotle raced side by side.
The trail was likely too dangerous to keep this pace at, but if you weren’t mistaken, you could wind around the forest, staying at your pace. Abandoning Javier at the path, you cut a sharp turn, feeling the wind on your skin as you laughed.
True to your thoughts, within ten minutes, you were coming up on the ranch with no Javier in sight. Jumping the fence yet again into the riding ring, you pulled Aristotle to a stop, jumping down and stroking his nose.
Maria and Cynthia ran up to you as you straightened your shirt. “What happened?”
The sound of hooves alerted you to the return of your husband. “Javier and I went for a ride. I challenged him to a race home. He lost.”
Javier stopped Bella beside you, looking you up and down as he slid out of his saddle. “That was some damn impressive riding,” he said. “Congrats.”
You grinned. “C’mon, let’s put these two away and relax.”
Of course, in the Peña house, there was no such thing as relaxing. You and Javier were halfway to the porch when Javier was hit in the back with a water balloon. He turned, back dripping. Melissa and Patricia both pointed at each other, barely containing their laughter.
“Oh hell no!” Javier said, taking off his shoes and smiling. “Get back here!”
He chased after his sisters, both of which ran away, shrieking with laughter. You sat on the porch swing, watching Javier grab a water balloon and throw it. His aim was off, so instead of hitting Patricia, he hit Maria, who immediately joined the fight as well. Within minutes, all six Peña kids were throwing water balloons at each other and laughing. It was such an innocent sight, and it made you sigh. How long would you be in Columbia fighting the Cali Cartel? When would Javier get a chance to laugh like this again?
A shriek pulled you from your thoughts as Maria took control of a garden hose and began to aim it mostly at Javier, catching Lori and Cynthia in the process of soaking her brother. Javier ducked away from the hose spray, and Melissa snuck around Maria’s back and stood on the hose. It was a simple trick, but one Maria fell for, looking into the hose and immediately getting a face full of water.
“Niños!” Javier’s mother yelled, coming out of the house. “Que estás haciendo?”
“Jugando, Mamá!” Javier called, sitting up in the grass from where he’d been play wrestling with Cynthia, entirely soaked and decently muddy. “Melissa lo inició.”
“Did not!”
“Did to!”
“Niños!” Javier’s mother said again, trying to cut the childish bickering off. “Lavarse!”
“Si Mamá!” The chorus of six voices called back. Javier was up first, shaking like a wet dog and trotting over to the house, followed by his sisters.
Ten minutes later, a significantly cleaner Javier was sitting next to you, his hair still wet and in completely different clothes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” you said softly, watching the large extended family gather for dinner.
“Okay, what’s wrong?”
“Hm?”
Javier took your hands. “You only ever use that tone when something is really wrong. What is it?”
You shrugged. “Just wondering when we’ll be back here. Will it be years, like last time?”
“Not if I can help it,” Javier said softly. “Hey, look at me cariño. This won’t be like last time, okay? I swear it. We’ll be home soon.”
Nodding, you kissed Javier, running a finger over his ring. “I love you.”
Javier smiled, kissing your forehead. “I love you more.”
You leaned against him, taking in the setting sun and the bustling happiness of the yard. Someone started playing music, and you perked up. “Oh! I love this song!”
Javier tipped his head, trying to figure out what was playing. “I don’t know this.”
“It’s from the mid sixties,” you said, standing and tugging Javier to his feet. “Never charted, but my mother loved it.” You started to sway with the happy music, and Javier copied your movements. “Hey, hey, hey, lover, you don't have to be a star,” you sang, making Javier smile. “Hey, hey, hey, lover, I love you just the way you are.”
Javier moved his hands to your waist, and you put your forearms on his shoulders, still swaying and singing. “For love is just the same, without fortune and fame. Just give me true love and understanding. True love and understanding.”
The song kept playing, and you kept singing, dancing with Javier on the porch. About halfway through the song, someone interrupted you. “Hey, dorks!”
You jumped, almost knocking into Javier and hurting him. “Jesus! A warning next time!”
Maria grinned. “Mamá says it’s time to eat, and if you don’t come down, she’ll feed your portion to the dogs.”
Javier smiled. “Yeah, that sounds like Mamá. C’mon, let’s eat.”
You took Javier’s hand, following him off the porch, still singing lightly as the grass crunched under your feet and the warm Texas breeze rippled your clothes.
“Hey, lover, treat me good and nice, and it will be alright. Just give me true love and understanding. True love and understanding.”
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