Archive of Our Own ^beta

The idea comes to her while her parents are fighting. 

They usually are, you’d be hard-pressed to find Charlie and Mariana having a conversation where their voices aren’t raised and shouting obscenities at each other. Frankly, for Juanaflippa it’s a normal occurrence in her everyday life. She knows that it’s not normal per se. Tio Roier and Tia Jaiden don’t fight nearly as much as her parents. The last time she had a sleepover with Bobby and Tilin at their house, she almost couldn’t sleep because of how quiet it was. 

Juanaflippa just wants her family to be whole again. And so, it’s kind of ironic that her dad’s fighting gives her the idea on how to stop the fighting. 

It’s just a small comment that her dad makes. Something about how life was so much better when they were first married. Her papa agreed and then said some hurtful things Juanaflippa probably wasn’t meant to hear. But, this sparks a plan in her mind. 

If life was so much better when they’d first gotten married, why not get them married again?

~~

Phase One is gathering information on weddings. She doesn’t know the fine details that go along with them, just the bare bones of them. She does know one person who’s married though. 

Tio Phil.

Which is why she practically begs her parents to let her have a sleepover with Chayanne and Tallulah that next night. Her dad seems a little apprehensive, probably because Tio Phil tried to kill her, but her papa- probably to spite her dad- agrees and is the one to set it up. 

That’s how she finds herself sneaking out of her sleeping bag to find her Tio, after a day filled with running around

He’s rummaging through some chests in their storage room when she finally finds him, book and quill clutched to her chest. She knocks softly on the doorframe and watches Tio Phil’s head jerk up, hitting his head on the lid of the chest. 

“Ow.” He exclaims, looking back at Juanaflippa in confusion. “Mate? What’s up?” He asks, settling back against the chest and beckoning her over. She walks towards him and sits on the floor in front of him criss-cross applesauce. She scribbles in her book for a moment before holding it up to his face. 

‘STORY’ it says. Tio Phil scratches his head a little. 

“I already read you one earlier.” He responds. Juanaflippa nods and scribbles something else.

‘ANOTHER’ it says. Tio Phil huffs, exasperated, but he’s smiling so Juanaflippa doesn’t really think he’s all that annoyed.

“You got something in mind?” He asks, a little too knowingly. Juanaflippa nods. 

‘HOW DID YOU GET MARRIED?’

Tio Phil hums a little and looks up at the ceiling. 

“Well, it started with a proposal-“ Tio Phil begins to go on about the story of how he married this beautiful woman named Kristin and how it was the best day of his life. A couple things stick out to Juanaflippa as ‘must haves’. For example, Tio Phil mentions that Kristin wore a white veil and held a pretty bouquet of flowers in her hands as she walked down the aisle. He says the flowers matched his boutonnière and the petals that the flower girl threw. He mentions styling his hair beforehand to look his best. The rings they swapped after giving their vows. The kiss they shared that sealed the deal. 

Afterwards, Tio Phil looks back down at her curiously. 

“Why’d you wanna know all that?” He asks. Juanaflippa hunches her shoulders a little. She doesn’t want to tell anyone about her plan. It’s something she has to do for her family and she doesn’t need the help of anyone else. 

‘JUST CURIOUS’ she writes next. Tio Phil gives her a look that says “I don’t believe you for a second but whatever” and then sighs. 

“Well, mate. I think it’s about time you got to bed for real.” He speaks as he stands up from the floor, cracking his back when he’s done. “Don’t.” He orders afterwards. Juanaflippa wisely does not show him the ‘OLD’ she had written in her book.

Phase Two of her plan begins the next time she has a sleepover with Bobby and Tilin. Weddings usually have a lot of flowers, right? So, her plan today is to pick as many flowers as she can carry. Then, somehow hide them from her dad’s when they pick her up. Simple. 

After lunch, her papa drops her off at Tia Jaiden’s. When he gets distracted talking to Tio Roier, Juanaflippa slips inside the house and runs up to her Tia. A quick tug of the sleeve gets her attention and it’s all too easy to ask to go outside and play.

Her Tia sits on the porch while Juanaflippa runs through the throng of trees and picks the flowers she’ll need. 

The sun is hot and it beats relentlessly on her scales. She can already feel her allergies acting up. Her eyes are starting to get itchy and she speeds up- trying to get the flowers picked as soon as possible. 

There’s dandelions and poppies, some cornflowers and oxeye daisies, even some azure bluets. By the time her arms are full, she still doesn’t feel like she has enough, and she keeps dropping them. 

Eventually, after dropping more flowers than picking them, Juanaflippa drops into the grass in defeat. Maybe this plan isn’t going to work out. Her nose is running and her eyes are starting to water. This plan isn’t going to work.

Soft crunching fills her ears and when she looks up, Tia Jaiden is standing in front of her. She crouches down in front of her and smiles. 

“Do you need some help?” Tia Jaiden asks. Juanaflippa nods and watches as Tia Jaiden pulls a basket from behind her and piles all of the flowers inside of it. Gently, her Tia helps her up and leads her back to the house, picking flowers as they go. 

Once inside, Tia Jaiden leaves the flower basket on a nearby table. 

“We might want to wash your hands.” She suggests, leading Juanaflippa over to the sink and helping her up on a stool. She can hear Bobby and Tilin upstairs, so she speed-washes her hands. Once they’re dry, Juanaflippa runs for the stairs. A new sense of determination fills her chest.

She has to do this. For her family.

Phase Three of the plan is arguably simpler than the rest. Juanafllippa has to make the rings. You can’t have a wedding without wedding rings. 

The next time she and her dad are tending to their farm, Juanaflippa pulls a few strands of wheat from their harvest and shoves them in the pocket of her overalls. On their own it’s not enough to be a ring, but if she twirls it into twine it should be strong enough to last until she can get a better replacement. 

When she’s back inside and holed up in her room, she begins to carefully twine the strands of hay and some thin flower stems together. She braids them- like how her papa taught her to braid her hair- and they only come out a little wonky. She keeps going, making way more than the two that she needs. 

Only once she’s all out of hay and stems does she stop. Thirteen rings sit in front of her. Only two can be saved. 

She carefully goes through them, separating the usable ones and the wonky ones into different piles. When that’s finished she does it again with the usable pile. She keeps going until she has the best two rings. 

They’re still a little shabby, but she’s quite proud of herself. 

Now, all she has to do is wait.

~~

It’s one of her dads’ worse fights when she decides to put her plan into action. The flowers she picked have been painstakingly made into a bouquet and boutonnière, while the rest of the flowers have been de-petaled. 

She perches in the hallway, waiting for the moment the fighting eases to pounce. 

There’s a moment when the fighting gets a little louder, her dad insulting her papa a little too harshly. This is quickly followed by an offended silence. 

Now!

Juanaflippa jumps out from the hall, dashing for their hands. Both of her parents seem to jump at her sudden appearance and their mouths click shut. 

When she starts to pull them into her bedroom though, they begin to question her and stand their ground. Juanaflippa smacks them both before continuing to pull. Finally, they seem to get the hint and share a shrug before allowing themselves to be pulled along.

She drags them into her bedroom, sitting them down back to back with her dad facing the door and her papa facing the opposite. 

“Juana, ¿qué estamos haciendo?” Her papa asks, trying to glance over his shoulder. Juanaflippa smacks him gently in the shoulder. Her dad chokes out a laugh so she smacks him too. She runs around her room, grabbing all of her supplies. 

She threatens them with a look that says “Stay here” before leaving her room to set up the aisle. 

Juanaflippa drags a kitchen chair out into the living room before using the petals to form a pathway in front of it. The rings are placed gently on the chair- for later. She then positions all of her stuffed animals and toys to act as the audience, making sure they all face the chair before running back to her room.

Next on the list is to get them ready for the wedding. 

She starts with her papa. His hair is a little difficult to push back, so she drags water through the strands to try and get that slicked back look. Juanaflippa ignores her papa’s raised eyebrow as she declips his cape from around his shoulders. This’ll be perfect as the veil. With a spare headband and some fiddling, the cape now drapes over the back of his head and pools at the floor behind his back. 

Her dad tries to glance around a couple of times, but it’s bad luck to see your spouse on your wedding day so she smacks him each time he turns his head. Eventually, he seems to get the point. 

“What’s she doing to you over there?” Her dad asks after the fifth smack, rubbing his shoulder a little bit. Maybe she’d smacked him a bit too hard that time. 

“Uhh, el cambio de imagen. I think.” Her papa responds, hand lifting to adjust the makeshift veil. Juanaflippa smacks him. “¡Ay, Juana! ¡Eso duele!” He exclaims, pouting a little. 

Juanaflippa ignores him and gives him a once over before nodding her head proudly. She moves around to her dad and gives him a contemplating expression. His glasses are smudged and his hair is a mess. She shakes her head a little and her dad gives a squawk of affront and crosses his arms. 

She peels the glasses off of his face and sets them gently on her nightstand before grabbing more supplies. She stole her dad’s tie for this, but she doesn’t know exactly how you tie a tie, so she just knots it at the base of his throat. It hangs down a lot farther than it should but Juanaflippa shrugs it off. 

Her dad’s hair is next. Learning from her papa, she wets her fingers before parting his hair in the middle and flattening it down to his skull. Her dad squints up at her and she pats his head absently. Juanaflippa cleans his glasses with her shirt, holding them up to the light for smudges. Then, she slides them back onto her dad’s face. 

Next, she clips the boutonnière to his chest. Her dad cries out though and reaches for it himself. She must’ve nicked him with the needle. She watches as her dad pins it to his chest before looking up at her oddly. 

Juanaflippa nods proudly again and reaches for his hand. She pulls him up and pushes him out of the room, making sure he doesn’t look behind him. Once the petals come into view though, her dad stumbles a bit. Concerned, she glances up at him to make sure he’s okay. His eyes are a little bugged out and his free hand reaches up to his tie. 

“Flippa?” He questions softly, allowing her to walk him up the aisle and position him in his spot. She gives him a little thumbs up and a smile before rushing back into her room. Her papa turns around when he hears her enter with his eyebrow quirked a little. Juanaflippa moves to pick up the bouquet she made and pushes it into his hands. 

Finally, she pulls him up off the floor and grabs his hand. Slowly, she walks him into the living room and towards her dad. She can see her dad smile a little too widely when he catches sight of her papa. Her papa on the other hand is uncharacteristically quiet. 

When her papa is in his place, she clambers up to stand on the chair, slipping a little bit. Both of her parents react quickly and end up just picking her up to place her on the chair. She smiles up at them in thanks before taking the bouquet and grasping at both of their hands to intertwine them. She then whips out a piece of paper she prepared earlier. 

‘VOWS’ it says. Juanaflippa uses the paper to smack her dad to get him going after a solid minute of silence. 

“Uh, right. Sorry. I didn’t really prepare those. This was all kind of sudden.” He pauses, eyes locked on their clasped hands. “I guess- the truth? That’d work.” He looks up at her papa with a smile. “I know we fight a lot. Like a lot a lot. Probably too much if I’m being honest. We’re not really cultivating the best environment to raise our daughter to be honest- I mean-“ Juanaflippa smacks him again, sensing that he’s about to go on a tangent. 

“Right, right. Vows. Okay.” He heaves a breath. “I’m- glad. I’m glad it was you that I matched with. Frankly, I don’t think I could really picture myself with anyone else. And even though we fight and have our issues- I honestly think our life is as perfect as I want it to be.” Her dad pauses. “Maybe less fighting to be fair- but you are kind of annoying.”

Her papa chokes and Juanaflippa glances at him, shocked to see that he’s tearing up a bit. 

“Anyways, I want to stay with you- with Juanaflippa and our family for the rest of forever. Fighting or not- this life is everything I think I could’ve asked for.” Her dad finishes looking a little choked up himself. 

Another minute of silence makes Juanaflippa smack her papa into action. 

“Ay Juana!” he scolds wetly. He glances back up at her dad and begins. 

“Cuando te conocí, me decepcionó un poco. Realmente no te conocía mucho y tener que criar a un hijo contigo-? Pensé que no funcionaría. ¿Pero ahora? Si me preguntaras en qué parte del mundo quería estar más-” She sees her papa squeeze her dad's hand. “Estaría justo aquí.“ Her papa sniffs. 

“Quiero esta vida para siempre. Quiero que Juana nos golpee cada vez que hagamos algo que ella no quiere. Quiero oírte divagar sobre tostadas de aguacate durante una hora. Quiero intercambiar la lectura de sus historias a la hora de dormir porque no podemos decidir cuál de nosotros puede hacerlo. Quiero casarme contigo porque nuestra hija nos sorprende con una boda que planeó. Quiero pasar mañana y todos los días después de eso contigo y Juana.” Her papa finishes, looking a little out of breath. 

Her dad reaches up to hit him in the chest after a moment- probably to read the translation- with their shared palms. “Fuck you for having better vows than me.” He chokes, cheeks stained with tears. Her papa only smiles lovingly and looks down at Juanaflippa. She nods and then reaches for the rings. 

They look a little worse for wear, but she still hands them off to her parents. Then, she pulls a second sheet of paper from her pocket. 

‘DO YOU DO?’ It says. She holds it up proudly, and hears them chuckle above her. 

“I do.” Her dad whispers and slides the ring onto her papa’s fingers.

“I do.” Her papa states as he does the same. 

She then flips the paper over. ‘KISS’ this side says. The paper prevents her from seeing her parents' faces, but she sees them step closer so she assumes that they’ve done it. She jumps a little in excitement and almost topples off the chair- it’s only thanks to her dad’s quick reaction that she doesn’t fall. 

The chair thuds on the ground and Juanaflippa wraps her arms around her dad’s neck, content. Her papa reaches forward and kisses her on the forehead, before wrapping himself around her and her dad. 

“Gracias, Juana.” He whispers, a little conspiratorially. She grins up at him. 

Plan Success.