The Barefoot Boy Who Want To Find His Real Father

CHAPTER 3 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED

"If she kept me away, then someone taught her to be afraid."

Alejandro left the party before the candles were lit.

He took Sofia with him because she refused to let go of his hand. Mateo sat in the back of the SUV beside her, still wrapped in Alejandro's jacket. The girl in pink shoes and the barefoot boy watched each other in uneasy silence, like two children standing on opposite sides of a door that had suddenly opened.

At Saint Gabriel's clinic, the air smelled of bleach and old coffee.

Rosa Delgado rose from a plastic chair when she saw him. Her hair had gone white. Her face had narrowed with age. But Alejandro recognized her at once.

"You," he said.

She nodded, eyes wet. "I prayed you would come before it was too late."

He wanted anger. He was entitled to it. But Mateo was right there.

"Start talking."

Rosa looked at the children, then back at him. "Lucia waited for you. For months. Then your mother came."

Alejandro went still.

"She told Lucia you had married someone else for business. She said if Lucia tried to contact you again, your life would be ruined, and any child would be treated as a scandal. Lucia was already pregnant. She panicked."

Alejandro's jaw tightened so hard it hurt.

"Why didn't Lucia come to me later?"

"Because the next year you were all over magazines with your first wife. Lucia thought it was true. By the time she understood that marriage had been arranged and ended quickly, she was ashamed. Then Mateo got sick as a baby. Then she got proud. Then time did what time does."

Sofia looked up. "Grandma lied?"

No one answered.

Rosa handed Alejandro a folded photo. He opened it carefully.

Lucia, younger and laughing, wore the silver rose pendant. Her hand rested over a round pregnant belly.

On the back, in Lucia's handwriting, were six words:

For Alejandro, if he ever asks.

Before Alejandro could speak, a nurse rushed from the hallway.

"Are you family of Lucia Moreno?"

Mateo stood up so fast the chair scraped.

The nurse's face was grave.

"She just lost consciousness."