Chapter 19 - Alma
Three months later, Valeria woke at 3:12 in the morning.
This time, fear was not what kept her in bed.
A contraction was.
She stared at the ceiling.
Then another came.
Alejandro woke when she grabbed his arm.
“What?”
She breathed slowly.
“I think our daughter has decided she is done waiting.”
Alejandro sat upright.
“Now?”
“No.”
“Next Thursday.”
“Of course now.”
He nearly fell while trying to find his shoes.
Valeria started laughing.
By the time they reached the hospital, Alejandro had called Tomás twice, forgotten Valeria’s overnight bag once, and asked the same nurse four times whether everything was normal.
Valeria finally grabbed his face.
“Alejandro.”
“Yes?”
“Stop negotiating with childbirth.”
He blinked.
“I’m not.”
“You offered the nurse anything she wanted if she moved faster.”
“She looked underfunded.”
Despite everything, Valeria laughed.
Hours later, the laughter gave way to exhaustion.
Then tears.
Then one final moment of overwhelming pressure.
At 1:46 that afternoon, their daughter entered the world.
Her cry filled the room.
Alejandro covered his mouth.
Valeria began sobbing.
The nurse placed the baby against her chest.
Tiny fingers curled against Valeria’s skin.
Alejandro touched his daughter’s dark hair.
“She’s perfect.”
Valeria looked at him.
“What do we call her?”
They had discussed names for months.
None had felt right.
Now Valeria knew.
“Alma.”
Alejandro smiled.
“Soul.”
Valeria nodded.
“Because after everything they tried to take from us, that’s the one thing they never touched.”
Alejandro kissed her forehead.
“Alma Aranda.”
Valeria looked at him.
“Alma Valdés Aranda.”
He nodded immediately.
“Of course.”
The baby would carry both families.
Not because tradition demanded it.
Because Valeria wanted her daughter to know she came from more than wealth.
Inés visited the next morning.
She cried the second she saw Alma.
Tomás came later.
Camila sent flowers with a note.
NO INVESTIGATIONS UNTIL SHE’S AT LEAST SIX MONTHS OLD.
Alejandro laughed.
Esther did not come.
She was awaiting sentencing.
Instead, a letter arrived.
Valeria held it for a long time.
Then she opened it.
There were no excuses.
No request for forgiveness.
Only one paragraph.
I taught my children that losing status was worse than losing character.
Marcela learned that lesson too well.
Alejandro nearly did.
You did not.
Please teach Alma something better.
Valeria folded the letter.
She did not forgive Esther that day.
Forgiveness was not a debt she owed anyone.
May you like
But she kept the letter.
Some truths deserved to be remembered.
