Miguel’s stomach was in knots. He hadn’t been able to eat breakfast that morning, he was so nervous. Instead, he’d scraped it into the trash while Dominic was in the shower. He knew he’d given the alpha no end of worry over the last few weeks.

The doctor was waiting for them when they arrived at the clinic.

“So, we’ve got two things on our schedule today. I can tell you’re nervous so I’m going to let you decide what we do first. We’re going to remove the cast on your right arm and give you an ultrasound to find out the state of your pregnancy. Since we didn’t hear from you the last few weeks, I’m going to assume that you didn’t have any cramping or bleeding?” The doctor spoke as he lead them back to one of the examination rooms.

“No bleeding. No cramping,” confirmed Miguel. “I just...I really wanna get this over with. Not knowing one way or the other is killing me.”

“Okay, then we’ll do the scan first. I already brought in the equipment. If you’ll just lie down on the table and pull up your shirt we can take a look,” the doctor instructed.

A somewhat outdated looking set of medical equipment, with a large monitor, sat on a cart beside the examination table. It was probably the ultrasound machine, though Miguel was almost certain he’d seen newer technology on display in the colonial museum.

“Why don’t you stand by his head?” the doctor suggested to Dominic. “You’ll be out of the way, and you’ll both have a good view of the screen. Good, good. Okay then, I’m sorry but this is going to be a bit cold.” The doctor apologized as took a small bottle of gel and squirted some of it onto Miguel’s stomach.

The gel was cold. Not freezing, but kind of similar to the feeling of using hand sanitizer. Only this was more like hair gel in consistency.

“Now, let’s see what we’ve got.” The doctor flipped a switch and machine hummed to life. A moment later, he pressed a long handled plastic sensor against Miguel’s belly.

A grainy black-and-white image appeared on the monitor. Nothing that was there was recognizable to Miguel. The doctor stared at the screen as he poked and prodded with the sensor, spreading the gel across Miguel’s abdomen as he did.

“Okay so there...that...hmmm...” the doctor mumbled to himself as he worked. “Ah...okay. There.” He seemed pleased with himself as he pressed the wand into a specific spot on Miguel’s belly.

“Do you see there?” the doctor pointed to the screen. “That’s your baby. And right here...do you see that flicker? That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”

Miguel felt his heart constrict and his eyes began to water. “He’s alive?”

“Alive and,” The doctor glanced at his watch for a moment, “he’s got a strong heartbeat. Roughly 150 BPM by my estimate, which is really good. Developmentally, I’d say it looks like he’s right where he should be at seven weeks. Looks like you’ve got a fighter on your hands here.”

“Dom, Dom...he’s alive.” Miguel clutched at Dominic’s arm.

Dominic said nothing, but when Miguel looked up at him there were tears streaming down his face.

“Well, you’ve still got a long way to go in this pregnancy,” said the doctor. “I’ll print a couple of photos for you, but keep in mind that you’re still in the first trimester. You’ve got over six months left. So take it easy and don’t push yourself too hard. Also, you’ve lost weight since you were in here last. That’s not good. You don’t need to put on a ton of weight, but you definitely shouldn’t be losing. Try to eat something. Go enjoy the festival and buy a bunch of candied bacon or something.”

“I will. Definitely.”

“But before you do that. Let’s get that cast off you.”

* * *

The festival celebrations looked a lot cheerier to Miguel now.

His baby was alive, and his right arm was no longer encumbered by a hunk of plaster. The skin underneath was flaking and discolored from lack of sun. The muscles had atrophied and his right arm was dramatically smaller than he remembered. The smell hadn’t been very pleasant either.

Miguel dragged Dominic back to the apartment so he could clean off his arm and wash away two months’ worth of body odor. He was forced to use lukewarm water. The skin was so sensitive that it felt as if his nerve endings had all been laid bare.

The doctor had been adamant. Miguel was to keep his arm in a sling as much as possible. He wasn’t to lift heavy objects or put a lot of pressure on it. He could do pretty much everything he did while the cast was on, but not everything he could do before that. Over time, once he’d regained some of his muscle mass, he would be back to his old self once more.

Despite these restrictions, Miguel was in a good mood.

Once his arm was clean, they set out towards the cemetery.

The streets were even more crowded than they were that morning. It was still only mid-afternoon but streams of people were already heading towards the cemetery.

Miguel and Dominic bought a big bag of candied bacon from one of the street vendors and shared pieces of it as they walked. The sky above was clear, the weather was mild, and the music was infectious. Smiles painted the faces of everyone they passed.

They caught sight of a boy offering an older man what appeared to be a rather dapper hat. The man smiled gleefully and flipped the hat onto his head. A moment later he yanked the hat off his head and began itching his scalp while shouting angrily. The boy burst into laughter, pleased with the result of his prank.

“Miguel! Dominic!” María’s cheerful voice carried over the crowd as they reached the cemetery. She was standing near a large headstone Miguel knew belonged to her father.

“Where’s Dad?” asked Miguel as they approached.

“He’s getting a head start on his mother’s grave. I’m just finishing up here.” She gestured to the headstone in front of her. She had scrubbed the stone until it was just as white as the day it had been planted. Weeds, sticks, and bits of garbage had been removed from the site of the grave, and a large wreath of fake bones and native flowers was draped over the corner.

“Did you already finish Grandma’s?” Miguel glanced towards the grave immediately beside his grandfather’s. It too had been cleaned, but this one had been decorated by a simple bouquet instead.

“Yeah, she’s done.” María nodded. “I see you got the cast off. How did the ultrasound go?”

“The doctor said that the baby’s heartbeat is strong,” said Miguel.

“Oh that’s wonderful!” María squealed as she pulled her son into a hug. “And you too.” She grabbed Dominic’s arm and pulled him close. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“Here.” Miguel pulled out the ultrasound photos and handed them to his mother.

“It’s still just a little thing,” she said with a sigh. “I’m gonna be a grandma. You hear that, Mom? I’m going to be a grandma. I told you I’d prove you wrong, you bitter old hag.” She glared in the direction of her mother’s grave.

Miguel couldn’t help but chuckle at his mother’s proclamation. Grandma hadn’t exactly been a pleasant person when she was alive.

“All right,” she continued, “I’ve got to go show these to your dad and help him clean. I know you two had plans, so we’ll meet you on the far side by the trees when you’re done. I’ve got plenty of food for lunch.” Without another word she skipped off across the graveyard.

Dominic lead the way to the headstone that marked the place where Isaac was buried. To their surprise, they found Frederico hard at work cleaning the grave.

“I thought...I thought that it’s been far too long since I faced my brother’s grave,” said Frederico when he saw them approaching. “María stopped by earlier and asked me to join you all for lunch. I hope you don’t mind.” He was looking at Miguel as he spoke.

Ever since that night, Frederico had been avoiding Miguel. It was as if he felt solely responsible for his wife’s actions and believed that everyone else blamed him.

“You’re family, Frederico,” Miguel reassured him. “I’m glad you’re here. Besides, you’re going to be a grandpa before too long.”

Frederico’s expression lit up. “The baby is okay?”

Dominic nodded slowly. “You don’t have anything to blame yourself for. Everything that happened that night is in the past now. So why don’t we all move forward as a family?”

“I would like that,” said Frederico. “I was just telling Isaac about everything. I think he would be glad to know about the baby as well.”

“I’m sure he would.” Miguel said as he approached the headstone and laid a hand on it. “Last time I was here, Dominic punched me in the face.” He chuckled to himself. “Everything’s changed so much in such a short time.”

Dominic turned towards his father with a serious expression on his face. “Did you visit Mom this morning?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did.” Frederico looked at Miguel nervously.

Miguel still couldn’t bring himself to forgive Julia for her actions. Knowing that she was at least receiving treatment and was unable to hurt anyone else was a relief.

“She’s...she’s still not speaking. She did start crocheting again though, and they said she was singing along to the radio yesterday. They’re hopeful that she’ll start opening up to them soon. Until then all they can do is wait.” Frederico seemed sorrowful.

Miguel might not have forgiven Julia, but he did sympathize with Frederico. The man had lost his wife and was having to figure out how to live life alone again.

The three of them stood in silence for several long moments. No one seemed sure of what to say.

“Well then,” said Dominic, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Why don’t we get back to work on Isaac’s grave. The sooner we’re done here, the sooner we can eat.”

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passed without event.

After the graves were cleaned, and lunch was eaten, Dominic and Miguel took a walk down the winding trails that crisscrossed the forest near the cemetery.

A cool breeze ruffled the branches overhead.

“You know, the barbecue contest is only two months away,” said Miguel, looking up at the trees as they walked. “We’ve really fallen behind schedule. If Mike has continued to refine his recipe, there’s no telling how wide the gap between us is anymore.”

“All we can do is bring the best recipe possible, cook it to the best of our abilities, make it as appetizing as we can, and then sit back, and leave the rest in the hands of the judges,” Dominic shrugged.

“I know,” said Miguel. “I also know that I’m a big part of why we’re behind right now. But now I can help you. I’m going to make up for the time we lost. I swear.”

“Well, right now the biggest thing standing in our way is a lack of squid.” Dominic sighed as he came to a stop at a point where a gap in the trees allowed for a clear view of the ocean. “We’re going to have to go fishing again. But I’ve been sleeping between the night tide and the morning tide.”

“I could go alone,” suggested Miguel.

“I don’t want to sound over-protective, but we just found out that our baby is healthy. The doctor tells you to be careful and you want to go squid fishing alone at night.” Dominic looked at him with a grin.

“Fine, when you put it like that it sounds like a bad idea. But do you have a better one?” Miguel asked sarcastically.

“Actually, I think I might.”