Epilogue
I fanned myself. Cáceres was broiling today, hot even for me.
“Are you all right, Maura?” Belén asked me anxiously. “Can I get you something else to drink?”
“No, thank you.” I smiled up at her. “I’m just fine.” She nodded and went in through the glass doors to the living room.
I was sitting in the shallow end of the pool in our back yard. Iván and I had bought a house near his parents to make it easier to visit with our family. I watched our sons race across the pool, easily out-touching their dad at the other side.
Iván was laughing. “I can’t keep up,” he told them. “You’re too fast now.” He hadn't used his legs, and our daughter had been riding on his back, which may have slowed him down some.
“Te ayudé, Papá,” she told him, patting his cheek. They had the same beautiful brown eyes. “I kicked so hard!”
“Muchas gracias, Mariana.” He gave her a kiss. “We’ll get them next time. Let’s help your mom go swim.”
I levered my pregnant body off the step. My sons took their little sister and Iván guided me gently into the deep end, then stood behind me, his arms supporting my stomach. This baby, our second daughter, would be born in Spain like her siblings.
We watched our kids splash each other. Our oldest son, Santiago, carefully wiped the water out of his sister’s eyes. He was so careful of her—he reminded me a lot of his father. But both of Mariana’s brothers loved and protected her. I sighed, thinking of Mikey. He had been in and out of trouble, but the last few years had been better. I kept hoping. I always had hope. “All right?” Iván asked me, his hands moving in gentle circles over my stomach.
“I’m good. Just a little tired.” I had spent the morning working on things for the dance studio. We had a good manager to run things in my absence, and since having Alejandro, our second son, I was working part-time, so my presence wasn’t as essential. But I liked to stay in touch and keep up with it all. The business was so much larger than when Anouk had been in charge, and so much more legal. She had retired to Reno years ago, and we had bought her out. Although we missed her, I had to admit the drama had scaled back considerably.
Joana came outside. “Lunch, niños.” They hopped out of the water. Thank goodness for Joana. She was their second grandma, and my best friend. I wouldn’t have been able to have three, almost four, kids without her.
“Benji called,” I told Iván. “He’s loving his internship.” Benji, who still wanted me to call him Ben, had gotten his degree in the spring after only three years. He was starting graduate school soon, back in California, so we would see him more. “Did you see the pictures of his girlfriend?”
“She seems like a nice girl.” He kissed the top of my head. “I have the nicest girl.”
“Your girl is a whale,” I told him, sighing. I was at that part of pregnancy.
“A beautiful, perfect whale.”
“Iván!”
He laughed and I did too. We spent a lot of our days laughing. “Te quiero, Maura.”
“I love you, Iván.”
The baby kicked under his hands and Iván and I smiled at each other. I rested my head against my husband, and we watched the bright Spanish sun play off the water. It couldn’t compare to the light I felt inside myself.