One year later
“Special dinner?” Guillermo asks as he enters the kitchen.
“Zinner, mommy?” Nina mimics, and as always when she calls me that, my heart overflows with love.
“Yes, dinner for the two loves of my life.” I walk over to them, and Guillermo immediately opens his arms.
“What are we celebrating?”
At the mention of the word, Valentina claps her hands. “Yay!” she exclaims excitedly, and I start to laugh.
“Now she thinks we’re having a birthday party.”
“Ball!” she says, as if to confirm.
“I’d get to have somebrigadeiro.” He smiles and winks.
I kiss her little head and then kiss my husband’s lips.
I’ve rehearsed so many times how to break the news, but I’m too anxious to keep calm, so I blurt it out. “I’m pregnant.”
He freezes, but a second later, his gaze shifts from my face to my abdomen, even though there’s no visible change yet.
We talked about children right after we got married, but since I was about to start college, we decided to wait a bit. Guillermo understood, but I sensed he was eager to become afather again, even though he never said anything. I also wanted to experience pregnancy, and a few months ago, I realized there would never be a perfect time. I already have a position waiting for me right after college. I’ll be the head pastry chef at one of the newly opened hotels in the chain, and with time, more specialization courses will come up. And so, life goes on, and no pregnancy in sight.
I thought about it and weighed my options, deciding that the right time is the one we make. Millions of women around the world have children while juggling their careers. I’ll figure it out. Being around Valentina has awakened my maternal side. I want more babies. A lot of them, to be honest.
He puts Nina down to play on the floor and asks, looking confused, “Is it my fault?”
Of all the things I imagined he would say, that wasn’t one of them, so I start laughing. He smiles back but still seems uncertain.
“If I still remember how babies are made, it wasourdoing.”
“You got it, smarty.” He envelops me in a bear hug. “So we’re both happy?”
God, until now, I hadn’t realized how cautiously he’s been walking on eggshells around me. Now I know Guillermo has held back his desire to be a father out of consideration for my career. I thought I couldn’t love him more than I already do, but I swear the man always knows just what to say.
Even though I know the answer, I decide to tease him a little. “Areyouhappy?”
Instead of answering, he kneels in front of me and wraps his arms around my body. My husband is so tall his head almost hits my chin.
I kiss the forehead of the man who completely changed the course of my destiny.
“I’m in love with Valentina,” he says, “and even though I hadn’t planned on a child, I wanted her from the moment I found out she was coming, but having children with you is like adding another piece to the story of our love.”
“I’m sorry I made you wait. I wanted to be sure before making a decision. When I finally did, I thought surprising you would be a good idea, but it was hard to keep it a secret. I stopped taking the pill over two months ago.”
“So you used my body to reproduce, you naughty girl?” He looks back, checking that Nina is distracted with her toys. Then he traces his thumbs over my nipples. “I think you deserve a punishment.”
“Punishment? I give you a gift, and you want to punish me?”
He kisses my belly, then stands up and lifts me into his arms, sitting us down on the couch. “It’ll be a very pleasurable punishment, I promise.”
“Nina, Mommy needs to tell you something,” I call to my little girl.
She drops her toys and comes over. “Yeah?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.
I’m not sure if she has any idea what we’re talking about, but I decide to try. “Come here, love.”
