Lluvia’s expression fell as she picked up her milk and took a soft sip….
Micaela, seeing her for the first time in such a sad mood, regretted asking this question and said hurriedly:
-Luvia, I’m sorry, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to…..
Lluvia shook her head and put down the glass with a wry smile.
-Moya, the truth is that I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for a long time. I wasn’t even sure until you asked that I was really your best friend in Salamonsa.
Micaela felt more and more guilty.
-I’m sorry, Lluvia….
She knows very little about Lluvia….
-Moya, don’t blame yourself, now I know it’s not that you didn’t see me as a friend, but that your time in Salamonsa was burnt out.
You are pregnant, you think about your husband and your friends you lost contact with in Anlandana, you joined the Echave Group to face all kinds of bullies and snakes, and the crisis in Hopedale, and you are overwhelmed with yourself, and I don’t help you, and you throw in my face that I am not a good friend, so I am the one who doesn’t deserve to be your only friend in Salamonsa.
Micaela was instantly moved….
-Lluvia, thank you…
Lluvia spoke with a flourish:
-Moya, it’s a sad story, my father a few years ago, couldn’t get over that bump and left at 41, my mother overwhelmed with grief left me the following year, our family was already thin, and in my generation, I’m the only one left…..
Micaela’s eyes instantly filled with grief at his words….
Lluvia’s eyes filled with tears.
-My parents loved each other very much, otherwise my mother would not have been unable to live after my father left, I am so afraid, afraid to put myself in my mother’s shoes, to love someone so much that they lost him, they cannot live, afraid to accept that they are still young, the love of their lives, but he left before his time, so I do not fall in love, they do not get married….
Micaela, increasingly distressed, held out her hand, which Lluvia returned, and continued:
-It is sad for all of Salamonsa, we do not reach 40 and we cannot identify with the pain of seeing someone we love, who will soon leave us forever, trying to appreciate every day, but suffering every day….
Lluvia sniffled, her eyes blinked a little, and unconsciously looked toward Estela to find Nilson, who was holding her, looking this way, brushing her eyes the moment she looked toward….
Rain didn’t care and turned away, wiping tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, lowering her eyes without looking at Micaela, her voice dropping a few tones.
-But in the end it’s too lonely being alone and I’ve developed the idea of wanting to have a child, you know, I work in a hospital and I’m an obstetrician and gynecologist myself, so naturally I have a way to get that…..
Micaela’s eyes pop open….
Lluvia didn’t look at her, staring out the glass window at the flickering neon.
-So Estela doesn’t have a father. Thanks to knowing you, the pregnancy wasn’t so lonely.
The embryo culture and implantation, the pregnancy, the pending delivery, cost me all my savings, I was no longer in a situation where ‘one person gets fed and the whole family doesn’t go hungry’, I had to work hard to earn money to give Estela a better future, so I gave up my maternity leave and had a part-time worker at the hospital to take care of my baby and save me the cost of hiring a nanny….
Micaela is heartbroken and has extraordinarily mixed emotions….
Lluvia just said she doesn’t want her beloved to leave her before her time, so she doesn’t fall in love or get married….
How could she forget that it is said that Nilson will only live for 35 years because of that “ritual”…?
If that’s true, he wouldn’t dare put her together with Nilson….
Lluvia’s speech was interrupted by her daughter’s screams and she turned abruptly, for Nilson had approached with Estela in his arms.
Lluvia quickly stood up and picked up the baby, knowing that Estela was hungry….
Nilson frowned and looked at the undried tear stains on Rain’s face….
Is this woman crying?
As soon as Estela reached Lluvia’s arms, she grunted and opened her mouth to eat. Lluvia was in an awkward position, she was too ashamed to feed her daughter in this public place….
Carlos also approached with Mike in his arms and Micaela, naturally seeing Lluvia’s embarrassment, said:
-There is a private room on the second floor, let’s go upstairs and get something to eat.
The group was led upstairs by the waiter and into the larger private room, where Lluvia went to feed at the end of the couch and Micaela walked over, pulling out her cell phone to call Alba and inform everyone to come and meet.
The two men took seats on this side of the table, spread out napkins and prepared their orders, which were served by the time Ernesto and the others approached.
The women struggled hard, each carrying a large bag and buying a lot.
The two mothers, Lluvia and Alba, quickly got to know each other and there was a great atmosphere at the table.
After dinner, Nilson invited everyone to stay at his house and Carlos declined the invitation.
-We will leave in the evening and arrive at our next destination at midnight.
Knowing that their purpose was to travel, Nilson did not force them to stay.
The group left the restaurant and headed for the parking lot. Rain was saying goodbye to Micaela, and her new friends, when she saw a figure not far away and stopped dead in her tracks, with a flash of tension in her eyes, and quickly looked away.
-That, Moya, I’m not walking you to the car, I have to go back to that mom and pop store I just went to, to buy clothes for Estela…..
Before the words were out of his mouth, Nilson walked over and looked at Lluvia.
-Where do you live? I’ll take you back.
Rain’s heart skipped a beat and she took a step back with Estela in her arms, hastily refusing:
-No, no, I’ll go back by cab! I have to go shopping for clothes…
As she was about to leave, Nilson took her by the arm and said to her.
-I’ll take it.
How?
Lluvia looked puzzled.
-What did you buy? No, it’s none of my business what you bought….
Nilson’s eyes fell on Estela’s face in his arms, and Estela looked back at him, then opened her mouth and smiled, and raised a hand in greeting, which instantly reinforced Nilson’s decision to take Estela under his wing, and softened his tone a bit:
-I’ve bought Estela some clothes and toys, I’ll leave you and we’ll also talk a little.
Then, without giving her a chance to refuse, he reached out and took Estela first, turned and walked away.
Lluvia looks at the empty embrace for a moment….
Did he buy Estela clothes and toys?
Why would he buy her one?
Half reacting, she went after them in a fiery rage.
-Mr. Nilson, are you incapable of understanding human language? I said no!
Charles slipped his arm around the girl’s shoulders, his thin lips took a slight curve, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.
-You see, girl, maybe she doesn’t even need our help.
Micaela looked at the backs of the two men, remembering what Lluvia had said, with mixed feelings, she looked up at Carlos and said seriously:
-We must change Salamonsa for the better, and not only for us.
And for all the Salmantinos who suffer from this “poison”…..
Carlos rubbed his head, looked at Mike in his arms and nodded.
-Of course.