Micaela stood stunned, staring at her son’s little face in disbelief…..
Alba and Bianca’s son babbled all day long, saying “yes” and “no” in a way only he could understand.
-He had always thought that, as his mother had said, some children were slow to speak, because of their personality….
-Mom…
Mike shouted again, with a shy little smile on his face, and then he pounced on him, Micaela rushed to hug his little body, her heart melting with emotion….
-Mike, Mike is so good that he can call his mother…..
She stood up with Mike in her arms and turned around, Carlos had come changed.
His brow furrowed slightly as he looked at Mike in the girl’s arms, he would call his grandmother, he would call his mother, why wouldn’t he call his father….
Micaela gave her son a hearty kiss on the cheek and said cheerfully:
-Mike, call daddy.
Mike slipped an arm around his mother’s neck and looked at Carlos with big, clear eyes, apparently with some reluctance, then opened his mouth anyway:
-Dad.
The spittle was so clear that Carlos had reason to suspect that the brat had been talking for a long time and was deliberately not speaking to him!
Mike not only talks, he walks and, although he stumbles a bit and makes the adults nervous, he doesn’t fall down and is getting better and better at it!
During the weekend, Micaela had nothing urgent on her hands, and with Carlos and Mike’s arrival in town, she wanted to spend more time at home with her father and son….
But what actually happened was that Micaela and Yerma were surprised to see Mike around, seeing him speaking many simple words and interacting with him in various ways, while Carlos was left alone….
Looking at the girl who was smiling so happily at Mike, Carlos regretted for the umpteenth time not having left him with Diego.
-Jealous of your son?
Nilson, who had just arrived, asked jokingly.
Carlos looked at him and showed him the way upstairs. Nilson knew it was to the study and turned to follow him, only to faintly hear his voice:
-You’ll even be jealous of your daughter later too.
Your daughter…
Nilson paused for a second and his thin lips quirked into a slight smile.
Yes, his daughter.
He’d already thought of Estela as his daughter, and with last night, both Lluvia and Estela were his….
Thinking about Lluvia and about last night made Nilson’s breath sizzle a little more, he hadn’t just received the news that he had to get closer to talk it over with Carlos, he didn’t want to be separated from them for a minute….
As for being jealous, he needn’t be any later, he’s been moving around jealous of Estela hogging too much of Lluvia’s attention for a year now….
On several occasions he and Lluvia came close to coming to blows when Estela interrupted them “just in time”….
The two men sat down at the desk in the study and Carlos looked at Nilson and asked:
-What happened?
Nilson rested his hands on the armrests at his sides and clenched his fists.
-Ian just sent statistics that there is a very serious problem around here, and it is true that the death rate has plummeted in the last three months after allopathic treatment of heavy metal poisoning, but the statistics for the last half month show that many men who have lived past the age of 45 have died suddenly.
The state of death is the same as before, multi-organ failure. Whereas the previous pattern was that men who passed the 45-year barrier would basically live past 60, now….
Carlos frowned, but was not too surprised; Thiago had also said some time ago that the process still needed to be tested, and after a long pause, he said:
-We are going too fast. The antibodies of the inhabitants of Salamonsa, who depend heavily on a heavy metal environment, are suddenly depleted because people no longer drink tea or eat the fruits and vegetables grown in the soil here….
The antibodies protect against poisoning for 40 years, but they also depend on Salamonsa’s heavy metal environment, a presence that is both good and bad….
After a pause, Carlos explains:
-From today, imported vegetables and fruits, grown in soil from other countries, will all be sold in limited quantities, along with native vegetables, so that people’s bodies can gradually adapt.
Antibodies are nourished little by little in an environment so laden with heavy metals, and it is not possible to eliminate them overnight….
Nilson nodded, it was all that could be done, luckily it was found in time….
He looked at Carlos and asked suddenly:
-When are you coming to settle in, Grupo Echave for you, and Tia Yerma can relax, you and Moya, one in charge of the company and the other in charge of Ciudad Echave.
Micaela cannot leave Salamonsa, but now you know what causes heavy metal poisoning in people outside Salamonsa, as long as Carlos does not eat anything from here and breathes only the air, the conditions for heavy metal poisoning do not exist….
Carlos smiled, with a gleam of longing in his eyes.
-It’s getting close, it’s still in the experimental phase, make sure this works and I’ll come.
After a pause, looking at Nilson he adds:
-The water purifier developed specifically for this side will be ready for testing in another half month, with a ninety percent chance of passing the test, this water purifier will allow the people of Salamonsa to drink completely safe water, but also remember to take it one step at a time.
Nilson nodded, his eyes full of gratitude.
-Carlos, thank you.
If I hadn’t spent so much manpower, energy and money to help the Salamonsans, they may have had to repeat their fate for generations….
In a rare moment of humor, Carlos said:
-You’re welcome, I’m going to sell it for money.
Nilson smiles and nods.
-It’s natural.
Carlos turned his chair to look out the window and said slowly;
-I’ve been wondering why the medication you gave Micaela prevented her from leaving Salamonsa, thinking that here too there must be a dependence on something, maybe from the heavy metal environment, and this accident is a reminder that we should not rush and be careful with the backfire.
He couldn’t leave Salamonsa, so he came anyway, it didn’t matter where he was as long as he could be with the girl….
They talked about other things and Nilson left to come back, and Yerma refused to let him have lunch at noon.
Micaela picked up her phone and sent a message to Lluvia, where she learned that they had taken things “further” and that last night’s drinks had not been in vain….
Carlos accompanied Nilson and went out the patio door, when suddenly there were cat cries coming from the nearby bushes, the rough ones, they both looked unconsciously and two cats jumped out of the bushes, one white and one yellow, and fled very fast….
Nilson opened the door and got in, rolled down the window and said I’m leaving and the car slowly drove away….
Carlos went back inside and Yerma went to the kitchen to prepare the meal for her grandson herself, with only mother and son sitting on the couch, she walked over, picked up Mike, who was next to the girl, and moved him to the side to sit where Mike had just sat, taking her in his arms with one hand and dropping a kiss on her cheek.
-Girl, you’ve been with Mike half the day, it’s time to be with me.
Micaela cried and giggled as Mike got off the couch, looked at his father’s big, long retreat blocking the space between the couch and the little table, wouldn’t let him pass, grunted, circled the little table, climbed onto the couch at that end and said in a milky voice:
-Mommy hug…
Micaela’s heart melted and she broke Carlos’s grip and bent down to take Mike in her arms, overflowing with joy….
And so Carlos spent the day, jealous of his son….
Another half month has passed and today is the day the results of the water purifier test are due.
Natalia got up early to develop the water purifier, she and Javier put a lot of effort into it, working together on the design for several nights….
At first she was not interested and had no experience in this field, but she let herself be led by Javier every day and unconsciously got into it….
After washing up and leaving, she looked at the folded quilt on the living room couch.
The bedroom had been hers since Javier had taken her to it a year ago, and the couch Javier had been sleeping on….
Natalia sat down at the table, Javier was already seated at that end, and next to him were laid out the bread, milk and eggs….
As he hurried out the door, Natalia picked up the handcuffs that were on the shoe cabinet in the entrance, cuffed herself at one end and handed them to him….
Then there was an abrupt pause….
She’s acting crazy, isn’t she?