Adán Rouco lowered his head and kissed her on the lips, saying in a muffled voice: “I also like to do nothing”.
A normal woman would have been more than happy to hear that, but Estrella Berrocal was now a pregnant woman and was especially upset.
Her watery eyes twinkled at him, “And will you still be patient with me when I get yellow and out of shape and have nothing to do and have to check up on you a lot?”
Actually, I wanted to ask him if he would still like it.
But he thought it would be too pretentious to talk about liking or disliking when they were already a married couple, and it was already a great tolerance to have patience with each other.
“By the time you get there, I’ll be an old man too.”
Adán Rouco has a special way of comforting people, he doesn’t fob you off with flowery words about how you’ll never get old or anything like that, he tells you that he too will get old, that he has a less than perfect side, to reassure you.
Estrella Berrocal reached out and touched his face: “I’m so afraid that this face will never age, that it will always be so beautiful, that I will feel unhappy afterwards.”
“It’s a blessing for you.”
As we were talking, Felipa knocked softly on the door.
“Would you like dinner now, ma’am?”
“I’ll eat later.”
It was a pregnant woman’s extra meal, five or six meals a day, even if it was a small meal, and Estrella Berrocal had put on weight.
“Adam, I’ve put on a lot of weight lately…”, muttered Estrella Berrocal.
Adán Rouco pinched her face, “Yes you have, I will run with you when you have had your baby and finished the month.”
Estrella Berrocal’s head was spinning at the thought of Adán Rouco dragging her out for a run in a few months, she’d rather be fat.
Estrella Berrocal plays with her phone on the bed, gets thirsty and wants to get up: “I’m going to get a glass of water”.
Adán Rouco holds her: “I’m going”.
“But you don’t see well. …”
“I know the way home.”
Without her saying anything else, Adán Rouco was already up and out of the bedroom.
…
Downstairs in the kitchen.
Felipa had gone to rest and the midnight snack Estrella Berrocal was going to eat later was in the microwave, Olivia Montes had the medicine cupped in her hand and took several deep breaths before mixing the powder into that midnight snack.
Adán Rouco had just arrived at the kitchen door when he saw what Olivia Montes had added to the snack and frowned slightly.
Olivia Montes ran out in panic and ran head-on into Adán Rouco, who was about to enter the kitchen.
“Adam?”
She looked at him unconsciously, her face blanched in horror.
“Sister-in-law, still awake at this hour?”.
Olivia Montes exhaled quietly, yes, Adam was blind, there was no need for her to be nervous, what she had just done would have been invisible to him, blind as he was, even if he had been standing next to her.
He pulled himself together and said, “Yes, I was thirsty and went downstairs to get a glass of water.”
“What a coincidence, Estrella is thirsty too, I’ll go downstairs and pour her a glass of water and bring up Felipa’s midnight snack.”
At the mention of the midnight snack, Olivia Montes’ eyes flicked at the corners, slightly lost in thought.
“Is it like this? You can’t even see, and he sends you like this? I’ll pour the water for you so you don’t get burned”.
Adán Rouco did not refuse: “Fine, then I will bother your sister-in-law”.
“It’s no bother, it’s the family, what’s the problem.”
After pouring herself a glass of water and handing it to Adán Rouco, Olivia Montes added: “By the way, the snack for the night is in the microwave, I’ll get it for you.
“Okay.”
Olivia Montes took out the sandwich and handed it to Adán Rouco, asking with concern, “Do you want me to accompany you?”
“That’s okay, so I don’t trip and drop this midnight snack.”
The corner of Olivia Montes’ mouth made a mocking twitch; look how Adán Rouco cared about Estrella Berrocal, even if she was blind, and he wasn’t thinking about her falling, but about dropping the woman’s midnight snack.
She’s dead in the water at the end, so all the more reason to fight for her place in the family with Dante!
Upstairs, at the bedroom door, Adán Rouco spoke kindly: “Sister-in-law, go to bed, I’ll come in”.
“Okay, good night, be careful not to spill it.”
Adán Rouco nodded and entered the bedroom with the water and the midnight snack.
Estrella Berrocal glanced at the two items she was carrying and hurriedly got out of bed to grab it.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll drop them? What if I drop them?”
“Afraid I’ll drop it or you’ll drop your midnight snack?”.
“Of course!”
Estrella Berrocal picked up the things in his hand and set them aside, pulling him towards the bed before sitting down to prepare his midnight snack.
Just as she was about to take the first bite, Adán Rouco suddenly stopped her: “It just tasted bad to me”.
Estrella Berrocal frowned slightly, but thought nothing of it: “A pregnant woman’s food is only balanced and relatively light in fat, it’s not supposed to be good”.
With that, he was about to take the first bite in his mouth again when Adán Rouco snapped his wrist directly.
“Let me tell you something.”
“…”
Estrella Berrocal put down her spoon and stared at him cross-legged, “What’s the matter, can’t you let me finish eating?”.
Did this man, with all his heart, not want her to have a midnight snack?
“I can see you now.”
“…”
Estrella Berrocal’s first thought was.
“Adán Rouco, what’s wrong with you tonight?”
Adán Rouco looked at her with a smoldering look, “Do I look like I make you laugh?”.
Estrella Berrocal half-heartedly extended a hand, waved it in front of her eyes and raised a middle finger …
Adán Rouco grabbed her little hand precisely and said earnestly, “Mrs. Rouco, do you know what happens when you give your husband the middle finger?”
Adam had indeed regained his sight!
“Really, really?”
Estrella Berrocal was so excited and happy that her eyes were red, staring at him, getting close to his eyes and double checking, “Can you really see me?”
“Mrs. Rouco, I can see you very clearly.”
“… Great!”
Estrella Berrocal threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, choking back a sob, “Great! You can finally see! I was so worried you’d be blind for the rest of your life!”.
Adán Rouco put his arms around her and raised an eyebrow, “I thought you were glad she was blind?”
“That’s just to comfort you in case you’re sad, who wants you to be blind? You can’t see other women and you can’t see me at the same time…. I want you to see me too.”
Estrella Berrocal was moved to tears of emotion and cried tears of joy.
Adam Rouco’s long index finger, pressed against her lips, shushed her, “Shhh.”
Estrella Berrocal looked at him incredulously, “What’s wrong?”
“Lie down, sleep, and don’t say anything about my sight being restored.”
“Why? Dad and Paulita don’t know yet, if they did, they would be very happy.”
Adán Rouco put his arm around her and fell asleep with her: “I have things to do”.
Estrella Berrocal didn’t know what he was referring to, but if he said that he must have had his reasons, “Well then I’ll keep it to myself for now.”
“Well… that, I haven’t had my midnight snack yet, so let me go first.”
Adán Rouco looked at her amused, “Why can’t you forget about your midnight snack, eh?”.
She puffed her lips at his slightly disgusted look, “Pregnant women are good eaters, why do you have that disgusted look on your face, your child will thrive if I don’t eat?”
“How do you know it’s a son?”
“Paulita is a girl, if we have another child it will be perfect, a son and a daughter.”
Adán Rouco said: “But I still prefer a daughter”.
“Are you a daughter person?”.
With that, Estrella Berrocal went to eat that late-night snack again, and Adán Rouco pulled her back: “It’s not good for your stomach to eat in the middle of the night, go to bed, don’t eat”.
“…”
Was it any of his business if she ate?