During these two months, thanks to Adán Rouco and Paulita, Estrella Berrocal’s mood has stabilized and she has not gone back to having false paroxysms as before. On the other hand, Adán Rouco has been very supportive of her hobby and has drawn many designs during these days, but they are all first drafts.
In the evening, Adán Rouco came out of the bathroom and found her sitting on the bed, leafing through the manuscripts.
“Adam, come over here and help me with these designs.”
Adán Rouco sat down and, quite naturally, took her ankles and feet, a little swollen from pregnancy, and put them in his lap, rubbing them while he looked at her designs.
Adán Rouco asked with some curiosity, “Why are these all wedding dress designs?”
Estrella Berrocal smiled and said, “What do you think, is that okay with you? I’ve been drawing for years and majored in landscape design in college, but I’m more interested in fashion design, especially wedding dresses. Maybe it’s the nature of a child, I loved sewing little dresses and things for Barbie dolls when I was little.”
Wedding dresses?
“It looks like we’re going to have to have even more of a wedding after you’ve had the baby and gotten through the recovery period.”
Estrella Berrocal didn’t answer for a moment, “Hmm?”
“Don’t girls like to get married in their favorite wedding dress?”
Estrella Berrocal said, half seriously, half jokingly, “So, when we have the wedding, can I wear a wedding dress of my own design?”
“Good idea.”
Adán Rouco looked at the sketches of the wedding dress, and although he had never studied art and was not a designer, he could see that Estrella Berrocal had put a lot of thought into these designs.
Adán Rouco commented: “I have learned that recently there was an international design competition, Ms.
Estrella Berrocal was immediately embarrassed: “An international design competition? I’ve never studied fashion design, can I enter this? If it’s an international design contest, the participants must be very good, so I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to do my own drawings.”
Adán Rouco’s eyes fell on the manuscripts.
Estrella Berrocal said: “I was just drawing for fun, you told me to look for something I liked to do to distract myself. I have also done many portraits of you and Paulita. I’m going to do at least one portrait of you and Paulita every year, so that when we are old and Paulita has grown up, it will be especially interesting when we see them.”
Adán Rouco bowed his head and kissed her forehead: “Mrs. Rouco’s thoughts are as romantic as ever”.
Estrella Berrocal presented the wedding dresses to Adán Rouco, “Adán, with your straight eyes, which one do you like?”
Adán Rouco frowned slightly at the term “recto”, smiled slightly and chose: “Este”.
The wedding dress to which Adán Rouco referred was simple and elegant, a design with a bodice, more international but without much character.
“Well … the one you’ve chosen is fine too, but I like this one better.”
Estrella Berrocal liked the one piece neckline. What is special about the design of this wedding dress is that it is short in the front and long in the back, the length of the front only reaches to the knee position, with some small details, it seems that this wedding dress is a little more playful than the average wedding dresses, most wedding dresses look solemn and elegant, this one on the contrary is a little cool and relatively rare.
Adán Rouco flipped through the designs on the back, “I think they are all pretty good, we can try to launch them.”
“Well, … … Forget it, I’m afraid it will be a confidence breaker.” .
Adán Rouco said nothing, Mrs. Rouco was afraid of being beaten, so there were some things that he, as her husband, had to do.
…
The next morning, Adán Rouco made copies of Estrella Berrocal’s designs in his studio and took them to the office to give them to Santino Yepes.
Santino Yepes looked at the designs and asked: “Boss, what is this?
“The wedding dresses my wife drew. There is an international wedding design competition at the recent fashion week, and they are presented with the wife’s name.”
Santino Yepes nodded, “Yes, boss, but I know the director of the Fashion Marriage jury, I’m quite good friends with him, I can give him the draft and explain it to him.”
“No need, just go with the normal flow, they are good designs, I believe in the lady.”
“Good.”
…
As her due date approaches and fetal movements become more frequent, Estrella Berrocal’s mood begins to tighten again.
During the day, Adán Rouco had left for work and Paulita had gone to school, leaving her alone in the house apart from the maids.
She was bored out of her mind and, after drawing for quite a while, her eyes were a little uncomfortable and she picked up the little lion that was rubbing her feet.
“Have you been eating as well as I have lately and gaining a lot of weight?”
The lion cub gave a particularly aggressive “whine” and rubbed against Estrella Berrocal.
Estrella Berrocal had nothing better to do when she was full, so she gave the lion cub a bath.
When he finished, the lion shook his head and splashed Estrella Berrocal with water: “You’re too naughty, I’ll make your father teach you a lesson when he comes back! Don’t move, it’s not clean yet”.
Estrella Berrocal was “lecturing” the lion cub and cleaning the water stains when her cell phone rang and the caller was Dulcina Calvo.
“Hello, Dulcina.”
“Star, are you home? I have nothing to do today on my transfer and thought I’d stop by your house to see you and the baby.”
“Come in, I’m at home, I’m giving my dog a bath.”
Dulcina Calvo heard barking on the other end of the phone and, after hanging up, was quick to take a cab to La Villa Rouco.
Dulcina Calvo had not seen Estrella Berrocal for a long time and as soon as she entered, she saw Estrella Berrocal approaching with a hand on her waist and her imposing belly.
Dulcina Calvo rushed to support her: “Estrella, your belly is getting bigger, are you pregnant?
“Yes, I’m half a month away from giving birth and lately I’ve been especially nervous, very afraid of the baby coming out early, or staying at home.”
Dulcina Calvo burst out laughing and reached out to gently touch his belly: “The baby is obedient and should come out of his mother’s belly without any problems”.
“By the way, I asked you some time ago, how are you and Dr. Esteban and the family still against each other?”
At this mention, Dulcina Calvo sighed: “Esteban Zaragosa has managed to divorce Claudio Belles, but regardless of why they got divorced and whether or not they are a common-law couple, the traditional mentality of my parents will only assume that Esteban Zaragosa is an unfaithful man who left his wife. I am still in a secret relationship with Esteban Zaragosa and my parents do not know that I am still in contact with Esteban Zaragosa”.
Estrella Berrocal reassured her: “There will be time, your parents will understand you someday, as long as you and Dr. Esteban maintain a committed relationship, your parents will end up losing the battle, parents are no match for their children”.
Dulcina Calvo let out a soft sigh: “Yes, Estrella, I envy you very much now, with your family and the mother of your two babies. Besides, no one is going to stop you from being with Adán Rouco”.
“But there were a lot of people who kept me from being with Adam, so it’s good to get over it. Speaking of envy, you envy me, but now I envy you working women more.”
Dulcina Calvo rolled her eyes at him, “You are not aware of the blessings you have, how comfortable it is to be a full-time wife, look at me working overtime every day, I have dark circles under my eyes, and I envy you for not working every day and having someone to support you.”
Estrella Berrocal gave him an ambiguous look: “May Dr. Esteban support you”.
Dulcina Calvo’s ears blushed and she muttered, “We’re not married.”
Estrella Berrocal scoffed with a deliberate smile, “Ah …. Doctor Esteban is so slow, why hasn’t he proposed yet, good Dulcina, I’ll ask Adam to give him a smack later”.
Dulcina Calvo blushed, “No, no, no, no, why make believe that I can’t wait to marry him.”