Sister Rouco took advantage of the meal to ask: “Estrella, I heard that today you made it to the finals, congratulations”.
“Thanks Dad.”
“That … That end when the end of ah, ended with Adam two think about the wedding thing ah, you can’t always call us the older generation has been pushing ah.”
Estrella Berrocal was about to speak when Adán Rouco said: “Dad, the wedding has been postponed for the moment, Estrella and I have things to do”.
Estrella Berrocal looked back at him, “Adam…?”
Sister Rouco frowned a little, somewhat displeased, “What can be so busy all the time that she doesn’t have time to take a few days off to organize a wedding?”
Adán Rouco put down his chopsticks, pursed his lips and said, “Dad, don’t worry, Estrella and I have been married for a long time, we just need a wedding ceremony, we can do it anytime, there’s no hurry.”
Paulita was especially lost and said, “And when do I get to be a florist?”.
The little girl loves to see people get married, but how sad that daddy and Estrella said they would get married and then didn’t.
Mr. Rouco was defeated and was about to say something when Adán Rouco had already stood up: “I am full, enjoy the meal”.
With these words, Adán Rouco left the dining room table and went upstairs to the second floor study.
The old man looked at Adán Rouco’s back, a bit puzzled, and asked Estrella Berrocal: “Estrella, did you and Adán have a fight? What’s wrong with him today?”.
“No, his stomach may not be feeling well, I’ll check on him later.”
The old man grunted and didn’t think much of it, “This boy, he really wasn’t raised to be disciplined.”
Paulita sucked on her pasta and asked curiously, “Grandpa, what’s undisciplined?”
Paulita, my good granddaughter, you must not follow your father’s example”.
“Mmm! I’ll be good and listen to Grandpa.”
Paulita’s sweet little mouth made the old man laugh: “My good granddaughter is still good! Here, have some ribs.
Estrella Berrocal didn’t have much of an appetite either, and when dinner was over, she cut a plate of fruit and went upstairs to find Adán Rouco.
He knocked on the study door and came in, approached with a piece of fruit and said, “Adam, you haven’t eaten many bites of dinner, why don’t you have some fruit.”
The man only slightly opened his mouth, “I’m not hungry and I don’t want to eat now.”
“…”
Estrella Berrocal wasn’t going to beat around the bush either, she simply put the plate of fruit in his hand and looked at him with teary eyes: “Did you mean everything you told me in the patio? Nothing that went against your heart?”.
“No. Who says a woman can’t go after her career and dreams when she’s married? I’m not that macho cancer.”
Estrella Berrocal raised an eyebrow and said, “Really? But this trip of mine to England is not a matter of a few days, but of a year and a half, and if I go, won’t we be separated? Won’t you miss me?”.
Adam Rouco’s eyes, turning away from the laptop screen, turned his face to look at her and said, gravely, “I could fly to England to see you.”
“But can you visit me every week? You’re too busy, and once I’m gone, the two children will need you to take care of them even with a nanny and a maid, and by then you’ll be too distracted to visit me.”
It was so eloquent that it made Adán Rouco angry in his heart, “Estrella Berrocal, what do you want then?”.
Estrella Berrocal squatted down and looked at him sitting in the chair, her small hand on his thigh, her look sincere, “You could have asked me not to go, I told you I wouldn’t go if you didn’t want to, the place is weird but you, with your two children, are more important than this place.”
The lump in Adam Rouco’s throat slipped and his dark eyes lowered to look at her for a long moment before he reached up to stroke the top of her hair. “But I can’t ask you, for the sake of your family, to sacrifice your own dreams and career, Estrella, I’m afraid you’ll reproach me later.”
She was still young, and for a girl her age, life had just begun. He wanted to keep her tied to him, but at first she would get used to it, depend on him, and in a few years, would she blame him for making her a full-time wife?
“So, you really support my going to England?”
“I can take care of everything at home if you want to go.”
Estrella Berrocal’s eyes were slightly reddened and a little touched: “But it could well take a year and a half”.
“It’s only a year and a half, I can wait.”
His eyes watered and Adán Rouco reached out and touched her little face, Estrella Berrocal raised her hand over the back of his and looked at him and said: “But you said you didn’t like women with careers”.
“But if it were you, it wouldn’t affect my liking for you in the least.”
She blinked, tears finally welling in her eyes and a hint of crying in her voice, “But if you say you don’t want me to go, that you don’t want me to leave, that you need me, I can give up this chance to study.”
“I want the best for you, emotionally and otherwise, and I don’t want you to have a single moment’s reluctance or aggravation. Besides, going to England to study is a good thing, and I have no reason to stop you from getting better.”
“Adam.
Estrella Berrocal reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying herself in his arms like a child, moved to tears.
How can one not be moved by the fact that a man so proud of his life has made such great concessions, that his tolerance and support of it are more than just words on his lips, that this man is willing to make sacrifices in this family for the sake of his life.
…
In the following days, Estrella Berrocal successfully passed the final, the formalities for her trip to England were completed and even her flight was confirmed.
These days, Adán Rouco seems to be very busy, and Estrella Berrocal sleeps until midnight every time Adán Rouco returns.
He had showered and was fresh, and as he approached her, Estrella Berrocal spontaneously and automatically spun around his waist and buried herself in his arms, complaining in passing in a sleepy whisper, “Next time don’t be so late, I can’t sleep well alone.”
Adán Rouco lowered his gaze and kissed her forehead, contemplated her sleeping face and unconsciously asked: “And your trip to England?
Estrella Berrocal, groggy from sleep, murmured, “I won’t go, then.”
Adam Rouco was slightly stunned and, after a long moment, reached out and pulled the quilt she had lifted back to cover her.
Adán Rouco sleeps little and his dark eyes scan the suitcase in his room, his heart a little choked up.
Probably slept through the night, leaving for England tomorrow morning.
Estrella Berrocal wrapped herself around him, slipping her small hands into his pajamas and making a mess, muttering something petulant: “Adam…. you hold me.”
Adán Rouco rolled over and stretched out his long, strong arms to embrace her, and Estrella Berrocal rubbed restlessly against his arms, a little childishly anxious: “Not this kind of hug, the kind where you have to take off your clothes…”
The man frowned slightly and pushed her hand back, “Stop it, you have to get up early to go to the airport, if I keep you, you won’t be able to go to England tomorrow.”
“If I can’t go, I can’t go. … hug, I love him.”
Adán Rouco: “…”