—Mrs. Laura, there are two.
I covered my mouth.
I couldn’t speak.
Two.
It wasn’t a baby.
There were two of them.
Two lives growing inside me while outside everyone called me a traitor.
Two hearts beating as Diego toasted with Paola in Polanco.
Two children whom their own father had already denied before even knowing they existed.
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The doctor turned off the sound to give me space, but the echo of those heartbeats kept bouncing around in my head.
Diego suddenly sat down in a chair.
As if his legs had been cut off.
“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no.”
Paola looked at him with a mixture of anger and fear.
-Twins?
The doctor gently corrected herself.
—Early twin pregnancy. It will need to be closely monitored.Baby Monitor
I cried, but not like in the bathroom anymore.
He cried differently.
With pain, yes.
But also with a new strength.
I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
—Doctor, are my babies okay?
My babies.
Saying it broke me and sustained me at the same time.
“For now, yes,” she said. “There’s cardiac activity in both of them. We’ll need frequent checkups, relative rest depending on how things progress, tests, and a lot of peace and quiet.”
Diego let out a broken laugh.
—Calm down. Of course.
The doctor turned to him.
—Sir, with all due respect, if you came here to further upset my patient, I’m going to ask you to leave.
My patient.
Not “his wife”.
Not “the accused”.
I.
For the first time in weeks, someone belonged to me.
Diego got up.
—Laura, we need to talk.
I sat up slowly. The doctor helped me clean off the gel and handed me a towel. I pulled my dress down with trembling hands, but not from fear.
—No—I said.
Diego frowned.
—What do you mean, no?
—We don’t need to talk here. Not now. Not in front of her.
I looked at Paola.
She blushed.
—It’s not my fault that you—
“You knew I was married,” I interrupted. “You knew I was pregnant, and yet you came to this office to see me humiliated. Don’t pretend to be a visitor.”Baby Monitor
Paola opened her mouth, but couldn’t find anything decent to say.
Diego took a step towards me.
—Laura, I didn’t know. You see, a vasectomy…
—The vasectomy didn’t force you to call me a whore with your eyes.
