WHERE IS DADDY?

SIX YEARS LATER 

What is fated to blossom, will blossom sooner or later, what is meant to be, will be in any ways. What is fated to live, will live, no matter how big the desire to destroy it is, it will live, it will live, because it is the mere life which stays where it has to stay.

Six springs had gone since the moment Alice held her son between her arms, six summers had gone since the moment she cried with her sister while saying she was not a good mother just because she couldn’t guess her son was hungry, five falls had gone since her son’s first birthday party and five winters had gone since the last moment she stopped thinking about her son’s father as her first and eternal love.  

Gabriel didn’t exist in her thoughts since her heart became stronger to face the pain of being betrayed and then, being able to bury it in the deepest corner of her heart, he had not been a mistake in her life, he had not been that stone some trips over with, he had been the bearer of miracles that grifted her that beautiful angel whose mother was her.

“Regrettably, life isn't perfect, that prince kissed another princess and the first princess saw him, but what no one knew was she was expecting a baby,” Alice explained smoothly.

“Did she have a big belly?” Joseph pointed out his cute belly.

Alice smiled. There was nothing else she could ask for if her son stayed with her like he had done for over 6 years. 

“Do you want to know the baby's name?”

Joseph jumped. “Yes, I do!”

“His name is Joseph,” Alice bit her lower lip, expecting her son would understand the story. 

Lastly, she'd explained to him the reason why he didn't have a dad. 

“That's my name,” the cutest boy in her world murmured, “oh! that's your story, mom, isn't it?”

Alice smiled, “Yes, my son, that's our story.” 

The most beautiful angel that life could give her got up from the grass where they had been sitting for a while and hugged her. He was a smart child who didn't need details to understand his father had made a mistake. Of course, it wasn´t her intention to make her son aware that life was not as perfect as he saw it, but it was time to understand why he didn’t have a father with him.

“I love you, mom, I have the best mom in the world,” he kissed her cheek, being proud of her. 

Alice smiled on receiving that kiss. She couldn't help but feeling as hurt as the day Gabriel broke her heart. It was necessary; her son had to know the truth sooner or later. Now, it was done but, why did she keep feeling that hole in her heart?

“Joseph!” A third voice coming from the kitchen called the infant. “Your soup is getting cold! Come on, young boy!” 

Alice looked at him, “ Go my baby, I'll catch you up.” 

Her son looked at her and smiled before running to the kitchen where Maria was going crazy to feel herself stood up by them after having cooked for hours, according to her silly thoughts. 

Alice stood there, recalling her memories, those priceless memories that those six years had given her. She'd become the ever dreamed doctor she had wanted to be since she was a kid, her son was healthy; Alice and the other three women took care of her little heart and healed it when it was broken in a million of pieces. There was nothing else she could ask for, but despite that, there was something that made her wake in the middle of her best dreams. 

At the moment she found herself lost in her deepest thoughts, Rosa approached her. 

All of them had moved to the United States to start a new life. Maria had become the grandmother that baby needed, Rosa happened to be his youngest aunt while Alexa was that grumpy aunt that loved him more than she loved herself.

The opportunities that country gave them were well used by each of them. In that country, their lives seemed to be perfect, but what no one knew was Alice felt guilty. After all, Gabriel didn't deserve that, he never deserved not to know he was a father and she could see it clearly after six years where she had matured as the woman she already was. After all, he was the father of that little angel that made Alice's life better since the moment he was born. After all, he needed to know his son. 

“Are you okay?” Rosa called for her attention.

“No, Rosa, to be honest, nothing is going well, nothing is going as I thought it would continue to be for the rest of my life,” accepted Alice with tears in her eyes. 

Rosa was impressed by those words. Alice seemed perfectly fine a couple of hours before.

So, she sat down on the grass waiting for her to confess whatever she needed to say.

“I'm all ears,” expressed Rosa. 

“My son... I just... I just told him about his father. I think I've been wrong all this time. Rosa, Gabriel deserves to know him, but above all things, my son deserves to know his father.” 

“I don't understand, Alice.” Of course, Rosa comprehended what Alice was saying, what she didn't comprehend was; how come Alice changed her mind all of a sudden?

“I'll go back to Mexico with my son. Gabriel needs to know him.” 

Rosa covered her mouth in surprise. Alice mustn't have been thinking straight. 

Of course, Rosa was willing to go back to Mexico if that was the case. She couldn't see more family than the one who opened the door of a little house one good day when she had left her country behind where her parents were trying to sell their own daughter just to get the benefits of a "decent life". 

Those women had so much in common. No one could be left behind. If Alice wanted to go back to Mexico, it was a matter of time to start packing their luggage. 

15 DAYS LATER. 

Alexa couldn't be more thankful to life when Alice decided to take all responsibility for the decision she made one day. Alice had understood her son didn't deserve to pay the consequences of the mistakes of his parents. Alice wanted to fix what she did wrong. She just wanted to get an opportunity to go in a different way. 

When all of them decided to go back to Mexico, Alice couldn't feel more supported. They trusted her. They knew it wouldn't take so long for Alice to find Gabriel and tell him the truth. Maybe, after that, they would come back to the United States and retake their lives. 

Alice and Alexa took 15 days to sort out the little issues they could have. 

Alice asked for some days off but the hospital she worked at didn't agree to give her the time off she was claiming for. So, she had to give up on her job. 

On the other hand, Alexa did the same but, unlike her sister, she could keep her job even if she was in another country. The company she worked for looked for a place that they could offer her in one of the companies that had been set up in Mexico. 

Being like that, they packed their luggage and went back to Mexico. 

“We're here!” informed Alexa while the taxi driver parked by the apartment she had rented for the time being. 

“Mexico, we're here!” The little boy jumped out of the taxi. He was mesmerized by all he had seen in their way. Everything was different in that new place. 

Alice couldn't stop thinking about those days when she felt the happiest woman in the world living a love full of lies. They didn't get to the old apartment where they lived before. However, they had rented an apartment not so far from that one. 

“Let's go, Alice, your son can't see you so off, you're here to fix your mistakes,” Alexa told her while the taxi driver took out their luggage from the trunk. 

“I'm not as confident as I was when we left our place. What if my son changes and goes against me after getting to know his father?”

“Don't doubt your own son. You were very young to go against everything back in those days. He will understand the mistakes his father made, he has already understood you. Raise your head and walk as confidently as you have always done.” 

When they went into the apartment, Joseph couldn't stay still. He was just delighted. 

That little ray of life that destiny gave Alice was the reason for her doings, but now, she had arrived to share that light with the person that one day she loved more than herself. 

“Joseph!” Alice called to him, unpacking her luggage. 

The little boy came to her after having run around the apartment.

“Stop running! You'll fall and get hurt. Come with me,” his mom extended her hand to him and then, they sat down on the bed that was already of them. 

“Mom?” asked the little boy.

“Yes?”

“My aunt Alexa said I'm not on vacation. Does that mean I'll have to go to school?”

His mom smiled, “that grumpy aunt of yours is right. We're going to stay here for a while.”

“Mom?” Joseph insisted.

“Yes?”

“Why are we here?” he asked, having a vague idea of the reason they were in that country. 

“It's a surprise,” she expressed, kissing her son's cheek. 

Joseph giggled. The vague idea he had was no longer a vague idea. 

After some days that Alice took to get used to the new place while looking for a job and a school for her son, one of her worries stopped being a problem. She had found a good school for her son. 

Joseph couldn't have been happier to meet new people. So, being that day, his first day to go to school, he woke up earlier than ever, even earlier than his mother. 

Thinking about how to wake up his mom, he ran to their room cheerfully. 

“Mom, mom, wake up! It's late. I already ate my breakfast,” he jumped onto the bed and started shaking his mom from side to side. 

“I'm tired, please, Joseph,” she said sleepily.  

“Mom, it's 8 o'clock, I'm going to be late.” 

“What?” Alice jumped out of bed and ran straight to the bathroom. “Wait up, my baby. We're leaving in a minute!”

Alice in the bathroom heard how her son was laughing as hard as he could. She understood everything. Her son had pranked her. 

She went out of the bathroom and, with a hand on her waist, she looked at him before calling on his attention;

“It's not 8 o'clock, is it?” She gave him a not very nice gesture. Her son couldn't stop laughing. “That's not funny, Joseph! One day, you´re going to be the death of me!” 

If only her son knew how afraid she was of losing him, or even losing his love... If only he knew that, surely, Joseph had asked his mom to go back to the United States, even if that meant not meeting his father ever.