"Mamí, when will I meet Papa?"

Esperanza bounced baby Leo on her knee, fishing for the perfect, albeit exaggerated, answer. She looked down at her little Leo, whom she loved more than anything and everything. She could not lie, but she could not crush him when he was so young.

She knew in her heart that there would be a time when they would be separated, and she could no longer care for him and watch over him. But she also knew that a boy cannot go without seeing his father, and that the knowledge that he still had one would guide him once the inevitable happened and her time came.

"Someday, mijo. You will meet him when the time is right and the need is high."

And he would.