Maria's POV

It was all really happening, I was finally marrying the guitarista of my dreams and we were going to start our new life together. Overcoming every obstacle that would ever come our way, and being victorious at the end. I knew Manolo was the only man I ever pictured myself marrying, Joaquin was . . . sweet, but he and I never saw eye to eye, aside from the fact that he was over a foot taller than me. With Manolo, everything just felt . . . right! And now I'm here laying in his arms, staring at his handsome face, his thick black hair loose and framing his face rather than tied in that neat ponytail he wears everyday. His dark chocolate eyes staring right back at me, and those soft lips forming a smile that made my heart melt. I loved this man, every inch of his body, every part of him, his insecurities, his strengths, his heart . . . Manolo was my one and only, and I had lost him not once, but twice to death, and each time he came back to me. I will not lose him again, EVER! I refuse to let that happen again, my heart cannot withstand such agony again. When I thought I lost him, my world went black, my heart stopped, my breathing ceased, and I felt myself die on the inside, there was no purpose in life, all the colors disappeared, and the world ceased to exist. It was a terrible feeling, one that I would not wish on my worst enemy, even though he no longer exists, thanks to the heroic teamwork of Joaquin and Manolo.

It's kind of funny, when I was young, I never wanted to become a lady, never wanted to get married, and most certainly I Never wanted a boy to be rescuing ME. But now, everything is different, I want to fight with Manolo, as well as trusting in him to protect me, I wanted to be his wife, I want to start a family with him, I want to feel womanly around him, I want to be feminine for him, and I want us to love each other for the rest of our lives . . . no for the rest of eternity together. Our story will go on, long after we die, and we will forever be in the Land of the Remembered with our loved ones. But we must first live our lives before we go there, and that is what we intend to do.

It was a cool day in San Angel, Mexico, to which I was taking advantage of; I completed all the household chores before it became too hot while Chuy kept me company. He often liked going out to wonder about, coming back to eat and sleep. The children all loved to pet him and play with him, he didn't mind, so long as they weren't bullying him. Though he did seem to disappear whenever Manolo came home. I was even able to sit and read a wonderful book about pirates, sword fighting, Indians, a hero and a heroine who save the day. As I sighed to myself, I heard the door creek open and I turned to see Manolo standing in the doorway.

"Buenos dias mi amor." He greeted me with a kiss, and I took a moment to look at him. He was tall, muscular with a handsome face, dark hair tied back with a swirl on one side and dark chocolate eyes, his matador (torero) uniform a mere decoration in respect to his family with hundreds of shimmering gold medallions askew and his small pink tie stood out on his white collared button down shirt, his pants tight to his strong legs, and his guitar I gave him on his back alongside two swords. He had tanned skin, a smile that made my heart swoon, and a gentle touch, though he towered over me, he never used his strength as an advantage over me.

"Buenos tardes is more like it Manolo." I giggled as I kissed him; it was well into the afternoon when he'd returned from playing all night at the new bar to which he and his band have been frequently playing.

"I'm sorry for being late, the crowd was crazy last night." He placed his hand on his forehead as he sat down on our couch.

"It must have been, since you weren't able to come home early. You need to rest, and figure out a way to help me around here. I never intended to become a housewife." I crossed my arms teasingly, I felt somewhat ridiculous wearing a white apron over my dress. I liked to keep things simple, a nice dress with a bodice that was off the shoulders, some frill, and a long red skirt with a yellow stripe across the bottom, and simple black lace-up boots. I often wore my hair in a high ponytail and had simple makeup on. Eyeliner and red lipstick were my two favorite things in the whole world, aside from Manolo and our new married life. I had long thick brown curly hair and big light brown eyes with long black eyelashes, I had a nice figure that I appreciated, and I know Manolo loved, but I tried not to use it to my advantage, well at least not too often.

"I know. I'll be sure to come home early next time. I know you don't want to become a housewife; I don't want you to be. Well at least not completely." Manolo shrugged, I looked at him questioningly.

"Well, you do cook and clean better than I do. And I've washed clothes before, so it's not like I can't do that, and dishes are easy, and using a broom isn't hard." Manolo twiddled his fingers together as he looked at me for approval.

"Haha, oh Manolo, I don't mind doing chores, I just need some help. And I don't like being home all day, I like to get out too, and I like to hear you play, and sing. I'm your number one fan remember?" I hugged him as I led him to the bedroom, we helped each other undress as we became entailed in our passion for each other, and fell fast asleep, Manolo always liked me sleeping close to him so he knew where I was, and I liked knowing where he was. When we woke up, the sun was setting; we bathed and went to the bar so Manolo could prepare for their performance. I was able to stay for the majority of it, he played our song that we'd first sung together at our wedding, I even went on stage to sing it with him, he sang a few other songs, and they all switched off until the stars were askew in the sky, the crowd thickening, then growing smaller and smaller until I was the only one left in the audience, and the band packed up, everyone got paid and we went home.

"You were wonderful." I kissed him on the cheek as he blushed, we held hands as we walked in, and as soon as the door closed, we were on each other like animals. My hands went straight for his hair as his went straight for my lower back, inching down towards my backside. I yelped as he gave me that sexy smile of his, he picked me up and carried me to our bed. I felt myself land on a soft comforter as he began undressing, I stood so he could unzip me, my dress fell to the floor, and I was in a strapless white lace bra with matching panties. I took my boots off as Manolo admired me; every time we were together I noticed he would do this, as if it was the last time he'd be able to be with me. It was romantic and I never wanted it to get old, I always wanted to appreciate him like he appreciates me. He was in his spandex underwear and I could see every curve of his body, every muscle flexing and relaxing as he moved toward the bed. It was breathtaking, he was . . . beautiful. I'd never seen a man with such strength, poise and grace. Every move he made was as if he was dancing to inaudible music, it took my breath away, and made me want to dance with him.

"Maria, I love you." He'd always whisper that in my ear when we were about to make love, when we woke up next to each other, before we went to bed, he'd never let me for one second forget the fact that he loved me like no other man could. He kept his promise, he never stopped loving me, even when we were arguing, he'd still bring up the fact that he loved me, even when I was clearly frustrating him. I almost felt unworthy of his pure love, his pure heart, but I was grateful, I loved this man and I too would never stop loving him.

"And I love you Manolo Sanchez." I kissed his lips, so soft and moist, they were like two pillows, I moaned softly as he unhooked my bra and began to massage my breasts. His body came closer to mine as we lay on the bed, pulling away from each other to catch our breath. I hooked my thumbs into the space between his hips and his waistband and tugged his underwear down until he was bare before me, I smiled as he shrugged his shoulders and did the same to me. We kissed again, this time more passionately, if that was even possible, this time our tongues entangled and our bodies entwined. He pulled away only to kiss me from head to toe, and readied himself at my entrance as I braced myself and relaxed. I felt a million fireworks go off in the back of my mind as he began to move; I clung to him as perspiration began to emerge from our bodies. We thrust harder, and climaxed, I made sure he released inside, because the only thing missing in my life was a child. I wanted a little girl, or a boy, it didn't matter, I simply wanted to be a mother and I knew Manolo would be a great father. He was fairly eager to have a daughter or a son, but he would always tell me that he, or she would write their own story, and will live the life they want to, nothing will be forced upon him or her. We were on the same page there, our child will be spoiled and loved, with a good education, and taught how to play the guitar, or whatever instrument he or she wanted, he or she could read any book, and he or she could even go to Spain. I smiled whenever I thought about it, and I knew Manolo was happy to see me happy, but I told him I wouldn't rush it, though nothing seemed to be happening. I wasn't too worried about it, but I did want to know if it was going to happen soon or not, Manolo simply told me to be patient and that the time will come when we will be parents and that we should enjoy the time we have together. I didn't disagree with him; I just wanted to know if there was something wrong, or if it was all normal.

"Manolo?" I looked up at him, his eyes slowly opened, as he looked at me a little worried.

"What is it mi amor?" His voice was groggy and tired, I felt guilty, but I honestly couldn't sleep.

"You, you want to be a father don't you?" I asked him.

"Of course." He knew where this conversation was heading.

"It's just, I'm afraid there's something wrong." I said worriedly, I tried not to nag or to continuously talk about this, but it did keep me up at night sometimes.

"If you are worried, we can go see the doctor in the morning, unless there is something seriously hurting you now?" He looked at me, raising one thick black eyebrow.

"No, no I'm fine now. I can wait until tomorrow, I'm sorry to have woken you up." I apologized as I turned away from him and tried to sleep, I knew it was going to be another long night. I heard him sigh as his strong arms wrapped around me and I felt his lips on my ear.

"Maria, you know I love you, and you know I worry too. But we don't know anything yet, perhaps it's not time yet to start a family. I want to be a father, I do, I just don't want to rush things, and I don't want you to worry so much. Things will happen in good time, we'll go see the doctor tomorrow and see what's going on, ok?" He kissed my cheek as I nodded my head and turned to kiss him goodnight. I managed to sleep better knowing he was right, nothing was for certain right now, and it may be for a good reason that we don't have a child now, we're so busy and need to find time to start a family before we go jumping into anything. It just pained me to think that there was even the smallest possibility that I could never be a mother, and that Manolo would never be a father, but I was worrying too much, I'm sure the Candle Maker and La Muerte have a good reason for this. I felt my eyelids becoming heavy as I closed them and dreamt of the times of my childhood, with Manolo and Joaquin at my side, the three of us conquering every situation we threw ourselves into. I could feel myself smile in my sleep as we conquered every obstacle that came before us, we were never afraid, but courageous, and we laughed in the presence of danger, running in head first . . . we were all crazy kids with our dreams on our minds and our future in front of us, laid out, drawn out, and waiting for us to approach it.

It was nights like this that I wondered how Joaquin was doing, I often worried about him too, hoping he would meet a beautiful girl that he can sweep off her feet, little did I know that we would soon see each other again.

"What a beautiful morning." I smiled as I looked out the window, observing the sun slowly rising into the light blue sky.

"It is now." Manolo wrapped his arms around me as he kissed me softly, I giggled when I saw his hair in disarray.

"Well don't we look handsome?" I teased him as he looked at me with that goofy smile of his.

"Haha, why thank you mi amor." I kissed him again as he ruffled my hair, making a mess of the soft curls that framed my face. We went to the washroom to get ready for the day; it was going to be a busy one. We had a quick breakfast then we went to see the doctor, I was so nervous I was shaking, but he told me everything was normal and with pregnancies things vary from how long it will take for a woman to become pregnant (conceive), and that to rest assure, he even used ultra sound, and it seems that Manolo will become a father after all. I was so excited (we were both very excited). Once we heard the good news, and were told the dos and don'ts of pregnancy, Manolo took me shopping for our baby to celebrated. We bought the everyday needs for our baby, but we didn't know if we would be having a boy or a girl, so we'd wait on the clothes for now, a well as some more girlish toys, we bought generic toys, teaching our baby about shapes and colors. I found books that I would teach him or her about, and wonderful fairy tales along with stories about our history and rich culture. I could see how happy Manolo was, and relieved that things were starting to go smoothly in our lives. As we were on our way back home, our hands full, we saw Joaquin at my father's house. We put our things in the house and headed over as soon as everything was put in our spare bedroom, now going to be the nursery.

"I can't believe Joaquin is back in town, it's been so long since we last saw him." I cheered as Manolo took my hand and we were out the door.

"It's been three years." Manolo was picking up the pace as we practically ran over to see him. He suddenly turned and saw us, he didn't change one bit. He wore an eye patch over his left eye, still wore the same uniform with all those metals, minus one, and he had his fantastic mustache and a smile spread across his face.

"Hey!" He greeted us openly, but when he reached for me it was a brief greeting when I noticed a shy girl standing behind him. She was definitely shorter than him with mocha skin and long dark hair that cascaded around her round face, framing it well. Her hair was in soft curls; as if it had been in braids for days and was just today let down to accent that lovely face of hers. Her eyes were a soft caramel and her lips a soft shade of pink, she wore a simple yellow dress that framed her body well but made it easy for her to walk, she wore simple brown boots with small heels along with a large white and yellow flower in her hair. Her lashes were long and dark, naturally curly, and her cheeks were a soft shade of pink. She was one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen, naturally beautiful.

"Oh, before I forget, this if Rosita, she's my . . . wife." Joaquin hesitated at the latter of his sentence; Manolo and I were both shocked.

"Wow, Joaquin, congratulations." I said, still in a state of shock.

"Yes, congratulations my friend." Manolo shook his hand as Rosita approached, us, she was just like a mouse, so quiet and still, I was sure she did all the cooking, cleaning, washing, and household chores for Joaquin, making him feel like a king.

"Thank you, thank you." He nodded as Manolo and I both shook Rosita's hand.

"I-it's very nice to m-meet the two of you." She stuttered out, I wondered how she managed to charm Joaquin, being that he was so attracted to the more, feisty, lively type of girls.

"So tell me Rosita, how did you manage to tame the beast?" I teased her, Manolo laughed as Joaquin rolled his eyes, but Rosita, Rosita looked confused.

"What beast? Joaquin you never told me about a beast?" She looked at him stunned.

"No, mi amor, she's talking about me. It was a joke." He insinuated, it took her a moment but she seemed to get it.

"Oh I see, haha, very funny Senora Sanchez. Joaquin wasn't easy to pin down, every girl in town was after him, and when I found he went to several different towns at a time to conquer the bandits and robbers and such, I was worried that I'd have a lot of competition. But honestly, the one woman who made me worry the most was you." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Me?" I looked at her confused.

"Si, you see, he never stopped talking about you, he'd always say 'Maria this,' and 'Maria that.' I got sick of it, so one day I invited him home and made him a homemade meal, and we've been together ever since." She stated the latter rather proudly.

"Ah I see." I crossed my arms and looked over at Joaquin, who was as red as a tomato, which is rather difficult since he's so tan.

"Haha Joaquin, you got yourself a winner here." Manolo elbowed him as we all laughed; though I'm sure Rosita wasn't all together too sure why we were laughing.

"Well, we best be going now then? I'm sure Papa is curious as to what we're up to, eh Manolo?" I looked at him insinuatingly, since we haven't told anyone about the big news.

"Ah yes." Manolo nodded his head as we all walked in to go see my father, and I personally was rather excited about telling him that he was going to be a grandfather soon.

"Papa, Manolo and I are here." I peeked through the door to hear cheering on the other side of the house.

"And Joaquin is here! I also brought my wife, Rosita!" Joaquin shouted quite loudly as a sound similar to an animal . . . stampede approached us.

"Ai mija, it's so good to see you again, I really wish you would visit your Papa more often." My Papa hugged me rather tightly, but I made sure to give my stomach enough space.

"Yes Papa, it's good to see you too. I'm sorry we haven't come to visit you, but Manolo and I have been rather busy." I said matter of fact as I clung to Manolo's arm, slightly pushing him to greet my father.

"Oh, busy you say?" Papa looked at Manolo with questionable eyes.

"Ah yes, Maria and I have great news for everyone." Manolo's eyes lit up as I could see evidence of confidence within him.

"Yes, but that will be announced later, don't you thing mi amor?" I looked at him, saying with my eyes to wait until later.

"Yes, right, why don't we have an early dinner?" Manolo looked at everyone, who nodded their heads, and we all went to the dining room to celebrate. Joaquin had his time in the sun, saying how he met Rosita and how they were wed and travel town to town, where Joaquin defeats any evil villain he comes across, I asked Rosita if she was ever concerned or worried about him, but she shook her head,

"He is Joaquin after all." She sighed, I could feel the love she had for him, and Joaquin also looked at her with that same look I give Manolo from time to time. It was true love all right, and I was glad Joaquin found himself the perfect girl to play damsel in distress.

"All right, now Maria and Manolo wanted to share something will all of us, something about good news." Papa looked at the two of us curiously.

"Great news!" Manolo stood and faced everyone.

"Everyone, Maria and I are going to be parents!" Manolo shouted so everyone could hear, the whole town was able to hear him everyone gasped then cheered. Manolo's arm wrapped around my face as we gazed into each other's eyes and kissed sweetly.

"Ai, I'm going to be a grandfather." My father had a tear in his eye as he hugged both of us proudly.

"I'm going to be a grandfather!" He cheered as three familiar faced began to play a cheerful Mexican tune. Pepe, Pablo, and Pancho were playing happy music as we all cheered and celebrated, both Joaquin and Rosita congratulated us, but she seemed kind of . . . jealous? She had on one of those smiles that you knew wasn't genuine, and I wanted to believe that she meant her congratulations, though I did not know if she intended to be my friend. But I knew this judgment I had based upon her behavior was getting to my head more than I liked. Only time would tell if she was an ally or an enemy.

"Maria, are you alright?" Manolo rested his hand on my shoulder; I seemed to have lost focus.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I was just thinking." I smiled, trying not to think about anything too seriously. We partied the rest of the night; Manolo and I danced half the night away, and the other half he performed for me. My favorite was I Love You Too Much. That song made my heart sing, and it made me feel like the first day I ever realized I loved him, it would make me love him even more whenever he sang that song to me. But now when he sings it to me I actually do kiss him, which by his expression, I feel he also falls in love with me all over again. I saw Rosita and Joaquin dancing, and I found it interesting how the other girls greatly noticed him as well, though they were clearly jealous, they still managed to flirt enough to make him feel overly confident along with Rosita to become jealous. Joaquin was fairly oblivious to how the whole marriage thing worked, making it rather difficult to watch.

"Rosita, would you like to go on a walk?" I asked her, she had to think about it, she knew she couldn't do a thing about what was going on in there, but at the same time, she was terrified to leave him alone with four lovely single, desperate women.

"I suppose." She shrugged as we walked out and walked around the house. It was silent for a while, and rather awkward, then she spoke.

"There's nothing I can do to stop it is there? Huh, you would think after I married him that this would all end, if anything I feel at times it's worse." She sighed with sad eyes, it pained me.

"That's not necessarily true, though you can't prevent those girls from trying anything on him, you can tell him how you feel. Though I can't guarantee that he'll fully understand, I mean this is Joaquin we're talking about." I shrugged, laughing lightly, though she didn't seem fully convinced.

"I guess you're right. Funny, I thought my biggest competition would be you." She told me straightly with the most lugubrious eyes I'd ever seen.

"Me?" I looked at her confused; I'd been married to Manolo for three years now.

"Yes, you're beautiful, clever, smart, artistic, sophisticated, and your father is rich, you must have had a lovely and large dowry. More than I can say." She shrugged; clearly she had much to say.

"Thank you, but I'm not perfect." I stopped for a moment.

"That's not true, you were perfect in Joaquin's eyes. All he did for the first month is talk about you, day after day. Even now sometimes he brings up things that you'd like or he sees a book and thinks of you. I wish he was half as much in love with me as he was with you, or is rather." She looked up at the stars in the sky; I looked at her face shinning in the moonlight and noticed a single tear roll down her cheek.

"He's not-"

"That's not true!" She interrupted me.

"I thought if we came back and he saw you happy with Manolo, and now even expecting a child, he will want to have one now. He will want to name her Maria if it's a girl, if it's a boy he may choose Manolo. I feel like I'm living in a shadow, or even as if he wants me to be someone I'm not. Do you understand, Joaquin never asked me to marry him, I asked him to marry me!" She seemed to fall apart then, crying and blabbering like a fool, a fool in love, desperately in love. I comforted her the best I could, I knew she'd been holding all this back, for years quite possibly, but she must get this through to Joaquin, she deserves to live a happy life. Even this poor shy mouse should have a chance at true love, but I was thoroughly confused, they seemed to be so happy together, but I hadn't seen them together as a couple for very long.

"Rosita, listen to me, get Joaquin, take him away from everyone and tell him what you told me. If he thinks you're over reacting, then you ask him why the two of you got married, and tell him how you really feel. I'm certain that he loves you, I've never seen him look at another girl the way he looks at you, not even at me." I admitted truthfully, wanting to be sure I got the point across that she must be up front and honest with him so he gets that she's serious and this is the only way Joaquin would understand what she's getting at. He was really stubborn and sometimes doesn't take other into consideration before he does something stupid. She simply nodded her head and I helped her wash up, we managed to sneak into my room and I even had her take a bath and gave her a new dress, a lovely blue color like the night sky, off the shoulders and floor length, it suited her far better than it suited me.

"Joaquin, I need to speak with you." She started; everyone was too preoccupied with their liquor to notice Rosita approaching Joaquin, who managed to stay sober, surprisingly. I found Manolo, drunk along with the rest of his band, I told everyone we'd have to leave, and the majority of people who had to work the next day left with us. In the back of my mind I wished Rosita luck, I hoped all would go well and that Joaquin would not only listen to her, but hopefully understand her.

Rosita's POV

I felt my entire body shake as we got to Joaquin's house that Maria's father had built for him over ten years ago. Joaquin went to sit on the enormous couch as I took a deep breath and turned to face him, it's now or never.

"Joaquin, we need to talk. You must know how much I love you, and I would do anything for you, but I don't feel like the feeling is always mutual. I know you married me after I had asked you, but I'd hoped that you did love me, and I hope you still love me. I don't ever want to be parted with you, but I know there are . . . others that would give anything to be with a man like you. I'm not insinuating anything; I just want you to know I don't appreciate it when they throw themselves at your feet. You're mine, and I am yours by law, we both walked up to that alter together and spoke our vows, gave each other our rings and kissed. I just wish you'd be more . . . proud of who you married, and not be afraid to . . . show me off a little. I want you to brag about me like I brag about you, I want the world to know that you're my Joaquin and that I'M the one who's been with you all this time. I've been faithful to you and have helped you in anyway possible, sure it's not as much as another man could do in battle, but I cook for you, I clean for you, and I spoil you. And I know I'm no Maria-"

"Rosita." He stopped me dead in my tracks, stood and embraced me.

"I'm sorry." He held me, his voice trembling slightly; then the tears began again.

"I love you Rosita, more than ANY woman in this entire universe, more than Maria. I could never replace you, and I can NEVER lose you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here, and that night when you proposed, I was embarrassed because I was going to propose to YOU that night, but you beat me to the punch." He laughed his hearty laugh as he picked me up and carried me to the bath, then to the bedroom, where we both made up, and made love. I love this man, more than he could ever know. The following day I told Maria how it all went, we hugged and became good friends after, I helped her with planning for the baby, and she made me promise to accept the role as the child's godmother.