As soon as De Soto had gathered his things, the company of Mexican soldiers escorted him out of the pueblo towards the port of San Pedro. Colonel Vieira waved a goodbye, and the people cheered as they rode by. But when they had disappeared into the darkness outside the gate, an awkward silence fell over the plaza. That was right, they were celebrating Diego´s and Victoria´s wedding! Would it be allright to continue that party, or...? People looked at each other. Wondering. Enquiring.

But again, Mendoza took the lead. "Señores y señoras, it is still the night of the De la Vega wedding. And there is still so much delicious food on that buffet... As your alcalde, I say: let´s continue the party! Music, maestro!"

Everyone laughed.

"If that is a forebode of how sergeant Mendoza is going to lead this pueblo, we may have a very festive season coming up," Don Alejandro commented dryly to Don Sebastian.

But the music started again, and within a few minutes the plaza was full of dancing couples once more. After all, now they had not only a wedding to celebrate, but also the appointment of a new, good-hearted alcalde!

"You know," the new alcalde confessed to Don Alejandro after having secured the Don´s help as ´assistant-alcalde´, "if it wasn´t for you telling me that I had to make my own decisions, I might have been on my way to San Pedro now, too. All my life I have been taught to follow orders. A soldier is not supposed to think, you know. He just has to do what he is told. And I have done a lot of bad things, just because I was ordered to. I thought I had no choice. But this colonel asked me what I wanted - what I wanted... And then your words suddenly made me realize that I have to make my own decisions. I can´t hide behind the alcalde for bullying me into doing something cruel; I myself am responsible for what I do. So my going over to Mexico was as much a choice for my own conscience as a choice for my homeland. I don´t want to follow orders without thinking anymore."

Don Alejandro nodded in appreciation. "A very wise decision, sergeant!"

But Mendoza sighed. "I´ll probably be in confession for a month!"

"And praying for a whole year!" Don Alejandro chuckled.

Another sigh came from the sergeant. "Still, that doesn´t mean I am ready for the entire responsibility of giving orders as alcalde myself. What if the post of alcalde simply makes one mean?"

"Don´t you worry, sergeant. We´ll work this out together. As long as you let your conscience be your guidance, your orders can not possibly be cruel. Just keep in mind that leading the people means you have to serve them. To see to their needs. I am sure you can do it."

Mendoza beamed. "Do you really think so, Don Alejandro?"

"Indeed, I do!" Don Alejandro raised his glass. "To our new alcalde, Jaime Mendoza!"

"To Mendoza!" people repeated all over the place as they raised their glasses at him.

And sergeant Mendoza grew under all their appreciation, and he decided solemnly not to let them down. With the help of Don Alejandro and Zorro, he would turn Los Angeles into the finest pueblo in the territory!

xxxxx

It wasn´t until way past midnight, when they entered their shared bedroom with the large bed, that the newly wed couple finally had a moment to themselves. Victoria fell down on the soft bed, and Diego started taking off his black caballero-jacket.

"I can´t believe we are actually married," Victoria sighed.

Diego chuckled. "You´d better believe it. For you are, Doña De la Vega!"

She sat up. "Diego...?"

"Hm?"

"Are you really happy now?"

He came to the bed and bent over to kiss her on her forehead. "Why shouldn´t I be happy? Now that I finally have you? Believe me, that´s all I´ve ever wanted!"

She gave him a timid smile. "I know. But I mean now that Zorro´s secret is out in the open. And on top of that the news about California being sold to Mexico."

Diego tilted his head in a mocking disturbed way. "I´ve been trying hard not to think about those things too much. I wanted to concentrate on you tonight. But now that you ask..." He sighed. "As for California, I don´t know what to think. We´ll have to wait and see. And even though I do feel a little sorry for De Soto, I think sergeant Mendoza and my father will make an excellent alcalde-team for the time-being. At least that change might not turn out so bad at all."

Victoria nodded. "That´s true. And at least in Mexico City I suppose they are more familiar with our problems than that stupid king in his pompous palace in Madrid ever will be. To simply sell us, as if California were just one of his horses! How dare he!"

Diego grinned at the outspoken way in which she expressed herself. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her so much.

"And Zorro?" Victoria asked.

Diego heaved a sigh and came to sit next to her. "I don´t know, Victoria. It is a huge, a tremendous relief that I have received this pardon. I doubt whether you, or anyone will ever be able to fully understand just how relieved I am for that. But on the other hand, I feel sort of... exposed. I wasn´t prepared. I wasn´t ready yet to share all that with the entire town. I knew I had to at that moment, but it meant I had to expose more of myself than I actually wished. Like being forced to show your innermost wishes and dreams; those intimate ones that you´d rather keep to yourself."

Victoria smiled and snuggled up to him. "I understand. Well, I think I do. But you´ll get used to it. Perhaps, after leading a double life for so long, it is just as difficult for you to combine Zorro and Diego into one man as it is for others to start seeing you as one person."

Diego smiled. "I think you may be right."

They sat in silence for a while before Victoria sighed: "Diego, I am exhausted. I know we finally have the chance to make love legitimately now, but... do you think we can defer it until morning?"

He kissed her neck. "That sounds like a good idea. After all: we´ve got a whole life together now, so there´s no need to rush. My wishes are rather modest, too, right now: I just want to hold you in my arms and sleep till lunch or something."

She giggled. "Well, let´s get ready for bed then."

Still, getting undressed in the other´s presence was quite an adventure, too. Diego couldn´t resist stroking and kissing her soft bare skin and letting his eyes roam over her bewitching figure, and Victoria shuddered for belated fear at the sight of the dozen or so ugly scars all over Diego´s body. Scars from bulletwounds, from swords, from knives...

"Well, I did get hit sometimes," Diego apologized. "Not even Zorro is perfect, you know. And you have one yourself, too, remember?"

But when they finally blew out the candles and got into their soft and inviting bed, they both just wanted to sleep. Still, it took some trial-and-error to find a comfortable way of lying in each other´s arms. But in the end they lay folded up like two small spoons, Victoria with her back to Diego´s chest, and he with his arm wrapped around her belly, over which Victoria laid her arm again.

Diego nuzzled in her hair. "Good night, Victoria mine." Gently he rubbed the curve of her belly. But all of a sudden, Victoria sat up with start.

"What is it?" Diego asked alarmed.

Victoria looked down at her small baby-belly. "I felt something..."

Diego sat up, too. "What?"

Slowly, Victoria moved her hand over her belly. And just as suddenly, she halted. "Again!" She took a deep breath. "Do you think it is the baby moving? Is he that strong yet? Can he move?"

Diego just stared at her belly. "I don´t know. Maybe."

"Feel it." She took his hand and placed it on her belly. Diego waited in anticipation, but nothing happened. But when Victoria started to move his hand around, he, too, felt a tiny little push from the inside of her belly to the palm of his hand.

He swallowed hard. "Our child, Victoria..."

She nodded. As unreal as it was, for her it was the definite proof that something living was indeed growing inside her. And it was not until the tiny little being in there had obviously fallen asleep that they lay down for the second time. Far too overwhelmed by this new development to be able to fall asleep themselves.

xxxxx

After two days and three nights behind locked doors in which they thoroughly enjoyed each other´s company in every possible way - with only an occasional midnight snack whenever their stomachs started protesting a little too audible - Victoria and Diego de la Vega decided it was about time to start sharing their life with others again. Victoria felt she needed to check on her tavern, and Diego discovered that he was dying to know how things were going in their now Mexican pueblo.

The morning was already half way, and they found the hacienda deserted. Obviously, Don Alejandro and Felipe were out somewhere. Still, Maria (the De la Vega cook) was happy to fix them a late breakfast, and Victoria wondered how she would like it in the long run not to be cooking anymore.

"You know, it´s just great that someone is preparing food for me for a change," she told Diego, "but I can´t help thinking that after a while I´d probably miss it. The joy it gives me to prepare a delicious dish for the people I love. Do you think I could persuade Maria to let me cook dinner once in a while?"

Diego grinned. "You can always ask. I wouldn´t mind. I love the taste of anything you put in front of me, just because it has felt your touch."

Victoria grinned back at him. "And then I can leave doing the dishes to Maria. What a life...!"

xxxxx

"So, what are you going to do with the tavern now?" Diego asked as he led the wagon over the rocky sandtrack towards Los Angeles.

Victoria shrugged. "I don´t know. I´d like to keep working as long as I can. I know that´s not the way women usually do when they´re expecting," she added when Diego glanced at her. "I just can´t see myself staying at home, sitting in a chair for half a year or so, just waiting for this baby to come out. I´m pretty sure I´d get bored stiff within a week! There´ll be plenty of time for that towards the end, I suppose."

Diego gave her a somewhat worried smile. "Well, I think it´s okay, if that´s what you want. As long as you don´t overwork yourself. But I´ll be spending a lot of time in the tavern then, watching over you to make sure you don´t exhaust yourself!"

She smiled and squeezed his arm. "My guardian angel, eh?"

He returned the gentle squeeze before continuing: "Still, you might want to start looking for someone to replace you this winter. I suspect you´ll be out of the running for at least two months around the time the baby will be born, so..."

She nodded. "I will. But it´s fairly early for that: it´s only August."

They rode into town and looked around. Everything seemed exactly the same as it always had been: trading farmers, women getting water from the well, people sauntering over the plaza, now and then stopping to exchange a few words with some acquaintance. A lot of people greeted them, too, with a happy smile for the newly wed couple.

Diego steered the little wagon towards the tavern, helped Victoria down and tied the horse to the tetheringpole. "You go in; I want to find my father first," he told her.

That was not too hard: Don Alejandro and sergeant Mendoza were in the office.

"Hola Diego!" his father exclaimed. "So you two have finally managed to let go of each other?"

Diego gave him a mischievous grin. "Hm... for a little while. How are things going here?"

Mendoza beamed. "Fine! Just fine, Don Diego! Your father is helping me with all the paperwork, and we´ve discovered that our Mexican friends forgot to leave any guidelines for taxes. So at the moment, everything in Los Angeles is tax-free!"

Diego nodded in approval. "That sure sounds good - in the short term. I just hope they won´t have us pay doubles as soon as they find out."

"Oh, no, they won´t, Don Diego. I can´t believe they would be so cruel. So why don´t we go over to the tavern and have a tax-free lunch? I´m so hungry; it must be lunchtime, am I right?"

So shortly afterwards the three men sauntered over the plaza towards the tavern. But halfway they were stopped by one of the farmers. "Sergeant, how about the money? Aren´t we supposed to use Mexican money now?"

But Mendoza shrugged and slapped the man on the shoulder. "As long as they don´t send us any money to replace our old Spanish pesos, I take it we can continue using our old money," he reassured him.

"But what is it worth?" the farmer insisted.

Mendoza looked somewhat uncomfortable, so Diego helped him out: "It´s worth exactly the same as it was before. It´s still the same peso, isn´t it? Valid money throughout the Spanish empire. And as soon as Mexico sends us a load of their currency, we will simply trade in our old Spanish coins for the Mexican ones. You´ve got nothing to worry about, amigo. The value of your money has not changed."

The farmer thanked him and went off to tell the others. And Mendoza and the two De la Vega men continued towards the tavern. But Don Alejandro stopped dead in his tracks the moment he entered the establishment. "Diego," he asked quietly, "why is Victoria here, working?! Shouldn´t she be quietly at home, resting or something?"

Diego sighed and shook his head. "In my heart I would prefer that for her, too. But most of all I want her to be happy, father. She would like to keep working a little longer. And you know as well as I do that sitting still is a torture for Victoria. Let her enjoy her work as long as she can. But I promise you, I´m going to keep a very close eye on her."

"Hm," was all Don Alejandro huffed in return.