Chapter 12
When Zorro returned to the cave, he found his wife sleeping in his chair behind the desk. Victoria had insisted on waiting for him in the cave and she must have fallen asleep while waiting. He had noticed that she was very sleepy in the evenings due to her pregnancy.
After he had taken care of Toronado, Diego changed back into his normal suit and scooped her up in his arms, waking her in the process.
"Diego? You're back?" she asked sleepily, putting her arms around his neck. "How was it?"
"You were right, Querida," he smiled at her. "You can hardly keep your eyes open and I'm tired too. I'll tell you everything tomorrow." With his elbow Diego pushed the lever to open the secret door and carried her into the hacienda and back to their room.
Z Z Z
During breakfast Diego told his father and Felipe the news.
"SeƱorita Maria is pregnant?" Alejandro asked, surprised. "How do you know that?"
"Victoria had an inkling when we discussed the hurry Don Fernando showed in marrying off his daughter. I did some investigation last night and Victoria was right."
"Investigations? What kind of investigations?" Alejandro asked confused. "Did you go back to the hacienda and ask? Why would they tell you?"
"No, of course not, Father, but I have other means. Zorro can find out what Diego can't, because people trust him."
"You were out riding as Zorro last night?" Alejandro asked concerned. "Did everything go well? Are you alright, son? You must for give me, Diego, for asking, but now that I know that you are Zorro I can't help worrying about you."
"Don't worry, Father. There's no reason to for it. I've done that for years now. One of the reasons I never told you was that I didn't want you to lose sleep because of me."
"I know now, Diego, and as your father I do worry and I believe your wife does too." Alejandro looked in Victoria's direction who simply nodded.
Diego sighed. "I never wanted that. Life was easier before I told you."
"Do you regret telling me?" Victoria asked anxiously.
"No, never." Diego took her hand and kissed it. "Getting married to you is all I ever wanted, Victoria, and I've never been so happy before." If they had been alone, he would have kissed her. Instead, he tenderly caressed her cheek.
"Hrrmpf," Alejandro cleared his throat, disrupting their private moment. "I think we should discuss how to proceed now. Are you sure that your information is correct, Diego?"
"Yes. Don Fernando may try to keep it a secret, but they won't be able to hide the truth much longer."
"Don Fernando can no longer expect that we'll hand him over our hacienda," Alejandro stated satisfied. "It's him who has invalidated the contract. He can no longer expect my son to marry his daughter when her pregnancy has made her unsuitable. As soon as the other caballeros hear about it, none of them will be willing to marry her."
"It will be bad for Margarita," Victoria said compassionately.
"She'll probably have no other choice but to visit her relatives in Spain for some time," Alejandro stated. "Los Angeles is a small pueblo and it won't be forgotten so easily."
Z Z Z
With the new information his son had provided him, Alejandro rode to the Marquez hacienda to talk with Don Fernando about the marriage contract. When he returned after a short time, he gathered his family in the library to inform them about his meeting.
"What did Don Fernando say?" Victoria asked who couldn't hide her curiosity. "How did it go?"
"It was quite successful," Alejandro grinned. "Some good did come out of this contract."
"Father, please. Don't try to justify what you did by arranging the marriage in the first place. There's no excuse for what you did. Just because the way gambled with my life didn't turn out as bad as we feared, doesn't make it any better. Not now and any other time either," Diego said annoyed.
"I'm sorry, Diego. I didn't have the right to do this to you and I promise I won't do it again."
"Thank you, Father."
"What do you mean something good came out of the contract?" Victoria asked, impatient to know everything. "What did you decide about the contract?"
"I confronted Fernando with the fact that Maria is pregnant and he tried to deny it. Only when I told him that I knew for sure and mentioned the vaquero, he realized that he could no longer fool me. He finally admitted it and wanted to know where I got my information, but I refused to tell him," Alejandro recounted the conversation.
'What will happen to the contract now?' Felipe signed. 'Do I still have to marry her?'
"No, you won't," Alejandro put his mind to rest. "In her current state Maria can't be considered a suitable bride for a de la Vega, so there's no way for Fernando to demand a marriage."
"Did you annul the contract or are we getting his hacienda now?" Diego inquired.
"By all rights I should have insisted on getting his hacienda just as he tried to get mine," Alejandro said, "but the man is already cursed enough with his daughter bringing shame over the family and I didn't want to bring more misery over him by robbing him of everything."
"So you annulled the contract?" Victoria asked.
"More or less," Alejandro said. "I won't take his hacienda, but I didn't want him to go unpunished for trying to deceive us either. Our cattle will get access to some - but not all- of his water holes which is important in summer when our water holes in the lower valley dry out."
"It's good that it's settled now," Diego expressed the relief they all felt. "We don't have to worry about our future anymore and can stay in California."
"Yes, it's a relief," Victoria agreed, "but I will still keep worrying about you, Diego, when you ride out at night."
"I'll be careful, Querida," Diego assured her, wrapping her in his arms. "I'll always come back to you and maybe the day will come when Zorro is no longer needed."
"I don't believe that it will happen so soon," Victoria said, suddenly depressed again. "As long as de Soto is our alcalde there won't be any change. He will continue chasing you so he can return to Madrid in glory."
"There must be a solution, Victoria. We only have to find it," Diego tried to lift her mood again, caressing her back gently.
"If you say so," Victoria said unconvinced. "I don't know."
"Just trust me, Querida. I'll find one."
A/N: I want to thank my friend for beta reading this chapters and her corrections. This is not the end of the story, but I hope to resolve it in the next few chapters. RL has kept me busy, but I hope to post the others soon, as soon as I have written them.
