The weeks passed and turned into months. And life in Los Angeles went on as it always had. If it wasn´t for the absence of Ignacio de Soto, people sometimes wondered if it had all been a dream: the foreign soldiers that night, California becoming a part of Mexico... But as it was, the pueblo was run by sergeant Mendoza and Don Alejandro de la Vega, and they ran it to everybody´s satisfaction. After a few weeks of being a completely tax-free pueblo, Don Alejandro had finally managed to convince the sergeant that in the long run it was not wise to simply run the pueblo on Zorro´s former reward money: there had to be some inflow of capital, too. So they devised an incometax that requested only a few pesos a year from the poor farmers, and quite a lot from the rich landowners. Even the soldiers had to pay tax on their income now. People muttered a little about it, but since this was to be the only tax, the lamentations soon quieted down, and most people agreed that at least it was fair that the rich should pay more than the poor.
Diego spent a few hours every day training the lancers, as he had promised Mendoza. The rest of the day he usually spent in the tavern, watching over Victoria. Maria and Pilar had taken over breakfast, but Victoria still took control all the way from lunch to closing-time. Diego couldn´t say he was extremely happy with it, but Victoria still seemed to enjoy her work. Still, from the way she put her hands on her back for support now and then he could tell that she would soon have to quit the eternal running around that her work required. As it was, her belly was steadily growing bigger and heavier, and he could not possibly imagine that it made her work any easier. So sometimes he simply pulled her down beside him, to force her to take a break. This was usually met with initial protest, but within a few minutes she´d always relax in his arms. If it wasn´t for him, he suspected she´d still be running her feet off.
One day however, things got a bit out of hand. It had been extraordinary busy when he came in with the lancers after their training. All three of the girls were flustered; they were stressing around preparing the orders and passing them out to the customers. Diego took one look at the busy beehive and the next time Victoria had passed out her order and returned to the kitchen with new ones, he pulled her down next to him.
"Time for a break, dear. You´re exhausted."
But Victoria shook her head and got up again. "Not now, Diego. It´s terribly busy."
"But...!"
But Victoria had already hurried off to the kitchen. And he sighed.
The same story repeated itself a couple of times during the afternoon, and in the end Diego got angry as well as concerned. It was getting easier and easier to tell that her back was troubling her today, and even though she was obviously exhausting herself, she refused to take even a few minutes´ break just to catch her breath. He tried to help gathering plates and glasses, but she pushed him aside. "Don´t. You´ll just get in the way."
"Then tell me what I can do to help! I don´t want you stressing around like this!"
"Just stay where you are and let me get on with my work." She brushed past him, and with a sigh he sat down again. But the next time she declined his urging her to take a break he got up and followed her to the kitchen.
"Please, Diego, I´m busy," she snapped without even turning to look at him.
"Yes, and you´re exhausted, too. Now why don´t you take a break when you obviously need one!"
Victoria kept busy with the food. "It´s busy. I can´t leave everything to Pilar and Maria. That wouldn´t be fair."
"Yes, you can! You are six months gone and they are not! You´re entitled to taking it easier than other people!"
Victoria winced at his mentioning the six months, but she took the plates she´d been preparing and walked towards the curtain. "You can´t tell me what to do, Diego de la Vega! I am fine and I like it when it´s busy. And I think I myself am more able to determine how I´m feeling than you are. And now if you´ll excuse me? I have a tavern to run." And she walked out into the dining-room before he could make an answer.
Diego was left, brooding and worrying. She kept refusing his every request for a break or even for taking it easy. But he couldn´t possibly escape her stretching and supporting her back whenever she had the chance.
When the time had finally come to close, Diego was quick in bolting the door before turning to his wife. She was gathering the last glasses from the tables. He took them out of her hands and put them on the counter in the kitchen. Victoria wanted to start doing the dishes, but he grabbed her wrist and stated with suppressed anger: "And now I´ve had enough. You´re are coming home with me this instant!"
Victoria tried to pull away. "Don´t be ridiculous. I can´t leave the tavern like this! I have to clean the dishes and the tables and..."
"Maria and Pilar can take care of that tomorrow. I´ve had enough of this bravery. You´re coming home now and you don´t set a foot in this tavern for at least a week!"
He grabbed her shawl and dragged her out the back door. Victoria resisted with all her might, but she knew it was fruitless anyway: Diego was far stronger than she was.
"Diego de la Vega, you don´t own me, you know! You can´t tell me what to do!"
"No. But when we got married, I vowed that I would take care of you. And since you refuse to take care of yourself right now, I will." He wanted to lift her up onto the wagon, but she slapped his fingers and climbed in without his help. The whole drive home was made in brooding silence. Diego pulled the little wagon to a halt at the front door, and again Victoria climbed down before he could even begin lending her a hand. So he left the horse and the wagon to Miguel and strode in after her.
He was met in the hallway by a puzzled Felipe. "What´s wrong with Victoria? She just walked by me without a word!"
Diego nodded with a grim smile. "You might want to make yourself scarce for a little while, amigo. I have a bone to pick with your mother." He patted his son´s shoulder and walked past him into the library. Just in time to see Victoria carefully lowering herself on a chair with a sigh, causing his concern to get the better of his anger again.
"Victoria, why are you being so stubborn about this? You´re going to have a baby within three months; no one is expecting you to just go on as normal."
Her eyes flashed fire as she looked up; obviously she was still mostly angry. "I don´t need you telling me what I can and can´t do, Diego! Now who´s pregnant here: you or me?"
"Well, you are, but..."
"Right. Then leave it up to me to decide what I can and can´t do, will you?" She got up and hurried away towards the bedroom. Diego went after her. "Victoria!" But she slammed the door shut in his face, and bolted it right away.
He sighed. "Victoria, let me in," he demanded.
No answer.
"Victoria! This is my bedroom, too, remember?"
"Go and sleep in your old bed then," was the answer he got through the door.
"No. Victoria, I..."
"Leave me alone!" A loud crash at the other side of the door made him jump, and he wondered what it was she had thrown. He sighed. Obviously he was getting nowhere here. And he didn´t feel like fighting through a locked door.
Fortunately, there were other ways. He went through the back door into the garden, to the window of their bedroom. Luck was with him: it was open, and in the blink of an eye he pulled himself up and jumped into the room.
Victoria sat up with a start. "What are you doing?"
"I want to talk with you. And I don´t like being locked out."
Victoria got up from the bed. "There is nothing to talk about, except for you violating my privacy. Can´t a girl have a moment to herself anymore?" she demanded sternly.
"Later." Diego crossed his arms. "Victoria, why are you being so stubborn all of a sudden about taking a break?"
"Because I didn´t want a break, that´s all."
"That´s not answering the question. Why don´t you want a break when your body is clearly telling you that you need one?"
"It was not!"
"It was, too! You´re exhausted!"
"So what! Why don´t you just get off my back and leave me alone!" she yelled back at him. But suddenly the tears came streaming down her face as she continued: "I´m fine, really. I´ve never felt better." And to Diego´s surprise, and inspite of herself, she threw herself into his arms and cried violently. "It´s just too much, Diego..." she sobbed. "My back is killing me... And I hardly get a wink of sleep nowadays, with this baby kicking around all night... And this belly is getting so heavy already, and January is still so far off... And I´m scared to death for giving birth... And now you are yelling at me, too..."
Soothingly he rubbed her back. If Victoria broke down in tears, things must be really getting on top of her, for she hardly ever cried. Still, the logic behind her refusing to take a break with so many physical inconveniencies bothering her escaped him. But it sounded like they definitely needed to talk.
"Come on," he whispered in her hair. He lifted her in his arms and carefully lowered himself with his dear load in one of the easy chairs by the window. Victoria snuggled up to him as well as she could. But her baby-belly was really getting in the way by now.
Diego kissed her tears away. "Why didn´t you tell me?" he asked gently.
Victoria swallowed. "You´d only tell me to stay at home from now on and take it easy."
He nodded. "I probably would, yes. And I´m pretty sure I will do so now." He frowned. "But what is so bad about staying home taking it easy when your work is getting to heavy?"
She let out a quavery sigh. "I don´t know. It gives me something to do. It keeps me from worrying, I guess."
"Then what are you worrying about? Perhaps you´re worrying over nothing!"
Victoria shivered. "If the baby is going to be allright for example."
"Yes..." Diego sighed with resignation. "I suppose that´s something every parent worries about. But there is not much we can do about that until he´s out and we can see him with our own eyes."
Victoria nodded. "And I´m scared to death for giving birth. Does it hurt?"
"I don´t know," Diego confessed. "I suppose it might hurt. But why don´t you ask señora Sanchez? She should know; she´s helped most of the babies in the pueblo into the world."
"But how does it work? How does he come out?"
Again Diego shook his head apologetically. "I don´t know, Victoria. So far I´ve only read a little on that. It seems the baby is sort of pushed out. But I could try and find out more, if you like."
She nodded. "And what if... what if I die in childbed?" she whispered.
Diego closed his eyes. He hugged her tight and let out a painful sigh. "Yes. I know these things happen. I do my best trying not to think of it, but the possibility can not be denied." He repressed a shiver. "I don´t want you to die. I don´t want to lose you. Ever. So I´ll make sure that when the time comes, both señora Sanchez and dr. Hernandez will be here to help you. And I, too, will see to it that I´ve read everything there is to know about it. I promise. I´ll do everything humanly possible not to let you die."
Victoria looked up to him. "So you are afraid, too," she concluded.
He gave her a sad smile. "I suppose that´s part of becoming a parent. The difference is that I can keep myself occupied as before, while you are carrying this steadily growing baby, restricting your activities more and more."
Victoria sat up with a start. "That´s another thing that´s bothering me. Actually," she gave him a hesitant smile, "that was why I was so upset today. Did you see Maria in the plaza this morning?"
He frowned in puzzlement. "Maria who?"
"Maria de la Cruz. Don Pedro´s young daughter, who got in the family way around the same time I did. She was forced to marry the De la Cruz vaquero, Pablo Gonzalez, remember?"
Diego nodded. "But I don´t recall seeing her this morning."
"Well, if the stories I heard at the time were true, her baby should be coming down in December, so she should be a few weeks ahead of me. But Diego, her belly is nearly half the size of mine! If that´s how it´s supposed to be when you´re seven months gone, my baby in comparison should be about ready to come out!"
Diego frowned. "Are you sure she´s ahead of you?"
"Well, that´s what everyone said at the time. Are you sure you didn´t make a mistake when you calculated that our baby would be born in January?"
Diego looked down and carefully calculated again. "Absolutely positive. Nine months from April is January. Not November or something. Unless you..."
Her eyes flashed at him. "You know I haven´t! You are the first and the only man I´ve ever slept with!"
"I know, I know." He waved her indignation away. "I´m just trying to find an explanation. The most logical one to me seems that those ´stories´ were somewhat speculative and inaccurate and you are actually ahead of her instead. Or perhaps..." Suddenly he turned livid. "Oh my..."
"What?" Victoria enquired incomprehensively.
But he pushed her off him and put her on her feet. "Wait here!" he snapped and ran for the door. But the door didn´t give way as it usually did when he pushed down the handle, and with a drone he smashed right into it.
Victoria couldn´t help giggling. "What are you doing?"
She got no answer as yet. Diego unbolted the door and galloped off along the corridor towards the library. Within half a minute he was back, with a stethoscope.
"Hey, I didn´t know you had one of these doctoring things," she said surprised.
Diego paid no attention to her remark. "Will you come and lie down for a moment, please?" he requested. "And take off your corsets first."
She sat down on the side of the bed. "If you untie them?"
He sat down behind her and clumsily yanked at the tightened strings. His hands were not as steady as they usually were.
"So what is it?" Victoria demanded.
But she got no answer. He just kept nervously wriggling at her corsetstrings, and when he finally had managed to free her from them, he very cautiously helped her to lie down on her back.
"Diego!" She was dying of curiosity. But there was a hint of fear in her voice as well: "What are you thinking? Is something wrong?"
"Ssh!" He put the stethoscope in his ears and started searching with the little plate over the curve of her baby-belly. Victoria got goosebumps feeling the cold metal on her warm skin, but Diego didn´t seem to notice. Slowly he moved it around, listening carefully.
"There!" he whispered. He took her hand and placed it on the side of her belly where he had found what he was looking for. "Try to keep that baby in place, if you can."
"But...?" Victoria frowned in puzzlement as he continued to search her belly with the stethoscope. Apparently he found what he was looking for on the other side of her belly. "There! I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Victoria demanded impatiently.
He pulled the stethoscope out of his ears and swallowed. Hard. "Querida..." He had to clear his throat. "Victoria... I think you might be expecting twins!"
"What!?" Victoria gasped. And then she started to laugh hysterically. "Have you gone mad?! Twins! Me? Impossible!"
"No, it´s not!" he protested gravely. "Having twins is hereditary somehow. And it does run in my mother´s family. I have identical twin-uncles, and a cousin of mine has identical twin-daughters. I met them when I was in Madrid. So it´s far from impossible for me to father twins, too."
The hysterical laughing quickly turned to crying. "Diego, I´m already scared to death about having one baby, and now you´re telling me I´m going to have two?!"
He pulled her up and took her in his arms. "Well, it would explain a few things, wouldn´t it?" he said as he gently rocked her. "Your belly being so much bigger than Maria´s; you feeling so heavy; their kicking around all night long... I suppose they take turns in keeping mummy awake."
She couldn´t help smiling through her tears. "Yeah, they work in shifts..."
Diego grinned. "Smart couple, those kids of ours. But would you like to hear for yourself?" He picked up the stethoscope again, and hesitantly Victoria put it in her ears as she had seen him do. "What am I to listen for?"
"A very quick heartbeat." Slowly he moved the cold plate over her belly again until Victoria sharply drew in her breath. "You hear it?"
She nodded, and tears welled up in her eyes. "My baby..."
He hugged her gently. "Okay. Now keep your hand there to make sure he doesn´t get away. I suppose the other one is still on the other side." He moved the stethoscope, and Victoria´s reaction told him he hit the right spot immediately.
She listened for a while; then she asked: "Isn´t it just the echo of that other sound? Sort of reverberating throughout my entire belly?"
He shook his head. "If that were the case, you´d hear it that strong wherever you listened. And that´s not true." He placed the stethoscope somewhere else, and Victoria had to agree: she hardly heard anything there.
"But couldn´t he just have moved to the other side? Quickly?" she insisted. She still didn´t really want to believe she could be carrying twins.
"Don´t you think you would have noticed?" Diego smiled. "The way they´ve been keeping you awake at night with their jumping to and fro?"
Victoria heaved a sigh. "That´s true..." She shuddered and put her arms around his neck. "Diego... what´s going to happen now?"
He sighed, too. "I suppose your belly will become extremely big these coming months. And very heavy. Carrying two children..." He kissed her forehead. "Perhaps you should go and see Dr. Hernandez. He might be able to tell you more. And I think..." He hesitated for a moment, not sure how she was going to take this. Victoria looked up. "I really think you should make haste in finding someone to replace you at the tavern. Already now the workload seems too heavy for you in your current condition; it´s likely to only get worse in the weeks to come. And you might want to start saving your strength for giving birth to two children."
He hugged her tight as he felt her shivering again. "I know, Victoria. The thought is even scarier than having just one baby. I am scared, too. But I suppose all we can do is getting used to the idea and prepare for having two children at once. Perhaps it´s time we start thinking about some names. And about furnishing the nursery, before your belly will be too big to do anything."
She nodded, and suddenly a broad smile shone on her face. "And I know of one grandfather who is going to be thrilled with this news!"
xxxxx
Indeed: Dr. Hernandez confirmed Diego´s diagnosis, and to the father´s relief he absolutely forbade Victoria to be working in the tavern any longer. "All you need is rest! And plenty of it!" he told her.
So Victoria found herself practically grounded to the hacienda, and now that she was pretty much forced to take it easy, she discovered it wasn´t so bad after all. She could get up or lie down, sit or walk whenever she felt like it. And with a belly that seemed to get bigger, heavier and more in the way by the day, that freedom soon turned out to be a real necessity.
Her favourite spot became an easy chair near the rosebushes, with a footstool to keep her feet up. The scent of the roses was a constant reminder of all the roses she got from her beloved Zorro-Diego, and in the pleasant November-sun she could dream away for hours about her Diego and about their future together with twins. And read all Diego´s books on gynaecology.
"Knowledge is power," he told her. "If you know what to expect when the time has come to give birth, it won´t be half so frightening as when you have no clue whatsoever about what´s going on in your body."
So she eagerly went through all the ones she could read (Latin and French were not exactly her strengths), and Diego told her about what he found out from the other ones. It was indeed exciting to have some idea of what miracle was going on in her body. But her feelings towards the great moment remained rather ambivalent: the books, and more importantly señora Sanchez and the other women in the pueblo assured her that giving birth was a difficult experience, and a very painful one, too. And if it was like that for one baby... what kind of agony would she have to go through to deliver two?!
Another thing Dr. Hernandez had pointed out to them was the fact that twins had a habit of being born before the nine months were completed. "It´s very hard to say. They might stay inside the whole nine months, which is hard on the mother but generally increases their chances for survival. But you´ll have to be prepared to expect them from early December onwards. And if they indeed do come that early, then all we can do is try to keep them warm, and pray for a miracle..."
Diego had grown pale. "But how can we prevent them from being born too soon?"
Dr. Hernandez had shrugged. "Very little, Don Diego. Keep the mother calm and comfortable, and let her remain in a horizontal position as much as possible. But it still doesn´t guarantee a thing."
So as soon as it turned December, Diego grew more and more nervous by the day. Any day he could become a father now! He was both dreading the moment and looking forward to it with all his heart. The idea of his children being born and then die because they were born prematurely filled him with a fear beyond anything he had ever experienced before, and it made him extremely overprotective of Victoria. He wouldn´t let her do anything, which she thought very sweet for a few hours, but then it started to annoy her to the point that she felt like strangling him every time he tried to take something out of her hands.
Victoria in the meantime was growing heartily tired of being pregnant. Her belly had become really huge, its weight was accordingly, and it was still growing. If Diego´s size was any indication of his children´s, the babies she was carrying would be gigantic! One of the babies had recently dropped and was now deeply engaged, restricting her movements even further. The other one however was still pushing up against her ribcage, causing a constant shortness of breath. So she could scarcely breathe, eat, walk, lie down, stand, move, sit... As Christmas approached, she felt the babies were really getting too big and too heavy for her: everything hurt. And since she couldn´t possibly find a comfortable position in bed either, she had a hard time getting some sleep, too, in or out of Diego´s arms. So with a grumpy Victoria and a tense and nervous Diego, we can say that the holiday-season was not exactly entered in a peaceful and serene atmosphere at the De la Vega hacienda that year.
