The next morning, they woke up with Paula's excited pleads from one side of the bed to the other. "Sergio, you have to tell Mama it's time to wake up se we can go to the market."

"Raquel, there's a niña here wanting to talk to you." He said sleepily, pulling a giggling Paula into bed with them.

"Mamaaaaaa" she said, covering her mother's face with kisses.

Raquel lazily opened her eyes. "Sergio must be wondering why he had to bring the loudest chica from Spain to his silent paradise."

"I have no regrets." He said, as he got up and kissed the top of Paula's head. "I'll prepare breakfast for the Murillo girls." He kissed Raquel too and headed out to the kitchen.

"Can we have pancakes, please? Nooo, wait, eggs! Mama, which do you prefer?" The girl asked her mother, ignoring the fact that all that talk was putting her on the verge of sickness.

"You can choose, baby, I don't mind."

"Ok, I'll go tell Sergio." The girl said as she hooped off the bed and trotted to the kitchen, leaving Raquel with a moment to collect her thoughts.

After they left Paula's room in the night, she had joined him in bed and they had snuggled together, but they hadn't mentioned what the girl had said.

Maybe Sergio did not want a baby. The truth is that they never talked about it. She knew family was a difficult subject for him, and they talked about his parents and his brother sometimes, but they never talked about anything more. She knew he loved Paula, it had been beautiful to watch their relationship grow, with Sergio so worried and unsure around the girl in the first few weeks, only to have her completely surround to him and vice versa. And when she had asked if she could sometimes call him "papa Sergio", Raquel believed her whole world was complete.

They didn't use any kind of contraception, that was a fact, but she was over 40, so the chances of her getting pregnant were very reduced. And yet…

She had been feeling a little under the weather for a couple of weeks, but she always found other excuses: it was the fried rice from that food stall, it was some kind of flu Paula brought from school… But then there was the crying… She had cried her eyes out at Paula's school play. She had started crying out of nowhere when Sergio brought home mangoes because he thought she might like them.

She hadn't taken a test yet, but she was pretty sure she was pregnant. She felt different and she had been pregnant before, so she recognized some of the symptoms. She was pretty sure.

What would she do now?

Sergio went to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. He didn't have much sleep that night. He kept playing Paula's sleepy request in his head.

A baby.

It was something that never in his meticulously planned life he had even considered. His family genetic inheritance always played a role in scaring away that possibility, but he never had to actually worry about it, considering he had no girlfriend or anyone important in his life. He had no interest in relationships, marriages, babies and whatever came with that.

But then Raquel showed up. And her arrival and her love swiped him off his feet. He had put his life's dream and work in jeopardy because of her. But she had proven to be worthy of all that. Worthy of his love and everything he could have to sacrifice to be with her. Because she completed him. She was everything he never knew he needed, and everything he built with her was something new he didn't know he wished.

And now… Paula had planted that thought in his head, and that was something he never knew he wanted too. A baby. A baby with Raquel.

He loved Paula, and every day he found new ways and reasons for loving that sweet child that had entered his life through her mother. He loved her like a daughter, and she loved him like a father.

But then he pictured a baby. His baby with Raquel. He pictured Raquel pregnant, her bump, himself caressing her skin as they talked to their unborn child. He pictured her holding their baby first time. The first time they took it to the beach, both of their children playing happily in the sand. The four of them walking along the beach, holding hands.

And now, it was like there was no turning back. He felt heat rising in his chest as he pictured all this. He felt himself being filled with such a joyful hope like he had never experienced before.

But then, reality stroke in. Who said Raquel wanted a baby? More important, who said she wanted to have a baby with him? Of course she loved him, and they were building a life together and raising her daughter together. But who knew if having a blood connection to a worldwide wanted criminal was the line she was not interested on crossing?

The truth was that she never brought it up either. She already had a daughter, so he comprehended she would show no interest in having more children.

Maybe this was all for the best. Maybe they weren't supposed to think about having children. Maybe he had found enough reasons why they shouldn't.

But Paula's sleepy voice kept replaying in his head. You know what I really wanted for Christmas?

They left for the market by lunch time, Paula holding both adults' hands and happily chatting about how awesome it would be to go ice skating.

"We never went back in Spain. First I was too little, then Mama was always working." She said, and Raquel felt a stab of guilt. "But how do they keep the ice with this heat?"

"Well, it is manufactured ice, and they maintain it cold with using cooling machines." Sergio explained. "Actually, it is a very interesting mechanism, using the-"

"Uh-oh, Paula, he'll get into physical-chemical explanations, let's run!" Raquel mocked, faking a desperate look, and Paula giggled. Sergio glared at them, a playful look on his eyes.

They arrived at the market, so different from the Christmas markets back in Europe. They had promised Paula ice skating would be their first stop, but the girl spotted a little shop with wooden toys and rushed to check it.

"Do you want to grab something to eat before we get there?" Sergio asked, and Raquel shook her head. She had refused breakfast, and that had raised questions from both Sergio and Paula. "Maybe you're coming down with something, cariño." He said, eyeing her worriedly.

"Maybe…" She said softly, looking away from him to keep an eye on Paula.

The girl returned and started dragging them by their hands. "Let's go, let's goooo."

They approached the ice rink and watched some of the people already skating. You could spot two or three people who obviously knew what they were doing on top of their blades, but most of them were just people failing miserably, hanging from the sides of the rink, or slipping and falling with quite the display. Paula and Sergio laughed at these poor people, completely aware they would be the next ones, but Raquel was quiet, suddenly struck by the realization that she couldn't risk falling and doing any kind of damage to the baby.

"I don't think I can go in." She said suddenly, and Paula looked at her in surprise.

"Whyyyy, Mama, you said you would!"

"I know, baby, but I still don't feel so great."

Sergio eyed her in a mix of suspicion and worry. "Is there something I can do? Do you want to go home?"

"No, I'll just sit this one out and I'm sure I'll be fine. But you guys go, Paula is so looking forward to it." The girl looked at her mother with sad eyes. "Cariño, from here I'll be able to take a loooot of pictures, especially when Sergio lands on his butt. And you will have his undivided attention to teach you instead of having to teach us both." She ruffled her daughter's hair and added. "Gooo! Just try not to break anything!" Paula sprinted into the line of people waiting to put on their ice skates.

Sergio kissed her cheek. "Are you sure you'll be ok?"

"Yes, don't worry. Just go or she'll get in by herself!" She smiled as he walked quickly to keep up with Paula. "Be careful!"

She chose a good spot in the shadow to have the better view to them as possible, and waved as Paula and Sergio hesitantly entered the rink. Not that she was surprised, but Sergio was indeed a medium skater, which made sense considering his athletic form. Paula in the other hand looked determined to throw both of them on the floor as soon as possible, but she trusted Sergio to keep her daughter from any concussions or broken limbs.

She loved observing them together, and especially now, considering the situation that would soon be unfolded: Sergio was sweet and patient with Paula, softly explaining everything, whether it was ice skating or math homework. And Paula attentively listened and smiled broadly at his nervous yet dedicated attempts to teach her. Raquel knew that sometimes she probably missed a father figure in her life, and Sergio was certainly proving himself worthy of the task.

Her heart clenched as Paula took quite the fall, causing several other skaters to gasp and rush to help her, but it was Sergio who rushed in quicker to lift her up, checking all her body for lesions, but the girl shook her head and quickly returned her stepdad's questions with a smile. He got up and his gaze searched around for Raquel, giving her a nervous thumbs-up, meaning everything was OK with the girl. She felt her insides melting a little, and emotions rushed over as a few tears gathered up in her eyes: Sergio would be a great father. She just hoped he would want to.

She couldn't keep that secret in for much longer. She decided she would tell him tonight.