Chapter 10

Dawn

Rice, meat and vegetables tortilla, all enough for six people and already neatly packed into a fabric bag.

The afternoon was ahead and it already looked long and uncertain. Josefina knew she was waiting for some kind of a determined bravery that would hit her all of a sudden and drive her towards him, to face him after this whole century of being apart and tell him... and tell him.

There was none of that, only wiping the table clean and sweeping the kitchen floor, particularly the area next to the burner.

He will leave the town soon.

Maybe he did come because of me.

He'll be gone, as if I didn't exist.

He wouldn't just ignore you if he knew you were here.

And how could he know I'm here?

Because maybe he did come because of me.

He will leave the town soon…

Her thoughts transcurred in a circle that continued to spin when the repeated knocks on the door announced Tomas had come to pick up the day's lunch.

But it wasn't him. It was Diego, and at the sight of him, Josefina lost her voice and nearly screamed at the same time.

Come what may, seeing him again was a relief; it was the eyes she knew and the face she loved, it was him just as always, it wasn't like they hadn't met for years but it sure felt that way.

"Buenos días, Josefina."

"Buenos días."

"Can we talk?"

She let him in and closed the door. Having her back to him for a moment gave her a chance to open her mouth and gasp for air.

Don't cry.

Don't cry.

Hang in there.

Turn around.

"I wish I had come sooner."

"..."

"That doesn't change anything, of course. All this time I've-"

Something brought them back to this world: Horacio's cries.

"That's my cousin's baby; give me a moment, please. Sit down."

There was a cup of milk on the table, which she took with a hand that felt foreign to her. Then, she headed to the bedroom, knowing that his stare was on her at every step, she could feel it on her skin like a warm atmosphere.

The kid tried to grab the cup with his little hands, so she helped him drink. She was out of herself, out of her own body again and seeing it all happen from the center of this storm.

"Is it good, cariño?" she asked Horacio just to say anything, to pronounce some words in order to make sure this was real life.

Dios mío… Did he notice? Can he tell?

I don't think so, not yet.

You know he's too perceptive.

He noticed.

Did he notice?

The cup had been empty for a while and the child was already playing with a small ball shaped pillow, when she gathered the courage to come out.

Diego was right where she'd left him, he hadn't sat down, though she didn't look at him in the eye.

"Sorry."

"Never mind."

She put the cup back on the table and turned to see him. For a fragment of a second… did he? Had he just glimpsed down at her stomach?

Another knock on the door, right when he was about to speak again.

"Excuse me… Tomas, buenas tardes."

"Buenas tardes! Are we having tortilla today?"

"Yes, here you go."

"Thank you! Don Acacio sent you this, it's for the last three days."

"Gracias."

"See you tomorrow, then."

"Adiós" she said and saved the money in her skirt's pocket.

Diego's stare was on her, all the time.

Horacio was quiet now in his crib, the meals had been picked up. No more interruptions, only the two of them in the middle of this silence that filled the entire world.

"You know" he started: "No matter how hard I think about what the best words to say would be, nothing seems right enough. So I remembered that, with you, I never had to measure what to say; everything was natural and sincere. I will try that. I will tell you that I haven't stopped loving you, that I love you more each day…"

Don't cry.

Don't cr…

"... and I will ask if you… are you… are we going to have a child?"

"..."

"We are, aren't we?"

"How do you know that?"

"That's not important."
"She told you! Jimena told you."

"That's not important, Josefina, good Lord, when were you going to tell me this?"

"How would I tell you when you're not around?"

"You're the one who left, I was right there."

"No, you weren't, Diego! You weren't. You weren't there when Cresencia and Jacinta called me a tramp or when that vaquero tried to… kiss me against my will-"

"What?! Who-"

"-or when everyone treated me like I didn't even deserve respect anymore. I couldn't take that any longer, Diego, and you said you loved me, but it… what for? So you love me. So what?"

"I never meant for any of that to happen, I would do anything to make it all disappear."

"Good to know. For the record, when I left, I didn't know I was… like this."

"Pregnant."

"..."

"With our child."

"..."

She didn't want to look at him, as if that way, he wouldn't be able to see her failed struggle against tears. And when she did, when she finally looked at him, he was closer and had something in his eyes she'd never seen before.

"Do you know why I came here? To this town?"

"..."

"I wanted to find you and apologize. And I wanted to ask you if you could give us a chance, if you would consider… marrying me."

At some point he had gotten on one knee and pulled out a ring, but it made so little sense that she hardly registered it.

"This is what I want. It's what I should have done since the beginning because I have always known for a fact that you're the woman for me."

"Are you mocking me?"

"... How can you say that? Fine, I know… I know you're angry and hurt. I am not mocking you, I'm serious and you know it. And before you say anything, I need you to know that I'm not doing this only because you're pregnant. I'm doing this because you're the most important thing in the world to me."
Through the layer of mist in her eyes, she was just staring and staring at him. It felt like… a void… as if she was falling, but not plummeting down a dark hole, but sliding, nice and slow, down an invisible waterfall that couldn't be real.

This is not real.

"You want to marry a maid?"

"I want to marry you. If you say yes. No more hiding."

Then, the trip down the waterfall finally came to a stop with a burst of really bad, ugly crying.

If this is not real…

"No" he stood up and held her: "I don't want you to cry ever again and certainly not because of me. I want you to be the way you are. By my side. Will you? Will you be my wife?"

"Yes…" she managed to say: "You know I love you, don't you?"

His answer was a kiss that would soothe the pain of a hundred aches.

"Are you sure, Diego?"

"Are you?"

Both questions were silly.

"What about your father? Have you talked to him?"

"He will have to understand. He is a very… adamant man, however wise, and I know that will persevere."

"He doesn't like me at all."

"He doesn't know you, just give him time. Funny, he gave me the same advice."

"And the other thing?"

"What other thing?"

"You told me there were some reasons why you couldn't get married. What happened with that? Are those reasons gone?"

She saw him pondering for a few moments; it was never too visible, but she could perceive the slight changes on his forehead, his eyebrows and eyes.

"Let's take a seat."

He led her by the hand to the seats.

"Those reasons are not gone. But now I want to share them with you. It's something that you must know before you really decide to marry me."

"I already decided it, Diego, nothing can change that."

"This is quite the game changer, to be honest."

Josefina reviewed, searched inside her mind for any clue as to what he could be talking about. It was something big enough to keep them apart once and now this...

"I have never said this to anyone. My father found out on his own and Bernardo has known from the start. No one else. It's something that could put you in danger and that's why I kept it a secret from you."

"I… won't tell anyone, I promise."

"I know. I know I can trust you."

"Then what is it?"

He squeezed her hands tightly. She'd forgotten about the dried up tears on her face.

"Josefina, I…" He looked down and then into her eyes; she saw new nuances of bronze and amber in them: "I am Zorro."

(...)

Note: sorry if this story is quite soap opery XD Maybe it's not too plausible that a caballero would marry a maid, but hey, this is fanfiction XD XD When it comes to Diego's revelation at the end, in my defense, he was willing to remove his mask in front of the whole town and marry that Ana María character in "Amnesty for Zorro", so in my tiny opinion, it's not so far fetched that he would tell one person, and the person he loves.

Btw! The titles of the chapters not necesarilly refer to a time of the day that is shown in the chap, but also to like the mood of it.

Thanks for reading!