When Ma.Xiomara was back, Sissy was waiting for her.
"Did everything go all right?"
"Yes, better than planned. You know, you should've been there. It was just hilarious. Pietro trying so hard to act refined. Of course, I pretended that he did everything right, but it was just so hard to stop myself from laughing. He actually said he had visited Mexico D.F. several times, but you could tell he has never been out of the state of New York in all his life. I doubt he was ever on a plane, even."
Everyone laughed. That had to have been fun.
"Now, what? Do you know if there's going to be another date?"asked Maru. "Are things going all right?"
"With Pietro? Maybe, you know. I certainly enjoyed it."
The next morning, since they had arrived late, they overslept. Kitty, however was awakened by an increasing nausea. She ran out of her room, into the bathroom, without even bothering to open the door, or check if it was occupied. She got there just in time. After she had finished throwing up, she looked in the mirror, and a horrible thought occurred to her. Oh, no, she thought. Not me, that's just not possible, besides, it was probably only something I ate. Then again, her period hadn't come, and it was always very steady, coming the exact same day.
Sissy, was also aware of what was happening. She knew the dectuplets just didn't notice because they were too busy.
Kitty tried again and again to convince herself that she wasn't, she couldn't be pregnant. It just wasn't possible, but then, why not. This is all that Ma.Eugenia's fault, if she hadn't dated Lance, I would never have had to do what I did, she thought angrily to herself.
However, she had to find out the truth. To do that, she had to talk to someone. She thought about the dectuplets. They were excellent listeners, and they could keep a secret better than anyone. No matter how someone might pressure them, they wouldn't crack. The only thing they would say was that they couldn't say anything because someone asked them to. And you had to be satisfied with that. Otherwise, it was worse for you. Besides, you couldn't keep a secret from them for long.
She told Ma.Xacinta her suspicions.
"I already knew."Ma.Xacinta told her.
"You did?!"Kitty was shocked. That meant probably everybody might know or notice. Ma.Xacinta knew what she was thinking.
"Don't worry,"she said. "Nobody else could've noticed. Not now. Only us and Sissy. We only know because your cycle changed. You weren't getting ready to menstruate again this month. You see, it comes from being connected with nature. We notice things ordinary people don't. Like animals. Sissy also knows. You notice by someone's scent. Humans aren't as obvious as cats, but you know, a queen's urine will have a different scent when she's in season. To let the toms know. It's the same with all animals, mammals, anyway. And we won't tell anybody. But you'd like to go to the doctor? That's fine. I can go with you. And don't blame Maru. It's not her fault. What you did, you did our of your own free will, and if you hadn't have taken him for granted, and paid attention to him from the beginning, he wouldn't have noticed Maru, and you wouldn't have had to do what you did, and this wouldn't be happening, would it?" Ma.Xacinta told her. Kitty frowned. She was right.
"Besides, we can trust her. And right now, that's not important anymore. What's important is finding a solution. We'll see how we can help. You must, however, tell me who the father is. We might be able to help, depending on who it is. And you can't lie. Should you lie, and we will know, you'll regret. Really regret it."
When she said this, it seemed to Kitty, she could see a dangerous fire in her eyes. She knew that Ma.Xacinta wasn't joking. They weren't the kind of people who joked around. Especially about something like this. And the dectuplets were very dangerous, being in touch with nature as they were. The Earth, the Water, the Trees, everything knew them, they wouldn't hurt them, just as they wouldn't allow anything that wasn't natural hurt them, either. And they could be very dangerous, especially the speed and sound. Perhaps the only thing that was more dangerous and powerful than them was Sissy.
"It's Lance."she told her.
"Good."Ma.Xacinta replied. "I can get you the appointment easily. A cousin of ours, one of my uncle's nieces is a gynecologist, and she works here. We suffer from yeast infections a lot, they keep on coming back, we can't figure out how to get rid of them, and I'm sure she'll be more than happy, to help us with this, too. When would you like to go?"
"As soon as possible."
Ma.Xacinta thought about this. Then she remembered that Sissy had acted strangely while watching Alondra, and her insistence on that Lance should stay to watch it, too. Could it be that Sissy actually meant this to happen?she asked herself. She went to look for Sissy, who was lying down on one of the pillows on Ma.Xitlalli's bed.
"Sissy, did you have anything to do with what happened with Kitty and Lance?"she asked.
"Yes."Sissy replied.
"You should've told us, Sissy! We could've helped. Besides, if that was what you were planning all along, why did we have to get Maru over here? Couldn't we just have done this all the way from the beginning. It would've saved us a lot of time, and Maru a lot of stress, you know."
"Yes, and I wish I had thought of this from the beginning, but that's just the trouble with me. Sometimes I don't think the way I should, you know. Anyway, so she's already noticed. Good. Just why are people so slow? You know, I think it's because they spend so much of their time worrying about the good Lord knows what, instead of concentrating on what's important. Themselves. Their bodies."
"That's why I don't really think too much of the people around here,"began Ma.Xitlalli. "They don't pay attention to themselves, and they don't respect, either. They act like they are dirty, or something. Like, they'll say things because they think we wear out blouses too low."
"I know, what's wrong with it? And they don't respect, either, especially the boys. They shouldn't whistle, or anything. I mean, they're just parts of the body. They have their function, to feed the baby, and that's it. And it's not like all girls don't have them."
"Right now, what you have to do,"interrupted Sissy. "Is make that appointment, and confirm it. The sooner, the better"
"Yes."she ran toward the phone.
The next afternoon, Ma.Xiomara was reading Anna Karenina in the doctor's waiting room. She liked this book. The dectuplets loved books, and this was one of their favorites. She read it while she and Kitty waited for the results. The dectuplets had asked that the doctor give back the results today, and as they were relatives, and she knew them very well, they would receive them today. Finally, the receptionist asked them to go in.
"So, tell us, Fernanda, what is it, that's been giving Gatica here, so much trouble."asked Ma.Xiomara.
"Well, there's nothing wrong, but congratulations, you're going to have a baby."
Ma.Xiomara looked at Fernanda, then at Kitty, and did what in San Pedro everyone did whenever they met a lady who was expecting. She got out of her chair, and hugged, kissed and congratulated Kitty.
"Thank you, Fernanda."she said. "We have to go now, everyone will be so happy to hear the news. Come on, just wait until we tell my sisters."And she grabbed Kitty's writs and pulled her out.
"Now, don't worry. Everything will be just fine."Ma.Xosefina said, after, everyone, even Ma.Egunia, and Meche, had hugged, kissed, and congratulated Kitty, and they all sat with Kitty in Ma.Xaviera's room.
"You should be very happy."said Ma.Eugenia.
"Happy?! Happy?! What am I going to do? What will Mom and Dad say?!"
"Congratulations?"suggested Ma.Eugenia, confused. Really, how was it that Kitty was upset about having a baby. Back home, whenever anyone had a baby, they were always happy, even if it was a bastard, an illegitimate child, like her.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine."said Ma.Xamila. "You'll see. The real reason you're so distressed, Kitty is because you really don't know everything. When you do you will see that there's really nothing to worry about."
"What do you mean I don't know everything?"
"You see, if you're worried about money, or about things like that. Whose going to pay for the expenses, don't worry. You shouldn't be worrying about money, because, well, he may not know it, but the baby's father is rolling in money."
"You mean by working for your cousin?"
"That was just a stupid idea we came up with because we weren't smart enough to think of something better, and we didn't want anyone to think that Lance was a criminal. That would be just dreadful. We can't tell you right now, because it wouldn't be right to tell you first, but now that I think about it, we will tell you only a little bit. Not everything, just some of it."
"Yes, I think you must."agreed Ma.Eugenia.
"The truth is, you've obviously noticed that we have money, right?"
"Right."
"Well, you see, Lance is actually our brother, that is why we came herein the first place. Our mother asked us to look for him. It's a long story, and well, that's the part we won't tell you now."
"Wait a minute, Ma.Eugenia knows this?"
"Yes. Of course Maru knows. We know we can trust her, and we know that we had to tell her everything in order for her to help us."
"In what did she help you."
"That's all we will tell you right now. We must tell Lance first. He doesn't know, because, well, he doesn't remember. But you must come with us. You have to tell him, you see."
"That's right."Ma.Eugenia said. "You don't want your baby to grow up like me. I never knew my father, and there are people who treat me like garbage, and let's be honest, in a way I am garbage. I'm illegitimate."
"But the professor said he didn't know about you."
"Let's not discuss that right now."said Ma.Xosefina quickly, noticing the expression on Maru's face. "Right now, we have more important things to take care of."