When Héctor fainted to the ground, Imelda kneeled down, and waved her fan frantically over the tall musician's face. "Wake up, Héctor, wake up!" But no matter how hard she swished her fan, he wasn't waking up. Pepita (who had jumped out of her arms when Héctor first found them), leaned close to the man's face. She licked his cheek, thinking it would wake him up but even that wasn't enough to stir him.
Imelda was beginning to fear that Héctor wouldn't wake up. "Help!" she cried. Thankfully, her parents and brothers came rushing by her side.
"Mija, did you find him?" Martha asked, as she and others reached her daughter.
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" A cantankerous male voice shouted.
Imelda turned her head and noticed a short man and a plump woman toward them. That must be Héctor's uncle and aunt?
"Oh what did you do?" Chicharron grumbled, looking between his fallen nephew and the woman.
"Nada!" Imelda said, cradling Héctor's head, as to protect him. "He fainted!"
"Oh nothing to worry!" Oscar piped up.
"Yes, where is your well?" Felipe asked, Juanita and Chicharrón.
The hosts pointed to the well that was to their left of them. The twins wasted no time getting a bucket of water from the well. When they were done, they rushed back and dumped all the water onto Héctor.
"GAH!" the man yelled, quickly sitting up. "Why am I wet?"
"Would someone please tell me WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Chicharron spoke calmly at the first part of his question, and then yelled at the last part of it.
"We will," Martha said. " But first, may we please all go inside?"
"This is a serious matter!" Francisco added, abruptly.
"Por supuesto," Juanita nodded.
The two families went inside the house to discuss matters privately. Juanita had a feeling that this was a serious issue, considering how quiet her guests were. She did a visual sweep to make sure no one was listening or looking before shutting the door. She had failed to notice Pepita who had tried to make a run for the door but ended up crashing into it.
They all went into the living room which contained a lamp, a long carpet, and two couches each opposite from each other. Imelda was already sitting next to Héctor on one couch from the left, comforting him. On her other side, we're her brothers who had been sitting down, feeling tense and tired from the trip. The adults sat on the second couch, across from the children and the couple.
Juanita asked her guests if they would like something to drink, which they politely declined.
"Would someone please tell me what is going on here?" Chicharron asked, feeling a bit impatient. "I was in the middle of finishing my chores and I like to get them down before sunset!"
"Forgive us Señor..." Francisco spoke.
"Chicharron!"
"Señor Chicharron," Francisco nodded. "We don't mean to intrude but this is a very serious matter."
"That is all right," Juanita said, kindly. "Now Tell us what brought you here."
"It is a very long story," Imelda said, glancing at Héctor. "I am not sure where to start." He held her hand gave it a gentle squeeze. His gesture warmed Imelda's heart and put her nerves at ease.
"Start all the way from the beginning, of course!" Chicharrón prompted, a bit impatiently.
"We got time," Juanita said politely, after subtly nudging her husband in the arm to be nice.
"I'll start," Héctor offered. He had wanted to tell his family about what happened but never had the guts to confess. Seeing that Imelda was just as afraid as he was, he felt that he should talk so she'd be spared.
"Are you sure?" Imelda whispered to him.
"Yes."
"Okay, but once you get to the part where you left for home, I am going to fill in the rest."
So the couple began a long story about how their unexpected child was conceived. They started the tale at when Héctor came to town for the talent show. Next, they continued on how they met and spend time together when Héctor was not rehearsing.
Juanita and Chicharrón had found it odd how Ernesto rarely spend any time with his wife or rarely hosted his guest. Francisco and Martha shook their heads in dismay, knowing why.
When Héctor got to the part where he and Imelda had a very romantic night, Tío Chicharron stood up abruptly, and yanked his nephew by the red necktie.
"idiota!" He snapped, shaking his fist as if he was ready to beat the young man up. "Didn't Juanita and I raise you right?" The old man ranted on how he taught Héctor to love and respect women. "This is a disgrace! A scandal! This is low! Really low!"
"Mi amor, calm down!" Juanita pleaded. "Think about your blood pressure!"
The old man ignored his wife, and co to her to scold his nephew. "Boy, of all the stupid things you had ever done, this one takes the cake!What possess you to commit this stupidity? Were you drunk that day or did Ernesto dare you to seduce this poor woman?"
Imelda, who had been in a state of shock over the old man's behavior, finally came to her lover's defense. "Héctor didn't seduce me! It was I, who seduced him!" Her statement caused many reactions among the the two families. Juanita gasped. Chicharrón looked dumbfounded. Martha looked as if she were about to faint. Francisco cringed. Her parents never knew that part of the story. Oscar and Felipe looked a bit embarrassed and sick. They knew that part but it was still embarrassing for them to hear it. "I am the one at fault here."
"Well, he's still getting punished!" Chicharron responded, still angry. He turned to the twins. "You two, fetch me a stick!"
"Okay, how long do you want?" Felipe asked.
"What?" The old man asked in a deadpanned voice.
"10 inches or 12 inches?" Felipe clarified.
"I think he wants a stick longer than that, Felipe," Oscar whispered to his twin. "He doesn't want a twig."
"Okay but how thick do you think it should be?"
"I don't know, but it can't be so thick or else it would look like a log-"
"Oh for the love of Pete!" The old farmer snapped. "I don't care how long it has to be! Just go and get any stick!" He pointed to the back door for them.
"Okay Señor!"
"Right away Señor!"
The twins dashed out of the living room and through the back door, looking for any kind of stick.
"Forgive my sons," Francisco sighed, irritably , holding the bridge of his nose. "They are idiots."
"Humph, not as much of an idiot as my nephew!" Chicharrón puffed, glaring daggers at his nervous nephew. "How far is she in her pregnancy?"
Before Héctor could answer that he didn't know, Imelda jumped in by saying, "Three months."
Juanita felt sympathy and compassion for Imelda. "Oh you poor girl!"
"It's not so bad, Juanita," the young woman said, smiling a bit.
"You and your family must have went through a lot!"
"You have no idea," Francisco grumbled.
"Well, don't you worry, we will take care of her and the baby!" Juanita spoke. "Your daughter is in good hands for I had helped woman give birth before."
"Gracias Juanita," said Martha and Imelda. They felt relieved that they found someone who could help them out. Imelda had been afraid that Héctor and it his family would turn her away because of her condition. She felt blessed.
"We found a stick!" the twins announced. They rushed back inside. One of them was holding what looked like a long thin branch that had fallen off from a tree.
"Boys, that is a branch, not a stick!" Francisco chided them.
"It was the only stick-"
"That we could find!"
"Never mind that," Chicharrón said, taking the branch. "It's long enough to spank this troublemaker! Come on, Héctor!" The old man tightened his grip on his nephew's neck tie and walked him to his bedroom.
"Will Hector be all right?" Imelda asked, eyeing at her lover that's about to be spanked by a short angry man. When the door closed, the whipping and Héctor's yelping made her cringe.
"Oh, he'll be fine!" said Juanita.
"But he is being hurt!" The young woman cried. She winced when she heard Héctor yelling really loud. His uncle must have really hit him really hard. "I should be the one hit with the stick!"
"Oh, I know it looks shocking but being hit with a stick is the worse thing that could happen to Héctor. He is usually a good kid. Now let us talk about the baby."
Five minutes later, Chicharron came back with Hector who was rubbing his bottom.
"I hope you learned your lesson, sobrino!" Chicharron grumbled.
"Héctor, are you okay?" Imelda asked Héctor, who had trouble sitting down on the couch.
"Oh, I think he hit me real hard!" Hector winced, rubbing his bottom.
"You made your bed, now you are going to sleep on it!" He threw the branch (which had been broken in half while whipping), out the window. "We better get you two married. Can't have the baby be born out of wedlock."
"Why don't we focus on the baby first and then on the wedding?" Francisco quickly suggested.
"Yes, we can't have her baby bump be visible during the ceremony, don't you agree?" Martha added.
"But-"Chicharron protested but was elbowed by Juanita to be quiet.
"Fine," the old farmer grumbled, crossing his arms. "As long as they get married after the baby, we would be fine, and no one would definitely know your daughter's secret."
"Gracias!" Imelda's parents said, full of relief.
"Whatever."
Once the conversation was over, Juanita began showing the guests to their two guest bedrooms. Imelda and Martha in one room, Francisco and Twins in the other room. Juanita told Martha and Francisco that they and their children could stay here as long as they needed to. The Morales Family had never been so grateful. As Imelda gathered her luggage into the bedroom, she couldn't help but worry about Héctor. He seemed to be bothered about something.
Back in the living room, Héctor was still sitting down (as much as he could with a sore bottom) on the couch, with his head down.
"Not happy about this situation, huh?" his uncle asked, noticing his frown.
"No," Héctor sighed. "I am ready to marry Imelda. I don't understand why she and her parents want to wait."
"Relax, you'll still get the bride," Chicharron said, rolling his eyes. "And you heard what the family said. They don't want her baby bump to be visible or else word will get out. Just keep your mouth shut about her and don't let her out of the house until the baby is born. Comprende?"
"Sí Tío," Héctor sighed.