Chapter 12

Diego met his father in his study doing his paperwork.

"Diego, you're back!" Alejandro rose from his seat to greet him. "You're alive! I didn't know if I'd ever see you again. Are you well?"Alejandro hadn't tried to visit him in Santa Paula, knowing that he wasn't welcome.

"Yes, I'm home and I am healed." Both men faced each other, not knowing what to say. When the silence became too depressing, Alejandro cast down his look and broke the silence. "I don't know what to say, but I'm sorry, Diego. There is no excuse for what I did. I was so blind and I couldn't believe what you told me. In my pride and arrogance I nearly destroyed what was dearest to me - you, my only son. Can you ever forgive me, Diego?" Alejandro looked anxiously at his son.

Diego noticed that his father had aged in the weeks he hadn't seen him and that the guilt was written on his face.

"I forgive you, Father. I know that you didn't intend to shoot me. It never would have happened if I had told you the truth about Zorro. Forgive me for keeping that from you." Diego opened his arms and the men embraced each other. Moved, they released each other again.

"I'm happy to have you back home, Diego. I was afraid you'd never come back. Where is Victoria? I must apologize to her too."

"You can do that later. She is sleeping now. The travel has exhausted her."

"Sleeping? Is something wrong with her?" Alejandro asked, concerned.

"She is expecting a child and it's a difficult pregnancy. The doctor has ordered her to stay in bed for at least two weeks. That's why we came back, because she needs more rest than the tavern could provide her."

"I am happy to hear about the child and I wish that all goes well for her." Alejandro said sympathetically.

"I want that, too. Promise me that you won't hurt her again, Father. She's been through enough." Diego demanded gravely.

"You have my promise, Diego. I'd never do anything that would hurt her or the child. I have learned my lesson."

Diego nodded in acceptance. "If you break your word, intentionally or not, I will never forgive you, Father." The controlled way he said it scared Alejandro and he knew that Diego didn't make a threat – it was a promise.

"Why didn't you tell me, Diego? That you were Zorro?" Alejandro grasped for understanding. "Why could you tell Victoria and not me?"

"I never told Victoria either and for the same reasons; I wanted to protect you. If you didn't know my identity nobody had a reason to torture you for my name."

"But Victoria knows!" Alejandro contradicted him.

"Only because I had to tell her after the wedding. She thought I had betrayed her when I forced her to marry me and I couldn't have that stand between us. When I revealed my identity to her, she forgave me for the wedding." Diego smiled in remembrance.

"Was that the reason you wasted no time?" Alejandro smiled as he pointed in the direction of Diego's room.

"We have been waiting for years actually!" Diego explained. "Zorro never crossed the line of propriety. I can assure you that."

"I'm sorry, I misjudged you both, Diego."

Z Z Z

Victoria didn't join them for dinner, sleeping through it. During dinner the three de la Vegas talked about the past two months and what had happened in the pueblo. The alcalde had still tried to capture Zorro by inventing some ridiculous taxes to lure him in the open, but after Zorro hadn't sprung his trap, and the caballeros and citizens had protested, he had rescinded the taxes. Alejandro had spread the rumor that Zorro had left the area because he had lost Victoria to Diego. The new owner of the tavern wasn't much liked in the pueblo, because the prices were too high and the food wasn't good. Most of the guests had expressed their wish that Victoria were still in charge of it.

After exchanging more news, Diego wanted to go to bed, but his father stopped him. "Diego, there is something more I have to tell you." He opened a drawer at his desk and took out a paper. "I want you to take that, Diego."

Curiously, Diego unfolded the paper and began to read. Then he looked up, surprised. "What is this, Father? It says something about a transfer of ownership?"

"Diego, when I realized that it was you I had shot and what I had done to you and Victoria, I didn't know what to do. I thought you'd never forgive me and I looked for a way to show you how much you mean to me. So I went to our lawyer and had him transfer the hacienda to you. I wanted you to have it now and not to wait until I am dead."

"You're giving up the hacienda? Giving it to me?" Diego was surprised. It was something he had never expected. "I can't accept that, Father. It's you who has been working on it all his life."

"It's already done, Diego. The de la Vega hacienda is yours now and I know you will take good care of it. And I have already made other plans." Alejandro winked in Felipe's direction.

"What other plans?" Diego asked looking from Alejandro to Felipe.

"I never expected you or Victoria to forgive me easily or to trust me again. I think you'd want to live on your own for a while after the distress I caused you. I think it's best if we don't see each other for some time until you and Victoria have truly forgiven me in your heart."

"What are you planning, Father?" Diego asked again, suspiciously.

"Felipe has expressed his wish to see more of the world than only California. I know you thought of sending him to the University in Madrid, but it will be a problem because of his inability to speak. In any case it is worth a try. I have decided to join him on his trip to Spain and help him along. A personal conversation with the teachers there will achieve more than a letter. It will also be a chance for me to meet old friends I haven't seen since my time in the army."

"I'm speechless, Father. I don't know what to say. Do you really want that?"

"Yes, Diego. We were only waiting for you to return home and want to leave with the next ship to Spain. Once we have left, you can start renovating your old nursery that is still next to my room and move into that part of the hacienda. When we return from our journey, I will move into the wing that my father occupied until his death. Do you agree, Diego? Will you take over the hacienda and let me take care of Felipe?"

"I will, Father. You can imagine that I'm not as hopeless in managing the hacienda as I made you believe."

"I never expected anything else from a man who was so successful to fool everyone for years. And now you can go to bed and tell your wife the news once she wakes up again."

"Thank you, Father." They embraced and Alejandro patted him on the shoulder.