Having come from a large family in Chipaque, Aya dreamed of having a big family of her own. She was the tenth of twelve children. Her mother was the sixth of thirteen children. The Lombroso home was chaotic at times, but she loved it. The family grew and foraged medicinal plants and used these to help people with a whole myriad of ailments. Aya looked forward to having lots of her own children and continuing her family's legacy.
Aya waited, but the blood didn't come. When she was fifteen, while Aya's older sisters were complaining of the blood on their bed and nightdresses, Aya was at the market buying peroxide for the blood. Her own bed and clothes were as clean as they had always been. She was getting worried that something was wrong, because her sisters, her mother, and her grandmother had started bleeding as early as ten or eleven. Sympathetic to her daughter's concern, Señora Felicidad Lombroso brought Aya to the hospital. After several weeks and a string of specialists, it was found that Aya could not menstruate because she didn't have a uterus.
When she was seventeen, she came under the impression that her infertility was a call to offer herself to God. She entered the convent but left one year later when the monotony of being surrounded only by other women made Aya become very bored.
Inspired by her family's work, Aya pursued becoming a doctor instead and moved to Bogotá. A visit to a psychiatric facility inspired her to pursue psychiatric health care next. In her studies, she most frequently crossed paths with Julieta Madrigal, who was dead set on becoming a surgeon. Their mutual fascination of human anatomy was the start of a lifelong friendship.
Julieta was intelligent and was frequently the top of her class. She was also compassionate and sensitive. When Aya once asked Julieta why she was in the medical field, Julieta said, "I like taking away people's pain and making them smile if I couldn't.
"And what about you? What led you to the psychiatric field?"
"In Chipaque, my family healed people by using plants to make medicines. Some of these medicines healed ailments of the mind. These people were plagued with nightmares, melancholy, and too much rage. I once came across a painting depicting San Antonio de Egipto being attacked by grotesque demons. I imagined that mental patients are suffering like he did. I'd like to be able to lift that kind of suffering from them."
Upon learning that Aya's family lived outside of Bogotá, Julieta brought Aya to Casita Café often. The Madrigals were a lovely family. They were passionate and warm. It was on the Madrigal triplets' twentieth birthday that Aya met Bruno.
Until that first evening, Aya hadn't entertained any advances from any men. But when Bruno and she launched into a discussion about radionovelas and what mental disorders certain characters might have, she was smitten. Aya couldn't say no when Bruno asked her out on a date. She couldn't say no when they went on three more dates.
Bruno prided himself on his artistic streak. "I am no Beatrice Potter, but I know my way around paper and paints." Bruno showed off his art. He told stories both real and fantastic. He talked about entertaining his family with plays performed by rats. Aya made him promise to show her these plays.
Bruno was ecstatic that Aya did not squirm away at the mention of rats. Aya laughed and explained, "They're not my favorite animals, but because my family's work involved food and medicine, I have gotten used to them and thought of them like friends."
Aya told him about her family. She sang to him the old Ladino songs passed down from generations. Bruno was enamored by the often-tragic subject matter of these songs. Bruno wasn't as certain about his heritage as Aya was about her own, but they suspected that Pepa had inherited her light skin and red hair, and her and Bruno's green eyes, from a Sephardic ancestor.
Aya explained that, while her family acknowledged and honored their Jewish heritage, they have a deep love for their Catholic faith. With fellow conversos San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa de Ávila to guide them, they never felt lost. Aya disclosed that she dreamed of visiting the Old World. She wished to see the old juderías of Iberia. She dreamed of going to Europe and visiting the relics of San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa de Ávila.
Bruno gushed about Bernini's magnificent sculpture of Santa Teresa that he had seen in books. Bruno's love for the arts had also led him to read about Beato Angelico, who had painted elaborate altarpieces, and Beata Hildegard de Bingen, who had printed volumes of illuminated manuscripts depicting her mystical visions. "I read about her while I was reading about my namesake Bruno de Colonia. They weren't exactly contemporaries, but they lived only about a generation apart and had great influence in the Rhineland."
They laughed about how they had both discerned donning the habit, only to decide that they liked living among other people better. "My closest friend Cesar Flores was a sacristan and fit into church life perfectly," said Bruno. "For a long time, I wondered if I belonged in the same path that he saw himself in. But I eventually decided that I couldn't imagine living separately from my family."
It was easy for Aya to love Bruno's family, too. She was already friends with Julieta. Pepa's lively energy was magnetic. While Julieta was calm and reserved, Pepa was chatty and affectionate. Pepa stood out because of her light skin and red hair, but she was a Madrigal through and through. She was tall and had curly hair like Pedro; her smile and eye color matched Bruno's; she had the same face shape as Alma and Julieta. The triplets liked to sing and dance. Bruno had briefly contemplated working in theater, but Pepa ended up the one best suited for performing. Inversely, Bruno was contented with training his shockingly intelligent rats to perform in colorful, tiny backdrops. Bruno was talented in changing his voice to suit different characters, even singing in different voices.
When Aya praised Bruno's rat play and his tiny actors, Bruno gave Aya a tight hug. "I didn't think you would like any of it. Thank you for accepting this side of me. Most people think I'm strange to prefer rats over cats or dogs."
"I like that you're a little strange, Bruno Madrigal. You make your own magic. It makes you special."
One evening, Bruno leaned in for a kiss. Aya's heart leapt to her mouth.
"I'm sorry," she croaked. "I can't give you anything more than what we already have. I haven't even told Julieta because I am ashamed."
Bruno held her hand and waited for her to continue.
"I don't know if we could continue in this relationship if you knew. And I don't want to do a disservice to you by keeping this a secret from you. So, you have to know. I can never give you a family. I— I've never bled. I never will. I don't even have a womb for a child to grow in."
Aya expected Bruno to leave her forever and let their short courtship dissolve into a pleasant memory. But he gently pulled her into an embrace. Aya wept in his arms, and he wept with her. "Then, you don't have to bear that burden alone," he said, "because I don't see my future without you in it. I want you. I love you." Their first kiss was mournful, but under the grief was joy in having found a man that accepted her and loved her regardless.
Bruno proposed about a year after that. They needed to tell his family, so they wouldn't expect anything more. Alma, Pepa, and Julieta were overjoyed to have her in the family and shared in her grief. Pedro was noticeably more reluctant to welcome her into the family. Aya did not witness the argument herself, but according to Bruno, Pedro was unhappy that there would be no children to carry the name Madrigal. Bruno tried to be understanding, but his insistence that his love for Aya was greater than his own desire for children fell on deaf ears.
Newly ordained Padre Flores officiated the wedding another year later. Padre Flores had initially advised against marrying because the union would produce no children. After a few discussions over café y obleas, Padre Flores relented. The Lombroso family and the Madrigals' extended family attended the wedding. Aya's side of the family was joyful and called the marriage a miracle. Perhaps touched by the warmth of the Lombrosos or he'd had time to reflect, Pedro Madrigal kissed Aya's cheeks and congratulated her and Bruno. He embraced his son tightly, but their relationship remained a little colder afterwards.
A miracle. Aya grew up reading about the recurring narratives of miraculous pregnancies in the Bible. Sara having Isaac in her old age—Raquel having José and Benjamín after years of apparent barrenness—Ana offering Samuel to God as a priest—Juan Bautista being promised to his parents Zacarías and Isabel past their childbearing age—and, of course, the birth of Jesús by the virgin María. Aya had to force herself to accept that such a miracle was impossible for her. Surrounded by Bruno's love, Aya told herself that his companionship would be enough. For a long time, it was. For twenty years, his love and his sisters' friendship were enough. Doting on their sobrinos was enough.
Aya and Bruno delighted in looking after Julieta's and Pepa's children when a little help was needed.
Isabela was beautiful, intelligent, and hardworking like her mother. She also had a green thumb with a special preference to cacti, succulents, and carnivorous plants. Aya happily showed the girl the ways that plants and some fungi could heal. Aya and Bruno helped Isabela build several terrariums as she grew up. She even had a mushroom growing station.
Luisa loved Bruno's stories and rat plays. Their shared interest in mythologies was endearing to watch. Whenever Luisa and her sisters slept over, she eagerly asked her tío for bedtime stories—the more fantastical, the better. To the girl's delight, her tíos were widely read; their material ranged from mythology to the lives of the saints. The story of the Twelve Labors of Heracles was close to her heart as was Atalanta and the Golden Apples.
Camilo added his own twists to the stories, to Bruno's delight. Camilo built puppets for the days when Bruno's rats were stubborn and didn't feel like performing. Some days, Camilo even took over the role as storyteller. Bruno was proud of his sobrino.
Dolores loved the musicals the most. She played the guitar while Mirabel played the accordion to accompany the plays. As a child, she seemed to sing more than she spoke. During sleepovers at Bruno and Aya's house, Dolores made up singing games. These singing games continued at birthday parties and holidays held at Casita Café.
Mirabel brightened any room she was in. When she started wearing glasses, she chose frames with similar green color as Bruno's favorite ruanas. When Mirabel was a toddler, Julieta requested Bruno and Aya to pick up Mirabel from a friend's house and then have dinner at Julieta and Agustín's home. As Bruno lifted Mirabel and kissed her little cheeks, Mirabel's friend asked, "Are you her papá?" Aya noticed the look of hurt on Bruno's face, so she asked the child, "What makes you say that, chiquito?"
The little boy pointed at Mirabel's curls. "Mira and he have the same hair."
Aya laughed off her own heartache. "Mirabel is not our hija. But we love her like she is."
Every visit had an end. Aya and Bruno always had to say goodbye and watch their precious sobrinos throw themselves into their own parents' arms. Their guest room would be stripped of toys. The house would be quiet again. To drown out the abrupt silence, they would put on a record and sing along while cleaning up the house.
But just when they were already used to this, a miracle shook up their life—amidst a storm no less. As their three little surprises filled their arms, Aya and Bruno couldn't wait to bring them home.
But they needed to wait. The children needed to stay in the orphanage for a time before their adoption could be approved. Just as well, their home was woefully unprepared for children, and they needed new furniture and other supplies. After saying goodbye to the children, Bruno asked Aya to wait in the car while he went into the nearest phone booth. He dialed the number to Casita Café.
"¿Aló? This is Señora Alma of Casita Café."
"¿Aló? Mamá, I have wonderful news! I couldn't wait to tell you and Papá!" Bruno covered his face with one hand and wept. His heart felt just about ready to burst.
"Brunito, are you crying? Why are you crying? What's happened?"
"A miracle, Mamá! The rain last night brought a miracle!" he sobbed. It was too much. Bruno had long accepted that their house would have just Aya and himself. He accepted it; Aya accepted it. But with loving Aya every night while knowing nothing would come of it, the ache in his heart was always there. He felt it most starkly whenever his sobrinos went home after a visit. But now, if the adoption goes through, he did not have to say goodbye again for a long time.