Chapter 5: New Life

Imelda felt like a fool.

No, I am a fool.

Ever since her husband had returned home and the family business had started to blossom, Imelda had been in such a blissful state of happiness that she had ignored all the warnings signs of the last few weeks. But now they came crashing back to her and she felt like she could slap herself with her own boot. Like the fact that she was more tired during the day and certain smells seemed to make her stomach roll uncomfortably. She was able to control that until this morning when she caught a whiff of the fresh mulch that was in Señor Fernández's buggy that sent her racing back into the kitchen and vomiting everything she had in her stomach.

Oh, and there was also the fact that she failed to notice that she had missed her last two periods.

Estupida! ESTUPIDA!

Now here she was, having spent most of her first sale as shoemaker on a visit to the doctor and a bag full of loose tea leaves, mint and ginger to combat the morning sickness. Pregnant. She was pregnant! And she had no one to blame but herself. The first week Héctor had been home and she was so close to his warmth and scent, Imelda had found herself to be… insatiable. They made love so many times during that week it was hard to exactly pinpoint when this baby had been conceived. Thankfully she had the good graces to make sure that Coco and her brothers were out of the house before she and Héctor did anything after that first embarrassing night.

Speaking of Héctor, she glanced over at her husband as they walked back home from the doctor. Well, she was walking. On the way there Héctor held her close to him, whispering soothing words to her and rubbing her arms. Since she wasn't exactly sure at the time that she was pregnant she didn't say anything to him, and she unfairly let him assume the worst. Now that it was certain, the fear and apprehension Héctor had then turned into unbridled rapture, and he had let out such a loud and sharp grito at the news that it had nearly given the poor doctor a heart attack. Now here he was, tapping out an exaggerated Jarabe Tapatío as he sang nonsense words and danced circles around Imelda.

"Basta, Héctor." She grumbled, but smiled all the same. "You're making me dizzy."

"Dance with me, Imelda! Dance with me!" Héctor laughed. "This is a celebration!"

"People are staring at us, idiota!"

"Let them stare! Let it be known! I'm going to be a Papá! AGAIN!" He let out another trilling grito as people around them started clapping and yelling out their congratulations. "Dance Imelda! Dance!"

"Unless you want a repeat of earlier on your feet, I would advise against that." Imelda said. She wasn't lying when she said his spinning was getting to her.

"Ugh!" Héctor winced and stopped his dancing, but his excitement was still not abated as he lightly hopped up and down next to Imelda as they made their way home, giggling like a child. "This is amazing. So amazing! I'm so happy, Imelda." He pulled her close to him and nuzzled the top of her head before giving it a kiss. "A new baby! I can't believe it!"

"Si, neither can I." Imelda sighed, and Héctor finally picked up on her mood.

"Imelda?" he stopped and turned her to look him in the eyes. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy about the baby?"

"Of course I am! I always wanted more children, but… You have to admit that this is a really bad time." Imelda implored, but Héctor shook his head confused. "The first day my shoe store opens and now I find out I'm pregnant. I'll get tired more easily, I can't lift heavy things, I'll feel sick all the time. All of that will really cut down on my productivity. And once the baby arrives all my time will be in taking care of it! How am I supposed to make shoes with a new baby?!"

"Imelda." Héctor said as he cupped his wife's cheek and looked at her with love. "You shouldn't worry about that! You are not alone, remember? You have me, and your brothers, and I'm sure Coco will help out in any way she can. This is what family does, mi amor."

Imelda sighed and melted into Héctor's embrace, reveling in his warmth and scent again. Dios, she loved this man's smell. She sighed again: It was letting her desires take control over her that got herself into this situation.

"What now?" Héctor asked.

"I was just thinking…" Imelda said. "Remember when I told you I was pregnant with Coco?"

"Ha! How could I forget? You came after me with your boot screaming that it was all my fault." Héctor smiled at the memory, though at the time he had been scared out of his wits at his then girlfriend.

"Well…" Imelda mumbled into his chest, her face burning. "I guess you can say that this time that it's my fault." Imelda glowered at the ground as she felt Héctor shake from suppressed giggles.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but if you're going to admit it." Héctor hummed against Imelda's head. "I guess this time isn't that much different from the last. First when we weren't married yet, this time when we have a new business. Just lousy timing all around."

"But you're right." Imelda concluded and looked up at Héctor. "We can do this. We did it before with Coco." The thought of Coco brought a sharp gasp from her. "Coco! She's going to be a big sister!"

"The best big sister!" Héctor agreed.

"I'm excited again!" Imelda shouted.

"Dance?"

"DANCE!"

With one hand holding the bag of tea leaves and another picking up her skirts, Imelda let Héctor hook his arm around her elbow as they skipped and tapped the rest of the way home.

Oscar, Felipe and Coco were there at the kitchen table when Héctor and Imelda burst in, winded from dancing the last few blocks, and Héctor belted out, "We're pregnant!"

"What do you mean we're?" Imelda laughed.

The twins jumped up with 'aaaws' and embraced the happy couple, giving Héctor hearty slaps on the back and giving their sister a kiss on the cheek each.

"Congratulations, you two!" Oscar said.

"Yes, and we're so honored to have been there at the conception." Felipe smirked.

Héctor and Imelda blushed furiously. "C'mon you guys. Are you ever going to forgive us for that?"

"Nunca." They both said.

Héctor pouted at them, before giving a sly smile. "Hey you never know, it might not have been that fateful night. It might have been the night after that. Or the night after that. Or the afternoon after that-"

"STOOOOP!" the twins covered their ears and squeezed their eyes shut, and even Imelda hid her red face behind her hands. Héctor was going to pay for that later, but for him it was worth it.

"Mamá's not sick?" Coco asked as she walked up to her parents. "What does pegunt mean?"

Héctor smiled and bent down to pick up his daughter. "Not pegunt. Pregnant." He said, drawing out the word. "And no mija, it doesn't mean Mamá's sick. It means she is going to have a baby."

Coco's eyes grew wide and she whispered with awe. "A baby? Can I see it?"

"No mija, not now. It's inside Mamá's stomach right now." He gestured to Imelda, who rubbed her stomach in demonstration.

Coco frowned in disbelief. "That's silly. Babies are big like dollies. Mamá doesn't look like she has a baby inside her."

"Well that's because the baby is this big right now." Héctor said as he pinched his thumb and finger an inch apart from each other. "But it's going to grow bigger and bigger and big- uh…" he trailed off as Imelda glared daggers at him. "Well, maybe not that big."

"How long will it take to grow?"

"Probably about seven more months. You'll have your fourth birthday before the baby comes." Imelda explained.

"That's too long!" Coco crossed her arm in displeasure. "Can't I see it now?"

"Sorry Coco." Héctor said. "These things take time. That's just the way life is. But I promise you this: it will all be worth it in the end and you'll have a new brother or sister." He glanced at Imelda, as if he was saying it to her as well. Imelda smiled back.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Coco asked.

"We won't know until it is born mija." Imelda said.

"I hope it's a girl. I play with Rosita a lot and she has a brother, and I don't like him at all!" Coco said in disgust.

Héctor looked up from the bed as Imelda walked into their bedroom, with a forlorn look on her face. "No new customers today."

Héctor smiled in sympathy. "I'm sorry, mi corazon. But like I told Coco earlier today: these things take time."

"Si." She muttered as she crawled in next him onto the bed. "This is infuriating. I haven't done anything today and I am exhausted." She moaned.

"You have been doing something." Héctor said as laid a hand over his wife's stomach. "You've been growing a new life inside of you. Isn't that amazing, Imelda?… Imelda?" He looked up and saw Imelda's face slack and a soft snore coming out of her mouth. "Wow…" He reached over and dimmed the gas lamp on the bedside table before snuggling close to his wife and returning his hand to her belly.

"Buenos noches, mis amores."