Alejandro saw it.
“You know him.”
Esther recovered immediately.
“I know many people.”
Alejandro held up the photograph.
“This man.”
She studied it as though she had never seen the image before.
“I cannot tell from that.”
“You looked at him before you looked at me.”
Gabriel frowned.
“What is happening?”
Alejandro handed him the photograph.
“A man has been secretly visiting my wife at two in the morning.”
Gabriel studied the picture.
His expression changed too.
Smaller than Esther’s reaction.
But unmistakable.
Alejandro saw that as well.
He looked between his parents.
“What the hell is going on?”
Valeria stood.
Too quickly.
She winced.
One hand went immediately to her abdomen.
Alejandro noticed.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Esther stepped toward her.
“You should sit down.”
Alejandro turned toward his mother.
“Why?”
Esther stopped.
“Because she is pregnant.”
“That has never stopped Valeria from standing before.”
His mother’s expression hardened.
“You’re emotional.”
“I just discovered a strange man has been visiting my pregnant wife in the middle of the night.”
Alejandro pointed toward the photograph.
“I think emotional is appropriate.”
Gabriel looked at Esther.
Alejandro noticed that too.
It was not a normal glance between husband and wife.
It was communication.
A warning.
Esther said:
“Perhaps this is not the appropriate hour to discuss private medical matters.”
The room became silent.
Alejandro stared at her.
“Medical?”
Esther’s face changed.
She knew immediately.
A single word.
Too much.
Alejandro turned toward Valeria.
“You told me nothing about a doctor.”
Valeria’s breathing became uneven.
“Alejandro.”
He looked at the photograph again.
The leather bag.
The older man’s posture.
Something he had interpreted as secrecy suddenly rearranged itself.
He turned back to his wife.
“He’s a doctor?”
Valeria began crying.
Alejandro stepped toward her.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Stop saying nothing.”
“I’m okay.”
“Then why is a doctor entering my house at two in the morning?”
Esther interrupted.
“Alejandro, enough.”
He turned.
“Do not tell me enough.”
“I am your mother.”
“And she is my wife.”
His voice sharpened.
“And she is carrying my child.”
Esther went silent.
Alejandro looked at Valeria.
“What happened to you?”
Valeria pulled the robe tighter around herself.
That gesture was small.
But Alejandro saw fear in it.
He moved closer.
“Valeria.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“No what?”
“Please don’t.”
Her voice broke.
Alejandro looked down.
The edge of her robe had shifted.
Beneath the fabric, just above the blanket, he saw a tiny strip of white medical tape.
His expression changed.
“What is that?”
Valeria covered it instantly.
Alejandro froze.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then show me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Tears ran down her face.
“Because once you see it, everything changes.”
Alejandro stared at her.
He thought of the photograph.
The late-night visits.
The secrecy.