For a few seconds after my mother said she could not congratulate me for “defying God’s will,” no one moved.

Messages from Abel. I think he lied to me.”

Abuela’s face hardened. “You think?”

My mother flinched. “He did.”

Silence.

Then she looked at me. “Mariana, I am not asking to touch you. I am not asking to see the baby when she is born. I know I lost that. I just need to say one thing before I leave.”

Andrés had come to stand beside me now.

My mother saw him continue reading …