The Pregnancy Esperanza Announced Before She Knew
After sunset, Caridad and Esperanza sat beneath an old olive tree.
“Do you still believe in God?” Caridad finally asked.
“Yes.”
“After everything?”
“People used God’s name to frighten me. That doesn’t mean God asked them to.”
Esperanza watched Tomás chase fireflies.
“I used to think faith meant accepting whatever happened without questioning it. That was very convenient for people who wanted me silent.”
“And now?”
“Now I think faith without truth is only fear dressed beautifully.”
Then Esperanza smiled.
“There’s something I never told you.”
Caridad turned.
“The night I announced the third pregnancy, I wasn’t certain I was pregnant.”
Caridad stared.
“You said you recognized the symptoms.”
“I did.”
“But?”
“I had already taken a pregnancy test.”
“And?”
“Negative.”
“You lied?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed them to move.”
The final strategy had begun earlier than anyone realized.
After Miguel was born, Esperanza suspected she was being drugged.
She believed someone intended another pregnancy.
So seven weeks after the suspicious infirmary stay, before she had medical confirmation, she announced that she believed she was pregnant.
She wanted to see who reacted.
Paloma came immediately.
Beatriz became nervous.
Caridad found the tape.
The conspiracy started exposing itself.
“But you really were pregnant,” Caridad said.
“Yes.”
“The first test?”
“Too early.”
Caridad shook her head.
“You baited them.”
“I was terrified.”
“You still did it.”
“I needed somebody else to start asking questions.”
“Why me?”
Esperanza looked at her.
“Because I had already seen the photograph of my mother arriving at Santa Lucía with me.”
Caridad went still.
“You knew I had met Mariana?”
“Yes.”
Esperanza had found a copy hidden in one of Beatriz’s old records.
She saw young Caridad standing between Mariana and Mother Inés.
“I needed to know whether you would remember on your own.”
“You were testing me.”
“Yes.”
“Did I pass?”
Esperanza smiled.
“You followed the tape.”
