"We're here to be different; to show the world they don't have to fear us with loaded guns."
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Ximena Dominguez has lived one too many lives. The ending of the last wasn't one she liked to repeat. From a young age her mutant abi...
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A NASAL CRY WAS music to Ximena and Adora's ears as she held up her friend's newly born baby girl in her hands. She was wrinkled and bloody, swollen through and through, but Ximena had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. Her eyes teared up as she turned to Adora, placing the newborn on her awaiting chest with a watery smile.
"She's gorgeous, Dora. Muy Bonita," She whispered, feeling a tear slip down her face. Ximena wiped at her body with a soft towel, grinning when her friend started laughing with joy. Adora's gasps mixing with elated tears. The pure love in her eyes was unmistakable. "What are you going to name her?"
"Catalina. Catalina Torres." Adora looked both completely exhausted and exhilarated at the same instant. It was an ethereal moment Ximena couldn't describe. The simultaneous expression of starry-eyed wonder and pure adoration left Ximena speechless. "Mena, what if -- what if I can't do this? What if I can't protect her?"
She laid a gentle hand on Adora's arm, bending down to place a sweet kiss on her crown. "I have no doubt that you'll do everything you can to be there for her."
Adora nodded emotionally, lightly running her fingers over the crown of her daughter's head. "I'd jump in front of a bullet for her," She professed wholeheartedly.
"You'll give your best and that's more than enough... Well done mama," Ximena praised, sniffling briefly with a watery smile.
It was a little while later. When Ximena got Adora all cleaned up and taught her how to nurse that she finally got a chance to breathe. She wandered out to her back patio and leaned against the door frame. A drying towel rag between her wringing hands.
Ximena loved babies, children in general. She didn't grow up with any siblings, which was a shocker in the forties in a Mexican household. But her mother never hand anymore than her and because of this, Ximena sought out friendships and subcultures to build her outlook on society.
Her mom was more so like a best girl friend. She was authoritative, of course and she had a wicked right hook. However, the close bond with her mom made her desire that type of relationship in the future. The late night gossip sessions over carnitas in their shared full sized bed. Her mother slipping drinks under her watchful eye. Walking down the street from the babysitters to the bodega. Even sneaking her into dancing clubs when her mom was invited out with friends. Ximena was one of the Señoras.
The Illusionist couldn't help but want that for herself with her own little baby. A bond with a family forged by herself. She almost had it with Daniel, but fate had other plans. The dream was simply that – a fantasy.
