Somos Familia •|•|•

Chapter 5

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?!"