Queen of the South - My Season 6: Full Circle

Chapter 4, Clarity

The doctor who released Teresa assured them both that no damage has been done and they could resume intimate relations not earlier than 14 days, basically after she felt ready, and all bleeding had stopped. She was to avoid lifting her children and taking baths. They were free to go.

When they walked out of the building, it was a sunny late afternoon, with no breeze, no excessive heat and birds chirping in the trees of the garden that sprawled before the entrance of the building. James had avoided the parking garage as there had been spots on the side streets. He turned towards Teresa and without removing his sunglasses said: "I hope we don't go back to hiding from one another".

She swallowed visibly and said: "I am sorry. Would you walk with me?", pointing with her chin to the garden.

He nodded and they walked side by side in silence until they reached the center fountain and several empty benches in its vicinity. She sat on one and he followed right beside her.

She took his hand in hers and slowly rubbed it between her open palms. "Can you forgive me?" her voice was almost a whisper.

He removed his sunglasses with his free hand and looked her straight in the eyes with warmth that made her heart skip a beat: " Look, love........I feel blessed to have you in my life, to love you the way I do, to have you love me back and give me a family.....my life means nothing without you and I will forgive you anything, before you have even done it.....I just need to know if I did this, if it was somehow my fault that you chose not to talk to me first".

She squeezed his hand between hers and blinked tears away, but one slid down her cheek. James wiped it with his thumb, whispering "Please don't...it's ok".

Him saying 'it's ok' in his deep comforting voice was the real blessing, Teresa thought. Then she took a breath and said: "I sometimes find it difficult to tell you things as you get so protective. But it was a mistake not to tell you how I felt about another child...........would you be willing to meet me half way?"

"I am already there, love.....I read enough about the placenta condition before I came to pick you up". James would research anything to death, so if he said he was ready, then he did the work himself and Teresa felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"You place your trust in the Chinese?", he said lightly.

"Yes", she said meekly. "But, James, it makes sense, how the tea works."

"You believe in magic now? Isn't it the man who determines the baby's gender?" he said, looking at her with suspicion.

"It's not magic, it's science. So, every woman's body is naturally either more acidic or more base or just neutral." Teresa said, looking at James very seriously as she needed him to believe "Male sperm is faster and in a base environment gets to the egg faster and one has a boy. An acidic environment kills male sperm though. Female sperm is slower, but an acidic environment does not kill it and if the male sperm is dead, the female sperm ends up reaching the egg and you have a girl." She took a deep breath, still looking at him seriously, trying to gauge his reaction. "So, the tea, if taken over some time, ensures the environment is more acidic ...and after two boys mine most likely is more base." She stopped and waited.

"Hmm....this actually sounds logical", James said slowly. Typical James, Teresa thought, once he got the logic of something, he was easy to work with, I should have told him this in the beginning!

"And there's no cream you can use for this?", he asked.

"Not that I know of." She said. "This is alternative medicine; the medical doctors tell you they cannot influence baby gender."