The Wailing Woman

71. El Hijo Regresa a Casa

Translation: The Son Returns Home

He was pleased to be in the water. He could barely feel the pain. Many prayed and wished for this day, Nicolás Del Luna was finally going to die. He had been one of the many but he had hoped his daughter would have never known of his death, much less witnessed it. Yet, Nicolás couldn't help but marvel at his daughter one last time. She held him with all her might. Despite her cold bitten injured hands and the lightning that struck her shoulder, she miraculously held him.

And he could feel the love that came with it. He wished he could have felt it sooner.

Nora's tears fell upon his face like soft snowflakes. She had his eyes, but he knew his daughter had inherited her mother's sadness. An incurable curse. Her brown eyes were trapped by ancient grief and hatred. Half of hers. Half her mothers. And the rest that came before them. He still remembered the day Caitlin told him what their daughter would become—what she would suffer.

But he remembered the day Nora was born, she wept as soon as she came out of her mother's womb. "Es una llorona. Nunca vas a dormir." his younger sister, jokingly said.

(She is a crybaby. You're never going to sleep.)

He lay next to Caitlin as she placed their daughter in his arms. He wondered how such a tiny being could make so much noise.

"Do you think she'll ever be happy?" he asked his beautiful wife.

Caitlin placed a soft hand on his cheek. "She is going to be okay. She will never be alone. She has you, she has me, and the entire Del Luna family including your aunt Elvira. She'll never be without love." she quietly said as she traced her daughter's brow. "Her tears will quickly disappear as if they were never there." He kissed his wife's palm.

As Caitlin slept, he swore to his daughter under the moonlight. "Por todas las veces que vayas a llorar yo voy a estar a tu lado para hacerte sonreír." he said softly, "Llorar, llorar, tu papi está aquí." She never cried once in his arms, but it was now him who did.

(For all the times you are going to cry, I'm going to be by your side to make you smile. Go ahead, cry. Your daddy is here.)

His vision hazed.

"Apá! Apá!" Nora gripped him tighter. "Stay awake! Dilara! Dilara!" her voice sounded thin and frail as she swallowed her awaited wail.

He placed his hand over hers, loosely. "I thought I would never hear you call me Apá." It's not like he did anything deserving of such a title.

She looked down at him, her brown eyes rimmed red and her chin trembling. "Como no te voy llamar por tu nombre propio." His chest tightened. "Te dije que eres mi héroe y papá. No te vayas."

He wished he was a better father. He wished he was a better husband. He wished he was a better brother. He wished he was a better man. But he was Nicolás Del Luna, and the world had denied his wishes.

A soft luring voice invaded his mind, and his heart recognized it before his ears identified her.

The taste of metallic filled his mouth. "Te amo, pequeña. But you have to leave," he begged. "Leave. Survive." Find happiness. Find love. Don't look back. Did she hear him? Cry, but smile again. Do not give them your heart. Don't waste time on hate. You will miss it all. He hoped she heard it all.

Caitlin's voice overwhelmed all his senses. "Your mother calls my name." he croaked. "I've kept her waiting for too long. I must go to her." Nicolás tried to take his last breath, he felt a sharp tug as he regained his senses, but alas his heart pumped once more easing out of the warm and cold.

The world went dark, but he could hear them more vividly. He hurried. He would find them. He would go home.