La Mujer de Lalo (Lalo's Woman)

La Pistola

The next morning, Ana woke up to a half empty bed. She went on about her daily chores, which weren't much considering the fact that they had people to help. She made some pancakes and ate them with blueberry jam.

She decided to pay Andrea a visit, which was long overdue. She walked outside and one the guys halted her. A new car was brought out of the garage. The driver handed the key over to Ana. She hesitated at first. But took it and drove to meet her friend.

The two friends hugged each other. They both cried as they went inside the house. Sitting on the couch, they talked about everything that had happened since they last met. Andrea gleamed about her honeymoon and how sweet Tuco had been. It made Ana wonder if they were talking about the same Tuco who wanted to kill them all.

Ana too shared her recent journey and a hinted a little about the naughty things she did. They giggled. Andy held Ana's hand and pulled her face to turn towards her.

"How are things between you and Lalo ever since the...?"

"It's ok. I can't lie, it's been difficult. But I think we have crossed the stormy waters." She added with a smile.

She didn't want to tell anything more about the bad situation Ana's actions had pushed Lalo into.

"Will you guys try again? More seriously this time?" Andrea interrogated her friend.

"Mmm... after sometime perhaps. Once everything is settled."

"I can't wait till we set up our little ones on play dates!!" Andrea screeched in excitement.

"Hopefully soon enough." Ana added on.

They had their lunch which Tuco's abuelita had prepared. She too comforted Ana and shared her grief in loosing her child.

"Eat well, child. You need a lot of strength to get back to your old self. Back in my days, they used to say that a woman's entire body becomes half weak after the birth of her first child and slowly degrades with every other child. A full term or pre term doesn't matter. A loss is a loss. You need to start thinking about planning your next child." Abuelita stated.

Again, what's up with these people talking about her and Lalo planning their next child. It was their private decision. She didn't like it when Andrea mentioned it and didn't like it now when abuelita had talked about it. But she didn't show it outside. She held it all within the tiny heart she had. It had already been overflowing with lots of such things. What's one more to it?

Andrea was due in another 2 months. Ana had always wanted to throw her a proper baby shower. Since she didn't get to host any Bachelorette party, she wanted this to be a good one. But now the timing was the worst. But she couldn't postpone it further.

"Andy, I was thinking about holding your baby show..." Ana hadn't even completed her sentence when Andrea started screaming in joy.

It made Ana laugh so much. A genuine laugh. Something she missed out for quite sometime now. They discussed the details and fixed a date. Two weeks from today. Ana let Andrea get some rest and kissed her goodbye. She kissed her tummy and bid goodbye to the little baby inside her friend.

Ana returned home, to find Lalo in kitchen. Making coffee maybe. She was so excited about the baby shower, she ran to kitchen and told him the news. Lalo just smiled and nodded. He took his coffee mug and left the kitchen.

Did he not realize what he was doing to her? She wanted to go to someone and cry, but who was there to comfort her? She locked herself in her room till dinner time.

There was a knock on the door and Ana opened it half expecting Lalo to show up. It was one of the maids, who wanted Ana to join for dinner. Ana slammed the door on her face and locked it again.