I swallowed. She wasn’t going to make this easy on me, was she? ‘Well, I think I owe you an apology, even if you don’t, and an explanation if you’ll hear me out?’
She looked up from her magazine and shrugged her shoulders. ‘Whatever?’ she said but she kept her eyes fixed on me.
‘You know I was having those tests at the doctors?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Well, yesterday, Dr. Kelly told me that I’ll find it very difficult to have children naturally.’
‘Oh,’ she said, her face softening slightly.
I took a deep breath. ‘So, I kind of got a bit upset, and then I started overthinking things and questioning what kind of woman I was if I couldn’t have a baby –’
‘A woman is not defined by her ability to have a baby, Alana!’ Lucia snapped.
‘I know that,’ I smiled at her. ‘And I’m glad that you do too. But, like I said, I kind of got lost in my own head. Sometimes, I don’t think straight when I’m upset,’ I said with a shrug. ‘I also overheard part of a private conversation that I shouldn’t have. What I heard was out of context, but I didn’t know that at the time, and so that suddenly compounded all of those thoughts I’ve ever had about not being good enough. About not being worthy.’
‘I get that,’ Lucia said sadly.
‘It’s crap, isn’t it? Us women are more powerful and stronger than half the world gives us credit for, and the sad thing is we struggle to remember it ourselves sometimes.’
Lucia nodded as she stared at me.
‘Don’t you ever forget that, my little warrior!’ I said to her as I reached out and touched her hand. ‘You are one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever met.’
She squeezed back. ‘So are you.’
I smiled at her. ‘You really think so?’
‘You’ve got the King of L.A whipped, haven’t you?’ she giggled.
I laughed too. ‘Don’t let him hear you say that. He’d probably toss you out on the street.’
She nodded as she started laughing harder. ‘Can you imagine his face if I told him he was whipped?’
‘Yes, I can,’ I nodded, imagining that very thing.
When she had stopped laughing, I spoke again. ‘I really am sorry, Lucia. I shouldn’t have left without talking to you first and telling you what was going on. And, I know it might take time to win back your trust, but I promise you I will never do it again. You can count on me every single second of every single day. You got that?’
‘Yeah,’ she smiled.
‘Good,’ I let out a long breath, thankful that we were on good terms again. If only Alejandro would be so easy to win over. Then without warning, she launched herself forward and wrapped me in a massive hug. ‘You’re going to be a great mom one day,’ she said softly.
I hugged her back. ‘Thank you, sweetheart,’ I said as I choked back a sob.