Chapter 14

A New Year had arrived, but it brought with it sadness. Shortly after the holidays, Xochi contracted a deadly viral infection and passed away. El Doctor was left the modest home and the belongings of his supposed spouse. She left him a note that informed him to go see the woman Maria that sold tamales in the community. He had held onto the letter for a few weeks before doing so.

He knocked on the door, a young man answered, “El Doctor, come in.”

He entered the home and saw Maria, “El Doctor, come have a seat.”

His legs carried him to a chair, and slowly he lowered himself, “Um, my, wife, told me I should see you, do you know why she wanted me to see you?”

She instructed her son to take the other children out to play. Once they left, she looked into his eyes, “My husband did a bad thing to you. I mean, he was with some people that did a bad thing to you.”

He shook his head, “What do mean, where is your husband?’

“He’s dead.” She began to cry. She sniffled as tears streamed down her face. It was hard for her to admit what she was about to say.

He was confused, “I still don’t understand.”

“You were not Xochi’s husband.” She composed herself and told the story of how that lie came to be.

“In June my husband was hired to drive the van that would kidnap a doctor. He was to be paid five thousand American dollars. That’s a lot of money that could help us. It was supposed to be simple; no one would get hurt.”

The doctor sat and listened as the story unfolded, “That night, you didn’t make it to the airport, you were taken. I don’t know exactly what happened, but the van my husband drove ended up near the river where Xochi would do her rituals. She said she saw them kill the woman and the man and my husband, you were beaten and they tried to kill you, but Xochi killed the man and took your identification and put it on him and then drove the van to another part of town to make it look like a crash. And the bodies burned.”

He stood up, “Why would she make me think I was her husband?”

“At first, it didn’t start that way. We were going to help you get better and then help you get back to your life, but when you woke up and didn’t know your name, she took the chance. She was so lonely.”

“So who am I?”

“I don’t remember. She looked at the passport. I only remember that it was from the United States and your bag had a lot of things that said you were a doctor.”

He sighed and left.

When he returned home, he sat in the living area. The cool air blew across his skin. It made sense; he didn’t feel a connection with Xochi. He cared for her, but it wasn’t deep passionate love. The only thing he knew was that he was a United States citizen.

He fell asleep. He had a vision. In a bathroom, he spoke to the woman with honey-colored eyes. He stood close to her, his hand touched her breasts, and moments later, her leg was being held up by his arm as he moved inside of her and she said, “I love you.” His eyes popped open. His heart raced. This was not just some fantasy. This was a woman he loved. He cussed and grunted in frustration.

In Florida, the happy couple stood on the beach. Taylor wore a white, off-the-shoulder maternity gown with the front opening for her maternity shoot and Raul wore white linen pants and a white button-down shirt.

Sara was their photographer. She gave them several poses to do. Some together and some alone. At the end of the shoot, Raul excused himself to the restroom. Sara looked at some of the photos and commented, “He loves you.”

Taylor smiled, “I love him too.”

Sara’s phone rang. She answered in Spanish, “I know. I’ll send what I can in an hour.” It was her nephew in Mexico. He told her that they desperately needed money. It was hard to keep the bills paid and the kids fed since the father had died unexpectedly.

“Everything okay?” Taylor asked.

Sara nodded. She smiled, “What was your relationship like with the baby’s father if you don’t mind me asking?”

Taylor felt this warm tingly sensation all over, “It was special.” Her mind flooded with memories of Enrique. She had to keep herself from crying.

“One could only hope to find that kind of love once and you found it twice.”

She smiled and she thought, yeah, I am pretty blessed.

Raul returned, “Ready?” he asked.

“Yes. We are done,” Sara said with a smile.

He offered to help her with the equipment, but she replied, “Actually most of this belongs to Taylor.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just take it with us,” said Raul. He went to grab the stuff but Taylor stopped him.

“Hold on to it for now. Keep practicing. I’m going to be taking that break. I’ll forward any jobs I get to you if you’re up for the challenge.”

Sara smiled and hugged her, “Thank you.” They finish packing up and took the equipment to Sara’s car.

From a distance, Anna Marie stared out her car window as she sat in the parking lot. She had followed Sara since someone had given her information on her mysterious caller, she commented, “What game are you playing?”

After a full day, Taylor showered and later stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Her hair was done in big wavy curls for the shoot. She looked at herself and her growing belly, as she wore a tank top that barely covered her belly and a pair of short shorts.

Raul stepped out of the shower, dried off, and wrapped the towel around his waist. He smiled and walked behind her and held her belly as he had done earlier in the shoot. “You had fun today?” he asked as he kissed her neck.

“I did.”

He smelled her hair, “Um, you smell so good.”

She felt him growing under the bath towel. She smiled and looked at him through the mirror. He kissed her shoulder and moved her hair to kiss the other. Her nipples were erect and the print could be seen, through her shirt. He reached up and played with them. She reached back and made the towel drop. He looked at her reflection. He pulled down the shorts and touched her spot. She pressed into him reaching back and grabbing his thigh. He lifted the right leg and she reached for the counter as he penetrated, “Spread your lips, mami,” he directed as he stroked slowly.