And that is enough.
A year passes in the kind of quiet happiness you once thought only existed in movies.
You move through life with Mateo and the girls like you have always belonged there, like the missing piece finally clicked into place.
Mornings smell like coffee and chaos. The girls argue over who gets the bathroom first. Mateo burns toast with impressive consistency.
You braid hair and pack lunches and sign permission slips, and somewhere along the way you stop feeling like a guest in their lives.
You just become part of it.
The girls start asking questions that feel like tests, but gentler.
Renata asks if you will come to parent-teacher night.
Valentina wants to know if you can help with her science project.
Lucía, always the boldest, asks one night before bed if you are going to stay forever.
You tell her the truth as simply as you can.
“I want to,” you say. “If that is okay with you.”
She nods, satisfied, and rolls over to sleep.
Mateo catches your eye from the doorway, and the look he gives you is so full of hope and fear and gratitude that you have to look away before you cry.
Things are good. Steady. Real.
But you do not expect what comes next.
It is a Saturday in December, and Paola sends you a text that is unusually cryptic.
“Meet me at Café Jacaranda. Important. Do not ask questions.”
You assume it is a surprise party or some elaborate prank, because that is how Paola operates.
So you dress casually, grab your coat, and head to the café where everything started.
The place is decorated with holiday lights now. Cinnamon and pine fill the air. The windows glow warmly against the evening cold.
You step inside, scanning the room for Paola, but you do not see her.
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