Valerie

Valerie
Chapter 105 Valeria

We are still at the clinic. Michael insisted that I stay for two days, and I am already anxious to start my new life as a mom.

My doctor says I am doing very well, and the pediatrician checks on my baby too. We are both fine.

Dubois is handling the discharge paperwork. I am up and taking small steps in the room, accompanied by Mom, Sofí, and Cristina. They are all admiring my baby and taking photos with Sofí's phone. I can't help it; I love it. I am in proud mom mode and very happy. I thank God that everything went well.

A little while later, the proud dad arrives to pick us up. We are ready. Mom and Cristina have packed everything. We will go in one car with the baby, and Mom, Sofí, and Cristina will go in another. Of course, there is a security detail from Dubois and other vehicles. It looks like a caravan; he is more paranoid about security now.

The baby is in a specially prepared carrier, and his proud dad carries him. The clinic staff wheels me to the entrance in a wheelchair.

I told Mom and Cristina that I wanted to look pretty for my discharge from the clinic and for Dubois, so they helped me get ready. It is the first day of my new life, and I want lots of photos. That’s why Sofí is in charge.

During the ride, we can’t stop admiring our baby. Dubois holds him in his arms, feeling that’s where he is safest. I lean on Dubois's shoulder, feeling very happy.

Dubois is visibly excited. Since our baby was born, he hasn’t stopped smiling and being overly cautious. I admit I haven’t stopped smiling either. I feel fulfilled and a bit fearful.

Fulfilled because everything went well, and I gave a son to the man I love. Fearful because he is such a delicate being.

I received a call from Ebony. She excitedly tells me to take away the grandmother of her future children, but she says it’s okay; she will share. She also mentions that Margaret is super excited about my baby and considers herself his godmother.

Ebony adds that she made some clothes for my baby and a diaper bag in her unique design, and they are on their way. She tells me to teach him to call her Aunt Ebony.

I also received a call from Manuel Escobar, the Spaniard as Dubois calls him. I consider him a great friend, and he is happy for me. He says he sent a gift with Margaret and wishes me much happiness.

Another special call for me was from Mery. I know she cares about me and congratulated me. My dear neighbor, who helped me so many times with Mom, visited me at the clinic and greeted Mom.

...

When we arrive at the entrance of the house where we will live with our baby, I see blue and white balloon decorations from the main gate. Some are shaped like cute animals, and when we reach the house, there is an arch of balloons and ribbons.

I imagine it’s Margaret's idea. When we arrive, all our family and friends are there to welcome us. Even Ricardo is there, along with Hana and Eduardo, Sebastián's parents. It is a day of celebration for us, and our friends are happy.
Our group of friends is downstairs celebrating, however, I have to go up to my room. Dubois doesn't want me to get stressed even though I tell him I'm fine. He insists on the excuse of feeding the baby and getting rest.

It won't be easy dealing with him if he goes into protective mode with my baby and me. According to him, we are his precious treasures, as he says.

Additionally, he hired two shifts of nurses for me and our baby, one for the day and one for the night. This will be for a few days. He doesn't want to leave anything to chance. He takes care of us as if we were porcelain figurines. I'm on a strict diet, partly because I'm breastfeeding my baby and also because I want to get my figure back. The nurses will help with that, meaning the baby's feeding times and mine.

So I go up to my room while our friends celebrate, eat, and have fun, and he accompanies me. Mom and Cristina stay downstairs attending to our friends. In reality, my breasts are very swollen; I think my son is hungry.

Upon reaching the room and with the help of the nurses, I breastfeed the baby. I can finally feed him.

It's an indescribable feeling to nurse my child, to look at his face while I feed him, his perfect little mouth sucking.

The nurses tell me I should alternate breasts, and that's what I do. Dubois sits next to me, and we gaze at our wonderful son. When I'm done, Dubois puts him on his shoulder and burps him, as the nurses say.

We are learning. We're two adult parents, but I feel like a teenager. The situation is strange, and no book prepares you for this. I think it's mostly instinct, but when in doubt, I like having my mom, Cristina, and the nurses around.

Our baby sleeps a lot, except when he needs to eat, but he falls asleep quickly these past two days.

Mom Rosalía says not to get too confident; every baby brings their own surprises, and their sleep routine changes. Although she assures that both Sofía and I were very sleepy babies.

Our friends had their own celebration with Margaret's help and then said their goodbyes. They all offer their support and then leave.

Later, I come to the conclusion that we won't have any privacy, and it doesn't bother me.

In our room on that arrival day and after our friends left, Mom, Sofí, Cristina, and Margaret stayed. The apartment-style room was full of women, and it was our own little party. They all wanted to hold the baby, bathe him, put him to sleep, give me advice, and share their stories of when they had their children. What they couldn't do was feed him, and that's my special moment with my baby. I think they will spoil him too much.

The only time we could be alone in our room was at night. Although I appreciate everyone's help, I also want to hold and pamper my baby.

I'm clear that I could never accept my son sleeping in another room. I can't conceive of it; I wouldn't be at peace with that. So we have him in the small bassinet placed right next to the bed, and for anything, I can call the night shift nurse who is at our disposal.

"Doll," Dubois says to me while our child sleeps after eating.

"Yes, my love?"

"I have a gift for you."

"Oh? What is it?"
"Show me your charm bracelet," I said. "I always wear it. So far, it only has one charm, the one that represents the fountain. You gave me that bracelet as a gift when we got engaged. I took it off when I went to the clinic the day our son was born, and when I got home, I put it back on."

Dubois took my wrist.

"My love, I am so happy with this special gift you have given me, our son Alejandro. I am going to give you two more charms that represent special parts of our lives."

"Two more?" I asked.

"Give me the bracelet," he said, taking out the first charm, which was a miniature representation of the facade of Sweet Desserts where we had our first date. The second charm was the letter A.

"This one will remind us of our first date, and this other one represents the day you made me a father, our first child. You know, I’ve been a fool," he said.

"Why?"

"I had a plan to establish my business first and then coldly search for a wife to erase my loneliness. Now I understand what Sebastián was telling me. I was an idiot. How could I have planned that? Thank God I looked around, and there you were, the woman I always wanted, and now our son."

"You are wonderful, Dubois, and I love you."

"You are the wonderful one, and we need to seriously think about getting married. How long are we going to stay like this?"

"We have to wait until I get my figure back. I refuse to get married looking all swollen like this."

"Valeria! I'll only ask you once more, we need to get married. Our son was born out of wedlock, and if you don’t decide soon, we’ll get married right here with you in a robe."

"Let's just wait a little longer to get married. I assure you it's because I want to look beautiful."

"You always look beautiful, and right now, you look spectacular. How much longer will we wait?"

"Until I can wear a decent dress."

"Remember that, I won’t wait long. If you don’t decide, I’ll bring someone to marry us."

"Calm down, Dubois."

"No, seriously, Valeria, we have delayed our marriage too much, and it’s necessary. We must give our son legal status, and I’m anxious about that."

"My love, being married won't make a difference. I love you, you love me, and we have a baby. But I assure you that I do want to get married, and I will get back in shape quickly for that."

"I hope so. There are legal formalities that need to be done."

"I understand, my love, and it won’t take much longer, I assure you."

"Now that we are alone, can you tell me what you talked about with Daniela on the phone?"

"Not much. She is desperate, and I understood that she might even consider harming herself. Her marriage to that man seems imminent."

"Well, I have already put your idea into action. I talked to my most trusted lawyers, and through a third party, they will get in touch with her."

"Really? Have you done that, my love?"

"Yes, I did it at your request. Don’t think I agree with it, especially after that call. I just want her to stop bothering me and let me enjoy my life."

"The thing is, she sees you as her only option. She has no one else to turn to."

"But by calling you, she crossed the line, Valeria. I’m doing this for you. If it were up to me, I owe her absolutely nothing and have no reason to help her."

"You are a good man, and you couldn’t bear to see her suffer."
I want you to understand, love, that my lawyers don't agree with it either. Daniela doesn't have a disease; her problem is the fear of being without money, of working as she should.

"Understand, love, she isn't capable of doing it, that's why she's afraid. She’s never had to do it, and on top of that, she believes she's in a superior status."

"Many people work, they get on with their lives. She’s not the first one to run out of money. Why should I care what she decides to do with her life?"

"Maybe that's the old Dubois, the new and improved Dubois can't help but give a desperate woman a chance. We have so much, my love, we should give back some of this happiness by trying to make her happy. Do you understand?"

"I understand you perfectly, darling, and I love you."

"I love you too."

We lay down together to be ready for the baby's feeding time. The general advice is to sleep when the baby sleeps.

…

The sunrise at our house is beautiful. We both have been attentive to the baby and honestly, we’ve slept very little as he eats every two hours. Dubois got up several times to bring him to me for nursing and burped him, then placed him back in his bassinet, always checking on him since we left a little lamp on nearby.

Early in the morning, mom knocked on our door and I told her to come in. "Hi, honey. Haven't you slept at all?"

"A little, mom."

"I'm here to take him out for some sun."

"Okay, mom. I want to go out for a bit too. Call the nurse to help me, please."

"Alright, honey. Where's Dubois?"

"In the bathroom, mom. He's getting ready to go to the office for a moment."

"Isn't he going to rest?"

"He needs to take care of something first."

"Okay, I'll call the nurse to help you and I'll wait for you in the garden with my little baby."

"Thanks, mom."

…

After I changed, I went down with mom and the baby, and the nurse was there with us.

I feel more flirtatious. I know I'm not a very beautiful woman, and I've never worried about my appearance, but now I want to be as presentable as possible, not just for myself, but for Dubois.

I love him and I know he is very attractive and women chase him, but he is mine and our son's, and I want to be very presentable.

We spent some time there, and Cristina brought us each a juice and some food for me. She told me Dubois was having breakfast, so I went to the main kitchen where he was being attended by Cristina. I greeted her and saw him sitting at the main table and sat next to him.

"Are you okay, my love?" he asked me.

"Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to be with you."

"And Alejandro?"

"He's with mom and the nurse in the garden. Will you be back early? You need to sleep."

"Yes, I have a meeting with the lawyers. They will inform me what happened with Daniela's proposal, I'll sort out a few things, and then I'll come back to you."

"Well, I just want you to try to sleep a bit. During the day, I have a lot of help."

"We'll see, my love. Remember, I'm Dubois the father now," he smiled at me.

"Let me know how everything goes."

"When I get back, I'll tell you everything. You just worry about Alejandro. Come, let's go say goodbye to him." He got up from the table and said goodbye to Cristina, the same way he did with my mom, giving her a kiss on the head.

"See you later, Cristina."

"See you later, Michael. Take care."