Page 191 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“A lovely boy,” I answer proudly.

She gives me a very affectionate hug.

“Congratulations, Judith.”

When she separates from me, she collides with Björn.

“Ah...James Bond is here,” she says, recognizing him.

Björn doesn’t smile. He looks her up and down before responding.

“Man, the bossy Superwoman. What are you doing here?”

Eric and I look at each other, and, before we can say anything, she takes care of herself.

“So, how long did it take you to get here in your Aston Martin yesterday? Eight little minutes?”

As a rule, Björn is a born ladies’ man, but not now. Instead of smiling and entering the game, he just wrinkles his brow.

“A little longer than that, smarty-pants.”

Whoa, what is going on with Björn?

Does this woman baffle him because she doesn’t fall at his feet?

Amazed, I watch as he stops acting like Don Juan.

“I’ll be in the cafeteria with Manuel and Sonia,” he tells Eric. “I’ll come back later, when there are fewer people up here.”

“I’ll go with you,” replies Eric.

When the two men leave, my sister looks at me, I look at Mel, and she shrugs, amused.

“Funny guy, Mr. Handsome, right?”

I don’t answer and just laugh. It’s clear my new friend and Björn are not going to get along.

When it’s just the three of us, we talk about children, pregnancies, and deliveries. Suddenly, I realize I’ve joined the moms’ club, and I talk about my delivery as something unique and amazing. Raquel and Mel do the same. I had never understood that commitment to talk about your delivery, but now that I’ve had my son, I like to talk about it and remember it.

Samantha wakes up, and, when Mel pulls her out of the stroller, my sister and I fall in love with her. She is a blonde doll with blue eyes like her mother. The girl smiles and makes all kinds of faces at us.

After an hour or so, Mel and the girl leave, but the room is full of people again.

Sonia and my father, little Eric’s proud grandparents, want to be with him. Raquel goes down for a bite to eat with Lucía and the children and to hang with Björn and Eric. Shortly after, Marta, Arthur, and some friends from Guantanamera come by. When Sonia sees Máximo, they greet each other, and I can’t help but smile. But I bust out laughing when Eric comes and sees the Argentine talking to his mother. He doesn’t say a word and just pretends he doesn’t know anything.

That night, after everyone leaves and the room is calm, I watch as Eric changes our son’s diaper.

“Are you happy?”

He looks at me and puts our sleepy little boy in the crib.

“Like never before in my life, sweetheart.”

The next day we are discharged from the hospital, and the whole family, plus one more, goes home.

32

Eric Junior is almost two months old.

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