“Vira.” I looked up to see Marisol standing over me as I held my baby in my arms. “She is beautiful.”

Then, Marisol did something that made my heart still in my chest.

“You have the baby,” she said simply to Varon. “You can take her and leave.”

I looked at my mother in disbelief. I was so shocked that, for a moment, I couldn’t speak. I was so sure that she would rescind her words. It never came though. And I ...