Chapter 16

"I'm still processing everything, Mom, because this wasn’t something that was in my plans at the moment," Rafaela said.

"If it wasn’t in your plans, how did you let this happen?" her mother asked.

"I protected myself, Mom, I swear to you that I protected myself, but still, it happened," Rafaela responded.

"And the father of this child, what did he say about it?"

"I'm not going to tell him."

"What do you mean?"

"We’ll talk about that later too, Mom."

"Then I’m left with nothing to talk to you about since all my questions somehow involve this man," her mother replied, frustration evident in her tone.

"I know it might be strange, but we’ll talk about it another day," Rafaela assured her.

"So, what do you want to talk about? You’re not thinking about having this child there without any family nearby, are you?"

"That’s what I want to talk about, Mom. I’ve been thinking about this." Rafaela took a deep breath before continuing. "I’ve tried to visualize how my life will be after this baby is