My mother continued speaking with tears in her eyes.
—The doctors called us that same night.
I frowned.
—How could they call you if you weren’t there?
My father answered for the first time.
—Rosa warned us.
I opened my eyes in surprise.
-Pink?
—She never stopped worrying about you. Although she respected your decision to leave, she called us when the labor started because she thought we should know.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
I always thought Rosa had kept the secret.
My mother continued talking.
—When we arrived at the hospital you had already given birth.
I felt a lump in my throat.
—So you were there?
He nodded slowly.
-Yeah.
—And why did I never see them?
My father closed his eyes.
—Because you had already been moved to another room.
The room fell completely silent.
My mother took a breath before continuing.
—The doctors told us you had two babies.
My breathing began to quicken.
Two babies…
Those words echoed over and over in my head.
I vaguely remembered a doctor telling me about complications.
After that, they only told me that one of the babies had not survived.
For twenty years I lived convinced of that version.
“They told us that one of the girls was very ill,” my mother explained. “She needed urgent surgery and treatment that you couldn’t afford at that time.”
I watched her without understanding.
—What happened next?
My father took several seconds to respond.
—They asked us to make an immediate decision.
I felt something inside me begin to break.
—What decision?
My mother burst into tears.
—Accept temporary guardianship of the baby so that she could receive treatment.
My mind stopped understanding what was happening.
-Not…
I whispered almost voicelessly.
—That can’t be true…
My father nodded slowly.
—We thought that, when it was all over, we could bring them together again.
Tears began to fall down my face.
—Where is that girl?
No one answered.
Silence filled the room again.
Then I looked at Sofia again.
She remained completely motionless.
It was at that moment that I saw the old silver pendant he was wearing around his neck.
I recognized him immediately.
It was a small heart engraved with a tiny star.
That pendant…
It was exactly the same as the one Rosa had given me when Valentina was born.
