She had finally found love after her difficult divorce. However, she faced a major challenge. Her 2-year-old son, Julian, was deaf.
She suspected that if she told that to her new boyfriend, Mauricio, he might feel too overwhelmed with the responsibility. Maybe he might even abandon her.
Eventually, she would tell him everything, but not now. She would work on her relationship with him first, and when she was sure it was solid, she would share that information.
In the meantime, she would ask her parents, Eunice and Tony, to take care of their little boy. “Mom, Dad!” she called as she entered the living room.
Magdalena’s parents were glad they were visiting them after so long. “Welcome home, my beautiful boy!” the grandmother said, taking little Julian’s cheeks in her hands.
“I’ve met someone and I want to see where the relationship goes before I introduce Julian to him.”
“I can find some logic in your decision, but how long do you think it will be before you can introduce him to your son?” his father asked, concerned.
“Julian is hard of hearing and I don’t want to rush it, Dad. What if Mauricio becomes frightened by the responsibility of caring for a deaf child?”
“Magdalena, if he loves you, he will love your son too,” her mother tried to reason, but it was clear that her daughter had made up her mind.
Her parents thought she was making a mistake, but they were happy to spend time with their grandson. They didn’t see him much, and this was their chance to be the doting grandparents they had always wanted to be.
Days turned into months and months into years. Three years after dropping her son off at her parents’ house, Magdalena still hadn’t come to pick him up. They did not understand why it had taken her so long.
The situation was made worse by the fact that Magdalena had cut all lines of communication with her parents. She hadn’t seen or spoken to her son in all this time!
And then, one day, as he was picking up the morning paper from the mailbox, Magdalena’s father pulled out what appeared to be a wedding invitation addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Flores. It was him and his lovely wife.
He ran inside, called his wife and they opened it together.
“The Santamaría family requests the pleasure of your presence to celebrate the marriage of Magdalena Flores and Mauricio Santamaría, on August 20, at 2:30 p. m. …”.
“Magdalena is getting married?”. Eunice and Tony stared at each other, well aware of what the other was thinking.
“Do you think she told him about Julian?”. Tony was the first to express his concern.
“I doubt it. Her boyfriend would have asked to meet him,” she replied, shaking her head in disappointment.
Tony lowered his head and could no longer read the invitation. He folded it, intending to put it back in the envelope when a small note fell out. It was addressed to them and was a request from Magdalena not to bring little Julian to the ceremony.
“Mauricio is quite wealthy and I will soon pay for his surgery. He doesn’t have to know,” the note read.
At that moment, Eunice and Tony decided that they would no longer be part of their daughter’s devious plan. They would take Julian to the ceremony, no matter what.
Two months later, Magdalena stood in front of her future husband, looking beautiful in her wedding dress. She was about to say her vows when she saw out of the corner of her eye a little boy running down the aisle.
Quickly, she turned and was surprised to see her son Julian running toward her with his arms raised, ready for a hug. He had gone three long years without seeing his mother, and he had missed her incredibly.
Magdalena looked at her fiancé, who was very confused. She also saw her parents approaching her.
“Daughter, we can’t let you keep hiding your son from the man you plan to spend your life with,” Tony declared, lifting Julian up.
“Mauricio, this is Magdalena’s son. She kept him away from you because she was worried you would leave her once you found out she had a deaf son.”
“This is unbelievable, Magdalena! How could you believe such a thing? You didn’t think I would have loved and accepted him unconditionally?”
“I’m sorry, Mauricio. I didn’t mean to burden you with raising a deaf child,” Magdalena exclaimed.
“So you lied to me for three years? That’s too much! This wedding is off!” he said and stormed out of the place.
Magdalena followed him out of the church and begged him to forgive her. She would do anything to make it up to him, she said. She explained to him that she understood his reaction and that she was sorry she had kept her son a secret.
Mauricio was angry. Although he loved Magdalena deeply and in his heart forgave her, he had lost trust and did not know if she was the person he wanted to share his life with.
He needed time to reflect before he knew what the best decision was. However, he promised Magdalena’s parents to assume the costs of Julian’s surgery so that he could regain his hearing.
