Birth Of My Son

Marína is her name

No, it was not after the character in Élite. I first came across the name Marína when my Abuelo informed me that was his mother's name. It was beautiful and elegant. I knew I wanted my daughter to be named that.

Of course, she would have to be Latina. I was only 1/4 Mexican, so I knew early on that if I wanted to to a daughter Marína, I'd have to be with a Hispanic man.

I didn't search out, though. I found Daniel, and naming a girl Marína was the least of my concerns. My concerns became if he'd stacked the fridge with chocolate and if he was making tamales. I couldn't care less for the name of our daughter.

But here we were, 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant with a female.

Ánder wasn't even 2, but Marína was somewhat planned. Discussions and a night of lust led to her.

Ánder, at just 17 months old. It was October 24th now, meaning she would be a precious Halloween baby.

I was still in Zacatecas, while Pollito was in Chihuahua for soccer. He had just a few days longer, but as the days passed, I missed him more.

Ánder, now that he was walking, was already helping his dad stock the freezer, and he'd try to play with the lambs. He was already talking just barely, but not all that much, though he could understand what we were saying. He didn't have any interest in anything except "No," "Mama!" "Da-dee" "Papa", and "Yo quiero la leche por favor". He was definitely my son in that aspect, and definitely, his father when he said "Yo Quiero comer enchiladas chile con carne por favor."

Ánder sat next to me, singing the alphabet slightly out-of-order while I was folding laundry. I was just in a bra and underwear, already too lazy to change clothes, and it was roughly 12 in the afternoon.

I stood up, and suddenly, my water completely broke onto the ground. Ánder gave a little gasp.

"Potty!" he said.

"Umm... yeah... potty," I tried to say. "Can you go to Abuela and tell her that Mommy needs her?"

He nodded and waddled away, finding Carmen somewhere along with the ranch. I rubbed my belly, cautious of how things would go.

Ánder's labor took forever, from what I remember. It felt like the end of time in the cold hospital room. I decided I wanted to have the baby at home instead of the hospital, just because I didn't like the experience with the doctor.

"Keeley!" Carmen yelled from our living room.

"Aquí!" I found myself yelling, about to sit down.

"Ánder tried to say you needed me. Poor boy can barely speak," Abuela said as she walked in, holding her great-grandson on her hip.

"My water broke."

"¿Qué?"

"The water broke. The baby is coming soon."

Sometimes I had to remember that Carmen never had kids. She married Abuelo when my mom was young, and so I always grew up around her, but she was technically my step-grandma.

"Marína decided to be born today."

"Oh, I see," she said, setting Ánder down on my bed, saying something to him in Spanish.

"I thought Daniel would be here. She's nice and healthy, but not due until a few weeks."

"They're unpredictable. You may have this baby in ten minutes, it's not impossible. More than likely, tomorrow. I read up on it."

I nodded in agreement. "Wait, why did you read up?"

"Daniel told us you wanted to have the baby at home. I studied it so I could help you."