HERNAN AND GABRIELA BOOK 2

CHAPTER 95

At Horacio and Gina's house,

Gina is in her room, with her son Hannibal by her side. She cannot control herself. The tears are just flowing freely. How could this happen? She cannot imagine how Martin must feel at that moment. She remembers the flashbacks of some of the times she had with Emma. She remembers the day when somebody made a recording of her trashing Antonio.

At the end of that day, Emma had almost talked about the tape in front of Antonio, before they left in his car. She also remembered how Emma used to tease her about Antonio before she started dating him. Emma was also there for her when she had to marry Horacio and gave her moral support to continue enduring that farce of a marriage to Horacio. Hannibal fussed, so she wiped her tears and picked him up. She kisses him on his forehead and he smiles. Seeing her son's smile warms her heart.

Back at the morgue,

Clara, Ramon, Anna Patricia, Luisa, Armando, Aurelio, and Aranza had gone there. Martin had laid his head on his mother's shoulder and she had an arm around him like she did when he was a child. Hector and Antonio were still there. Just then, Antonio's phone rings. He frowns; when he sees that it is Isabella. He, however, excuses himself to go and answer the call. He politely asks her what she wants. She asks him why he wasn't back home yet. He reminds her of what happened to Emma. Isabella says that while that is sad, he has already helped that family enough.

She adds that Martin's family had already come and he should be back with her and their son. Antonio tells her that she should at least pretend she has a heart. Isabella says that she knows that he is only doing all of that for Gina. Antonio says that she is heartless and says that it has been a long day and he will deal with her drama later. He then hangs up. Isabella tells herself that it doesn't matter what Antonio thinks or says because he will be hers forever and that no one else will be able to threaten that. She adds that if they try, no matter who they are, they will have the same fate as Emma. A postmortem was set for Monday.

The next day on Friday,

At Montes De Alba Inc.

Antonio goes to one of the empty conference rooms. He opens it and sees Gina. He locks the door behind him and moves towards her. He says that he came after seeing her message. Gina momentarily remains quiet, and the tears start to fall. He moves near her and lets her lay her head on his shoulder, and then puts one arm around her.

Meanwhile, Martin is at his grandparents' house. He is beyond crushed. The world he was going to build with Emma was destroyed. He wasn't going to ever see her again. His mother and grandmother were to be there with him the whole day. Anna Patricia looks at her son; it breaks her to see her little boy that way. Her son is hurting and, she doesn't know how to help him.

Back at Montes De Alba Inc.,

Gina pulls away from Antonio and apologizes for making his shirt wet. He gently strokes her face with one of his fingers and says that's not important. He adds that a tragedy has happened and that it is only normal that she should be emotional. Gina increases the distance between them and says that she wanted to thank him for all the help he has been during this trying time. Antonio says that she doesn't have to thank him. He adds that Martin is also like family to him and that he is happy to help.

On Monday, the postmortem is carried out and, the results are out the next day on Tuesday. Martin is there with his mother and grandmother in a private office when the pathologist comes in to give them the results. When he enters and sits down, Martin asks him what happened. Anna Patricia puts an arm around her son. The pathologist nods and begins. He says that he will give them and her family each a copy of the report, but he is here to give them a summary of the report. He adds that she suffered in her final moments, and died a very painful death.

He adds that she was shot and then the body was partly eaten by an animal, probably a wild dog. Martin covers his eyes and cries. His mother comforts him. The pathologist adds that they also found something else. Clara asks the pathologist what it was. He says that the lady was in the early stages of her pregnancy. On hearing that, Martin looks up. He cannot believe that not only had he lost the woman he loved, but he has lost his child as well.

Sometime later,

In the waiting area, Adrianna has just arrived and greets everyone else. After a little while, Martin comes out with his grandmother and his mother. He hugs Gina and cries saying that she was pregnant and somebody killed her. Gina cries as well.

Over the next few days, funeral plans are made, and one cold dark Friday, two weeks, and some days later, Emma is buried. Horacio and Alejandro insisted on coming because they didn't want Gina and Adrianna to be where Antonio and Hector were without them, given the emotional nature of the funeral.

Several months later,

Luisa and Armando had moved into her parents-in-law's house, temporarily during the last month of her pregnancy, so that when the time came for her to have her baby, it would be easier with more people around. One Friday, during dinner, she began experiencing the first signs of labor pains. Everyone sprang into action, the food forgotten.

Elsewhere at Aurelio and Aranza's house,

Aurelio comes back into the sitting room. He finds her smiling as she casually scrolls her phone. When she hears him come back, she looks up at him. Aurelio asks her what she is up to. Aranza says that she isn't up to anything. Aurelio gives her an I don't believe you look. He says he knows her too well, and she looks restless like she either has done something or is about to do something. Aranza rolls her eyes and says that he is being so dramatic. She says that she is just excited for his parents because they had always wanted to have another child.

Aurelio says that he too is happy for them. He says that he regrets being angry before he understood how hard they struggled to even have him. He then looks at her and asks her what she is up to with his mother. Aranza looks at him innocently and says that she has no idea, what he means. Aurelio says it is something that has just come to him now, that she was the one who named Adrianna and Gina's children, and his mother, probably talked to her as well.

Aranza doesn't look at him, and Aurelio knows that his mother asked Aranza for help in choosing a name for his little sister. Aurelio asks Aranza what name his mother and her chose for his little sister. Aranza glares at him and says that she promised his mother she would keep it a secret until the baby was born. Aurelio looks at her amazed and asks her why people older than her trust her when it comes to naming their children. Aranza smiles and says that it's a gift.

Elsewhere, sometime later, Armando, Luisa, Anna Patricia, Clara, and Ramon have arrived at the hospital and Luisa is wheeled into the labor ward. They then start calling the children. After Antonio is called, he starts preparing to go to the hospital. Isabella watches him get his phone and wallet to leave and tells him that he has no business being there. She adds that he doesn't have to be so blatant in his attempts to look for each and every excuse to be with Gina.

Antonio looks at Isabella like she is crazy. He reminds her that Armando is his uncle, and he wants to be there for his cousin's birth. Isabella says that it is so obvious he is using the birth to see Gina. Antonio looks at her irritated. He says that she might have a block of ice in place of her heart, and therefore wouldn't understand, but he loves his family and isn't going to miss seeing his new cousin. He then leaves her alone and goes off. Isabella is left fuming.

At Claudia and Juan Patricio's house,

Claudia can tell that the news of the impending birth of his latest grandchild has excited him. She tells him that he has no presence being there to witness the birth of that child. Juan Patricio looks at her like she is crazy. He says that whether she or anyone else likes it or not, the child is his grandchild and since she will be the first girl born into his family in a long time that is a reason to celebrate. Claudia says that his only legitimate grandchild is Antonio, and he should leave those bastards alone. Juan Patricio says that he has no time for her drama and hysterics and walks off.

Back at the hospital,

Everyone has arrived. Horacio insisted on coming because he knew Antonio would be there and didn't want Gina there around him alone. Alejandro also insisted on coming, not wanting Adrianna to be alone around Hector. This made for a very awkward and tense environment.