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He was standing in the kitchen with his coffee, acting as if nothing in the world could disturb his perfect little calm.
I had not slept.
The appointment with Dr. Salinas was supposed to be simple.
Quick.
But Diego had insisted on coming, and I had not managed to stop him in time.
“Mr. Diego,” Dr. Salinas said, her voice steady, “before you say anything else, you need to look at what is on this screen.”
The kind of laugh a man gives when he is completely sure he is right.
Dr. Salinas turned the monitor toward him without changing her expression.
The room fell silent.
Twelve.
Diego blinked.
For the first time in weeks, his certainty began to crack.
The doctor pointed at the screen. “These are the measurements. They are not based on opinion.”
“But he had surgery two months ago,” she said.
“Exactly,” Dr. Salinas replied. “And this pregnancy began before that.”
Something inside me loosened.
Not completely.
Not enough to feel free.
But enough to breathe.
Diego moved closer to the screen. “No. The dates must be wrong.”
Dr. Salinas looked at him with quiet firmness.
“A few days can vary. Not an entire month. And a vasectomy does not make a man sterile immediately. Follow-up tests are required. Did you complete your semen analysis?”
Diego said nothing.
There it was.
The truth.
Small, simple, and devastating.
Paola turned to him. “You didn’t get tested?”
His jaw tightened. “It wasn’t necessary.”
“Yes,” the doctor said. “It was.”
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