“I said, ‘Mom, I’ll take care of them. I will never abandon them. I’ll be their mother and father.’”
Maya looked at Lance. “That’s why I came here as a helper. I let people call me a ‘disaster’ or ‘bad luck.’ I allowed them to think that those children were mine, so that men wouldn’t pursue me. I didn’t want to get married, Lance. I didn’t want anyone to take away my attention or resources from them. I’ve devoted my whole life to them.”
“I don’t have children, Lance. I gave my virginity and my youth to children who didn’t come from my womb, but from my heart.”
The room fell silent. It felt as though Lance’s world had stopped.
The woman he thought had a “dark past” was actually an angel. The person he believed to be the “woman with baggage” was, in truth, the most selfless woman he had ever encountered. Maya had endured harsh judgments, been called “loose” or “cheap” in the province, all to protect and provide for her orphaned nieces and nephews.
Lance knelt before Maya. She hugged him tightly and cried. She wept, feeling ashamed that, even in her own mind, she had once thought Maya was “worthless.” She cried out of pity, and out of awe.
“Please forgive me, Maya,” Lance cried. “Forgive us for judging you. You’re so good. You have such a beautiful heart. I don’t deserve you.”
Maya nodded, her tears falling softly. “You’re the only one who accepts me, Lance, even though you thought I had children. You’re the only one who truly loves me.”
“And I’ll love them too,” Lance promised, his voice firm. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to them. We’ll bring them here. They don’t live in that area anymore. I’ll be their father. And you… you will be the happiest mother in the world.”
The next day, Doña Consuelo and Lance’s friends were shocked when the couple arrived with three children. They had assumed the children were strangers.
