"Did you wait a long time?" he asked with a slight smile.
"No..." Alejandro hesitated. "That gift you mentioned... what is it?"
Mariana didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked out the window, watching the playground next to the cafeteria. A boy of about two and a half was happily sliding down the slide, laughing every now and then. Then she called to him gently:
—Matthew, come here, son.
The boy turned around. His big black eyes shone with innocence. He looked at Mariana and then at Alejandro. He stood still for a few seconds, but suddenly broke into a wide smile, ran toward him with his clumsy little steps, and raised his arms, as if he had known him all his life.
"This... this is..." stammered Alexander, his whole body trembling and his heart pounding in his chest.
Mariana lowered her gaze, took a deep breath, and lifted the child into her arms.
"His name is Mateo," she said softly. "He is two years and seven months old."
The world seemed to stop around Alexander.
He studied every detail of the boy: his forehead, the shape of his nose, the curve of his smile, even a small mole just above his left eyebrow. It was as if he were seeing himself as a child in those old photographs his mother kept in a metal box.
"Is he... my son?" she asked, her voice breaking.
Mariana pressed her lips together. Her eyes moistened, but she didn't look away.
Yes, Alejandro. Mateo is your son.
He remained completely still. For a few seconds, words, movements, even breathing, seemed to escape his control. Oblivious to the magnitude of the moment, the boy reached out and gently placed his palm on Alejandro's cheek.
"Dad..." he suddenly stammered.
That single word struck Alexander like a lightning bolt.
His eyes instantly filled with tears. For three years, he had believed he had only lost his wife. It had never occurred to him that he had also missed his son's first steps, his first laughs, his first nights with fever, his first birthday.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, looking at Mariana with pain. "Why did you exclude me from this?"
