"What happened? What happened?" Jacob demanded.
"There was so much damage done to her by that woman that they had to do a surgery on her to save her life. She can't have children. They had to do a hysterectomy on her. That was the time I gave her my blood."
A sudden hush filled the room. But suddenly Jacob did what no one had ever seen him to do. He threw the glass of water in front of him against the wall. It broke with a loud noise and small pieces of glass scattered all over the place.
"Damn you! Had any one prosecuted that woman, that midwife, who did this to my daughter?"
Rosa Sighed: "Yes, she is in prison now, and for a long time. I made sure that she got what she deserved."
Jacob wiped the sweat from his forehead. Diana was not able to cry. There was no more tears left in her eyes. Then suddenly she smiled, a grimace of beam through the mist of her grief, a surprising, yet painful joy on her face.
"I guess I shouldn't be so upset. After all I never thought I would see my daughter again. Now I know she is okay and I'll see her soon. For all these three damn years, I've tried to compensate her loss as much as I could by erosion of her memory, her pictures, her clothes,... Now, soon, I'll have her, I can hug her, smell her, kiss her. No, I'm not upset, I am happy.
"And Rosa, I'm not angry at you at all. We all learned some lessons since last night. I think you also have acquired many knowledge in this terrible ordeal you've gone through. In fact, I think your misery has been greater than all in my family. I can't be your mother, but I want to be your friend. I want you consider here your home from now on. I want you to be free of every evil, and I want you to be part of this family."
Rosa's eyes filled with tears. She stayed in her seat. A hot flash ran into her head. Regretful of what she had done, she was shameful, yet overwhelmed. Diana, as Tim had just said, was the purest one amongst all of them. How could she not only forgive her and but also accept her as part of her family? Now after all these years, she had a family; she had real friends. She had begun by wanting to ruin this family; now she was part of them. As shameful as she was, she really wanted to hear something from Jacob. She wanted to know how he felt about her; if he could forgive her as Diana could; if he would accept her as a member of his family as Diana did. But she could not and would not ask him about how he felt about her. She knew it had to come naturally from him, as it did from Diana, otherwise it would not be right or true. But she did not know that Jacob had already forgiven her, and he wanted her to be part of his family. After all the malicious things she had done, later she had tried to correct them; and they were all the result of the influence of her mother all her life. But Jacob was in so much shock to show any favorable sign to Rosa.
However Jacob recognized Rosa's desire despite the uproar in the house. Through his maddened sorrow learning all about Vickie, he looked at Rosa with love, contempt, and pity with eyes which were shinny, yet grief- stricken and grateful, and said:
"I'm a lucky man, Tim. You're right; Diana is the best thing has ever happened to me, not my PhD, or books or anything in this world that I've accomplished. She is the most important to me than everything else. She's always shown greatness; and now she is showing even more greatness to Rosa, who almost destroyed her daughter. I wouldn't accept anything less from her.
"And you, Rosa, how can I hold any grudge against you? You're me, you're my blood. Your mind was poisoned; but now you're back; now you're healthy; you're yourself. I'm more than happy to find you. I can't even find the right word to describe my feeling towards you now. I want to be your father if it isn't too late. We can be good friends, all of us..."
Rosa's slow sobbing changed to a loud cry, Her shoulders shook. Diana came to her and hugged her, and then murmured something in her ear. Rosa looked up at her, and then stopped crying. The happy family, however, did not know how Tim's secret would once more diminish their unity and happiness.
~`
To Be Continued
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