"Are you pregnant?"
Lucia’s eyes widened, and for a moment, she was too stunned to respond. She had barely allowed herself to think of the possibility, let alone admit it out loud. The nausea, the tiredness, the strange feeling that had been growing inside her for days—it all suddenly made sense. But hearing her mother say the words aloud made it real, undeniable.
Lucia felt her knees weaken, and she sank into a chair, burying her face in her hands. “I… I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice muffled by her hands. “I haven’t had the courage to find out.”
Agatha knelt beside her, gently taking Lucia’s hands in her own, pulling them away from her face so she could look her daughter in the eyes. “Lucia, you’ve been feeling like this for a while, haven’t you?”
Lucia nodded, tears welling u
