And I realized something.
I wasn’t angry anymore.
I was free.
I pulled out my phone and texted Javier.
I’m at the airport. Want to meet me for coffee?
He replied immediately.
On my way.
Twenty minutes later, he walked up with Ana beside him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, smiling.
“I wanted to see it again. The place where everything changed.”
He looked around.
“Does it feel different?”
“Yes. It feels smaller.”
Ana squeezed my hand.
“You’re a brave woman, Mrs. Ríos.”
“Call me Carmen.”
She smiled.
We sat at a café near the gate and talked about everything and nothing.
Javier told me about his new job.
Ana told me about her students.
I told them about the garden I was planting.
And for the first time in two years, I felt light.
Not because the pain was gone.
But because I had carried it, survived it, and finally set it down.
As we got up to leave, Javier hugged me tightly.
“Thank you, Mom.”
“For what?”
“For not giving up on me.”
I pulled back and looked at him.
“You’re my son. I could never give up on you.”
