Page 129 of Stronger Than Fate

“It must mean a lot to you all.”

“It does, and it’s surrounded by memories of our childhood.”

Bastián and Lolo came closer and, Henry seeing their intention, let go of me to allow them to hug me. We melted into an embrace and the three of us sobbed a little. We knew that moment was very emotional because every year my father would lift us up, put us on his shoulders, and we would place the star. We took turns doing it and kept track of whose turn it was each year.

Two hotel employees brought me a ladder and I began to climb the steps with all eyes fixed on me. When I reached the top, I kissed the star and placed it on the tree. As I came down, Henry approached and took my hand to help me, then hugged me tightly.

We stayed around the tree waiting for it to be lit. When it finally illuminated, the hall took on the festive air and charm of Christmas. For a few minutes the four of us remained silent, observing it and immersed in memories.

“Well, task completed,” said Bastián.

“It looks beautiful,” I affirmed. “Thank you all,” I said, looking at the employees who had helped us with the task.

“Yes, thank you all,” repeated Bastián.

“Dali, can I give you my list of what I’m asking Santa for?” said Lolo, smiling like a child, but I was sure he did it to lighten the melancholy.

“Leave it under the tree, maybe you’ll get lucky,” I responded, smiling.

“I'm going for it right now. See you,” he said as he left.

“Is he always like this?” Henry asked.

“Not always, but I think he's the most playful of the three. You know better than anyone that he can also be serious and meddlesome.”

“That's very true.”

“I'm leaving too. I'll see you at Sunday lunch,” Bastián said, saying goodbye before he left.

“Did your mom let you know if she's coming for Christmas?” I asked as we headed to the suite. It was Saturday and we weren't working.

“Niky spoke with her and she confirmed that she'll spend the holidays with my aunt, but then she'll come for the wedding preparations. She's very excited and eager to meet you in person.”

“We've talked so many times on video calls that it feels like I already know her.”

“You'll get along very well, though I should tell you that we'll see her very little because in recent years she's decided to travel and go away for several months. I don't know if it's because of her age, but she wants to spend a lot of time with her siblings.”

“And that's fine with me. It's wonderful that she has such a close relationship.”

“They're very close, like you three and like Niky and I are.”

“How she laughed when we told her about your interruption at my cousin's wedding,” I commented.

“That's something that will remain in our love story, like a legend of lovers,” he said, giving me a sweet kiss.

“No doubt about it. You'll be the romantic hero of our family.”

“Our family,” he repeated. “Sounds good, doesn't it?” And he kissed me again. “Dalina, you are my family, my home, you're the engine of my life. We're two people, but one world—you are my world, never forget that.”

And that's how romantic Henry was. Since we had reconciled, there wasn't a day that he didn't surprise me with some romantic gesture, whether it was words, actions, or gifts that showed what I meant to him.

A few days before Christmas, I met Niky at a shopping mall to buy Christmas presents. It was Friday, but I had left the office after noon to avoid the afternoon hours when these places were packed with people and it became impossible even to walk. We wanted to take advantage of this shopping day to enjoy each other's company and stroll around for a while. I really enjoyed choosing and buying Christmas gifts because for me it was a time to rejoice. Christmas was the moment to materialize feelings and surprise our loved ones with a nice gift.

Since Niky's house was the largest, we were going to spend Christmas Eve there, all together, and I had already prepared the list of what I planned to buy to do it as quickly as possible and then spend quality time with my friend.

Choosing the gifts took us more than three hours, but we were both very satisfied. I had thought a lot about Henry's gift and had decided on a beautiful white gold wristwatch from a well-known brand. On the back, I had asked them to engrave part of the poem “Llegaste a tiempo” (“You Arrived on Time”) by the poet Jaime Sabines:

“You weren't before or after, you were on time.