Chapter 3 - THE SISTER WHO SIGNED FOR THE EMBRYO
Sister Imelda did not deny signing the form.
She denied understanding it.
Caridad found her in the accounting room before breakfast, surrounded by utility statements, donation receipts, and the convent’s ancient desktop computer.
Imelda was fifty-eight.
Practical.
Careful.
The kind of woman who kept spare batteries labeled by purchase date.
Caridad placed the cryogenic-transfer invoice on her desk.
“Explain this.”
Imelda read it.
Her face lost color.
“Where did you get that?”
“In our infirmary.”
“Caridad—”
“You witnessed Esperanza’s signature.”
Imelda pushed back from the desk.
“I witnessed a document.”
“That is what the line says.”
“I did not watch her sign.”
Caridad stared.
“You signed as witness without seeing the signature?”
“Paloma brought it.”
“That is not an answer.”
Imelda closed the accounting ledger.
“She said Esperanza had already signed at the fertility center.”
“Then why did she need you as witness?”
“She said their records department required a second local verification because Esperanza’s religious name did not match some older files.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew enough to hide it from me.”
Imelda looked toward the door.
“I didn’t know it was another embryo.”
“Another?”
The word escaped before Caridad could stop it.
Imelda looked down.
“How much do you know?”
“More every hour.”
For a long moment, neither woman spoke.
Then Imelda stood.
“Lock the door.”
Caridad did.
Imelda opened a lower filing cabinet.
Behind insurance folders and payroll records for two lay employees, she removed a blue binder.
She put it on the desk.
DELAGDO FAMILY FOUNDATION.
Caridad looked at the spelling.
“Delgado.”
“Yes.”
“Mateo’s family.”
“Yes.”
Inside were donation records.
$175,000.
One month after Miguel’s birth.
$200,000.
Six weeks after Tomás’s birth.
A third document was not a donation.
It was a pledge.
$250,000 payable when “the final family preservation matter has reached the first trimester.”
Caridad read the sentence twice.
“What is a family preservation matter?”
Imelda said nothing.
Caridad looked at her.
“The third pregnancy.”
Imelda began crying.
The sound was quiet.
Almost irritated.
“I didn’t know Paloma would do it without Esperanza.”
“So you knew she planned it.”
“I knew Helena wanted the final embryo used.”
“Helena?”
“Mateo’s mother.”
Caridad remembered the name.
Helena Delgado.
Widow of a Santa Fe real-estate developer.
Large donor to arts organizations and churches.
Her photograph had appeared in the Albuquerque Journal when she gave two million dollars to a children’s hospital.
“Why is Mateo’s mother paying Santa Lucía after each birth?”
“She said the children should be raised somewhere protected.”
“She bought protection?”
“She saved this convent.”
Caridad stared at her.
Imelda pointed toward the ceiling.
“You know what the roof cost.”
“That does not answer me.”
“The roof was failing.”
“Then we repair it or close.”
“The insurance refused wind damage. Donations were down after COVID. The retreat house had been empty almost two years.”
“So Benedicta took Helena’s money.”
“Yes.”
Caridad sat.
The first payment matched the year Santa Lucía had replaced its chapel roof.
The second corresponded with a balloon payment on the remaining mortgage for the guesthouse property.
Caridad had believed both came from an anonymous foundation.
“They weren’t anonymous.”
“Benedicta asked me to keep Helena’s name off internal reports.”
“Why?”
“To protect Esperanza.”
“No.”
Caridad’s voice hardened.
“To protect the money.”
Imelda looked away.
“When did you learn Miguel was conceived by embryo transfer?”
“After he was born.”
“And Tomás?”
“Before.”
“Did you know Esperanza consented?”
“Paloma told me.”
“Did you ask Esperanza?”
“No.”
Caridad closed her eyes.
“How many people have been making decisions about her without asking her?”
Imelda whispered, “Too many.”
The question hung there.
Caridad opened the pledge again.
“Who signed this?”
Helena Delgado.
Dr. Paloma Reyes.
Sister Imelda Rojas.
No Esperanza.
No Caridad.
No governing board.
No diocesan representative.
“You signed a financial pledge tied to a pregnancy.”
“I signed because the convent owed ninety-three thousand dollars by January.”
“You could have told me.”
“You had been Mother for six months.”
“So?”
“You were already talking about closing the guesthouse, selling the north orchard.”
“We may have needed to.”
“Benedicta spent forty years protecting this place.”
“And you turned a woman’s uterus into a fundraising plan to protect adobe walls.”
Imelda slapped the desk.
“I did not know Paloma would transfer anything without consent!”
The force of it surprised them both.
Then Imelda covered her mouth.
Caridad waited.
“Tell me what you did know.”
Imelda sat again.
“Helena said there was one embryo left.”
“One.”
“Yes.”
“She said Esperanza had promised Mateo they would use all viable embryos.”
“Did Esperanza tell you that?”
“No.”
“Did Paloma?”
“Yes.”
“And you believed her.”
“I wanted to.”
That answer was more honest.
Caridad looked at the pledge.
“Where is Helena now?”
“Santa Fe.”
“I want her here.”
Imelda looked alarmed.
“She’ll bring lawyers.”
“Good.”
“Caridad.”
“I am done having conversations where only the women with secrets know the rules.”
Before noon, Imelda gave Caridad Helena’s number.
Caridad called.
Helena answered herself.
“Mother Caridad.”
“You know who I am.”
“Of course.”
“I need to speak with you about Esperanza.”
A pause.
Then:
“Elena.”
Caridad gripped the phone.
“She is Sister Esperanza here.”
“She is my daughter-in-law everywhere.”
“Did you pay Santa Lucía after her children were born?”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
“Did you condition another payment on this pregnancy?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Caridad felt sick.
“Did Esperanza consent?”
Helena’s voice became colder.
“She consented years ago.”
“That was not my question.”
“Those embryos were created by my son.”
“They are not your property.”
“They are my grandchildren.”
“Potential grandchildren.”
“They are Mateo’s children.”
Caridad closed her eyes.
“You will come to Santa Lucía tomorrow.”
Helena almost laughed.
“You do not summon me.”
“No.”
Caridad looked at the donation pledge.
“But if you want any chance of keeping this out of a courtroom before facts are preserved, you will come with your lawyer.”
Silence.
Then Helena said:
“You have no idea what Elena asked us to do.”
The next morning, Helena arrived in a black Range Rover with an attorney.
She carried a leather folder.
Before anyone sat down, she opened it.
Inside was a video file.
Esperanza appeared onscreen three years younger, wearing ordinary clothes.
No habit.
No veil.
She looked directly into the camera and said:
“I want Mateo’s child. I am asking Dr. Reyes to proceed.”
Helena stopped the video.
Caridad looked at Esperanza.
Esperanza had entered silently behind them.
Her face went white.
May you like
Helena said:
“Your miracle has always known exactly where the babies came from.”
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