Her eyes changed. She wasn’t crying from pain anymore. She looked at me with rage.
“Don’t touch me.”
I put my hand under the fabric of the dress.
I touched foam. Straps. Velcro.
There was no baby.
My sister wasn’t pregnant.
The patio was so quiet I could hear my mom sobbing on the phone.
Alejandro held up his cell phone.
“And that’s not the worst of it,” he said. “Tomorrow she was going to steal a newborn.”
I couldn’t believe what was about to happen…
PART 2
Fernanda crawled backward, trying to cover the fake belly, but the foam was already hanging crookedly under her blue dress.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she spat. “You don’t understand anything.”
My mom shook her head.
“No, no, Fernanda wouldn’t do something like that.”
Fernanda let out a dry, horrible laugh.
“Oh, Mom… you believed everything else.”
At that moment, two patrol cars arrived. At first, the police thought they were there for a domestic disturbance. My mom pointed at Alejandro. My dad pointed at Fernanda. My siblings pointed at the fake pregnancy belly. Everyone was talking over each other.
I was the one who lifted the fabric of the dress.
With trembling hands, I showed them the crushed foam, the broken straps, and the Velcro where our whole family had placed their hopes.
The senior officer looked at Alejandro.
“Explain.”
Alejandro unlocked his cell phone.
“Your phone synced with an old tablet we have in the apartment. I saw messages. There was a nurse helping her. Tomorrow at 6:40, they were going to take a baby from a private clinic.”
Fernanda shouted:
