Chapter 5 The Birth Certificate

• "I understand. I'm happy to inform you that there is nothing wrong that could endanger Mia's life, although we found out that she suffers from asthma, it seems to be hereditary. You will have to watch out for any attacks, I will prescribe something in case she has an attack. She is still young, the fact that she is not more than two weeks old shows how strong she is. So, there is nothing to worry about."
• I smile knowing that she is okay and thank him for it.
• "Thank you very much, doctor."
• "You're welcome, miss."
• "Clarisa, you can now discharge the baby. I must go, don’t hesitate to come if something happens."
• "Thank you very much."
• The doctor leaves us alone again, I let myself fall to the floor and cry knowing that she is okay.
• "Thank you, my God, thank you..."
• "Zoe."
• "I was scared, grandma, I thought she would die."
• "My child."
• My grandmother hugs me as she did when I was a child to calm me down. Once I managed to calm down, I looked at Mrs.Clarisa waiting for her to say something and then I look at Mia who is sleeping in her arms.
• "I will trust you, I don’t consider you a bad person. I won’t say anything, because I feel it is the right thing to do. But I have a condition."
• I nod several times, I was willing to accept whatever it will be.
• "You will have to let me participate in Mia's life and in that way be a witness that you will not lie and that you will take care of her as you should."
• "I am young, but I promise that I will be a good mom. I will be better than that, I will be an excellent mother."
• "Very well, I will keep the secret and we will look for her parents. If it is true that they tried to kill her, then we will do what needs to be done to protect her."
• "I promise I will find them and do what needs to be done."
• "Alright, I will bring the discharge order. You will have to pay for the tests, give me your information to stay in touch. My shift has ended, so I will leave with you and I will know where you live."
• "Of course."
• "I hope I do not regret this."
• Mrs. Clarisa nods after saying that and hands her to me, then she leaves and I decide to wait for her where we were.
• "Zoe, my child... Are you sure about this?"
• "I am, grandma."
• "But you are still young."
• "I know, but that will not stop me from taking care of her and continuing with my life. I promise I will give my best. I will finish my studies, work, and give Mia everything she needs. Please, believe in me and support me in this. I beg you."
• "Alright, my child, I believe in you. I will help you, we will make it together."
• "Thank you, grandma."
• "Here is the order, do you have money to pay the hospital bill?"
• "I have some savings, I will pay with my savings."
• "I will help you so that the hospital can give you a payment plan. This way you can save to buy what Mia needs."
• "Thank you very much, Mrs. Clarisa."
• "Your grandmother can stay with Mia, come with me."
• I do as she says and hand Mia over to my grandmother, I follow her to the administration. Being considered a single and very young mother, they offer me the support to pay Mia's medical expenses in instalments and also give me discounts when registering for the single mothers' subsidy.
• After signing all the documentation and paying a part of the medical expenses, we leave the hospital without saying a word.
• "Get in, we will go in my car."
• My grandmother sits next to Mrs. Clarisa, who was driving. While I sit in the back with Mia.
• I couldn't stop looking at her sleeping, she was so cute. My heart aches at the thought that she was about to die and it would be a very sad ending for her.
• "We must register Mia as your daughter or they will find out that we lied. If they find out, we are finished."
• "Zoe, she is right. You gave false information, we will go to jail if they find out and I am too old to go to jail."
• "And I do not want to lose my license, much less go to jail."
• "I do not have to go to class tomorrow, I can go register her early."
• "I will ask an old friend to help us falsify Mia's birth certificate, you will need it to register her."
• "Thank you, Mrs. Clarisa."
• "All I hope is that I am not making a mistake with you."
• "You won't, my grandmother raised me very well. You won't regret it."
• "I hope so."
• I didn't pay attention to where we were going, I never gave her the address to our home.
• As I look around, I realize we were at her friend's house.
• "Stay here, no one gets out of the car."
• "Okay."
• She gets out of the car and I see her walking a block to then enter her friend's house.
• An hour later, she comes out of that house with an envelope in her hands.
• "We have the certificate."
• "That is very quick."
• "My grandmother is right, that is very quick. I think it will take longer or require something else."
• "My friend is an expert in what he does, we studied together in school. I won't deny that I have some memories I'd rather forget. I was a stupid young woman."
• I look at her through the rear-view mirror and then express what I wanted.
• "I won't judge you for your past, I will always be grateful to you."
• "No one is a saint in this life, Zoe, as your grandmother has told you many times."
• "You're right, grandma."
• "Well, where should I take you?"
• "Home, young lady, this old woman needs to feel peace and I will have it when I get home."
• "Grandma, I think we should buy some clothes for Mia before going home."
• "I have forgotten, let's buy what is needed and then go home."
• "Let's buy the essentials, little by little I will buy what is missing."