Ámbar.
I look at myself in the mirror as I finish brushing my hair.
It's not vanity. It never was, even though for years everyone thought it was. It's habit.
It's that inevitable second when you confront your own reflection and decide whether to accept it or not. For a long time, I couldn't.
The woman who stares back at me isn't the perfect girl I was for so long. There's no longer a mask ready to face the world.
I have soft dark circles under my eyes, a tired smile, and my eyes are shiny for something I don't quite understand.
And suddenly, I get emotional.
Because I fought so hard to escape the reflection, the pressure; the idea that I had to be perfect.
When in reality... I was broken. Broken and scared. And alone, even surrounded by people.
I feel arms around me from behind.
Simón kisses my neck.
—What are you thinking about? "—" he asked me softly.
I smile.
"—In everything it took to get here."
I look up and our eyes meet in the mirror. Seeing my reflection no longer bothers me.
For the first time, I feel like the woman on the other side is me.
"—Thank you."
He frowns slightly.
"—Why?"
I turn around and look him straight in the eye, as if I need to reassure myself that he's there, that he's real.
"—For saving me when I was in complete darkness. When I didn't know how to escape myself and you took my hand, even when I didn't want anyone to touch me."
I swallow.
"—You pulled me out of that reflection." From believing I had to be perfect... when in reality I was broken and terrified.
Simón doesn't say anything. He just looks at me with those eyes that never judged me, not even when I judged myself.
He caresses my cheek and then kisses me like he always did when he understood that words weren't enough.
"Thank you," his eyes shine. "For not giving up, even when the world hurt you."
His voice cracks slightly. He tries to hide it, but I know him well enough to know that he's about to get emotional too.
"You didn't have to save me. It wasn't your obligation. And yet... you did. With your silences, your anger, and your fears."
I feel tears falling from my eyes.
"I saw you break a thousand times," he says, never taking his eyes off me as he speaks. "And yet, you got back up. I was just there for you, Amber. You were always the brave one."
We closed our eyes at the same time, as if we needed to rest there for a moment.
The whole journey had been long and hard. And yet, it had been worth it.
"You have no idea what it meant to me to see you shine again," Simón adds. "To see you looking in the mirror without hatred."
A tear escapes me and falls into his hand.
"I was afraid," I confess. I was afraid that if I showed you who I really was, you'd leave.
Simón shakes his head.
"You never needed to be perfect. You just needed to be you."
He kisses me softly, almost trembling. Then he kisses me a little deeper.
It's a long kiss, one of those that wants to stay. My hands cling to his neck and I cry against his chest without shame.
"Simón, thank you for staying. For not leaving when I wanted to disappear."
He hugs me tightly as if he wants to protect every version of me that existed before this moment.
"Ámbar, thank you for choosing us. For choosing this life and being the light of this family. You light up Dulce and me."
I smile through my tears.
"Our family..." Saying that fills my soul.
The door opens slowly, with that unmistakable sound of tiny footsteps that don't know how to walk in silence.
"Mom?"
Dulce peeks her head out, still half asleep, her blond hair all disheveled and her eyes half-closed.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"I heard voices," she says, rubbing one eye. "I thought they were talking without me."
Simón smiles and crouches down to be at her level.
"My love, we would never do that. Come here." Simón stretches out his arms and she comes slowly.
She looks at both of us as if she's considering saying something important.
"Are you crying, Mom?"
"Just a little."
She wrinkles her nose.
"Does something hurt?"
I shake my head immediately.
"No, my love. They're beautiful tears."
"Can tears be beautiful?" she asks, confused.
Simón laughs.
"Yes," he says. "They're the ones that come when your heart is full of good emotions."
Dulce thinks for a few seconds and then hugs me tightly.
"Then I'll help you make them beautiful tears. That way you won't cry alone, Mommy."
I bend down and kiss her cheek.
"Thank you," I say. "I love her so much. She's my light. Do you know you're the best thing that ever happened to me?"
Dulce smiles proudly.
"I was born to be your light," she says, it being an absolute truth.
Simón and I look at each other. We're both moved.
He saved me from my inner darkness, but our daughter saved us both from the shadows.
She's the light that banished the shadows of the past and she's the light that shines in our lives to give us a new heaven. The heaven that for so many years was only hell.
"Our light," he says. "The light of every day."
Dulce stretches out her arms and points at us.
───Family hug
Dulce stretches out her arms and points at us.
"Family hug. Now," she orders.
Simón wraps his arms around me first, then around her, and the three of us end up squeezed together in an awkward yet perfect hug.
"Mommy and Daddy, I love you," Dulce says, with that tenderness that warms my heart.
"We love you," I reply.
"So much. Today and forever," Simón adds.
Dulce pulls away and looks at us seriously.
"When I grow up, I want to love someone like this," she says, leaving us confused. "The way you love each other."
I feel my heart breaking and being put back together at the same time.
"You already do," I tell her, my voice filled with emotion. "And you do it better than anyone, my sweet daughter."
Dulce smiles and hugs us again.
And there, with my daughter holding me tight and Simón supporting us both, I understand that it wasn't the mirror I had to break; it was the darkness.
And here we are, the three of us loving each other.
My family.