Plan B

Diane piped up, "Hey wait a minute, you haven't told us about you. We know you're married and have a baby; what do you do? Are you a housewife or something?"

"No Aunt Diane, I'm not a housewife. Although I will have to juggle caring for Josefina with my day job. I am a doctor, I opened a clinic with my partner; although the seed money to get us started was Plan money - she and I specialize in women's health. My husband Carlos is an engineer; he works in his father's firm. You will get to meet him later too."

That broke the dam, Susanna was sobbing openly now. Her family was not only safe, they had prospered - it was all too much. "This is all so unfair; I've missed my babies growing up."

Julia watched Susanna for a few moments giving her some time to work through her emotions. They had discussed her possible reactions, and this 'woe is me' was one that had been a distinct possibility.

"Susanna! Pull yourself together", Julia was going to have to be firm with her. "You did the crime, you did the time, now you need to get used to the new reality. As a mother myself, and your daughter, I do have some sympathy for you. But, and this is a big but, you are not forgiven nor will we forget your betrayal of our family. You talk about divorce, but how exactly would that have worked? Papa ending up living in some dingy apartment while you got to stay in your house, getting alimony and child support? And of course being able to carry on with your boyfriend. That would have been the ultimate unfairness, Papa did nothing wrong but he would have ended up literally paying the price for your infidelity."

"While it's true we were deprived of having you in our lives, Papa did his level best to be both mother and father to us. He focused entirely on our needs and neglected his until we were mostly grown up. He has finally allowed himself some happiness these last few years, and I must say he deserves it."

"We have decided to open our lives to you after much thought and consideration. Tio Albert and Father Enrique have been instrumental in helping Papa soften his stance. Together we talked about how and when to approach you. It really was Josefina's arrival that finally broke the stalemate."

"Papa is so incredibly happy with his granddaughter, he dotes on her. I will have to keep a firm hand with him or he will spoil her rotten.

====

Later that evening in the main dining room, "Susanna, after all this ti" SLAP!

"You BASTARD, you stole my babies from me!!" Susanna was a red as a beet as she proceeded to punch and kick Don Stefano. He gestured for the rest to stay back as he let her go on for a moment and then wrapped his arms around Susanna in a hug. After struggling for a moment she dissolved into sobbing against his chest. It looked just like a scene from some cheesy romance movie.

"There, there my dear, let it out." Don Stefano continued to hold her and stroke her hair as she cried. After a few minutes she came up for air.

"I hate what you have done to me! Why couldn't you just get a divorce like a normal man, why did you have to deprive me of ten years of my family's life??"

Don Stefano let her go and took a step back, "Let's all sit down and have a glass, I think we have made enough of a scene." And with that he stepped to the table and held out a chair for Susanna. Once she was seated he gestured to the rest to seat themselves and he took the chair next to his ex-wife.

Around the table were his two sons, Father Enrique, Estrella and Carlos, and Diane. Once the waiter had filled their glasses he raised his, "To a brighter future, what once was lost has now been found."

Father Enrique decided he would act the peacemaker, "Señora Susanna, I am glad you and your sister Diane are with us. You have been estranged from your family for too long. I have known these refugees since the day they arrived here in Costa Rica; I know the story of how they came to be here. I hope I have been able to have some influence in bringing about this reunion. Although most of the credit has to go to Estrella, she also had the longest journey to go: from hate to forgiveness."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive Alan for what he's taken from me." Susanna was seething; her emotions were running away with her again.

"Suze you're going to have to find a way to let go of your anger or it's going to consume you. Being angry after all this time isn't going to do anybody any good. Like Estrella said earlier, you did the crime, and did the time. Now you gotta move forward to build a new life with your family back in your life." Diane hadn't thought she'd jump in; it just sort of popped out of her mouth.

"And how exactly is that going to work!? I live in the Bay Area, and my family are here in Costa Rica." Susanna was cooling down, but it was going to be a slow process. Just then the waiter came back.

"Don Stefano are you and your guests ready to order?" Pablito was rather proud of his English.

"Gracias Pablito, triganos unos aperitivos, bastante para todos. Y ten cuidado que los vasos esten siempre llenos. No se vaya muy lejos."

"A sus ordenes Don." Pablito had witnessed the scene as the guests had arrived. He'd make doubly sure the American women's glasses were kept full; he didn't need a reminder from the Don. And he would indeed stay close; he needed to hear everything that transpired here tonight. The entire staff would be waiting for his first-hand account later. Don Stefano and his family were much loved and this was juicy stuff happening at this table.

Don Stefano took in a calming breath and in his most soothing tones, "You have to understand Susanna; you had become a threat to our family."

"What!! I would never do anything to hurt any of you!"

"Ah, but you were certainly hurting us, your betrayal of your marriage vows put into question all of your actions. And you had indeed become a threat - a very active threat. Don't forget I deal with bad guys all day long, I know exactly how a threat actor takes advantage."

"But it was just a harmless fling!" Susanna looked around the table and did not see a single sympathetic face, not even Diane.

"Try to look at it from my perspective for a moment. Estrella discovered you with your tennis guy in our bed. That didn't happen by accident, and it was clear that it wasn't the first time. So not only did we have your unfaithfulness established, we also have a pattern of bad behavior. In order to carry out your affair you had to plan, concoct stories, tell lies, and hide your activities. In my business we call that an advanced persistent threat - somebody who has wormed their way inside the defenses and is taking advantage of that trust to do bad things. But you were already on the inside when you turned bad."

"You were in the ultimate position of trust - a mother, wife, and sister. You used that trust to hide your bad actions, who knows where that would have escalated to. Sneaking off for a whole weekend all the while making us believe you were on a 'girl's only' retreat. Or perhaps planning a 'vacation' with tennis boy and telling your family it was a business trip. Any of those things were now in the realm of possibility once you used our trust to get away with your deceit."

"It was just a harmless fling; it would have ended soon anyway. Conor wasn't that good in bed; he was just new and exciting."

"Which opens up the possibility that you would find another man to have your next fling with. You had gotten away with it for so long, over a year wasn't it? that the next time it would be so much easier. If Estrella hadn't discovered you none of us would have ever known about tennis boy. Then when your yoga instructor or the cute barista at the coffee shop caught your eye, you already had a workable plan. Or maybe you would have found somebody to run away with, taking all our savings leaving us devastated and broke. You see you opened the door to all the possibilities that cheating entails."

"No, no, no. It wouldn't have been like that. I probably had gotten it out of my system and there wouldn't be another time."

"Possible, but no way to know. They say once a cheater, always a cheater. People seldom change their ways. At the time we didn't have all the details, but it was easy to figure out after the fact. I may have reacted in the heat of the moment; but I acted to protect my children from harm. You acted for your own selfish reasons. The long and the short of it was you were no longer to be trusted with the most precious things in the world, our family. You proved that you would put your own selfish desires ahead of their well-being to their detriment. That is ultimately dangerous."

Susanna was speechless.

"But come, I didn't agree with Estrella, Father Enrique, and Al to bring you here to retry you for your past crimes. We brought you here to set you free, you have been punished enough. You have met your granddaughter, seen what fine young men your sons have become, and of course the wonderful woman Estrella is. Try to be happy with the gift you have been given. You have your whole rest of your life ahead of you."

Diane couldn't resist, "And how exactly is the 'rest of our lives' going to work Al- err Don Stefano? You guys are down here in Costa Rica and Susanna and I live in the Bay Area. That's a long trip to come for lunch."

"Diane, I don't have all the answers; in fact I don't have any answers. You will have to decide for yourselves what happens next. My thinking doesn't go beyond bringing you here and revealing ourselves to you. My sons and Estrella are free to travel to visit you if that's what you want. But I, of course, will need to remain here."

"Oh yeah, you're a felon. Wanted for kidnapping." Diane was pensive after that.

Again Pablito's timing was impeccable. "We hope you enjoy these appetizers, the fish is fresh from the bay and all the vegetables are grown locally. I hope you are enjoying the Dos Hermanos, this is one of Don Stefano's best vintages."

The next few minutes were busy with plates being passed back and forth and exclamations delight over the flavors. The tone at the table was much lighter, but there still a chill coming from Susanna.

Once more into the breach thought Father Enrique," Doña Susanna, I understand your position as CFO of a major company in Silicon Valley must come with enormous responsibility. We are all very impressed at how far you have risen."

"Of course, you know all about me. Your network of informants must be extensive Alan."

"I haven't needed to use 'spy stuff' too often Susanna, we have kept up with your life mostly through regular channels. At the risk of prying, the only surprising thing has been that you have not moved on. From what we can tell there doesn't seem to be anybody special in your life. That is truly a waste; you are a lovely woman, an accomplished woman. You would make a great catch." Don Stefano hoped he wasn't laying it on too thick; he didn't want to trigger her any further. He was genuinely trying to give her a compliment.

Susanna wasn't having any of it, "Why couldn't we just have a divorce, or couples counseling? Why did you have to take such extreme measures and put me through 10 years of hell!?"

"Ah, I see now. You are having trouble understanding my point of view; and Estrella's for that matter. I told her and the Padre that you were inwardly focused; and all the things you have just said and those from lunch today show it. I will try again; I had hoped you had learned empathy during the years of your punishment. You don't get to dictate how you affected us, primarily Estrella and I. You are trying to force us into your way of thinking by saying it would have been over soon, or it didn't take anything away from us. At the very least that is disrespectful. You are literally trying to minimize the impact of your betrayal."

Don Stefano frowned; this was going to take a bit more effort than he had hoped. "What you see today is the result of years of hard work. Our lives and our future were taken from us. Your betrayal destroyed what had been our family, and we had to start all over to build new lives. I have worked very hard that my children grew into responsible adults, untainted by your deceit." That was a bit harsher than he intended, but she was guilty.

"No, no, no. You overacted and ran away with my babies. That was way over the top. You could have talked to me; we could have worked it out. Anything would have been better than what you did."

Estrella realized she needed to jump in or the whole dinner was going to be ruined with this argument. "Why don't we table this argument for a later time? Susanna, why don't you and Papa meet tomorrow to continue this conversation? And in the meantime we can talk of more pleasant things. Let me tell you about my clinic."

----

It wasn't until their last day that Suze and Don Stefano got to have their talk. Just because I loved my sister didn't mean I wasn't critical about what she'd done to start this mess rolling downhill. I was ecstatic that we got to reconnect with her kids, now adults. And that little baby girl, wow what a cutie.

I took full advantage of the resort and the boys showed me around, we got to spend some quality time together. I heard the story of their escape from their perspective and they got me caught up with all that happened since they finally settled here in Costa Rica. A Lawyer and an Engineer!

"Aunt Diane, you gotta excuse us, but we've been estranged from you for so long and we escaped so young that we don't have any strong memories of you. We essentially grew up here in Costa Rica, our lives are here, our work is here, our girlfriends, and our futures as well. Heck, even our memories of our mom aren't that good."

I think that was Scott, I was still having trouble cross referencing which one had been Jason and which was Jared. "Well I remember you guys pretty well, 10 years aren't that long from my perspective. And we had the pictures of you around the house to remind us about you. Your mother talked about you guys all the time, so you were never far from our thoughts."

----

When we were finally in our airline seats I could tell Suze was all fired up.

"Do you know what 'Don Stefano' said to me!? He said that since I did the crime, I should be made to do the time. Otherwise he would have had to pay for my crime, and I would have been rewarded. And that would have added insult to injury following my betrayal."

"Uh Suze, how would you have been rewarded?" I knew the answer but I wanted her to get it.

"He said in a divorce the courts would have probably awarded me custody of the kids, let me say in the house, and granted me alimony and child support. He said he considered that to be reward for me cheating. And he counted all that as him being punished for my betrayal."

"That sounds right; I mean that's how divorces usually go. The dad has to move out and the mom gets to stay with the kids to provide them a consistent home life."

"Of course that's how it usually goes. But nooo, Mr. High & Mighty couldn't accept that, he had to take the nuclear option and run away with my babies. Ten years, he took ten years of the most important time of their lives."

"I don't know Suze, it doesn't seem fair that you get the gold and he gets the shaft."

"But that's how it's supposed to go. Besides he could have confronted me, we could have gone to counseling or something. My being with Colin didn't mean we had to end up in divorce court. It was just a little something for myself."

"So being down here this week with the kids, all the therapy you went through, and you still can't see things from Alan's perspective?"

"And that's another thing he said, that seeing me and Colin doing it in his bed, our bed, killed him. He said that's the moment Alan died. He said he had to rebuild his life from the ground up. What a crock."

"Uhm, Suze, did you apologize to Alan for cheating with Colin? Or to the kids?"

"What!? No I didn't. Besides that was ten years ago. What difference would it make today? The conversation never got to that point."

"Hmmm, well you're free now. No more punishment, no more estrangement. You know where your kids are; they want to have a relationship with you. And from the sounds of it their well-off enough to be able to visit you anytime, or host you down here."

"I'm getting a headache. You're starting to sound just like Alan or Julia. I think I need a drink." With that Suze pushed the call button.

When the flight attendant finally came by, I jumped in, "We'll both have rum and cokes. And don't go too far, I have a feeling we're gonna need more than one."

---

Josefina was 18, today!!

Sitting at his favorite table by the pool Don Stefano said to the man across from him, "Enrique, the days and years have flown by. I hardly remember my life before coming here. And you my friend, you have been a wonderful support the whole time."

"It has been my pleasure Stefano; we have had quite the adventure. So far."

"Yes, quite an adventure. It has been mostly sweet, hard but in the end worth it. Hah, look at that silly woman." Don Stefano pointed out Susanna dancing with some man.

"Have you finally forgiven her?"

"Forgive, no. But I do forget, days and sometimes weeks go by when I don't think of her betrayal at all. It all seems so long ago. Almost thirty years now, eh. Although I am glad that she has been able to visit us on special occasions, Estrella has been better for that, at least."

"Algo mas Don?"

"Si Arturo, sientese and join us in a glass of this fine vintage. We've known each other too long to stand on formality any longer."

The three looked at the full dance floor, the swirling bodies of their family and friends. It was happiness all around.

Just then a tall elegant woman came to stand by Don Stefano's chair, and she put her hand on his shoulder in a decidedly possessive gesture, "Mi amore, I think I'm not as tired as I thought. Let's see how many more dances I have in me tonight before we have to go home."

Don Stefano was up in an instant and they were out on the dance floor without delay. Yes, quite an adventure indeed...