"The day I was born is etched upon the minds of all Spaniards." "Not because it was the day" "I came into the world, but because my mother went into labor when..." "People of Spain..." "Franco..." "He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Dead?" "Franco." "Franco's dead." "And my baby?" "Your baby's fine." "Such a coincidence was interpreted by my parents in diametrically opposed ways." "For my mother, an incurable optimist, it was a sign." "Her son heralded a new age and also brought good luck." "My father, an incurable pessimist, said I was born unlucky." "With all the excitement, if it hadn't been for him..." "This first view of the world upside down marked me for life." "I was always terrified of not having my feet firmly on the ground." "And they weren't." "For my father grabbing my leg like that left me with one leg slightly longer than the other." "It didn't show, but my mother had wanted a perfect baby." "She took me to the best traumatologist in town, but all he did was traumatize me." "He wasn't interested in my legs." "He was more interested in Mother's." "...And here in New York the terrible news has been confirmed." "Five shots fired by a fanatical madman have claimed" "John's life." "people are shocked..." "Emilio." "John Lennon's been murdered." "Listen..." "John Lennon!" "The idol of our youth!" "Don't you understand?" "It's the end of an age!" "And the end of our marriage too." "I'm leaving you." "So in 1981, as the world said goodbye to John Lennon, my mother said goodbye to me forever." "You should be happy, my son." "Thanks to you I've found the love of my life." "What about Dad?" "He'll manage." "He's a big boy." "But Dad was devastated." "He felt as if he'd lost everything." "His youth, his wife..." "Everything but his last refuge... his job." "Oh, didn't I tell you?" "My father was the Weather Man." "His forecasts were as popular as his chestnut curls and his Buenos Aires accent." "So this Easter the weather will be fine across the whole country." "I'm so certain that you'll be able to enjoy the sun, sea and sand that if it rains, I'll shave all my hair off." "So even the weather turned against him." "He was like Samson." "With his hair he lost all his strength and what little life was left in him." "With a depressive father and a manic mother who abandoned me at the age of 6." "I soon came to the conclusion that life is chaos and decided to dedicate the rest of my life to combating it." "This is me." "24 years, 7 months, 14 days and 4 hours later." "Every day I cycled to work, in the struggle to combat the sedentary lifestyle." "My muscles, my intestines, my brain and my heart all working like a clock." "Are you all right?" "Yes, I think so." "Sorry." "It was my fault." "Can I help you?" "It's okay, thanks." "Goodness, Serafin!" "5 minutes late." "Two and a half." "Start being unpunctual and you might turn human." "Stage one of in vitro fertilization." "Extraction of ova." "24 years old." "A young patient, good." "What's she like?" "Cute." "Her name's Ariadna." "She's very nice." "Sweet, pretty." "10 little ova" "like 10 little suns." "Let's start." "There it is." "Let me see." "Perfect." "That's done." "Good." "Wasn't that easy?" "It went very well." "You've got... beautiful... ova." "Excuse me." "May I come in?" "Can I see what you do with my ova?" "I'd really like to see." "Come and put this on." "That one's ready for fertilization." "It's... incredible." "You like it?" "The best is yet to come." "Let's see now..." "Here we are." "Sperm XZ322." "I don't want to know." "I don't want to know the father's name." "That's just an alphanumeric" "code." "l don't want to hear that either." "The father doesn't exist." "He has to be anonymous." "Of course, of course." "If the child asked you, what would you say?" ""Your father was a B44"?" "Best not to know anything." "Right." "If you'll just let me..." "The sperm there..." "There we are... and we let them do their job." "Look." "Look how they move!" "As if they were dancing." "Yes..." "Back into the incubator." "And we wait for each little ovum to be penetrated by a spermatozoon to give us fertilized ova." "in other words, embryos." "From which we choose the best for... for... transfer to your uterus." "It's fantastic." "Like magic." "It may look like magic but it's science." "The science of love." "What does an embryo look like?" "It must be incredible." "Well, it looks like... an embryo." "Dad." "What are you doing?" "Thank goodness." "I thought I'd lost it." "Put it down there." "This place is like a pigsty." "It looks okay to me." "Look..." "This makes 4 eggs in a week." "Bad for your cholesterol levels." "I won't tell you again." "I don't want anybody counting my eggs, okay?" "Look!" "Look!" "How can you spend all day watching disaster clips?" "What about you making babies as if they were cars?" "Dad, what I do is about progress." "Disaster and progress go hand in hand." "With the first boat came the first shipwreck." "Look at that!" "A whole church sky high!" "Well, out with it." "What?" "What do you mean "what"?" "With what's on your mind." "You never come in here to watch TV with me with that look on your face." "I met a girl..." "A patient at the clinic." "I'm preparing an embryo for transfer to her..." "Nice?" "Very nice, with excellent cellular division." "I meant the girl!" "The girl, not her eggs!" "She is... perfect." "Too bad, son." "You're headed for disaster." "Why?" "Because I like a girl?" "Love's supposed to be..." "A disaster." "What do a woman and a hurricane have in common?" "They come to you warm and wet and leave you with no car or house." "Didn't you Like it?" "I don't know why I told you." "Because you're shitting your pants." "And because I have experience." "Careful, son!" "Watch your step..." "Dad, for goodness sake!" "When this happens I always say the same thing to my patients." "Go for a walk, give yourself a treat." "A shiatsu massage is great too." "Okay?" "Mr. and Mrs. Olmeda?" "And above all no tears, okay?" "Pleased to meet you." "Come in, please." "There, there..." "What's the matter?" "I've lost them, Serafin." "They've gone." "Who's gone?" "The embryos." "The ones you put inside me, that were so perfect." "Maybe it's me and I can't be a mother." "Don't be silly." "Here, sit down a minute." "What's happened is quite normal." "Few women get pregnant the first time." "Sure... but I haven't got much money." "Maybe I should forget it." "Don't say that." "By the second attempt, 60 percent of women your age get pregnant." "What if I'm one of the 40 percent who don't?" "It's not a very scientific science." "I... shouldn't say this... but in your case" "I've a feeling it's going to work." "You do?" "Really?" "Yes." "You're wonderful." "You've convinced me." "Great." "Now all we need is some first-class sperm." "And I promise you'll get it." "Sperm XZ2000B again?" "That sperm's already fertilized... 4 patients." "You'll flood the world with XZs!" "No, no." "Listen to me." "This patient is very, very special." "I want the sperm to be exceptional, understand?" "This is a disaster." "What's wrong?" "It's the slowest, most sluggish sperm I've ever seen." "If you say so." "And the others?" "Terrible." "Look." "These don't centrifuge well at all." "Number 4 here, just looking at it turns my stomach." "And this last sample looks like... it comes from some 90-year-old at death's door." "Then we have a problem." "Ariadna's in the operating room." "What do you want me to do about it?" "The emergency method." "For serious problems, extreme technical solutions." "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe, catch a tiger by the toe..." "this one I'll do." "This one, okay?" "Sorry..." "The effect will wear off..." "A little more." "Ready." "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." "Are you sure?" "A bit dizzy, that's all." "Hey!" "What are you doing?" "l needed some oxygen." "Well you just took some sedative, silly." "That's the oxygen there." "I'm surprised you're still standing." "Gloria." "Give me a hand." "Let's get this done." "No, I'm all right." "Serafin." "That's it." "Now the test tube." "And the pipette." "No." "No." "This can't be happening." "What could I do?" "I had two alternatives..." "Admit I'd made a mistake and fertilization would fail or..." "What's this disgusting stuff you've dropped on the floor?" "Serafin!" "I'm pregnant!" "I'm pregnant!" "Good, good." "But don't jump up and down!" "It's not good for..." "You're right." "It's just that I'm so happy!" "Oh, Serafin!" "This baby inside me owes you so much." "You've put so much into it." "Yes!" "So much science, so much technique." "The worst part is that we won't meet again." "No... we won't." "But I'll bring the baby in for you to see." "And a photo for your board." "Take care." "Take care." "Yes." "Bye." "She was going." "Out of my life for ever." "I was losing her." "With something of mine inside her." "Something tiny, microscopic, still ridiculously small but my flesh and blood, with my genes." "Without doubt, among all the animals the emperor penguin deserves the title of "perfect father."" "For it is the males who keep their young warm through the long Antarctic winter, in temperatures of 50° below zero and losing half their body weight as they give warmth and food to offspring who would never survive" "without the loving care of their penguin papas." "What could be more beautiful than a father's love for his young?" "Dad..." "What's the matter?" "Have you been peeling onions or something?" "Dad..." "What are you doing?" "You're dribbling all over me!" "I need to..." "You need to what?" "Feel what a father's love's like." "This bed's too small, you're too big, and I'm too old to feel..." "Look..." "Tell me things about when I was little." "What do you want me to say?" "When Mum left... you had to look after me." "Father and son united... beautiful." "Not at all." "More like depressing." "I was in a bad way and you were" "a pretty weird child." "But you played with me..." "You didn't Like playing on your own and you had no friends, so I had to be the dragon, the princess the robber and the pirate all in one." "And you always had to be the hero, which I deeply regret." "But for... a son... who grows up without his father..." "it must be traumatic..." "It depends." "Depends?" "On what?" "On the father, the son and the age." "At your age and mine, Serafin, this is aberrant." "Get out of here and leave me alone." "Go to your own bed." "Go on." "It's no use chasing after something that's running away from us." "Ariadna wanted a child by an anonymous father and I'd decided to be just that..." "Anonymous." "But fate..." "whimsical, indomitable fate... was playing dirty behind my back." "That morning, little Diego Salvaterra, a 10-year-old boy with a weakness for chocolate-coated cereals, knocked over a pile of boxes and grabbed the one closest to his left foot." "It so happened that the box of cereals held a prize... two free tickets for the circus." "Overcome by excitement, little Diego scoffed the whole box of cereals, which gave him stomach ache, but this did not stop him from inviting a classmate, little Inez, to the circus." "Now Inez wore a dress, short and redolent of flowery, pink panties, for which Diego had a spot just as soft as he had for chocolate-coated cereals." "Inez was about to accept when little Diego Salvaterra, stricken by a stomach cramp, threw up over Inez's dress and Inez decided she was too young for boys." "Deeply wounded by Inez's refusal, little Diego turned to Miss Marina, his math's teacher, to whom he gave the tickets together with a disastrous exercise in the hope of a better mark." "That afternoon Marina felt a weakness in her legs." "Attributing it to tiredness, she decided to take a white coffee in a bar which was on her way home and she'd never entered before." "Little Diego's gift did not save him from his bad mark, but Marina kept the tickets anyway and decided to treat her mother, who loved clowns and elephants, to the circus." "Marina was about to call her mother when she felt her period start, which explained her weak legs, so she ran off to buy some sanitary pads with wings, leaving the tickets on the table with her coffee." "So there was I, trying to find some sense in life, with two circus tickets in my hand." "It was her!" "Ariadna." "Hanging head-down like a bat." "With my baby in her!" "So irresponsible!" "Didn't she think of the risk to my baby?" "Where am I?" "Am I dead?" "You fainted." "Yes..." "Can you leave us?" "He's all right." "What a surprise." "Somebody faints and it turns out to be you." "Did you come to see me?" "Not exactly." "Actually it was all a coincidence." "Really?" "Anyway, I was sure we'd see each other again." "Pity you missed the end of my act." "It's the nicest part." "Nice?" "I'm sorry but it was like a horror film to me." "Why?" "You were risking the baby's life." "The baby I gave you... I mean we gave you." "The one we inseminated you for..." "Pregnancy's hard to achieve." "You don't want to spoil it all now." "Ever dreamed you were flying?" "Isn't it fantastic?" "That's how I feel on the trapeze." "Like I'm flying, weightless, defying gravity." "Stop, stop for goodness sake!" "For goodness sake!" "You don't like it?" "It's not a question of whether I like it or not." "So what is it a question of?" "Of man never being meant to fly." "Feet are for planting firmly on the ground." "Hey, Ignatof." "You see?" "The exception that confirms the rule." "If flying was good for us, we'd all have wings." "But that's not the case." "We invented aero planes." "That's what I mean." "Look at all the childless air hostesses there are." "And you know why?" "Because heights are extremely dangerous for pregnant women." "Female mountaineers and astronauts have the same problem." "Staying for supper?" "Some other time." "This is where l live." "Thanks for coming with me." "We'll see each other again?" "Of course, some day." "Would tomorrow be a good day?" "I could pick you up." "Okay." "in the evening." "At 8.45?" "8.48 would be okay too." "Go away, dog!" "Go away!" "I know I look terrible, Ariadna." "But it's the thought that counts and I wanted to please you." "These are for you." "They're very pretty." "But I'm not Ariadna." "What?" "I'm her twin sister, Penelope." "Come on in." "Incredible." "You're identical." "How silly of me, you're twins after all." "I didn't know" "Ariadna had a sister." "Go up to her." "She's expecting you." "The way to Ariadna's heart was like that staircase." "I had to take it step by step." "And most important of all, not rush things." "No throwing myself into her arms and saying I couldn't live without her or my baby." "On that first date I'd just give her the flowers and chat informally..." "I love you, I love you, you're so beautiful, so wonderful." "Hold on, hold on." "We're going too fast." "What do you mean, Serafin?" "Look... come here." "Foreplay... is very important." "If I may..." "One... two... three..." "So how long does the foreplay last?" "That depends on the individual." "Women generally need half an hour." "Half an hour!" "If you like..." "I'll move on to stimulating... your nipples." "That might accelerate the process." "Stop!" "Stop!" "Please, stop." "Am I over stimulating you?" "I'll move on." "Do it." "Your navel's so beautiful." "Your belly's so... so... so..." "Pregnant." "Go on." "Is this a good idea?" "Avery good idea." "What's that?" "A dog!" "It's Friday." "Hi, handsome." "You have a dog on Fridays?" "No, that's his name." "It attacked me!" "What's it doing here?" "It's a local stray." "We feed it." "Friday!" "Sorry. I was dressing a cut he had" "and he ran away." "Don't touch it!" "Don't touch it!" "It's all right." "Penelope, Serafin..." "You've already met." "I'll take him." "We should keep him." "I agree." "Right." "Now come here." "Wait, wait, wait." "What's all this about keeping him?" "That dog can't stay here." "Why not?" "He's a good dog and he's all alone." "Because it's a stray and it has a cut and could transmit infections." "And parasites." "And... we have to do something." "No!" "Dad, please!" "Out!" "Out!" "You can't bring dogs here!" "What do I want one for?" "Are you mad?" "Friday, sit down." "Not even in English..." "Get rid of it now." "I can't, Dad." "It's ours." "It's our dog." "I didn't let you have a dog as a child and you can't have one now!" "Dad, Dad." "Listen to me." "It's a matter of life and death." "I have to tell you something." "It'd better be good." "Give me a drink." "What?" "Dad, please." "All that's missing in here is the barman." "Whisky or rum?" "Both." "Goodness me." "I can see you and the dog sleeping it off in here." "Now I know that most couples do it the other way around..." "They fall in love and if they decide to have a baby... they get down to business later." "Well, we're the same, except that we started at the end." "That's not so bad, is it?" "Give me a swig." "So... do you think she'll be angry?" "Well..." "You tricked her, took advantage of her, lied to her..." "No." "She won't be angry." "She'll just never forgive you." "She'll never want to see you again." "But that's nothing." "She'll probably report you too." "You'll lose your job, and get depressed and end up in an asylum... lf you're lucky." "So shall I just keep my mouth shut?" "Whether you do or not, I don't think you'll escape disaster." "Think of your semen as the first few drops of a great flood that will drown us all." "Tell her the truth." "Can't go on like this." "Things could get worse." "Better tell her the truth." "Better tell her the truth." "Tell her the truth." "Poor Serafin!" "There'll be no lies on Judgment Day." "Better tell the truth." "Better tell the truth." "Tell her the truth." "To stop thinking, to stop feeling bad, to stop pretending, to stop looking back, to stop suffering..." "tell her the truth." "Tell her the truth." "I'll have seaweed salad." "Only seaweed salad?" "Why not have some meat or fish?" "For your vitamin and protein intake." "My stomach isn't a laboratory," "Serafin." "But okay." "Sushi with tuna fish for me." "Raw fish?" "Raw fish... no way." "Tuna fish, but it must be very, very well done." "And I'll have the same." "That way we rule out anisakis." "Don't worry, sir." "Our fish is very fresh." "There's no danger." "No-one can guarantee that 100 percent." "We want it very, very well done." "Right." "That's tuna fish... overcooked, no anisakis..." "Thank you." "Sorry if I went on about the food." "I only want the best for you and the baby." "There's something else I wanted to tell you... I was going to wait till dessert but I feel so nervous and impulsive that I just can't wait." "Seaweed salad." "Ariadna..." "That's pretty!" "It's a ring." "I was thinking... the baby's almost due and I'd love... to give it my surname." "Will you marry me?" "You're so funny." "What's funny about this?" "The baby won't need your surname." "He's got one already." "I hoped you'd feel flattered." "I know before we met you wanted to be a single mother but we love each other, so why deny the poor thing a father?" "Well, you see..." "I'm not the mother." "What?" "The baby's not for me." "It's for my sister." "Penelope." "This has got to be a joke." "You're having me on." "No, I'm not." "Really." "She always wanted to be a mother, but she can't have kids." "What are you saying?" "She had an accident some years ago." "She fell off the trapeze." "So we decided I'd have a baby for her." "You're crazy." "You're crazy." "You can't do this to me." "Why?" "I think it's very nice." "And my sister's happy." "And I'm still young so I can have kids of my own in the future." "The future..." "the future doesn't exist." "The only thing that's real is that baby in there that I..." "This can't be happening!" "Maybe I should have told you before but I didn't think" "you'd take it so badly." "Oh, God!" "Oh, my goodness!" "Your tuna fish." "That's not for you!" "Why?" "Why is it so difficult to steer the course of our own lives?" "Why are we doomed to drift aimlessly, without a rudder?" "." "Is there any point in dodging the slings and arrows of fortune?" "Wouldn't it just be better to give in?" "To give up?" "Serafin!" "Serafin!" "What is it?" "That dog needs taking out before it fills the place with shit!" "I am not getting out of bed, Dad!" "I've renounced the world!" "Can't you think of anything more original than copying your father?" "I'm just taking your example." "No, sir." "With me it's different." "Mine is an ethical posture towards life." "Since when is staying in bed an ethical posture?" "Yes, sir." "Posture as in Onetti!" "Does the name ring a bell?" "More than posture, that's a pose." "You're ridiculous." "You got out of bed!" "Well, someone has to show a little common sense in this house." "I'm taking that mutt out before it drives us crazy." "Friday." "His name's Friday." "I don't give a shit what his name is!" "I hold you responsible if this dog pisses in the doorway, the janitor refuses to take the garbage down and this place gets full of shit and we get kicked out!" "I said "responsible"!" "What if it bites someone and they report us to the police and I have a panic attack and die of heart failure?" "I said "responsible"!" "And will you get out of bed!" "I hate being imitated." "You're Like some clone!" "Where are you taking me walkies?" "To Moscow?" "l don't believe it!" "All right, I'll move on." "He was only having a pee." "No, it's not that." "It's just that I'm surprised to see you after so many years." "How are you?" "I'm dog sitting, as you can see." "Would you like a coffee?" "Thanks, but I'm in a hurry, and being out like this makes me dizzy." "Come on, you mutt." "Before you go..." "What's the weather going to be Like today?" "How should I know?" "Leave the ladies alone." "That's all I need." "If it rains on my tables, they'll get spoilt." "You really don't know?" "I haven't forecast the weather for years." "I bet you haven't lost your touch." "It must be instinctive." "The only one with instinct is Fido here." "I think it's going to be fine." "Everything looks black to me." "Like stormy black?" "Black... just black." "Come on!" "Hey, son, take the tables in." "But I just got them out!" "Do it!" "So you're going out after all?" "Yes." "You were fickle even as a child." "Thank goodness you've got me." "There they both were." "How could Ariadna do this to me?" "Give my son to her sister like some birthday present." "I had to stop her." "But how?" "." "What could I do?" "I'd go to her and talk her out of it." "I'd find exactly the right words," "I'd be persuasive, convincing, rational, restrained..." "You stupid!" "You're acting so stupid, you make me sick." "Serafin." "Don't talk to me like that!" "I don't get it." "How can you give up the baby?" "Don't you realize it's yours?" "It's your own flesh and blood." "Where's your maternal instinct?" "I don't know." "Maybe I haven't got any." "How can you say that?" "l don't want children yet." "But I was so happy about it." "And I've got paternal instinct." "A huge amount of it." "And I've been with you all this time and seen the baby grow inside you." "So what?" "What do you mean?" "Doesn't that give me some rights?" "No." "It doesn't and you're going over the top." "It's my life, my body and my decision." "You're only in love with my belly." "But you and your belly are you." "They're the same thing." "Serafin, you're acting weird, obsessively and..." "What's the matter?" "What do you think?" "What shall we do?" "Go to the hospital." "The hospital." "Call a taxi." "A taxi." "Help!" "Please!" "Please!" "Help!" "Taxi!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "The maternity ward at the hospital!" "And step on it!" "Take it easy, okay?" "Hey!" "Ari...?" "What?" "I don't know how to say this but..." "Just a moment." "Wait here." "Take her to the delivery room." "I love you." "We need her details." "Are you the father?" "Yes... well, no..." "Is that yes or no?" "It depends... lf it depends then you can't go through." "Oh, God!" "What's the matter?" "Is something wrong?" "Wrong?" "Worse than wrong." "Once again life had left me out at the most important time." "When my son was fighting to be born." "Alone, deprived of the security of a father's presence." "Please..." "I can't breathe." "That was my son." "A wonderful child." "A creature unique to the universe." "Special, matchless..." "While other fathers would be able to enjoy their children," "I had to say goodbye to mine." "No, Serafin, you'll never be a father." "That's your son but he's not for you." "You'll be a childless father." "He'll be a fatherless son." "It's late." "You should go home." "Just a little longer." "Go on, you've got the rest of your life to be with him." "I'd have to hide where no-one would ever find me." "I'd go wherever necessary..." "To the ends of the earth if need be." "Even if it meant being shut up between four walls, my son and I would have all that we needed..." "Our love." "With each new day I was astonished at how much he was like me." "He did all his little things with clock-like precision." "Just like his father." "That room was our shrine." "But a baby can't be shut away forever." "Babies need daylight to synthesize vitamin D." "I mean, what could happen?" "A father and son in the park." "Nothing suspicious in that." "Who'd be interested in us?" "What a lovely baby." "So nice to see the father looking after a baby." "Goochie, goochie." "Teresa." "That baby looks hungry." "Isn't he breastfed?" "No." "I breastfed mine till he was 3 years old." "Does he eat well?" "Mine doesn't like bottles." "Breastfeeding's best." "But it ties you down." "This way the father can help out." "Isn't he lovely?" "He's never been breastfed?" "No." "And your wife agrees?" "My wife died." "The poor thing!" "And poor you." "And the poor baby." "Did she die" "giving birth?" "It's a very long story." "She was an angel." "Too good for this world." "She was always laughing, doing new things..." "She was a trapeze artist." "I've got a photo." "Her name's Ariadna... was Ariadna." "Very pretty." "And the baby looks just like her." "She changed me." "Until I met her I believed everything could be reduced to probabilities, percentages." "But she showed me that some things can't be measured." "What percentage could express how much I loved her?" "A hundred percent?" "Too little." "Two hundred?" "A thousand?" "A million?" "I've lost her and the emptiness is so great... that it's immeasurable and nothing can fill it." "What a fool I've been." "It was my fault." "It's not your fault." "I supplied the semen..." "I supplied the semen..." "You don't understand." "Of course we do." "But that didn't kill her." "It was just bad luck." "I must go and see her... talk to her." "Look, you have to accept it." "She's dead now." "Her grave." "I have to go to her grave." "He looked up at the sky and said it'd rain, and saved all my new tables and chairs." "Pure coincidence." "Dogs like prawns, don't they?" "I want to share this moment with him." "Thanks to him, I got out of the house again." "I'll bring him some lamb chops." "He'll lick his paws." "Fine, fine." "I saw you when I was a kid." "You had curly hair, didn't you?" "I did have." "You're more handsome now." "Men get more attractive as they age, more interesting." "Do they really?" "Yes." "Friday!" "Excuse me a minute." "Go away, Friday, go away!" "Hello, Dad." "How are you?" "It's me." "I know it's you!" "What are you doing dressed up like that?" "Please, don't talk so loud." "Keep your voice down." "First you disappear then you turn up looking like that." "Have you done something silly?" "You don't know?" "Know what?" "Didn't the police go?" "The police?" "Have you got yourself into trouble?" "I'll explain later." "Now I need you to do me a favor." "Come here." "This is Prospero Hernandez." "He's your grandson." "Hold him." "Look after him for a while." "Careful with his head." "What the...?" "Forgive me, forgive me." "Forgive me, Ariadna, I'm begging you." "Serafin!" "What are you doing?" "Get up!" "Only if you say forgive me." "I'm a monster, an utter swine, but I can't live without you." "Come on, get up." "It can't be that bad." ""Can't be that bad"!" "What do you mean?" "How can I undo all the damage I've done you?" "I've already forgiven you." "What?" "I forgive you." "I've really missed you." "It can't be..." "It can't be... as easy as this." "Shut up and kiss me." "Where are you taking me?" "To heaven." "I still can't believe it." "I must be dreaming." "I've something to tell you." "I knew it!" "You haven't forgiven me." "You never want to see me again." "No, my love..." "I have to go away." "Go away?" "Where to?" "On tour for 6 months." "We leave this evening." "This evening?" "Six months?" "Why not come with me?" "What?" "Come with me on the tour." "I couldn't earn a living working at a circus." "Serafin, it would be so nice." "We'd go to some fantastic places together." "Would we have to fly?" "We could always take trains." "Say you will, say you will." "What about the baby?" "Who'll look after him?" "His mother, Penelope." "Of course... his mother." "Silly of me." "Penelope." "Look, here they come." "I'm dying for you to meet him." "Meet who?" "What's that?" "What's that?" "It's Ulysses, Penelope's son." "What was happening?" "Isn't he beautiful?" "If Penelope had a son, then whose baby had I stolen?" "How could I have made such a terrible mistake?" "How could my paternal instinct have failed me so?" "Of course, all new-born babies do look similar..." "I went back to the hospital." "I had to get the address of the poor parents and give them the baby back." "The fire brigade." "The address the nurse had given me was the fire station." "So there I was, waiting to give the baby back to Prospero's father." "I'd tell him some lie." "Whatever..." "But if he thought I'd stolen his baby, he'd crush me like a fly." "in my mind's eye... he was tall, strong, athletic, as big as a house... and black!" "My son's father was black!" "Is this him?" "Mind his head." "He's cute." "And big too." "We didn't think much of his chances when I found him." "You should have seen him." "So small and naked." "He'd been thrown into a skip like rubbish." "I did what I could." "We took him to hospital and I gave him my name." "So hasn't he got any parents?" "I'm afraid not." "And he's such a cute little thing." "It's a pity you can't keep him." "He seems to like you." "He hasn't come." "Isn't that strange?" "He'll come." "He loves you and won't let you go alone." "Do you think so?" "It wouldn't be the first time he'd disappeared." "He doesn't want you to go." "Time for his feed." "Go on." "Take care and call or write." "Or both." "I'll send a carrier pigeon." "Serafin will come, I'm sure he will." "Off you go." "Can you give me a hand?" "Everything's going to be fine." "You are a beautiful baby." "in a minute some nice lady will find you and be your new mummy." "Come on, darling." "You see?" "What do you think of her?" "She's pretty." "And you'll have a brother." "Are you stupid?" "Didn't you say you wanted a wee-wee?" "Sometimes I could..." "Bloody kids!" "No, we don't Like her." "But there are more." "The world's full of parents who'll look after you much better than me." "Well, I must go or I'll be late." "I'M PROSPERO." "I NEED PARENTS." "Don't look at me like that." "It's the only way." "It's you or her." "Goodbye." "My son!" "My son!" "...and we'll play cards and have such a good time together." "Madam, that's my baby." "He was abandoned." "No..." "Abandoned!" "l forgot him." "Just for 5 minutes." "Let go." "What kind of father do you take me for?" "Who will I play with now?" "By jumping off that train I'd lost the love of my life." "An absurd fate for which only I was to blame had turned me into a father." "So I committed myself for life." "SOME TIME LATER" "Ariadna?" "Yes." "Thank you for coming." "I'm his son." "How is he?" "Bad." "He's been asking for you for days." "All these years... I never stopped thinking of you." "Don't talk, Serafin." "I have to tell you something." "I... put my semen..." "It was a recurrent nightmare." "Because I couldn't forget Ariadna." "For months I'd followed the Serendipity Circus's progress and had sent postcards to wherever they happened to be." "But she never answered." "And the day came when I gave up." "RETURNED" "I assumed she didn't want to hear from me." "The case was the opposite with my son, Prospero, who needed me more and more." "As I needed him." "No, here, here." "This one here." "Breaking news." "Dismay in the world of show business." "A fierce blaze has completely destroyed the Serendipity Circus, which was on a world tour." "One of the artists told us about it..." "Dad." "Shall I take the baby to the natural science museum to the exhibition or to the archaeological museum?" "Serafin..." "Serafin..." "Sit down and listen to me but please don't get hysterical." "What is it?" "Have you got cancer?" "Have I?" "Has the baby?" "Ariadna's circus has burned down." "But no-one was hurt." "The fire destroyed the circus but they're all okay." "They're all okay." "The poor thing!" "How she must feel." "All alone and so far away and I can't do a thing to help." "Yes, you can." "They've all come back." "Tonight they're giving a special fund-raising performance to rebuild the circus..." "It's terrible!" "I've no excuse..." "I should go but... I need... some kind of nudge... a push..." "Make me go." "Make you go?" "Yes." "Tell me... you're ashamed to be my father." "That I'm a coward." "No, you're not a coward." "You're just selfishness in person." "You ask for advice and don't listen, you want to control everything but can't even control yourself." "You're fainthearted and neurotic." "You don't deserve that girl." "No, don't go." "Don't go!" "And that's that." "Thank you very much, Dad." "I'll go now and tell her everything." "What is it?" "Aren't you forgetting something?" "I can't take the baby along." "I see." "So you're going to tell her everything except for about 90 percent." "I panicked for a moment." "Let's go." "What did you say?" "What did you say?" "No... he's a good boy." "Of course he is." "Excuse me." "Where are the circus people?" "On the terrace roof." "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere." "I want Ariadna, the trapeze artist." "They can't be disturbed." "They're rehearsing." "Do you eat yoghurt?" "Of course." "Well, you be careful, because I've got a friend as big as you and when he eats yoghurt it's expired by the time it's reached his stomach." "It's a long time since anyone told me such a bad joke." "Yes, it is bad." "Really bad." "Could I see Ariadna just for a second?" "All right, if it's so important." "Wait here." "So this was the new Serafin." "Self-assured, resolved, with a sense of humor..." "And a coward." "I was running with my tail between my legs when cruel fate decided to play one last trick on me." "There were Penelope and Ulysses." "I walked towards them anticipating the end of my odyssey." "Serafin?" "Penelope." "Is this your son?" "Daddy?" "He just said his first word and he's hardly one year old." "Very good, Prospero." "Bravo." "Is it your baby?" "Yes." "But he's the same age as Ulysses!" "I came to tell Ariadna everything but I'm too scared." "Really?" "Why?" "If I tell her the truth I'll die..." "if she doesn't kill me first." "Then it's just as well you found me and not her." "Penelope!" "Yes?" "Sorry." "I didn't recognize you." "I've lost my glasses." "Do you know where Ariadna is?" "She's not in there." "She's looking after my son." "l went to get some baby food." "Baby food?" "Start with the baby." "There must be another woman." "That's why you left Ariadna." "No, no..." "She's the only girl I've ever loved!" "Really?" "So why did you keep disappearing?" "Why did you let her go?" "Why?" "Okay, okay." "I'll tell you." "But promise you won't tell Ariadna." "I'll promise whatever you like." "But tell me, please." "It all began the opposite way around from how it should have..." "Ariadna!" "Hurry up, they're waiting for you." "Hi, Serafin." "But..." "Are you...?" "Ariadna." "Don't give your glasses to Ulysses again." "He'll break them." "I've been looking for them everywhere." "Bye." "I thought that she was you." "Ariadna pretended to be me?" "As kids we did that all the time." "I want to die!" "Not before the show." "It's the law of the circus." "Thank you for coming tonight." "The circus can't live on without you." "And I need your help too." "Any volunteers?" "Come on, someone who's not afraid." "Someone capable of doing crazy things." "No, not me." "Let's hear it for a brave man!" "What are you going to do?" "You'll see." "I hope it isn't revenge." "Of course not." "This is a romantic number." "Just sit there, and trust me." "Who'd have thought I'd end up up here with Ariadna?" "Up in the air, walking on air." "There's Penelope and her son with my genes and Ariadna's." "And prospero, who doesn't have them, but who's my son." "After all, who cares who supplied the first drop?" "SEMEN a love story"