The rebels finally arrive in Havana, and the US government officially recognizes Urrutia as the legitimate head of the Cuban government. Emilio tells the family that Batista loyalists are being executed or suffering the seizure of their property and money. Batista is in waiting in the Dominican Republic, another Caribbean island nation led by a brutal dictator. The Perez family still has its funds that are held by foreign banks, but their situation is clearly growing more precarious every day. When the family watches Fidel address the country on television the night of January 8, they are struck by the adoring people who watch him as he speaks on the grounds of the Columbia Barracks, which once belonged to the US. The next morning, Guillermo, Pablo’s friend, comes to the house to tell Elisa that Pablo is dead.

Marisol spends the trip back from Santa Clara digesting the news: The implications are that she is Pablo’s granddaughter and that the man she called her grandfather is no relation to her. Furthermore, Emilio and her Ferrera grandfather must have known Elisa was pregnant because of the birthdate of her child. While Elisa always implied that the rushed wedding was because of the uncertainty of the times, the truth is that she married hastily because of the baby.