{"id":321,"date":"2024-11-05T09:27:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T09:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/?p=321"},"modified":"2024-11-05T09:27:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T09:27:08","slug":"i-came-home-early-went-pale-when-i-saw-my-husband-performing-his-spanish-tradition-over-our-6-month-old-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/archives\/321","title":{"rendered":"I Came Home Early & Went Pale When I Saw My Husband Performing His Spanish Tradition over Our 6-Month-Old Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Tess walks into a terrifying scene of her husband, dressed as a menacing character, jumping over their six-month-old baby, she loses it. What on earth could Javier be doing? And why would he do it behind her back?\n

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I wasn\u2019t supposed to be home yet.\n\n

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That thought kept running through my mind as I stood frozen in the doorway, my keys still dangling from my hand. I had come back early from visiting my sister, who was scheduled to give birth at any moment.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cGo home, Tess,\u201d she said, rubbing her big belly. \u201cDante and Javier need you. I\u2019m just impatiently waiting for my little girl to pop out.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cAre you sure, Kayla?\u201d I asked as I made her a smoothie. \u201cI know how I felt when I was almost ready to give birth to Dante. Everyone was around me, but I felt lonely. It was like they only worried about the baby, not me.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cI know,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m okay, I promise you. Go home, and when your niece is born, you\u2019ll be the first to know!\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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And that\u2019s how I ended up home early. I thought that maybe I\u2019d surprise my husband, Javier, have a quiet evening together with our six-month-old son, Dante, and just be in our little bubble.\n\n
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But now?\n\n
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Now, looking at the scene in front of me, I couldn\u2019t even breathe.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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In front of me, my husband was dressed head to toe in a ridiculous devil costume. I\u2019m talking about the full rigout, the horns, the red cape, the whole works.\n\n
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And my baby? My precious boy lay on the floor on top of a mattress, completely unaware of the madness happening around him. My eyes darted between them, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.\n\n
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It wasn\u2019t Halloween. It was nowhere close to October.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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My brain was refusing to catch up with the reality in front of me.\n\n
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Then, my husband\u00a0jumped.\n\n
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He jumped over our baby.\n\n
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A small, strangled noise escaped my throat.\n\n
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What the hell was going on?\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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I wasn\u2019t sure if I was hallucinating. Maybe I was still exhausted from my trip to see Kayla. But no, not even exhaustion could make this up.\n\n
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It was real.\u00a0Too real.\n\n
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\u201cAre you insane?!\u201d I screamed, my voice shaky and high-pitched. \u201cWhat the hell are you doing, Javier?\u201d\n\n
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The words exploded out of me before I even had a chance to think. My heart was pounding in my ears, and my legs felt like they might give out.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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My husband, the man I married, despite his family\u2019s protests about the cultural barriers between us, had just leaped over our child like it was some sort of bizarre sporting event.\n\n
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Javier froze in mid-leap, stumbling as he landed. He almost tripped over the cape, which fluttered awkwardly as he turned to face me.\n\n
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He was\u00a0still\u00a0wearing that stupid devil mask.\n\n
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Behind him, his mother stood off to the side, calmly recording the whole ordeal on her phone.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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As if this was just another day at the office.\n\n
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She looked\u2026 proud.\n\n
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What the heck?\n\n
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\u201cWait, wait! It\u2019s not what it looks like!\u201d my husband said, ripping off the mask. \u201cLet me explain!\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n
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\u201cExplain?\u201d I shrieked. \u201cWhat could possibly explain this? You\u2019re in our living room, dressed like the devil and jumping over our baby! Javier, what in the actual hell is going on?\u201d\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s not dangerous,\u201d he blurted out, as if that was the best thing to say. He raised his hands like he was trying to soothe a wild animal. \u201cIt\u2019s not anything dangerous, Tess, I swear.\u201d\n\n
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I took a step back.\n\n
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$\"An$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re jumping over our child, Javier. What if you missed and jumped on him? How can you not see how dangerous this is?\u201d\n\n
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Javier flinched, glancing back at our son, who was still lying on his tummy-time mattress, completely unaware of the chaos around him.\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a tradition, Tess,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s from our village in Spain. It\u2019s a tradition called\u00a0El Colacho. It\u2019s done every single year. And it\u2019s supposed to ward off evil spirits and protect babies from bad luck.\u201d\n\n
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$\"An$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cEl Colacho?\u201d I echoed, my voice thick with disbelief. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me that you\u2019re dressed like the devil, jumping over our son because of some village superstition?\u201d\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s not just a superstition, Tess,\u201d his mother, Lucia, chimed in, still holding up her phone, filming everything.\n\n
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Including my reaction.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n
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She had a small smile on her face, like she couldn\u2019t understand why I wasn\u2019t thrilled by this.\n\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a very old tradition, my dear. It\u2019s good luck for the baby. It\u2019s supposed to keep evil away from him forever. Babies are very vulnerable to spirits and energies. This tradition keeps the bad ones away.\u201d\n\n
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I stared at my mother-in-law, then at Javier.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a tradition from under the sea or from the moon. Why didn\u2019t you tell me you were planning to do this? If it\u2019s so important, then don\u2019t you think his mother should have known?\u201d\n\n
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Javier rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my eyes.\n\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t think you\u2019d understand\u2026\u201d\n\n
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\u201cOf course I don\u2019t understand!\u201d I could feel my anger boiling over. \u201cYou\u2019re jumping over our baby like he\u2019s some kind of obstacle! From my point of view, I didn\u2019t know if you were going to hurt him or worse!\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to hurt him, Tess,\u201d Javier said quietly, stepping toward me again, his voice soft. \u201cHow could you think that? I\u2019d never hurt Dante. It\u2019s just something we do. It\u2019s been done for generations in my family. How could we ignore it? Especially with Dante being the first-born grandchild in this family?\u201d\n\n
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\u201cBut why not tell me?\u201d I repeated.\n\n
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I felt betrayed, blindsided by the whole situation.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI deserve to know what\u2019s happening with our child, Javier! You should have told me. You should have prepared me.\u201d\n\n
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His shoulders slumped as guilt spread across his face.\n\n
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\u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to come home until later. I was going to explain it to you then.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cAfter? After what? After I walk in and see you leaping over our child like a mad man?\u201d\n\n
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$\"An$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t think it would go like this. I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he winced.\n\n
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\u201cAnd what if I wanted to be a part of it? You and Lucia could have explained it to me properly, and we could have done it as a family.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said flatly.\n\n
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I couldn\u2019t shake the image of him, dressed like a devil, soaring over our baby while his mother stood there.\n\n
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\u201cWhat if something had gone wrong? What if you\u2019d slipped?\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have!\u201d he said. \u201cTess, I\u2019m careful. I promise you. This is supposed to bring good luck, not harm.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t care about your stupid good luck,\u201d I snapped. \u201cWhat about me? You didn\u2019t think I should know?\u201d\n\n
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He looked down, ashamed of himself.\n\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t think you\u2019d react like this.\u201d\n\n
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I swallowed hard.\n\n
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\u201cI know you come from a different culture, and I respect that. But when it comes to our baby, I need to be part of these decisions. You can\u2019t just spring something like this on me. While you\u2019re doing it.\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d\n\n
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I sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed. My anger was still there, but beneath it, I felt something else. A gnawing guilt.\n\n
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Maybe I had overreacted. Maybe I should\u2019ve asked more questions before flying off the handle. But I couldn\u2019t shake the image of my baby lying there while Javier jumped over him.\n\n
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\u201cYou should have told me,\u201d I said, rubbing my temples. \u201cPlease, give me the baby.\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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\u201cI know,\u201d he said, stepping closer to pick Dante up. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll never keep something like this from you again.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cI\u2019m going home,\u201d Lucia suddenly announced as she put her phone away. \u201cThis was a good thing, Tess. Don\u2019t overreact about it. This will protect your son.\u201d\n\n
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She walked out of the room in silence and let herself out.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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For a long moment, neither of us said anything. I just held onto Dante and tried to understand how I should feel.\n\n
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The room felt too quiet.\u00a0Too tense.\n\n
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\u201cNext time, no surprises. I need to know what\u2019s going on with our family. Especially when it comes to traditions that I don\u2019t know already.\u201d\n\n
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\u201cNo more surprises, I promise,\u201d he said. \u201cCome on, Mom and I made paella for dinner. I was going to tell you everything over dinner.\u201d\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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We went downstairs, and I sat at the table while Javier sorted out the food.\n\n
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\u201cMaybe you\u2019d like to learn more about them? The traditions, I mean?\u201d Javier asked as he brought over a plate for me.\n\n
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\u201cMaybe,\u201d I agreed. \u201cBut no more jumping over our son, okay?\u201d\n\n
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He chuckled softly and let out a sigh.\n\n
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Look, I understand the need to uphold family traditions and cultures, and maybe I could be more tolerant of it all. I held onto my son tightly. This experience was a bit much for me\u2026\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n
A woman holding her baby | Source: Midjourney\n\n\n
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What would you have done?\n\n
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If you enjoyed this story, here\u2019s another one for you |\n\n
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I Found a Wig in My Husband\u2019s Car \u2014 I Went Speechless Upon Finding Out the Truth Behind It\n\n
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When Isobel uses her husband\u2019s car, she finds a blonde wig in it. Not wanting to disturb the peace, Isobel decides that she doesn\u2019t want to confront him. So, she follows him\u2026 right up to her mother\u2019s house. What secrets are being kept, and why isn\u2019t her husband telling her the truth?\n\n
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Honestly, I don\u2019t even know where to start. I\u2019ve replayed the last two weeks over and over, and it still doesn\u2019t feel real. So, here I am, sitting on a rocking chair in my son\u2019s nursery, trying to understand what has been going on in my life.\n\n
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Jack and I have been married for six years. I thought we were solid, the type of couple who told each other everything. I mean, we\u2019re expecting our first child in three months, and life should\u2019ve been simple, exciting even.\n\n
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$\"A$ \n\n\n\n
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But then, I found the wig.\n\n
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Read the full story\u00a0here.\n\n
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This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.\n\n
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The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided \u201cas is,\u201d and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Tess walks into a terrifying scene of her husband, dressed as a menacing character, jumping over their six-month-old baby, she loses it. What on earth could Javier be doing? And why would he do it behind her back? I wasn\u2019t supposed to be home yet. That thought kept running through my mind as I […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}